#thereis

The Jedi had no words. Somehow he’d expected her to scoff at his question, to mock him for thinking she had. Now, clambering to his feet, he didn’t know what he thought.

 Wincing, he prepared for the rest of the fight, then froze. Again surprised, he looked at the center of the destruction. Some sort of pity moved him. With a deep breath, he moved forward.

 Now’s your chance, kill her. Ben froze, recognizing the voice for what it was. Go on, she can’t defend herself now. The dark side swirled, taunting, and urging him forward. She betrayed you, and now you will get your revenge.

 The voice he’d trained to ignore spoke the words he wanted to hear. It drew him closer, continuing to speak. It promised the satisfying results of vengeance; it confessed that Vestara hated him, and created the blast to kill him. Rage grew, but truth was right in front of him. By all appearances, the blast had been an attack, but any force sensitive would know better. He’d felt all of it. Every pain, every tear, every smile, and every fear washed over him. It was wrong. Wrong to feel a person’s thoughts so clearly, but he’d had no defence, against such a blast.

 Ben had expected some of the emotions. There was anger, there was deceit, but there was also loneliness, far too much fear and… and self loathing… how little did he know Vestara Khai? 

 He had felt the blast. It had come from hurt, not rage. Even her words, in theirself, showed no hint of what the dark claimed. He stamped down his anger, breathing deeply as if to expel it. The emotion did not leave, but lost its control over the Jedi. 

 No! He told it, I’m done listening to you. 

 It responded. The Force turned to malice. The air itself threatened to strangle him. The heat of the planet remained, but gained an ice that made him shiver. Every scratch, bruise and sore muscle seemed to burn in the planet’s assault. Most would fear the barrage of the dark’s insistence, but Ben almost laughed in relief. This was how Korriban greeted Jedi, he had not lost his way yet.

With a new purpose, he moved. The trembling girl was huddled three meters in front of him, her eyes staring blankly at the red dust. Cautiously, as he had no way of knowing what terrible whispers she would try to obey, he called her name. 

“Vestara?” 

 —— 

In honor of this anime that inspired not only myself but touched the lives of many others here's my story:

I have always loved to write, I knew my imagination is on the wilder side. When I was a kid, my biggest dream was to write a novel.

I ended up in my current career, my second biggest dream (see my story There Is if you are curious...not based on my personal experience but an unfiltered version of what I thought was plausible).

After ten years of not writing anything substantial, Yuri on Ice inspired me to start again.

Rusty at first, I considered the act of putting words on a page a victory on its own. I feel like I grew as a writer in the process.

I met some lovely readers who left kind words after every chapter.

At last I am ready to bring the original story in my head to life.

Thank you YoI!