Alright, I'm working on this chapter now!

Chapter Eight: Masa Tekka

Revan ventured into one of the caves alone, keeping her comm. link open so she could hear as Atton, Reese, Candorous and Bastila searched the other caves.

"Search and Conquer would be our best bet for finding her." Bastila suggested. "Willow shall take that cave, and the rest of us shall make our way to others in the area. Keep your links open so we can hear who's found her and then make their way to that cave."

So Revan stayed in the Shyrack cave, searching throughout the dank space for the child.

She stopped along the way to take up Crystals.

"Revan," Reese's voice said. "What are you doing?"

"I just found a Sigil!" Revan answered into her link.

"Ooh! What color is it?" Reese squealed.

"It's purple."

"No one else cares, Willow. Just find Masa." Bastila ordered. Revan shrugged.

"Alright, alright. I'm going."

Walking along the trails, Revan began humming an old song she once knew.

"For the woman that lost her love, her love, to see another war; Her man of love, she loved, will love, was lost and now is 'lore. Her cries of grief—were brief, at least, until she 'came a kill-loving beast." She sang softly. "The thought of war—she swore, before—"

"Willow, not that song." Bastila whined, interrupting Revan in her song. "Can't you pick another one?"

"It does seem a little…gloomy." Atton suggested. "Not the tune, but the words."

"Atton, you know those words just as well as I do." Revan scowled.

"I don't," Candorous said.

"The rest of us do." Bastila mocked him joyfully.

"Watch that mouth there, Princess. Wouldn't want you to get a full head." Candorous spat back.

"Hey!" Revan called. "Shhh! Someone's singing back."

"Where? Which comm. link?" Reese whispered.

"It's in this cave." Revan said. "Let me check it out before you come over."

"Alright, everyone stay quiet." Bastila ordered. Candorous stopped himself from making another snide comment.

Revan cupped her hand behind her right ear and listened.

"…'came a kill-loving beast. The thought of war—she swore, before, clouded her thoughts nevermore." The small voice croaked. Revan joined into the song.

"Her sword of light—shone bright, great sight, changed colors to better the Knight."

"I can hear her." Bastila said. "Even over your loud voice."

"Get down here." Revan insisted. "I've found her."

"That's very ironic, Revan," Atton mused, exiting his cave. "I'll be there in a minute. I'm out."

"Me, too."

"Force guide you until I can come help."

"Don't kill anyone without me!"

Bastila snorted knowingly before shutting off her comm. link to Revan. Everyone had turned off their links. Revan sighed.

"Where are you?" She called into the cave, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Are you alright?"

"Help! They're coming back!" The girl's voice lingered in Revan's mind. She took off into a run.

"I'm coming." She breathed. "I'm coming,"

A shriek invaded the whole cave, and a rock fell down upon Revan. She whipped out a lightsaber and cut through the rock. Dust powdered her shoulders.

"Shut up, you mangy little kid! We're going to enjoy giving you to Quarta." A gruff sounding voice made Revan angry. She searched harder for the location of the girl.

A cut-off from the regular navigation charts intrigued Revan enough to send her down the dark path. Her lightsabers ignited to keep up the light in the room; she steadily walked the way down.

"Shh! Lii, someone's here." Said the same voice as before. "Go check it out."

Revan stopped running and pushed her body up against the rocky wall. Stealth would support her most, right then; waiting silently for the "Lii" to approach. Reaching out deftly, Revan's senses watched the man subtly walk up to Revan's position.

Without a second thought, Revan pulled out her lightsabers and cut down the man instantly. She gave him no chance to retaliate.

"Lii!" The man said again. "What happened?"

"She killed him, you idiot. You'd better go on ahead and get yourself killed so I can get out." Snapped the little one. The sound of hand-meeting-cheek made Revan's heart skip a beat. "Ouch!" The girl shouted.

Revan growled under her breath. She wasn't going to wait for the others to show up. She'd kill that man herself.

Walking boldly into the room, Revan surveyed the surroundings. A buff man was watching her with earnest. His black hair bounced as he chuckled at the shortness of Revan. He was wearing just a black vest and deep red khakis.

"Well, well," He said. "You killed Lii, eh?"

"Where's the girl?" Demanded Revan, not finding any sight of her.

