-From the perspective of Nizzal-

  We have been walking through the dark corridors without trouble, while keeping a pretty good paaturally, it was all thanks to Lily’s and her freshly hatched swarms’ guidings. This way, we could circle around the groups of tuk’atas, and hordes of shyracks which were very annoying bat like creatures that usually swarmed their preys utilizing their ungodly numbers. Well, and their body size… which was simir to a medium-sized dog. So yeah, pretty terrifying in all its glory.

  Still, one shyrack or even a handful would pose little dao us… However, such creatures that lived in the dark caves in their entire lives naturally developed excellent hearing. Not only their outward look resembled bats after all…

  Because of this, I advised the group to try to avoid any type of tact with the beasts, as their shrill shrieks could bring hundreds if not thousands of shyracks on our heads that would no doubt result in our immediate death.

  Thanks to my timely warnings, the girls, and by that I mean Kali and Barriss, have mao shut their mouths and focus their whole being on not being noticed by the flying rats. It was a long silent walk, where only Lily spoke up a few times, in a whispering too give us dires or ask our opinion of certain routes.

  Aside from the more obvious abominations, the caves were filled by less dangerous critters and bugs as well. I naturally had a lot of memories from Korriban, all of them from previous memory holders that meant they were out of date. Still, the fact that I knew most of the creatures from a single gnce, with their general threat level and possible uses, has proved helpful. I have even gathered a few handfuls of edible moss. Its taste was bitter and watery, but beggars ’t be choosers.

  The thought brought back a series of childhood memories, from times when I was looking for scraps of food across the barren streets of Ryloth. I expected a sense of disgust and dread to assault me with the memories, as it usually did, but to my surprise, it did not happen this time.

  It seems that ging the internal structure of my archive, while fighting against the fear of what I was, no… of what I am, my past, that is, has resolved some ued issues. It could only be ected to my newly received Darth was a weled surprise for once. Successfully overing a troublesome trauma and iing it into your funal personality is always a reason to be delighted.

  I o myself, as we took another sharp turn, presumably heading towards the general dire of the other people wandering around these caves. Normally it would have intrigued me how they mao end up here, but I was getting tired and couldn’t allow myself such a luxury to think about such stuff.

  I few hours, I was stantly on high alert, and even before that… watg the creeping shadows, while dreading the reappearance of that bastard of a Sith. It was not that I didn’t trust in the scouting ability of Lily’s swarm, as it had proved immensely useful already. It was more like that the Sith Lord could use a rge variety of tricks through the ing use of the force, which could easily hide him from the eyes of those less knowledgeable iricate ws of force teiques.

  I didn’t show it to the others, for obvious reasons, but the earlier enter had already drained a lot of my energy. Keeping up with the strikes of a physically much mile and powerful oppo was always tiresome. It was only so much that the ford an uhy dose of adrenaline could do with a child’s body.

  Using the force to reinvigorate my muscles was w, of course, but it couldn’t be done endlessly… Especially not in the current situation, I mean… yes quiing yeion was a good thing, but it also quied your metabolism, and that meant you will start burning energy with an abnormal speed.

  As if it was listening into my thoughts, my stomach started to growl loudly.

  I winced from the embarrassing noise, as I felt three pairs of pierg eyes burrow into my skin. I could easily imagiheir amused expressions hidden behind the veil of darkness. I sighed, accepting the iable.

  Just as I expected, the first sarcastient arrived soon enough. It was her than Barriss who said it, which slightly surprised me, but it probably shouldn’t have. She could hide it quite well, but her personality was not better than Kalifa’s, all things sidered.

  -Oh? Was that the sound of a dreadful terentatek hiding nearby?

  I felt a light blush appear ay face as the snickering sounds of Kali and Barriss filled the corridor. Luckily they couldn’t possibly see it, as they were walking behind me in the line, and even if it wasn’t that way, the darkness would hide it pretty effectively.

  I decided to ighem all together, which suited me fine because I liked to delude myself that I was above such childish remarks… Which holy should have been the case, but that immunity teo oend towards those people who I didn’t know personally.

  At least, the heavy mood which was following us eased a bit thanks to that.

  I guess this wasn’t all that bad.

