Chapter 7: New Sight
Location: Lake Nymeve
That same time...
Revan hadn't moved since Meetra left, all in an effort to overcome his physical weakness. He had been feeling that way since he had regained consciousness, and even tapping into the Force had become difficult. He felt like an undercharged fuel cell, likely due to having nearly sacrificed his spiritual body. That, coupled with his blindness and discovering that they had end up thousands of years into the future had left him feeling overwhelmed. Touching the pouch at his belt, he could feel the cube-shaped device tucked within it. It was a Datacron, one that contained the holovid that Bastila had stored within Teethree's databanks. He had had the Utility Droid transfer it into the Datacron, wanting to keep it with him at all times. It now had a renewed importance to him, especially now that it was all that remained of Bastila and Vaner. Removing the device from the pouch, he rolled it within his palms before activating it. Light defused around the device, projected a thirty-centimetre tall image of his wife cooing over his son. He had viewed the recording so many times that he had come to memorize it off by heart.
"I don't know if you'll ever see this," Bastila said, adjusting a lock of hair on the boy's head as she spoke to the holorecorder, "But I have to believe you'll return some day. And when you do, I thought you'd like to share your son's birthday."
He sat motionless, with only the occasional ship flying by to disrupt the relative silence.
"Wave to Daddy," Bastila said, pointing in the direction of the recorder, "Say, We miss you!"
The boy did as instructed, waving his tiny arm vigorously as he repeated his mother' words.
"I know we didn't discuss names before you left," Bastila continued, "But I called him Vaner. I want him to know who his father is. I want him to understand you are a part of him. I love you, Revan."
He paused the Datacron, his thumb gently stroking the holographic image of his son's face. Choking back a sob, Revan deactivated the device and returned it to the safety of his belt pouch. Filled with a renewed bitterness, he resumed his meditation, doubting that he would benefit from it. As he opened himself to the Force, he heard a familiar voice whispering upon the breeze.
"Come to me..."
"Impossible," he muttered, believing that he had imagined it.
"I can help you..."
Rising to his feet at the voice's urging, he extended his left hand so as to feel his way with the Force. He headed into the forest, ever weary of the predators that had chosen to make their home within. Not wanting to accidently break his ankle, Revan had to force himself to take his time. A unpleasant odor reached his nose, one that reminded him of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. It was a smell that was all too familiar, belonging to a species of non-sentient arachnoids known as the Kinrath. Blind, they were capable of sensing heat to navigate and identify potential threats, which left him at a severe disadvantage. Swallowing, Revan continued forward, now forced to utilize Beast Control to keep them away. It wasn't a particularly good situation, not when he had to divide his already diminished Force powers. With his right hand holding the Kinrath at bay, the former Sith Lord continued forward, eventually reaching a small clearing.
"Hello? Are you here?" he asked.
"Indeed I am, my former Padawan," a voice greeted.
"Master...? Master Kae?" he asked, dropping to his knees.
She was his first teacher, and when he had learned all that he could, he returned to her to learn how best to leave the Jedi Order. For years she had engaged in a love affair with the Echani General; Yusanis, but had been exposed following the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars. Exiled, he had welcomed her to the Revanchists with open arms, and would follow him into battle. It was thought that she had perished on Malachor V, though that would be proven untrue. She re-emerged in the years that followed the Jedi Civil War, posing as a woman named Kreia.
"Meetra..., she told me you had fallen to the Dark Side."
"I have come to hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole," she stated, not even denying the accusation.
It made sense that Master Kae would appear to him, she had relied on Force Sight for so long that he eyes had actually atrophied from disuse. Removing the bandages from his eyes, Revan looked up at her, seeing only the unending darkness.
"Alright. How do I restore my sight?" he asked.
"Your sight cannot be heal, you must learn to see things differently now."
"Your words are as cryptic as always, Master. Alright, what do I have to do?"
"You are willing then?" she questioned.
Meetra had offered to train him to see through the Force, but he had declined due to being too wrapped up in his own grief. Staring at the ground, Revan's blind eyes beheld only the unending nothingness that
"Yes..," he said, rising to his feet.
"You must be empty, there is only the Force."
It was ironic, given how she had come to despise the very thing that both Jedi and Sith relied upon: the Force. Having created a Force Chain between herself and Meetra, she had intended to end her life and create a massive wound in the Force, one that surely would've destroyed it.
"Now..., turn and walk forward."
"I got a bad feeling about this," he complained, though he did as instructed.
"And why is that?"
"Because those spiders are out there...waiting."
"How do you know this?"
"I hear them."
"Good. Keep walking," she encouraged, "The sound relates them to you, what else?"
"I can feel them in the ground, their vibrations when they move."
"Indeed, you are perceptive. Are they close?"
"No."
"Continue on then. How else do you relate to the spiders?"
"In the caves on Dantooine. Their foul smell, old and decayed."
"A fascinating description," Master Kae said, "You see much for one so blind."
"I remember what they look like."
"Then picture them, in your mind. Are they close?"
"No," he replied.
"Are you certain?"
Suspicious, Revan reached out with his right hand and felt it come into contact with something warm and moist. Jerking his arm backwards and stepped away, the Kinrath in front of him let out a hiss.
"What should I do?"
"What do you want to do?"
"Run. But there's another right behind me."
"You're beginning to see. Now, be empty and continue onward."
He immediately realized that neither of the Kinrath attempted to attack him, instead they shifted from side-to-side.
"Why aren't they attacking?"
"It is not in their nature," she stated.
"Well in my experience..."
"Because...you do not see them."
"You mean; see them for what they are."
"Look closer," Master Kae urged.
He tried to focus his senses upon the Kinrath, but could sense nothing of the predatory arachnoids.
"There's nothing, I can't sense them."
"Look within."
With his right hand stretched forward, Revan focused his senses, causing the Kinrath to let out a hiss.
"I sense...fear."
"From the spiders?"
"No. It's not the spiders...it's me. Fear...grief...anger. it's how the spiders see me, it's how I see myself."
"Ah ha! You're sight returns."
As if on cue the darkness faded from his sight, replaced with a photo-negative of the world around him. The Kinrath appeared to him as gray silhouettes, though they lacked any real definitions.
"Our connection to the Focus allow us to see in ways others cannot." Master Kae stated, "If you can see yourself, then you will never be truly blind."
"Thank you, Master. I'm glad there you still have lesson to teach me," he declared, walking away.
