The fire within

An alternate Star Wars story

The cool wind ripped into his dark tunic, as he ran past the enormous old trees that stood in the midst of this unknown forest. It was almost dark but he did not want to stop. She was here, yes, somewhere near, she was here, he thought, while he picked up his pace.

I will find you, Maul thought with anger and slight anticipation as he caught a glimpse of something moving on his right. Quickly turning his attention toward the moving object, he noticed it was a large animal rushing through the low foliage, away from his wrath. As the animal disappeared from his view, he stopped and listened to the sounds of the forest. Closing his eyes, he concentrated to the sound of the wind that gently blew the branches above his head. Then, there was another sound. Small, rapid feet were rustling in the thick bushes behind one of the ancient trees.

Turning his horned head just a bit, his ears picked up a few more animals that were hastily running away. However, he did not hear her. It's been almost a week, and their cat-and-mouse game was getting on his nerves. She was very careful, maybe too careful, he thought. Every time he got a little closer to her, she deftly and smartly evaded him. Always just a few steps ahead and out of reach, pissed him off even more. Looking at the ground, and seeing the freshly broken branches, he was certain that she passed through this way.

Sniffing into the cool evening air, he suddenly caught a very distinctive scent. It was a faint smell, but nevertheless, it was there and he knew what caused it. With a faint smirk, he quickly took off toward it.

I shouldn't have drank that much water, Rey thought as she swiftly and satisfyingly relieved herself behind one of the thick bushes. Knowing that she was hunted made her quick stop even quicker. As soon as she finished, pulling up her pants, she grabbed hold of the satchel that was fastened onto her waist. Lightly patting the side of it, she made sure everything was where it should be before she continued on her way. She didn't know who was hunting her, but she knew one thing. He was no friend and most likely he wanted the contents of her bag. And that, he would never have, she thought with determination as she kept running west, where through the tall trees, the faded sun rays were beckoning her. I have to be faster, she thought nervously as the sun's last rays disappeared from her view.

Having no other light source besides her weapon, she knew that soon she had to use her lightsaber again to light the way. That idea was not the greatest, however, she had no choice. Not knowing the area, she didn't want to tumble into an abyss or trip up on a low tree branch. After a few minutes of running, she stopped for a second to take her weapon out of her bag.

A bright bluish glow enveloped her beautiful, but tired face, followed by a light buzzing sound that sounded alarmingly loud in the eerie quietness of the forest. Swiftly looking around, she nervously closed her satchel before continuing on.

The wind had picked up and now the colder air with much force was ripping into the branches above his head. But he didn't bother to look up. A beacon of blue light was guiding his way to his prized treasure.

She must have thought she lost me. How foolish of her. Maul thought with a grin, as he quickly and quietly took off toward her.

She is fast, but not fast enough. He eagerly thought, as he was now only a few yards behind her.

Suddenly, Rey sensed something. Deftly spinning around she found herself, face to face with her stalker. In a past few days, she had only caught a glimpse of him here and there, but she had never actually seen him in full view. And the view he gave her was somewhat astonishing.

Wearing a black tunic with matching pants and leather boots, he stood there with full confidence, while his bright, yellow fiery eyes curiously sized her up.

"Stay back." She warned him, as she held her glowing weapon in front of her.

She is very brave or very stupid to stand up to me, he thought with amusement. Either way, I will have what I came here for. Maul thought stepping just a little closer.

"I said. Stay back!" She addressed him again, but this time, she took on a fighter stance, like she was about to make her move.

Tauntingly pacing in front of her, his intense stare never left her frightened face. Then reaching for his weapon, he activated one side of it, enveloping his menacing features with a bright red glow, emphasizing his black, intricate tattoos that covered his face in a very unusual manner.

Rey had never seen an alien like him before. Growing up on Jakku, she had met a variety of aliens, but none of them looked like him, and none of them possessed this extremely dangerous aura what he had. He was different. There was this uniquely amazing and dangerous feeling about him. She was not looking forward to fighting him, but sensed that she would have no choice in the matter.

