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Post by Nesh on Oct 6, 2014 0:18:47 GMT
Star Crossed
Chapter 1: Ripples Galen Marek found himself in a dark abyss. Just where was he? The last thing he remembered was making a Force explosion to help the rebellious senators escape from the Death Star and the Emperor. After that… he was here. "Hello son," Galen whirled around and would indeed find a man with graying brown hair that could only be his father, the Jedi, Kento Marek. "Father," he asked shakily but you're supposed to be…" "Dead? I am, and so are you Galen, I couldn't be more proud son. You fulfilled your role in the living world; you will be a martyr that will be the rallying symbol for the Rebellion. The Sith and their Empire will fall because of you, albeit indirectly." "I'm… dead, no! That can't be Kota, PROXY… Juno, they need me, I have to go back!" The younger of the two was beginning to panic. "That's not how it works Galen, you lived your life, now it is time for you to join the Force, just like I have; I am only here to guide you. Put your mind at rest son and submit to the will of the Force, your task is complete. In the Force I can see all because it flows through all, everything will be fine." Kento pleaded. Galen locked eyes with the spirit remnant of his father. "No father, I'm done being a tool, it's how I spent most of my life as a tool for Vader, and apparently the Force, you may say my task is done, the Force my say my task is done but I say I'm not done, I refuse to submit to any will but my own." With that he began to walk away from Kento, and the Force's grip on his soul began to loosen as he reconnected with his body. "Galen stop! You don't know what you're doing, you're defying nature! There's no telling what could happen to you if you continue on this course, come back!" The cries of the father fell on deaf ears, as the Force rippled around Galen's soul. The pain the young Jedi felt was excruciating as if his entire being was aflame. Still he pressed on and as he did so he thought of everyone who needed him, Kota, PROXY and most of all of Juno. He had to get back, it didn't matter if all of creation was against him; Galen Marek was going to make his own destiny. With one final agonizing Herculean push that actually elicited a scream from the young Jedi, white light consumed him as the Force wailed at the defiance, sending ripples like tsunamis through its domain.
On the Planet Kamino, a single being writhed in agony. This disturbance in the Force was tearing apart his mind. He kept getting flashes of foreign images, a primitive blue and green planet, orbiting a yellow star. The third in its system, inhabited by humans. He knew these were not the memories of his template Galen Marek like the other flashes he'd had in the past but they were undoubtedly connected to him, the clone could feel it. "Galen Marek has returned." was all he could muster. Darth Vader hovered over the clone of his secret apprentice, stone faced. "That should be impossible and yet I too feel that your template has returned. No doubt he will search out Captain Juno Eclipse. You must find her first and take on the guise of your template, turn his friends against him. He will come running to them and when he does you will destroy him." the Sith Lord instructed. The ripples in the Force subsiding some, the clone was able to stand and then get into a proper kneeling position before Darth Vader. "Yes Master." the clone knew his template would be unable to get to Captain Eclipse, if his visions of the primitive planet were anything to go by, but he dared not contradict his Master who was obviously not privy to them. Lest he be cut down on the spot. Still he would fulfill his mission and destroy his template, what right did the dead have coming back to life? Juno should be his, after all he was everything his template was and Galen Marek was supposed to be dead. As much as his Master told him to cut all ties to his template's life Captain Juno Eclipse still was prominent in his mind, he wanted her and there was still the off chance that Galen could get to her and then he would lose everything… No. The clone had made up his mind; he would destroy Galen Marek and usurp his life. "Your codename when in communication with me shall be Mavick. Rise, my apprentice" Vader boomed. He would do as commanded. "Mavick." Mavick tested his new name out, it would have to do, until his mission was over and then he would be Galen Marek as he was meant to be.
In a far corner of the multiverse the ripples of the return of Galen Marek reached a certain former Terrisman. Sazed frowned or rather felt like he frowned; now that he was God of Scadrial he wasn't a physical being anymore but more like sentient energy. This… disturbance, whatever it was troubled him greatly. The former Terrisman stretched out his admittedly impressive faculties to investigate the disturbance. Sazed wasn't used to being God yet but he still had to do the job. He analyzed the ripples tracing them back through time and space, as in this realm neither had any true meaning, to a far off planet called Earth in the Sol system of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Keepers had kept detailed astronomical records, and since he'd dumped all the information from his Copperminds into his new God mind as the Hero of Ages, he had ready access to them. Sazed focused further trying to pinpoint the exact location of the disturbance but was unable to, although he did narrow it down to a very small area on the planet. The deeper he delved the deeper his frown became; it was as if these ripples were telling him something, something only he could hear. Sazed puzzled out the meaning, he was supposed to send someone to that planet. No, not just someone, Vin. He was supposed to send Vin to Earth and he didn't have the foggiest idea why. He only knew that if it required she who had killed gods to be brought back and sent to this place, it could not be good. He was not looking forward to telling her, for that meant separating her from Elend. Vin chased Elend letting out an uncharacteristic giggle as she followed after her husband one Elend Venture, yeah sure they both died fighting Ruin but heaven wasn't bad at all the sky was blue, the sun was yellow and the flowers were always in bloom. Not to mention she didn't have anything better to do than chase Elend through the trees all day. Actual trees and no ash falling from the sky, yeah not a bad afterlife, although Vin did get a little bored sometimes. The female Mistborn had just caught her husband when an unexpected visitor arrived. "Saze, what are you doing here, come to see Twindyl again?" Elend asked giving his old friend a smile. "No, unfortunately I need to talk to Mistress Vin." Vin frowned slightly at that, now that Sazed was God he had no real reason to call her mistress but old habits die hard as she knew all too well. "What is it you need to talk to me about Saze?" Vin inquired, having a somewhat bad feeling about this. "I feel it is prudent for you to return to the world of the living. You are needed." "What, why?" Vin asked in shock, sure she missed the life of a Mistborn sometimes but she never expected to actually go back to it. "There has been a disturbance in the fabric of time and space somewhere far away, a planet called Earth, so powerful it reached even me, as I investigated, I felt an overwhelming prompt, I think to send you there to solve some sort of crisis." the former Keeper of Terris answered. "So when are we leaving for this Earth?" Elend asked. Sazed shook his head sadly. "You are not going Elend, only Mistress Vin. That is the way it must be, I think." "What," Vin was incredulous, "You want me to leave my husband and heaven, I'm finally at peace." "I'm sorry but my instincts tell me this is so and the instincts of God are greater than the facts and feelings of men." Sazed said in a sadly philosophical way. It took a moment but Vin relented. "Alright Saze, send me to this disturbance." "I cannot send you directly to it but I can place you in the general area and give you the ability to sense it out." Vin nodded and turned to her husband. "Tell the others I said goodbye and that I'll be back, especially Kelsier and Mare." Vin felt bad not personally saying goodbye to her former mentor and his wife but it seemed she had little choice in the matter. "I will." Elend promised as his wife began to blink out. "Do not worry I will be watching and will send help if you need it." Sazed told her as she vanished.
