Once again... forgive me... It's been a while, hasn't it? I know, I really suck at updating in a timely manner. Recently while re-watching Clone Wars, Bad Batch, and Rebels, I got bit my the Star Wars muse (who has been suspiciously absent since the release of Episodes VIII and IX). That being said, I felt like the prequels needed some love and listened to a crap-ton of Star Wars music to get myself motivated. No docket today, just the usual disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, but I have no qualms about letting the dirty ho that is the Star Wars muse have her nasty way with me :)

Enjoy and review!

Chapter 29

The next morning, Rhys walked the halls of the Temple alone. Tam was attending his morning tactics class with Anakin while Obi-Wan sparred with Aayla, leaving her to track down Tellura Synar on her own.

It had been more than three years since they had last seen each other, back when they were both still padawans in their last years of apprenticeship. Shortly before Rhys' fateful mission with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to Nar Oto, she and Tellura had spoken to each other concerning some of their visions. They had become each other's confidant over the years, sharing the details of their Force-induced visions. Rhys hadn't seen the auburn-haired Noorian since her knighting ceremony, being too busy with missions and a padawan.

She finally managed to get a tip-off from a passing Initiate that had seen Tellura enter a meditative chamber and followed his directions to the room. She gave a quick knock, waiting only a moment before the door opened to reveal Tellura Synar sitting cross-legged in the center of the room.

"You cut your hair," Rhys observed as she sat beside her friend. Three years previously, her dark red hair had been waist-length, now shortened to a chin-length bob. Tellura's amber eyes opened as she smiled warmly in response.

"You haven't changed a bit," she commented, glancing pointedly at the beaded braids lacing Rhys' bun at the nape of her neck. "Although, I could have sworn that you didn't have a scar there the last time I saw you," Tellura's eyes flickered to her hairline above her right eye. Rhys winced slightly as she fingered the slight scar.

"I'll admit, that one's relatively new," she confessed, "But it's not the only new one… just the most visible at the moment."

Tellura gave a soft chuckle and placed her hands in her lap as she moved into a more comfortable position on her knees. "I sense that you're not here to talk about new scars or to catch up. What is it that you need?" she asked bluntly, fixing Rhys with an amused look. Rhys released the breath she had been holding – much like Aayla and Tam, Tellura was one of the few who could see past her outer mask to the inner emotions. That made her very hard to fool, Seer or otherwise.

"You're right," she confessed, "I didn't exactly come here to catch up – but I suppose we can get to that after business."

"Business?" Tellura cocked an eyebrow, "What have you gotten yourself into this time, Rhys, more pirates? A Zygerrian slave ring? The Pike Syndicate?"

"The Sith, actually." Almost immediately, Rhys felt the temperature of the room drop by a few degrees. Tellura looked up at her sharply in concern. She resisted the urge to flinch under her steely gaze – Tellura stood staunchly against the idea of the Sith, as she had seen in her visions the destruction that they could unleash upon the galaxy. When the Noorian Jedi didn't respond, Rhys cautiously took the severed half of Maul's lightsaber out of her pocket and placed it between them. "The owner of this lightsaber is dead, but I believe that he was only the apprentice. The Council has tasked me with finding where he came from, and if his exposure will lead us to the Master."

Tellura looked down at the metal cylinder in disgust for several minutes. "I've seen this lightsaber before," she said in a whisper, "Maul used it to slaughter hundreds." Rhys placed a comforted hand over her friend's.

"I know… Quinlan showed me all that he could."

"And you want me to find a dead Zabrak?"

"No, I want you to find where he was trained, or better yet, where he's from," Rhys answered, removing her hand, "Those are my only leads so far. Everything else is dead."

Tellura took in a deep breath. "All right, I'll do it." Rhys gave her a warm smile as she scooted closer to Maul's lightsaber. The Seer placed her hand on the cold metal and inhaled sharply at the flood of visions.

