The force shall set me free

Chapter 1

Jaune was lost.

Granted that was not unusual, he was lost on a long variety of subjects but this was just embarrassing.

He was lost on the forest next to his home town!

"And the day before I leave to Beacon too" he said to himself with a frown.

Beacon, the thought brought a small smile to his face.

He wasn't sure how but he had managed to do it.

Faked his way inside Beacon.

It was honestly funny in a weird sort of way, he was so worried about getting into Beacon that he hadn't considered the fact that he was a very mediocre fighter.

"I will worry about that later, right now priorities Jaune, I have to find a way out of this forest"

He realized he was speaking alone again and frowned.

That was no way a future hunter should act.

He should be swift as a Beowulf, do some recognizance and find his way out.

"An advantage point!" he realized.

That was what he needed, he walked towards the lone mountain that he had spotted earlier and started his hike towards the top.

It wasn't even that high he realized.

At most it would be a small building.

As he reached the top of the mountain he couldn't help but smile.

There it was.

His town.

Huh, this would be the last time he would see it in a good while.

All of the things he had grown so accustomed to see will be gone.

That was the reason why he had decided to take this little walk on the woods.

As a way to say goodbye.

A small tinge of sadness echoed in his soul, he hadn't planned on telling his parents or sisters that he was leaving to Beacon.

He had of course a letter prepared for them.

He would nail to the table so that they would all see.

But he was forced to do it these way, he reasoned with himself.

They didn't believe he could be a hunter, his sisters had laughed, his mother had shook his head.

And his father.

He turned his hand into a fist.

His father despised the idea of him becoming a hunter, he had avoided the topic like a plague back when he was younger and in recent years he refused to answer him.

He felt he was going to shame the family.

Or at least that was how Jaune interpreted it, but just the mere thought of that made him feel one thing.

Anger.

"I'm not a failure, they will see" he said sadly as he started his descent down the mountain.

But luck was not on his side today.

Because as he took the first steps down, the floor beneath him was destroyed as if something had exploded beneath him.

Jaune screamed in panic as he fell down into the abyss, his skin being cut by the rocks as he fell.

He hit the ground hard and a loud CRACK filled the air.

"My arm!" Jaune screamed in pain.

His arm was broken, he couldn't move it he realized terrified.

He stood up clumsily pain clouding his mind.

He focused himself to focus and found out that he couldn't see anything.

Darkness surrounded him.

He shallowed nervously as he tried to feel his surroundings, his hand hit thin air multiple times but at last he found solid rock.

Jaune used it to steady himself.

He wanted to scream, but there was no way he could do that, it would alert everything down here of his presence and worst of all, they had one key advantage over him: sight.

Grimm could see in the dark, he could not.

So he would play it safe and try his best to find the way out only with one arm.

He paled as he realized that fact, he had to dig his way out with just one hand.

"Oh god I'm going to die" he thought in panic.

His life hadn't even started and it was already ending.

Alone, in a tomb of rock and darkness.

He snorted at how edgy that sounded.

Just as he was about to resume his exploration he felt something call out to him.

"Jaune..."

"What, who is there?!" he said in panic, all the ghost stories he had used to scare his younger siblings coming to mind.

"Come Jaune…"

The voice was deep, dark and malevolent. Just by hearing it you knew that there was power in them.

His mind screamed at him to not listen, that this was just a trick caused by the pain and fear.

But it was the last thing he had, another part said.

He closed his eyes and started to walk towards the voice.

He didn't know how but he knew where to go.

Jaune walked in pitch blackness without tripping or running into a rock.

He knew where everything was, what rocks to avoid, what places to turn.

It terrified him to the core.

Just before he could put more thought into it, Jaune arrived at a room illuminated by a red stone in the middle of it.

He immediately made his way to it.

Fixated on it, as if it was calling to him.

"Is not just one" he said in surprise.

Three small red crystals in the shape of a triangle stood in what appeared to be an altar.

Jaune felt sweat running down his forehead.

This little things where not of this world.

