The Secret Apprentice | Vader x OC

The Flame

Within seconds I was able to breathe, but instead of focusing on my own well-being, my attention locked itself back onto Vader. The fact he avoided my question, threatened me and threw me against the wall absolutely infuriated me. My rage intertwined with his and the atmosphere around us grew frightening. It is because of him that Sabel may end up dying without me upon Geonosis. It is because of him that I am in constant war with myself. He is the source of all of my problems.

Quickly I threw myself off of the bed and shot a hand out toward the first thing my mind could think of. Because of my rage and amplified emotions, I was able to tap myself back into the Force around us and grab hold of his lightsaber.

At first I felt resistance from it within his holster, Vader acting just as fast to use his own strength with the Force against mine to keep his weapon in place. But almost immediately, the resistance I had felt disappeared and the weapon came flying out of its holder and into my right hand. The weight of it yanked my arm back before my left hand met up with my right to duel-wield the weapon.

The lightsaber was huge in comparison to my hands, and was very weighted. Without even thinking, I ignited it and the loud 'pshew' initially startled me, the bright red aura from its blade nearly blinded me as it glowed so brilliantly out from between the two of us. Both of us were illuminated in the same deep red as the saber itself, and the color radiated all around the room while it hummed idly. Our shaky shadows appeared to be 5 times darker than usual, my grip on the weapon anything but stable. But the sensation of power that I felt while wielding the weapon of both Jedi and Sith, Darth Vader's weapon specifically, resulted in the feeling of being nearly invincible. The sheer amount of rage, betrayal, fear, sadness and grief that had been absorbed into this weapon amplified my link with the Force, more specifically in this case, the Dark Side of the Force.

He simply observed as though he were entertaining himself with the undeniably insignificant threat I posed to him. He spoke low and slow, hitting me with a threat that nearly left my legs trembling, "Do it, then. If you dare. Strike. Me. Down."

The weapon trembled within my deathly grip, my palms sweating while the snarl on my lips withered just barely. I wasn't going to let my fear allow this man to continue to kick me around. I knew I was more than what my emotions wanted me to be. 'Grow a backbone' I could hear my sister's voice in the back of my head, thinking back to the first time I fought against one of the Geonosians who had attempted to kill me.

"Do it!" Vader's harsh voice lashed out at me, in which I did not flinch. With a rageful scream, I lunged toward him, dragging the weapon back over my head to strike him with its deadly crimson blade, the hum intensifying in volume the quicker it is swung. Striking, I slammed the fiery blade down onto him, crying out in exertion only for him to swiftly evade my strike by simply stepping twice to his right as the blade collided with the steel flooring of the room with a loud bash. Acting fast, I yanked the lightsaber up from the floor to take steps toward him and swing it in his direction, his swift reflexes once again proving my attempts futile once he took two long strides backward out of the blade's reach. Despite my failures, I was not willing to give up and allow this monster to label me as a coward. I wanted to die knowing that I hadn't given up, but instead I kept fighting to prove myself braver than most who wound up fighting against this Sith Lord.

Letting out another fierce scream fueled by exertion, I yanked the saber back once more just as I lunged toward him again, the eerie sounds from it bouncing off the walls around us. This time, I used the Force in an attempt to tighten around his form and hold him in place so this strike would land. In a split second, he felt my manipulation of the Force and held up his right hand to the blade that was steadily dropping down toward him. The grip I had on him felt so reliable on my end, yet for him the truth was that I barely had any influence on limiting his movements. Just as I anticipated to split his hand in half, my swing came to an abrupt halt. The use of his skillful grip on the Force held the blade in place just above him, humming idly while leaving me unable to pull back or finish my strike. This made my body tremble in both aggression and fear. His attention remained fixed onto me, and his voice remarked as though he was both coaching and taunting me, "Too slow. Your use of the Force remains inept, and impractical."