Hello everyone, long time no real update to this story. I'm sorry. It only took me the better part of over 6 months and a few play-through KOTOR 1 again to give me the drive to finish the story. Admittedly I wished I could have exceeded 3,000 words on this chapter but towards the end , it felt like it was just. Dragging. On. So I decided to cut it a little short and not try to stretch out the Dantooine part.
Answering one of the 'reviews' / questions I got:
Did you abandon - No. I'm a college student majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Free time is not exactly on my side anymore, and what time I do have I tend to spend doing something else. But no, I won't abandon the story without at least some form of announcement.
Redemption of the Fallen
Chapter 4: Retraining
"Hey." Revan called as he saw Mission on her bed. "You alright?"
Mission quickly turned her head to see the young man standing in the doorway to her shared quarters with Bastila. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
Revan gave a worried look to the young girl as he sat on the edge of her bed. "I know you're not fine Mission. You've just lost your home; don't close yourself off. It will just tear you up in the end."
Mission's upbeat expression quickly became replaced with a look of sorrow. "I know Taris wasn't the greatest place… okay…it kind of sucked overall, but yeah, it was my home, you know? It's just…hard knowing in its gone."
"I never lost my own home planet; well, I can't actually remember it. However, when the Mandalorians destroyed Cathar, through the force, I almost felt everyone's pain at the loss of their loved ones, their home, everything they've ever known." Revan recalled as he felt Mission wrap her arms around his torso. "I may not know directly how you feel, but regardless, I'm here if you need someone to talk to."
"Thanks Revan. It means a lot." Mission slightly sobbed as she buried her face into the man's side.
Bastila was walking by as she overheard the ending of Revan's little 'speech' and a warm smile spread across her face, opting not to enter the room as she originally planned, instead, opting to go without sleep a little while longer so as to not interrupt the duo.
"It seems we judged Revan too soon."
Bastila jumped as she heard the unfamiliar voice, as she turned to see Vandar looking up at her. "Master! You startled me."
"Apologies. It was not my intention." Vandar apologized to the young Knight before looking slightly into the room as he watched Revan comfort Mission over her loss. "I see Revan hasn't lost a bit of his compassion, even during his time as the Dark Lord."
"After Malak fired upon Revan's flagship, I took Revan's mask off and I noticed that despite his deep usage of the Dark Side, he looked absolutely…"
"Normal." Vandar finished. "It's not unheard of for users of the Dark Side to not always exhibit the all too common traits. Whether this means Revan never truly fell or had achieved a 'balance' of sorts I unfortunately am unsure of."
The conversation ended there as the two turned to see Mission already smiling and poking fun with Revan, almost as if nothing was wrong in the first place; the young man playfully pouting at the young Twi'lek's words.
"You love him I presume." Vandar commented.
Bastila quickly became overwhelmed with a multitude of shock and fear; she didn't want to have to ultimately decide between Revan and the Jedi Order. "I…Yes. I am ashamed to admit it but yes, I have come to love Revan. I know its wrong Master, please forgive me."
Vandar almost gave a smirk of sorts, which only confused the young woman. "You misinterpret the Order's restraints on relationships. Marriage is banned, yes, but simply loving someone is not. It is simply discouraged. I don't hold it against you to harbor feeling for Revan; after all he was always there for you when you were younger. Just be mindful not to let your feelings for him cloud your judgement and interfere with your mission to stop Malak."
Bastila eased a little at the Jedi Master's explanation; at eased that she wasn't in danger of being expelled from the Jedi Order.
"Hey Bas! What are you standing there for?" Revan's voice called out, startling the young woman; forgetting that she was standing insight of the former Sith Lord.
Vandar gave the young Knight a nod, letting her know their conversation was finished, before he watched the woman walk into the room before walking towards the exit of the Ebon Hawk.
"Who were you speaking with?"
"Oh, Master Vandar…he, he was giving me some advice." Came the knight's reply.
"Well get over here and join us for some Pazaak." Revan ushered.
"Oooh no, Mission will cheat me out of all my credits."
The Twi'lek girl sitting next to Revan laughed at the young woman's reply. Bastila, being the one of not backing down from a challenge accepted Mission demand to play her at Pazaak only to quickly learn that Mission had become quite the Pazaak player from her days on Taris; the whole event ending with Bastila completely empty of credits. "Come on, we'll only play for fun then."