Galen awoke on something hard and Sithspawn did he have headache. The young Jedi stood up shakily and inspected the ground gray and smooth, concrete? That would mean he was on some sort of civilized planet, industrial as well, it would likely have a spaceport of some kind. However every other shred of evidence pointed to something much more… primitive. The technology he could see was far below even the most backwater planets in the galaxy. The people from what he could tell spoke Basic which was a good sign but their vehicles actually traveled on the ground instead of the sky and were highly polluting if the smoke billowing out of them was an indication. Just where was he? On the bright side he had his body and equipment back, on the not so bright side he was likely marooned on an alien planet because from what he'd seen so far, the inhabitants had likely not discovered the hyperdrive, although that warranted further investigation. Galen began to walk to walk down the sidewalk slowly taking in the noise of car horns and various curse words/. He despaired even more when he saw a man pedaling a two wheeled ground vehicle. This planet's low level of technology was maddening. Finally Galen came across a news stand and grabbed one of the things being sold there. It was some form of written document, the text was written the characters of the High Galactic Alphabet, which read much the same as Basic but with different characters, the script alone implied this was some sort of sacred document as that was what the High Galactic Alphabet was used for but as he skimmed the text Galen quickly divined that the Philadelphia Tribune was not a sacred text but a source of news. Just what kind of people were these? The musings would have to wait as the young Jedi felt a powerful Force presence heading his way. "No sense in running." he muttered.
Vin appeared in the middle of the street, of course she didn't know that and proceeded to check her supplies. Mistcloak, two glass daggers, and a full coin pouch. Good. She downed one of the vials and just in time too, instinctively pewter, iron and steel flared to life in her. She had to find a way to avoid these strange metal things that were moving at high speeds around her, but the large tangle of blue lines, more than she'd ever seen in one place, was confusing her. It seemed there was a metal source below her that weighed quite a bit more than she did. "Who buries metal?" Vin thought as she Pushed against it with steel, flying upward and getting a shocked look from the person inside. Wait, person was that thing some sort of horseless carriage? It was definitely faster than a horse. Just what kind of place had she landed in? Vin's mind locked on to the disturbance thanks to the sense Sazed had given her, she followed it like a bronze pulse as she Pushed and Pulled her way through the city. So much metal and buildings taller than she'd ever seen all made of it, not to mention the abundant amount of horseless carriages that also used metals in construction and the underground sources. Whatever this place was, Vin liked it, it was like a Mistborn's playground. While soaring through the skyline Vin was able to ignore the gawking crowds, for it was not every day the people of Philadelphia got to observe a Mistborn or any kind of Allomancer for that matter, and focus on the mission at hand. She was almost on top of the disturbance now, so Vin dropped to the ground. Why did she get the feeling this mission would become another big fight?
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Post by Nesh on Oct 10, 2014 20:13:00 GMT
Chapter 2: Encounters
Galen did something akin to a double take when he saw a woman drop from above. She was dressed oddly for this world, her outfit was something like a Force user would wear, black to blend in, not baggy or restricting. The strangest part was the cloak she wore. It was some sort of greyish-white color, solid at the shoulders but then it split into many individual ribbons, to put it simply the rogue Jedi had never seen anything like it.
The woman seemed to be looking for something, or rather someone as she paused upon sighting him. He finally got a good look at her face as they locked eyes. He knew that face, the logical part of his mind told him that he was wrong, that the hair and eyes were the wrong color but that face…
"Juno?" he called out. The woman gave him a questioning look as she was obviously not who Galen thought she might have been. She shook her head.
"No, my name is Vin," Vin replied, "and you're the anomaly." That snapped Galen out of his trance rather quickly. The Jedi gave her another once over, her presence in the Force was strong, a Jedi herself perhaps? The Force may have sent her here to drag him back.
"I have no interest in rejoining the Force, Vin was it?" Galen declared.
"The Force? What are you talking about? I was sent here to investigate some sort of disturbance in space-time, whatever that means, but I wasn't expecting a human. I honestly don't know what to do with you." Vin admitted.
"You're presence in the Force is strong, I find it hard to believe you are not a Jedi, or perhaps even Vader's newest assassin." Galen replied bluntly, activating his blue bladed lightsaber. It had once been the weapon of the master who had taught him the ways of the Light Side of the Force, one Rahm Kota. The original crystal had been green but Galen had replaced it with the crystal that had once resided in the saber of his father, Jedi Knight Kento Marek. Galen swung the blade at Vin, who dodged it with surprising ease even for a Jedi.
"Impressive reflexes, very much like ones a Force user would have." he remarked.
"A very useful metal, pewter," the young woman replied. This only served to confuse Galen as he had never heard of any metal called pewter and had no idea what any kind of metal had to do with Vin's incredible dexterity. "Not as useful as iron though." she continued. Darth Vader's former apprentice suddenly found a force pulling on the hilt of his lightsaber, the blade would've zoomed into Vin's waiting hand had Galen not quickly applied a telekinetic grip to counteract it. For someone who claimed to have no idea what a Jedi was she seemed to have many powers comparable to one.
"This Vin woman has clearly been lying through her teeth," Galen mused to himself, "That is the way of the Sith, she must've been sent by Vader or the Emperor to eliminate me. However I turned away from the Dark Side, perhaps there is hope for her, she has not fallen yet; I sense that she would make a powerful Jedi."
"You don't have to serve the Empire Vin. Vader and the Emperor will only betray as they did me. They may have taught you to access the Force but they have not taught you how to use it properly. I was their tool as you are, I learned the ways of the Sith but I turned away from the darkness. You are not yet corrupted Vin; I can help you become the Jedi you are meant to be." She looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head.
"How many times do I have to tell you I have no idea what you are talking about? I don't know any Vader, I don't know what Jedi or Sith are, and I don't know what the Force is." she insisted. Galen sighed, years under the tutelage of Darth Vader had made him slightly paranoid, especially after two betrayals. Perhaps she was telling him the truth and she really had no idea what he was talking about. That still left some crucial questions to be answered however.
"Your powers, you claim to know nothing of the Force and yet you have powers much like those versed in its use. What is the origin of your abilities?"
Vin paused at his question, unsure of how she should answer. After all she knew nothing of this man. He could be some sort of spy or assassin or any number of other things. Was it safe to tell him of her Allomancy, was it was safe to assume that this man knew nothing of the power as he hadn't identified her as a Mistborn by the mistcloak she wore or was this all part of an act to glean information from her? To top it all off Vin had been sent by Sazed to find and deal with this man, true she hadn't been expecting a man when she arrived, but here he was.
