Title: Twisted Fates: A Jedi's Fate- Book One
Author: Jedidanny
Rating: PG to PG-13
Genre: Romance, action-adventure
Summary: The first story in a series, this is the story of Avalynn Stormhaven, mother of Renoa and Cole Stormhaven, and her adventures. R&R.
A/N: Star Wars doesn't belong to me, unfortunately. However, these characters do, so please don't steal them or I'll be a very cranky Jedi. R&R!
If this chapter is a little too descriptive with the torture (this is where the PG-13 comes in), please take this as an apology in advance. I did not want to be too descriptive, but I also didn't want to be too undescriptive. If it offends anyone in any way, I am sorry. I will try to keep it as brief as possible. I changed the title of this chapter.

Chapter Five
A Sith Uglier than a Hutt

Sith Prison
Dining Hall

Avalynn pulled away from her twin brother, who she had just reunited with moments before, looking up at him as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I can't believe it's you, Arek. I thought . . . I thought you were long dead. When you didn't come home, I gave up," she said.

Arek reached up to wipe one of her tears away, "I know, Avalynn. I've always been with you, though. You just had to believe it."

Avalynn looked around at the rest of the room before leading her two brothers toward one of the tables, "Why do all of the other prisoners except for me wear the same uniforms?"

Arek and Brayon looked at each other, as if unsure how to answer. The answer they had to give was one that Avalynn wouldn't like at all.

"Because you haven't been examined yet, or marked, as some of the prisoners call it," Brayon said.

They sat down at the table, Arek sitting next to Avalynn, "Marked?" she asked.

Arek pulled the sleeve to his left arm up, turning it so the bottom of his arm could be shown. There, in black, were eight numbers and two letters. They had been branded into his skin.

"Marked. They brand you with numbers. The numbers tell them how important you are to them, how useful you can be to them. Depending on how many numbers you have . . . It determines what they'll do. How they'll interrogate you. The highest they'll go is eight, unless you happen to be really important to them . . ." Brayon explained.

Avalynn shudered, "And . . . They'll do this to me, this . . . Marking?"

Arek nodded, "They 'exam' you to see how much pain you can handle . . . And so they can create machines based on who you are. Once they know how much pain you can handle, they'll use that information to create machines that will intensify the pain so that it will make you talk. After they've examined you once, they'll do it every now and then to check your progress." He shuddered. He had been at this prison a long time now, and he had come to take being examined as a daily ritual. Today's had had to have been one of the worst yet.

"You better grab something to eat, though, Av. You don't want to be examined with an empty stomach," Brayon said.

Avalynn nodded, moving to stand up and get some food. She looked at the bowl of goop on the conveyor belt and wrinkled her nose. She grabbed a spoon and made her way back over to the table. Once she had sat down, she began to poke the stuff with her spoon.

"What is this stuff? It's . . . Green," she said.

"It's supposed to be some sort of soup. It's really not that bad. Not nearly as bad as the other goop they try to feed us," Arek said.

Avalynn gathered some of the goop onto her spoon and raised it toward her mouth, pushing it in and swallowing hard. She wrinkled her nose and pushed the bowl away.

"I'm suddenly no longer hungry," she said.

"We only have a few more minutes before we'll be taken back to our cells. You should try and eat something more. They might have bread or something up there," Brayon said.

Avalynn shook her head, "Something tells me if I try to eat anymore of their food, it'll just come back up again. I'll be fine."

"We'll have to hope that Garrk and Garren get here before they give you the mark, then, Av. Once they've marked you . . .You're stuck for good," Arek said softly.

"What are you saying? That since you and Brayon have both been marked, you won't be able to leave?" she asked.

Arek gave her a small smile, reaching up to push a strand of hair out of her face, "It's not likely, Av. They're watching us like Gundarks, so it's nearly impossible to get out of here."

"So once I'm marked . . . I'm a prisoner, too?" Avalynn asked, not believing what she was hearing.

Arek nodded, "Unless you escape before they mark you…But it's unlikely. They'll be keeping an eye on you because you're our sister."

"GET IN LINE!" a guard shouted.

"Av, quickly. Get up and run to stand in line," Brayon said.

Brayon and Arek moved to stand with the rush of prisoners trying to get into a straight line, Avalynn following after them.

The three stood in line, waiting for more orders. Avalynn leaned over and asked, "What's going on?"