The planet was consumed by red light, lit by a crimson sun that hung low in the sky as mist threatened to overtake the twisted trees. A lone, young woman sprinted through the mist, clutching a bundle tightly to her chest. The mist nipped menacingly at her legs and feet, eventually causing her to trip and fall to the ground, protecting the bundle at her chest as she fell. A wall of red fabric materialized in front of the young woman, and her face paled with recognition and fear as she looked up at the face looming over her.

"He is not yours to take," an unnatural voice hissed, its many layers echoing through the warped branches, "He is mine!"

The young woman's eyes narrowed with hatred, furrowing the inky tattoos across her nose, cheeks, and forehead. "No longer will I allow another one of my kin to become a slave to your will, Mother!" She spat the last words with venom. The baby swaddled in the bundle began to cry, his tiny red fists clenched tightly as he wailed. The older woman clothed in red smiled cruelly – the smile of one who is certain of her victory – and held out her hand. The baby was torn from the young woman's grasp, and floated within reach of the woman in red.

Lithe women clad in black poured from the trees, with three of them pouncing on the young woman. She tried to fight them off, but they forced her to her knees as they held her arms and neck. The woman in red advanced, the eerie green mist curling around her hands like an old friend as she bent over her captive.

"Kycina," she crooned, trailing a spindly finger over the other woman's cheek, "You had such potential… such power. Why throw it away – your sisters, your mother, all for a male child?" The captured Kycina glared up at the woman in red, her silver eyes glowing with hatred

"If he stays on this path, he will bring nothing but death," she spat vehemently, "I have seen it, and I know you have seen it too, Talzin. They do not give what they promise, they only take what they have seen from the beginning! We are doomed to die, all of us!"

Talzin drew back as if shocked by the energy in her words. Her eyes narrowed, and the mist hardened into a bladed shape as she clenched her fingers. Kycina's eyes widened, but she did not struggle as the woman holding her head tipped her neck up. Talzin cried aloud in a harsh language, made only the more grating by the baby's cry, and plunged the blade in her hand downward-

A little Zabrak boy with red skin and small horns stood unflinchingly before a tall woman as he recited, "Far above, far above - we don't know where we'll fall. Far above, far above – what once was great is rendered small…"

The same boy training with other Zabrak boys in a pit of sand, the woman in red watching from afar –

He looked on stoically as a dark ship descended through the red skies, trying to ignore his mother's vice-like grip on his shoulder. When the ship finally landed, it opened with a hiss to reveal a hooded figure in a black cloak. The figure seemed to glide malevolently across the ground, single-minded in its purpose as it neared them. He couldn't see under the hood – the shadows were too thick for even his enhanced eyesight.

"He has been prepared as instructed, my Lord," his mother said as she roughly pushed him forward. The boy pushed down his fear as he felt the figure's scrutinizing gaze penetrate his very being. The figure was silent as he examined the boy, but finally lifted his gaze.

"It is acceptable," a raspy, male voice hissed. The boy's mother smiled gruesomely as the figure turned abruptly, clearly expecting him to follow. He scrambled to catch up as the figure outpaced him to the inside of the ship. For the first time in his life, he was leaving his home to become… he didn't exactly know. He was afraid to ask.

"You have much fear in you," the figure said as they lifted off, leaving the twisted trees and mist in their wake. "I can feel it… you will be strong." The boy shivered as he caught a glimpse of yellow eyes from underneath the hood.

"What do I call you, my Lord?" he asked feeling a bit bolder. He could feel the power radiating off the cloaked man before him, dark and mesmerizing. The deepest part of his being wanted that power somehow, it needed it.

"I am your Master."

