Mid-8 ABY
Planet Dathomir

The Mandalorian Padawan, Kia Starflier, has been working with Master Luke Skywalker for years and is soon to become a Jedi Knight. But her final lesson is to resist the Dark Side of the Force. Yet Kia has been contemplating on the idea that there must be more to the Jedi ways than continuously fighting against the temptations of one's emotions. Her intentions are pure, to be educated in the ways of the Force. Yet there is something about stepping into the unknown that is appealing to her.

To win on the battlefield, a good soldier must learn the enemy's intentions and conquer their fears. A well planned and organized strategy for war is more than simply protecting oneself from the opponent's attacks. She is a Mandalorian first and foremost. She never needed to shy away from developing her attachments, as well as experiencing fear or anger. She'd openly embraced her feelings plenty of times during her years living among her clan. Her emotions were never anything she needed to fear back then. To bravely face your weaknesses head on this is the best way to refrain from falling into chaos.

Kia had felt the chilling temptations of the Dark Side on more than one occasion. The last time she did was years ago, when she knew she had lost her clan the the purge. She felt the desire to kill those Imperial troopers who not only slaughtered her whole family, but also completely annihilated the entire planet of Mandalore with their bombs and battle droids. She wanted to kill them, and watch her enemies die slowly and painfully. Yet she knew this would only end in more heartache.

***

With her helmet in her hand, Kia takes the first few hesitant steps away from her X-wing, and deeply draws in a breath through her nostrils. The air smells of dirt and moisture, as well as a hint of decaying timber and sultry soil. The aromas are potent and natural. There is a dense fog that swirls around her, shifting and twisting at her feet, and the marsh seems to whisper at her. She feels a presence, it is both malevolent and welcoming. Someone is watching her, but she is not afraid.

The Dark Side is strong here and it compresses her like delicate fingers, poking, prodding, searching and urging her forward. Even her breath seems to reverberate as she leaves her ship, disappearing into the thick haze that's enveloping her. Her feet are sinking into the warm and moist ground, the strange bioluminescent trees producing needle-like archways surrounding her.

"I am one with the Force and the Force is with me. I am one with the Force and the Force is with me," she softly chanted to herself, walking through the swamp with an open mind.

Thorny grass brushes against her and the wet moss sinks softly at her feet. Water sloshes under her boots, and the puddles around her seem to shimmer with an eerie green light. It's all very beautiful and strange at the same time. She thought being here would be frightening, but it somehow felt calming. It's almost funny how Luke was so uncomfortable and anxious about her coming here. After a few minutes of strolling through the mists, she can now make out the faint image of large structure in the distance.

Then a soft, female voice is unexpectedly heard, whispering and echoing all around her, "You are trespassing, Jedi."

"I'm not here as your enemy," Kia says calmly as she puts on her helmet, connecting her mind to the Force to give her the strength to engage with this Dark being.

"Outsiders aren't welcome here," the sinister female voice whispered back, this time sounding a lot closer.

"I mean you no harm. My name is Kia Starflier. I am a Mandalorian foundling of Clan Eldar and Jedi Padawan to Luke Skywalker. I've come seeking your knowledge."

"Why should I train you, Jedi?"

"We have something in common. We are survivors. Both of our clans were massacred by our enemies. I'm here only as a student of the Force."

"Does your master know of this?"

"He only knows that I am here, but he does not know that I wish to learn all aspects of the Force."

"I sense great anger in you. Have you ever touched the Dark Side? Felt its might and fury?"

"I have. I wish to manage my connection to the Dark Side, instead of denying it completely."

"You are powerful. Too powerful for the sanctimonious Jedi."

"I wish to learn how to wield it properly and without losing control."

"To truly walk in the Dark is to be powerful enough to withstand its thrashing wind."

"I am ready," Kia stated unemotionally, and it was at this moment that she felt a chilling cold. An icy bitterness that seeped into the Force, which is now even more apparent than when she first arrived on this planet.