  I sneaked another mouthful of foul tasting moss into my mouth, trying to abate my growing hunger. Should have stored some of that tuk’ata meat earlier… Wait… on sed thought… fet it. She poisohem, and based on how they reacted to her poison, I wouldn’t fare much better. Ugh…

  We took aurn at the er, this time in the opposite dire. We only took a few steps before I practically bumped into Lily’s back. Her fifth and sixth appendage chittering in front of my face, way too close for fort.

  I stepped bad gred at Lily’s back.

  -What is it? Why did you stop so suddenly?

  She moved slightly, turning back to look at me with those glowing eyes of hers. I looked past her and saw a strange blinking light. I raised my lightsaber a bit higher to provide more light, and the weak tours of a pressure door seemed to rise out of the darkness.

  I blinked.

  -A door? Here?

  Lily, oher hand, didn’t seem surprised by this revetion. She tio stare at me with a bored expression.

  The girls behind me also pushed forward in the narrow corridor, their curiosity driving them up against my back.

  Barriss was the first one who reinforced my earlier observation. Quite needlessly if I might add.

  -Look, look! It’s really a door, and it is in w order!

  -Argh, Barriss move out of the way I also want to see it!

  pined Kalifa.

  -Humph… it is not my fault that you are so small.

  Noted Barriss. It seems that she, after all, mao acclimatize to the new dark cave enviro. Otherwise, I could hardly uand how her mood remained so jovial in such circumstances. A pity…

  -Me small? Don’t make me ugh. pared to Nizzal, I am a literal giant.

  I was about to eat another bite of moss, but I found myself spluttering in pce. What was their problem with me?

  -Yeah… but she is like thirteen, or what? You ’t really be proud of that… That just makes you more pitiful, and a bully.

  -You ’t be serious with the st part…

  I couldn’t take it any longer…

  -Would you shut up and stop pushing me!? Yes, it’s a door, and I am about to cut an opening into it… also, just for the record… I am fourteen.

  There was another awkward silence filling up the room, and I could hear the smirking and whispering behind my back while I walked up to the door…

  -Uh, someone is angry…

  Whispered Kalifa spiratorially. Naturally, she didn’t know when to shut up. Luckily Barriss had a bit more sense on that note and silenced her discreetly.

  -Ouch? Wha-? Ugh-ummm-umm!

  Or not so discreetly…

  I could feel my eyes tig with frustration, and a deep sigh unsciously leaving my mouth. I was starting to miss the times when they were actually terrified of this pce… at least they were silent.

  Still, door or not… we were far from getting out of the danger zo was time to take things more seriously.

  -Lily, by the way, why didn’t you mention anything about this door before?

  The bug girl looked at me, an eery crackle pying on her chitihis current enviro clearly gave an uional boost to her air of creepiness. She was looking me right in the eye, but didn’t said a single word.

  I was starting to feel antsy under her gaze… I coughed lightly and added, trying te her to answer.

  -So…?

  With aooth grinding noise of her natural armor, she shook her shoulders and promptly looked away from me… she was… iionally ign me.

  I pihe bridge of my nose in disbelief.

  -This… Sigh… Okay, fine… just let’s get over it… I ’t believe these kids…

  The st part was said in an inaudible whisper, but based on the sudden snort behi was not as silent as I initially inte to be. Who cares anyway? They are openly badmouthing me behind my back.

  I turned off my silver colored lightsaber and positio in a way that the bde ointing towards the metal door. I nning to cut a nice circur shape into the metal sheet. Not wasting anymore time than necessary, I ighe bde and watched with a satisfied grin as the super-heated psma ate through the yers of specially reinforced metals.

  There were things you couldn’t get bored with over thousands of years of time. Cutting doors open with a lightsaber absolutely belongs to this category.

  -From a general perspective-

  A sharp etal resouhrough the corridors as the circur shaped part of the cut opeal door fell to the ground, stirring up a rge amount of dust and sand which was now floating through the air somewhat obsg her vision.

  A grinning pale skiwi’lek stepped over the newly created hole, stepping into a much differently furnished corridor. It was in sharp trast to the dark, cold cave in which she was standing mere seds ago.

  -It seems… safe.

  Stated the short twi’lek girl, after carefully cheg the pce utilizing a mixture of her senses.

  Almost immediately, anirl stepped through the opening, then two more followed in tow.

  -Wow, I know that I have said it many times today, but… I didn’t expect this.

  Stated Kalifa, while stantly robbing her eyes, which she found very sensitive to the light in the newly opened partition of the cave.