The whispers they gave out, the heavy weight in his heart at just being near them.

But he needed them. He didn't know why but he needed them.

"I will use them to find my way out" he said to himself as he reached forward and grabbed the first rock.

His fingers made contact with the stone and he stopped.

But what if moving them was dangerous?

Like in all those movies where moving the ancient relic made the entire thing collapse.

A war raged in his mind and confusion clouded his mind.

But as he debated with himself he didn't realize something.

The pyramid like thing was moving.

It was opening.

Jaune let out a yelp as he was thrown back to the ground by an unknown force.

He looked up in fear as a malevolent figure stared at him.

He was shrouded in what appeared to be a dark cloak.

As if he void of life, only his mask had color in it.

The mask was not very elaborate.

A skull like form with red marks.

An intimidating sight.

"Who are you?" Jaune asked, but the figure didn't respond it merely held out his arm into the air.

By his command two other figures appeared.

One a bald man with a frown on his face and the other was a ghostly being with sharp teeth an intricate helm that had horns.

"I am Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith, who comes to me for knowledge?" the bald one said as he looked at him in disgust.

"My name is Marka Ragnos, one of the first Lords of the Sith"

The shadowy figure spoke as well but Jaune didn't understand him, his voice sounded distorted, as if he was far away.

"What- what are you?" Jaune said at last at the three figures.

Bane frowned even more and spoke up "A sith is a being that uses the force with raw emotion, bends it to his will and achieves the thing that he seeks"

Jaune didn't understand. The force?

What was that?

"I sense much doubt in you Jaune" Marka Ragnos said his teeth transforming into a vicious grin as he saw the fear in Jaune's eyes.

"I was the one that sensed you, I felt your anger your frustration and your great potential"

Jaune looked away in shame.

"Why do you turn your face from me boy? There is no shame in your anger, use it to become stronger let it flow through you, denying your nature will only lead to failure"

"I don't understand" Jaune said shaking his head.

"Ah but you will" Marka Ragnos said and in the blink of an eye he was face to face with Jaune.

Jaune gasped in fear and tried to get away but Ragnos grabbed him by the head.

Once he had him Ragnos closed his eyes and focused.

Jaune screamed as he felt million bolts of electricity cursing through his body.

Ragnos smiled sadistically as Jaune twisted on the ground before him.

He could feel the power of the boy.

His untapped potential.

He finally let go of Jaune who was breathing heavily.

"Feel Jaune, feel the force around you" Ragnos said as he raised his hands into the air.

Jaune stood up and tried to run but before he could, he noticed that he felt different.

He could feel two presences behind him.

Their hate, their power.

Jaune turned around to look at Ragnos in confusion.

"What did you do to me?"

"I just opened a new world to you Jaune, the force is all around, you feel it, command it!"

"How do… I don't…"

"Oh but you can, in due time you shall know more but using the force should come to a Sith as simple as breathing is to a child" Ragnos extended his arm and a rock levitated in front of Jaune.

"Wow" Jaune said surprise.

The rock floated back to Ragnos who smirked.

"Catch" Ragnos said and threw the rock at Jaune who didn't have time to block it and it him square in the chest.

He groaned in pain and felt dread as more rocks started to float.

"Reach into the force and stop them!" Ragnos commanded and started to hit the boy with the rocks.

Jaune felt the rocks hit against his body, one by one hitting harder than the last.

He didn't understand what to do, did he needed to extend his arm? Use his mind? What was he supposed to…?

CRACK

A large rock hit him in the ribs shattering them.

Jaune screamed and in a fit of confusion, pain and rage extended his one good arm at the rock.

Jaune felt it flow out of him, raw power.

The rocks where all destroyed as if hit by an explosion.

As the dust fell to the ground Jaune looked at his fist in surprise.

"Now you see" Ragnos said.

Jaune shook his head.

"This... power is… where does it come from?"

"It has always been there Jaune, you were just blind to it and now you have taken the first steps into the path of becoming a Sith"

Jaune frowned at him.

