Star Wars: Where The Eyes Open (WUT)

[Amidala Skywalker]

...Soooo....Tiana.....

 

*with perkiness*

 

Been doing any writing recently?

 

*looks innocent*

[Dartha Athanth]

*comes in*

 

COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH

 

*exits*

[Tiana Calthye]

(pfaaaaaails) Here's the rest of chapter thirteen and some of chapter fourteen.

 

This update is dedicated to everyone who waits over a month for each of my updates for no explicable reason, losing all the momentum I work to build up and getting just a short, crappy update to boot.

 

Of course it's just a short update.

 

<><><>

 

“He killed Padmé. Are you all right?”

 

Ashinda’s wits filtered back, and she gasped, staring up into the painted face of the Empress. She didn’t feel she could move quite right, and was only faintly aware of the hilt of her lightsaber digging into her back. Andros lay face-forward on the floor a few metres away, foam binding him to the ground. A handmaiden body lay nearby, one of Andros’ darts nearby.

 

She quickly fought to bring her mindset away from Jedi assassin to meek, obedient handmaiden.

 

“Y-yes, Empress.”

 

She wasn’t entirely certain, but this one stared down at her with an icy cold gaze. Why, oh why did they all have to look the same…

 

Ashinda shuddered and tried to push herself upright.

 

“H-he stunned me… ran… is he dead?”

 

The Empress glanced back to the body. “Yes. We shot him twice…” She glanced down to the gun in her hand. “And even if he is not dead, he is immobilized. I have let house security know and the bodies will be dealt with respectfully.” She stood up in a smooth motion, her eyes flicking down to Ashinda.

 

Ashinda carefully pushed herself to her feet, shifting to keep her lightsaber out of view. Dammit! He should have killed them both! He shouldn’t have stunned me!

 

The Empress’s blank eyes crossed hers again, and Ashinda looked back down, careful to mask her thoughts with the Force. Dammit. Now I’ll have to deal with this…with memories…

 

I won’t last long.

 

The Sith will…

 

I’ll have to assassinate her…

 

Without being called out first.

 

After a moment, the Empress spoke callously. “Go fix your hair and your makeup. We are to appear in less than an hour.”

 

“Y-yes, Empress.” Ashinda bowed deeply, nervously, her hands clasped behind her back. She used that motion to grab her lightsaber and push it up her large sleeves before turning and dashing back to their quarters.

 

-Chapter Fourteen-

“The Force has eyes! It sees all, knows all—the Force is all!” –Former Sith Master Alliena Krath, before her execution for heresy

 

Yoda stalked across the hallway. Stalked, in so much as a crippled, ancient Jedi could. Their Sith prisoner—so very much like Kenobi, and yet so very not. Kenobi’s dark side. Why had the Sith let himself fall asleep? A Sith would fight back, a real Sith. The Sith Order Master Yoda knew was not like this.

 

No, the Sith Order Master Yoda knew was a violent, cruel order. They fought. They killed themselves and they fought amongst themselves solely for the sake of obtaining more power. They annulled balance. It was these men that the prophecies spoke of, these men and women and their darkness—the prophecy of balance. With the Sith among the living, the Jedi could never know peace.

 

This Sith wasn’t like that.

 

It was a different sort of violence that rested in his heart. This Kenobi, this shadow of Obi-Wan Kenobi, this murderer, this creature of darkness—he threw the universe off to the side by even living here, by being the opposite of a creature of light—was not like the Sith.

 

Yoda considered: how to define this person? Anochece was a Sith, a Sith of another universe, and the Sith Order there was not quite the chaotic, bitter order of two that his own universe had. No, these Sith, though their very breath was bleak shadow—these Sith were still a part of the world order.

 

The words this one spat out were dark, made of shadows themselves.

 

Anochece’s very thoughts were black.

 

But still, not chaos. They destroyed the balance by his existence—there could never be two of one being, this was Kenobi’s opposing force.

 

Yes, that was it. Yoda leaned against the wall—it was still so dark—and closed his eyes. This was a peaceful sort of dark, though his mind was at odds with it, and chaos threatened to spill over into his peaceful demeanor. Anochece’s universe is the mirror of this one, Yoda thought. The opposite. What’s dark is order, and perhaps there—what’s light is chaos.

 

Perhaps there, only if the light is extinguished, will their balance at last be.

[Anakin T Skywalker]

YYYYYYYYYYYYAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY UPPPPPPDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

 

 

Awesome, I especially liked Yoda's musings.