The Mistborn was at a loss as to what to do at the moment. This man was an anomaly in space-time, or so Sazed said, Vin didn't have the foggiest idea what that meant or even what space-time was. What options did she have? She could kill him but he'd already resisted her Ironpull on his weapon somehow and then there was the weapon itself, some sort of sword with a blade made of light. Vin had certainly never seen or heard of anything like it. Just how dangerous was that weapon? What could it do?
Again Vin pondered just killing the man, her metals were already burning, thank the Lord Ruler, otherwise he likely would've gotten her with that light sword of his earlier. Vin had been sent to deal with an anomaly and he was the anomaly so killing him made sense. Plus he'd already attacked her, so it wasn't as if any action on her part would be unprovoked. Then again that had only been a sort of test apparently.
The Mistborn looked her potential opponent over. He was tall, he had an entire foot on Vin, although she was only about five foot tall herself. He didn't seem very strong physically, although her childhood in the underground of the Final Empire had taught her not to judge anyone by appearance. His build did seem slightly athletic however and he seemed to handle that strange light blade of his well enough. A soldier of some kind perhaps? Vin didn't like it but she knew what she had to do, she had to kill him. This man had to die, she'd been sent to deal with a distortion in the universe and he was that anomaly, it was as simple as that. She really hated being the aggressor, she wasn't Kelsier or Zane, she couldn't just kill like they could but it seemed there wasn't much choice.
Vin began to reach for her daggers but before she could even move her hands the Mistborn felt something slam into her chest and knock her off her feet. The man went into a battle stance as she stood back up and unsheathed her daggers. People on the streets began to panic and sctter.
"So that's the way it's going to be?" the man said it was more a statement than a question.
"How did you know what I was going to do?" Vin hadn't even moved before he started defending himself, just what was this man?
"I could sense your intentions through the Force." he said
"Unfortunately this is the way it has to be, I was sent to deal with you. Just one thing before we start, may I ask your name? I'm not normally the aggressor and I guess I just want to show some amount of respect because I'm attacking you out of nowhere." she replied.
"My enemies call me Starkiller." he responded. Starkiller charged her swinging his light sword at her. Vin kept jumping back using her pewter enhanced speed to dodge. Unfortunately it seemed she was going to run into some sort of metal pole. She Pushed against a buried bit of metal to jump into the air just as her opponent made what would've been a fatal swing. Vin cleared the blade and used her iron to Pull herself on to a ledge on one of the large buildings nearby. Vin watched in horror as the weapon Starkiller was using cleaved through the metal pole like it was nothing.
"I definitely don't want that thing to hit me," she mused, "If it can cut through metal that easily a solid shot will kill me whether I'm burning pewter or not." Suddenly her pair of glass daggers seemed very silly and ineffective. Vin untied her coin pouch and reached in pulling out a handful of copper coins, clips the smallest denomination of coin in the former Final Empire; Sazed hadn't sent her to Earth unprepared for combat. Vin burned steel and Pushed on the coins, angling them down toward Starkiller. The coins zipped out at lethal speeds toward the man but Starkiller seemed rather unconcerned by this, merely sticking a hand out. The coins stopped in midair and Vin was thrown backwards, pressed against the building on which she stood, only her pewter allowed her to keep standing despite the force pressing against her. Was this man an Allomancer? If so, he was a Coinshot at the very least. Steelpushes and Ironpulls were all about weight and force and something had most definitely stalled her Push.
Vin burned bronze but could feel no Allomantic pulses coming from Starkiller; of course he might have been burning copper to hide his Allomancy from her as part of his ruse. Vin smirked; she could feel the familiar presence of the earring her mother gave her. Sazed had really gone all out. This particular earring was a small Hemalurgic spike, carrying her baby sister's power to burn bronze. Vin's mother had killed her sister and given her this earring under Ruin's influence so that it would be able to influence Vin later in life, or so Sazed had explained.
Thinking about Ruin's manipulations made her frown; that thing had cost so many people their lives. Vin, Elend, most of the members of Kelsier's crew, all of them had died because of Ruin's schemes but that wasn't important right now. Sazed was God now, only he could speak to her through this earring. Vin turned her full attention back to the fight and flared her bronze, calling on the power she gained from the Hemalurgic earring to pierce any nearby Copperclouds, still no pulses could be hard from Starkiller.
"This man isn't an Allomancer, Mistborn or otherwise," Vin realized with shock. Vin let go of the coins as did Starkiller apparently, as the money falling harmlessly to the ground, "What is he, he has powers like a Mistborn but doesn't burn any metals?" Curiosity got the better of Vin and she jumped off the building, dropping a coin and Pushing against it to slow her decent. The Mistborn approached Starkiller once more.
"You're not a Mistborn, your powers are similar but you don't burn metals. What are you exactly? I know you're not a Feruchemist either, you wouldn't have been able to push my coins back like that." Vin said. She made no moves that could be considered hostile as in all honesty she wanted a peaceful solution anyway.
"I am a Jedi, a user of the Force as I already told you," Starkiller said, "and you were safer on that building." He swung at her with the light sword again. He was fast, the strikes came quickly flowing from one to the next; this man was obviously well trained in the use of his weapon. Starkiller's reflexes were incredible, faster than any normal human for certain but Vin, by use of her pewter was faster still.
The battle continued like this for some time. Starkiller was unable to hit Vin due to her superior speed and agility but she was also unable to hit him, whether it be with her daggers or coins, he would either dodge or push them away respectively. It was almost as if this man could see where her attacks would come from. Given Vin's experience with atium she certainly didn't consider such a possibility out of the question. Although judging by his inability to hit her with that light sword of his it seemed precognition was one area where Allomancy outshined his Force.
"Look, maybe we can find a way to resolve this peacefully, I really don't want to hurt you but I don't know what to do with you Starkiller." Vin pleaded, still dodging his attacks with pewter only, she didn't dare use iron and steel she didn't want this escalating into a full blown battle again. Vin burned brass, the first metal she'd ever burned, the one that had let her survive years in the Final Empire's underground. Brass was the emotional external Pushing metal; it allowed Vin to Soothe or dampen the emotions she chose in others, allowing her to make a person more likely to do what she wanted. Vin's touch was subtle; Starkiller likely wouldn't be able to discern that she was manipulating him. She Soothed his anger and distrust, dampening them, making him less likely to continue the fight.
Galen calmed down some as Vin offered to find a peaceful solution. He was a Jedi, even if he was one who had only recently rejected the Dark Side. Fighting was meant to be a last resort. He extinguished his lightsaber and took a relaxed but alert posture, just in case. He noticed Vin do the same as she put away her odd glass daggers.
"So what do we do now?" he asked. Vin shrugged.
"How should I know, this isn't my world." She replied.
"Well, it's not my home world either, I am quite certain your coins won't be accepted as legitimate currency here, nor would any money of mine, if I had any. So, survival on this planet for the two of us may prove difficult." He replied.
