Title: Shadow Hunter
Rating: NC17
Characters: Maul
Category: Unknown – violence, het-smut?
Feedback: Yes please! (TELOXI@HOTMAIL.COM)
Disclaimer: I don't own em, I just borrow em for my
fics. I received no money in its creation.
Summary: Dark and dangerous medieval Europe, the
Destroyer of Worlds is lost in a world where only the strongest and most
ruthless survive.
*Note: The entro/story is killer to read when
listening to Pink Floyd's song Dogs of War on the Momentary Lapse of Reason CD*
Part II
His ears
ring and his mind feels as if on fire as consciousness returns to him. And
quickly he is upon his feet again, finding all ship's systems without power or
just barely functional, life support on the verge of total failure. The ship is
damaged and beyond repair until he can reach a hangar bay of some nearby space
station or passing transport.
He growls
aloud, rage burning through his veins like hot melted rock. But, his ship has still
retained the ability of movement – the sublight engines are still functional.
Moving
toward the main computer consul, finding it working partly, he begins to tap in
command codes and instructions. The machine lets out a soft beep, and instantly
he roars with seething rage – for the consul tells him that it does not
recognize any of the star patterns, and there is not one hint of subspace
communications, or holo-transmissions. Nothing but a nearby system of alien
planets…and the planet third from it's sun supports life.
He must land
his ship and begin repairs immediately, for suddenly another alarm sounds and
sparks fly from yet another consul as its systems give way – navigation.
Hastily, he
leaps into the pilot's chair, taking the manual controls in hand and sets
course toward the life-giving planet, blind.
He fights
the controls; teeth bared in fury as he pilots his beloved ship passed the
fourth planet. Once he is in range of the third planet, he makes one full orbit
and begins to descend into the blue and white atmosphere.
The ship
rattles and creaks under the strain, sparks raining from consuls and panels,
but he remains in control of his ship…what is still functional.
The ship
finally breaks through the atmosphere, but he finds that he has flown his
already damaged ship, straight into the heart of a hurricane.
He fights
the controls, moving his ship through the hell storm, and finally he is
through, flying a mere few hundred feet above a vast ocean, a landmass of some
kind just beyond, as the computer consul states.
He nears the coast, having to raise his ship
to avoid the straight cliffs and thick lush green forest of native trees,
missing the tops by just meters.
He follows a
river, through a canyon and between mountains, then finally he finds a place
where he can safely land his ship – a green meadow surrounded at one side by
mountains, the other by forest.
Once the
landing struts touch down, he powers down the sublight engines and rising from
his seat, he begins a systems check. System by system, he thoroughly inspects
and catalogues the damages and what supplies he will need in order to complete
repairs. And if there is not enough, then only those systems that are necessary
for flight, life support and hyperspace travel would be priority.
The news
does not bode well.
Repairs on
his ship will take days, maybe weeks or months even, and according to the
repair supplies manifest, he will be short on supplies. Maybe, by some very
remote chance, he will be able to find resources to create or make more
supplies.
The world is
primitive, and his powerful senses tell him that the planet is also populated
by sentient beings. How sentient, he may very well have to see for himself, but
from what little information his ship's sensors could tell him, there is no
noticeable technologies – atleast none that requires any sort of power source,
he expects.
Food would
be of no problem, the food stores in the hull of his ship are always well
stocked for possible emergencies, and there is abundant animal and plant life
that could be hunted or gathered for nourishment. Hunger will be the least of
his worries and problems.
His ship on
the other hand…
**********
With the
falling of night, nothing more can be done with his ship. After eating a meal
of rations and several hours of meditation, he lies motionless upon his small
bed, the darkness of his room leaving strange shadows upon the bulkhead walls
of the tiny quarters.
Motionless,
but sleeping, he can hear all, feel all, taste all, sense all. Forever
prepared, forever ready to act if danger ever came up upon him. He can hear the
night creatures of the planet through the open hatch of his ship, smell the
smells of the forest, taste the strange cleanliness of the air, feel the Force
energies of this new and uncharted planet.
He does not
fear intruders entering his ship; he would sense them even before they may
happen upon the small clearing. That, and his ship is set with security
measures, measures that would activate the hidden blasters and mini ion cannons
and destroy anything moving except what would not be considered as a threat,
such as animals and other natural things. To his relief, the security features,
and cloaking device, have remained intact and functional despite almost all
other systems being effected by the strange and unexplainable anomaly.