"When it's time to go back to your cell, they make you stand in line and they choose who's not going to go back to their cell. The ones who don't go to their cell are taken to be interrogated or tortured, depending on the person. When they ask to see your mark, show them both arms to show that you're not marked . . . They might not take you right away," Brayon answered in a whisper.

The line of prisoners hushed as one of the troopers walked down the line, looking at the outstretched under arms of each prisoner. The one next to Brayon didn't have his mark on his arm, and instead it was on his lower back. Avalynn shuttered, waiting for the trooper to come to her, praying that he would pass her.

But the trooper stood right in front of her. Remember Brayon's instructions, she swallowed hard, showing the under arm of both of her arms and revealing that she had not yet been marked. She looked at Brayon out of the corner of her eye to try to make eye contact, but he didn't allow his eyes to travel to hers.

"You, what's your name?" the trooper asked.

"Avalynn Lorran, sir," she answered.

The trooper snapped and another trooper walked toward him holding a data pad. He scrolled through a list of names and saw:

Avalynn Lorran No Mark Exam Levels 2, 3, 5, 8

"Take her," he said, giving the data pad back.

Avalynn's heart pounded in her chest, dreading what was to come. Two guards grabbed at her arms, pulling her away from where she stood between Arek and Brayon.

"No, let me go!" she said, struggling to get away.

"Avalynn! Let her go, scum!" Brayon said, anger in his eyes.

The trooper sent a hard blow to Brayon's face, making him turn his head away as Avalynn was lead away and out of the dining hall.

Examination Room

AA635-193

The room Avalynn was taken to was filled with different machines and contraptions that Avalynn didn't even want to know what their purpose was. The image of Brayon's first encounter in a room such as this flashed through her mind. Needles, suction cups, electric shocks . . .

The guards pulled her toward a chair that lay half way back with straps on it and pushed her in, quickly strapping her ankles, wrists, waist, and neck down tightly. Her right arm was turned so the under part was shown. One of the guards began rubbing some sort of yellow substance on a large area of her arm before stepping back.

Avalynn watched in horror as one of the guards stepped toward her with a branding iron that was red-hot. She shook her head, trying to escape from the straps but they were too tight.

The guard holding the iron stood above her and pressed the iron onto her bare skin, making it sizzle as metal connected to skin.

"AH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, biting her lower lip after a moment.

The skin sizzled as the iron was pulled away, revealing the numbers that had now been branded into her skin. Steam began to rise from the surface of her skin and into the air, soon disappearing after just seconds.

Avalynn tried to remember the relaxation technique her master was trying to teach her. What had he said? Pull in on the Force, let it flow. Forget your surroundings, forget everything, and just concentrate. But the pain was too immense for her to do that.

She heard the door slide open and then closed and the figure of the Sith Apprentice who had captured her came toward her, smirking down at her.

"It was not long ago that your brother Brayon was in this position, young Lorran. He was able to keep from talking after his examination. I wonder if you'll be able to do the same," Kathan said.

Avalynn closed her eyes, saying nothing. She pulled in on the Force, beginning to concentrate on pushing the pain away.

"What to do first, hmm? We can make this easy for you, you know. Of course, the branding is permanent, and there is one thing that we require of our more important prisoners such as yourself, but other than that, you could save yourself a lot of pain," he said.

Avalynn shook her head, opening her eyes again and looking at him, "I don't know what you want from me. How can you expect me to tell you anything?"

He laughed, "You are Brayon's sister, which means you must know what he knows about the Sith Holocron. He once told us that he had destroyed it, but if it had been destroyed, we would have known immediately. The Sith have a connection to it. Now, tell me what you know of the Holocron."

Avalynn shook her head, "He's told me nothing."

Saying nothing, Kathan stepped back and let four guards form around Avalynn, one at each side. One of them held a collar with three small squares marked with different colors. One guard unstrapped Avalynn's neck and held her head still as the guard placed the collar around her neck and locked it in place.

"Stop! Let me go!" Avalynn cried out, but she knew it would do no good; she was trapped.

The collar seemed to tighten around her neck, adjusting to the length and width of it. A button was pressed and the squares began flashing slowly, each a different color.

The guards began to undo the straps, taking a tight hold onto her arms and bringing her toward a changing curtain. They pushed her behind it and waited.

Inside the changing curtain, the curtain seemed to close around her. Above was a shower; it turned on and hot water began to pore down onto Avalynn, making her cry out in pain as the hot water touched her mark on her arm.

