Knight of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords

The Beginning of an Exile

((Author Note: Please don't be too hard on me this is my first Kotor fanfic. I'm sure I'm not going to get all the Star Wars facts right, but I'm trying to get as close as possible. I'm limited here . Also let it be known that I'm not the greatest at grammar and spelling, but I'm more of a creative writer. I leave that other stuff to editors, which I don't have, drat. Anyways, this story is based on the events from Kotor 2.While I'm slowly building up towards the game; I doubt I will get there for a long time. The story takes place before the Exile goes to war. While the story is working towards the war, there's still going to be several chapters before then. People from both Kotor's should be making camero's or playing major parts in the story. There's some light Kavar, Exile pairing since I find it interesting that they may have had a thing before the war. Revan and many others should be making an appearance soon as well. Anyways enjoy))

Two lightsabers swung through the air as their wielders past each other, leaving their opponent unharmed. Both fighters were quick to turn on their heels to face each other. They both smiled lightly to each other as they acknowledge their opponents skills, slowly they took careful steps around the sparing ring, studying each other's movements, waiting for one muscle to flinch to indicate an attack.

The owner of the blue lightsaber was a man in the prime of his life, but his appearance didn't suggest that he was old by any means. His face had a youthful look to it while his short cut hair only further complimented his youthful look by giving him a clean cut appearance. His skill with his lightsaber seemed to be giving his opponent a great deal of trouble. He had managed to keep her off balance, giving her less time to counter attack his moves. His eyes kept a close watch on her as she took a few stumbles back. He had no desire to end the spar, at least not yet. Her stumbling was a weakness to take advantage of, but he allowed her to gather herself one last time before he would make his move.

Her green lightsaber rose in front of her face to block another one of his attacks as he made his advances towards her. The glow of her standard green lightsaber outlined her youthful appearance as she struggled to keep his lightsaber away from her thin structured body. She was much younger then he was, but her face was etched with her determination to win the fight, giving her a mature look. It was an admirable feature, but such thoughts weren't appropriate for a man such as him. He made a quick charge at her while she still struggled to maintain her balance. It was an opening she had shown him a few times during their spar and now he was going to take advantage of it, to show her the error of her ways.

She was also quick to block him, but she had failed to take in account his own strength behind the push of his lightsaber. Once his lightsaber struck her, the force of the collusion caused her to fall back against the stone ground. Her elbows struck against the cold stone, causing her to loose her grip on her lightsaber. The valuable weapon was flung into the air, until it hit a neighboring wall. The winner of the match looked to his fallen opponent for a brief moment before he turned to the wall that was lined with so many curious eyes.

"Time to go back to your studies," he said as he switched his lightsaber off tucking it into its appropriate spot next its brother on his belt. The curious eyes all announced their disappointment that the spar was over, but they slowly obeyed as they filed out of the training room. Once the curious crowd had left he moved back over to his fallen opponent who remained sitting on the ground against her elbows in defeat. Her long dark hair clung to her sweat lined face as she kept her gaze directed away from him. He was quiet the entire time as he allowed her some time to gather herself. He knew her well enough that she wasn't one to be pushed too quickly when it came to certain matters. She took things in her own stride, it was just a matter of understand her journey to get there, which made it difficult to understand her at times. Many of the other masters were frustrated with this particular student due to her complicated actions, but to him he saw potential and he also felt privilege to be able to offer his guidance to her.

"Master…" she began to say to grab his attention. He had allowed his thoughts to drift slightly, but he quickly corrected himself as he heard her speak. He hardly ever allowed himself to daydream, but when he was around her he felt comfortable enough to do so. It was a feeling he kept to himself.

"Yes?" he replied to her in a kindly manner as he slightly glanced down to her to see her trying to accept her defeat, but he still sensed a wave of disappointment.

"I want to apologize, I never meant for myself to become aggressive during the spar."

"But you recognize that you were aggressive and corrected yourself during battle. You went back on the defensive which proved to be a good strategy until I switched to a different technique," he lightly smiled down to her, since he could tell she was a little frustrated that she had fallen for the 'oldest trick in the book' move, "It is wise that you can recognize your own weakness. Many are blinded to such things."

She nodded her head slightly. His words held some comfort to them, but she felt like she had let him down. She had expected to give him a much longer fight, "Master Kavar-"

He raised his hand to stop her from speaking anymore about the spar as he walked across the sparing room. He had made his way over to her lightsaber and he generously picked it up for her, "No need to apologize any further, Rena."

