Beyond the valley of the Sith Lords, lies a barren wasteland, a desert which seems endless. Many have tried to cross it to prove their strength, their willpower, none has ever managed to cross this wasteland. Whatever lies in the desert is meant to keep hidden. There are monsters there which hold such a grip on the Dark Side that fuels these monsters, gives them strength and powers you can’t imagine.

Not long after his encounter with the mysterious woman, Kalin finally went beyond the valley with as much supplies as possible. No one managed to cross it, no one dared anymore to try. The other instructors though Kalin had a big ego if he tried and thought he could surive this. They thought he was dead for sure. But Kalin's intentions were never to cross this wasteland. He wanted to find the mysterious woman he fought. His senses pointed in this direction.

But even so, the danger was always that he could encounter the monsters which they speak about. If they are real, no one ever knew, it was speculated on suspicion, on brief vague explorations of the desert. If he would bump into one of these monsters, that was left to chance.

Only a few steps in the desert and the Dark Side became stronger...was it just this place, or these creatures people speculated about. Well there was only one way to find out. Kalin wasn't afraid, but it was not really his first choice to be...

Ayanna watched as Kalin ventured into the desert. She was desperate to follow him and join in the adventure. However, her fears about the landscape caused a few doubts in her mind about whether it was so wise to follow, but her curiousity was getting the better of her. She kept well behind him, as he only appeared as a distant shadow through the sand in the distance, if he spotted her now, it would all be over and she would have to turn back. But she always was sure not to loose track of him in this horrible place, otherwise, she would be in a desperate situation of her own.....

Kalin walked further and further, deeper into the desert. Suddenly he felt another presence, also strong in the Dark Side, though not as strong as of these monsters, he thought...if they existed...Could it be the mysterious woman he saw in the valley? He looked further, but as sand pulled up in the wind, it was almost impossible to see anything. he had no choice but to move forward. Though he thought of a plan to discover where this presence came from.

In the mean time he heard loud roaring in the distance, which pulled his attention. Not just from one direction, but many. Was it breakfast for these monsters or something? He continued to walk but with more caution, minding his surroundings more and more, hoping the Force would guide him through.

Ayanna continued to creep after Kalin, the roars of the surrounding monsters did not make her any more at ease, although she felt more afraid of being discovered by Kalin than them. She could handle the monsters, but wasn't too sure about Kalin. However, if the situation became desperate, she knew she would have to alert him to her presence.

She looked down to her hands, noticing that already her body had lost so much moisture. She reached into one of her pockets and took a sip of water from a jug which replenished her. Her hair was glowing like the light from the sun, though she was surrounded by no vegitation, the extreme rays from the sun in the skies was enough to fill her with enormous energy, although this too was dangerous as she would wear out quicker. She raised her hood up and kept peering in the distance towards Kalin until suddenly, a noise from behind her was enough to send her startling around. However, as she looked behind her, she saw nothing. She knew something was not right, something had been there, or something was luring her. Although she was unsure what. She looked ahead, but Kalin still continued, seemingly not knowing Ayanna was there yet.

Surrounded by sand and only the Dark Side, Kalin's com-link went off. And he replied,

"This is Kalin, who is this!"

A harsh voice came through which was disturbed by its frequency that hardly made it through due to the sandstorm.

"Hey! How are you managing back there!? Did you cross it yet? haha! Seen any of those beasts...."

Annoyed Kalin answered, "No....why are you bothering me?!"

"Well, the academy has been contacted by Lord Vader himself...He has one of us in custody...It seems he has been dissobeying order!"

Kalin wondered, "So what does this have to with me?!"

"Well it seems he was your Acolyte! His name is Christopher Enyar!"

Kalin's mood sunk "Chris...what has he done now...." His mood really went from bad to almost depressed.

"He's been playing around on Alderaan. He exposed his powers in the public! Therefore he will be trialed here, but you'll have to be here, cause he is your Aculyte!" the voice ordered.

"Well you know, I'm pretty busy at the moment, it will have to wait, make contact with Vader, say that I'll take responsability over him. I don't want him imprisoned or that any harm comes to him! Just see to it that he can't leave the planet!"

"Okay....your funeral!" Then the com-link switched off

He was speaking to himself, "Great...If I haven't got enough problems, now I got this!!!"

