Kreia sat in the cockpit of the Emerald Honour brushing the area where there had been a angry gash. The previously empty tomb had been filled with Hssiss. How had she not noticed them sooner?
And why hadn't they attacked sooner? Only when she had attacked had they fought back. It felt as though they just wanted to block their escape, not kill them. Keep them in. Why?
Her mind wandered to the moments before the creatures' appearance and she suppressed a shudder. She could not deny the sinking dread she felt thinking of the artefact. It was an unfamiliar feeling.
The object had taken a hold of her. She hadn't been able to look away; letting go of it had seemed an impossibility. It had been everything, to the exclusion of all else. It had been power. If Revan hadn't taken it from her... This time she couldn't stop the shiver. What would have happened? Would she have fallen? Just like that? So easily? She frowned. It was best not to report this to the council, not in all its detail.
She checked the ship's course. They were a couple of hours from DNX-N1 and on their way back to Ukio. To Revan's mother. Another problem. How could she convince him to leave her behind? She should never had brought her with them. But then Revan would not have followed. It galled Kreia to fumble around like this. She was used to control, and at the moment she barely possessed any. She leaned back in the chair, searching for the best solution.
This would not be easy.
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A hospital was something Revan had never seen before they had arrived on Ukio with his mother in tow. He had seen a clinic twice on Deralia, and it had never contained so many humans. It was strange, seeing them walking openly on the streets, conversing amiably with their non-human counterpart. It was definitely unsettling.
He glanced at Kreia, walking a few paces in front of him. He hadn't talked to her much since whatever had happened in the cave. No matter how much she tried to hide it, he could see she was nervous. It had something to do with the item he had wrested away from her before the Hssiss had ambushed them.
He didn't like thinking of them. He remembered the confusing events after the battle had started. It had been a mess of slashing claws and snapping teeth a hairsbreadth away from him. But never actually touching him. The growls and snarls had been drowned out by his pounding heart, and at the end, when they had made it out, he had felt like he hadn't breathed in ages even as he was gulping down air.
But it was over now. The monsters were on another planet, and he was at an information desk of a hospital, behind which was a man in white rifling through patient files.
"Master Jedi, you're back! Were you successful?" the man greeted. He was the same doctor that had been there when they had stopped here a few days before.
Before Kreia could open her mouth, Revan jumped in.
"We're here to see my mum."
The man looked down at him in surprise. For a moment his face was blank before he looked back up to Kreia.
"The, uh, comatose woman who was placed here before you left?" When Kreia nodded he continued hesitantly, glancing down at Revan before continuing, "It's... not good."
"What do you mean?" Kreia asked sharply.
The doctor shifted uncomfortably. "Scans revealed serious internal bleeding, which blocked her airways. She sustained a severe concussion that may have caused memory loss, though we cannot confirm that since she had fallen in a coma. Her brain activity is lowering each hour... If those were the only problems, we could probably save her... but the scans revealed, well..."
"Yes?" Kreia prompted when he trailed off.
"We found traces of the Carius disease in her blood stream. It's rare in Republic space, more often seen near Gamorr and nearby sectors... Master Jedi, where did you find this woman?"
"Deralia," Kreia replied distractedly.
Revan just stared at the man. What was he saying?
"Ah," the doctor said shortly. "That would explain it. The fumes of the planet react badly with humans and near-humans. Completely incompatible. Fatal, when a big enough quantity has been absorbed." He paused, looking down at Revan pityingly before continuing slowly. "There is no cure, as of yet."
Revan kept staring at him blankly. Coma? Disease? Cure? He hated the look the man was giving him. He looked at Kreia, hoping she could clarify things that he just couldn't grasp.
She looked grim. When she turned her face to Revan, she could see he didn't understand. Or couldn't. Or wouldn't.
The doctor could see this too. He crouched down to eye level, his eyes full of sympathy. Revan didn't want to see that look directed at him.
"What's your name?" Revan stared steadily at him before answering. "Well, Revan, your mother... She's not well. She is very sick, and she can't get better. She's sleeping. And she's been sleeping for a long time because we can't wake her up. She's too tired to wake up because she's fighting the sickness."
"Are you saying she's never going to wake up? That she's..." He didn't like the doctor talking like this. Revan couldn't understand what he was trying to say with all this beating-around-the-bush.
The doctor blinked at the incomplete but blunt question coming from a young child.
"I... I'm saying she won't recover."
Revan looked away. What did that mean? She was going to die? She wasn't supposed to die. No. She couldn't die.
"She will die?" It was Kreia who asked the question that Revan was unable to force past his throat.
He glanced back long enough to see the doctor nod, before Revan looked away again, squeezing his eyes shut.
This couldn't be. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
But he knew it was. He knew what death was, all too well. And his mum was dying.