Bastila sighed, though she quickly relented, as she sat down next to the duo, forming a triangle between the 3 of them as Mission prepared the next game.
Two Weeks Later
"Come on! I've barely broken a sweat over here!" Revan taunted playfully as he watched Zhar and Bastila pant heavily.
"Well….excuse me for not having monstrous stamina; I'm normal unlike you." Bastila retorted as she struggled to regain her breath. The morning ended similar to how every day for the last week ended; with Master Zhar and herself dueling Revan, two-on-one. At first the former Dark Lord, despite his lack of practice, quickly overwhelmed the two with his lightsaber skills alone; perfectly blending all the forms of lightsaber combat into his own unique style, though now there was obvious improvement coming from the two Jedi in front of him; namely Bastila
"You're words strike me deeper than any lightsaber could." Revan joked with a sly grin over his face. "That is…assuming you could actually strike me with one with how clumsy your form is."
"I would normally criticize you for your arrogance, though I think it's well deserved in this case; no normal Jedi could fight against two other Jedi at once." Zhar complimented, standing straight as he deactivated his lightsaber, signifying his surrender.
"Thank you Master Zhar." Revan bowed slightly, catching the Twi'lek Jedi Master by surprise, not expecting the former Jedi Knight to show respect to him. "It was thanks to you, primarily, I was able to reach this level of skill in lightsaber dueling."
Zhar waved the young man off with a slight chuckle, "I only gave instructions. I believe it was your experience in battle that enabled you to hone your skill."
"True, but it was all built on the bases of your instructions."
"No doubt Malak has probably improved similarly." Bastila commented dryly as she too deactivated her Saber Staff.
Revan's face lost its easy going look to take a more solemn look. "Yes. He was always better at lightsaber combat than me. Throughout our times in the war and with the Sith, I never came out on top in our spars. Though if we were to go at it in a duel to the death. I would say I could potentially come out on top due to my abilities with the Force."
Bastila eyed the former Dark Lord, "Potentially?"
"I have no idea how much Malak has improved since his betrayal, and I've no doubt that my own abilities have degraded to a certain extent since then." Revan shrugged.
Zhar gave a quiet 'hm' as he thought on this piece of information. Revan was the best of them, if only in terms of raw combat/force ability, if he himself couldn't defeat Malak, this universe very well end up under his control. "I see. If you don't mind, I will call it a day and talk to Master Vandar over this. With luck the rest of the Council will take a more vested interest in your training.
Revan gave a nod of approval, he was hoping that if anything he could soon leave Dantooine to search for the Star Forge, ready to face Malak or not; at the very least he would be able to relay its location to the Jedi and Republic. "Any plans Bastila?"
Bastila gave a look of inquiry, trying to figure out what the former Dark Lord was trying to do, "No. I was only planning on Meditating."
"You say that but I bet you were going to try beating Mission at Pazaak again."
Bastila huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away; a slight blush adorning her cheeks. "It was just that one time, Revan."
Revan gave a sly grin as he walked towards her and leaned in. "You say that about everything, even after you had me pin you to a wall as I was-"
"Okay! I get it!" Bastila retorted angrily, though her face was red hot with a blush as she remembered some of the 'activities' she and Revan a week ago. "Now tell me what is it you wanted to do or leave."
Revan gave a good natured laugh at the young woman's attitude. "I was just going to suggest just roaming the fields; like we did back in the days with Alek and Meetra." He answered as he softly gripped the Padawan's arms and led her out of the Enclave.
About a Week Later
Today was the day that they were set to leave. Revan had finished his 'training' with the Jedi with Bastila and the two of them were set out to find the Star Forge; having found one of the Star Maps near the Enclave. He would be lying if he said he didn't look forward to leaving the Enclave. He genuinely enjoyed the overall peaceful atmosphere of the Enclave, but he couldn't sit still knowing that his former best friend was out there in the galaxy, leading the Sith, and killing millions of innocent people. Even he on his worst days as the Dark Lord didn't mindlessly kill innocent people if it wasn't for the best of all available options before him.
"Be sure to remember your training Bastila. It will not be easy to resist the Dark Side, but as long as you remember your training you'll be fine." Vandar advice as he and Zhar walked behind Bastila who was walking towards the ramp of the Ebon Hawk with Revan already entering.
"I will, Masters."
"Also, one more piece of advice. Be wary of Revan." Zhar cautioned, with a dark underlying tone.