"And what makes you think that I want to become a…a Sith"

Ragnos chuckled "I sense desire in you boy, a need for approval, a need to become the best…"

Ragnos paused and closed his eyes.

"Hunter, yes, you want to be the greatest hunter"

Jaune blinked

"Did you just read my mind?"

"I'm not wrong am I? Look at yourself Jaune do you really think in your state of mind and body you will be able to achieve what you desire?"

No, he knew that.

But that didn't mean he was going to give up on it.

But… this power.

He had destroyed rocks to dust with it.

If he used it for good, he could become… a great Hunter.

"I… why me? In all the world why me?"

Ragnos chuckled darkly

"Does that really matter to you boy? The offer is here, you can go back to wander in the dark of the ruins or you can embrace the Dark side of the force and become a new man, a powerful man"

Jaune remained still.

"Does this Dark side of the force, need anything from me?"

Ragnos shook his head.

"It does not, you may use it as you see fit"

"That sounds too good to be true, are you sure there is no catch?"

"Once you enter you cannot go back to how you once where"

Jaune nodded, it made sense.

He focused on his past.

His failures.

How will that Jaune do in Beacon?

Failure.

He would found failure once more.

He would be found out or worse, he would not be good enough.

"I will, I will become one of you"

Ragnos nodded pleased.

"Good choice young one, but you need to know that becoming a Sith is not something that happens in one day, it will take lots of patience and discipline"

"I'm ready, I will do anything to achieve my dream"

"Good answer, come forward apprentice"

Jaune did as he was ordered.

"Kneel"

Jaune kneeled ignoring the pain of his body.

"I Marka Ragnos recognize you as a Sith apprentice" and with that Jaune stood up once more.

"Was it necessary to kneel?"

Ragnos chuckled "You follow orders well, but I cannot teach you much here in the caves"

Jaune nodded.

"Yeah I also wouldn't like to stick around here for much longer"

"Jaune I am dead, but my spirit lingers on"

"OH!" Jaune said surprised at this fact.

"Your first test will be to take my presence with you, do you see that sarcophagus over there"

Jaune looked around until he found it.

"A part of my body is in there, when I died my body was cut into several part and spread all across the galaxy, this is but a fragment of my old body"

Jaune frowned at the mental image.

"Extend you hand Jaune"

Jaune nodded and did as he was ordered.

"Do you feel it?"

"Yes"

Jaune felt the presence, old and wise, terrifying and powerful.

"Pull"

Jaune did so and felt his mind being clouded with visions.

Stars, planets, spaceships and so many races.

Jaune fell to his knees gasping.

"Good work Jaune I am bound to you now, I will appear only when you need me to"

"Are you going to try to take over my body?" Jaune asked as he shook his head.

"No, I merely wish to see the rise of a Sith once more, I have waited in the darkness for so many millennia and now our time has come once more"

Jaune turned to look at the other two figures.

The cloaked one was looking at him, while the bald one was facing the direction he had been originally.

"What about them?"

"One is not but a holocron, a simple recording of teachings"

"Like a hologram"

"Precisely"

"And the other"

"He is like me, a sith bound to the real world with an anchor, but I do not know what is his anchor"

"Should I do what I did with you?"

Ragnos chuckled "I did most of the work boy, but yes bring him, knowledge from his shall prove… useful"

Jaune nodded and walked to the cloaked figure.

"Hi…" he waved lamely at it

The figure didn't respond.

"Err... Where is your anchor… to the real world?"

The figure moved a ghostly finger towards a dark corner of the room.

Jaune nodded and walked towards it.

His face twisted in confusion as he stared into a destroyed robe and a shattered white mask.

"All right then, do you think you can help me… uh"

"Marka Ragnos, but Master will suffice" The ghost said as he appeared next to him.

Jaune nodded and extended his arm, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He pulled with the force at the clothes but this time the experience was different.

His head was assaulted with flashes of a destroyed planet, thousands screaming in pain.

CONSUME

The people screaming in agony as their entire world was consumed.

