Q: Where is that "shadow capital" that Ren originates from, and how did he get to Hermitcraft?
Kingdomcraft does not exist in this story.
So the first part of this does take place in the Star Wars universe bc I felt like it and also Season 7
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away...
Chatter in multiple languages and the sound of clinking silverware and whirring machinery filled the bar. The hazy air smelled of cigarette smoke. Sand gathered in the cracks between floorboards and in the corners of the room, to the point that nobody bothered to clean it up.
Gossip was exchanged here. Deals were made. Rivalries were started and settled.
In the back of the room sat a hooded figure. A cloth mask covered his nose and mouth, but those who were got close enough and lived to tell of it saw his piercing blue eyes and longish brown hair. He sat alone. Nobody dared approach him, because they knew who he was and feared him. They avoided his icy gaze like the plague, because for all they knew, he was hired to come after them.
The Shadow Hound. The most feared assassin in the galaxy.
Nobody knew his name or origin. Nobody wanted to.
He appeared to be waiting for someone. And that someone came, striding into the tavern as if he had no better place to be.
He made a beeline for the Shadow Hound after taking a quick glance around. He, too, wore a hooded cloak, the shadows beneath which were so deep that they hid his face. Beneath the cloak, a metal cylinder was strapped to his belt.
A lightsaber.
The crowd murmured to each other, some in fear, some in admiration. This man was either a Jedi, Sith, or highly skilled thief. He was nobody to be trifled with.
The new figure, be it thief or otherwise, sat down across from the Hound. The people nearest them strained to hear what he said.
"You are the Shadow Hound?"
The assassin nodded slowly. "Is this really a good place? We could be heard by anyone."
"It doesn't matter. They can't do anything."
The Shadow Hound fiddled with his cup, almost nervously. "Okay, then. You said you had a job for me?"
"I do," the stranger said, smiling even though nobody could see it. "A certain Jedi who I have had a rivalry with since apprenticeship."
The eavesdroppers nearly stopped listening. This man was a Sith.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why can't you just kill him yourself? You're obviously a Sith. You should be able to-"
"Are you questioning my offer?" The Sith growled. "I am paying you for this. Take it or leave it."
"I am not questioning your offer," the Shadow Hound replied calmly. "How much are you paying me?"
The Sith glanced around, causing the people watching them to looked away. Then he slid a slip of paper toward the assassin.
The Shadow Hound looked at it, and his eyes widened. He looked back up.
"Do we have a deal?" The Sith drawled.
"I feel that if I refuse, you'll show me how skilled you are with a lightsaber," the Hound replied, raising an eyebrow. "But deal."
They shook on it.
"How can I contact you when the job is done?" the Shadow Hound asked.
"You'll find me," the Sith promised. "Call me the Renperor."
------
Ren Stargazer.
Named for Kylo Ren, one of the Sith and a legend with a lightsaber. Ren was nearly as good with a dagger. He had little time to gaze at stars, however.
Ren stomped into his bedroom, throwing off his hood and glaring at the piece of paper in his hand. He wasn't angry. Far from it. But glaring and scowling was all he knew. He rarely smiled, except the cruel ones that he gave his targets when he was just about to kill them. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.
The price that Sith guy had offered was unreal. Ren would be able to get himself to the next galaxy if he wanted to, if he did the job in the next two weeks.
Two weeks to track down a Jedi and kill him.
Information on the target was on the paper as well. He wouldn't be too hard to find. It was just getting to him that was the problem.
Ren selected a few blades from his large arsenal of weapons. He had always been good with a sword. And throwing knives would come in handy, as well.
Ren sighed. What he really wanted was a lightsaber, but they were hard to come by. Only Jedi and Sith had them.
Jono had had one, before he disappeared.
Ren had never hunted a Jedi before. Maybe he could take the guy's lightsaber once he was dead.
Ren looked around. He didn't have to leave right away, right? He could take a quick nap. He was exhausted.
Ren collapsed on his bed and drifted into the world of dreams.
------
Ren stalked his prey, waiting for him to be alone. This was where he had gotten his name - the Shadow Hound. He watched from the shadows, and hunted. Nobody escaped him when he didn't want them to.
He watched, a little bored, as the Jedi stopped to commune with a random guy who walked by him. It wasn't that hard to go into an alleyway or something. Why was he taking so long?
Almost as if the knight read his thoughts, he slipped into a building. Ren took off his hood and mask and came out of the shadows to follow him.
He walked into the building casually, his cloak hiding his weapons. If he was hooded and masked, then the Jedi would surely be suspicious. But if he walked in as Ren instead of the Shadow Hound, he wouldn't bat an eye.
