Chapter Three: Visions of A Bygone Era
Days passed, and deep within the jungle on the fourth moon of Yavin life was beginning to be seen once more. Nothing about the courtyard had changed, except the position of the sun - the young man continued to lie where he fell three days ago.
The young man tossed back and forth almost as if to escape something. He shuddered at one point and lay still, but a few minutes later, his face changed to a look of pure determination, and with a shout he sat up, his eyes open once more. He leaned forward over his legs, gasping for air like one long submerged under water. The last of the fleeting images swept past, and then his eyes only saw his surroundings.
"What was this all?" he thought to himself. "Some sort of dream?" He glanced around the clearing half expecting the clearing to become a haze, filled with men and blood once again. When nothing out of the ordinary happened, he used the block of stone to pull himself to a shaky stance. Once more he glanced about the ruined temple grounds but this time he saw something different.
The broken temples were whole and sentients of all manner of species gathered in that same courtyard, glancing toward the sky, waiting for something or someone. A small fighter landed in front of him and a young woman limped out of the ship. Several of those assembled ran forward to help her. "We didn't think you'd made it." The woman gave them a grin. "You should know me better than that."
With that the clearing was once again normal. Zayne sat down on the block of stone and shook his head.
Again the courtyard changed - this time to show the stones carbon scored from laser blasts. Several of the temples had chunks taken out of them, he assumed by an ion cannon. Out of the jungles came what seemed to be an army, led by men bearing laser swords - the Sith. In the middle stood a man no taller than the others but with an air of leadership about him. He gestured towards the temples with his laser sword. "Take no prisoners!" he screamed.
More people came out of the temples. Again, peoples from all parts of the galaxy came, they too bore the laser sword as a weapon. There were less of them than of the approaching army, but none of them moved so much as a hair. In the battle that ensued, these people were all cut down, one by one, until there was only one woman left standing.
"What do you say boys?" asked the leader of the conquerors. "Do we take this Jedi back to the Master? He would delight in adding her to our ranks." Laughter followed from his remaining army - their victory had not been an easy one.
The Jedi only looked at the ground mournfully, seeing the stones and vegetation stained red - red with the blood of her companions. She reignited her laser sword and held it in front of her. She turned her gaze towards the leader of her would-be captors. "This will not be the end of us."
she said.
More laughter came from the remaining Sith.
The Jedi continued - her gaze clouded as if she was looking into another era.
"One of us will come,
Bearing with him the skill of us all.
He will be all of us and neither,
A dark prince who brings hope."
With this, the Jedi swung her laser sword and brought it's point to burn through her chest, ending her life immediately. The remaining Sith stared at her fallen body for a minute then continued their laughter. "Well, it's easy to see why the Jedi fall so easy..." their leader commented. "They're all bloody lunatics!"
The vision released him, and once more Zayne was staring at the present. "That snake venom has gone to my head." he said, rubbing his eyes. "I'm hallucinating." Still, he shuddered, remembering the sight of all those people dying.
"Call it whatever you want, but don't doubt that what you saw was real." replied a voice.
Startled, Zayne turned to scan the courtyard again, searching for the voice's source.
The second figure, Revan, reentered the courtyard. Zayne could now see it more clearly, and saw that it was a man carrying a laser sword strapped to his belt like the Jedi in the visions. "Relax." he said, stopping several paces away from Zayne. "I do not come to harm you."
Zayne felt his pulse start to race, remembering the last words he'd ever heard from Arya, his mother. "If ever you encounter a man with an air of power around him, run Zayne. All you can do is run." Another flash went through his mind and he stammered.
"You're one of them." he began, the man's face sticking out in his memory of the hundreds of lives he'd seen in his dreams.
The man sat on one of the blocks nearby and nodded. "My name is Revan." he said slowly. "My time was ages before the time you now think of as legend." he added.
"But then how-"
"Those of us strong in the Force leave an imprint behind and are sometimes allowed to come to the aid of those still in need."
"I wasn't needing aid -" Zayne protested, but was cut off by Revan.
"Maybe no longer, but for many years I've taken care of you, made sure you didn't wander
to places where the hungry beasts lie."
Zayne looked up at Revan "Taken care of me? Why? I'm just..." he stammered.
Revan smiled, remembering eons ago when he himself was faced with a similar situation. "If what I observed is correct, you can use the Force." Revan replied. "That makes you unordinary in this era when only two others exist."
Zayne heard the woman's words again and shuddered.
"Besides that, you seem to see the past. Can you not see that sometimes the most unexpected smallest thing can change everything?"
"And you're wanting me to be this one small thing?" Zayne asked, incredulous.
"You're the only one who can do it." Revan sighed, then forced himself to meet Zayne's eyes once again. "Do you remember Arya?" he asked gently.
Zayne met Revan's gaze and memories he thought he'd long ago buried came to his concious thoughts. Memories of innocents dying, and Arya, placing him in a lifepod, hoping to save him from the mysterious man she feared.
Zayne looked down at the stone he sat on, and once more saw it covered in blood. "I'll do it." he said. "No one should ever have to face that." he said softly. He looked up from the stone and discovered that Revan was gone - if he'd even been there to begin with.