Hidden Malice

Chapter Forty-Six

When Kylo woke, Malice was nowhere to be found. He sat up quickly, looking around. Placing a hand down on her sleeping space, he tried to find any signs of warmth that might indicate she'd only just left, but all he felt was coldness.

He scrambled out of the tent, trying to reach out and feel for where she was, but felt nothing. Was she masking her force presence purposefully? Or had she stumbled into a place that masked it without her knowing. He looked down at the sand under their tent, and found just what he was hoping to find.

Footprints.

They led to the large doors that they'd entered from. She must have taken the holocron with her, as it was also nowhere to be found. She'd kept it close to her ever since they'd found it, and it was beginning to worry him.

Following the prints, he let a burst of angry energy out at the doors, which swung open slowly. The sun shone brightly outside, and Kylo had to shield his eyes from its light. They had grown accustomed to the darkness inside the tomb, and the sun was something they hadn't seen since entering.

The prints trailed slowly to the side of the tomb, and seemed to wrap around to the back of the structure. She'd made it quite a distance, but he was determined to catch up to her. Who knows what may exist out here. A light wind blew, occasionally whipping up small sand tornados. They spun for a few moments before collapsing back into the rest of the sand, and would start up again a few minutes later.

Reaching the end of the tomb, he peered around the corner. Sure enough, there was Malice. She stood, holding the holocron in her arms, and starting up at one of the largest statues either of them had ever seen. He approached her slowly, coming to stand next to her.

"Is this him? Bane?" He asked, no longer needing to shield his eyes from the sun as they stood in the large shadow of the statue. Malice nodded, a faint smile playing on the corners of her mouth.

"Let's go. It's time for me to find an apprentice." She announced finally.

"Don't we have another lesson to finish?" Kylo asked, folding his arms.

Malice shook her head.

"You were still asleep so we finished without you. I can teach you on the way if you'd like."

She turned, following their prints back into the tomb, where she would begin to pack up their belongings. She didn't notice that Kylo wasn't following. His hands were tightly balled into fists, and his anger was beginning to overflow. He'd failed to appear for the next lesson, something he was sure Bane had been pleased to see. He would for sure be taking her up on her offer to teach him on the flight back.

*********

Once arriving back to the ship, they'd say in silence as the pilot had lifted the ship back off of the planet and out of its atmosphere. The sun had just begun to set on the planet, masking the ruins in shadows. Malice had wrapped the holocron up carefully, setting it gently on her bag. They hadn't stayed for nearly as long as either had thought they would, but Malice had been eager to leave in search of an apprentice, and Kylo wasn't going to stop her.

"So, where do you start looking for an apprentice?" He asked, looking over at her. She shrugged in response, meeting his eyes. He'd thought her eyes looked like fire before, but now they were more alive than they had been in quite some time.

"Let's get back to the station and I'll think it over. If I get a good feeling about any systems in particular, that's where I'll go first."

He noticed immediately that she'd not used the word 'we' at all. It seemed this was to be something she did on her own, and he couldn't help his feeling of jealousy from growing slightly larger. He'd be there waiting for her return, and would be prepared to make sure her new apprentice was going to be respectful of them both.

Short little chapter! Sorry it's been so long! I've been putting a lot of time into a fun Star Wars group and it didn't help my writers block for this story! But I'm hoping to start updating more regularly again!