Ren didn't know what the building was. Some kind of shop that sold machine parts. The alien shopkeeper greeted the Jedi with a friendly garble in his own language.
After making sure nobody had noticed his silent entry, Ren stepped into the deep shadows of a corner and pulled his mask and hood back up. He had to act quickly, before anyone noticed him.
He didn't want to kill any more than was necessary, so he took out a smaller knife, aimed, and threw.
The shopkeeper was still happily chattering with his back turned. When the Jedi didn't answer his question, he frowned and turned around... just in time to see his customer crumple to the floor with a knife in his heart, and a hooded figure slipping out the door.
The shopkeeper yelled and ran outside, chasing the assassin. Ren glanced back, grinning cruelly beneath the mask. The shopkeeper was nowhere near as fast as he was. He got away quickly and held up his prize: the metal cylinder, silver with black markings. Ren had one more weapon to add to his collection.
Killing the Jedi had been surprisingly easy. He was so confident in his power that he didn't even notice the knife whizzing toward him at top speed. Jedi were known for their power over the Force - but this one hadn't even tried.
Ren slipped into an alley and watched as the shopkeeper ran by, bellowing at the top of his lungs. Ren smiled and shook his head. Some people were just idiots. Ren was already wanted for murder. Why try to make it worse? Everyone was afraid of him. Nobody would ever try to capture him.
Once the coast was clear, Ren crept put of the alleyway, pulling his mask and hood down. Without them, he blended effortlessly into the crowd. Nobody suspected a thing.
------
Ren almost skipped out of the tavern. A large sack of gold was slung over his shoulder, and he had to hold his hood in place to keep it from falling off. He was in the most danger here, in his homeland, where people knew Ren, but not the Shadow Hound. Here was where people could recognize him.
Ren came home, setting the sack in a trunk before going into his room to put his weapons away. Another successful mission. Another few years of eating well.
Ren went back to lock the trunk. Then he heard a knock.
Who would possibly knock on the door of Ren Stargazer, who almost never talked to people and only came out of his house to go grocery shopping?
Ren opened the door.
"That's him," a gruff voice said, heavily accented, as if English was their second language. "I saw him walk into my shop."
Ren barely registered what was happening as the soldiers grabbed him. Then something hit him hard on the back of his head, and the world went black.
Captured.
Who had given him away? Nobody knew who he was... right?
What the heck had happened?
Ren felt them remove the blindfold.
"So this is what the great Shadow Hound looks like under the mask," a voice said.
Ren looked up.
He was stuck to a chair by metal bands. Three people stood in front of him: two were soldiers, and the other...
"You."
The Renporer smiled underneath his hood. "I can't have anyone telling people that I was behind the death of that Jedi," he said.
"Did you think I was going to tell someone?" Ren growled. "Part of the pact is that I'm sworn to secrecy. Surely you, who chose to hire me, realize that."
Ren smirked as the Renporer actually looked surprised. "Someone forgot to do their research."
"I could knock you into space if I wanted," the Sith snarled.
"Do it," Ren challenged. A stupid mistake.
That was followed by pain. Horrible, burning pain as electricity coursed through him. Ren screamed and struggled against his bonds.
And then it was over.
"I suppose you think you're brave, then?" The Renporer said. "You think everyone fears you. But I don't."
Ren glared at the Renporer, panting.
"I'll leave you to it for now. But expect my return soon," the Sith said coldly. "I know there are people after me. And I don't stand a chance against you, we both know that. You help anyone who pays you, and I can't have that person be a Jedi."
With that, he left.
Ren squeezed his eyes shut. What was that? He vaguely recalled a flash of light, jagged and flickering. Like lightning.
Ren knew about the electricity that Sith could sometimes manipulate. He never thought it would be used on him, though.
Ren groaned and rolled his head to the side, drifting into unconsciousness.
------
"Hello? Yeah, man, I was just coming to visit the prisoner, man," a voice said with a terrible impression of the Renporer. The figure looked like the Renperor, but he certainly didn't sound like him.
The guards pulled out guns.
"Okay, fine! I'm trying to rescue him! Just leave a guy alone, man!"
"He's a prisoner," one of the guards said. "And you're some random outsider. We're not letting you in."
"Do you wanna see something cool, man?" Renbob said. "This is called a flower, man! And this symbol means peace! I'm not gonna hurt you, man, just step aside and let me through!"
"We're not scared of you. Stop acting like we are!"
"I'm a hippie, man! Peace and love! I don't hurt people!"
The guards fumed. "We are not-"
"Shut up," the other said, pointing her gun at Renbob, who put his hands into the air.
"Don't shoot, officer! I'm innocent, man!"