"Us? So you're willing to work with me then?" Vin asked with some surprise in her tone.
"I probably could survive alone but I really have no desire to. Besides, I'm used to working with people who have tried to kill me." Galen said darkly. Vader had betrayed him twice and nearly killed him several times and his Jedi master, Rahm Kota and been locked in a duel to the death at one point, or at least what was supposed to be one.
"You're a cheery one aren't you?" The Mistborn muttered.
"I try." The Jedi snarked.
"I think we'll get along just fine Starkiller, I spent most of my life working with people I didn't completely trust as well; I've been betrayed, but it doesn't have to be that way."
"If you're serious about finding a solution to this without killing me, then don't call me by that name. As I said Starkiller is what my enemies call me, my… allies call me Galen." he told her.
"Alright then Galen it is. I'm glad you decided to cooperate, because if you had decided to go off on your own I would've just followed you anyway. Since you're the anomaly I was sent here to deal with the least I could do is keep tabs on you." Vin said bluntly. The sound of a siren reached Galen's ears and he noticed a vehicle with red and blue strobe lights coming down the street, the civilians moved away at a brisk pace as the vehicle stopped and two men in blue stepped out. Several more vehicles with similarly dressed owners were close behind. The first man stepped forward.
"You are hereby placed under arrest by the Philadelphia Police Department for disturbing the peace." the driver of the first vehicle declared as he steeped toward Galen and Vin. Now, normally Jedi were the kind of people that would cooperate with law enforcement but Galen had to get off this planet and find his friends, so to put it bluntly being locked up just wasn't an option. He hit the police officer with a Force Push, sending the man skidding back into his car and knocking him out.
"Come quietly or I'll shoot." A nearby officer said as he pulled out his weapon, it looked to be some sort of slug thrower, how primitive. The weapon was ripped from the man and flew into Vin's waiting hand.
"Now what is this, some sort of weapon I assume?" She mused inspecting the slug thrower.
"You are resisting arrest, if you do not desist, we will use force." Galen resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"I have no intention of being locked up," He declared, "I have important business to attend to. Now I already knocked out your friend, don't make me do the same to you." A shot rang out. The Jedi cursed, slugs were often faster than blaster bolts and much harder to see. He ignited his lightsaber and brought it up reflexively. However the shot didn't come close enough to do any real damage to either him or Vin. It was likely a warning shot. Galen turned to his Mistborn companion.
"Are you going to help me out with these guys?" he asked. Vin shrugged.
"Well I don't want you to die and I have to keep an eye on you so I don't know what choice I have. Let's just try to leave them alive." she mused. He nodded and used the force to chuck a police officer across the street. The police opened fire.
Vin sighed, how did she always end up in these situations Metals flared to life in her stomach as she quickly crouched down to make a smaller target. She Pushed against the projectiles being fired from their attackers' weapons but instead of them being pushed back toward the people who fired them, the just got thrown of course flying wild. She used her iron to Pull the weapons away from her attackers, disarming them. She fired the weapon she had taken from one of the men. It was surprisingly simple to operate. She had trouble hitting her targets though as they liked to use their vehicles for cover. She got in a few chest shots but they didn't seem very effective as the men didn't go down.
Vin's weapon ran out of ammunition and she Pushed against one of the buried pieces of metal to give herself lift and Pulled on one of the vehicles creating a graceful arc that landed her among her enemies. Some of them tried to move around Vin and retrieve the weapons she had Pulled away. The Mistborn quickly turned on them with pewter enhanced speed, using her empty gun as a bludgeoning weapon, swinging with the strength pewter provided and aiming for the chest so she didn't actually kill them as she effortlessly dodged between their clubs and odd spays aimed at her face. With each blow she felt ribs shatter. Vin felt a dull pain in her shoulder as one of her opponents, this one a female, stuck up behind her at stuck Vin with her club weapon. Vin whirled around and grabbed the woman's arm, spinning her and tossing her would be attacker into a man that was trying to charge Vin. Judging from the odd angle the would-be attacker's arm was in it seemed Vin had dislocated the woman's shoulder.
The Mistborn watched in amazement as Galen tossed police officers around like rag dolls without even touching them. Vin assumed that this was an application of the same power he'd used to counter her coins. She was even more impressed when she was Galen used the mysterious power to throw one of the vehicles into a nearby building after one of the police officers tried to run him down with it.
"Just how powerful is he?" she wondered.
"This is unit 546 requesting back up, suspects are armed an extremely dangerous. Please send all available units to-" The officer who had been speaking into some sort of communications device was cut off as Vin put one of the coins that were on the ground from her brief scuffle with Galen through his head through a combination of iron and steel. She felt bad about killing the man but he was too far away for her to simply knock out before he could finish his sentence and she really didn't want to fight more of these people.
"Not bad Vin, these guys won't be bothering us any time soon," Galen said appreciatively as he put away his light sword. He hadn't used it in the battle, "Not bad at all." He nodded at the pile of unconscious bodies near Vin.
"You threw their carriage without even touching it. You could've killed me earlier if you wanted to." The Mistborn said in shock. Galen shrugged.
"Yeah maybe I could have but I think the same goes for the reverse, I can tell you've been holding back this entire time. I don't think either of us ever intended to kill the other. As for throwing their vehicle, I'm a Jedi, size means nothing to me." he said.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Vin blurted. She didn't even know why she did it, she knew nothing about this man and he knew nothing of her and here she was asking him to tell her his secrets. True the abilities he'd shown seemed like they could be of use to her but she didn't even know if they could be taught or if Galen would even be receptive to teaching her. Still Vin's instincts told her she could trust Galen, and they were rarely wrong so why not ask?
"I think I might be able to," Galen said after a moment, "I'm not entirely sure but it's worth a shot. I have to warn you though; I've never taught anyone how to tap into the Force before. Tell you what, I'll trade you. I'll teach you how to use the Force if you teach me about your abilities." Vin nodded.
"That seems like a fair trade. Listen, one of them tried to call for back up, we'd better go." Vin Pushed on one of the buried bits of metal and Pulled herself on to a building ledge. She was surprised to see Galen leap on to the ledge and land next to her.
"Let's look for some shelter to stay in." Vin said taking off, Galen stayed right on her heels. The pair moved on like taking down about forty members of the Philadelphia Police Department was normal, and for them something like this actually was.
Mavick smirked to himself as he entered the Rogue Shadow with Jedi Master Rahm Kota; it had been quite difficult to rescue the man from the arena on Cato Neimoidia; he'd even had to fight a gorog to save his template's Jedi master and keep up the farce. He had memories of this ship from his template, fond memories, memories of Juno. He had expected the woman to be on the bridge but was shocked to find Kota in the pilot's seat.
"Where's Juno?" he asked the blind Jedi.