"We shall see," the female voice hissed through the swamp. Stepping out from the fog was a tall, slender Zebrak woman with no hair and white skin. "I am Amina. In order for me to teach you the Dark Side, you must beat me in a lightsaber duel."

"A trial by combat. I am a Mandalorian and I accept this challenge," Kia says calmly as she takes a deep breath as she grips the hilt of her saber. "This is the way."

There was the buzz of a saber igniting only a split second before Kia was able to raise her beskar vambraces, just in time to block a red blade coming toward her head. Igniting her purple saber, she blocks the woman's attacks, not wanting to kill her as their sabers clash together.

Baring her teeth threateningly, the Dathomirian lunged at the her again. She attacked in such a violent and furious manner, that Kia had to Force-jump away to avoid getting slashed in half. Then it was a blur of shimmering blades and a gleaming beskar armor.

"There is darkness in you," the Zabrak hissed, baring her teeth again as she lets go of her saber to backhand Kia. Throwing a sidekick, Kia was able to maintain her balance as she blocked Amina's attacks.

"All that anger," Amina murmured with menacing curiosity as she shoved and striked, trying to chop off Kia's limbs with her red lightsaber.

"You cannot beat me, little Jedi," Amina snarled as she continued forward with such ferocity, that it kept Kia on the defensive.

"I am a Mandalorian!" Kia cries out as she lunged forward and attacked again, along with her anger and a hint of carefree curiosity and delight. Now Amina is on the defensive. Growling, Kia then kicks the Zebrak in her gut as she stumbles backwards with a grunt. Amina met Kia's heated glare with thought before attacking again.

"Weapons are my religion. Fighting is my life," Kia sneered, slicing her saber at Amina and nearly succeeding in cutting the Zabrak in half.

"The Jedi will reject you for your darkness," Amina sneered, her voice now showing signs of exhaustion, while Kia sends a sequence of strong attacks at her. Kia Force-pushed Amina to create some space, gritted her teeth as she dragged her purple blade down one side of the Zebrak's saber to redirect her assaults.

Amina smirked menacingly at Kia. "You will be such an excellent apprentice."

"Is that a true offer?" Kia asked as she continues blocking Amina's attacks.

Raising an eyebrow, the Zabrak blocked four more attacks before she answering, "And what if it were? Your precious master will not approve!"

"I am not like my comrades," Kia replied and instantly reached out with her free hand to Force-grip Amina in place, but not wanting to crush her. "I have seen pain and suffering. I know it's fiery, but I do not wish to cause pain to the innocent," Kia shouted as she disarmed the Zebrak as her saber comes flying into her hand.

Grunting in shock, Amina stumbled back onto the ground as Kia released her, pointing the tips of both sabers to the Zebrak's chin.

"Seems that I have misjudged you, apprentice," the Zebrak panted. "I will teach you what I know, but it will not be an easy journey."

***

Since the Dark Side did not have any empathy for living things in the Force, Kia's lessons took place in an empty and unused space on her first day.

"There is less to destroy in here," Amina says after Kia questions her choice of teaching venue. "For your first lesson, we will meditate together and I will guide you through the process of managing your emotions. The one that is the most closely in tune with the Dark Side is anger, which is the easiest to focus on."

Kia took a deep breath, "I do not want to fall completely."

"In spite of what your self-righteous Jedi proclaim, to wield the Dark Side is not like falling. You must train yourself to be strong enough to not flinch in the face of true horror. To not look away from its piercing rain and thunderous lightening."

Kia listened intently, almost mesmerized. Amina's enlightened voice and graceful words were inconsistent with her intimidating, yet honest appearance. The result was captivating. Kia had to admit that it was very appealing. Indeed the way Amina is describing the Dark Side seems beautiful, compared to the dreadful tales and cautionary warnings of the Jedi.