With a swift thrust, she lunged at him while a loud anguish cry left her mouth.

For a split second, Maul was in shock to see this young woman charging at him. He thought, she was only bluffing with the lightsaber that was most likely stolen. However, as she lunged at him with full force, he had to quickly step out of the way before her weapon made contact with his right shoulder.

Swiftly bringing up his weapon, he quickly slashed at her. However to his amazement, she was extremely fast. As she spun around, her weapon made contact with his, engulfing the area around them with a high electrical buzzing sound. In the purple glow of their weapons, her young, comely face distorted into an angry and full of hatred one. Maul had fought many before. Most of them were of course the pathetic and hated Jedi, which he loved to destroy. However, this woman in front of him was no Jedi, or Sith, but something else. Even though she possessed a Jedi's lightsaber, she did not fight like one.

While he counter attacked her advances, he kept glancing to her satchel. She must have them in there, he thought as he quickly did a back flip, barely missing her chin.

Rey was amazed by his acrobatic fighting skills. She had never seen a fighting technique like this before. Right away she knew she was no match for him. But she couldn't just give up. She had to fight, even if this fight would lead to her demise.

There is fire within her, Maul interestingly thought, as he kept blocking her quick and powerful strokes, while skillfully dodging her.

Rey felt her top sticking to her skin, as the cold sweat ran down on her back. Every time she attacked him, he effortlessly evaded her. As hard as she tried to get to him, he was not an easy target. Although, he was only just a tad bigger than her, he definitely moved much faster than her. Like a cobra, she thought disheartened.

He is toying with me, she desperately thought, slashing at him in vain again. Then he caught her unguarded and sent a kick to her abdomen, making her double over in pain.

As the pain slowly subsided, she straightened up and with gritted teeth she rushed at him again. In the darkness of the forest, their lightsabers looked like an elegant beautiful dance, as they collided with each other.

This needs to end now, Maul annoyingly thought. Suddenly, her lightsaber flew out of her hand and landed somewhere behind him. Her astonished expression lasted only a few seconds when, to Maul's amazement, she sent a powerful Force push toward him that totally caught him by surprise. Losing his balance, he almost collided with the tree behind him.

Quickly regaining his senses and conjuring up the Force, Maul sent an equally powerful force push back at her that she swiftly blocked. Quickly, she sent out another powerful wave that met his in midway. A sudden surge of an extremely powerful Force wave trembled the air between them. Then within seconds, their combined force powers loudly exploded with a blinding light.

As she landed on her stomach, Rey felt the air being sucked out of her lungs.

Lying face down on the forest floor, she felt weak and utterly depleted. As she lifted her head up and spat out a good amount of moist dirt, she noticed his boots standing in front of her face. She was waiting for him to end her quickly. However, instead of cutting her head off, or stabbing her through the back, he slowly squatted down in front of her. Then, she heard his voice.

"Who are you?"

Staring at his boots, she replied. "Nobody."

A small chuckle left his mouth, and then he placed his lightsaber in front of her face, and asked again.

"Who are you?"

In the red glow of his weapon, her face looked somewhat frightened, but in her green eyes, there was that undeniable fire again, which Maul found truly fascinating.

Recoiling from his weapon, she slowly got up and sat on her satchel.

Staring into his eyes, reluctantly, she introduced herself.

"My name is Rey." Then lifting up one of her dark eyebrows, she asked him. "And who are you?"

First, Maul thought it was pointless to introduce himself. She was going to die tonight and there was no reason for him to say anything. However, something deep within him wanted to know this human. She was definitely special, and he was curious. He wanted to know where she had learned to fight like this. And of course, the raw, untamed and untrained force power she possessed was something that peaked his interest even more. The few powerful humans he had met before were mostly Jedi or Sith. This woman was neither of them. Still, she was just as powerful as them, and that was truly captivating.

