Yet another disclaimer: As much as I'd love to say it, I don't own this. But since these story breaks are twists of the backstory and I did create Sienna Vaas, my exile, I take credit for anything that none of the big head honchos do. Heehee… I get to claim this mini plot as mine! Yes!
Yet another pre-apology: Still no beta. Big chance of more screwed up stuff. Yay!
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Story Break Three: Trials and Tribulations
"Are you nervous?"
Malak turned towards his close friend Revan and raised his eyebrow. "Am I supposed to be nervous?"
"I would assume that you are by the way that you're sweating," a third voice joined in. It was Sienna Vaas, a friend of both Revan and Malak. Revan chuckled.
"How'd the trials go for you?" Revan asked Sienna as the latter sat down on a chair to Revan's left. Malak was on her right. Revan tucked some of her loose long black hair behind her ears. Sienna noticed Malak ogling Revan again. She shook her head mentally.
"A bit difficult, but I got through them," Sienna shrugged. "Master Vash taught me well. She was a good master. It'll be sad not to have her as my master anymore."
"I know what you mean," Revan said. "Master Kae was a good master to me. She was more like me than most of the other masters; you know because she wasn't one of those masters that spat the jedi code everywhere and then didn't act on it. She was more independent."
"You were both lucky," Malak sighed. "Master Hale was a rather tough master, always expecting more and more out of me." The bald man scoffed. "The past couple weeks have been hell. We stopped going on missions, went to Dantooine and spent three weeks going through everything I've learned since coming to the enclave."
"Well, you should be preparing for the trials though," Sienna pointed out. "It's not like you had a slacker for a master. I have to say, seven years with a master is something that changes you. Look at Revan, she's not using the force to steal our food anymore and play tricks on the masters!"
"Har har," Revan mock laughed. "I was only nine, I'm nineteen now. Not the same as I used to be okay?" Malak was laughing a bit. She elbowed him in the ribs. "At least my talent has grown unlike this Gammorean right here." Malak stopped laughing and glared playfully at Revan. She fake batted her eyelashes at him.
Sienna just watched the pair. It used to be just amusing the way they acted towards each other, but Revan was right; they had changed over ten years. And not necessarily in the right way. Revan may have matured and grown, but she was still possessed the same recklessness. The council hadn't liked the idea of Kreia being Revan's master, but both of them persisted, and so they were given each other as master and Padawan.
But though his Master had confined Malak, he still had grown despite himself. His brown eyes still gazed deeply into Revan's green ones. And in a nature not meant for jedi. Sienna had seen it for years now: Malak loved Revan.
Malak was then called to begin the trials himself. The three Padawans were trying to achieve knighthood during this week. Sienna had been in the trials since the previous day. It had been hard and quite a struggle, but the masters had told her she had done well. She would be notified if she had earned the level of knighthood within a week. Revan had taken the trials the day before Sienna, and heard a similar message from the masters.
Revan turned towards Sienna. "It's good to see you again Sienna," Revan smiled. "It had been a really long time." Sienna smiled. She nodded her head in agreement, her short dirty blonde hair bobbing. Her blue eyes twinkled at seeing her close friend again. The two embraced. They had met briefly when Sienna had showed up yesterday, but only for about a split second before Sienna began her trials.
"It had been too long Revan," Sienna finally said. "And in better circumstances this time. I must say, you and Kreia did have a knack for trouble when you were training on missions. She had to call for a back-up jedi when you two were captured by those Mandalorians."
"At least it was you and Master Vash who were close by and not some stodgy jedi who would've lectured us continuously for provoking Mandalorians," Revan chuckled. "Not that we were let off to easily…"
"Yeah Master Vash still lectured you two for a good half an hour," Sienna laughed. She liked talking with old friends again. It was relaxing, especially after the hard trials.
"Yeah, well, Mandalorians need little provoking before they attack you and tie you up, ready for some sacrifice of honor," Revan shrugged. "Kreia was just telling the truth when she told that one Mandalorian about how pointless his quest was."
"But she was questioning their honor, and everyone knows that's one dumb thing to do to a Mandalorian," Sienna said, grinning at Revan's head, turned to the side in contemplation. Sienna was probably the only person out side of Master Kae that could beat Revan in an argument. Revan hated this.