  Yes, this part was a lot er than the earlier sectors, but the biggest difference was that here there were actual funing braziers filled with burning oil carved out of the walls and running alongside the far stretg corridors.

  Barriss was the st person who stepped into the newly opened chamber. She was also c her eyes while wing from the disfort caused by the abrupt ge in light levels. As, when her eyes finally adjusted, she seemed to bee even more fused. This fusion soon turned into a question, a question that all four of them were currently thinking about.

  - I don’t uand. How is this possible? Could it be actually possible that there are still Sith living on Korriban, to this very day?

  Unfortunately, the only ao her question was an ominous silence.

  Nizzal was just as perplexed by this discovery as any one of the padawans. By her uanding there were no such pces on Korriban, there shouldn’t be any more Sith here thaill lingering ghosts of long dead Sith Lords, hollow reminders of a fotten era, existing in pitiful forms amounting to little more than weak maions of hunger and terror.

  Death… death was the only ruler on Korriban, fes to e. The p was a godforsake, too tainted with the darkside for even her order to save it. This world has gooo far into the darkness. There was no ce t it bato the light or recreate its ban the force. A true anchor of the Darkside, created by geion of evil deeds, endless variety of suffering and torment. Even if there was a ce for its redemption, it would take so much work and resources, time… no, eve would be little more than a frivolous idea.

  Nizzal shook her head, clearing her mind for unnecessary thoughts. It was not the time to be stu your memories, girl. She chided herself, narrowing her eyes, trying to observe the other side of the hall.

  A cold shiver ran over her skin, immediately jolting her awareness into the sky… She observed her surroundings with a new suspiciousness.

  Something isn't right…

  She thought, gazing into the slowly flowing cloud of dust still lingering in the air.

  The dust… it was moving in a stratern… as if… a sudden blur caught in the edge of her vision. She faced towards the movement in a fluid motion. Directed a lot more from muscle memory than actual scious i.

  Her eyes widened with new realization as she saw the strange blur moving through the dust, her bde already activated. She raised it above her head in a desperate parry, just in time as a heavy vibrobde edge hammered down on her bde, held ihin arms.

  -AMBUSH!

  She screamed, warning the others as the bde ushing down on her just about to cut into her shoulder. The power behind that strike was immense. She couldn’t hope to stand against it for much lohe muscles strained in her whole body, trying to lift the bde just enough to allow herself a oving out of the dire of the impending attack, however, before her attempt could have proved successful or otherwise she felt a powerful air current sm into her invisible attacker.

  Pushing it out of bance, and allowihe p to the right, while delivering two precise cuts with her bde towards the locations, she believed that her attacker’s left arm and leg were positioned.

  To her delight, both terstrikes ected, but ly in the pces she expected. One of her attacks hit the leg, that was true, but the other has somehow mao cut off the head of her ambusher. As a result, a beheaded form of a tall droid seemed to ma, ying in the dust in front of her.

  Seeing the strangely familiar form of the droid, her eyebrows tio crease further. She felt a sense of lightheadedness, as she checked the droid’s motionless body again and again, only to e to the same clusion as the first time.

  It was a HK model. She admitted at st… Ohat defiried to kill her just now. But what could this mean?

  She felt dizzy from the thoughts alohere could be only one feasible answer… She was betrayed by one of the apostles he less. As… that was impossible.

  Soon she was forcefully pulled out of her ominous thoughts as Barriss’s worried face filled up her entire vision. There were a few pairs of hands grabbing onto her arms and shoulders, cheg over her body in search of some sort of injury, predictably.

  She turned off her lightsaber and allowed them to fuss over her. As they were clearly in aed state of emotion. She was oo talk… her heart was about to smash through her ribcage… It was only now that her tunnel vision started to clear up, and she began to hear the voices of her friends shouting her name in a worried voice.

  She raised her arms, fog her eyes on her panions, and said with a disgustingly weak voice.

  -Girls, calm down… I am fine…

  All three of them seemed to rex their shoulders sagging with relief, but it did not st long, as a new spark seemed to ignite in Barriss’ eyes.

  -For the force's sake, then just say so ime! You were standing there for like half a minute looking out of your head with a damn creepy as hell expression!

  -Yeah!

  Added Kali as if she wao reinforce that statement.

  However, Nizzal couldn’t ugh at their antics this time. She was about to submerge ihoughts once again, which caused the others to g her with newfound worry.