"She's right here." The man pointed behind him and stepped to the side. A little girl, her dark brown hair dirty and in her face, laid on the ground, a red mark apparent on her cheek. "I'm to make a nice delivery to someone for a hefty price. To get her back, you're going to have to get through me."

Revan's eyes turned a baby blue as the wind picked up around her. Her hair whipped around her violently as she walked toward the man.

"I wouldn't mess with me." She threatened. She held her hand palm-up in the air, constricting the man's throat. "Tell me, who are you to deliver her to?"

The man made chocking noises and began spitting up foam from his mouth in an attempt to answer.

"Quarta…." The man croaked.

"Not good enough!" Revan threw her arm outward, flinging the man into a nearby wall. "Give me a name of someone who wants her—not a Quarren who is going to deliver her!"

"I don't know…." The man cried. Revan growled, throwing him into another wall. The cave shook and debris scattered the floor.

"I think you do know." Revan cooed. She raised him into the air in a whirlwind and kept him in a stasis. "Give me a name. NOW!"

"Kai'Se—" Revan didn't let him finish his sentence. A bolt of lightning shot from her opposite hand, cutting out the rest of his life.

"Are you ok?" She asked the girl, kneeling down to her to untie the girl's bound hands. The ropes had cut through her hands and her wrists were bleeding. "Hold still," Revan ordered. She covered the cuts with her hands and healed them.

"I'm—I'm ok." Masa said, pulling her hands back. "Were you the one earlier?" She asked. "The one singing that song?"

"Hmmm, yes." Revan nodded. "I was singing the song."

"Alright, let's get out of here before the rest come back." The girl said, standing.

"Wait, the rest of them? There're more of them?" Revan asked.

"Yeah, there's about forty of them." Masa said. Revan flicked on her comm. link.

"Reese, Reese!" She said. There came no reply. Revan scowled. "Answer me or I'll tell Atton about that little Jedi in the Mandalorian Wars you liked so much!"

"I'm listening," Both Atton and the Exile said simultaneously. Revan laughed.

"I've got Masa. I've only killed two guys, there're thirty-eight more out there!" Revan warned, guiding the child out of the cave.

"Hey, how do you know my name?" Masa asked, stopping in her tracks.

"I'll explain later." Revan said. "We've got to get you away from this cave though before the Sith realize you've—"

"Holy—"

Lightsaber sounds flooded the comm. link, making Masa jump.

"Reese!" Revan called. She clasped onto Masa's healed wrist and dragged her along the trails of the cave. "How many of them are there?"

"Too many!" Atton answered. "Get over here Ms.-I-Can-Kill-Anything!"

"How about I just leave you there to kill them all?" Revan chided.

"You wouldn't do that. You want your fair share, too, Revan." Atton spat. "Ouch!"

"Whoa!" Masa jerked her hand away from Revan and back up against the wall. "You're Revan? What do you want with me? I think I'd prefer to be back there with Lii and Dax."

"You can call me either Revan or Willow Sana. But I'm not here to hurt you." Revan held her hand out to Masa, who scrunched back to the wall even more. Her dirty brown rags scratched up against the cave wall. Revan sighed. "I'm trying to protect you against Kai'Sek, child. He's the one that wants you for the Sith."

"Really?" Masa asked, easing down a little. "How can I be sure?"

"Well, let's see…." Revan rummaged through her pockets as she thought. "I'm with Admiral Carth Onasi. He's part of the Republic. Therefore I'm part of the Republic."

"Well… alright, but if you turn on me I'm running." Masa took Revan's hand.

"Alright, can you fight?" Revan asked, grinning and pulled Masa to the entrance.

"Better than anyone else my age on Coruscant." Masa boasted. Revan laughed and pulled out a vibroblade.

"Then prove it. Whoever kills the most wins, ok?" She handed the blade to Masa, who brightened her smile.

"You're on."

"Willow!" Bastila's voice surprised Revan as the Jedi ran up to Masa and Revan. "You're alright!"

"Yup," Revan winked. "Are you ready?" Masa nodded.

"Set…."

"GO!"

Masa and Revan flew into battle with Bastila and began taking down thugs. Revan only used one lightsaber to make it fair for Masa.

