Disclaimer: Blahblahblahblah, Lucas owns this, not me.
A/N: New chapter up, to any other reviewers out there, enjoy.
Darkness1: You are my only reviewer so far, and that gives you the honor of having this chapter dedicated to you. Good detective skills, and please enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 3: Haunting Dreams and Seeking Information
I wanted to jump into the Raven's Claw, and blast off to find the murderer right then, but Luke insisted we wait and research people to find out more about Rison. I was ready to smack him across the face. Luke worked with his pupils, and other Jedi business. Many of the students knew who I was. I could see them searching my face for clues to my sadness. More than once, one of them would come up asking for Kyle. I would stand there dumbstruck; digging into my brain for an answer that wouldn't bring pain. I found none.
Luke gave me a small room to stay at while he looked up stuff. I put the usual junk I had lying around the Claw into the little cupboards. Generally I'm as messy as a Rancor eating a meal, but I straightened out everything, and put it neatly away. I needed to do something to get my mind of my loss. That night, I wondered what Rison was doing. Was he laughing over Kyle's body? Was he plotting some other way to hurt me? It wouldn't do much good; he had struck me where it hurt the most. My heart. I drifted off to sleep, exhausted from my tears.
I stood in a pitch black world with my blaster in hand. I was searching for something. Something, but I didn't know what. What was I doing here? It was so dark that I couldn't even see my nose on my face.
"Jan!" I heard someone call my name.
I knew who it was, "Kyle!" I called out after my friend.
"Jan!" He cried again.
I moved through the darkness, calling his name. He continued to shout for mine, and I knew he was in trouble.
Stormtroopers could have been lurking in the dark or anything. How would I find Kyle through this? An eerie voice began to laugh, and I recognized it as Lord Rison
"Kill him."
"No!"I screamed.
A spotlight shown on Kyle and Rison. The Sith took out his lightsaber, and it flashed to life. Before I could react, the evil man slashed Kyle through. Kyle"s blood splattered over my face. I sobbed with sadness and terror.
Then the Dark Lord"s gaze came upon me, and there was no Kyle there to save me. I placed my hands in front of my face as if to block his saber. I could feel the whoosh of air as it moved to strike me down. I could hear Rison"s evil cackle as he brought it down. It was the end.
I woke up bathed in a pool of sweat. My heart raced with fear as I searched my borrowed room. Rison wasn't there; nor the inky darkness my dreams had me drowned in. Its okay, Jan, I instructed myself, It was a dream. Rison isn't here and Kyle isn't.... wait, he was gone. If only that had been a dream as well.
I didn't sleep for the rest of the night. Every time I shut my eyes either Kyle or Rison's face floated in my mind. Luke said he had news the next morning,
"I looked through some records and it appears that a smuggler named Terak Orner has been suspected of smuggling weapons to the Imperial Remnant."
"Luke, a lot of smugglers work for the Remnant."
"Yes," he said, "but he appears to have done business on Lorrad."
I didn't want to remember Lorrad.
"I'll look through Kyle's logs," I said, with a little sadness,"He might have known him."
"I can do that Jan," Luke offered.
"No!" I said a little harshly "I have to do this."
He nodded a little, and I just gave him a stare. Kyle used to say that my stare was colder than a Triton moon, I think he was right.
I trust Luke, but Kyle would have wanted me to check his stuff, no matter how much it hurt.
"You're the only one I trust," was what he said to me more than once.
I boarded the Raven's Claw, and made my way to Kyle's stuff. I hadn't touched it since our doomed mission. I opened the bag, and pulled out one of Kyle's shirts, he always brought in case he needed to change. I hugged to my chest and breathed in his scent. Tears fell like rain onto the cloth; this was going to be so hard. Maybe I should have let Luke...No, this was my task. I put down the shirt, and rummaged in his bag again. I pulled out the Logs I needed.
Kyle had kept notes on gang members, pirates, and smugglers for as long as I had known him. He always did this incase we ever had to find this individual, we would have a place to start. I punched in the name Terak Orner to see what I could find.
The name popped up onto the screen. I smiled, thanks Kyle. A picture of the guy came on the screen. Terak was a large man with a big scar down the middle of his left eyebrow. His hair looked like he had cut it himself, considering he was practically bald in some spots. I looked at the brief overview of him. It said that he generally stayed in Ord Mantell, why was I not surprised?
I left the ship with Kyle's Log still in hand. I needed to show this to Luke, cause I knew our mission was about to begin.
Gresib stood with his fellow pupils in the Academy's conference room. His master stood beside him, anxious to hear what Luke had to say. The Academy had been buzzing with news ever since the Raven's Claw landed. All of the students had been searching for Kyle Katarn, but no one could find him. Master Skywalker stood before them, and the murmuring ceased.
"I have some distressing news for all of you," Luke began, "Yesterday; one of our fellow Jedi Knights was killed. I am sad to say that it was Kyle Katarn that has now become one with the Force."
Immediately, the Apprentices began to talk amongst themselves. It was a crushing blow to hear that their hero had been killed.
Gresib looked and saw a beautiful woman standing in the back of the room. She was dressed in a pilot's attire, and her brown hair was pulled back. A blaster was secure at her hip. Deep sadness was evident in her eyes, and dark circles surrounded them, signifying lack of sleep. Gresib knew it was Jan Ors, Kyle's partner and friend. The look on her face was not the loss of a friend, he observed, but the loss of something much bigger.
Luke silenced the chatter, "Kyle's friend, Jan Ors, has asked for my help in finding the Sith who killed him. We are leaving this afternoon. I trust that you will all dedicate yourself to your studies and training. I will return as soon as I can. May the Force be with you."
The whole congregation of Jedi spoke in one, "May the Force be with you."
I sat down in the pilot seat of the ship. It was good to be back on the Raven's Claw. I saw a throng of Jedi standing out said the ship, waving good bye tot heir master. I looked at Luke beside me, and was almost said, hey you can't sit there, that's Kyle's seat. I bit my tongue in time before the words slipped.
"All set Luke?" I said instead.
"Yeah."
"Then let's get this thing into space."
I punched the button, and we lifted off from the Academy. We were headed to Ord Mantell. I hoped that the guy knew something. No matter what the cost, Kyle's death would be avenged.
Ord Mantell is up next, review and I may make a jump into lightspeed and get there faster.