"I don't know. I lost a whole squad on Cato Neimoidia. Your Alliance is scattered across the Outer Rim. It's falling apart Galen, but with you here we can take the fight to the Empire, show them that we still mean business." Master Kota said.
"We will general," Mavick assured, "but we have to find to Juno first, I need to make sure she's safe. Then there's something very important I need to take care of."
"What could possibly be more important than defeating the Empire?" the blind Jedi asked.
"This is about defeating the Empire. Vader has a new apprentice, he cloned me." Mavick said, inwardly smirking at his inversion of the truth.
"That's impossible, you can't clone Jedi, no one's ever been able to do it." General Kota said incredulously.
"You don't know what I went through on Kamino, I saw him, this clone is real." Mavick insisted. Kota perked up at this.
"Kamino, if you can give us knowledge of the cloning facilities there we could organize a strike-" Mavick cut him off.
"We will but this clone is more important at the moment. If Vader trained him anything like he trained me then he's a danger to the entire Rebel Alliance. He'll likely go after Juno first and I can't let anything happen to her." Kota sighed.
"You're right of course," the blind Jedi relented, "Any idea where this clone is?" Mavick did know where the real Galen Marek was. Alright, so he didn't know the name of the exact location but he would know it if he saw it. The Force was guiding him, supporting him in his quest to rid the universe of his template. Images of stars and planets, of the primitive city the original Galen was in flooded Mavick's driving him onward.
"He's outside this galaxy, on a backwater planet, third from its' star. The Force has shown me the path I must take to reach him so that I may destroy this mockery Vader has created at make the universe safe again." The clone replied.
"Outside the galaxy, we don't have clear hyperspace routes for anything outside this galaxy." Kota protested.
"I know but we're going anyway general. I feel I may need your help; I have been having visions of the future. There is a woman, a powerful woman who will fight alongside this clone of me. Possibly Jedi, possibly something… different. I sense that she is dangerous and must also be defeated if we are to save the galaxy." Mavick added. This part was not a lie; he had indeed had visions of a woman. A woman much like Juno in appearance only with short black hair and brown eyes in place of Juno's long blonde locks and blue eyes. The woman wore an odd whitish grey cloak, solid at the shoulders but then split into hundreds of individual ribbons of fabric as it came down.
This mysterious woman who moved so much like a Jedi had featured prominently in his visions of the future alongside his template. It was as if the future, no, the Force itself was in flux around them. They were important somehow and the Force was guiding Mavick to them as if the destiny of the galaxy rested solely on their destruction.
"I'll help you Galen, for the rebellion's sake and because I am your Jedi master. When do we set out to find this clone?" the old Jedi asked.
"Later, we have to find Juno first; I don't want to take the chance of him finding her before I do. If she's with us I'll be able to protect her." The clone declared. Kota nodded. Mavick smirked inside Kota had been easy to fool, he only hoped Juno was this easy to convince.
Sazed frowned; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. The ripples from the anomaly were still coming. He had hoped that Vin would have dealt with this but that did not seem to be the case. Three wormholes had appeared each one leading between some combination of Earth, Scadrial and the galaxy the ripples originated from. The wormholes only seemed to distort space-time more and Sazed was unsure as to why they had appeared.
"What's the matter Saze?" Kelsier asked beside him.
"Lady Vin has not dealt with the anomaly in space-time as of yet," the God replied, "I had hoped that this would be a simple task for a Mistborn of her caliber but this does not seem to be the case."
"I'm not even sure why you sent her there in the first place Saze, it's not like that anomaly has anything to do with us." Elend said from the other side of him.
"Now Lord Venture," a nearby Twindyl cleared her throat reminding Sazed that he was the powerful one here, "Elend, I am not sure why I sent Lady Vin to Earth myself. It was just a feeling, an important one, I think. I believe she is somehow meant to be there. However the feeling of foreboding has only grown since she went to Earth."
"Can't you check up on her or something Sazed, I mean, you are a God after all." Elend suggested. Sazed shook his incorporeal head.
"I am sorry to say such a thing is not possible Elend. The place I sent Lady Vin is covered in metal and I am unable to see clearly through metal."
"You sent her to a place where you can't even watch over her Sazed? I can't believe you would do such a thing." The former emperor growled.
"I understand your frustration Elend. I can contact Lady Vin while she is sleeping if you wish." The former Terrisman attempted to calm his friend.
"That's just not good enough Sazed; I want you to send me down there so that I can help her in her mission. My wife is on an alien world with no allies and I just have to sit here? No Sazed, you don't understand my frustration. Send me to Earth." He demanded only to have Twindyl scowl at him.
"Sazed is a God; you do not give him orders even if you were his ruler in life. Sazed will do what he thinks is best and he has much more knowledge than you Elend Venture." she snapped. Elend went quiet but he still didn't look happy.
"Sazed, Elend does have a point," Kelsier argued, "I know Vin can take care of herself but I am worried about her. It might be a good idea to send one or two of us."
"I do not think that would be wise Master Kelsier, I feel the situation is too delicate to add more elements at this time. The ripples have only grown stronger since I sent Lady Vin; perhaps it is because she was brought back from the dead. If this is the case then sending more of you would only make things worse I think. I will only send you to aid Lady Vin if I feel her need is dire." Sazed explained. Kelsier nodded in thought.
"Yes I can understand you hesitance to send us in when it might only make things worse. Still there is the matter of those wormholes to worry about… I've just got a bad feeling about this Saze." The Survivor of Hathsin mused. Sazed had to agree with that sentiment.
Vin took in her surroundings: a dusty old warehouse on waterfront. She'd slept in worse places, this was a palace compared to the alleys of the Final Empire; then again she'd lived in a palace for the last few years of her life. She'd have to get used to living like a skaa again. Vin burned off her excess metals and took off her mistcloak before laying down on one of the two cots that was mysteriously inside this warehouse.
"I'll need to find a place that supplies metals tomorrow." she thought to herself. She had no idea what this world was like or what could happen with Galen the walking space-time anomaly walking around. Running out of Allomantic metals wasn't a prospect she liked to consider. For not the first time Vin marveled at how dependent she'd become on Allomancy in just a few years, using metals was almost as simple to her as breathing now. She might have to go without metals for some time now, even if she found a metallurgist she had no money to pay for metals, her coins were no good here. It truly appeared Vin would have to ration her Allomancy for some time, unless she fell back into her old thieving habits that is.
"Get some sleep Vin, your training in the Force starts tomorrow." Galen said opening his eyes after a rather long meditation on the other cot.
"Are you sure I can learn how to become a, what did you call it, Jedi?" Vin asked curiously. Galen nodded.
"Yes you have the potential Vin, I can sense it." he said. Vin was intrigued by these Jedi powers, they were so much like Allomancy, in some ways they seems so much stronger but in some ways they were weaker. They would be very useful but they would never replace her Allomancy.
