Across the empty void, darkness remained undisturbed.

Moments passed by until a small spacecraft came out of hyperspace. The swirl of lightspeed that washed around the viewport inside slowly disappeared, replaced by the sight of a small blue-green planet.

After what seemed like hours, a voice muffled by a voice modulator spoke, breaking the long silence that was habited only by machinery and humming of the nav-computer. "These are the correct coordinates."

Upon reaching realspace, the first thing he did was to scan the planet. Not a moment later did the results displayed in front of him in the form of a small hologram. "This world seems suitable for life," he observed. "No radio waves nor signatures of any kind. The local population doesn't appear to be too advanced."

With the apparent lack of technological advancements, he should be able to land undetected, which should pretty much make his quest much easier to accomplish.

He's here to claim one of the remaining Star Maps that will lead him to the hidden location of an ancient Rakatan weapon—a long lost tool of conquest capable of changing the course of the galaxy itself.

He has already found several across different worlds, and this was the last one.

Malak's recent actions however, have caused him to become wary. His apprentice has grown defiant, aggressive and even more arrogant the more he gives himself into the Dark Side. The possibility of Malak harboring treacherous thoughts have grown stronger each day, and thus can no longer be trusted.

Treason and deception was the way of the Sith, but it was still far too soon for Malak to make a move just yet. He's still not powerful enough to challenge him openly for his place. His friend still has much to learn in that regard, and treachery was not his forte.

Malak was too brutish—too direct to successfully pull that type of plot.

That's why he made a choice not to bring Malak in his quest and left him behind to reorganize the armada in his absence in preparation for the upcoming conflict. The location of the Star Map could not be disclosed to Malak, or to anyone else for that matter.

Taking hold of the flight controls, the nav-computer calculated the safest trajectory for landing near the provided coordinates. The calculations were handled swiftly and the ship soon began its descend into the atmosphere.

The visor of his mask reflected the mixture of lights that flashed across the viewport while the shields worked to protect the vessel during the entry into the atmosphere.

Clouds broke apart as the ship soared through the sky. The front became clear enough to reveal what looked like a massive piece of land surrounded by high levels of sea water. It was a large island.

The Rakatan beacon that embodies the coordinates to find the Star Maps brought him here, so now the rest was up to him.


Chapter 1: The Boy in the Mountain


Not long after touching the ground did a masked figure marched down the ramp that extended below the underside of the ship,

Getting a glimpse of the world outside, the figure took a moment to take in the scenery before him. A beautiful white forest. Rays of mellow sunlight filtered through the canopy, penetrating through the density of the snow-covered trees.

His dark robes no doubt stick out the most in this type of environment. He was careful enough as to land in a place far enough from any major settlements while staying close enough to the coordinates.

An encounter with the locals could still prove to be problematic.

Brushing off some snow that managed to find its way over his black robes, he channeled the Force through his body in order to protect himself from the growing cold. It wasn't beyond his scope of tolerance to endure it, but the lack of clothing fitting for this type of climate and the uncertainty of how much time he'd have to be out here could not be left unattended.

With that out of the way, he set forth into the woods.

He had no knowledge of the geography of the land. Looking around for a point of interest was the wisest choice. The mountain was large and barren, which meant that narrowing down the places to search made the most sense.

It was a shame that he didn't bring any reconnaissance droids to sweep the area for him, but that would only risk drawing unnecessary attention. Unrecorded planets that had yet to reach spacefaring status were always dangerous to travel to.

Exposing a species to a level of technology that it was yet not prepared for could lead to disastrous results that he would rather avoid. There have been some stances where the local population was too religious or even fanatic, that they could see one as either some sort of divine messenger or a devil—most often than not it was the latter.

That and many other examples were situations that he deemed as not worth dealing with.

Minutes of search slowly turned into hours and he had yet to make any progress. At this point the Force was of no help. Since the Rakata were a species adept to the concept of the Force, he would feel whenever he was close to one of their temples.

It has happened before, so it was clear that he was nowhere near the Star Map's location.

If worst comes to pass and it ends up being somewhere deep underground, then ordering an orbital bombardment to level the mountain was not out of the question. However, that would also mean the risk of destroying the temple and everything inside it.

If given the chance, he would rather avoid that outcome if possible.