 

Perhaps there, only if the light is extinguished, will their balance at last be.

 

I think in this instance it's "there" not "their".

[Dartha Athanth]

Perhaps there, only if the light is extinguished, will their balance at last be

 

Noooooo!

 

But Yes to the update!

 

(I typed this before ATS did but I didn't submit it first.)

 

I love the chapter covers!

[Tiana Calthye]

YYYYYYYYYYYYAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY UPPPPPPDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

 

 

Awesome, I especially liked Yoda's musings.

 

Perhaps there, only if the light is extinguished, will their balance at last be.

 

I think in this instance it's "there" not "their".

Nope. I spent time crafting that sentence and absolutely HATE it, but it's there.

 

It is NOT "will there balance at last be". It's "will their balance at last be" It's not "at last, there will be balance". It's "at last, their balance will be". I can see why you'd be confused, though.

 

Wow, I achieved a violent reaction from Darsha from that line. Then you knowwwwwwwwwwww...

 

Maybe.

 

[Darth KenObi-Wan]

Awesome update!

 

What's with the last line eliciting interesting reactions

 

More, soon

 

PLEASE!

[Amidala Skywalker]

Tiana...that was way too short. Just letting you know that. That won't satisfy me for another month.

 

Nice update though. Actually I'm less upset about the last line than I am the first. Somehow I wonder if she's really dead...

 

Anyway, nice work. I'd love to see more soon...

[Tiana Calthye]

Tiana...that was way too short. Just letting you know that. That won't satisfy me for another month.

 

Nice update though. Actually I'm less upset about the last line than I am the first. Somehow I wonder if she's really dead...

 

Anyway, nice work. I'd love to see more soon...

A month? A MONTH?

 

I'm not going to wait another month! Just make sure someone comments so I can update...

 

...I know, I always say that.

 

Let's see.

 

Line one... uh... RAFO.

 

Line two: well, Darsha went all NOOOO about it. But it's another RAFO.

[Anakin T Skywalker]

*Comment so you can update.*

 

There! Your excuse it is gone!

 

Gone, your excuse is!

 

This is the comment you are looking for.

 

This comment will do fine.

 

[mechanical voice]You may dispense with the excuses, Tiana. I'm here to put you back on schedule. [/mechanical voice].

[Minus One]

I felt like I was reading one of MY stories that update was so short! I think Yoda is thinking "opposites, so dark is good." I think he's mistaken if he wants the dark side to win in the alternate reality, as the Jedi seem good-natured.

[Tiana Calthye]

Minus One: He doesn't want the dark side to win anywhere... that's out of character for Yoda.

 

Yeah, shorter updates, but if I can get updates out faster if they're shorter...

 

This is also a short update, just finishing off the chapter. I'm gonna try update again on Saturday or Sunday or Monday with a more substancial update.

 

<><><

 

“Hey! Boy!”

 

Tanon started, and jumped to attention. Security detail, security detail! He’d left Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon back in the crowd below, heading up to guard the east entrance of the Imperial Palace.

 

“Yessir?” he rasped, snapping off a salute.

 

“Someone got through security.” The captain gestured him towards the door. “Wing five-oh-two. They need someone to help take care of the bodies. A real person, not a droid. Like you. This door’ll be fine for a few minutes. Ahh, hells. Young, leave the door to me. Get further instructions inside once you’re done with the dirty work.”

 

“Yes, sir!” Tanon darted inside.

 

The captain grunted and leaned against the door, glancing out at the crowd a story below. He drew a rolled cigarette out of his pocket, tapping it a couple times with the Force. It lit up and he rested it in his mouth, leaning against the edge of the door and staring down. There was an impressive collection of sentients, ranging from the ridiculous aliens to the humanoids, hell, to the droids—some of them were damn pretty intelligent.

 

He exhaled a small cloud of smoke.

 

The balcony he was on was a story above the main crowd, the only access through a fire escape. Offered a nice view of the Imperial gardens, and the Seeing Fountains, but little more. The Empress herself would be appearing a couple stories above, safely encased in a field in case someone had decided that sniping her Highness would make for a pleasant afternoon, and in any case, there were so many guards around the lower entrances that anyone making it into the Palace would be spotted in a few minutes—long before they could make it to the Empress herself, even if they had a map of the place. There were also guards on the rooftops, in case someone had the brilliant idea of landing a ship on top of the Palace, and if that wasn’t enough, the security field around the entire Imperial sector was laced with auto-turrets.