"We need to find a metallurgist tomorrow." she said. The Jedi gave her a questioning look.
"Why?"
"It has to do with my powers I ingest certain kinds of metal to gain various abilities." Vin explained.
"Interesting, you'll have to tell me more about it tomorrow." Galen replied. The Mistborn nodded. The pair drifted off to sleep without another word.
Vin was surprised to find Sazed waiting for her in her dreams.
"Sazed, what do you need?" she asked the former Terrisman.
"I bring grave news Lady Vin. The anomaly has only gotten worse since I sent you. I must ask why you have not completed your mission yet." he replied. Vin shifted uncomfortably at this.
"It was a man Sazed, I couldn't just kill him; I'm not Kelsier." she told him.
"I understand your feelings Lady Vin but I am not sure this course of action is wise." Sazed said.
"I'm keeping an eye on him; he doesn't seem like a bad person but I'll be careful." The Mistborn assured him.
"Letting him live is dangerous I think, especially with you around him. I fear that by bringing you back to life I have made you into a similar anomaly Lady Vin. Even I cannot tell what could come of this but we must not leave this man unchecked." Sazed explained.
"I won't kill him Sazed, not unless he shows himself to be evil." Vin declared. Sazed nodded.
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Post by Nesh on May 18, 2015 13:42:11 GMT
Chapter 3: Preparations and Training
"Come on Vin, move faster!"
Vin scowled. Galen was taunting her. Vin barely brought up the barrowed lightsaber in time to block the flying coin, relying on the Force to tell her where the attack was coming from as she was currently blindfolded. She felt sluggish, Galen refused to let her use any sort of Allomancy during her Jedi training. Even with Force enhanced reflexes she felt slow without pewter.
"This isn't easy you know." she said. Her master chuckled.
"It's not supposed to be easy Vin, that's why it's called training. This is a skill you must hone. Trust your instincts my apprentice."
This time Vin chuckled and she even went as far as to smirk. She was a being of instinct right to her very core; it was her instincts that had helped her survive in the underground of the Final Empire, not to mention the various conflicts she'd gotten into after joining Kelsier's crew.
"Trust my instincts? That I know how to do all too well Master." she replied, the title of Master dripping with sarcasm. Vin cleared her mind and let her instincts take over; she now found blocking the projectiles much easier, even with her sluggish, by her standards, reflexes.
"Good, very good but you're not holding the saber quite right and your posture is more akin to a thug holding a metal pipe then what you should be doing. Here, let me show you."
Vin felt Galen step behind her before he began to adjust her grip, holding her wrist and easily dwarfing it with his own. As he began the adjustment the Mistborn had to hold in a gasp.
"His hands feel nice…" Just where had that thought come from she wondered. It wasn't like her to think such things, at least not about people who weren't Elend. What was going on with her? And then she began to get more distracted...As suddenly, his hands moved on to her hips and down on the outside of her thigh as he moved her leg to the position needed for the stance he wanted her to use, prompting her to blush hotly and hoping by the Lord Ruler that he didn't notice.
"There you go." Galen said stepping away. The coins started coming again and Vin's reactions were a right bit slower than usual due to the distracting thoughts of Galen's hands. One coin hit her leg and a couple more grazed her arms. Vin cried out in dull pain.
"Are you alright Vin? You were doing so well before." Galen asked with a mixture of confusion and concern in his voice as he stopped the exercise. Vin shook her head, trying to clear it.
"I suppose I'm just a little tired." The Mistborn muttered. That was a lie of course, she could have kept going for some time; she hadn't even started feeling fatigue yet. She was really trying to make sense of these odd feelings. She was a married woman, even if her husband was dead, she had been dead herself no more than a week ago. She just had to keep reminding herself that Elend was waiting for her and maybe, hopefully, these feelings would go away.
"I suppose we have been at this awhile. You can take off the blindfold." The Jedi said. The Mistborn did so, though she was somewhat hesitant.
"Well I'm going to try and get some sleep." Vin said faking a yawn she turned away from Galen, perhaps a bit too quickly and made her way to her cot, and tried to sleep. Neither of them had left the waterfront warehouse they were staying in very much this week for fear of being caught by the police. Clever use of Allomancy and Jedi mind tricks in covert night runs had convinced people leaving restaurants to give up their doggy bags but both of them were starting to smell because they had no way to bathe or change clothes. Vin rolled over and dismissed the feelings about Galen as cabin fever as she went to sleep.
Galen sat on his cot feeling rather restless. He knew exactly why as well, the answer was Vin. The woman was amazing, she took to the Force like a fish to water, though she theorized it had something to do with her Allomantic powers being so similar, and she was well practiced with those. All in all Vin was a rather impressive student.
Still it was more than that. Galen felt… awkward around her. He felt… like he did when he was around Juno. Could that be right? After he loved Juno, or at least he thought he loved Juno. Could he be falling for the Mistborn? Galen paused for a moment, he may have been isolated and raised by Darth Vader but even he knew that relations between master and apprentice were, discouraged in the Jedi order anyway; Galen was a Jedi now and he was training Vin to be one.
Then again what did old restrictions penned by dead men matter? Other than Master Kota, he and Vin were the only Jedi left that he knew of. He didn't even know if Kota was alive, Galen realized in this moment that he could be the only full-fledged Jedi left in the universe; he could make the rules now. If he wanted to court Vin he could.
However was he actually free to do so? After all, there was still Juno to consider, they were somewhat involved by his estimation, though he didn't know much about romantic relationships. He didn't even know if Juno was alive or even if he'd ever get off this Force forsaken planet, should he hold out for Juno on the off chance that the answer to both those questions was yes?
Galen glanced at his apprentice. Vin was slight of frame, just over five feet in height, willowy in build; she was anything but imposing. Any warrior Jedi or not would likely underestimate her, she had certainly surprised him with her battle prowess when they first met. However it was more than her combat skill that impressed Galen, she was sharp, observant, and thrifty. The pair of them had only glossed over their pasts with one another, focusing on Vin's training in the Force.
From what he knew she'd been raised on the streets in thieving crews on her home world, using her Allomancy, specifically the metal brass, to survive in the ruthless underground. That is until she was found by the man called Kelsier a legendary thief and Mistborn on her world who had trained her in the ways of the Allomancer. She had joined his crew who toppled the world's God King, this Lord Ruler's death a feat Vin herself had accomplished, then had gone on to defend the new kingdom that was founded from hostile forces, released a being called Ruin that sounded much like the Dark Side of the Force and killed said being. Needless to say Vin's exploits left Galen in awe of the woman.
Yet despite her hard warrior background she displayed an almost child-like wonder at the simplest of things, such as running water. He supposed it was because she was from a planet far more primitive than even this one. Galen found it, what was the word, endearing? She had a natural curiosity as well; she was one of those people who wanted to learn, to observe, and to understand things. Those were healthy qualities in a Jedi, at least in moderation, of course the Jedi were all about moderation.
