Star Wars- In another Life.

Chapter 4- Darkness Rising

"Become what you were born to be, fulfil your destiny."

Ben awoke with a start, bolting up in his bed. His lightsaber called to his hand in his feverish condition. He sat up and rubbed his temples hard with his fingers. His skin was slick with sweat, his clothing damp, he was panting as though from exertion, and his heart hammered against his chest. No light came through the little window of his hut; it was not yet dawn. Ben's occasional dreams of drowning in darkness were now a nightly nightmare. Every time he shut his eyes, it was the same; voices plagued him of his destiny and power. He felt agitated, like his blood was boiling in his veins, desperate for an outlet. He knew the others had noticed the change in him, especially Tai and Master Luke. He wasn't behaving as he should be like the Jedi he should be. His lack of patience with Voe had become a regular volatile outburst. He enjoyed beating her, hurting her, lashing out at her jealously and attempting to outmanoeuvre him. In moments as they fought, he found himself channelling the anger that now seethed inside him, as well as the Force. This conflict between his light side training and his newly dark nature made him stronger. She couldn't defeat him; he overwhelmed her and revelled in that feeling, but he also knew it wasn't the Jedi way.

He rose from his bed, exhausted. He was always exhausted, and it sapped whatever patience was left to him. He ran a hand across his face and through his hair; he knew what he had to do. He dressed and headed out into the night, walking silently towards the dark energy's focal point upon the island. It was quiet there standing at the seaweed-strewn blowhole but for the swell of water beneath. He could feel the rush of cold air waft up to him from below. He knelt to stop himself from falling in and reached into the Force. He could make out the cave underneath the surface, the depths of the turbulent black water that filled it, the rock face damp and chill, the cove at one end and the slithered crack of an opening that led to the open waters beyond. He felt a wall at the heart of the cave beyond the cove where the darkness was deepest. Unlike the rough, porous rock around the water, this was wall-like ice smooth, cold, and reflective, but the surface was shrouded. Ben felt drawn to that spot more than any other, that mirror of ice. He felt it held answers to questions he had not thought to ask.

"My boy," a voice whispered, "at last, you have answered my call."

Ben wasn't sure if the voice was in his head, on the wind, or from within that ice. He thought he sensed a shadow behind its surface that moved with a humanoid form.

"I'm not your boy!" he responded firmly. "What do you want with me?"

"To be your friend, your teacher."

"I have a teacher. The Last Jedi, the legendary Luke Skywalker."

"The Jedi can teach you much, but there is much they cannot teach you. There are many paths, and I can teach you skills no Jedi can."

Ben remained silent, eyes shut tight, afraid to open in case that shadow within the cave, behind that wall, was actually in front of him, and yet he was curious; what skills was this voice speaking of?

"You have unimaginable potential, and I want to help you acquire it."

"Why?" he asked that presence.

"I know what it is to be different, to have abilities others fear. We are the same. I can help you."

"No," Ben growled.

"If you only knew the truth, you would see things clearly."

"What truth?" Ben asked, his eyes flashing open, but the voice did not answer. The presence he'd felt from the cave was gone. "What truth?" he shouted at the empty surroundings.

-X-

Leia sat in her office on Hosnian Prime; her Republic envoy Korr Sella reported the latest details to her. Leia felt frustrated; less than twenty years had passed since the fall of the Empire, yet her place within the New Republic had become less important. Certain members had corrupted her public image with statements of radicalism and accusations of unnecessary fear-mongering in a time of peace. Peace didn't manage itself; even with an army of Jedi, the High Republic had been destroyed, and the New Republic didn't have an army of Jedi; they barely had a functioning army. The New Republic had demanded, given Leia's determination to stay vigilant, that she be placed in charge of their forces. Leia had begrudgingly taken on the role; she knew it was a ploy to remove her, to get her out of the main debating circle with the other officials. It had, however, provided her with the opportunity to attempt to reinvigorate their army. She had recruited members across the Galaxy and ensured they were well-trained, but the Republic was unwilling to provide the necessary funds. They did not have enough ships, enough Star Cruisers, X-Wings or Squadrons of bombers. There wasn't enough of anything. Regardless of her efforts, the Republic army was a handful of volunteers flying in second-rate ships with inferior weaponry.