"I guess you're right," Revan said defeated. "But anyways-"
Revan was cut off by a door slamming shut and a young jedi messenger running through the room. He stopped at the door of the council chambers, knocking hard on it and panting. Sienna and Revan exchanged confused looks. The young jedi, who couldn't have been older than sixteen looked urgent.
"What's going on?" Revan asked him. He turned towards her.
"The Mandalorians," he replied, still panting hard. "They made their first attack against the Republic." Revan and Sienna both exchanged surprised looks.
"Where did they strike?" Sienna asked him. Revan gulped for a second. Sienna understood why. Her homeworld was not far from where the Mandalorians were rumored to be gathering, not to mention that her homeworld was full of good resources, the Mandalorians would want to capture.
"Deralia," the messenger told them.
Revan closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind the chairs where Sienna and Revan were sitting. Her worst fears were confirmed. The Mandalorians had attacked her home. Her mother, her father, her three brothers, they were probably either enslaved by the Mandalorians or all dead.
The messenger wasn't let into the chamber until late into the next morning when Malak emerged from his trials. As soon as the door opened, he left the room and saw the messenger enter the council chamber. The door was shut tightly behind him. Malak looked at his two female friends confused.
"The Mandalorians attacked," Sienna said. Malak lifted his eyebrows in shock and looked towards Revan. Sienna nodded. Revan had an emotionless look plastered onto her face. She was looking straight ahead. Sienna and Malak both understood that Revan would be feeling more upset than words could comfort.
"I've got an idea," Revan whispered suddenly. She hadn't spoken since the messenger had told them about Deralia. Sienna and Malak looked at Revan who walked over to the council door, closed her eyes, and felt with the force what was happening in the room.
Sienna and Malak copied her actions, and Sienna could almost make out what she could see in the chambers, but the words were what mattered the most to her right now.
"They won't make it here to Coruscant, without a fight from the Republic," the messenger explained. "The Republic was speaking of an attack on the Mandalorians soon. They said they didn't want to sit back while this happened."
"There is more at work here," one of the masters in the room said. Sienna only recognized three of the twelve masters in the room. One was newly made Master Kavar, the second was strict Master Atris, and the third was just as uptight Master Vrook.
"We cannot sit back and let those people suffer," Kavar pointed out. Atris glowered at him.
"We all know that we cannot send jedi to aid in this war," she said. "We are keepers of the peace, not war-mongering peoples." Her icy eyes gave a look to each member of the council in the room, as if warning them to challenge her ideals.
"I agree with Master Atris," Vrook told the council, his typical scowl still apparent on his face. "There is a deeper threat, further out than these Mandalorians, we must have patience."
":Something drove the Mandalorians to attack, whether they wanted to or not:" another unknown council member decided. He was a yellow Twi'lek and was wearing a contemplative look as he spoke.
"We must have patience," Vrook repeated, his hard eyes boring into each council member. Between him and Atris the council seemed to almost have no say whatsoever. Kavar seemed ready to object, but didn't say anything.
This was too much for Revan; Sienna could sense her friend breaking. Revan looked angrier than Sienna had ever seen her when she opened her eyes, breaking the connection into the room. Malak broke out of his connection just before Revan did as well.
"I can't believe them!" Revan exclaimed. She turned towards the council chamber door. Sienna knew she was going to break into the meeting. Normally, the more serene Padawan would've stopped Revan, but she too was a angry with the council for just sitting back and not acting.
Mandalorians had killed innocents! And the jedi wouldn't volunteer to protect the people of the republic? What happened to the 'protectors of the galaxy'? Sienna was outright disgusted.
Revan used the force the break into the council's chambers. All twelve masters as well as the young messenger turned towards Revan, closely flanked by Sienna and Malak. To the masters, Sienna was on Revan's left and Malak on her right. They all stared at the three Padawans with a annoyance in their eyes. Atris and Vrook outright glared. But Kavar and the Twi'lek were looking at the three more interested in what they would say.
"How dare you interrupt a council meeting!" Atris screeched.
