Author´s notes: As promised, I continued a bit, but this might turn out very slow, as I have said before, since rewriting this stuff takes a long time.

X X X

Chapter 2 – the Weaver

X X X X

Kreia remained sitting in the morgue. Perhaps it was a bit morbid to most people´s tastes, to meditate when a corpse is lying on the nearest bed, but there were few places on Peragus safer than this room at the current moment. she kept following the Exile, if only mentally, and watched his progress. Thus far, she didn't have a full opinion on him.

He was… complicated. The lightheartedness was more like a shield to hide the core to which she wanted to progress, but she didn't want to force herself into his mind. Waiting would do her more good. And she had time – he was far from ready to face what lied ahead. The wound in the Force was evident, but she understood that he didn't quite understand or perhaps even realize what had happened at Malachor. And so far, she thought it was for the best.

Now slowly restoring his connection to the Force, Kreia watched him easily cleanse much of the facility of the rogue mining droids and other equipment that went insane. But then, not so far away, she sensed the presence of… another. Yet instantly, she felt as if she hat reached some sort of wall preventing her from passing further into his thoughts – she had only come to the conclusion that it was a male.

´Ah… beyond this door, someone yet lives…´ she thought to herself, but knew the thoughts would be projected to the Exile as well. She made no attempt to prevent that. ´Be mindful – his thoughts are… difficult to read. But you have nothing to fear from this one. And he might yet prove useful.´

Indeed, there was potential in someone who managed to shield their minds from even someone as skilled in invading the thoughts of another. She see any meaning in listening in to their conversations. Confident that the Exile – or Deon, she remembered, as she would attempt to call him from now on, even though he remained marked as the Exile in her mind… and that in itself was far more than a name – could handle it just fine, she resumed her meditations.

But then, a presence, like a quiet shadow, neared itself. Yet there was pain in it, pain greater than the screams of those the Void, Nihilus, had devoured, pain that gave you a glimpse of the surface of Malachor. She sensed it, recognized it, and for a moment, a twinge of fear passed even through her. He could ruin everything. But he wouldn't. she would see to that.

Standing up with the agility of a much younger woman, Kreia stormed to the place where she knew the Exile would emerge from the lower levels. Truly, the door opened moments later, revealing him. He seemed to have taken her little hint about clothes to heart, and was now wearing a blueish uniform she thought might have belonged to some miner before. Still, the fact he had a vibroblade with him was enough.

"I have felt a disturbance." Kreia said simply when he came over the quick flash of surprise that she was up and ready. "Our enemy has arrived. We must leave at once."

"Enemy?" Deon asked, perplexed.

"The one who fired upon the Ebon Hawk as we attempted to rescue you." She could tell he knew she was purposely avoiding giving away names. "And he will not let us go without blood being shed."

The Exile shrugged and made a weak attempt at cheerfulness – it was a moment where Kreia could truly see how much he came to loathe battle and wanted to forget it entirely. "So what? If he´s willing to bleed a little, the more fun for me."

"You know much of battle." Kreia quietly said, "Enough to know that this is a battle you cannot win."

Sighing deeply, the Exile nodded. "I have been away for far too long… my hopes for a peaceful, unnoticed return have proven to be naive."

"Indeed, but you show wisdom in realizing that. You are young." The Exile seemed to want to object, but then looked at Kreia and simply nodded once more. "And the young make naive mistakes."

"And age doesn't?"

"Ah, it does… but the mistakes of the age are foolish, not naïve. But we can speak later. We need to make our way to the docking area on this level. I fear the airlock has already been opened, and if so, we must be on our guard. It we cannot reach the Ebon Hawk, then we must find a way to escape on the ship that has docked here." The elderly woman explained, sincerely hoping that the latter wouldn't be required.

"Let´s go." The Exile produced another vibroblade almost from nowhere and handed it to Kreia. "I can defend you, but just in case."

"I don't need you to protect me, Exile." Kreia said, taking the weapon. "I am here to protect you." And with that, she briskly set off through the corridors, leaving a staring Deon Emory behind to catch up with her.

He caught up a few steps later, but the change in his behavior was noted – he seemed to radiate more respect towards Kreia, which the old woman appreciated. It would be essential, perhaps… and her last apprentices didn't respect her enough, thus this was a more than welcome change.

The Exile seemed to know where he was going, because soon after, they came to a main console of sorts, bypassing several deactivated or destroyed droids. And then, Kreia saw the man whose presence she had noticed before. The Exile was taller than he, but this one seemed more rugged in appearance than any war veteran ever could. He had dark brown hair and eyes that revealed… nothing. Judging by his attire, appearance and the way he greeted them, she could think of merely one word to describe him effectively.

Scoundrel.

"What in space is going on?" he asked sharply, frowning, "Who´s this?" he nodded to Kreia, "Another Jedi? What, did you guys suddenly start breeding when I wasn't looking?"

"It´ll take too long to explain." The Exile voiced Kreia´s thoughts. "We need to leave. Now."

That put the scoundrel in his place. "Uh… all right. I´m guessing that Republic ship that just docked isn't carrying friends of yours."

"I hope your talent for understatement is offset by your skill with a blaster." Kreia said quietly, but not gently or kindly, "If not, then I fear our time together will be short indeed."