Masa was an incredible fighter. She slashed down one opponent, and then jumped to another area to tear down another. Revan was the only one who bested her, allowing the men to surround her and then took them down in groups. It had gotten to the point where Reese and Atton just stayed out of the battle, leaning on each other as they watched the two girls and Bastila fight the thugs.

"I'm done!" Masa stabbed her blade into the grass and rubbed sweat off of her face.

"I just finished." Revan chided, constricting her lightsaber suddenly and replacing it on her belt. "How many did you kill?"

"Fourteen."

"Me, too." Revan stated. "Looks like we're even." She held out her hand the Masa. The girl took it in her grimy hand.

"So, this is Masa?" Bastila asked, standing in front of her and getting a good look.

"That's right," Masa crossed her arms and nodded. "I'm Masa Tekka."

"Look at you!" Reese sidled up to Masa and hugged her tightly, miffing the child. "You're so big! Why wasn't I that big when I was fourteen?"

"Because you're supposed to be short." Atton said, smirking. Reese slapped his arm.

"Yeah…." Masa raised an eyebrow. "Can you please tell me what's going on, now? How do you know me? Why is Revan—former Sith Lord—searching for me through caves? And—is that a Mandalorian coming this way?"

Reese, Atton, and Bastila turned around to see Candorous Ordo jogging in their direction, a blaster in his hands. Revan burst out laughing.

"Awww, Revan!" The Mandalorian whined. "I thought you were going to wait until I got here."

"It's not my fault. They surprise-attacked us. I didn't even get out here until the end." Revan excused.

"After we had already killed ten thugs." Bastila commented. "You were just too slow, dear Mandalorian."

"Don't give me that." Candorous growled. "I knew there was some reason why you gave me the cave farthest away! You knew this was going to happen!"

"Why ever would you think that?" Bastila feigned innocence.

"Yes, well, you two keep flirting all you want." Atton said, pushing Bastila in Candorous's direction. "But I think some of us want showers."

"You know, for a scoundrel, you really don't like getting dirty." Reese poked him in the chest lazily.

"I like to keep clean for the ladies." Atton placed his hands behind him and rested his head on them. Reese squealed.

"Ladies? Atton Rand! You little—"

"Scoundrel?"

"Egg-Head!"

"Egg-Head? That's a new one. I think I like scoundrel better."

"AHH!" Reese screamed, walking down the plains and heading back to the Republic Base. Atton followed, laughing his head off and trying to make an excuse for what he said.

"Uhh…." Masa stuttered. Revan waved her off.

"Don't worry," She said. "They're always like that."

"That's… comforting…." Masa sighed.

"Come on, I'll take you back to get into some new clothes." Revan tugged her in the direction to Carth's apartment.

"What about those two?" Masa pointed to Bastila and Candorous, who were shouting at each other.

"Oh, they'll be fine. They're getting along better everyday." Revan chuckled.

"They won't kill each other?" Masa restated.

"No, they won't. They like each other too much." Revan cupped her hands over her mouth as she said the last statement.

"HEY!" The two shouted at her. She laughed.

"See?" She poked Masa playfully. "Now let's head back. I'll bet you're hungry, too."

-----

Revan returned to Carth's apartment to find HK-47 waiting faithfully at the doorway. He had obviously gotten Revan's message to retreat back to either base.

"Acknowledgement: Good Afternoon, Master. I trust your search went well." He said, standing straight.

"Very well." Revan smiled. "H, meet Masa Tekka. Masa, this is—"

"Request: Please, Master. Allow me to introduce myself." HK interrupted. Revan shrugged.

"Go ahead."

"Introduction: I am HK-47, a sicarian myrmidon with profound communication abilities. I have the skill to exegete in more than six-thousand languages."

Revan and Masa stared at the droid for a moment.

"Exegete: are you even allowed to say that in public?" Revan asked dazedly.

"Did he just say he's an assassin droid with great communication skills?" Masa pointed at the red machine, who grunted as if he had been shot in the chest.

"And that he had the skills to interpret over six-thousand languages." Revan nodded. "Though I don't think that's how exegetist is supposed to be converted into a verb."

"Addendum: Master, is Little Master Masa hungry?" HK asked.

"Since when have you cared if someone was hungry?" Revan asked suddenly. HK shrugged.

"Assurance: Master, it was just an inkling."

"Alright, then…." Revan walked on, taking Masa with her. "HK, I have a special job for you today. Play your part right and you'll get to—liquidate—people."