He screamed in agony as inky tattoos were applied to the delicate skin on his face, his Master cackling madly at his pain –

Battling furiously against a multi-armed droid, Maul let his hate flow through him – hate for his opponent, hate for his mother for giving him to this terrible place, hate for his Master that lived to hear his screams, hate for himself because the dark part of his heart bellowed for revenge, for blood –

Kneeling triumphantly before his Master as he ignited his red lightsaber and dubbed him Darth Maul, Lord of the Sith…

The visions grew more and more chaotic as they flooded through Rhys' mind, unable to separate them anymore. Tellura jerked them both from the visions by pulling her hand from the severed hilt. Rhys struggled to catch her breath as she remembered what she had just seen. There was no denying it now, even for the Council – Maul was the apprentice to the remaining Sith Lord, who by now had to have taken another apprentice. The Council needed to know about this at once, they needed–

Her thoughts were cut short as she looked over at Tellura, who was staring at her blankly. Rhys had forgotten how much it took out of her friend to induce Force-visions and to receive as many as she did. The toll was more than mental – the amount of energy it required would leave her tired and sluggish for the rest of the day, if not the day after.

"Are you all right?" Rhys asked as Tellura slowly pulled herself onto her knees. The Noorian gave a small nod as she rubbed at her temples, wincing a bit. "I'm sorry," Rhys apologized as she helped her friend up, "I didn't realize how taxing this could be for you."

Tellura gave a flippant wave, "Go tell the Council, I will recover." The Noorian Jedi gave a small smile at the look of blatant disbelief on her friend's face, "Really, I'm all right. It's nothing that meditation and a cup of warm tea won't cure. Go on, it's important."

Rhys could sense that the Seer wasn't being entirely truthful, but by the set of her face there was no changing her mind now. "I'll visit you tonight, okay?" she prompted, "After dinner? Maybe we can catch up, if it's not too much trouble."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Tellura replied, handing the severed half of Maul's lightsaber back to Rhys and smiling gently as her friend strode purposefully from the room, leaving her to her thoughts.

"It is clear, now, that the danger of the Sith is still present."

Rhys held back an eye roll as the Council continued to debate around her. After calling the meeting to order at midday they had sat here for hours, deliberating back and forth on the next course of action when Rhys had shown them Tellura's visions. Currently, there were two sides to the solution – those wishing to investigate further, mainly led by Master Ki-Adi Mundi, and those that wished to declare open war on the Sith and hunt down the remaining Master before he could fully train another apprentice, the most vocal being Master Even Piell. Master Yoda had not yet spoken, sitting ponderously as the other Councilmembers argued. Eventually, he raised a hand, stopping Even Piell in his tracks.

"Lose many Jedi, I sense we will, should we choose to wage war with this hidden Master and his new apprentice. More, I feel, than should be risked. Need time, we do, to learn of our enemy and to make ourselves strong enough to defeat him," he concluded, looking grieved at the thought of his fellow Jedi going to war. The ancient Master's words seemed to end the argument on the matter. The Council sat quietly for a few moments, mentally discussing their further options.

"It is settled, then," Mace said resolutely, "We will continue to observe until we are directly threatened."

"Directly threatened?" Rhys exclaimed, barely attempting to restrain the outrage in her words, "We began investigating because Qui-Gon Jinn was killed by a Sith, who had he not been killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi would have killed the Queen of Naboo, countless others, and quite possibly me and my own padawan! And then, having completed his mission, would have gone on to murder hundreds more at the biding of his Master! How was that not a direct threat?"

"Padawan!' Master Yoda barked sharply, stopping his former apprentice. Anger, grief, and pain rolled off of her in waves, clouding her thoughts and shaping her words. He gave a heavy sigh. "No more connected to this mission, you shall be, if respect our decisions you cannot." He ignored her gasp of shock and continued on, "Release these emotions, you must, or else become that which you have vowed to destroy."

The young Knight was silent for a moment, struggling to harness her roiling emotions, before composing herself and shutting her mask firmly in place. "Yes, Master," she spoke numbly, humiliated by her outburst and the rough chastening from her former Master.

Still reeling, she left the now-silent chamber of the Council with a bow, her thoughts still too chaotic to fully sort out.