"How- How long before...? His voice hitched before he could stop it. Keeping his eyes shut he glared at the wall he couldn't see. He would not cry.
He felt a hand pat his head and he stepped back immediately from the hated and unfamiliar gesture. His eyes snapped open to glare at the blurred figure of the doctor. The man stood to give his answer to Kreia.
"Not passed a week."
Revan felt himself shaking before he stilled. He wouldn't show anything. He was in unknown territory, far from home, travelling with a Jedi he didn't know, and the person for whom he had initially done it was dead in a week. Gone, and he was powerless to stop it. He would have given anything... but he couldn't. He had tried with Matt... a small bit with Dace.
The doctor and Kreia conversed, making arrangements for something he didn't care about.
"Revan." He concentrated on the person who was talking. Kreia. "We can stay for a week, but-"
"No," Revan cut in. If he stayed , he wouldn't be able to stay calm, to stand the situation. "No." He just wanted to leave. He didn't want to think about anything. He didn't know if Kreia understood, but she didn't say anything else, just nodded. "Can we leave? Now?" She nodded again.
Good.
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Kreia watched Revan walk away once they were on the ship, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy, of pity. Ripped from the only life he's known, stripped of everything that mattered to him, and that made him who he was. It wasn't right for a child so young to have to go through that. It wasn't right for anyone to go through that.
But she pushed the feeling aside. He wouldn't accept it – would probably resent the emotion anyway. And more importantly, those events were a necessity, an inevitable solution to her dilemma, though she never could have executed it on her own without compromising her morality.
It is the will of the Force.
If it wasn't, then it wouldn't be worth it.
She went to the cockpit, sitting down gratefully. She was returning to the Academy, finally, and hopefully having been deemed worthy of the title of Master. Should she tell them of her near-fall? Perhaps she should given the dangers, but there were many matters to consider.
The trip back was thankfully uneventful. After a few shifts in the hyperspace route over the course of a week, they finally arrived in the Core. Another day, and they were in orbit over Coruscant.
After communicating with an Academy operator, Kreia guided the vessel to its docking-bay. Revan hadn't eaten much during their trip. Losing his mother had to affect him in some way, even if he seemed to be burying it as deeply as he could.
They moved through the wide halls of the Jedi Temple , with Revan behind her, expressionless. Many Jedi walked the corridors, some greeting her, others staring at Revan questioningly. A young boy was not a rare sight in the Temple, but Revan drew curious stares nonetheless. A change had happened in him recently. Ever since Ukio, he had drawn back into himself, more so than on Deralia. He had unknowingly cloaked his Force aura. Through the Force, he seemed to be nothing more than a droid. Now only the most powerful Jedi could sense his true potential, as did Kreia. So, understandably, the Jedi wandering the Academy would wonder why he lacked an aura that all living beings were supposed to possess.
They came upon a set of wide doors, giving to a lift. It would take them to the Council Chambers, where she had been informed to report at once.
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They stood in the antechamber, waiting to be called in by the Jedi. It was odd, thinking of the Jedi as real. Unlike Dace, Revan hadn't admired Jedi. He had doubted of their existence, though Dace had insisted they were real.
Back then, Revan had been sceptical. Champions of Justice? Fighters defending good from evil? What about the 'evil' on Deralia? Could the Jedi just not have been bothered? Or were the Deralians not worth it? It had hurt, thinking that they weren't worth it. It had been easier to believe that Jedi didn't exist. If they didn't exist, then their lives made just a bit more sense, because no one had the power to change it.
But now, Revan knew that someone had had the power, and he couldn't stop a feeling of resentment welling up inside him.
A woman walked out from the chambers, pulling Revan from his inner-musings.
"The Council is ready for you, Jedi Kreia," the stranger stated.
Kreia disappeared through the double doors, leaving Revan with the unknown Jedi and his nerves. He was going to meet the Jedi Council, after all.
Some of his nervousness must have shown on his face, because the Jedi smiled kindly at him. "This must be your first time at the Temple, right?"
Revan gave a quick nod in answer, trying to calm his stomach.
"You don't need to worry," she said with a laugh, "They might seem big and scary, but they're just like all the rest of us mortals. Except so very slow to take decisions. It can be annoying sometimes. By the way, my name is Vima."
Revan stared at her for a moment. Neither she nor Kreia fit the image he had formed of Jedi, and they were nothing alike.
"Mine is Revan." He introduced himself.
After close to half an hour, Vima told him the Council 'finally' wanted to see him.
Entering the room, Revan could see twelve chairs all set around the perimeter. Not all were occupied, maybe seven or so. Revan could identify almost every species present: Human, Selkath, Togruto, Twi'lek, Duros... Only one eluded him. It was a green person, around Revan's height with big pointed ears. It stared at him intently with large calm eyes.