If Renbob could do anything, it was confuse people.
Ren opened his eyes.
"Hey, man, you're awake!" Renbob said, peering past the guards.
"W- what?"
Renbob pushed past the soldiers. "I'm here to get you out, man!"
The guards raised their guns again. "Leave," one said. "Or we'll shoot."
"He's funny, though," the other one complained.
Ren was still incredibly confused. But his brain was whirring - telling him what he could use as a weapon, how he could attack the guards before they called for backup.
Renbob pushed a button and dove out of the way as bullets shot in the wall exactly where he had been. The metal band on Ren's right arm came apart, freeing it.
"Not cool, dude! You messed up my flowers!" Renbob complained, before pushing another button and releasing another restraint.
"Give me a knife," Ren said quietly.
"You're not gonna kill them, are you?" Renbob's voice was filled with horror.
"Some things have to be done."
Renbob debated whether to give him the small carving knife he held or keep it for himself, where it wouldn't hurt anyone. Then he decided that he could always make Ren into a pacifist later. He shoved the handle into the assassin's hand.
Ren threw the dagger.
The throw held startling accuracy, as it always did. It flew straight towards a chink in one soldier's armor.
The guard looked down at the red spot quickly soaking the clothes under his armor. "Welp," he croaked. "I'm dead."
The other guard shot her gun, but like all Star Wars soldiers, missed about a million times.
Ren, fully free now, rolled out of his chair. "Do you have another one?" he asked his rescuer.
Renbob shook his head. "That was a nice carving knife, man! You just had to go an waste it on murdering people!"
"Get used to it," Ren said. "You're obviously not from around these parts. But news flash: there's a lot of murdering people happening here."
Renbob crossed his arms. "But why, dude? Why-"
"I need backup!" The guard yelled out the door. "I'm outnumbered by a harmless hippie guy and the most infamous assassin in the galaxy here! A little help?"
"We gotta get out of here before more soldiers get here," Ren muttered. "I need a weapon."
"Well, I don't have one!" Renbob reminded him.
Ren glanced around the room, and there it was - the lightsaber he had gotten from that Jedi. It was on a table behind the chair he had been bound to, where he couldn't see it.
Why was a sick feeling going through him at the thought of the assassination? He hadn't had any regrets before.
He blamed the hippie.
Ren dove for the table. The guard realized what he was doing too late.
Ren's hand closed around the metal rod, grappling for the button. His thumb found it, and the blue laser of the sword shot out.
Ren didn't have time to admire the lightsaber. He slashed bullets put of the air as if he had used that very weapon his entire life, making his way toward his attacker.
But when he was close enough to strike, he didn't.
He remembered the pain. The vulnerability.
And instead of slashing the holder, he slashed the gun. The part he had slashed off clattered to the ground, glowing red with heat. Startled, the soldier dropped the other half as well.
"Get out of here," Ren growled.
She had no problems with that. She ran.
Ren turned to Renbob. "Okay. Where's the escape?"
Renbob shrugged.
"You mean you didn't plan a way out?"
Renbob turned beet red and shook his head.
Ren huffed in frustration. "Okay then. Guess we'll have to do this the dirty way."
Barely paying attention to whether the hippie was behind him, Ren charged out of the room.
------
"Okay," Ren panted. "Open the hangar door."
Renbob hit a large button next to the door, and it started to loudly creak open.
"So much for stealth," Ren muttered. "Get in!"
Renbob obediently jumped into the seat behind Ren.
"Can you fly this thing?" Ren asked, staring at the controls. "I can, but I can man the weapons better."
"Of course, man, how do you think I got here?" Renbob replied.
They switched seats.
Ren looked at the large tray of joysticks, buttons, and dials, examining the labels to see what everything did. After buckling his seat belt, he looked back at Renbob and nodded.
The windshield closed with a hiss of escaping air, just as a group of soldiers stormed out of the hallway, yelling.
As the tie-fighter took off, Ren hit a button and watched as a large shell exploded out of the ship's guns, obliterating most of the soldiers on the spot. Then the hangar door was all the way open, Renbob was manning the controls, and they were out and flying towards the stars.
"Where to, man?" Renbob said, his voice buzzing out of Ren's headset.
Ren debated his choices. He had nowhere to go. His home had been discovered, and he wasn't safe anywhere else.
But he had weapons there. He had supplies.
"Tatooine," Ren said. "I have supplies there."
Renbob glanced at him through the camera. "Ya sure?"
Ren nodded.
Renbob turned the tie-fighter and entered hyperspace.