The hot water turned off and suddenly a bucket of soap appeared above, held onto by a mechanical hand with a white glove on, the arm long and silver colored. The hand pored the soap onto her and three more of the hands appeared, this time holding sponges. They began to scrub the soap on her, as though to clean her and give her a shower.

Avalynn tried to protest but found it nearly impossible as the hands scrubbed her face. Her clothes were now soaked; she heard a machine start up and turned to see that it was a fan beginning to blow warm air onto her so she would dry quicker.

Once she was dry, the hands pulled her shirt off and quickly forced a tan colored shirt on her. Next, they lifted her up by the shoulders and pulled her boots and pants off, quickly placing her on the ground and forcing her down as a diaper-like cloth was placed on her. They then put a pair of tan pants on her and let her stand. They held onto her shoulders as the curtain began to open up and two guards came to her sides, grabbing onto her arms again and taking her back over to the chair.

Avalynn coughed as she was lead back to the chair, trying to regain her breath still after the hands had washed her face. They forced her into the chair, strapping her down again and making the chair go back so it lay completely back.

Kathan made his way back over to the chair, staring down at her. "I will ask you once again, Jedi. What do you know of the Holocron?"

Avalynn blinked once, pushing the tears in her eyes back so she wouldn't reveal them, "I don't know anything."

Kathan nodded, "It is your choice, then. I am sorry to have to do this." He stepped back into the shadows to watch as the 'examiners' who had now entered the room readied themselves and began their work.

A metal belt was wrapped around her waist with blinking lights of different colors. Attached to it were long wires with white circles. They were placed on her arms, stomach, legs, forehead, and back. A button on the belt was pressed, but nothing seemed to happen yet.

After a moment, Avalynn could feel a buzz going through her stomach as the machine on the belt began to warm up.

"AH!" Avalynn cried out in pain as electric shocks surged through her body. From her stomach, up to her arms, below to her legs, then to her back and finally to her head. The pain was the worst thing she had ever felt in her life, and she wanted it to stop . . . She needed it to stop, for the sake of her sanity and her body.

The button was pressed again and this time the shocks stopped; Avalynn lay there, waiting for the pain to die down, breathing hard.

Force . . . Why are they doing this to me? Why can't they just leave my family alone? She thought.

Kathan took another step toward her, watching as the examiners use towels to wipe the sweat running down her forehead.

"As I said before, I do not want to have to continue this. You are a beautiful Jedi, young Lorran . . . Strong in the Force. You could be powerful as my wife, as a Princess of the Dark Side,"

Avalynn laughed inwardly. Me, marry a Sith scum who's uglier than a Hutt? Get a life, buddy, she thought. Of course, the short surge of pain that ran through her back, up her spine, and to her neck seemed to make her think differently for a moment.

"Is this . . . Really what this is all about, is you wanting me to . . . Marry you?" she asked, trying to avoid letting the apprentice know that she was in pain.

"No. My master wishes to know what you know of the Holocron, but I have my own plans that he is plenty aware of. He approves of the idea; in fact, I believe he is arranging a ceremony for our wedding," the apprentice answered.

"I will never marry you. I know nothing. . . Of the Holocron. Now, please, just . . . Let me go. Let my brothers go," Avalynn said, her eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Kathan shook his head, "Your choice."

Once again, he stepped back and let the examiners stand around her, as though pondering what to do next. The electric shocks would obviously not be enough for the girl. This would present much work for them, for they could create many machines that might break her in time.

One of the examiners stood so he looked down at her face, sitting down in a chair behind the one Avalynn was in and picking up a small medal poker with a sharp needle at the end of it. He began poking her face with it, starting at the top of her forehead, as though checking for something. After a moment, he placed the poker down and picked up a headband with lights on it. Attached to it were long wires with the same white circles that had been placed on her body. The headband was placed on her head and the circles were placed on different areas of her head. He then picked the needle back up and began poking her face again.

Meanwhile, the other examiner pressed the button on the belt around Avalynn's waist and she felt the machine begin to start up again. He then turned a second button toward the right, which would raise the intensity of the shocks to a higher level.

After doing this, he waited for the machine to start up and smirked as surges of electricity were sent up her body, this time more intense.

"AHH!" she screamed, her body writhing in pain.

After a few minutes, the machine was turned off and the belt was taken from her waist.