Rena was slightly surprised that he knew she was going to try and apologize, but then again she had trained with Kavar the most out of all the masters, it was only natural that he could predict her behavior. She used her elbows to lightly push herself up off the ground despite the stinging sensation from them. The spar had left her with a few minor scratches and bruises from the low powered lightsabers, but overall she would be ok after a good rest.

"Well I see our little battle may have proved to be too much for your lightsaber," Kavar said as he handed her lightsaber back.

Rena noticed that the hilt was cracked exposing her green crystal she had found in the crystal caves there on Dantooine, "It was my first lightsaber, it held up fairly long."

"Indeed," Kavar said as he rubbed his chin lightly, "It's fixable, a new hilt is required along with maybe a few other minor parts that may have been damaged from the impact. Come see me later, I may have a few parts that you could use. For now, just use one of the academy lightsabers until you are able to repair yours."

"Ok," Rena said as she tucked her lightsaber away. She tilted her head slightly at Kavar with a playful expression across her face, "So where are you going this time?"

Kavar raised an eyebrow to her question since he hadn't planned on leaving for awhile, but he was also curious as to why she was giving him such a playful look, "I wasn't aware I was going any where."

"Oh really?" Rena said with a light smirk across her face as she made her towards the exit with Kavar tagging along at her side, still a bit curious on what she was hinting at, "You always have something planned. I thought you were only stopping here at the academy for a few days because the council summoned you."

"I see gossip among the students is alive and well," Kavar said with a struggled smile since he had hoped that the students wouldn't be so curious as to what the masters were planning. They were students though and he shouldn't hold them to the standards of the other masters, "I am planning to meet with the council later, but I will not be leaving for any missions this time."

"You actually plan on staying?" Rena asked as she glanced to the taller master.

"Yes, is that such a surprise?"

"Of course it is," Rena said with her same playful smile to him, "I hardly ever see you and we're friends after all, I would like to hear about some of your travels."

"You have the other masters," Kavar said as he returned the smile. He had a feeling that she had missed the times when she was younger when he would be at her side for a majority of the day, telling her his stories of his past missions and his time as a padawan. Kavar was happy to hear she still had a desire to be with him since he had thought of taking her on as a padawan for quiet some time, but the time hadn't been right for him and the other masters thought it may be best if she learned at the academy for awhile longer. He would wait until the masters felt like the time was right and until he felt like he could fully take on the responsibilities in being a mentor and a master that was apart the council.

"I know, it's just I've known you the longest and you treat me differently," Rena said as a smile faded from her face, replaced by a concern expression.

"Differently?" Kavar said a bit taken aback to what she truly meant. He sensed their was something deeper to her words that she wasn't telling him.

"You know what I mean."

"Apparently I do not," Kavar said as he grabbed her arm lightly to stop her from walking any further, "I can see you are avoiding my question though."

She paused a moment to study him trying to discover why he wanted to know about her problem with the other masters, but his face offered her no answers. She let out a gentle sigh from her lips as she told Kavar what she thought, "I just feel like some of the masters watch me closer compared with the other students."

"I see…" he slowly released his fingers from her arm as he slightly apologized for being so abrupt. Kavar could sense that she had other suspicions, but now wasn't the best of time to speak about them openly so he decided he would confront her later about them, "The masters are just watching your progress since so many of the students seem to admire your skills."

"I suppose…" she trailed off slightly as she sensed another master approaching them. Of course Kavar sensed the same as he directed his gaze down the hallway to see master Vandar walking slowly towards them.

"Master, Kavar, padawan Rena," he greeted them both once he was near enough.

"Master," Rena said as she bowed her head in greeting. Kavar did the same as he looked down to Vandar to see if the older master was summoning him to join the others in the private chambers.

Vandar didn't offer him an answer right away as he turned to face Rena instead, "Master Vrook has express some concerns about your argument with his padawan earlier."

"Argument?" Kavar heard himself say since Rena had failed to mention that to him earlier.

Rena felt her face fluster slightly since she felt embarrassed that she was being confronted by Vandar and now Kavar knew about her argument. She swallowed a gulp of air, trying to control her emotions in front of two jedi masters, "It was a minor argument I had about lightsaber techniques."

"It doesn't sound minor if Master Vrook was upset," Kavar said, jumping into the conversation between her and Vandar. He studied Rena a bit closer, noticing she was fidgeting with her robe.

"Yeah well I always upset Master Vrook…" Rena mumbled slightly, but both masters heard her clearly. Kavar was about to respond to her comment, but Vandar raised his hand slightly to stop him.

"We will discuss this later, meditate on your actions you will."