But he had
not intended on being plagued by strange dreams, dreams that are very much like
the visions of his meditation before he found himself nowhere near his last
known location.
Tunnels,
corridors, great halls dark and ancient. A voice whispers in his mind, a voice
sweet and yet…dangerous. It attempts to enchant, lure him from something…
Like an
apparition, a figure in all white appears but does not. Only for a short moment
does he see it's face, soft and smooth, ice-blue eyes and hair long and flowing
and dark like the color of rich soil. He, or she, guards the way beyond from
him, keeping him from continuing on his journey into the bowels of the wherever
he is.
"Be warned, dark warrior, thy mission
shall fail if thee come before me! Be warned! Stay thee away!"
He wakes,
slowly opening his eyes to see soft light of a new day slipping in through the
open hatch, but the light is dim, announcing the coming of dawn. Today he will
see this new world, explore and see what he may find, and tomorrow, work shall
begin upon his ship to return home. The only way the ship will reach full
efficiency again is within the hangar bay his master has allowed for his ship
to be hidden and worked upon when needed.
Rising from
his bed, he gathers his clothing and makes his way to the freshwater spring he
happened upon the day before when exploring the security perimeters.
The moment
his bare skin touch the warm waters, a shudder rushes through his body, feeling
the surge of Force energies course into his body from the water itself. Every
muscle in his body relaxes as he swims out into the middle of the pool.
Sinking
beneath its depths to the pools very bottom, he sits and absorbs as much of the
Force energies the water offers, healing the bruises, aches and soreness caused
by the events the day previous...and those given by his master.
Refreshed
and strengthened from the energy giving waters, he rises to the surface, wading
back to the shore. And after dressing in a clean set of clothing, he replaces
his treasured weapon back upon its clip on the wide belt about his waist.
"This
pool is sacred and most precious. I will not forget this place."
Returning to
his ship, he activates the cloaking device with a press of several buttons upon
the wrist com-link hidden behind the gauntlet of his black glove. And slipping
the hood of his black robe over his head, he turns and begins his trek through
the thick forest, following his senses in the direction where many minds and
presence's in the Force are gathered.
It is almost
10 miles when he suddenly hears the sounds of an animal whinnying, many
foot-stamps and walking feet, and the sounds of something heavy being pulled
behind. 20 animals, 16 carrying riders, the other four pulling something large.
Nearing the
sounds, he moves slowly and silently, seeing something moving just beyond the
trees up ahead, and then he hears voices.
"Come
now!" One hardy voice laughs, "The Lady D'Wynter is nothing to joke
about! Winning her hand in marriage is a sport worthy of a lad such as
yourself!"
"Uncle,
I do not see it as such. She is strong willed and cunning," Adds a more
youthful voice, one of high upbringing by the way the young man speaks.
"And I have heard she has ties to the devil himself. Some say that she be
a witch and uses her wiles to enchant and seduce men to her bidding."
As he draws
closer, the trees break up to reveal four men dressed in nobleman's attire and
the others in armor of sorts – obviously soldiers, ridding powerful hoofed,
long quadruped animals with longs graceful necks. The other two animals being
used as beast of burden pull a humorously primitive four-wheeled carriage, thick
heavy blue drapes hiding whomever is within. And according to his senses, the
person – persons rather, are all female and in their early twenties in age.
Suddenly one
of the curtains slips back from one of the openings and eyes as clear and as
beautiful as the woman herself, appears from behind the blue curtain, peering
out to the forest, into the forest.
He slips
away from sight, hidden partly by a half-fallen tree coated in lush green moss
and veiled in the Darkside of the Force. But the eyes – as like ice blue pools,
fall upon him, seeming as to see through the shadows and the Force veil he had
woven about himself. But just as suddenly as the woman's eyes appeared, the
curtain falls back into place as if she had seen what she wanted to see, or she
saw what he wanted her to see - nothing.
With his
thoughts, he reaches out and touches her mind, finding a woman gifted with a
strong mind and will of her own. He hears her thoughts, feels her emotions and
see her memories in his minds' eye. She is young, very young but one of the
strongest mentally he has encountered without being trained in use of the
Force.
"Lady
D'Wynter." He speaks in a soft whisper, a grin creeping across his face in
thought. "A sport indeed, my Lady, and I am far more worthy suitor than
that pathetic little boy."