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| - Leia got to her feet, staring at Epin, who was taking deep, heavy breaths. She brushed herself off a bit and approached him slowly. "Ep...Epin." She asked as he turned his attention on her. She took a step back, seeing the blank expressionless face staring at her was unnerving. "That was way out there Epin." Leia said stepping a bit closer now and reaching out to touch his arm. He seemed to snap out of a trance and blinked several times in succession. He focused again on Leia, who smiled at him. "You scared off Arod and his friends!" Leia laughed, seeing that Epin wasn't about to lash out at her. "I've never seen them running so fast!" Epin glanced around to see the two boys he had knocked out laying in the grass. His eyes widened a bit and he blinked a bit more as if trying to displace something that had gotten into them. He looked back at Leia. "Yeah, well, it's about time they got a taste of what it's like to be afraid." He said, rubbing his neck. "Are you...um...are you okay?" He continued. "I mean, they didn't..." "I'm fine." Leia responded with a grin. "Come on, I don't want to stick around in case they decide to come back. That was enough excitement for today." Epin nodded in agreement. As they walked away, Epin felt that strange chill in his stomach again, though it faded gradually the further he walked from the canyon. They had come to investigate the caves but because of Arod and his gang they decided to call it a day. Still, even though Epin didn't seek another fight with The Sons, he couldn't help but feel that he should return here and have a look down in the caves. After all, he had dreamed of this place, along with that mountain. He glanced immediately toward Aldera and the Ophuchi mountain range that stood behind it. He wondered which he should visit first. Did one place hold more significance than the other? Exactly which mountain was he supposed to visit? He would decide later however. "Well Epin, I don't think we'll be able to see each for a few days." Leia said as the two stood just around the corner from Aldera palace. "What? Why?" Epin said, confused at Leia's apparent change of attitude toward him. "Did I do something...?" "No, no, not at all." Leia said waving aside his question. "It's just that the Matching thing, you know, it's in a couple days. I have to stick around the palace and mingle." She put emphasis on the last word by making a quotation gesture when she said it. "Oh, right." Epin said, feeling both glad that she still wanted to hang out with him and upset that he wouldn't be able to see her for a while. "Well, I hope it goes well." "Yeah, thanks." She gave him a small smile, scratching her arm slightly while looking downward. Epin held out his hand as though to shake hers, but Leia pushed it aside and hugged him. When they broke apart she gave him a swift kiss on the cheek. She waved goodbye and took out her sunglasses and put them on before hurrying toward the palace. Epin watched her disappear into a crowd outside of the palace. He sighed softly and was about to begin his walk back to his farm, but remembered that his mother had wanted him out of the house for a while. Wondering if he had been gone long enough, he decided to stop in a shop and buy himself something to eat with the credits his mother had given to him. As he approached a restaurant named King Junior, he was met by none other than Arod Vekkar. They both froze as they spotted one another. Arod smirked and approached Epin slowly. Epin stood his ground, thinking possibly Arod would be hesitant to attack. Arod stopped a few steps in front of Epin and pointed and drew his thumb across his own throat. "You're dead Lanmaw...understand?" Arod said softly. "You better hope I don't catch you alone." Epin said nothing, but stared right back at him, feeling a bit braver after the scene by the canyon. Arod narrowed his eyes and backed away pointing at Epin and then drawing his finger across his throat again before turning and dashing off into a narrow path between King Junior and another building. Deciding that he'd rather not chance running into any other Sons members, he hastily started towards the farmlands. The sun had begun setting as Epin came up to his homestead. He could see his father coming toward him in the opposite direction. Sadvo paused as he spotted Epin, who did the same. Epin bit his lip slightly, waiting for perhaps an explosion of anger from Sadvo, but none came. Sadvo simply moved his mouth a few times as if trying to figure out something to say, though ultimately decided against it. He merely looked at Epin out of the corner of his eye and continued walking. Epin didn't know what to make of what just happened, so he continued toward his house, where his sister was sitting just outside the gate to their farm. The gate was open. "Hey." Rena said, standing up. "Hi Rena." Replied Epin. "Uh...Is...is it okay for us to come home...?" He asked, making a gesture toward the road where he and his father had just passed. "I guess so." Rena answered, looking back at their house. "Dad didn't say anything to me on his way out." "Yeah, I know. I passed him on the way here." Epin said. Just then, their mother Lania, appeared at the door to the house. "It's okay, you can come in now if you want." Lania said with a touch of annoyance in her voice. Epin and Rena looked at each other, then made their way inside the farm. Epin shut the gate behind him and took one more look at the mountains behind Aldera palace. "What are mom and dad are arguing about this time you think?" Rena said to Epin in a whisper. Epin shrugged and made a grunting noise. He had more important things on his mind at the moment then what he had or hadn't done this time. The siblings made their way to their shared room upstairs and while Rena got changed and readied herself for bed, Epin instead went to the window and gazed out, toward Aldera and the palace. Epin could hear his sister talking to him, but wasn't paying too much attention to her at the present moment. He thought much about the recent events and that strange feeling that came over him. The feeling of total power over the other boys, the feeling as they fled from him. But most of all, and he knew he shouldn't feel this way, as his mother had always warned against vengeful and hateful thoughts, he enjoyed the feeling he got when he saw the look of fear upon the boys faces. Smirking, he took a last look at Aldera, and made his way to bed. Epin awoke the next day with a feeling of purpose in his heart. He had been visited again by the mysterious woman, and she had promised that he would be awoken soon. She had instructed him to visit the mountains and to enter the largest cave at the base of the mountain range itself. Epin dressed himself in his usual attire of a tunic underneath a black hooded cloak and headed immediately for Aldera. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" Rena said in a yawn as she sat up in her bed. "It's barely morning." She added looking towards the window, whose panes were somewhat foggy due to a slight misting of rain. "Oh, I um, want to go into the city." Epin responded as he made his way out. Epin made his way quietly outside so as not to awaken his mother. Or worse, he thought. He closed the door to the house and turned to look at the mountains which he would be entering soon. The sun was barely visible behind the grey clouds that covered the sky. He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, pulled his hood up over his head and set off toward Aldera. He halted however as he passed the shed where his family stored the farming equipment. Feeling he might need some source of light inside the caves, he went inside the shed in search of a glowrod, which he found atop one of the workbenches. Seizing it, he halted once more in front of a rack where they hung their Shod's, tools whose blade would cut through practically anything except another Shod's blade. Feeling that it might also be wise to bring a weapon of some kind, he removed his shod from the rack and clipped it to his belt. Epin's journey through the city was easier than he had expected it to be. He spotted some members of the Sons around the city, but he avoided them easily, due to the increased number of people now in the capital for the start of the Matching. Epin stood at the base of the mountains, a cave directly in front of him. The cave mouth was wide enough to allow two full size speeders side by side to pass into it and high enough for an average sized man to pass through carrying another riding on his shoulders. The ground was rough and gravely, with many small rocks and a bit of trash lying on the ground. Epin gazed up toward the peak of the mountains, squinting in the morning sunlight. He wondered how far into the mountain his journey would take him and how long would he be inside. The wind rustled a few bushes that were growing nearby giving Epin a small startle and causing him to look around momentarily. Epin drew his hand over his mouth as if wiping something from it, smacked the glowrod on his knee to lite it and started into the cave. As Epin got further into the cave, the ground smoothed out, turning his formerly crunching footsteps into softer steps that echoed softly. The glowrod casting a faint greenish glow onto the walls that were slick and shiny, as though rain had fallen earlier. He walked for what seemed like an hour before stopping to rest for a bit. He leaned with his back against the wall and heaved a deep sigh. He wondered if everything he has dreamed had been just weird dreams. But then how could he explain having healed fully from his injuries his father had inflicted upon him after meeting with the strange woman? Just a freak healing? Was that itself a dream? He sighed again and slid down the wall to sit on the ground. "What am I doing here?" Epin asked himself aloud. "Maybe I should just go home." He allowed himself a few more minutes rest before standing again. Upon straightening out he felt a strange coldness, the same feeling he had experienced at the canyon during the fight with Arod and his gang. He looked around a bit as if hoping to find some explanation to the sudden coldness. He took a few steps further into the cave and the feeling intensified. "What a strange feeling." He said as he touched his forehead with the palm of his free hand. He wasn't cold in the exact sense of the word, his insides felt like ice, but he didn't feel it on the outside. He decided to journey a bit further before turning back, and a few minutes later he heard the rushing of water. He quickened his steps and came upon an opening in the wall, large enough for him to fit through. On the other side, he stood on a rock inside a relatively large cavern with a waterfall to his direct right, and another waterfall spilled directly from overhead, though Epin could not see the source. Unsure of what he should do, he looked around and saw there was a path leading down into the cavern itself. He started down, dragging his hand along the wall for a bit of support, as the path was somewhat steep. He reached the bottom and found himself at the edge of a large river that started at the base of the waterfall and lead deeper into the cavern. He decided to follow the river, making echoing footsteps on the wet rocks. The sound of flowing water seemed to be everywhere, he couldn't exactly say it was coming from any particular direction. After a short walk downstream, he reached a dead end, a cave in had blocked off his way forward. He rested against the wall, feeling slightly disheartened and immediately felt the cold in his gut again. He moved quickly away from the wall and stared at it. "That feeling again." Epin said aloud. "I've been getting colder ever since I came through that hole in the wall. And now..." Epin shivered. He wondered how he would proceed. There didn't seem to be any other way through, as he wasn't nearly strong enough to move the boulders and rocks blocking the way. He followed the wall a bit searching for an alternate way but was met only with a large pit. It was the same on the other side of the river. The river he had been following seemed to pass through the rubble, so he thought that there must be something on the other side. "How am I going to get through?" Epin yelled. Epin then he remembered he had his Shod. He'd seen the weapon cut through practically anything and didn't see any reason why it wouldn't cut through rock. He unclipped it from his belt and held it in front of him with his right hand. Taking a breath, he ignited it and with a sort of swishing sound, a beam of approximately three and a half feet appeared from it. This particular one had an orange beam and the handle was