 

The only way into the Dims was through security, and the only way anyone who wasn’t already an inhabitant of the Dims was going to get in was through the security on the lower levels of the park. No assassins were gonna come just marching in.

 

Except… y’know… that mercenary.

 

Dunno how he got in.

 

The captain took another drag on his cigarette, exhaled once more. The smoke was relaxing, neurotic. It didn’t faze him at all when a man popped up through the fire escape, and grinned, waving a card that seemed to have PRESS written on it. “Hey, um, I’m with the Dreden Moors Chronicle. Mind if I take a few pictures from up here? The guys down there said it was guarded and it’d probably be fine…”

 

Damn reporters. The captain relaxed back into his chair. “Yeah, whatever.”

 

The scruffy reporter set up with his camera, snapping a few pictures, backing up beside the captain to get a long range view.

 

With his mind smoked over, the captain almost didn’t notice that the camera didn’t exist—until the report’s fist slammed into his temples.

 

<><><>

 

Anakin let the illusion of the reporter fade away, dragging the captain over to one of the giant potted plants that seemed to decorate the entire place. He grunted as he lugged the man into the pot, and dropped him in with the dirt.

 

He snagged the man’s hat as an afterthought, tucking his unruly brown hair into it, and gave a quirky smile into the air.

 

Captain Skywalker.

 

Yeah… maybe if I hadn’t been found by the Jedi first.

 

As an afterthought, he tugged the captain’s belt off, as well as his weapons, and strapped them around his own waist. The lightsaber he’d been carrying went from his belt to his sleeve, and Anakin ducked into the Imperial Palace.

 

They should have a list of the Sith on duty, and maybe if the guard’s distracted enough by doing security things, I can get the list…

[Anakin T Skywalker]

Hahaha! Yeah! Awesome!

 

I loved this line:

The Empress herself would be appearing a couple stories above, safely encased in a field in case someone had decided that sniping her Highness would make for a pleasant afternoon,

 

[Amidala Skywalker]

Nice...I'm just so glad to have an update that I was too busy enjoying and savoring it to look for stuff to crit.

 

Nice illusion by Anakin...although I've forgotten why he's sneaking into the palace...gotta go look that up...

 

Anyway, lookin' forward to more, as always!

[Tiana Calthye]

Last I recall, he was going after Bethani and realized that probably most of the Sith were going to be here and if they had her, she would probably be on the guest register... so that's why he's sneaking in.

 

You know Anakin--why do it the easy way?

[Dartha Athanth]

Yay update!

 

I love how cocky Anakin is here. Though it would make sense to have him cockily good here.. or they would make him turn here so the real ani wouldn't turn! noooooo!

 

(ok random speculation)

 

Loved it!

[Darth KenObi-Wan]

Ooohh! Post... Pretty...

 

I love the fact that the captain was dumb enough to let a reporter in, even though he obviously didn't like them. Unless, of course, there was a Force suggestion used, and he mistook it for the smoke in his lungs...

 

Update soon! Please!

[Tiana Calthye]

Ami: And then I remembered while writing this update the other reason Anakin headed towards the Palace. Bethani had been taken by the Sith Ambassator, who will most likely be here.

 

Darth KenObi-Wan: Good call. Force suggestion, smoke, Anakin got very lucky. Or the Force was with him, who knows?

 

Darsha: Heh. You understand how this universe works pretty well.

 

-Chapter Fifteen-

“I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” —Luke Skywalker

 

Bethani felt uncomfortable, standing beside the Sith Ambassador, trying to keep her thoughts from trickling outside of her mind. Her clothes were stiff and dark and her mind was anything but—her mind wandering and wondering if Anakin had made it back all right, if she was going to be killed, if they’d find her out—no, maybe because she was just a kid, Jedi kid or not…

 

And she kept those thoughts quiet, in the crowd as her new Master discussed trivial things with other Sith.

 

There were so many people gathered to hear the Empress speak. People didn’t come like this for Yoda. But then, there weren’t that many Jedi. But this had to be half of the Sith throughout the galaxy, so many people from Coruscant, it was literally jam-packed. If anyone was planning to kill the Empress, they wouldn’t be able to move enough to draw a gun.

 

And there was so much security.

 

Ironically enough, she was probably safer here than she would have been anywhere else—the security levels were high, and there was no way anyone who wasn’t authorized had brought in a weapon, unless they’d snuck in a back door.