The roaring of these speculated monsters got louder as it seems they came closer, but Kalin was unable to see them. It was also impossible to sense them coming as the Dark Side was just everywhere....

Ayanna watched, she saw that he had been using his comlink, and couldn't help but wonder what it was about. Suddenly. from behind her a number of Sith Hounds attacked her. She couldn't help but let out a cry as she turned, igniting her lightsaber and beginning to slash at them.

As she slashed one of their heads off, allowing it to fall to the ground with a dull thud, she used her Force Deflection to cast the hounds backwards. With this she them leapt and sliced at the two remaining hounds as they lay on the ground. She was breathing heavily from the fright of the attack. She had not seen where they could have come from, but something was scaring her more than that......

After all the actions Ayanna went through, Kalin suddenly stood before her,

"I should have known...."

He clenched his teeth.

"DAMN!!!"

He turned and turned because he just didn't know what to do anymore

"First Chris and now you! I asked you now to come here! Wasn't I clear enough?!!"

Then the roaring sound just increased more and it weren't Sith Hounds. The presence of these monsters became clear for a change...They were surrounded. All what could be seen was blurry huge silhouttes in the distance.

Ayanna said nothing about it and instead prepared herself. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What....... What are they?" She said, trying to sway the subject from what she was up to, to what was presently going on.

"At the moment...I don't CARE what they are!!! The only thing I care about is you...what are you doing here! I told you to stay away from here! Why didn't you listen!"

Things became silent but the silhouettes came closer slowly

"I don't like this...I shouldn't have come...."

Then suddenly it hit him.

"Wait...I sense something else...It's..It's her!"

Ayanna looked quickly to him and then back to what was coming towards them,

"What do you mean 'her'?....... Oh no..... you'd better not mean who I think........ Don't zorry... I'm already starting to regret coming.... there, happy now?" She spoke in half truth, though she still could not help but enjoy the buzz of the danger that was around her.

A sinister laughter could be heard echoeing through the air.

"It's her alright! She's controlling them."

The woman began to show herself riding one of these huge monsters. Huge monsters walking on two legs. Spikes on their back and they had huge claws. They walked very slow though.

"Welcome back, Skywalker! I've been expecting you..."

Kalin sighed, "I'm getting tired of this 'I've been expecting you' thing..."

The monsters slowly gained ground still there was some distance between them and the duo. Suddenly one of the monsters put his arms down. He now crawled on for legs and sped up. He took huge leaps now he ran on four of his legs. These monsters were capable of walking on two or four legs. Their anatomy was supreme so that they were one of the most dangerous predators in the galaxy.

"Prepare yourself..."

The monster who ran on its four legs took huge leaps and when it reached Kalin and Ayanna, Kalin jumped on its back. He slashed his way through his head, but it hardly had effect as their skulls were so big, but Kalin kept digging with his lightsaber in his head and it start to roar harder and harder while it increased its speed. He bumped into three other of these monsters, knocking them down. Kalin lost his balance and his lightsaber kept sticking in his head still burning through his skull until it finally dropped dead on the ground. Kalin had to find a way to retrieve his lightsaber, but in this desert it was almost impossible to spot.

As Kalin jumped onto one of the monster's backs, Ayanna stayed on the ground, trying her best to dodge the paths of the monsters. Sliceing chunks off their legs as they galloped past. This spread thick, clotted blood over the sand.

She saw Kalin trying to carve into one of the beast's skull, and did not feel comforted at the great difficulty he seemed to have in doing so. She began to doubt their success chances in this.

The monsters clashed together and began to turn and twist. As she watched, another came clambering towards her. With little chance of dodging, she used her Force Deflection. Though it did not have a great effect, the Force smashed off it with enough Force to put i off balance and narrowly miss her.

"Got any bright ideas?!!! You're supposed to be the teacher remember!!" Ayanna shouted at Kalin, who seemed to be in trouble.

Kalin crawled back up as he was knocked down.

"sigh...yeah I think I have one! Just hold on!"

Kalin ran faster increasing his speed that was beyond that of a normal human. He took a mighty Force Jump into the sands of the air. Then he dissapeared into the sky filled with sand. One monster was struggling and you could see the blade of his lightsaber which started to clash against another red blade. Then a mighty scream came.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!"

