Harry Potter and the Dark Lord of the Sith

Chapter 20.

They had nearly finished replacing the damaged parts. Ron held his wand to a joint between two metal tubes. "Relashio!" he said. Sparks emerged from his wand, and the piece was welded together. "Looks like that's it..." he said. Chewbacca nodded.

"Sir, if I may venture an opinion--" Threepio tried to tell Han.

"I'm not really interested in your opinions, Threepio," the smuggler replied, but then Leia ran in, frightened.

"There's something out there!" she shouted.

"Where?" Han demanded.

"Outside, in the cave."

They heard an impact on the ship's hull... and then another.

"I'm going out there," Han declared.

"Are you crazy?" Leia cried. Ron stood in silence. We already know the answer to that, don't we?

"I just got this bucket back together," Han stated flatly. "I'm not going to let something tear it apart." He picked up a breath mask.

"Then I'm going with you!" Leia said.

"Me, too," Ron agreed.

Han nodded, and turned towards the exit. There were only three masks, but Ron cast the bubble-head charm on himself. Threepio stood at the exit hatch.

"I think I'd better stay behind and guard the ship," he proclaimed. They heard another noise. "Oh, no..." the droid said.

Outside, there was little to see. "Lumos!" Ron lighted his wand. Even then, nothing was clear. The cave was full of strange mists.

"This ground sure feels strange," Leia commented. "It doesn't feel like rock."

"There's an awful lot of moisture in here," Han added.

"I don't know," Leia said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"How bad?" Ron asked.

Before Leia could answer, Han fired his blaster at something. "Watch out!" he shouted to them. Then something fell right in front of them. It was a strange creature, with bat-like wings, but its head resembled nothing that Ron has ever seen.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Han told them. "Mynock. Check the rest of the ship make sure there aren't any more attached, chewing on the power cables."

Ron drew his wand and went around the ship, looking for more of the creatures. That they could consume raw energy from the ship worried him. He did not forget Hagrid's blast-ended skrewts.

"Mynocks?" Leia murmured.

"Go inside," Han told her. "We'll clean them off if there are any more."

Several of the creatures dropped on them. Han and Chewie both fired at them. "Stupefy!" Ron shouted, bringing another creature down.

"Wait a minute..." Han said.

Ron glanced at him. "Something wrong?"

Instead of answering, Han drew his blaster and fired at the floor of the cave. At that, the whole asteroid seemed to shake violently.

Chewie barked, but they didn't need prompting. They ran after Han back to the ship, ducking from another swarm of mynocks.

"Let's get out of here!" Han yelled as soon as they were aboard.

Leia tried to protest. "The Empire is still out there. I don't think it's wise to--"

Han cut her off. "No time to discuss this in committee!"

"I am not a committee!" she yelled, but Han ignored her.

Han took off and nearly collided with the wall of the cave he was desperately trying to escape.

"You can't make a jump to light-speed in this asteroid field," Leia tried again.

"Sit down, sweetheart, we're taking off!" Han was even more adamant than before. They were already in sight of the cave's opening.

"Look!" Threepio pointed.

"I see it, I see it," Han said.

Ron saw it too. And then... the opening of the cave began closing with enormous white rock protrusions about to make a zipper-like pattern.

Ron suddenly understood what was happening. "Oh, no!" he gasped.

"We're doomed!" Threepio declared.

"The cave is collapsing!" Leia shouted.

"This is no cave!" Han replied. Ron could only nod.

"What!" Leia screamed, but then the nature of the "cave" became apparent even to her. The Falcon flew between two teeth about to crush it, and managed to evade the monster that tried, with surprising speed, to recapture them. They escaped back into the asteroid field.

"Just our luck," Ron said. "Why did we have to enter that asteroid?"

"I think we have more urgent things to worry about," Leia suggested. "Look!"

XXXXXXXX

Luke was carrying Yoda on his back again. Harry was leading the way through the forest. He leaped over a large fallen tree trunk, at least seven feet high. "Yes," the Jedi master lectured. "A Jedi's strength flows from the Force... but beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression--the dark side of the force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will--as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."

Harry realized who Yoda was talking about. He looked at Luke, who also nodded. "Vader," Luke said.

Harry thought about Voldemort. It may have appeared that he always was evil... but was it so? And even if it was, he knew that Voldemort's followers were not. And Yoda was saying that everybody--including him and Luke--could become like that. Harry gulped.

"Master Yoda," Luke asked, "is the dark side stronger?"

"No," Yoda replied. "Quicker, easier, more seductive."

"But how am I to know the good side from the bad?" Luke was confused.

"You will know. When you are calm... at peace... passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."

"But tell me why--"

"No, no, there is no why. Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind of questions."

Luke lowered the Jedi master and went to get dressed. Harry tried to relax, but couldn't. His scar tingled for some reason.

"Something doesn't feel right," Luke whispered. "I feel cold... death."

"That place," Yoda pointed at a dark hole at the roots of a large tree, "is strong with the dark side. A domain of evil it is. In you must go."

"What's in there?" Luke asked.

"Only what you take with you," Yoda replied.

Harry didn't understand, and it looked like Luke didn't either. Understand or not, Luke headed for the cave.

"Your weapons," Yoda told him. "You will not need them."

Luke stood for a moment, then put on the belt anyway. Harry tried to follow him, but Yoda stopped him.

"This, alone he must do. Time for you to go in will come." Then Yoda reached out and touched his scar. "The dark side has touched you here," he said. "Influence it has, does it not?"

"Yes..." Harry answered. "Dark wizards, dark powers--even that cave--make it hurt. Voldemort's presence is especially painful."

"Beckons you the dark side," Yoda explained. "Seduces you. Tells you, pain will stop if you join."

"What? Is that what it is?" Harry was incredulous.

"Yes. Learn to control this pain you must, or seduced by the dark side you will be."

Yoda touched his mind for a moment. Harry felt a wave of relaxation come over him. He breathed, and concentrated on banishing the pain. It wasn't easy. Harry had to start over several times, relaxing and trying to put a shield of the Force around him. Finally, he noticed that there was no pain anymore. He opened his eyes and looked at Yoda. The Jedi master was sitting at his own meditation. Luke just sat, leaning against a tree.

"Control your pain, you do," Yoda said. "But practice more, you must." Harry looked at Luke who was still shaking a little. Then he clutched his scar. The pain returned.

Yoda saw it. "Control, you must learn control," he instructed. "Not easy. Not fast. Come." he motioned, "Nothing more for today." With that, he led the way back to the hut.

"Ask not what seen he has in the cave," Yoda told Harry. "At least not till you yourself in there has been." Harry could only nod. Jedi training was more difficult, and more confusing, than anything he has been through at Hogwarts.