HUNGER

It hurt, so many dead.

CONSUME
Jaune fell to his knees, his consciousness fading.

HUNGER

"ENOUGH!" Marka Ragnos screamed, taking Jaune out of the trance.

He was gasping for air as he looked around the cloaked figure had disappeared.

"You" a voice said behind him.

The voice sounded hollow, echo like, Jaune knew who that was.

Jaune stood up and glared at the sith.

"What the hell was that?"

"Pain, hunger, madness the curse I had to go through for all my life, an insanity caused by one woman as she burned a planet to nothingness"

"Impossible no one can just destroy a planet!" Jaune shouted in disbelief.

"Your primitive mind may not comprehend it but outside, in the civilized galaxy, the destruction of a planet is not an impossibility"

Marka Ragnos shook his head "Much changed with the galaxy since my absence"

"Indeed it has and I do not doubt that it has changed even more since my absence"

"Your name what is it, for you to be put in my resting place must mean that you are some powerful sith Lord"

The cloaked figure stood silent for a moment.

"My name is Darth Nihilus, I once was the most feared Sith Lord in all the galaxy, I hunted down and killed the Jedi to near extinction, cursed with pain and hunger that could not be satiated, consumed by it and now I have been freed of it"

Marka Ragnos nodded, impressed by his backstory, he knew it was true thanks to the assault on Jaune's mind.

Jaune turned to look at Ragnos.

"What now?"

"Now we leave these retched caves, use the force and look for the wait outside"

Jaune nodded and was about to leave when the ghost of Nihilus stopped him.

"You cannot leave without the holocron"

Jaune frowned as he looked back at the last figure.

"Why, are you guys not enough to teach me your ways?"

"Foolish boy, what if he knows way more than we do, or knows of an ancient technique that we do not know in our time, a sith must hunger for power and power must be learned"

"Yeah that makes sense I am sorry"

Jaune returned and grabbed the holocron, it immediately closed and turned back to its original pyramid shaped form.

With the thing safely placed in his pocket Jaune turned to the darkness of the cave.

"Here goes nothing" Jaune said as he walked back into the darkness.

But this time it was different.

Jaune could see.

But not through his eyes, but rather through the force.

He could feel the darkness of the two beings inside.

Waiting.

Watching.

Jaune shuddered as he walked.

Before he ventured deeper into the cave he felt something pulling at him.

He turned towards where he felt the pull and to his surprise a small ray of sunlight penetrated the darkness.

Jaune ran towards it and started to dig his way out.

"Jaune, stand back" Ragnos voice said in Jaune's head

"What? This is my way out!"

"I do not deny that Jaune, but your method is long and pathetic to a Sith Lord, you shall use a technique called Force push"

"Pathetic!"

"Yes, a Sith does not use his hands for simple things, a sith bends the Force to his will and uses as a tool for whatever need he has" the echo like voice of Nihilus said in his head.

Jaune let out a sigh

"How do I do this technique?"

"Jaune!" a scream echoed to the woods.

Janet, Jaune's older sister was looking for him.

"This isn't funny Jaune! Mom is really worried and you know how she gets when she's like that!"

No answer came, making her frown.

"Stupid Jaune" she muttered under her breath.

Her little brother was once more giving her trouble, it had been cute when he was little.

Oops clumsy Jaune spilled something better help clean up.

But as the years progressed, his mistakes progressed with him.

"Ugh Jaune, when I get my hands on you I'm going to strangle…"

A loud explosion was heard from a lone mountain nearby.

"…you"

That had not been natural, there were no volcanos in the area, so what had caused it?

Janet had no time to wander.

She heard a growl behind her, she didn't need to turn around to know what it was.

Grimm.

Amber ran as fast as she could, the footsteps of the beast behind her getting closer and closer.

She was not like her father.

She was no hunter.

What could she do?!

She tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

Janet let out a whimper as she turned to look around.

A Beowulf stared at her.

His red lifeless eyes staring deep into her soul.

Had it killed Jaune too, she wondered.