What was that....it wasn't Kalin so did the woman get what she deserved? The monsters started to spread out, they seemed confused and the atmosphere of the Dark Side started to dissapear slowly as the monsters walked to the distance....others ran back, but it was unknown where they would be going, the sand blocked all the vision.

So did Kalin kill that mysterious woman...It seemed so, though when the sand cleared there was no sign of her. Kalin was baffled. He was sure he striked her down when she tried to keep her balance on one of those monsters. She was controlling them, so Kalin decided to knock her out hoping it would help, and so it did. But she was nowhere to be found.

"Well...this didn't help me very much..."

Kalin looked at the horizon wondering if he should look further, but he decided to retreat cause of two reasons. Ayanna's sudden presence and Chris his trial.

"Common we're going back immediatly!" He commanded annoyed.
The entire voyage back took a long time as they often got lost, but the reason time went so slow is that because Kalin was ignoring Ayanna. Kalin felt defeated. He had no idea who the woman was, though something sprung to his mind. One clue of a Sith Assassin who once was very capable of controlling beasts too. But only time would tell. His research just started.

After hours and hours of walking they finally made it out. Exhausted they walked through the valley, luckily without the presence of Sith Hounds. It was time to get back to the academy.

Resei was tired when they reached the desert.
The heat didn't help, either...
He overlooked the desert. It wasn't much. Just sand, and air that vibrated because of the heat.
He shrugged. The robe was light, and he was used to nearly this heat from Tatooine.
He couldn't see anything special in this desert. He sighed. Whatever they looked for was probably miles on miles of sand, heat and dust away. The hot air let him see further than he usually did, and still he saw nothing of interest. Nothing that did not interest him, either.
Just hot sand. He was nearly oblivious to it. He was a Tatooinian, after all.

"Uhm... So, here we are..? This is it? I'm gonna fight sandmonsters and heat?"

Resei caught himself wishing it would be so simple. But he knew better.

"What beasts do you have in mind for me, master?" he said sceptically.

Remus looked around and used his senses to feel if somebody or 'something' was around. With his witty humour Resei disturbed his senses a bit... It distracted him.

"We're looking for Sith Hounds... I know you've seen captured ones in the academy... But here in the desert they are more wild... They are not easy to catch.. Or to kill..."

The Sith Hounds were Semi-Sentient beings. In the days of the Old Republic, thousands of years ago, it was said they could also speak the Sith Language. Many Sith Lord fought them. Would Resei be up for the challenge? If not... Then both had to get out of there very quick...

Resei stared at him for a moment in disbelief.

"Dogs? Seriously?"

He coughed, and grinned.

"Ah, well, I've heard the stories. Thank you for thinking I'm up to it. I won't disappoint you."

He was suddenly dead serious. Better that than dead...
He stared at the desert for a while more. Still nothing.

"Am I to fight them alone? Do we have to find them, or do we let them find us? What's the meaning of life?

.................Uhm... Sorry, that was an internal joke from Tatooine.. Won't hapen again. Truly..."

"No... You won't fight them alone... If something goes wrong... I'll be here to help you... Remember at first you can't see them. But these creatures are strong in the Dark Side... Sense them. Don't think... Don't see... Feel... Use your instincts."

The Sith Master walked around looking if there were other creatures around, except the Sith Hounds. They were surely here, but they wouldn't show themselves yet. It would be a tough fight... These were a lot more wild than in the academy who are merely used to scare invaders, but weren't as strong as the wild ones in the desert.

"You feel them? Do you sense them? They are nearby... Be prepared and let your lightsaber and you... be one... It is only an extention of yourself..."

"...So you keep tellin' me, master..."
And so it prolly is. I just have to try... Darn no, I have to succeed! If I merely try, I am a dead man... Surely. I cannot fight these dogs, with or without help, unless I'm a hundred per cent focused... Clear that mind now, Reese! If I'm not ready, now is the time to give up... And return disgraced to the academy? No way! I have to do this!
After all, I'm an ex-bounty hunter. I've seen worse.
He decided to ignore the faint voice in the back of his head saying "no, you ain't"...

