Chapter Three: A Jedi Knight Named Revan

Three solid beams of light clashed with the furious sound of a static assault. Their apparent anger caused them to burn bright as they tried, it would seem, without success, to destroy each other.

Two of them belong to the dual lightsabers of the newly knighted Jedi Revan. They both burned a deep and fierce blue. The third belonged to the lightsaber of Revan's former and first Jedi Master, Kreia. Her blade, green as the forest moon of Endor, had so far managed to confound all of Revan's attempts to circumvent it. Try as he might, he could not yet fully match his former Master's fluid fighting abilities.

It seemed that everywhere he attempted to place his blades, hers was there, waiting, deflecting, keeping him from fully realizing his attack. This was somewhat unnerving for the young Jedi Knight. As a Jar'kai master, one who preferred the use of two lightsabers in battle, one to attack and one to defend, it wasn't very common for Revan to be outmatched in a duel. Adding to that the fact that Revan was considered by many to be one of the most promising Jedi ever to be trained in the academy on Dantooine, he was understandably confused by his inability to get the best of the much older woman who had been blind, physically at least, for as long as he had known her.

Her blindness of course meant nothing. She could see, through the Force, anything a normal sighted person could see, and much, much more. The Grey Jedi had always been a mystery to Revan, even while he was her Padawan Learner. He had struggled to understand her "middle-ground" approach to the Force, not really fully following the Jedi role of light side user as was constantly drilled into his head by his other teachers, and yet not falling to the depths of the dark side that had consumed so many Jedi throughout the history of the great Order. She was neither light nor dark, good nor evil, she just was.

"The Force is not what we make of it, but what it makes of us, and it makes us nothing more than what we are," she had told him on one occasion during his training with her when Master and Apprentice had argued whether or not it was the Force that made one fall to the dark side, or whether it was the quality of the person that took them there. "A murderer is a murderer. The Force will merely make him a murderer with sensitivity to the Force, nothing more or less. Whether he is Sith or Jedi depends on the level of his own delusion." Revan had always had trouble with the concept since, for Revan, everything always seemed so clear. Everything, at least in his mind, was either there or not there, true or not true, full speed or motionless. There was no half way, and if there was, he found it very hard to acknowledge.

Revan shouldn't have been surprised then that he was having a hard time finding a way around Master Kreia's defense and attack pattern. Why should he be surprised by one more mystery from the cryptic, yet caring woman?

And yet, Revan was determined to win the battle. He had never accepted defeat well, and he would be damned if he accepted it now that he was a full Jedi Knight. How could he justify losing when he knew, deep down, there was always a way to win, it just sometimes meant doing something you normally wouldn't, or possibly shouldn't do.

Between parries and reposts, blocks and thrusts it suddenly came to him. It would merely mean using Kreia's one true strength and her one true weakness against her.

For as long as Revan had been her apprentice, the two had had a connection. So adept in the Force was Kreia, she could communicate telepathically with those close to her, and usually relied on the technique to communicate lessons to her students. Most Jedi could relate feelings and impressions to another, especially in the case of a Master and an Apprentice, but it was very uncommon for true telepathic communication. No wonder he couldn't fool her with his feints, she could feel his every intention through the Force. It was what helped Kreia see even though she was blind. As long as she could feel a connection to him through the Force, he would never win this battle unless he was determined to outlast her. It was very much her greatest strength. It was very much her greatest weakness. She relied on her ability to feel him and her connection to him through the Force, without it, she was just another blind, old woman.

Revan took a quick step back, forcing Kreia to over extend slightly. In the moment Kreia needed to regain her balance, Revan centered himself, concentrating deeply within himself. Focused like this Revan could feel the Force all around and through him. The Force burned like a small star around him and Kreia, connecting them as they exerted themselves and casting "shadows" around them. These "shadows" weren't a lack of the Force, for really the Force was everywhere there was life, but they represented the places where it was less concentrated, less prevalent. Reaching with his senses Revan took hold of these "shadows" and wrapped them around himself, and then he did what no Jedi would ever think of doing in combat…he merely let go. He let go of his connection to the Force, his feel for it, his bond to it. Essentially he stepped back in his perceptions as he had done in reality. The results were quite dramatic.

He saw the change in Kreia's features. A moment of confusion passing over her face as she froze in her tracks. Then he realized that all he could do was "see" the change. The Force didn't send him anything about her feelings or intentions as it had a moment ago, he didn't know what she would do or where she would move. For the first time in a very long time, the only information Revan was receiving was that brought to him by his five senses. Against a Jedi who could see, this would be a very dangerous moment for Revan, for they wouldn't need to rely on the Force to see where he was. The same couldn't be said for Kreia.

Kreia, in a sudden act of desperation made a feint to her right and then brought her lightsaber around with a stroke to the left. It met nothing but air. Revan knew this wouldn't last long. No one can hide in the shadows forever.

Revan took his moment and brought his right-hand lightsaber around. He saw a startled look on Kreia's face as she was able to hear the sound of his blade cutting through the air. She brought hers to meet it, shifting her weight out of the way of where she assumed he would try and place his left-hand lightsaber. She assumed wrong. Before their blades could meet, Revan swung around bringing both his blades in an arc and placing them against Kreia's back. Because of her motion and Revan's sudden disappearance from where he had been, Kreia continued forward. If not for her control of the Force, she would have fallen. Had the lightsabers not been set to a training power, she would also have been very much dead. As it was all she felt was a slight stinging in her back from where Revan's blades had touched. She stood still for a moment.

Revan wasn't sure what she was thinking. Even as his perceptions, and presence in the Force returned, he still couldn't sense past her mental shields. Revan's heart sunk. For a moment he felt like her Padawan again, unsure of his Master's thoughts or feelings, feeling as if he had somehow disappointed her. Kreia switched off her blade but otherwise remained motionless.

