An Unlikely Duo: Book 1

Conflict Within

Maul and Ashoka finally were back at the cave to find Feral peacefully sleeping by the fire and Ventress asleep on the other side.... Maul approached his brother pulling the blanket to cover his exposed torso before continuing towards the back of the cave. He paused for a second and turned his head towards Ashoka once more " The droid can assist you with  blankets and pillows if you need" before continuing into the depths of the cave. The droid quickly gathered some blankets and pillows and set up a spot in a corner of the cave. "This spot should be well suited as you will not be directly in anyones sight. Should anyone approach the cave you will see them but they cant see you"........ Ashoka looked at the droid "Thank you I appreciate it" as she gave a gentle smile before crawling into bed. She tried to ease her mind and go to sleep but she struggled tossing and turning. She fixated looking at the lifeless body curled up in the bacta tank, she couldn't help but wonder what was going thru Mauls mind the entirety of his life being left behind by everyone else....... how since he was a small child he was used and manipulated for his connection to the force...... out of the corner of her eye she saw Mauls baby brother get up from his spot by the fire. He walked over to where Ashoka was and sat down at the foot of her bedding. " cant sleep?" He asked her in a gentle voice. Ashoka sat up looking at Ferals bright yellow eyes tinted with the undertones of green. " no I cant everything has been so insane the past few months....... heck the past few years really" Feral gave Ashoka a concerned look as he pulled his knees to his chest cradling his legs with his arms. "You know I'm alive because of Maul.......I know hes an angry person now but Savage used to tell me stories of how they played together for a short time before savage got sent away......... He said Maul always seemed very gifted with many things." Ashoka looked intrigued as Feral continued..... "I guess from the time Maul was 3 he was already moving objects with the force..... savage used to tell me he was good at sensing all the animals around him always aware of where they were and their emotions..........As soon as Mom saw how different he was she separated Savage from him and started to mold and angry and emotional Maul." Ashoka stared at Feral in silence for a moment........ " what about you Feral what was your childhood like?" Feral gave a sweet smile as he looked at Ashoka, " It was pretty normal honestly I was sent to the village very young, I got to stay with my big brother Savage he trained me in fighting techniques until I was old enough to spar with the other boys in the village...... We would hunt together, train together, laugh together it really wasn't a bad life to live........... The witches used to come steal men from the village as mates but it stopped for a long time until Ventress came to take Savage...... she wanted a weapon tho and honestly thats kind of what were taught to be....." there was silence for a moment before Ashoka spoke up..... " are you a force wielder too?" Feral looked at her for a moment " I can feel it all around me moving thru me but I was never taught to use it...... that was something the witches reserved for their own teachings...... a way of being able to give us our final lessons to keep control of us"....... Ashoka smiled at Feral as she began really grasping how the men were used on Dathomir, so many force sensitive children, she thought to herself as she really started feeling upset the Jedi council didnt step in to stop this madness. "At least you have a brother again" Ashoka said to Feral "im just sorry you have the angry and broken one now"...... Feral giggled again "it's okay hes still my brother and he will help toughen me up some more especially with the witches out if the way I won't be kidnapped." They both giggled for a bit at the thought........ "Well Feral I guess I better try to sleep since I still have to figure out why the force brought me here to begin with." Feral nodded and got up from where he was sitting heading towards the back of the cave with some blankets and pillows......... "I thought Anakin had a messed up story" she thought to herself. " why do I feel like this why do I feel connected to Maul and his disturbed past? I really don't understand these emotions flowing thru me."........ Ashoka slowly drifted to sleep as her mind wondered staring up at the bacta tank in the distance.