Resei, for once finding he had no reply, his voice having run somewhere to hide from the inevitable danger, was forced to check on his weapons. His hand moved towards beneath his robe, where the holdout blaster was. His hand froze in mid-air.
It was his lightsaber that was important. He had to be one with that. The most powerful weapon in the galaxy, in the right hands... It did certainly not become one with a mere trainee as himself if he checked on his blaster first!
With silent, cold determination he gripped his lightsaber, and turned it on. In the red light his face appeared older, giving his eyes a vicious, deadly look. With a deep voice, not his own, but of the force- the lightsaber- the earth they stood on, he said but four words.

"I am ready, master."

Remus felt something strange about Resei. He was closer to the Dark Side than he thought. He thought about a myth he used to here about. Old Sith Lords returning from the dead trying to take over bodies over other force potentials. They often got captured in another ones' body in doing so as they couldn't return from the living Force. Only Jedi could.... Surely they tried to do so, but always failed. Remus wondered if an ancient dead Sith Lord try to capture Resei's body. If that was the case, that would explain Resei's transformation. But he didn't want to jump to conclusions... There were a lot more explanations for his transformation, surely. The Sith Hounds neared and as they came more near they began to show themselves and they groaned out of anger but also instinct... Or maybe just because they were hungry... They wanted to feed... Feed from creatures who were powerful in the living Force. First Remus was attacked as they were first interested in him. He didn't have his lightsaber ignited yet, but as one of the hounds attacked, he ignited it made a quick turn and slayed off its head. "It's your turn now, Resei..." He quickly said while focussing on another one of these predators, who slowly started to show themselves and tried to attack both Remus and Resei as they tried to form a circle around them.

Resei grinned. He didn't know why, but he grinned. He grinned at the dog nearest him. It snarled at him. He snarled back.
Then his vision darkened. The desert disapeared, leaving him, Remus and the hounds alone in darkness. Only he seemed to notice. The hounds now stood out as white, illuminated creatures. He saw the one which had snarled at him leap close to attack.
Resei waited to it seemed too late. When the hound was past the point where it could dodge, and had to finish the attack.
Resei quickly spun, facing the opposite direction. His lightsaber followed him naturally. He heard a howl as it beheaded the poor creature. The rest of the creature, however, followed through with the charge, and knocked him over. He swore silently, trapped.
Although he could not see the desert, he could still feel every grain of sand beneath him. By the Force, that dog was heavy! He struggled to get free. He snarled, knowing the other hounds would soon take advantage of his position. He started cutting the hound to pieces with his lightsaber, and finally was able to rid himself of the burden.
A blur of light just outside his vision was the only thing that alerted him, and, thanks to his battle precognition, he managed to dodge the beast's attack, and hurried to his feet.

The beast, however, did not relax, and as soon as Resei was on his feet again, it was over him. Resei wanted to panic. It was in his character to panic. But he didn't panic. Strangele. As if his body was no longer under his control, he stood his ground. He even managed a protection bubble. The beast litteraly bounced off it, and was defenceless as Resei jumped after it, slaying it with several slashes from his lightsaber. However, he did not get the time to react as another beast jumped at him, and bit him badly in his shoulder. Resei groaned in agony, with a voice not his own. But suddenly the beast was thrown away with a blast of power, and after hitting the ground hard, it scurried away, whimpering. His strangely enchanted vision failed, and soon he was back in the desert, laying on top of a hound corpse, soaked with blood, in great pain. Remus towered abowe him, with a worried look in his eyes. Resei felt his powers dwindling, fading, dying... The world went black.

After the battle was over, Remus took Resei back to the Sith Academy. Something strange was going on with Resei and didn't know what was going on. He took him back to the medical bay where Resei was lowered in a bacta tank which would take care of his wound. But surely the medical droids would analyze his brain, which was always tricky, cause this medical droids would always go further than any droid. They were most likely to take his brains out to study rather than using a scanner.

Meanwhile Remus waiting in his own room and suddenly received a message of Ayanna. From the message it seemed it was urgent, so he urgently took a vessel to reach the system. As for Resei, he wasn't going to need Remus help for the mean time and he arranged another teacher for him, should he not return in time. Though from the teachers he had to choice, he was a bit reluctant to choose one as they were more masters in the Dark Side itself, rather than teaching about both.