Again Galen's eyes rested on his new apprentice as he drank in her features. Despite how much her face looked like that of Juno, the pair was strikingly dissimilar in almost every other aspect; both where keenly intelligent but that is where the similarities ended. Juno was tall, with light hair and eyes, while Vin was exactly the opposite. Juno was very busy and curvaceous in body type while Vin, while still feminine and very attractive in terms of looks was much more muted. Juno was very by the book and straightforward in most cases, Vin while blunt was very sarcastic at times, and much more relaxed in terms of protocol. Perhaps the biggest difference was that Juno was normal and Vin had powers, both her Allomancy and her connection to the Force. Vin understood what it was like to wield power, to be someone else's tool, and what it was like to escape that and pave your own destiny. Galen felt like Vin understood him far better than Juno ever could.
The two women in his life were so different, and yet could be used to achieve the same end: his happiness. It was almost as if he were choosing between the Light Side and the Dark Side, the question was, which was which? If one judged off physical appearance and personality traits then Juno was unquestionably closer to being a Light Side analog than Vin was, but that made Vin the Dark Side in this analogy. That thought didn't sit well with Galen, his apprentice being the Dark Side of things; yes she was rough, but ultimately good. No, Vin wasn't the Dark Side, she wasn't shadow, nor was she light. Vin was something different, something new, aggressive without being the aggressor, willing to do what had to be done but not wanting to take life. She was not night or day, but that in between time when Sun is no longer visible but there is still enough light to see. Vin was twilight. That dividing line that took no sides and perhaps, Galen thought, that was just what he needed.
Amidst the bubbling swamps of the far-flung planet of Degobah lived one of the most infuriating beings Sazed had ever met, one Jedi Master Yoda. Under any other circumstances the pair might have gotten along famously but given the events of the last week the Jedi and God were hardly on friendly terms.
"By sending her made things worse you have." The little green man said in his usual raspy tone. Sazed gave the ancient imp an exasperated look; he could do that now, because of the concentration of the Force on Degobah Sazed was able to create a manifestation similar to what a Jedi would call a Force Ghost. This manifestation looked much like Sazed did in life, though it was more transparent and not at all solid.
"I trust Lady Vin Master Yoda; she will know what to do. She saved my world and she will save your galaxy, Earth, and Scadrial once again if given the chance. We have no reason to be concerned, I think." Sazed replied firmly. Yoda made a sort of condescending humming noise that told Sazed what the Jedi Master thought of that sentiment.
"A God you may be, but think too much you do. Faith in your old friend, misplaced may be. Do not think but feel with the Force you must; it bleeds the Force does because of this Jedi and your friend. Conflicted the future is either doom or peace from this will come." Yoda looked tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. If the alien was as worried as Sazed thought he was then that assessment wasn't far off.
"The future is always unclear, I think. That is just the nature of things. I believe we must trust them to make the right choices." Sazed said.
"Supposed to happen this was not. Destroy destiny these ripples in the Force do. Truly uncertain the future is, even to a Jedi. Dangerous this is." Yoda warned.
"What would you do Master Yoda, kill them send them back to the afterlife so destiny could come to pass, would you wish to have their murders on your conscience?" the God inquired hotly.
"For the greater good it would be." The Jedi nodded mutely.
"The greater good, there comes a time when beings serve the greater good lose sight of good and fall to what you would call the Dark Side, I think. Would you truly risk taking a step down that path by killing them Master Yoda?" The Jedi paused at this, then, after a moment shook his head.
"No, take that risk I will not. Right you are Sazed, killing them, the wrong path is. Help them find their path I must. Go to them on Earth I will." Sazed frowned in confusion and concern. He hadn't known Master Yoda very long; they had only met shortly after the ripples started. As a planetary God with the powers of both the primordial forces Preservation and Ruin he was far more attuned to the cosmic energy, what Yoda called the Force, than any mortal no matter how powerful could hope to be. As he investigated the ripples he had sensed a good presence on Degobah that was attuned to the cosmic forces. Sazed had come to investigate and found Yoda and the pair discussed the situation at length daily as new details became clear to them. While the two disagreed on what to do about the current situation the former Terrisman did like the Jedi Master and was concerned for him.
"Master Yoda you do not look well, you should rest, I think." Sazed counseled. Yoda shook his head.
"Rest when I join the Force I will." The imp replied.
"You told me the moment you stepped off this planet the Sith would be on your trail. Are you certain you wish to follow this course?" Sazed asked.
"Old I am, die soon I will. Days, weeks, years, when I know not. Do as much good as possible I must, that means aid your friend Vin and this mystery Jedi I sense I will." Yoda said with a tone of finality.
"How will you get to Earth?" Sazed inquired.
"Same way I got here, escape pod." Yoda said as he gestured to the pod with his cane.
"I wish you luck on your journey Master Yoda." the God said.
"And may the Force be with you Sazed." Sazed nodded and for form faded form the planet Degobah.
Emperor Palpitine was not blind, especially in the ways of Force. He too had sensed these ripples, this open wound in the Force that continued to bleed. He had sensed the beginning of it and knew it had come from Galen Marek, Darth Vader's secret apprentice. Starkiller as the boy was codenamed had been meant to be a tool to lure out the rebels so that they could be destroyed. Instead his sacrifice had united them creating a bit of an annoyance for the Emperor.
That should have been the end of it but somehow the boy had come back from the dead, causing this wound in the Force. The future was more clouded than it had ever been and although he would never admit to it, not even to himself, Darth Sidious was afraid. Starkiller was powerful, possibly powerful enough to surpass Sidious himself given time and now he was a Jedi, who were sworn to destroy Sith like him.
However it was more than just Starkiller that troubled the Emperor, in what visions of the future Sidious could acquire lately there was another, a woman sometimes she was a Jedi and other she was a Sith. No matter what side of the Force she adhered to in the vision, she was always powerful. Powerful enough to be very dangerous to Sidious' plans if she was not turned this he could sense. The Sith wondered why his visions of the future were so clouded as of late. The visions were often conflicting as they were with the woman. Sidious relied very heavily on his Force Visions to keep one step ahead of his enemies and now the future was too clouded to see.
Darth Sidious knew that he must find out why the future was so clouded and rectify it, if he could not peer into the future and people like Starkiller and that woman were running around it could spell his doom. At least things were somewhat stable at the moment. Darth Vader had sent a clone of Starkiller to deal with the original and it seemed probable that that the woman was with him as well. Palpitine was very fond of clones, especially after Order 66, his masterful stroke that destroyed the Jedi Order except for a few vermin still in hiding.
"Yes, the clone will handle Starkiller and this woman I've seen if she is there. There is no cause for concern." The Sith Lord assured himself. Then he felt Master Yoda leave Degobah.
