Kayla stepped out of her room in her initiate robes.
"…It feels so weird having to wear this instead of my inquisitor robes," she thought.
Kayla looked around and saw that she was in a part of the temple that she didn't recognize. It had a long hallway, with rooms placed across from each other, and a door posted at both ends of, said hall. The young woman took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. She looked down and saw that her lightsaber was clipped to her belt.
"Well, time to go find this Kudo, guy," she said to herself as she started walking.
Kayla walked through the door at the right end of the hall, and entered another hall and from there, she ended up in the main area of the temple. Just like when she first walked through, she was met with a diverse populace of Revanites walking from point A to point B.
"Aside from the Zabrak, I don't recognize a lot of the aliens here," thought Kayla.
As Kayla was walking, she just so happened to bump into one of those unknown aliens, a male one. He appeared to have pale skin and short brown hair, he had pointed ears, and haunting yellow eyes.
"…Uh… I didn't think I'd find a Devaronian all the way out here," Kayla said slowly.
The alien snarled and grabbed Kayla by the throat.
"What did you call me?" he hissed.
"C-C-Crud! Not again!" she choked out.
"I will have you know, girl, I am a Qeildral," hissed the alien, "and you would be wise, to remember that."
Kayla was thrown to the ground. The Qeildral walked off. Kayla slowly got up and dusted herself off.
"Jeez… It's like I'm back in the empire all over again," she thought as she kept walking.
As Kayla walked through the main area of the temple, something occurred in her head. Something that made her stop.
"…Wait a second, where even is this Kudo guy?" she thought.
Kayla looked over and saw a human male Revanite, likely in his late twenties, who seemed to be heading to the library.
"Oh! Excuse me!" she called out as she jogged over to him.
The Revanite turned and looked at Kayla.
"Hey, do you know where I can find Master Sizal?" she asked.
The Revanite just scoffed.
"Sorry, I don't associate myself with your kind," he said as he walked away.
Kayla was shocked.
"I-I-I don't understand. I'm an initiate, why are these guys looking down on me?" she thought in confusion.
Kayla found another Revanite, a human female wearing some kind of sage robes, heading in her direction.
"Excuse me, do you know where I can find Master Sizal?" asked Kayla.
But the Revanite just brushed her off. Kayla frowned.
"Why are these guys ignoring me?" she muttered to herself in confusion.
"Because nobody wants you here," said a voice.
Kayla turned and saw two Revanites, a human male and a male Nautolan. The male appeared to have a shaved head, lightly tan skin, blue eyes, and was dressed in the same-colored robes as Kayla. The Nautolan, aside from looking like a standard Nautolan, appeared to be wearing the same-colored robes as Kayla as well.
"And who are you to judge?" asked Kayla.
"Kashna Va," said the Nautolan.
"Carkane Woolhome," said the human.
Kayla looked between the two boys.
"…I expected to encounter a human initiate… But what's a Nautolan doing all the way out here?" asked Kayla.
"Wouldn't you like to know… Imperial," Kashna said as he shoved Kayla back, "does my presence, sicken you?"
Kayla shook off the shove.
"Listen fellas, I'm not looking for trouble," said Kayla, "I'm just looking for Master Sizal."
"Oh! Master Sizal!" chirped Carkane, "sorry, but I don't think you would be worth his time. Nothing personal it's just… Your background. Where you came from."
"Not to mention your reason for being here," said Kashna.
Kayla took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Look, I understand you guys might feel… Upset about someone like me walking among you but… I promise, I'm just…" Kayla said as he voice trailed off.
"Just what? Just here to learn? Just here to join our cause?" asked Kashna.
Kayla looked down.
"Hey," said Carkane.
Kayla didn't say anything.
"Hey!" Carkane barked as he shoved Kayla to the floor, "he asked you a question."
Kayla frowned and formed her right hand into a tight fist.
"What's going on here?" asked a voice.
Kayla looked over her shoulder and saw an alien that she, most certainly, recognized.
"Aw crud, it's Taazirisk," said Carkane, "let's get out of here Kashna."
