The Clone Wars: One-shots

Realization (P1)

Timeline: Season 3 of TCW (before "Nightsisters")

Context: Asajj Ventress is on a mission from Lord Sidious himself to find a long forgotten Jedi temple located on the snow planet Kiminji.

Finding the temple was much harder than she expected. Hours crawled by, yet it felt like time was flying, and every direction now looked the same: dense fog deliberately concealing the distance, trees towering above, the snow weighing down each branch threatening to fall, and a flat white sheet hiding the world below. The only sounds were the aggressive crunching of the snow beneath her boots and an occasional breeze whistling past her ears.

The silence kept Asajj on edge. Every moment she was anticipating something that she knew was coming. That she knew she would find; she couldn't tell if it was the old temple, or something more. The knot in her stomach angered her.

The seconds shot by her, each one being a waste. Everything she did would be a waste until she found the temple. She had to go faster. Her master always preached patience, but it always failed her. It was useless anyway; only ever slowed her down.

She moved hastily, tuning into the Force to try and find any traces of this so-called temple—just as she had been for hours before, or longer. The frustrating repetition took away her track of time, with her only indicator being the slow darkening of the forest. Her jaw was clenched so tight it felt like her teeth would break off.

Why can't I sense it?

The air was cooling, and night was coming at a cruel speed. And she still had found nothing.

Her strategy was clearly lacking (the one she never made; there wasn't enough time for that), and she couldn't afford to throw away any more time. She had to find it. She had to prove herself to her master, and to Sidious. She wasn't weak. Asajj deserved her place, to work alongside them. The Jedi were a plague to the galaxy, and their order needed to fall. She knew that more than anyone.

She took a breath. A deep, steady breath, and slowed her walking until she stood frozen in the snow, as if she were just a simple tree. The true quiet of the forest crashed down on her like a boulder, one that she couldn't just Force push away. Taking another breath, she took off her robe, placed it onto the snow, and sat upon it.

Asajj closed her eyes and listened. She steadied her breathing and held back her shivers. She tried to relax, but she couldn't. Her hands were balled into fists, and her arms kept flexing and unflexing. The forest's silence engulfed her. Something was out there, something nearby. Its presence in the Force was loud. But something else was there as well, and just as close. It was familiar. Her brows furrowed. Asajj tried to remember, but she was losing concentration. The quiet made her ears ring. Her eyes twitched rapidly. She saw it. It was there. It was coming, charging at her and—

She jumped, grabbing and activating her lightsabers. Her eyes darted around the area. Everywhere she could have looked, she did. But there was nothing.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face, and she realized she was panting, and her heart racing. Her sabers gave a hum to the atmosphere, filling it with sound once again. She was no longer trapped in her own mind.

Mediating? What was she thinking?

A moment later, she deactivated her lightsabers, clipping them to her belt. A muffled ringing sound came from the ground. No, it was from a pocket in her robe, now dampened by the snow. Asajj pulled out the device and answered the transmission.

"Took you long enough, Ventress." Her master stood in the blue-lit hologram, scowling.

"Master. I was—"

"No need for excuses. Have you found it?"

Asajj opened her mouth, then closed it, her lips twisting to a frown.

"No, Master." She shifted her gaze to the ground.

He sighed. "I assumed so."

"But I'm close, Master. I can feel the power radiating off the temple."

He looked at her as if he were expecting something more from her. After a beat of silence, when she didn't continue, he spoke: "It seems that your . . . adversary has also come to Kiminji to look for the temple."

Her eyes went wide, but only for a second. Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place.

"Obi-Wan," she spat.

"Indeed. Lord Sidious demands you to find the temple before him, or eliminate him first." Her master paused and his face molded into an expression she had never seen before; a grim expression that Asajj couldn't quite read. Then in an almost regretful way, he said: "for your own sake."

The device made a final beep, and then the blue holo-projection vanished.

~

Her fingers were sore from digging into the metal hilts of her sabers. She was ready to block, swing, dodge, whatever she needed to do. Them fighting was a ticking time bomb, and she had no idea when it would go off. He could be anywhere. She was almost eager to challenge him—to kill him if she had the chance. She would prove herself, no matter what it took to do so.

Asajj would never admit it, but she did feel a tinge of fear in herself. While the thought of murdering Obi-Wan exhilarated her, she was unable to sense his presence since her meditation. She did, however, still feel a faint Force signature of the temple, and was darting straight towards it; it was almost like it was calling to her.

As the pulse of the temple grew, she began to wonder: what's the point of finding this temple? She was encouraged to never ask questions, and to just do what must be done, but what was so important about a forgotten Jedi temple that even Lord Sidious wanted to find it? There had to be something more, something that her master wasn't telling her. Asajj decided then that she was going to figure out what that was.

Asajj whipped her head around at the sound of snow smashing into the ground. Her lightsabers were activated now, and she was in her fighting stance. But, upon closer inspection, she realized the snow simply fell from a tree; the branch above the snow pile was still wobbling, now free of the snow weighing it down.

She let out an irritated breath, one she didn't know she was holding in, and turned to follow the temple's call—coming eye-to-eye with him.

"I certainly didn't expect to see you here," he remarked.

As Obi-Wan activated his blue lightsaber, she charged.

~~~

Oh my gosh I uploaded LMAO

I've been being eaten alive by schoolwork and other personal things—I've been working on this one for awhile, and I'm happy to finally post it! I hope you enjoy :)

Constructive critisism is welcome and encouraged!