 

All for the Empress.

 

All for her Highness.

 

Where Bethani stood, it was distant enough that she could barely see the guards on the balcony, but her Master had a set of glasses for her to look through. Of course most of the others could simply enhance their vision with the Force, but she wasn’t so well learned, not yet.

 

“…Security measures have been increased since the Tlithians attempted to break into the museum before we’d even had it stocked,” the Ambassador was saying, as Bethani’s focus on the crowd shattered. “Isn’t your apprentice one of the guards?”

 

“Yes.” Master Jinn was so imposing, a figure who stood tall and firm amidst the crowd, his tanned fingers interlocked in front of his stomach. He was like a statue, the perfect example of a Sith, with his sharp features and then the softer beard and hair taking away from the harshness of his face. He was oddly peaceful, compared to the much more chaotic Jedi. He seemed to be at ease with himself. Not all Sith had that calm.

 

Not all Jedi had that chaos.

 

“Yes,” Master Jinn continued. “My apprentice is on the Palace detail. I see you have a new apprentice of your own, Ellne.”

 

The Sith Ambassador nodded politely. “I found her on the streets not so very long ago. She may not stay with me, but for now I’m taking care of her until we can contact her parents. It’s so sad to see children running wild. Coruscant isn’t always the safest place to be.”

 

Jinn nodded sympathetically. “This may be the safest place for a Force sensitive child. There are so many protectors here, even if the Jedi were to strike, we would have them down in moments.”

 

Ellne was an equal, she recognized. Jinn had rank, but he spoke to her on an equal level, but he treated others with more contempt. He was more powerful than most of the Sith.

 

They carried on their conversation, discussing security measures and moving on to the architecture of the ancient Sith Palace—it had been constructed far before Bethani had been born, and evidently this was of some interest to the two of them. Jinn’s companion seemed to be listening politely, but his blue eyes wandered across the park, occasionally flitting across the balcony her Highness would be speaking from, occasionally back to the large holoscreens floating above, to relay the speech across the Dims. He was fidgety, his hands occasionally drifting to his hair, and to the hem of his black tunic, and then falling back again, nails clicking against nails, until he’d realize what he was doing again, and then start picking at something else. The edge of his shirt was slightly frayed, likely from this habit.

 

“You shouldn’t do that, you know,” Bethani pointed out softly.

 

He started and glanced down. “Oh… hello, there.”

 

There was none of the contempt there, just sort of an exhausted greeting. He was a bit worried, she figured.

 

“You’re going to ruin the hem,” she said. “That material isn’t cheap.”

 

“It’s not like I can’t get another one,” he murmured. She remembered then that the Sith Order actually had money and their clothing probably wasn’t patched together from remnants and occasional runs for the surface, where they could scavenge hand-me-downs. They could just buy a new shirt, regardless of the silken, rich fabric they were made of.

 

“But why ruin that one if you don’t have to?”

 

“I’m sorry.” He smiled slightly. “I never caught your name.”

 

“Bethani.” She nodded at the Ambassador’s back.

 

“Yes… I’d caught that.” He glanced back to the balcony, to the guards and the shimmering blue field. “She is a good teacher, I think.”

 

“Maybe… I haven’t known her that long.”

 

Talking to him felt less aloof than talking to the Ambassador or the other Sith. He was calm, but frantic, but it carried off differently too. It was more relaxing to speak to him. It was like speaking to someone who was calm. Not creepy and peaceful, but simply relaxed and calm and not so very threatening. He was together, but not in a harsh way, like Jinn was.

 

“She is my teacher’s friend. And he doesn’t make bad choices,” the man pointed out. “He chooses his friends wisely.”

 

“Master Jinn is your teacher?”

 

“He was, yes.”

 

That seemed to carry something sad with it, wistful and melancholy. But he’s standing right there, she almost thought to say, but caught her tongue. It must have been a different thought she’d picked up on, but it felt as if he’d lost his teacher.

 

Maybe he did. Time changes people, sometimes. And sometimes it takes them away.

 

“What’s your name?” she chanced.

 

He glanced down to her again, and his eyes were crystal clear. “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

[Dartha Athanth]

Yay UPDATE!

 

She's safe now, me thinks. ANd i knew who it was from the moment obi said 'hello there'. Poor obi. He's the best character in Star Wars to torture.

 

Me thinks the Sith here have good hearts. protecting a child?!?!

 

Hmmm wait.. if the Yoda here is good, does it mean he's bad in the universe we know?