"They call me Maul." His voice matched his blank expression, while his eyes were penetrating into hers.

"Why do you want them, Maul?" Rey asked, as she shifted on the satchel.

"Does it matter?" He asked with a grin.

"It does matter to me." She replied with fierceness in her voice.

"Are you willing to die for them?" He asked as he stood up.

Looking up at him, she wanted to ask more to try and delay her inevitable fate, but in the last second, she changed her mind. If she has to die tonight, she wanted to die with some dignity.

Staring at each other, for a few seconds none of them said a thing. Then he spoke up.

"Are you going to get up from that bag, or should I remove you myself?"

"I guess you have to remove me yourself." She replied with defiance, waiting on him to make a move. Looking at her, Maul truly wanted to end this quickly. However, for some reason he still wanted to spare her. His curiosity took over his usual rational thinking. Knowing that he might regret this careless decision, he made a choice.

"As you wish." He replied with slight anticipation. With a swift move, and with the power of the Force, he lifted her off the ground. Rey felt completely paralyzed by this act. As she tried to break through his force hold, she only felt herself struggling against it. She was just too exhausted to even move a single muscle.

Her eyes widened when Maul stepped closer. As he looked at her with great curiosity, he leaned closer and sniffed the air around her face.

She smells interestingly good, he thought with amazement, as his eyes landed on her face. Her dark hair was sticking to her damp forehead, and the tiny freckles that covered her nose and part of her cheeks gave her an innocent, almost childish look. Then his eyes traveled down on her neck, where her top was slightly open, showing off the top of her chest that was rising with each shallow breath she took.

He was about to reach for the satchel, when something interesting caught his attention.

On her left lower arm, there was a long gash allowing him to be able to see underneath the dark gray fabric. There was something very interesting beneath that piece of material.

Rey noticed his attention suddenly traveled to her arm. With frustration and anger, she cried out as he slowly touched the material, and pulled it apart.

"Please….don't." She pleaded, as she felt the tightly coiled fabric loosen up and slipping off her arm.

Maul's eyes grew wide with astonishment looking at her markings. Beneath her arm wrap, she had several unique skin markings that Maul was already very familiar with. The same markings he had seen many times on his home planet, Dathomir.

Quickly, he removed the wrap from her other arm as well, exposing more of these markings for him to see.

Rey felt exposed and helpless. Large tears started to run down her face, while she pleaded with Maul again.

"Please...don't look at me."

With concern, he asked.

"Who are you?" Then he added. "And where did you get these?"

Shaking her head, she said.

"I don't know. I do not remember."

Taking his mind off the satchel for now, Maul spoke up again.

"I will let you live if you promise to behave."

Staring into his eyes, she sensed that he was telling her the truth. She knew if he truly wanted to she would have been dead by now.

Nodding in agreement, she said.

"Yes. I promise."

Immediately, she felt the force field diminishing around her.

Sizing her up, he asked again.

"Do you have more of these markings on you?"

Looking at the ground, in a low voice she said.

"Yes. I have more."

"Why are you ashamed of them." Maul said, lightly tracing one of the markings on her left arm. Then to her amazement, he said. "They're beautiful."

All her life, Rey was an outcast and orphan. Growing up on Jakku, she always kept to herself not wanting anyone to know about her markings. At a very young age, she already sensed that she was different than other human girls. Her unique markings and unnatural special abilities set her aside from the rest. Always staying alone and covered up, she never let anyone see her without her clothes. But she never expected anyone to say something like this to her. She thought her markings were repulsive.

"Please, don't touch me." Rey pleaded, as her eyes found his again.

"These markings you have. I have seen them before." Maul said gazing into her eyes.

"Really?" Rey asked with amazement. "Where?"

"On my home planet." Maul replied.

"On your home planet?"

"Yes." Maul replied, looking at her arms again. Then, his eyes found hers and asked.

"Where were you going?"

