The last moon rose into the night sky slowly arching to join its brethren. Darth Maul stepped out of the Sith infiltrator his master had bestowed him, his long black Sith robes flapping wildly in the night breeze. The pale moonlight reflected in his bright yellow eyes as he scoured the horizon. What was he going to do with himself, he could hear the call of the darkside, but since he had been on this desolate planet he hadn't really felt the darkside. Not like he felt it when his master, Darth Sidious first tuned him into the power of the darkness.

"Find the darkness within yourself my apprentice," his master had said "Give yourself over to the darkness, let it consume your every notion." Maul had never been patient, and never had he had to turn his thoughts inside of him like this before. He looked around and felt an urge to run, he didn't need to train, he had been training all day. He needed to relax and search himself for the darkness, but he couldn't relax here, by the infiltrator. He slipped back inside the infiltrator and emerged with a sabre hilt attached to his robes, his pulled his dark hood over his head. As he sprinted off into the undergrowth, his yellow eyes twinkled with the excitement of battle.

"The darkness." Maul was rushing past towering trunks, and yet still he could hear his master's voice echoing from within him. He daren't pause for a second, if he stopped to listen the voice would begin to shriek, as it had for the past months. He broke from the trees, jumped some boulders and skidded to a halt on a cliff top. His breathing was heavy and beads of sweat glistened on his protruding horns. The voice was still there, Maul closed his eyes and relaxed, he could feel his master's anger. More strongly though he could feel his own need for vengeance, or was it his master;s will, he could no longer tell. He let his thoughts dwell on his revenge, when he would strike fear into the heart of every Jedi that faced him or his master.

Inside Maul's head he was falling, falling towards the darkness that lay at the bottom of his soul. He found himself being wrapped in the dark chill of the darkness, the constant feeling of reassurance that the darkness would protect him. He could feel the craving of the darkness, he wanted more darkness, and the darkness wanted more of his anger and hate. He let the darkness seep into every pore on his black and red skin. He could feel the surge of power that filled his mind, he could hear the biding of the dark side. He turned away from the cliff, looking up at the moons; his master's voice came flooding across space to him.

"Very good my young apprentice, you have learnt well." He could sense that his master was pleased.

"I have found the darkness within myself Master Sidious, I am one with the dark side." Maul spoke with his mind.

"You have found the darkness my faithful apprentice, but you are not one with the force, yet."

Darth Maul could feel his master's amusement, he wasn't sure if it was because compared to Sidious Maul was still a puny child, or maybe it was the apparent underestimation of the dark side. He decided it was his underestimation.

"Yes my apprentice, you have underestimated the darkside don't be so quick to expect that is all there is to learn." Maul understood and obeyed his master's bidding; he sunk back into the darkness within himself, this time it felt closer, and somehow darker. As the light from the moons was slowly clouded over, Maul could hear his master's voice telling him to wait. Telling him they would be together soon, for Sidious was returning. Maul could hardly contain his excitement, but the darkness consumed all his emotions before he knew he was even excited.

Two days later a much larger ship than the one Maul had used arrived, it landed not more than 200 yards from Mauls infiltrator and before the
hatch had opened Maul was faithfully waiting outside. As his Master stepped out onto the planets grassy surface, Maul could feel the chill
rise in the air, for the first time he was truly in awe of his master’s power. He could feel the darkness swarming around Sidious, he felt
secure in the knowledge that his master was so powerful. Secure in the knowledge that with the right attitude and training he could become as
powerful as his master. He dropped to one knee in front of Sidious and felt the other's pleasure at seeing his apprentice so yielding.

"Very good Maul. You have learnt much in the time you have spent alone here." Sidious' words rang like thunder through Maul's body, making him feel insignificant.

"Then I am ready, to join you." Maul inquired. A thin blue smile spread across the lips of his master, "You are not fully ready, there are many
lessons you must learn before you can face the Jedi."

Maul tightened, he knew that most of the Jedi were no match for his superior fighting skills.

"Patience my young apprentice, you will use your skills when necessary. First you must learn more, this rock has taught you all that you can
learn from it." With a deft wave of a robed forearm Sidious motioned to two guards who instantly left in the direction of Maul's infiltrator. "You will come with me to another rock, one that holds more secrets of the darkside. Come my youthful apprentice."

Maul strapped himself into the luxurious seats of his master's ship. He let his head rest back on the pillows and began to feel the darkness; he opened his eyes and faced Sidious.

"Master, why is the darkness?"

Sidious' expression said it all he was surprised but pleased. "The darkness is the force of life, it controls everything."

"But the force is light for Jedi" exclaimed Maul.

"Ah, but the Jedi use the two forces together, unifying and life. The Sith use the unifying force to encompass the life force, the Sith use the power of the force to bring harmony to the galaxy. The darkness is the harmony that wielding power brings. You will understand in good time my apprentice."

Maul just nodded in agreement, but he already understood. Sidious would only let him learn that which Sidious wanted him to learn. He was a
tool; Sidious was just planning to use his skills to eliminate the Jedi while he gathered more power. But Maul could play this game too, he knew what true power was and it wasn't the poxy political power Sidious desired. Maul would find his own power, and once Sidious has revealed his true plan, Maul would use his power to humiliate the Dark Lord and make him pay for the darkness. Because Maul realised now that the darkness was him, and he was the darkness. There was nothing more for Maul, only darkness now, and a bitter need for revenge. The revenge that he showed was that for the Jedi, the revenge he hid was that for his master.