When the blue lights disappeared and they emerged with a jolt, Ren looked at his camera to see what was ahead. He saw the familiar desert planet, half faded into the void of space. They approached, entered the atmosphere, and landed in only a few hours with direction from Ren.
Ren looked out over the vast landscape of his home planet. The two suns were just disappearing over the horizon, forming one of the dazzling sunsets Tatooine enjoyed every evening.
Renbob squinted past the golden rays. "There's a town over there. Probably some supplies, too."
"Home," Ren said, but his tone was bitter. That place had never been a home to him. Nowhere had.
Renbob glanced at him. "You're gonna have to lead, man. All the houses look the same to me."
Ren glared at the city. "Fine."
Ren strode off. He didn't bother to pull his hood and mask up, because Renbob obviously didn't have them. He strapped the lightsaber to his belt, however, and pulled his cloak around his off-white shirt and dark grey trousers despite the heat.
Renbob refused to take off his large amount of flowers and beads, so Ren was forced to walk into town with a hippie at his heels. Great. Just great.
They kept to the quickly growing shadows, trying not to be spotted, and they might not have, except for Renbob's bright red shirt.
"You! You, there! You're Stargazer, right?"
Ren sucked in his breath and turned around to see one of his neighbors. He couldn't remember the guy's name.
Ren nodded slowly.
"There's rumors going around. About you being the Shadow Hound," the neighbor accused, narrowing his eyes.
Ren stopped walking. This person was either very brave or very stupid.
"Never accuse someone of being a secret assassin," Ren advised. "Because you might be right."
His neighbor paled as he realized Ren's meaning.
"I am," Ren said casually, then walked away.
"Why'd you tell him, man?" Renbob asked. "I thought... well, the whole point of secrets..."
Ren didn't look at him. "Well, we're going to be leaving soon, and there's already rumors flying. No point in keeping it a secret anymore."
Renbob developed a sudden interest in his shoes.
They arrived at Ren's house and, though Renbob tried to make conversation, Ren just found the hippie annoying and answered every question with two words at most.
"What are we doing here again?" Renbob finally said, looking around.
"Getting weapons and supplies," Ren growled in reply. "Then we're getting the heck out of here. I never want to see this place again."
They gathered what they could into sacks. Ren's foul mood only got worse when he realized the large sum of reward money from the Renperor was missing. He needed that for fuel for the tie-fighter.
"Do you have money?" Ren said, breaking the silence that hung over them.
"Of course, man! Why would I go on an intergalactic rescue mission without money, man?"
Ren stared at him.
Renbob stared back. "What?"
"Intergalactic?"
"Yeah!"
"I don't think you quite understand the meaning of that word," Ren said slowly, as if speaking to a child.
"Course I do, man! I'm from another galaxy! It's called Minecraft. You should visit sometime, dude!"
There's a lot more to this harmless hippie guy who doesn't have a clue what he's doing than meets the eye, Ren thought.
They finished gathering supplies, including extra ship fuel, before heading back out into the streets.
Renbob gulped down a water bottle while Ren took off his cloak and started to fill the fuel tank.
"Renbob?" Ren asked after a while.
The hippie poked his head over the side of the ship.
"Why did you rescue me?"
Renbob shrugged. "There's this one guy from my home world, Xisuma. You're famous even over there, man. He decided your combat skills were cool and sent me to find you and offer you a place there."
Ren was a little startled by this. "I don't even know this... Xisuma guy."
Renbob shrugged again and said casually, "Your brother does."
Ren nearly dropped the fuel can.
"Jono's dead," he said quietly. "He left the galaxy. He's gone."
"He left here, but now he's at Planet HC-3 with the rest of them, man," Renbob said. "He's not really doing much. Sitting in his room and doing music stuff. Nobody understands him when he gets going about chords and key signatures, but man, it sounds cool."
Ren stared at the hippie. How was he so calm?
"My family disowned him just after he moved out," Ren said. "He left. I never saw him again."
"That's 'cause he's been in Hermitcraft, man," Renbob said, grinning.
"Can you get me there?" Ren said.
Renbob nodded. "Sure, man. It might take a few fuel stops, though... the trip will last a couple of months... we'd need a better ship..."
"I don't care," Ren said, his eyes wild.
Ren jumped into his seat and buckled up, throwing his cloak into the bag at his feet.
"I don't have enough money to buy a decent starship, man," Renbob stressed.
"Then how did you get here?" Ren asked.
"It's kind of complicated," Renbob said nervously. "I had this ship, but it kind of crashed, man."
Ren sighed. "We'll figure it out, I guess."
------
I'm too lazy to write about how they got it, so you get a time skip
------
"There it is, man!" Renbob cheered. "Planet HC-4! Home!"
Home.