"Yes, master," Rena said as she bowed to master Vandar first and then to Kavar before she left to find a quiet spot in the gardens to meditate. She preferred the gardens over the meditation chamber; she just felt comfortable being with the life that Dantooine itself had created. She felt bad that she had felt Kavar completely in the dark, but she knew master Vrook will fill him in on the details, even though she was almost positive he would blame her for the incident. She left the masters to do what they do best, talk over jedi matters or what ever else they my concern them and the order.

Kavar watched her leave with a slightly worried expression. He didn't like how she was hiding things from him and he also didn't like how she spoke of master Vrook.

"Master, Kavar…" Vandar spoke slowly to indicate that it was time for their meeting. Kavar simply nodded his head lightly, leaving Rena to her meditation even though he wished to help her with her problems, but he was apart of the council now and he couldn't focus on his own selfish desires. He had to concentrate on the Jedi as a whole.

Rena walked slowly towards the gardens with her hands resting against her sides as if they were too heavy to lift. As soon as she was in open view inside the gardens a group of students ran up to her to ask her about Kavar and their match. She knew Kavar was a great strategic fighter and he was one of the few Jedi council members who seen battle on the front lines, but she never really admired Kavar for that. She had always enjoyed his much kinder nature. He was opened with her and honest, but she always seemed drawn to him since she first met him. She couldn't quiet place what it was, but she always enjoyed being with Kavar.

"Alright, I'll tell you guys what happened," Rena said with a struggled smile. She wasn't in the best of moods, but she could feel their feelings in the air as they anticipated a story from her about the spar. She explained her spar to the students that didn't have a chance to attend the sparing session first before she repeated the story again as more students gathered around, demanding to hear it. They all seemed thrilled to hear how long she managed to defend herself against Kavar since he would normal finish his sparring matches quickly. Rena didn't mind the attention or the large group of students that always seemed to crowd around her. She felt centered being around them as if she could feel them connect with her. After she swapped a few more stories about her other spars with Kavar she decided she had enough for today and told the students that she would tell them more later. Many were reluctant to leave, but they were thrilled that they would have a chance to hear more later in the day. The students all found their way out from the gardens until only a few were left to continue their tasks that their masters had sent them on. Rena tilted her head slightly when she noticed that one of the younger students was still lingering around staring at her. It took Rena only a fraction of a second before she realize who it was.

"Mical, you weren't at the spar?"

He lightly shook his head as he brushed aside his blond bangs from his eyes, "No, it wasn't that. I was there, I just enjoy hearing your stories, and it gives a new point of view. So, did you get in trouble about today?"

Rena frowned lightly since this was the third time someone mentioned her scuff. Mical noticed her sour look as he chuckled lightly to her antics, "A sour subject?"

"It's not that," Rena said as she turned her head away, "I just don't understand why I am to blame for something another student did. I understand that I started the argument, but I wasn't the one who initiated the shoving that resulted into a punch."

Mical patted her shoulder lightly, "Perhaps the masters just want you to think about how your actions has consequences to others."

Rena nodded her head since she still considered that solution, but she sensed it was something deeper then that, "You know, you're catching on pretty fast. You've only recently started to use the force. At least compared to some of the other students."

"I learn by example," he replied as he stood in front of her with his bright smile. Rena could never understand how he stayed so lighthearted all the time, but she had to admit that he had potential to become a great Jedi. He was skilled and on top of that highly knowledgeable. He spent a majority of his time studying, something that she hardly could stand.

"If you're implying that you're learning from me then I believe you're under the influence of some strong juma juice," she said, lightly teasing him. She had known Mical since he arrived and for what ever reason he has always been drawn to her. He attended most of her sparing matches and he spoke to her whenever he wasn't busy looking over data. She liked having a friend around since Kavar had more responsibilities being apart of the council and doing off planet missions.

"I am only speaking the truth," he said trying his best to act like the masters that had been lecture Rena lately. His face tried to look as stern as possible, but it was difficult to do with his boyish looking face.

"Right…" Rena said with a suppressed laugh since she could tell he was trying to keep a straight face with her. It wasn't long until he was laughing which caused her to break down and laugh. He leaned back against the edge of the stone lining of the gardens to catch his breath. Rena wiped away a few tears from her eyes when something out of the corner of her eye caught her full attention.

Standing near the entrance to the gardens looked like one of the Dantooine settlers. His rugged hair suggested he had lived a hard life, farming alone on the secluded planet. He looked like he was a middle age man, but his face was twisted in such a worrisome way that it made him look ten years older. Despite his dirty cloths and tanned colored skin, Rena thought he held himself like a noble as he stood in the gardens, but she could feel the mans desperation. His very soul cried out for help, yet none of the other Jedi or students seem too concern with him. Rena couldn't leave the man standing there alone like that. He looked like he needed to be comforted or someone to talk to. She didn't hesitate any further as she began to walk towards him.