Avalynn lay there, pain surging through her veins, blood, and entire body. She closed her eyes, her breathing heavy. Sweat pored down her forehead.

"That's enough," Kathan said, taking a few steps forward. "We'll bring her back tomorrow for some more. For now, bring her to her cell."

The Destined Runner

He felt her pain; he knew they were torturing her. Whether or not it was to be evil just to see her in pain or to extract information was unknown. But what did Avalynn know that they could possibly want?

Darius sat staring out the cockpit, sitting in the co-pilot chair, watching as the creatures of the forest went about their daily business. While they hunted for food for their young and slept, the love of his life was in pain, and there was nothing he could do at the moment.

A tremor in the Force, and Darius knew that someone was behind him; it was Garrik, and he didn't need to see him physically to know he was there.

"They're hurting Avalynn. I can feel her pain," Darius said.

"I know. I can feel it, too. We have to do something before it's too late. We have to go to the prison, tonight. Before they do anything further to her," Garrik said.

Darius nodded. He stood, turning to look at his future brother-in-law, "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on leaving the prison onto Avalynn is safe. Whether she's by my side or by yours and I'm in her place at the prison . . ."

"What are you saying, Darius?" Garrik asked, cutting the younger Jedi off.

"I'd die for your sister, Garrik. In fact, there's a chance I might do so today when we go to the prison. If I do, I want you to be there for Avalynn. She's going to instantly blame herself, as she did when Arek was captured. Even if I do come out alive . . . I want your permission, as well as Garren and Brayon's, to propose to your sister," Darius said, no emotion on his face, save for what was in his eyes.

The thought of marrying Avalynn brought a smile to the corners of his lips, barely showing. An image of Avalynn in her mothers wedding dress flashed through his mind. He saw himself lifting the veil to reveal her beautiful face. Whether this was his own fantasy or an image of the future, he did not know. Always in motion is the future, he thought, quoting Master Skywalker as he had done of his former master, Yoda, many times before.

Garrik raised an eyebrow in surprise; he knew that Avalynn had been with Darius for a few years now, but he had not known that they intended on marrying. He knew that she loved him, though, as much as she loved her brothers if not more, so he could give nothing but approval as long as his sister would be happy, even if it meant tearing his own heart apart. Avalynn was growing up so fast, almost too fast.

Darius waited for his approval, though he doubted that if Garrik didn't approve, it'd stop him from marrying Avalynn. His heart skipped a beat for a moment, wondering what he'd say.

Garrik saw the look in Darius's eyes and smirked, patting the young Jedi on the shoulder, "Welcome to the family, Darius. You better take care of my little sister."

Darius laughed, his heart beginning to beat normally, "Thanks, Garrik. Now, how about we go rescue my bride to be?"

Garrik's smirk turned into a grin, "I couldn't have said it better, brother-in-law-."

Sith Prison

The door to the cell slid open and Brayon looked up as the form of his sister lay limply in the arms of the guards as they brought her in and laid her on the floor of the cell. She looked worn and tired; obviously they had put her through a lot. The door slid shut, leaving the two of them alone.

Brayon stood from where he sat on the bench and moved to sit by her side, helping her sit up. She opened her eyes and looked around, closing her eyes after a moment and moaning.

"Ugh . . . I've never been through so much pain in my life," she whispered hoarsely.

"I know, Avalynn . . . I'm sorry," Brayon said softly. He stood, picking her up and bringing her over to the bench, laying her down. "Rest, Av. They'll probably be back for you tomorrow, if not tonight. If I'm not here when you wake up . . ."

Avalynn looked up at him, nodding slightly, though she was having a hard time trying to stay conscious and listen to his words.

Brayon knelt down by the bench, stroking her hair that was still drying after the 'shower' she'd been given. He began to hum softly before singing.

"Come, stop your crying. It'll be alright. Just take my hand, hold it tight. I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don't you cry," He stopped for a moment, swallowing hard. He hadn't sung this song to her since she was young, and now she was already eighteen, almost a graduate of the Academy. " 'Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes you'll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forever more. You'll be in my heart. No matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart . . . Always."

He bent his head down to kiss her forehead before sitting back against the bench. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for what he knew would come later that night.

Finally, this chapter is done. It was long, but I did it. Please read and review! I'll post more if you review!

Chapter Six: To the Rescue; Brayon's Sacrifce