The boys left. Taazirisk approached Kayla and held out a hand to her. The young man appeared to have long blue hair that was tied up in a ponytail and he was wearing Blue and white leather robes.
"Are you alright?" he asked with a smile.
"Yeah, thanks," Kayla said as she let Taazirisk help her up, "funny, I never expected to encounter a Chiss here in these parts."
"It's a big universe friend, sooner or later, you're bound to encounter an alien that you recognize," said Taazirisk.
"True… Unfortunately, given my background, there's a few aliens I wouldn't want to encounter," Kayla said as she scratched the back of her head.
"Ah, that's right, you were apart of the Galactic Empire, right? An Inquisitor," said Taazirisk.
"Yes… How did you know?" asked Kayla.
"I heard that your ship was towed into the spaceport when you left to undergo your initiation," said Taazirisk, "the engineers made sure to tear out anything that the empire could use to track its location."
Kayla's eyes went wide.
"They dissected my ship!?" she sputtered.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," said Taazirisk.
Kayla groaned and facepalmed.
"Ah, but enough chit-chat I say," said the Chiss, "you wanted to know where Master Sizal was."
Kayla looked up.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I uh… I did, yeah," she said.
"Second floor of the temple," said Taazirisk, "right wing."
"Ah, thank you," said Kayla, "oh… Uh… I'm Kayla by the way. Kayla Abaven."
"Taazirisk. Temple Monitor," he said, "I watch for any signs of treachery in our order."
"Oh. Well, again, thank you," said Kayla.
The two shook hands and Kayla hurried off; Kayla went upstairs to the second floor, then she took a right and started looking for Master Sizal's office.
"Sizal, Sizal, Sizal, Sizal," she thought.
Kayla soon stumbled upon an office and inside the office sat a male Togruta, wearing a set of black and purple robes, who appeared to have his head down, doing some work. Kayla's eyes widened as she gave a light knock and took one step inside.
"Come in," the Togruta said without looking up.
Kayla slowly approached the Togruta.
"Uh… Are you Kudo-I mean… Are you Master Sizal?" she asked.
"Who's asking?" he asked.
"I'm Kayla Abaven," said Kayla, "Malaka-I mean, High Master Malakam told me to come and speak to you."
Kudo looked up.
"Ah, you must be the new initiate," he said as he stood up and walked around the desk, "stand still, let me have a look at you."
Kayla had a confused look on her face. Kudo approached Kayla and looked up and down at her.
"Mm… Mm-hmm… Yes," said Kudo, "yes, yes, I can see why The Grandmaster has taken an interest in you. You radiate with a swirling aura, your darkness appears to have been tamed, yet it still clashes with your light. You appear to be… Lost… Confused… And in pain."
Kayla looked around a bit, then she turned her attention back to Kudo.
"Now, I understand you passed your initiation, and you wish to become one of us. My task is to have initiates undergo three trials so I can determine if they're worth becoming an apprentice to one of the other masters here in the temple," said Kudo, "those who do not pass the trials are deemed unfit to become an apprentice and will undergo the trials two more times to prove they are deemed fit."
"Uh… If you don't mind me asking… What do the trials entail?" asked Kayla.
"The trials will test your knowledge and see where your heart and mind are after undergoing the initiation and meeting The Grandmaster," said Kudo, "fail the trial three times in a row and you will undergo the trial of strength. I don't think you want to do that."
Kayla felt a chill go up her spine as she swallowed.
"Come, let's take a walk," said Kudo.
Kudo walked out of his office; Kayla followed.
"So, tell me initiate, what do you think of our order so far?" asked Kudo.
"Uh… It's remarkably diverse," said Kayla, "more so than the empire. A lot of aliens I don't recognize."
"As it should be," Kudo said as he and Kayla started walking towards the stairs, "The Grandmaster told you about the history of Revan, yes?"
"…Yes, he did," Kayla said slowly.
"Did he tell you that Revan interacted with all walks of life?" asked Kudo.
"…That part I missed," said Kayla.
Kudo chuckled with amusement as he and Kayla began heading down the steps.