When Revan reached the middle of the room, a human woman cleared her throat. She was sitting at the chair directly across from the door.
"Revan. I am Nomi Sunrider, Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. With me now are Master Vandar Tokare, Master Sasem Narek, Master Tut'ni Filopre, Master Jisho Deth, Master Anala Hiuzae and Master Kuen Lir," she introduced formally each seated individual with a slight nod in their direction. Suddenly she smiled, her impassive expression melting away in the blink of an eye. "I believe you met my daughter, Vima?"
She was trying to put him at ease. Her smile was really warm though. She seemed so much nicer when she did that. He answered her assumption with a wordless nod.
"[We should not dawdle.]" the Selkath was frowning. "[Jedi Kreia, I do not sense in him this 'incredible potential' you stated. Not even a glimmer of Force-sensitivity.]"
"[Nor do I.]" the Duros added. [We are wasting our time with this waif. Send him to a shelter or send him back to his home, we have more impor–]"
"I'm not going back."
Many heads turned to the boy at the centre of the room in surprise.
"I'm not! You can't make me. I came here, I chose to be here, and you don't have the right to just send me back!"
Didn't they understand? No matter how he felt about leaving Deralia, he still left. He had chosen that and he would stand by his decision. It wouldn't all be for nothing.
The green being spoke for the first time since Revan had come in.
"You do not need to worry. Master Narek spoke hastily. I do not believe we will send you back." He glanced at Nomi. "You sense it as well, yes?"
She nodded slightly. "I do, Master Vandar"
The other Masters were looking at each other with a mixture of confusion and curiosity, Narek with a tinge frustration. None of them could sense a thing in Revan. What was the Grandmaster and Vandar hinting at?
"I am surprised the rest of you cannot feel it," she uttered after a moment. She tilted her head, still staring at Revan. "Simply concentrate. It is there. Unbelievable! It is muted, muffled... masked. But still... Incredible."
"What is incredible, Grandmaster?" the female human was switching her gaze from Revan to Nomi, unable to see.
The rest had turned back to Revan, focusing like they had been counselled. The boy didn't appear to have any significant power, but they two of their peers had sensed something...
Revan stiffened under the scrutiny. It was not a thing he was used to. He felt something on his shoulder. There was a hand there. His eyes followed up the arm to Kreia's face, who had eyes only for the Jedi Masters. He felt himself relax little by little. She could take care of herself. She wasn't weak. He could trust her. At least he thought so, and his instincts told him so.
The moment Revan relaxed completely, the Masters' eyes widened and a couple of gasps were heard.
Revan didn't know what that meant. Would they accept him or not? As they slowly deliberated, he wondered. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part of the Order. For his whole life he had the impression Jedi were dress-wearing preachers, useless in things other than spouting 'words of wisdom' and 'seeking a non-violent course of actions'. But... Kreia wasn't like that. She had proven that in the tomb, and with how she handled Jarek. His assumption had been proven wrong.
And he had gone this far for a reason, right? Hadn't he told them that they couldn't send him away? He had accepted Kreia's offer for his mother, but when she... when she left... there was no reason he had to go to Coruscant. He could have gone his own way. He could have made a life out there, in the Galaxy. But he didn't know about it. I don't have credits, or a ship... Well, as much as he fancied the idea of setting out on his own, he wanted something else.
He brought his attention back to the Jedi when he heard one of them say his name. Had they reached a decision?
"There is a question we have failed to ask Revan," Master Vandar – I think that's his name – spoke. His gaze settled on Revan, who waited. "A vital piece of information yet unknown. Are you willing to become a Jedi, to sacrifice any normal life you could possess, for this Order? For this Republic? Do you want this, hmmm?"
Revan didn't know what the Republic was. He didn't know much about the Jedi actually. But he had sorted out what he wanted, aside from the impossible. That, he could never get, no matter what path he chose.
"If I didn't want to train as a Jedi," he replied slowly and clearly, "I wouldn't be here."
Seeming satisfied with his answer, Vandar grunted thoughtfully.
Nomi straightened in her seat, her eyes meeting the councillors'. Each expressed their consent with a slight nod of the head or a wave of the hand. She then turned back to Kreia, a small smile on her lips.
"Well, then. It appears we have a new Youngling to train. And a new Master to welcome."
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A/N: I am posting chapter FOUR! Yay! Oh, and if anyone forgot, or didn't read the last author's note, I like reviews ;P! I think most people like reviews. And I say this again: I like them long! Um :s, yer... that's what she said XD.
Okay moving on from my immatureness... wait no, immaturity... (I think its my friends' faults 8|), this update was quicker than the last one (yay!), which is good! Hopefully the next one will be quicker too!