Rey didn't want to tell him where she was heading with the precious contents of her satchel. However sensing that he wasn't going to hurt her, at least not for now, for some unexplained reason, she wanted to trust him. But how much can I trust him? She wasn't sure. Then she asked again, trying to avoid his question.

"Why do you want them?"

She is avoiding my question, Maul thought with irritation.

"I asked you first." He replied, stepping closer.

Rey's eyes grew wide as his leaned closer. Staring into his uniquely decorated face, she swallowed hard, as his burning stare penetrated into hers. In those burning orbs, there was great intensity and perhaps a hint of curiosity as well, Rey thought with confusion as her pulse quickened. She had never let anyone this close to her before. He was definitely invading her personal space at all levels, and that made her very uncomfortable.

Shifting from one foot to the other, she tried to step back, but he quickly grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her closer, until his chest was almost touching hers.

Slowly and sensually, he sniffed at her face, and then his mouth traveled to her left ear. Feeling his warm breath on her skin made Rey feel uneasy. Instantly, her body tensed up and she wanted to push this man away, when he spoke up.

"You have the marks of a Nightsister. I wonder why?" Then he added as his lips lightly brushed against her ear. "You don't smell like one, and you damn sure don't look like one neither."

Then he did something that left Rey awestruck. Leaving her ear, his mouth traveled back to her face. Suddenly, she felt his tongue licking her face, just at the corner of her lips. A small shudder rushed through her whole body, as he said.

"And you don't taste like one either."

Rey felt paralyzed again. However this time for a completely different reason. Not just because what he did to her, but also because what he said. Nightsister? Her thoughts were in turmoil.

Composing herself, she spoke up.

"I was heading back to Jakku."

Pulling away from her, he let go of her arm, and then he asked.

"Are you sure you want to go back there?"

Avoiding his gaze, she looked at the ground and said.

"No one would look for me there."

Stepping away from her, he said in a mocking tone.

"Well then, I wish you a safe journey, back to…. Jakku."

Suddenly, Rey realized what he had done. Quickly, she placed her hand on the satchel only to feel the flatness and emptiness of the fabric beneath her shaking fingertips.

"You." She started. "How dare you do this?" She accusingly said in a raised voice, when she realized that he shamelessly tricked her.

Holding the ancient books in his hand, he clicked his tongue, and then with a grin, he said.

"You should feel lucky that I left you alive."

Holding her hand out, she ordered him.

"Give them back to me!"

Oh, that fire was back again, Maul thought watching her standing there with an angry and disappointed face.

After placing the worn, old books into the front of his tunic, he stepped further away from her and he was about to turn and leave, when she picked up a rock and threw it at him.

The small rock quietly flew through the air and hit him on one of his horns, making Maul stop in his tracks.

Instantly, his face morphed into a menacing grin. With a swift move, he Force grabbed her. In a split second, she was hanging in the air again in front of him. However this time, her face showed no fear or surprise, but instead of anger and loathing.

"You don't scare me." She spat at him. "I'm not afraid of you. Thief!"

Maul thought about snapping her delicate neck, but again something held him back, stopping him from ending the life of this human being. There was something in this woman that bothered him. His senses were usually pretty accurate. His instincts and skills were the extreme quality that made him who he is. He was a lone wolf and he liked it that way. Not wanting to belong with no one, Maul liked his lifestyle now. Yes, in the past a long time ago, he wanted to be a part of something bigger, but that was gone and for all the treasure of the galaxy, nothing would make him change his mind and go back, ever.

Still, he needed to get away from here and leave. He had a mission and he wanted to reach his destination as soon as he could. And now, possessing these treasured books, nothing and nobody would stop him.

Quickly making up his mind, he suddenly placed just a tiny bit more pressure on the back of Rey's head, causing her to instantly pass out. Throwing her limp body over his shoulder, Maul called for her lightsaber, which quickly flew into his hand. Then he started to walk back to his ship.