"Now, think of a time when you were angry," Amina instructed. "Think of a person or event that made you so angry you wanted to lash out."

There were two incidents where she felt anger. One was when clones attacked the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and the other was the attacks on Mandalore. Kia decided to focus on the Mandalorian Purge, but she felt a little anxious about the possibility of becoming a victim to the power of the Dark Side. She is hoping that coming here was a good idea.

"Good," Amina's voice is heard from far away. "Excellent. Now hold that rage. Let if fill you up. Let it become the only thing you feel in this moment."

A cold chill spreads through Kia's entire body. It crawled up her throat and she inhaled its icy and sharp energy into her lungs. It was painful, but it was also pleasurable. The Dark whipped around him like a ferocious swirl. It felt like being in the middle of thunderstorm, it was overpowering and mildly intoxicating. The Light was calm tranquility, but the Dark is a raging hurricane. It was glorious, but also terrifying.

"Now," Amina's voice caught Kia's awareness through the deafening howl of the Dark Side, "I've put stones on the floor in front of you. Release your energy and use it to lift the stones."

Kia thought that seemed too easy. She's been lifting items since she was a child. She reached out into the coldness of the Dark Side, the same way she would reach out to the warmth of the Light. Kia harnessed the Force and wrapped it around the stones to lift them up into the air. However, something is wrong.

There was an sinister thunder. A heaviness to the stones that Kia did not expect. She wrapped her mind harder around the rocks and adds more power into lifting them. The rumbling got louder. The ground under her started to shake, though she could not feel it since she was so deeply submerged in the Force. An intense, painful sound cracked and rang through the roaring of the Dark Side in Kia's ears, but still she wasn't lifting the stones. She wrinkled her brow, eyes still shut and mind deep in meditation, she grabbed more of the Darkness.

"Kia..."

Almost there, Kia thought. The stones felt lighter now.

"Kia, stop..."

They were rising upwards, she was certain of it. Yet they were only barely off the floor. Why is this so hard?

"Kia, you need to stop..."

There was a bone clashing impact to her face and Kia was smacked out of her concentration with the blow and a sudden fall.

She immediately realized she was on her side as her awareness returned. Her face pulsated with pain and her head was thumping. Grumbling, Kia blinked her eyes open, her vision was hazy until she was able totally focus.

Sitting herself up slowly, she looked around in bewilderment. "What the..." she trailed off as she looked around the room then feeling panic. "Oh fuck, what happened?"

The room was destroyed. The large, thick boulders of the floor had been fully pulled up and scattered all over in broken pieces. There were massive splits along the walls and the ceiling was crumbling.

Standing in the center of the debris was Amina, one fist clenched and her other holding up a light fixture just above where Kia was spread out on the floor.

"You allowed the darkness to twist your perception of the area around you. I told you to lift the stones and the Dark Side misguided you into lifting everything of stone in the entire building."

Stomach turned, Kia felt herself becoming sick, "Oh, shit."

"You were so deep that I had to hit you in the face to force you out of the meditation," Amina added with an impressed grin. "You have a lot of rage in you. I have never seen anything like it. If I hadn't stopped you, then you would have torn up my entire temple."

Scowling down at her clenched hands, Kia muttered, "I'm not normally that strong."

"But you are," Amina retorted as she sat back down, much to Kia's surprise. "The Dark Side is disorder and wildness. Only the careless will allow the disarray of the Dark to impair their vision to all of their prior imperfections and reluctance. This often displays itself in total destruction. The difficulty comes in controlling its chaotic power."

Amani loosened her posture back to a more relaxed meditative position, "We will meditate again. But this time, I will wield the Dark Side and you will watch. Afterwards, you will try it again, but hopefully with less damage to my property."

***

NOTE: I really wanted my main character to take a journey into the Dark Side. I know the concept of 'Gray Jedi' is only fan based and not canon, but I really wish it was! This idea intrigues me and I hope you all enjoy it.