"How dare you sit by while countless millions are going to die!" Revan countered. "There is a war coming with the Mandalorians, how can you ignore the threat they pose? They've attacked Deralia already, where are they going to strike next?"
"You are angry only because Deralia is where you hail from Padawan," Vrook stood from his chair. "You are being selfish, and leading yourself on the path to the dark side. You are forgetting your training just for vengeance. I knew you shouldn't have had Master Kae as your master."
"Kreia was a better master than you would've been!" Revan shouted. "And whether you like it or not, even if you exile me, even if you kick me out of the order, I don't care. I'm going to help the Republic in this war, even if you won't!" And with that, Revan turned on her heel, her brown Padawan robes flapping slightly as she left the chamber. Malak turned right behind her and followed her out of the room. Sienna took another second to look around the chamber at the masters.
"I may not have the wisdom you all possess, but I am glad I do not have the ignorance and arrogance," Sienna spat before leaving the room. None of the masters would ever forget the steely blue glare she addressed them with.
"Will we stop them?" Vrook exclaimed angrily.
"We can't change their minds," Kavar pointed out. "We all know Revan isn't one to listen to orders. And Padawans Bilk and Vaas are very loyal to her."
"I knew we shouldn't have paired her with Master Kae!" Atris muttered. Kavar looked over at the woman. He held little respect for Atris.
"She would've ended up this way whether or not she had been taught by Kreia," Kavar said simply, sparing a bit of an icy look in the older master's direction. "We'll just have to hope she can make the right choices when the time comes."
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It had been two weeks since Revan, Malak and Sienna had barged into the council's meeting. Now, Revan and Malak were looking amongst the order for any Padawans who didn't believe in ignoring the war. Since they had all taken the trials, yet none had achieved knighthood yet, Sienna, Malak and Revan were all still in the jedi temple on Coruscant.
They spread the news quickly through the temple that they were going to meet to see who wanted to join the war effort. Revan soon became the leader of the three, as it had been and would be throughout the war. Malak easily stepped into stride next to her.
But Sienna, despite her strong beliefs in the war, stood off to the side when it came to the planning and recruiting. Revan had decided that they would gather as many jedi as they could, and then head to republic headquarters to inform the republic that they would have jedi support.
A late night, past midnight, Sienna found her way along long and twisting hallways of the jedi temple, hearing the rush of the fountains in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, as she found an turbolift and headed down to the basement level.
There, she could hear Malak's speech beginning. Though not as charismatic as Revan, Malak was able to influence the opinions of those gathered in the area. There were six jedi in the basement room currently standing in a line opposite of Malak. Sienna ambled in and joined the line.
Most of the jedi looked to be young knights or older Padawans around Sienna's age. There was one jedi, however that was very young, seemingly just an apprentice. Sienna looked at the girl curiously. The former doubted the latter would actually join a war.
"The Mandalorians have struck! We must lend aid to the republic," Malak was saying passionately. He obviously felt very strongly for the war. "With the help of the jedi, despite the council's wishes to not interfere, we could crush the Mandalorians!"
The jedi were all staring at Malak with interest, except for the young girl who obviously was not happy with what she heard. Sienna recognized the girl now. She had trained on the Dantooine enclave when Sienna had visited it recently. Her name was Bastila Shan.
"Who stand with me?" Malak smirked at the jedi. "Who stands with the republic?"
All the jedi exclaimed their support and Sienna just smiled. Malak knew he had the support of his friend. But Bastila was frowning.
"What about you, young one? Though I doubt you are old enough to go to war, will you support our cause?" Malak asked Bastila. The small chestnut haired jedi frowned.
"I believe what the masters say," Bastila replied snootily. "We should not go to war. We are jedi. Keeps of the peace, not warriors. Why must we fight? The republic can handle the Mandalorians."
"Which is why the Mandalorians crushed the republic in the past two battles?" Malak raised an eyebrow. "We may be keepers of the peace, but we are also guardians of the galaxy. And when provoked by violence, guards fight back in defense, against the offender."
"War is not the answer," Bastila narrowed her eyes.
"Then why did you come here?" Sienna asked the young apprentice. Bastila seemed to not have an answer and strode out of the room in much the same manner Revan had left the council chambers two weeks ago.