Having that in mind, a disturbance suddenly got his attention. It was the sound of something moving through the snow. It was subtle, but not enough to go unnoticed.

He was surprised to see none-other than a young human boy standing a few steps away from him. The boy didn't took notice of him at first until a moment later and immediately froze in place as soon as he saw him.

This is unexpected, he thought warily, though with slight interest.

The number of human-occupied worlds in the galaxy was certainly vast, but to think that this primitive world's dominant species was also one of them was nonetheless fascinating.

"I should use this to my advantage."

He should be able to get the information that he needs out of the boy. If he's one of the locals, then he must be familiar with the terrain, or so that's what he thought before he saw the look of confusion in the boy's face turn into one of panic.

Realization made him pause. He could feel the wave of fear that came out of the boy, but the fact that he wasn't the cause of it was rather odd.

The boy then began to yell at him. His words were incomprehensible to him, and while by no means did he understood a single sentence of what he said, he could feel his intentions through the Force.

With one swift move he dodged just in time to avoid a set of claws from tearing into his flesh.

He rolled across the snow and come face-to-face with the attacker. It was the towering figure of a large beast. It was standing on its hind legs, making itself look taller. It's dark coat, while intimidating, made it hard to miss in the snow.

How did such creature managed to get so close to him?

That shouldn't have happened. His precognition should have warned him about the creature's intention to attack long before it got anywhere near him, and yet he didn't feel anything.

Could it be that something was hindering his connection to the Force?

The creature roared in anger. At this point there was no time to waste in an internal monologue as the beast lunged at him for a second time. However, unlike before, this time he was ready for it.

He pressed his arms forward—his hands almost touched the beast's black fur before it had a chance to react, and a moment later an invisible force sent the creature's large body flying a good couple of feet away.

It cried out in pain as it collided against the hard trunk of a tree, nearly breaking by the impact alone.

No matter the size, the power of the Force was absolute.

A single Force push was enough to send the message across. The beast quickly understood that it chose the wrong prey. It whimpered in pain before it run off into the woods and it's form was quickly out of sight.

Seeing no immediate danger, he relaxed his posture, though he remained vigilant. He couldn't afford to repeat the same mistake. Something was affecting his connection to the Force, so if he couldn't rely on it, then he'd have to use his other senses.

Speaking of which, he cold hear someone approach.

Turning around, he saw the boy from before looking at him with a look of utter disbelief. There was apprehension, but also amazement in his eyes. If anything, he was at a loss for words.

The child got closer and began to inspect his body as if he looking for any injuries. He didn't seemed bothered by his appearance at all, which he found strange considering how different he must look from a local's point of view, and yet he felt nothing but pure concern coming out of the boy.

Any trace of his initial fear was gone, replaced by an expression of relief. The child said something, but like before, he couldn't understand him.

At moments like this he wished he brought a protocol droid to handle the translation with the natives.

Still, there were other means to get what he wants.

Before the child had a chance to react, he reached forward and gently rested a hand on the top of his head. The boy was confused by the sudden action, that much was obvious, but didn't put up any resistance.

It was as if he knew that he wouldn't be harmed.

Interesting, he thought with mild amusement.

Using his mastery over the Force, he concentrated on the boy's mind as a means to carefully extract knowledge out of him without hurting him.

It was an ancient Sith ability that was commonly known for breaking the subject's mind. In the hands of a brutish Sith, the use of it could very well mean a painful and horrifying death, but if one was skillful enough, this technique could go beyond the scope of what any Jedi or Sith could ever fathom to achieve.

Jedi would usually forbid the use of such manipulation of the mind, but such restrictions were beneath him.

By the time he was done, the boy must have felt something, as his face twitched in pain for a short couple of seconds.

"It should be done," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "Now, speak."

The boy grunted painfully. "Wh-what do you mean? What did you do to me, mister?"

He couldn't help but smile beneath his mask at his accomplishment. Extracting the knowledge of an alien language was not an easy process, but it looks like he has managed to pull it off.

It wasn't like he just learned a whole new language in an instant. Throughout his life he has studied many different languages and cultures, and that has made him understand that there was a basis for every tongue.

After extracting the information that he needed to understand that basis, it was only a matter of putting the pieces together. It wasn't hard to figure out the words once he understood the concept behind them, and from there it was a pretty simple process of formulating the correct words.