"If you recall from what The Grandmaster told you, Revan didn't work alone during his time as a Sith or during his time as a Jedi; he did in fact, have allies, all walks of life. Even after being reformed, our order is no different," said Kudo, "we judge no outsiders who wish to become like us, lest they only come here in hopes of learning our ways for the purpose of personal gain."
Kayla winced. She felt like that was an attack against her.
"Unlike your Galactic Empire, Revan taught all species the path to power," said Kudo, "he did not judge, he did not discriminate."
Kayla winced again. Kudo and Kayla reached the main floor and kept walking while the Revanite Master continued.
"Now, I will ask a question, and you will answer to the best of your ability… Or you will be sent back to your quarters to try again," said Kudo, "why do you think Revan trained aliens during his time as a Sith? Why do you think he offered power to all seekers?"
Kayla pondered for a moment.
"…Because… It gave him an edge?" she asked.
Kudo stopped dead in his tracks.
"An edge? Do you think that Revan saw aliens as nothing more than fodder?" he asked as he shot a glare at Kayla, "if Revan thought it would give him an edge, why did the Sith Empire or even the Galactic Empire not follow his example?"
Kayla shivered.
"Uh, well, I uh… I uh… Um… You see…" she tried to say.
"Leave me. Go to your chambers and come to me when you're ready to get serious," Kudo huffed as he marched off.
Kayla sighed and headed back to her room. Kayla took off her boots and sat down on her bed before falling back and looking up at the ceiling.
"Well, that could've gone better," she thought, "all mean jeez, I was just being honest, I barely know anything about this Revan guy… Well… I know a good portion of who he was through that Grandmaster, but I didn't know he also recruited aliens when he was a Sith Lord."
Kayla sighed and wiped her face with her hand.
"…Still… At least his reaction wasn't as bad as Lord Vader, I would've gotten choked out or worse for getting the answer wrong," she thought.
Kayla sat up and unclipped her lightsaber from her belt so she could look at it.
"…If Revan didn't recruit aliens to give himself an edge while he was a Sith Lord… Then why did he recruit them? Why did he train them?" she thought.
The question weighed on Kayla's mind.
"…Okay… Okay… If I'm going to do this, I need to start thinking like a Revanite and less like an imperial… Or in this case an inquisitor," she thought.
As she was deep in thought, a new thought crept into her head and Kayla found herself sniffing her own body.
"…Aaaaand, I also need to get a shower," she thought.
Kayla set her lightsaber on the bed and went to go get a shower, afterwards, she got dressed and spent the rest of her time meditating, in hopes of trying to find an appropriate answer to give Kudo's first question.
"…Father… What would you say?" she thought.
While she was meditating, Kayla heard a faint knock on the door. She opened her eyes and rose to her feet so she could go and answer it. It was another initiate, a young man with sun-kissed skin, ginger hair, jade eyes, and a pair of fox ears on his head.
"Uh… Hi," she said.
"You're that new girl," said the young man, "Kayla, right?"
"I am," said Kayla, "who are you?"
"Name's Kasiya," he said, "the others told me to come and let you know it was dinner time."
"Oh, thank you," said Kayla.
Kayla followed Kasiya down to the Initiate's Dining Hall on the main floor.
"…Uh… If you don't mind me asking… What are you?" she asked.
"Hmm?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.
"What are you?" asked Kayla.
"Oh. I'm a Vulxiks," said Kasiya, "a native of the planet Vauphus."
"What's Vauphus?" asked Kayla.
Kasiya chuckled.
"It's a desert planet… But not like a desert planet where it's mostly covered in sand," he said, "believe it or not there are a few cities."
Kasiya led Kayla to the dining hall, where she saw a few other initiates dining together, talking, and laughing with each other.
"There's less people here than out there," said Kayla, "most of them are also aliens."
"That's only because a lot of people don't know of the existence of this order," said Kasiya, "believe it or not, some of these people are refugees who are trying to seek refuge from the last war that happened here years ago."
Kayla stopped as she followed Kasiya to get some food.
"Last war?" she asked.
Kasiya stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"Yeah, the Black Hand War," he said.
Author's note: What? You thought she would get the answer right on the first try? Lol, nah, nah, nah