Bastila arched an eyebrow at that, "Why is that Master?
"Revan may say he has walked away from the Dark Side, but even you must see that there is still darkness inside of him. He may mean well now, but I feel that in the near future, that may not be the case."
Had Bastila not seen the way Revan acted around Mission, supporting her like he was a brother to her as well as to other civilians, she may have believed the word of caution; but now? She couldn't believe what they were saying. "Master, forgive me but I will not abide by the request. I've seen the way Revan has behaved since our landing on Taris and he has done nothing to indicate that the Dark Side has any pull over him; he even gave Mission, one of our crew who escaped Taris, a shoulder to cry on as she wept for the loss of her home!"
Vandar stood in place with a neutral expression in place. He for one saw the overwhelming good in Revan, if not only held in place by the former Dark Lord's love for Bastila. He also saw the darkness. A darkness that remained subdued only because of Bastila.
"Yes, as I said, he may be like that now, but the near future will change that if he isn't wary." Zhar continued to reason to the brash young woman.
Bastila, on her end, was getting upset with the Twi'lek Jedi Master who had, up until recently, spent most of his time with her and Revan training them; even sharing a few good laughs. "I'm done here Master. I refuse to believe this." And with that Bastila borderline stormed off into the Ebon Hawk to signal Carth to leave Dantooine.
"She needs to understand that Revan could still very well still be the true enemy behind all of this." Zhar commented with worry lacing his voice as he watched the Ebon Hawk begin its takeoff.
"Both could very well become the enemy; however I feel that I Revan will remain grounded as long as he has Bastila. Less could be said for Bastila as she has never trained to control her emotions." Vandar retorted.
"Where to Revan" Carth asked with hidden venom towards the former Dark Lord as he navigated the Ebon Hawk out of Dantooine.
"Set a course for Tatooine. I have a very good idea of where the Star Map is; and what's guarding it." Revan answered, mumbling the very last part.
"Alright. We'll be there in about a day's time."
Revan nodded as he walked out of the cockpit and into his shared quarters with Zaalbar and Carth; as he got to his bed, he noticed a small chest of sorts under his bed. One he didn't recognize. He pulled it out and opened up; his face lit up slightly as he recognize the attire. It was his Mandalorian mask followed with the robes he wore as the Dark Lord, specially constructed by the Star Forge. He pulled the mask to his face and instantly felt a familiarity that he hadn't felt in some time. During his time in the Mandalorian wars and following thereafter, he rarely took his mask off unless to eat and sleep. It just became a daily routine so much that only those who were truly close to him or he trusted with his life, knew what he looked like underneath.
"I see you found them." Bastila spoke, as she leaned against the doorway watching with slight curiosity as she watched him rummage through his old gear; even finding his old lightsaber.
"How did you get these? I figured the Council would have destroyed them."
"I…hid them from the council before I took you to them. Your lightsaber I was only barely able to grab before escaping your ship as it landed right next to you."
Revan smiled slightly at that, even then she cared to an extent. "You didn't have to…but thanks. We're heading to Tatooine, we'll be there in about a day, so if you're in need of rest, might want to do that now."
Bastila nodded as she turned to walk to her own quarters that she shared with Mission and now Juhani, a Cathar fallen Jedi that Revan had redeemed during their time of exploring the plains of Dantooine. She for one, didn't like her as she quickly became attached to Revan, not that she doubted Revan would reciprocate, but she didn't like her regardless. Flopping down on her bed, she quickly felt all the tension that fell on her following the 'last minute advice' from Zhar and Vandar quickly leave her as she quickly and surprisingly fell back to sleep.
There's the end of that. The next chapter (or two, haven't decided, probably won't until I actually write it out) will consist of the group's "journey" around Tatooine. Since in this story Revan already has a good idea (or already knows) of where the Star Maps are, I'm having the dream sequences consist of Revan's past, experienced from Bastila's view; be it from the Mandalorian Wars, Time as a Dark Lord, etc. I have a question for some of you, I am willing to write lemons (not very often though), and I was wondering if I should integrate them as part of the story, or have them as separate stories (see "Forbidden Extracurricular Activities" which is one such story). These 'chapters' will hold no real plot advancement and mostly serve as entertainment to you guys. Anyways, if you liked the story so far, leave a review, favorite or follow it. If you have questions, leave it in the review as well or shoot me a PM, I'll be sure to answer it. Later!