"Joyful Outcry: Oh, goody! The Master always lets me do the dirty work! Query: What shall I perform today, Master?"

"Come here, I'll type it into your system once Masa has some food in her." Revan sat down in the kitchen and pulled out a seat for Masa.

"Let's see…" She started. "You can get whatever you want from the replicator over there. You know how to use it?" Masa nodded, and Revan smiled. "Good. Now let me take care of HK…."

Revan left to give HK-47 his mission, and came back five minutes later to a Masa who had wolfed down her food.

"Are you still hungry?" Revan asked. The girl shook her head. "Great. There's something we need to talk about. Come into the living room."

Masa stayed behind Revan like a shadow. Once in the living room, she sat down on the couch opposite of Revan.

"So, let's start with what you were doing in the cave to begin with." Revan stated.

"Dax and Lii and the others kidnapped me." Masa explained.

"What about—" Revan's comm. link blitzed out suddenly, vibrating across the glass coffa table in front of the two.

"Revan? Revan, come in. It is Visas and your little droid." Revan picked up the link and turned it on.

"I'm here. What is it?" She asked into it.

"Nothing is here, Ma'am. There's a big brown hole where Mrs. Mari's house should be. There's no grass, no life, nothing." Visas stated.

"Really?" Revan stated. "I'm very sorry to hear that, Visas. You and T can come back, now. We found the girl already. Your link was busy so we couldn't get a hold of you."

"That would be the droid's fault." T3-M4 beeped his disagreements.

"Ma'am, I don't know what it said, but it wasn't very nice." Visas told. "We shall report to Bao-Dur at once."

"And could you do one more thing? Check up on Mandalore and make sure he's still in one piece and doesn't have a smell of death about him. Thanks." Revan clicked off the comm. link and continued.

"Your house exploded?" She asked. "When?"

"Three days ago. No one knew it until they woke up the next day, when I can back from my friend's house and they took me away." Masa hung her head, as if she was embarrassed to talk about it.

"Really? Did they say what they wanted you for?" Revan asked.

"They said they were going to give me to someone named 'Quarta' and that they were gonna get paid big time from me." Masa stated. "What did I do to them? What did I do to this Quarta?"

"You didn't do anything, Masa." Revan said quietly. "You did nothing wrong."

"Well, that's a relief." Masa leaned back onto the couch and sighed.

Revan moaned. This wasn't going as she wanted it to.

Ask her now, child. Kreia stated, startling Revan.

Where have you been all day? I've been waiting for you so long I thought you'd left for good. Revan spat agitatedly.

I wouldn't leave, dear one.

That's great. But I can't ask her now; she's just gotten out of one of the most troubling things in her life!

And she's about to be dragged into even more nonsense. Just ask her.

I'll ask her later, Kreia. I promise. Right now she needs a place to stay.

"Alrighty then." Revan stood back up. "Let's see if we can't get you a place to sleep. They have more vacancies on the Hawk."

"On the what?" Masa asked.

"The Ebon Hawk. It's my ship. Well, it was mine; I don't know if it still is."

-----

"Sure she can stay here!" Reese squealed, hugging Masa again. Masa groaned and tolerated the woman. "We have plenty of space!"

"Thanks." Masa said dryly, her voice muffled as her face was smushed into Reese's bosom.

"Willow," Mical called. "We couldn't find anything about any Sith. They didn't even record the battle over the Coruscant skies. It's like it never happened."

Revan "Hmmmm"-ed and pondered the thought.

"It had to have happened. We were all there, weren't we?" Revan insisted. Everyone nodded. "How strange…."

"Let's go get your things in place, hmm?" Reese said to Masa, trying to lead her to the ladies' dorm.

"Ma'am," Visas strode up to Revan quickly. "The Mandalore is not on board this ship, and he's not answering his comm. link."

"Uh-oh." Revan cooed. "I'm sure he's fine, I haven't felt anything bad from him…."

"Well, I was thinking that since you and Bastila had a strong connection, you could talk to her… but perish the thought. It was a bad idea." Visas laughed meekly.

"No it isn't. It's a great idea!" Revan nodded. "Let me try,"

Revan closed her eyes and focused on Bastila's bond with her. The bond appeared in front of her like a string. Revan mentally took a hold of the string and her mind was instantly pulled along the blue line.

