Chapter 111: 111. Chapter

-It was like this, for a start I struck them with a chain-lightning that made them spasm in their place, sadly they shook off the effect unexpectedly quickly… So I did it again, then Lily jumped in, and whipped their sides with her appendages. She is a lot more nimble than it meets the eye. Turns out she also has a strong neuro poison coating her appendages... It was pretty useful.

She praised Lily with a contented smile, as if she was a master talking about her prided pupils. She was either purposefully acting like an adult with the ability of a god like actor, or her actual age had no correlation to how she looked like. Barriss was starting to lean towards the latter. She has heard rumors around the temple of a child much wiser than her age over the last two years after all.

The rumors flared up about two years ago… and also recently. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, as that was the time the possible existence of the Grey Order first appeared in the rumors as well.

Was it a coincidence? No way. Kalifa also reacted to this girl when she first saw her in the company of Grandmaster Yoda. She said something about her age, that she looked the same as two years ago.

The girl acted like Yoda’s equal... Of course she did. Based on the Darth’s words, she was also a grandmaster. Was her outward look a mere illusion? Or did she really look like that? Maybe she was immortal… or somehow managed to slow her aging that much. Such abilities seemed quite useful to Barriss, especially after her recent dance with death. She would really love to learn how to elongate her lifespan. Unfortunately, there was a problem. The girl needs to teach her willingly, as she had no realistic way to force someone who could fight off a Darth alone…

While Barriss was lost in her newly gained understanding, the girl in front of her didn’t realize the slightly possessive glint passing Barriss’ eyes as she continued her description of the battle.

-So that was it, hehe… In the end, when they can’t move, killing them is pretty easy, especially if you have a lightsaber at hand. Good job with killing that one on your own once more. It is a genuine achievement! How did you even manage to do it?

Barriss looked at Nizzal and said.

-Squashed it with a stalactite, it didn’t see it coming.

She nodded, while fiddling with her left lek.

-Hmmm… good thinking. Inexperienced ones, like these, tend to ignore force movements that are not directly pointed against them. Do not try that with an adult specimen though…

We heard a disgusted dull shriek appearing just behind us, and we immediately turned towards the source of the sound.

It was caused by perhaps not so surprisingly Kalifa, who was the root of the ruckus once again.

-What are you shouting at?

Barked Nizzal frustratedly.

-Do you want to lure even more of those damn things here?

She continued to scold her while both of us walked in their direction.

She moved backwards, with disbelief mirrored in her eyes, as she stared towards a slightly hunched form, kneeling next to one of the dead Tuk'atas.

Seeing this, we also stopped and stared at the familiar form of Lily. Her back was turned towards us, and she seemed kind of occupied at the moment.

We stared at her silently.

Then the sounds of chewing reached our ears…

Nizzal walked closer and looked at her from the side with Barriss standing next to her. Just as we already suspected, based on the noises, she was really eating the raw meat of these disgusting things!

Barriss immediately stepped back a few times while acting similarly to Kalifa’s earlier behaviour. Nizzal, however, didn’t react at all to witnessing the gruesome sight.

At this time, Lily already looked up at us with the same curious gaze that was so unique to her. She smiled lightly while being coated elbow deep in the red blood of the Tuk’ata.

-Ah, do you want some? It’s pretty good actually… If a bit chewy, thanks to all those muscles.

Barriss was the first one who spoke up after the awkward silence that followed Lily’s question.

-… Wha… what are you doing Lily? It might be poisonous… even if it isn’t, why would you eat it raw? You will become sick! Not even mentioning that the meat is tainted by your own neuro poison…

She blinked her golden eyes with a mixture of innocent confusion.

-I am naturally immune to my own body’s toxins and most other poisons on that note. I never got sick from eating raw meat either. I have always been doing that; I think it’s fine, and I am pretty hungry… so… if you don’t want to eat it, may I use it in a different way?

-…are, are you sure?

Asked Barriss, not sure what to believe hearing her answer. Then she added.

-What did you mean by using it differently?

Lily leaned her face to the side and said, while closing her glowing yellow eyes.

-This place… I can feel that it’s vast, silent and empty. Not good for a main hive… but a small nest that I can make here… no… I need to. Too many dangers lurking around... 

She opened her eyes tentatively, then asked.

- This cave... might be a good start. May I?

Barriss froze. She clearly didn’t know what the heck she was talking about. Thankfully, in the middle of her confusion, she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. She looked to her right and saw Nizzal standing by her side.

-She is a zerg, Barriss… let her be. She could probably eat the bridge of a battleship without any serious consequences.

Barriss nodded absentmindedly as she listened to Nizzal’s following words.

-Oh, and yeah… you can go ahead Lily… as long as you keep your family in close check.

Nizzal’s eyes narrowed dangerously, focusing on the form of Lily. A golden glint was dancing across her otherwise pink eyes, similar to the lightning that runs over a dark cloudy sky. Leaving deep rumbling behind, hanging in the air as a signal of its recent pass.

Both Barriss’s and Kalifa’s eyes widened slightly at the foreboding sight. On the other hand, Lily ended up nodding with unexpected fervor, as if her life was on the line. Thought Barriss, and when she glanced back at the disturbing eyes, she gulped silently as the thought crossed her mind.