Captain Juno Eclipse, member of the Rebel Alliance woke slowly. Her mind was foggy and she was having trouble remembering how she got here, wherever here was. She was shackled and in a small prison type room, that was a good indication that she had been captured by Imperial forces.
That's right, the Salvation had been attacked by the bounty hunter Boba Fett; he'd gassed her. Now the question was why was she still alive? To the Empire she was a traitor so why not just execute her? Perhaps they were planning some sort of interrogation to learn rebel secrets? The door opened to reveal one of the most imposing figures in Juno's memory: Darth Vader himself.
"Hello, Captain Eclipse, we have business to discuss." He said simply. Juno glared at the Sith defiantly.
"Like I would ever help you." she spat.
"You will if you wish to see my apprentice again." Vader said matter-of-factly, or as close as his voice could get to the inflection.
"Galen is dead. I saw the explosion myself. You can't trick me Vader." she spat. The Sith was quiet for a moment, only the sound of his respirator could be heard.
"He came back. I don't know how but he came back from the dead and now you're going to help me destroy him, quite willingly."
"Like hell I will." Juno shot back. Two Imperial Stormtroopers entered the room.
"Take her to be reprogrammed." he said.
"Yes sir." The troopers said before leading Juno out of the room. The rebel Captain was deathly afraid, she knew what was going to happen. What awaited her was a fate worse than death. She was going to be brainwashed into fighting her allies, into fighting against Galen.
Mavick sat in a room in the Rogue Shadow far away from the Jedi Rahm Kota. It wouldn't do to get caught now, he was communicating with his Master Darth Vader.
"Have you located your template Mavick?" Vader asked from the communicator.
"No, Master I have been completing your other order, to find those close to my template and convincing them that I am him and he is the clone. I have found Rahm Kota and am currently looking for Juno Eclipse." he replied.
"Do not worry yourself with the woman, I have already found and captured her. I will mold her to our ends." Mavick was less than pleased by this; he had hoped to see Juno himself. Despite the fact that he was a clone the… attachments of his template were still prominent in his mind. Again he inwardly cursed Galen Marek for coming back to life. Juno should be his. However Mavick nodded.
"Yes my Master I will focus on finding and eliminating my template." Mavick closed the link.
Vin was more than a little nervous as she and Galen entered the apartment building. It had been awhile since she had scammed anyone like this. As part of her training Vin was to use the Jedi mind trick to procure them a new place to live as the waterfront warehouse was ill-suited to habitation.
The owner of the building sat behind a large wooden desk. He was a pudgy balding man, only ring of black hair lining the outside of his scalp. Vin and Galen approached him confidently, though with Vin the confidence was a bit of an act. The man appeared to be pouring over ledgers of some kind. Galen tapped the desk causing the man to look up.
"What do you want?" the man asked in the accent typical to the city, irritation showing in his dark green eyes. Galen pulled out a wad of money, and laid half of the bills on the desk, what the locals would call fifty dollars. This wealth had been acquired by… convincing passerby to give them money with a combination of Allomancy and Jedi mind tricks. Due the different denominations of bills Galen still held a several hundred dollars in his hand. They had had more but they'd spent it on various amenities such as shampoo and laundry detergent that they would need after they'd moved into a new residence.
"We're looking for a place to stay. A two bedroom apartment if you have one." The man glanced down at the bills.
"You're kidding me right? That's not nearly enough for a room." he spat. Vin caught Galen give her a discreet nod, it was sink or swim time.
"Yes it is." she said waving a hand in front of the man's face and calling on the Force. He paused for a minute as if considering it.
"No it isn't." the man replied.
"This amount will be enough." Vin called on a little more Force power. The man paused a bit longer.
"No it won't be," he said adamantly, "What do you think you are doing waving your hand around like that?" Vin bit her lip, this wasn't working. Was she doing this wrong? Vin reflexively felt her metal reserves, Galen had allowed her to ingest metals because they were going out in the day and they were still wanted for that debacle on the day they met.
"Galen's not going to like this." Vin thought burning brass and directing the power at the building owner, making him more trusting.
"This money will be enough." Vin said, once again attempting a mind trick. The man rummaged in his desk for a moment before placing a pair of keys on the desk.
"Apartment 35, third door on the left on the third floor." he said. Galen nodded, took the keys, and walked toward the stairwell. Vin followed behind him.
"Nice job Vin," He whispered with an appreciative tone. Vin squirmed a bit at the praise. Galen quirked an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"
"I had to burn brass and Soothe him before the mind trick would work." she admitted guiltily. Her master nodded.
"That doesn't surprise me, that man had a decently strong mind, I could tell. You did well Vin, I'm not disappointed in you for using Allomancy when necessary. It is after all just another power at your disposal, which, from what you've told me is second nature to you now. Asking you to give it up completely would be like asking you to give up breathing." He told her as he opened the door to their new apartment.
Vin took her surroundings; while nowhere near as lavish as her rooms in Keep Venture had been back home the apartment was no doubt an improvement over the abandoned warehouse they'd been staying in. The apartment consisted of a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and of course two bedrooms, one for her and one for Galen. Vin was especially grateful for that last part considering the odd feelings she had when around Galen. It would be best if they slept in separate rooms.
"I think I'll take a bath, I'm a little overdue for that." Vin said. Galen nodded.
"We both are," he admitted," but as courtesy demands, ladies first, I'll take one after you're done and then we'll go shopping for food, dishes, clothes, and such to make this place a bit more livable. We'll stick to smaller stores so we attract less attention." Vin nodded.
"Sounds good." she said. Vin made for the bathroom.
"Before you take your bath Vin, I want you take this key from me," Galen held up one of the keys the building manager had given him. Vin instinctively reached for her iron so she could Pull the key toward herself, "No, not with Allomancy Vin, use the Force." The Mistborn muttered a curse, how had he known what she was thinking? Vin sighed and reached out a hand calling on the Force, attempting to lift the key out of Galen's hand. The Jedi gripped the key tighter and Vin lost her grip on the key. This was harder than it looked. She tried again with much the same results. It was difficult keeping so focused on the object, directing it wither mind. Vin paused for a moment realizing that she did have experience with something similar, even if the theory was slightly different.
"It's like burning iron," she told herself, "Don't focus on the differences, just think of it like you're using Allomancy." Vin tried again and this time was able to keep her grip on the key and pull it from Galen's grip and into her waiting hand.
"Very good for a first try," her Jedi Master said, "I noticed you were having trouble before but that last time it was easy for you. What did you do differently?"
"I thought of it like I was using Allomancy. Force Pushes and Pulls have a lot of the same theory behind them as burning iron or steel, once I stopped focusing on the differences and started focusing on the similarities it came easily." She explained.
"I see," Galen said thoughtfully, "Anyway, I won't stand between you and your bath any longer." Vin nodded and entered the bathroom eager to get clean.
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