"We will inform you when we go to republic headquarters to involve ourselves," Malak told the five jedi who had stayed. "Thank you." The five jedi all left, all seething with pride for doing what they believed to be the right thing.
Malak sat down on a crate in the basement and Sienna walked over, smiled at him and sat down next to her friend.
"How is Revan doing?" Sienna asked the man next to her.
"She's not showing it, but I know the destruction of Deralia is still hard for her to accept," Malak answered, staring at the ground. "She fuels that anger and grief towards building up an army of jedi. We have gotten almost fifty jedi volunteers so far."
Sienna stared at Malak for a moment. He was thinking. Against what she normally thought as right, delved into his mind to see what was occupying his thoughts.
Unsurprisingly, Sienna saw Revan. Her quirky grin… replaced with an image of despair upon hearing of her homeworld and what had happened to it. And an old memory appeared, the one back when they were teenagers at the enclave on Dantooine. When Revan had kissed Malak.
I wonder where she is now, Malak was thinking. I wish I could protect her from the pain of Deralia… but I can't. Sienna left Malak's mind, looking at him slightly differently.
I knew it! Sienna thought to herself. I knew he loved her!
But ultimately, would that be a good thing? First of all, jedi weren't supposed to love. And second of all, Revan couldn't be distracted if she was going to war. She was a leader, and the republic obviously was going to either let her be in charge, or have her force them to put her in charge.
"I'm sure she'll be alright," Sienna murmured. She decided to ask Malak about what she had seen and heard. "Do you love her?"
Malak was obviously startled by this question. "What?" he exclaimed, shaken. He almost jumped off of the crate. Sienna smirked.
"I asked if you loved Revan," Sienna repeated.
"No," Malak replied quickly and firmly.
"Right."
Sienna decided she probably wouldn't get a straight answer, and she knew the truth anyways, so she left the basement level and Malak to his musings.
This wasn't important anyways. There was a war to go to. There were people to protect. There were lives and worlds on the line. And Sienna was exhausted so there was also sleep to be had. Malak's interest in Revan wouldn't be important or significant at all in the future besides to fuel his loyalty to her. Or so Sienna thought.
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Cool! I think this is the longest story break so far! XD Yay for me. And you people reading this. Okay...
Muaha! Quick note: I used a little tidbit robbed from lord of the Rings in this chapter. The location of where Malak and Sienna are sitting next to Revan and when they enter the council's meeting. I remember a line from Return of the King when Denethor is talking to Gandalf. "With your left hand you would use me as a shield against Mordor and with your right hand you would seek to supplant me." I have no clue if it's in the book since I only had the movie handy, but therefore I put Malak (the supplanter) on the right and Sienna (the 'shield' in cryptic ways) on the left. Muaha!
Yeah, weird but I felt like including it. Okay, now that I'm done sharing that basically pointless piece of information…
This was a quick and lovely story break I've had written for a couple weeks. I revised it though and added everything after the meeting just now. Anyways… I must say how saddened I am. No reviews? Wah! And the worst part of it, is according to the stats information just added, I got fifty five hits on the new chapter. –whine- And nobody could review and tell me if they liked it or not? –runs off crying-
Meh. Maybe I'm just spoiled considering I've been getting reviews since the second chapter was posted like three months ago. I think this is the first chapter since when I first posted the story I haven't gotten reviews.
Okay, enough guilt-tripping lol. I'm just used to reviews. Even though I am posting this not much more than twenty four hours later. Maybe I'll get double the reviews! Ooh! Ooh! I shouldn't build up my hopes. Lol… anyways… no idea how long it'll be until I update, probably a week or less (I spoil you guys with how often I've been updating lately).
So next chapter we land on Tatooine, and I believe we will hear the line I'm sure many of you have been waiting to hear. "Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve." But who knows how long I will take if I get no reviews hmmm? Muahahahahahahahahaha!
Okay, I'll shut up now. Pleeeeease review? Until next time, review –cough- review some more –cough- review, and do other stuff that you feel like doing. Like reviewing. I'm a harsh writer aren't I? Suck it up and review. XD
6-27-05