"Hey, where are you going?" Mical asked as he realized she was no longer listening to him, he hopped off the stone edge to chase after her.

"Can't you sense that man's feelings?" she said in a soft whisper, keeping her head tilted forward.

Mical paused a brief moment behind her before he replied to her, "Now that you mentioned it…."

"Good," Rena feared that maybe she was sensing something else from the man, but Mical confirmed her suspicion. The man must have noticed that they were both going to speak to him, because he quickly turned to face them with a sense of hope sparkling in his eyes.

"Have you come to help me?" he asked as he lightly bowed his head to them both.

Rena waved her hand lightly, he didn't need to bow to them it was too formal for her plus with his noble features she didn't feel that it was appropriate, "We weren't really sent…"

"No?" The man's voice strained thinking his hopes were being dashed. His eyes stared at them intensively, thinking that they were going to play a cruel joke on him.

"That doesn't mean we don't want to help," Rena said quickly while Mical nodded in agreement, "You seem upset."

"I came here requesting help from the Jedi Masters. One of them told me to wait here and be patient. I've been waiting here for an hour…and ever second that passes by brings Hakan closer to death."

"Hakan?" Rena repeated while Mical tapped his foot lightly, digging through his memory.

"Are you Mr. Noshi?" he finally said as Rena stood there with a blank looked across her face.

The older man nodded his head lightly while Rena scratched her head lightly wondering who Mr. Noshi was, "Wha-?"

"I studied the maps and noticed Mr. Noshi's name along with his son, Hakan on the Dantooine farming maps. His farm is a few miles south from here. It's far from any other farms and resources."

"I swear your head is going to explode one day…" Rena said as she rubbed her forehead trying to make sure she was getting her facts right, "Right, so you came to the academy because the local police force is further away?"

"Yes, but I also saw something strange that I thought that you Jedi might understand. You see, my son was kidnapped by a strange young man. I didn't get a good look at his face, but I could tell he looked ill, but it wasn't his appearance that was odd, it was his weapon. He carried on of those sword things you Jedi carry around."

"A lightsaber?" Mical said with a worried expression as he looked to Rena, "I haven't heard of any of the students here missing nor have I heard of anyone leaving."

"That is odd," Rena folded his arms together as she tried to think the situation through, "Maybe he crashed here…but I don't see how he can benefit from kidnapping a local boy that doesn't have a political strong hold here or money…uh no offense, what I meant was..."

Noshi chuckled lightly, he could tell Rena was trying to be as polite as she could, "None taken, young lady. We are simple farmers, we know our place. You're the first Jedi to have stop and listen to me, I think I can withstand I few comments from you."

"I'm not really a Jedi…but," Rena turned to face Mical, away from Noshi for a brief moment, "We need to help him."

"I agree, but what about the council and the masters?"

"The council is busy with something else, he needs help or his son is going to die. I think we can handle this, it sounds simple enough. Plus its one less thing for the masters to worry about."

"I will follow your lead then," he said as his blue eyes stared at her to show his commitment and loyalty to her. She was pleased with his response as she gave him a light now.

She turned back to Noshi and offered her his hand, "We will find your son. There are some guest rooms down the hall and to the left, but they are a bit small…but at least you can get a few hours sleep."

"Thank you…" Noshi said as he looked at her, "I believe I never caught your full name."

"It's Rena Gran" she said as she waved her goodbyes to him. She hoped that Mr. Noshi would get some sleep to ease the conflict of feelings inside him. She made her way across the academy to the backrooms where the academy kept a few landspeeders.

Mical was right behind her never expressing any second thoughts on what they were about to do. Rena could still feel Mr. Noshi's feelings inside her still. His worried face and feeling of determination was burned in her mind as she pressed the numbers on the panel to open up the academy door. She had never experienced such fear before nor had she had ever sensed it so extreme in one person. Her shelter life inside the academy had shielded her of such feelings for a long time. She had always been surrounded by jedi who could control their emotions or at least tame them, but she now knew she would have to endure such feelings if she was ever going to be able to save anyone.

There is a great disturbance in the force.

Its origin remains unseen, but its shadow has been cast upon our eyes.

Is it the dark side?

Perhaps it's that padawan.

No her destiny is unclear; I fear this path is someone else's.

But whose?

Too many questions with unsure answers

Perhaps it's war.

Not war itself, but something greater.