Mortis
"Are you certain that approaching them is wise?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Ciaran replied as she made her way towards the Jedi shuttle. "At times like this it's better to have allies, and I know that they can be trusted."
"That is not my concern. Since they were brought here and presumably do not have your ability to hide yourself, that likely means that their location is...compromised."
Ciaran stopped short. "The Son would know they're here, not to mention the others."
"Indeed."
"Though that does remind me, do you think the Son was out to capture or kill me?"
"I do not know. I merely surmised that relying on the mercy of the embodiment of the dark side would be...unwise."
"...Point taken," Ciaran said with a shudder. As she closed in on the shuttle she crouched down and began to move in more slowly, surveying the area.
Obviously one of those...er...
"The Ones."
Thank you-none of the Ones are around, so the best I can do right now is fall back on what little I know and follow what brought me here. Now where are you, Anakin?
Glancing around, she didn't see any signs of movement for a moment before the shuttle vanished right in front of her eyes without warning. Once Ciaran's mind processed it she immediately dropped to the ground, glancing in every direction and trying to listen for sounds of movement. A moment passed, then she heard a pair of familiar voices coming closer.
"...just a few rocks!"
So a rockslide separated them?
"Anakin should be safe with the 'Daughter,'-"
Ah. No way that was unintentional then.
"-and more importantly we need to make sure that-"
Their voices cut off as they noticed their missing ship.
"I-It was right here...!"
"I don't understand...surely there should be signs of movement or some indication of what happened..."
As the two tried to puzzle out what happened, Ciaran noticed a familiar presence moving towards them. Cursing under her breath, Ciaran moved as quietly as she could out of sight of Ahsoka and Obi-Wan before breaking out into a dead sprint in the direction Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had come from.
"Are you certain about this?"
"Before I came here I could feel that Anakin was at the heart of this somehow; so given what little I know I'm assuming the Ones must want him here for some reason or else we wouldn't be here," Ciaran mentally replied. "If I find him, he can vouch for me with the other Ones and make sure that the Son won't try to kill me."
"That seems like a considerable leap of logic to make. Do you really think that will work?"
"If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them," Ciaran fired back as she reached where the supposed rockslide was. She stopped to catch her breath, then began to focus on the rocks in front of her.
Come on Ciaran. Focus. It doesn't matter where you are, everything has a weak point.
Unable to rely on her Force vision, Ciaran let her instincts take over as she sought out the shatterpoints for the boulders blocking her way. In a trance-like state, she raised her hand and pushed with the Force-
And the rocks in front of her shattered, their fragments flying away from Ciaran. Coming out of her trance, Ciaran noticed that the road was now clear-
"Run!"
Ciaran started to run again before her brain even properly registered what Kreia had said. "What's-"
"While those boulders may have been physical, remember that this entire realm is suffused with the Force." Kreia rapidly explained. "No doubt-"
Kreia's voice cut off as Ciaran felt the Son's presence moving towards the site of the rockslide as well as another presence that radiated with Light - undoubtedly the Daughter.
"Do not stop running. Now they know without doubt that you are here and have an idea what you are capable of. I do not know what the Daughter would do, but-"
"I know!" Ciaran shot back. Finally getting the time to process the area around her, she noted that the path she was on was leading towards a towering pyramid-shaped structure in the distance, with a brightly-shining crystal hovering above it.
father
The Father's there. I get there and hopefully I'll be safe.
Ciaran slowed down a bit to catch her breath but still maintained a quick pace, noting that the Son had not moved from the position of the rockslide and neither had the Daughter.
Why aren't they starting a more thorough search?
"I suspect that the two of them are in conflict over what your fate would be should they find you."
That's...not reassuring actually...
Finally letting herself properly slow down for a moment Ciaran continued to make her way towards the structure. After some time had passed she noted that the sun had begun to set. Normally this wouldn't have worried Ciaran except she noticed that the Force seemed to be...shifting somewhere behind her. Taking a look back Ciaran saw how the lush green lands behind her seemed to suddenly transform into a blasted wasteland, the trees dying off and changing to an eerily ethereal blue.