A word Ren had never been able to say honestly.
Ren stared at the red planet. It looked an awful lot like Tatooine.
Renbob, however, would not stop grinning. He grinned as they approached the planet. He grinned even more as they entered the atmosphere. He even grinned when they crash-landed in a lake.
Ren preferred not to think about that.
His point was, the guy smiled too much. Surely there wasn't that much to be happy about.
They had become friends over their long journey together. Renbob was the first friend Ren had ever had, but he was pretty sure normal friends weren't supposed to try and make you go vegan or slowly drive you crazy over the course of two months.
Standing on the shore of the lake, his borrowed red shirt and faded blue pants (Renbob had called them jeans) dripping muddy water, Ren fingered the lightsaber strapped to his belt. He would keep it forever. It was his anchor to his old world, a reminder not to be too trusting.
He didn't want to be betrayed.
Ren looked around at the desert landscape. Large red mesas rose toward the sky, layers of colorful terracotta and stone.
"Let's go find Spawn, man!" Renbob said eagerly. "That'll be where everyone is right now."
"Who exactly is 'everyone'?" Ren asked nervously.
"There's... well, I can't really remember how many of us there are."
"Helpful," Ren muttered.
They traveled through the hot desert. Their rations wouldn't last long. Luckily, Ren was used to heat. He had lived in it his entire life.
Renbob, however, had not.
He panted and complained and asked for more water constantly. Ren was very close to snapping and busting out the lightsaber when they spotted a large group of people in a valley. Some were scaling a cliff to get to a patch of trees. Some were gathering water from an oasis. Others were chatting in smaller groups of three and four.
Renbob grinned (again) and started heading down the mountain, losing his balance and falling on cacti several times. "X!" he called. "X, I'm back, man!"
A few people turned toward them, then looked away. Except two people, one wearing a green suit and grey helmet, and the other with a lime green shirt and blue - was that a diamond? - eyepiece. The pair started walking toward Ren and Renbob.
"Iskall, you should probably get going or all the trees are going to be gone," the guy with the helmet said, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.
The guy with the eyepiece, Iskall, shrugged. "I'll find a sapling or something."
"You're a new Hermit," the helmet guy insisted. "You need to make a good first impression."
"I want my first impression to be helping other new Hermits," Iskall said.
Helmet Guy sighed. "Fine."
Ren stuffed his hands into his pockets. He never wore this kind of thing. The jeans were too stiff, the shirt too bright. It wasn't any good for sneaking around, or doing really anything useful.
Renbob bounced on his heels. "X, I found him, man!"
X, who Ren assumed was the guy in the helmet, turned to them. "This is Jono's brother?"
Ren crossed his arms. "I can talk, you know. And yes, I am."
"That's five new Hermits," Iskall said.
X stuck out his hand to shake. "Xisuma Void. Admin, or leader, I guess, of Hermitcraft. I assume you've met Renbob. And this is Iskall."
Iskall waved.
Ren did not accept Xisuma's hand. "Met is putting it nicely," he complained. "He talked my ear off."
"It was fun," Renbob said.
"And you are?" Xisuma asked, awkwardly returning his hand to his side.
"Ren."
"Ren..."
Stargazer, Ren's brain answered.
But Ren realized he didn't want to be known as Ren Stargazer anymore.
He was done with assassinations. They had gotten him electrocuted and thrown him out of Tatooine. Ren Stargazer was an assassin. Ren Stargazer was named for a Sith.
However, he still had to remember it. He couldn't just run. He never did that unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Rendog."
The Shadow Hound would live on in his thoughts, but with a more friendly name. Dogs were loyal and trusting. But they could be vicious when provoked.
"Rendog," Iskall repeated.
It was official, then.
"Welcome to Hermitcraft," Xisuma said, his grin evident in his voice.
And for the first time in years, Ren smiled back.
------
Many years later...
Current Location: Loser Island, Planet HC-7
We meet again, Stargazer.
It was just a dream, but to Ren, it felt very real.
You can run as much as you want, but you won't get anywhere. You've still killed many. You think you have escaped, but your roots remain here.
Ren recognized that voice. It haunted his nightmares, usually accompanied with flashes of light and a lot of screaming.
But he didn't want to say his name.
I have grown more powerful since we last met, Stargazer.
Stop calling me that! Ren said. I'm not an assassin anymore!
Find the beacon. I will be arriving soon, whether you want me to or not. Build me a fortress, and together, we can bring back Pamela.
Ren had always been a sucker for a good deal, and this time was no different.
It was tempting.
Too tempting.
~~~
It's been a while since I watched Star Wars, sorry if this is inaccurate
-Indigo