"Bastila?" She followed the string as it led her to her friend. "Bastila? Where are you?"

There was no reply. Intrigued, Revan followed the line even faster. She entered the Jedi enclave and followed hall-through-hall to Bastila.

"Bastila!" Revan cried at the sight of her friend. Candorous Ordo and Bastila the Princess were practically French-kissing each other in a closed room. Bastila caught a hold of the thought sent to her by Revan and pulled away, gasping.

Revan let go of the string, jerking her mind back to her body on the Ebon Hawk. The forcefulness of the pull sent her to the ground.

"Revan!" Reese knelt next to her friend. "Are you ok? What did you see?"

Revan couldn't talk very well. She had to finish laughing. She burst out in such a hard laugh she began snorting.

"I—haha!—told her that—har har!—they—" She choked on her own breathing.

"Oh, you're kidding!" Reese smacked her forehead. "They were—you know?" All Revan could do was nod.

"Oh, dear…." Visas commented.

"Who could know?" Masa shrugged.

"Get up off the ground, Revan," Reese pulled her friend up and slapped her on the back. "Can you breathe?"

"Yeah." Revan nodded, smiling. "That's hilarious. Little-Princess has fallen in love with Mandalore—the King of Honor!"

"Uh, Revan?" Atton came up. "Before you start laughing yourself to death again, I should tell you that it's time for dinner."

"Thank you very much, Egg-Head." Reese stuck her tongue out at him fiercely and turned. Atton groaned and murmured things under his breath. "Come on, let's go eat."

-----

Dinner was great. Revan hardly ate anything. Masa—who insisted that she wasn't hungry—stayed on the Hawk with Atton and the droids, so Revan didn't have to introduce her to everyone else.

When Revan arrived at the café, she immediately took a seat next to Carth, where she stayed the entire day.

"So," Carth started. "Did you find your Masa?"

"We did," Revan nodded. "She's staying on the Hawk for now." She winked at him knowingly, making him falter for a moment. She loved it when he was left dumbfounded. The look on his face was so innocent, so bewildered, so cute. She just couldn't take it.

"I wanted to thank you," She went on. "For finding her location. We found her before the thugs could relocate her."

"Thugs?" Carth repeated. "What thugs?"

Revan waved him off.

"We'll talk about it later." She told him.

"Willow," Bastila called. Revan hesitated before facing her friend, smirking before she could stop herself.

"Yes?" She asked, her grin growing.

"I was wondering if you could keep that little thing a—" Bastila was stuttering, and fiddling with her robes. She was honestly nervous about Revan telling her secret about Candorous.

"Sure, no problem." Revan nodded. "Your secret's safe with me."

Bastila sighed, relaxing all her muscles. "Thanks, a lot. I mean that."

"I know you do," Revan smiled. Carth tapped her on the shoulder.

"Did I miss something?" He asked Revan. She chuckled.

"It's nothing, sweetie."

After dinner, Carth and Revan were the last two out of the café. They deliberately waited until no one else was in the room and snuggled close together.

"So what did you do all day today, beautiful?" Carth asked.

"We found Masa by noon, had to kill forty people to get her back, cut my hair, got Masa something to eat, and sent HK-47 off somewhere to get something for me." Revan counted the things on her fingers.

"What did you want him to get?" Carth asked once more, gingerly wrapping a strand of Revan's hair around his finger.

"Information about someone named Quarta. I need to know who he is and what planet he's on." Revan answered. "Let's head back, it's getting dark."

Sighing, Carth got up off of the chair and followed her out into the night.

She needed to know what planet this "Quarta" was on. That meant she'd be going to that planet to find him.

Wherever she's going, I'm going, he ordered himself.

Pushing the thought from his mind, he wrapped his arms around Revan's neck and shoulders and placed a small amount of weight on her.

"You're all mine tonight, right?" He whispered into her ear very quietly. She giggled, walking back to the apartment. She turned her head so she could whisper into his ear.

"All yours…."

THE END!

The end was a little rushed, I know. But I was eager to get the idea out of my head and I might edit it later. Like before, the next chapter shall come after I update Just Like Me, so review both stories and inspire me to write faster! Lol. Not a very good bribe, eh? Just review, please!