Oh great, now Mortis itself is trying to kill me.
"The change in the realm itself will not harm you, but the weather it brings will."
So as long as there aren't any clouds in the sky I should be fine, got it.
Ciaran began to move more quickly again as Mortis began to shift from day to night behind her. While she was close to the monastery, she was fairly certain that the night would catch up to her before she could make it-
And it did, the world around her suddenly shifting. Even though she was not using her Force vision, Ciaran staggered as she felt the Force invert for lack of a better description as the light in front of her continued to recede. After a moment she managed to recover and continue her trek towards the mountain structure. While it seemed as though she would be able to reach it before anything happened, Ciaran noticed that clouds were beginning to gather above her. Quickly starting to run, she managed to reach the staircase leading to the structure itself before the clouds darkened further and-
Suddenly Ciaran felt power go through the air as she saw rain begin to fall around her and burn away, though none of it hit her. She felt oddly calm as she walked up the many steps leading to the structure she had been trying to reach, and as she finally made it to the top she saw what appeared to be an old man with a long beard standing at the entrance.
"So you are the final visitor here then," he said, his voice reverberating as he spoke. "Though your arrival was unexpected it would be unbecoming of me not to offer you shelter after your journey here." He gave a slight bow. "I am Father, and I welcome you to my home."
--------
"You said that my arrival here was 'unexepected?'" Ciaran nervously questioned as she walked alongside the Father.
"Indeed, though perhaps I should clarify: I did not anticipate that someone would be reckless enough to follow the vessel that came here. Consider your presence here a gesture of good faith. Or perhaps...curiosity."
"So...you did invite me here."
"At the last possible moment. On that note I must say that you are...intriguing. The fact that you were able to hide yourself from my children is quite remarkable."
"It's not a complex technique; I simply suppress my Force presence and it keeps others from sensing me," Ciaran explained, not wanting to earn the Father's ire.
"Perhaps I should clarify; you are aware of what your presence is like when you hide it, correct?"
"It's as though I have no Force sensitivity to speak of, though obviously I still have some presence as a living being. Your point?"
"Consider the realm you are in: infused with the Force at every turn and where only those in tune with the Force may tread. When you hide yourself, your presence becomes unnoticeable because you effectively resemble the rest of the realm's environs."
"So that's why..."
"You understand then, good." The Father stopped next to a door. "Here is your room for the night. I would recommend that you stay here for the duration as the layout of this place may shift without warning."
"What happens in the morning?"
"That depends on other events that do not concern you."
Ciaran quietly nodded at that and obediently entered her room. She waited for a few moments, then slowly opened the door and glanced around to see no one in sight.
Like hell those events 'don't concern me.' I haven't gotten as far as I have by just standing by and letting things happen.
...
Kreia? Are you there?
...
Right, on my own then. Alright, I need to find Anakin in a building whose layout may or mat not be constantly changing. Great.
Breathing in, she glanced in both directions, trying to determine which way to go.
left
Nodding to herself, she turned left and began walking down the hallway, and as she went forward she quickly understood what the Father had meant as it seemed to constantly curve in different directions, to the point that Ciaran would have sworn that she had been turned around at some point. She'd been checking the rooms on occasion though, and they'd been consistently different as she moved along. Continuing on her path she came to a crossroads and-
right
-without breaking stride turned right to continue on her path. After some time walking through the labyrinthine corridors of the monastery she stopped in place as she noticed the Son's presence in one of the rooms before it vanished completely.
Oh hell.
Despite the protests of her aching legs, Ciaran ran towards the room in question, arriving just as the door opened and an angry-looking Anakin exited. Once he glanced over in Ciaran's direction, he was unable to hide his confusion.
"Ciaran!?"
"H-hey," Ciaran said, catching her breath. "Fancy meeting you here."
"You have eyes?!"
"...Doesn't everyone?"
AN: Seemed like a good point to cut off before the fun stuff starts happening. I probably could have merged this with the last update but hindsight is 20-20.