She had been too late.

"I'm sorry Jaune…" she whispered to herself and closed her eyes refusing to watch the beast that was approaching her.

But the blow never came, instead she heard the creature howl in pain.

She looked up to see the beast trashing around in the ground as an unseen force tore him from the inside out.

Janet gasped as the grim started to deteriorate before her very eyes.

The fur started to fall, the bone mask started to crack and turn into dust.

With one las pined whimper the beast fell down to the ground.

Black smoke started to emit from its corpse.

"Are you all right?" a very familiar voice said.

Janet turned around to see her little brother, covered in dirt and dried up blood.

She ran to him and tackled him into a hug.

"Jaune you're ok" she said relieved.

Jaune returned the hug, but his eyes where focused on the Grim, he had killed a Grim.

He hadn't even touched it.

Force Drain, Darth Nihilus had called it.

His broken arm and ribs where healed, in a matter of seconds.

He looked down at his hand and smiled.

"Jaune, why did you come here alone do you have any idea how worried mom and me where?!" Janet said as she glared at her brother.

But his eyes where focused on the disappearing Grim.

"It's taking longer than usual" Jaune muttered.

"Maybe it's because it died differently but I wouldn't know I'm no hunter and don't you dare try to change the subject, look at you all covered in blood and dirt what where you doing, you're lucky the Grim just fell dead and…"

"I killed him, it didn't die by randomly" Jaune said with a small sigh.

Janet didn't believe him.

"Sure Jaune and I strangled an Ursa with my bare hands"

Jaune said nothing and simply raised his hand towards a rock with a flick of his fingers the rock moved towards him.

Do to Jaune's inexperience the rock hit him square in the chest.

He groaned a little but by the look on his sister's face he knew that she was starting to believe him.

"Is that your semblance?"

"You could say that" Jaune said with a shrug.

Janet frowned but shook her head.

"Let's head back home, I'm going to tell mom on you and tomorrow there will be hell to pay Jaune"

Jaune smiled sadly.

Good thing I won't be here tomorrow then, he thought.

He took one last look at the forest and shook his head.

Jaune had a lot of things to do, he just hopped he didn't pass out do to exhaustion.

Unknown to him two powerful beings where having a conversation in his head.

"He shows potential" Marka Ragnos said to his sith companion.

"He thinks he can be a hero, he wants to use the Force to help others not himself, that is no sith" Nihilus said in a growl.

"Patience, soon he will learn just how cruel and unfair the world truly is and when that happens he will have to take matters into his own hands"

"Pain gives a Sith clarity hatred gives them direction"

"Yes, but for now we will lay dormant, teaching him only the basics of the force and when he falls into the pit of hatred that all sith fall eventually, we will teach him true power"

Nihilus nodded.

Ragnos stared at him in curiosity.

"Tell me sith, why will you help train the young man if you don't think he has the potential to become a true sith?"

"He was just like me once, before a terrible catastrophe fell upon me, I just wonder what catastrophe will turn him into a monster like me or if he will be strong enough to overcome it"

"A study of a being similar to you, I get it"

Ragnos disappeared into the depths of Jaune's mind waiting for the time of training Nihilus on the other hand remained.

Jaune was scared, sad and exited at the same time.

He was leaving everything and everyone behind to follow his dream.

Nihilus remained quiet in Jaune's mind.

The first seed of the Sith was planted in Jaune's mind.

Fear.

A/N:

Quick disclaimer, this story was inspired by jankmaster98's story "Star Wars: Knights of Remnant" I highly recommend you read that story as well, it's a nice story if Jaune studied with a Jedi holocron.

This story will follow the other part of the spectrum, the more violent and mean-spirited side of things.

Jaune of course will still be Jaune but thanks to the two beings in his mind he will start to see things in a different light.

And I know that I will get stuff wrong, I just played KOTOR 2 and read some of Star Wars Legends, but I am by no means an expert. So if you find some inconsistencies with the Star Wars Lore feel free to call me out on it.

Thank you for reading!