silver with a black grip, and there were two small dials at the top near the blade and another in the middle. The blade gave the area around him an orange tint, mixing with the green of his glowrod in his left hand. Thinking it best to hold the weapon with both hands, he then placed the glowrod into a pocket of his cloak, which still glowed, though made less of an impact on the lighting. He approached the rubble and breathed again before plunging the weapon into one of the larger rocks. The blade passed right into it with no trouble at all. There was a sizzling sound as Epin drew the blade around, trying to make a hole for himself to pass through. Epin shut the blade off with another swishing type of sound deciding to check his progress. The rock glowed slightly around the edges were he had cut it, it seemed as though the weapon had melted the rock. He kicked the middle of the rock, hoping that it would perhaps give way, which it did not. Determined not to give in, he ignited the blade again and cut straight across the cave in, from one side to the other. The cut was sufficient to enough to cause the rocks to shift and crumble a bit more. After they were finished falling, Epin again shut off his Shod and clipped it to his belt. He took out his glowrod again and climbed the rocks and was able to squeeze himself through at the top of the pile. He emerged into a large cave, with piles of rocks along the walls. It's as if it were once a larger cavern, but had since collapsed on itself due to an explosion. Epin walked through the tunnel with his glowrod casting its green glow onto the walls. As he progressed, he began to see pieces of metal and debris, with some of the pieces even sticking out of the piles of rock. Soon enough, Epin came to a large chunk of debris that was very much covered in rust, it looked as if it had been there for some time. As he inspected it, he found that it was a starship of medium size, no larger than many of the local bulk cruisers that flew in and out of Alderaan's spaceport. It was cylindrical in shape, and perhaps explained why this tunnel was here. Did the ship crash into the mountain and come to rest here? It made some sense, Epin couldn't see why the ship couldn't have made that river as it skidded along the ground. "Ah, you have found it." Said a female voice. Epin felt the familiar cold. He turned to his right and saw the old woman who had been directing him. Though she wasn't exactly there, she was faded and Epin could see straight through her. "Don't be alarmed. I am quite real, though at the same time, I am not." The woman said. Epin squinted his eyes. "Umm...what do..." He began. The woman waved her hand and Epin became silent. "This starship belonged to people of a past long forgotten. They were very strong in The Force." She stated. "The...Force?" Epin asked, somewhat confused. "But why...?" "Silence boy." Said the woman. "You will have the answers you seek." She walked toward the ship and gestured for Epin to follow her. "Come, there is something inside you must find. I feel it will give you many of the answers that you wish to have." Epin followed the woman inside the ship. He held his glowrod high as he entered a hole in the side. The woman directed him to an area at the front of the wreckage. "What is it we're...?" Epin started to ask. "Shh." Said the woman. "Look in this compartment. Open it." She was gesturing toward some loose plating in the floor of the ship. Epin knelled down and began to pull on the plating, which pulled away fairly easily. Inside was a small triangular shaped object that made the icy feeling inside him intensify even further. "Pick it up." Said the woman. When Epin's hand made contact with the object, his entire body began to tingle and he felt numb. He wretched slightly and drew his hand away. "Focus." The woman said, urging him on. "Don't allow it to get inside your head. Tell yourself it's only a trick, use the good inside your body to drive out the evil feelings." Epin tried to pick it up again and was met with the same feeling. "Do not pull away." The woman instructed. "Focus your emotions, for if you can hold this object you will have your answers. If you are able to hold this object, you will have what you want..." Almost immediately Epin thought of finally being rid of Arod, being respected by his father, and most of all, he thought of Leia, with whom he liked more than anyone he could think of. The cold feelings seemed to slowly drain from his body, as if there was a plug in his feet that had been pulled. Epin stood still, holding the object, which was very small, he was able to hold it in his open hand. "Very good." Said the woman. "What you hold in your hand is called a Holocron, it holds a vast amount of information in it. Far more than one would expect from something of its size. When you are able to open it, you will be able to start your journey." "A Journey?" Epin asked the woman, turning to face her. "Without detailing too much, let's just say that I'm here to help you make a choice." She said. "I will be by your side, even when you don't know it. Just remember, simply because you can't see something, that doesn't mean it isn't there." "But I don't..." Epin began. "In time young one. In time you will." She said, cutting him off. "By coming into this mountain and retrieving this object, you have shown to me that you are, at the least, interested in a greater picture than the one you are currently painting with your family. You have found what I intended for you to find, you should get out of here, this tunnel is unsafe." "What is..." Epin started. "Call me Kreia." The woman said flatly. "Nothing more or less." "Kreia." Epin said. Kreia nodded. "And one more thing. Keep that Holocron safe, don't allow it to be taken from you. It is a dangerous object, even in your hands. You may carry it with you, but be careful where you place it, so as to not forget it. If you wish, you may hide it in front of everyone." Epin looked quizzically at Kreia, who moved closer to him. "Meaning, you might want to pass it off as an ornament or trinket of some kind." She continued. "Most tend to question the things that they don't or aren't allowed to see, rather than what's right in front of their unseeing eyes." Epin stared for a moment, then nodded. Alderaan Affair Part VIII - Part X
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