"A very interesting strategy my young friend," Kreia said finally beginning to turn towards him. The hood or her robe, which she always kept up, covered her white, sightless eyes. Revan could see only her lower face and even from that he could tell nothing of what lay beneath the surface. "Very interesting indeed."

"My apologizes Master," Revan stammered out. A part of him was ashamed at feeling so awkward. He was a Jedi Knight dammit! Why did he feel like a new apprentice who had just made a mistake? "It was an unfair move. I took advantage of your…your…."

"Blindness? Yes, and quite effectively too I'd say," Kreia said moving closer to her former pupil. Looking up slightly to gaze sightlessly into his face. It had always been an unnerving thing. "Had I been your true enemy, had my intention truly been to kill you, would you be apologizing now?"

"If you'd been a Sith…."

"Sith or Jedi, it doesn't matter. Those are merely titles, names that we use to comfort ourselves. The only difference between a Sith and a Jedi is that when Jedi kill, they don't do so with hate or joy in their hearts. Do not cloud the question with philosophical claptrap…merely answer," Kreia said slowly but forcefully. Revan took a moment to regain his composure and looked again into the blind white eyes of his former Master.

"Were you my enemy, and had this been a real battle, I would have done the same," he stated, wishing it had sounded more confident, more sure.

"Listen to me well my former apprentice: Never apologize for succeeding where another has failed. In combat someone will always have to succeed while another fails. The goal is to ensure that it will not be you that fails. You saw a weakness, and you exploited it. It has always been your particular talent to see the weakness in others, as well as the strength."

"But it took no skill. I found an easy way to win without having to actually utilize any of my lightsaber skills."

"And a lightsaber battle is now based only on lightsaber skills? If that were true, most combatants would have expired a long time ago. In battle a Jedi, or a Sith, must use whatever means they have at their disposal, and a Sith will not hesitate. There is no line drawn for them. As for whether or not it took any skill, I have never seen a new Jedi Knight perform such a feat. In fact, there are many Masters who would have been unable to accomplish what you just did. The test of combat is complete. You have succeeded, and I have failed, and let us leave it at that and talk of other things."

"Yes Master," Revan said bowing his head in deference, but deep in his heart the victory still rang hollow. He had done what he had to do, but it had been at the expense of someone he respected. Would he feel as hollow had the victory been over a real enemy, or would he have realized, as Kreia had said, that a Jedi must use whatever means they have at their disposal. Somehow he felt that some of the other Jedi Masters would not have approved of his technique.

Kreia began walking out of the dueling chamber and Revan fell into step behind her. It had been several years since Kreia had been his Master and he had had other Masters since her, but he could still remember following behind her in the same fashion as a newly appointed Padawan.

"So tell me my young friend, how does it feel to be a Jedi Knight?" Kreia asked without turning her head.

"It feels…good…I guess…."

"Is that all, I would have expected someone such as yourself to be a little more excited about such an event."

"Its not that I'm not excited, I am. Being a Jedi Knight is what I've wanted since I came to the Order. But at the same time it is something I always expected to happen. I felt it should always be, and sometimes I felt like my years as an apprentice were dragging along far too slowly…."

"Ah yes, you always did seem to chafe under the constraints of apprenticeship, always seeking to learn more," Kreia stated, a slight smile lifting her lips.

"It isn't that I didn't enjoy my time as an apprentice. I learned a lot, but sometimes it just felt like…."

"Like you had out-learned what your Masters had the capacity to teach. As if they no longer had anything left for you to learn from them. And did you feel this way under my tutelage?"

"No…no. Unfortunately you always kept me guessing. I never seemed to be on par with you. Even now I'm sure you have things yet to teach me."

"I am sure this is true as well, though I'd venture that you have things yet to teach me."

"Teach you? What could I teach you?" Revan asked confused.

Kreia stopped walking for a moment and looked ahead. A distant look came over her face and it seemed as if she were staring at something far beyond her.

"Of that, I am not yet sure…." Kreia said softly and left it at that. She continued walking and Revan followed. "So then tell me my young friend," She continued. "If you were so ready for Knighthood, why then do you seem to accept the promotion with a sense of foreboding?"

"I've been wondering that myself," Revan said ignoring the fact that once again Kreia had been able to put her finger exactly on Revan's state of mind. "I guess…maybe being a Jedi Knight isn't what I thought it would be."

"Just wait until your first true mission my former apprentice. Then you will realize that it is nothing at all like what you thought it would be."

At this it was Revan's turn to smile. The two, former Master and former Apprentice, walked in silence the rest of the way to the courtyard. The light from Dantooine's sun poured in on them and Revan watched the others walking to and from whatever duties they had, other Jedi…Knights, Masters, Padawans, and Younglings. In that moment everything was calm. Then the calm was shattered by a frantic rush of anxiety and Revan saw the source. His best friend, who was supposed to face his trials any day now in order to attain Knighthood, Malak burst through the courtyard and headed rapidly towards the Jedi Council chambers.

Revan had been friends with Malak since before they had even been accepted as Padawans. He was unsure what could have caused his friend to be in such a rush, but knowing Malak, and considering also that Malak was supposed to be filling in on communications monitoring while his Master consulted with the High Council on Coruscant on the matter of his Trials, it must have related to an urgent incoming message. As Malak disappeared into the Council chambers, Revan became aware of Kreia once more as she stepped in closer.

"I sense it too. Young Malak is quite disturbed. I get the impression that it is something important, very important indeed. Well…no matter, if it is to be our concern, it will be revealed to us before too long. Come along my young friend."