"Yeah, and I´m also good at running and drinking, your majesty." The scoundrel replied, glaring a bit at her. "And even if you two aren't big friends of the Republic, that warship´s the only way off this station. Good thing we have a clear run to the shi…"

"Threat: Master, perhaps I did not enunciate clearly the last time we spoke." A cold, metallic voice cut through the air. A droid, tall, malevolent looking, painted with the colors of durasteel, armed and ready, was waiting for them. "I suggested that you should shut down, stay put and wait for rescue."

The Exile seemed to have been expecting this. "No, you were clear – I just don't listen to assassin droids."

"Clarification: ´Assassin droid´ is such a crude term, Master, reserved for durasteel drones uploaded with only the most anarchic kill-programs." That suited this trash heap well, Kreia thought privately.

It turned out that the droid was an assassin model, HK-50, sent to capture the Exile, because some wealthy client on a faraway world was "very interested" in possessing the "last of the Jedi". While it was bad that some pompous old windbag that happened to be well-connected with the Hutts or the Exchange wanted to claim Deon, Kreia viewed it as a simple annoyance that could complicate their journey only slightly.

The droid, after being defeated, destroyed itself… but they didn't leave before the Exile went to take a look at the mechanisms of it and, after half a minute, came back with some sort of functional part. Kreia knew little of droids, but for a moment, she saw a parallel between her first and her last student… and for a moment, she saw a familiar face in a mind´s eye, and caught a glimpse of the reason why Revan wanted this man found.

Then, they easily proceeded to the docked ship, and Kreia realized something very strange. "Something is wrong… I sense no one on board."

"You ´sense no one on board´?" the scoundrel, Atton, as she read in the Exile´s mind, mocked, "Sense any assassin droids creeping behind us like last time?"

"Everyone here has been slain, yet there are few signs of battle, no carbon scoring, no blaster fire." Kreia explained, ignoring him, "This place has been hit by assassins of a different sort."

"Then what are we doing on this ship? We were better off in the facility!" Atton glared at both of them, sizing them up, then coming to the conclusion: "You two are supposed to be Jedi? You two are the worst Jedi I´ve ever met!"

"There´s nowhere else to go – the facility is sealed off." Deon interrupted, "We can bypass the force field to the hangar by getting to the engine room on this ship, then exiting through the fuel pipe."

"Look, I don't mean to cast another shadow on this, but even if you could reach the ship you came on, it wouldn't matter." Atton said gruffly.

"No, it would – if we can download the orbital drift charts of this ship. I haven't forgotten, don't worry." Deon said quickly.

"Well…" clearly, Atton was trying to find a loophole, but there was none. "We´d have to get to the bridge… I mean… well, that´s the biggest problem I can see."

Kreia nodded. "That is a sound plan – for the moment. let us go." But the Exile seemed to almost zone out and jumped a bit when Kreia sharply interrupted the silence. "Our enemies gather while we wait here."

"Forgive me, Kreia…I was distracted for a moment. i´ll be more mindful of the present."

Impressed a bit, Kreia nodded with a quiet: "Very well."

X X X

"I have a bad feeling about this."

They were far into the ship now, having raided the crew quarters, discovered a few disturbing medical logs and killed a whole bunch of Sith assassins, when Atton suddenly stopped and said that. And Kreia, unwillingly, shared his sentiments. Something was wrong. Even the Exile´s assurance that they would be careful was not enough.

And it was true. Meters away from there, they stopped and turned. Only Kreia recognized the tall… creature behind them. And she knew that he must not be allowed to reach the Exile.

"This battle is mine alone. I am not defenseless. He cannot kill what he cannot see – and power has blinded him long ago – run! I shall be along shortly!" she rushed through the door, sealing it through the Force.

They stood in silence for long, a silence that could have been deafening. Then, the quiet rasping of his voice reached her, mocking. "I sense you, my master. Faint. Weak."

"Your senses betray you. As you betrayed me." Kreia retorted fearlessly.

"After all that has happened, still you live." Sion began walking towards her, slowly, a sight that would have frightened most living creatures. Not her. "You are difficult to kill."

"For one as limited as you, perhaps. To have fallen so far and learned nothing – that is your failing."

"The failure is yours." Sion snapped back, "No longer do your whispers crawl within my skull. No longer do I suffer beneath teachings that weaken us. And now you run in search of the Jedi." He stopped near her, but simply looked at the door behind her, as if attempting to trace the Exile. "They are all dead… save one. And one broken Jedi is not enough to stop the darkness that is to come."

"Perhaps." Kreia retorted challengingly, "We shall see." And, assuming a stance, she prepared for the inevitable. Yet her strength was not sufficient to prevent the intense pain that struck her like a flash of lightning moments later.

The vibroblade dropped to the floor.

X X X

How she even got to the Ebon Hawk, no one knew. Certainly not she. Yet the pain faded during the difficult escape, and she was able to counsel the others during the chase. There was no other choice – fate decreed that Peragus had to be destroyed. Compared, to the Exile, it was nothing.

And then, there was nothing. She discovered a great many things – how they came to be on Peragus, how things unraveled while she was not present. And then, the Exile sought her out to get some information. While he was not as eager to ask questions as Revan was, Kreia thought there was some similarity between them – yet another one.

She answered what she could – about the wars, what happened afterwards, and bits and pieces of what she didn't want to reveal yet. Deon proved a good listener and obeyed even when she sent him away to check upon "the fool", as she had labeled Atton by now. She wondered just how many more of such "friends" she would have to put up with by the time their journey was over. For now, she would tolerate him, however.

Once on Telos, she would perhaps be able to return to studying the strings she was able to pull once more. For now, they were safe… for now, all was going well.

Telos was simply another part of the greatest test.