Maybe… it was…

In the meantime, Kalifa, the ever brazen girl, seemed to suddenly calm down. She shook off her exasperation and stood up. It had to be said that she was still gawking at the actions of Lily.

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Nizzal looked between the two of them and noted loudly.

-Kalifa, it‘s better to make peace with the thought of eating tuk’ata, as I am afraid that there is not much else to eat around here.

That seemed to hit the girl where it hurt the most. As she stepped backwards with a disgusted expression and shouted with protest.

-There is no chance I am going to eat that disgusting thing!

This managed to force a chuckle out of Barriss and Nizzal. That further annoyed Kalifa.

-So, what are we supposed to do now?

Asked Kalifa. After we stopped smirking at her. She was standing sideways in her usual “cool pose,” as she tended to call it, when she thought nobody heard her.

Nizzal pointed towards Lily, with an amused expression. The rest also looked at Lily as a result.

-Uegh… What the heeeell!!!??? You said you won’t release those bugs in front of me ever again! You lier!

Shouted Kalifa, while covering her mouth with her right palm.

Lily blinked in surprise, and looked at Nizzal, confusion written across her features.

Nizzal waved lightly, trying to defuse the situation.

-It’s all right, I told her to do that… We can’t survive in this place with our current gear… well, at least you can’t I might just manage if I was alone. Sigh… Now, stop giving me that helpless glare… I don’t plan on leaving you to your own devices. Kids are meant to be protected after all… And since things got to this point, her help is essential for our survival here.

Kalifa walked up to Nizzal at a quick pace and grabbed her robe just under her neck. She slowly pushed her against a nearby wall then asked from the smaller twi’lek girl with an annoyed glare.

In the meantime, Nizzal lifted her hands to the side in a harmless gesture while waiting for what Kalifa was trying to do with all this tough act.

-I have had enough of your secrets. Calling me a kid  like that is the last drop in the glass... Like, look at yourself, you are even smaller then me with half a head!

An awkward silence filled the cave as the two girls were staring at each other. In the background Lily was eating in blissful ignorance while also feeding the armada of shield larvae usually hidden inside her body. Some of them after finishing their meal started to morph into egg like things, but nobody realized the changes just yet. 

On the other hand, Barriss was panicking in her place. She couldn't believe her eyes, she always knew that Kalifa was a bit loose in the head, but walking up and threatening someone that strong was just beyond her expectations. And all that for a stupid reason like being called a kid!

Not sensing or completely ignoring the series of emotions which Barriss was going through, Kalifa continued her questioning.

-Either you start speaking and tell us who the hell you are, or I ain’t going to spend another damn moment in your company. I saw how your eyes flickered to yellow just now. That meant I was not imagining stuff in the middle of the battle against the tuk'ata either, and you really had a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Having yellow eyes is one thing, but seeing them change in front of me is a completely different matter. Tell me, right now… are you a Sith, or not, and don’t dare to lie!

Nizzal seemed to take in the threats with the calmness of an untouched pond.

She sighed and nodded.

-Okay… just as I said it earlier… I am not a Sith, and I never was. I am someone who has learned, and still actively learns, both light side and dark side based knowledge and techniques. As a side effect, my body shares many similarities with the Sith, who channel the dark side. To name a few examples, my skin also pales to a unhealthy degree when I use too much dark side energy, my veins also blacken from the corruption that seeps into my skin, and my eyes, as you have noticed will also change if I use too much of my abilities based on the dark quality of the force.

There was a moment of silence, then she added.

-However, I am not a Sith. Since I do not share in their beliefs, or at least most of them. As another point, do you think I would allow you to manhandle me in such ways if I were anything similar to them? I thought that we were already over this…

Unfortunately Kalifa, didn’t let go of her right after that explanation.

-One more thing.

She stated. Which caused Nizzal to sigh. She was getting frustrated by the situation.

It was at that time Barriss decided to interrupt the exchange. She stepped in, grabbed Kalifa by her earlobe and started to pull her away with significant force.

-Stop that, you idiot!

She scolded the human girl, loudly, who was so taken aback by the unfolding events that she even forgot to defend herself in any meaningful way.

What was going unsaid was the series of carefully chosen curses that Barriss was silently unleashing on her partially retarded comrade.

Is she trying to get us killed? She saw her fighting with that Darth half an hour ago, right? Right? How is she walking up to her and demanding such things out of nowhere?! What if it turns out that she is a Darth? She would probably just cut us up and that’s it. The fact she didn’t do it should be enough… why is she so stupid for force's sake?

Barriss could swear that she was surrounded by a bunch of people with the mindset of a horde of lemming heading into the sea to commit mass genocide on themselves.

Like seriously… what did this idiot plan to do if she says that she is an actual Darth?

Barriss gave an apologetic smile to Nizzal, who was left by the wall, feeling confused.

-Sorry for the behavior of this lemming… I mean… Kalifa… she was dropped on her head when she was younger…

- Wha-…?

Kalifa was about to protest, but Barriss scolded her right away.

-Shut the fuck up.

Kalifa gulped, and closed her mouth tightly. She could swear that she saw a yellow glint passing Barriss's blue eyes. 

This left the conversation a bit more awkward than it was necessary… In the end, Nizzal could only answer one way.

-…I-I see…

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