[Amidala Skywalker]

YAY OBI-WAN!

 

*cough* Sorry...I just get excited when I see him. Kenobi for President everyone! He's our only hope!

 

Nice job. Nice little scene. I love the chapter title...that remains one of my favorite SW books. This is shaping up in such a neat way...I hope Obi-Wan realizes that Bethani is really a Jedi!

 

Nice touch too about her picking up on his answer about Qui-Gon. Poor Obi-Wan...he is so tortured all the time.

[Anakin T Skywalker]

This is so cool.... it's like the antiStarWars galaxy. You know, the complete opposite. You're doing a great job, Tiana - you're getting me wondering if the Jedi are the good guys after all. Maybe Anakin did turn bad - except he doesn't feel bad...

[Minus One]

Wow, two updates? Mercy me.

 

Will Anakin meet up with Obi-Wan perhaps?

[Ethro Brealis]

Wow... absolutely awesome. I'm loving it.

 

Oh yeah, GO ANAKIN!!! Why pick the easy way when you can use the fun way?

[Darth KenObi-Wan]

Wow! Another update!

 

Something tells me that Obi-Wan is taking a pretty big risk at the moment. It might not be in character for his other self to talk to people like Bethani... And what if Jinn noticed... Oh noes!

 

Update soon! Please!

[Dartha Athanth]

MOAR PLEAZE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[Amidala Skywalker]

Yeah, I'll echo that! Tiana, if you would be so kind, we would really enjoy an update!

[Amidala Skywalker]

Hey, Tiana...you do realize it's been since October since you updated this, right? That means four months. That means it's been far too long and you should update it.

[Tiana Calthye]

I am working now. Like, a real job. That requires me to get sleep. I CANNOT MAGICALLY PULL AN UPDATE OUT OF MY BUTT. I haven't written anything SINCE December. I did my Nano and tried to start a short story in December to get myself back into fanficcing and the story's sitting there with four pages and the fanfic's there dead. All I've done on WTEO since the last update was write an outline for it. I know where it's going, I just... I haven't written anything in months. I co-write with a friend a lot and we haven't written anything either. I'm completely dried out. I realize this fic is in grave need of updating but in my current state, the update would look something like

 

"and then Obi-Wan ran wildly up the stairs, flailing his arms madly while screaming about peanut butter before crashing into Anakin.

 

They stared into each other's eyes...

 

Their AZURE BLUE ORBS MISTED WITH TEARS.

 

"Anakin!" sobbed Obi-Wan. "HOW COULD YOU WALK INTO ME LIKE THAT? YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PERSON! YOU--"

 

He didn't continue because a lightsaber sliced him in half. Anakin stared into the black abyss of Count Dooku's eyeballs, because I forgot his eye color. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

 

Then he died too.

 

The end."

 

 

I'm literally mentally incapable of creating something with words in my current state. I'm trying to force short stories so I can get back to WTEO (I haven't forgotten about it!) but I'm literally all dried out. I'm trying. I've opened the file several times and stared blankly at it. I've written a few words here and there before crashing again. I've opened up Word off and on. Yet, since Nanowrimo ended, all I've written has been one unfinished short story and a oneshot between a couple of my characters, a few pages of script for my webcomic...

 

I've heard your pleas, however, and hope to have an update soon.

[Amidala Skywalker]

Well, that's enough of an update for me! My favorite part was about their azure blue eyes...made me want to cry!

 

As for the opening the document and staring at it, hoping for something to come out...well, let's just say I can understand exactly where you are. I've been doing the same thing recently. I'll open the document, determined to get something more written on it, type a few flailing sentences, realize that they are utter crap, get discouraged, and close the document. Then I don't want to open it up again because I'm afraid of more crap coming out. So...yeah....

 

But now that you (and DV, I might add) are both in that position, it's inspiring me to not be in that mode anymore. I've found in the past that if I carve out some time and sit down several times to force myself to write--even if it's crap--the crapiness soon disappears and I go on a nice little writing spree. So I'm going to try to force myself to go into one of those now. [dramatic voice] You're such an inspiration to me! [/dramatic voice]

 

Alright...enough blabbing by me.

[Lord Ar-Pharazon]

Then I don't want to open it up again because I'm afraid of more crap coming out. So...yeah....

 

I had to sig that, at least for a while.

 

Sorry I know that's crude as hell, but I laughed so hard when I read that.

 

(I'm still laughing)