"Nothing to be concerned about," he responded with fluent Japanese—which he discovered was the name of the language.

The boy appeared to be taken back by the sound of his voice. Considering that the whole point of the voice modulator was to make him sound intimidating, it didn't came up as a surprise. However, communication was the key here, so this might be counterproductive.

Nothing to be done about that unfortunately.

"O-okay then, huh…" The boy was unsure of what else to say until the look of concern came back to his eyes. "Are you alright? The bear didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary."

"I… I see. But I'm still glad you're okay," the young boy said before his face turned into one of pure admiration. "What you did there was amazing! I've never seen anything like it! You must be crazy strong be able to move such a large bear, let alone send it flying like you did!"

It wasn't an impressive feat, but he understood where the boy was coming from. From an outsider's perspective, it probably looked like he used pure physical strength to push back the beast with little to no difficulty.

Regardless of the local wildlife, there were more pressing matters that needed to be addressed.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Me?" He gave him a look of surprise, but quickly shook his head and responded, "My name is Kamado Tanjiro, sir."

He nodded, lowering himself to be closer to his level. "Tanjiro," he began. "I take it that you must be familiar with the terrain. This mountain… you live here, don't you?"

The boy gave him an odd look in return. "Uh, yeah, I've been living here with my family my whole life," he replied. "If you're lost, I can help you reach the nearest town at the foot of the mountain. I was actually on my way back after selling coal there, but I don't mind taking you there if you want."

"That won't be necessary," he corrected. "I actually came here looking for something. Something old and sacred." His mask got dangerously close to Tanjiro's face. It got to the point where he could see his own reflection in the visor. "Do you know of any place that could fit that description, Tanjiro?"

Tanjiro was taken back by the strange question, but nonetheless tried to answer. "N-not that I know of, sorry," he responded. "The town doesn't have any shrines that I'm aware of either, so…."

Having given his answer, there was a sudden silence between them.

The boy seemed unsure of what else to say—he stared at the plate of his faceless mask, and he felt as if he was being observed. It was unnerving to be at the receiving end of someone's eyes without being able to look at the other's face.

Another thought then came to mind. "Maybe you can try looking at the top of the mountain. My father used to tell me to never go there. He always said that it was a dangerous place, so I'm not certain if there's anything up there, but that's the only place I can think of that I haven't seen."

"…"

"…Uh, sir?" Tanjiro asked, confused by his lack of response.

"Your intentions are good, and I can tell that you don't hold any ill will towards me," the man stated, folding his arms across his chest. "I will trust your words, and for your assistance, you have my gratitude."

He turned back and began to make way to the highest point of the mountain. If the Rakatan temple was there, then this will be a short trip.

For the sake of the boy and everyone else in this mountain, it better be there.

"Uh, r-right," Tanjiro mumbled before realization suddenly hit him. "W-wait, hold on! It's almost dark out here! You can freeze to death if you go now!"

The boy was correct to a degree. The day was almost at it's end. He must have spend the majority of the planet's cycle walking through the mountain. A regrettable outcome, but not something that will hinder his search.

"I'll be fine."

"Can't it at least wait until tomorrow?" Tanjiro pleaded, fearing for the man's health. "You can spend the night at my house! I promise that I can take you there tomorrow morning. It should be safer that way!"

He stopped on his tracks and gave Tanjiro a look upon seeing him bow his head. He assumed the gesture to be some sort of custom.

He found it odd that the boy was so concerned for the safety of someone he doesn't even know. He found the idea rather amusing to consider. No one—not even a child for that matter—should be this trusting of others.

Opting to humor him for a bit, he decided to ask him with a mocking tone, "Would you really allow a complete stranger into your own home, without even knowing who they are or where his true intentions lay?"

Tanjiro shook his head and gave him a gentle smile. "It's all right," he said. "Your scent doesn't give off any malicious intent, so I know that you don't mean to harm me. And I'm sure my mother will understand once I explain everything to her."

This perked his interest.

Now he found himself intrigued. Scent? Is this child able to feel my emotions, he thought. His interest in the boy grew the more he knew him. Could he perhaps be Force-sensitive?

After a short pause, he finally made his choice.

"Very well then, I will take you up on your offer."

"Really? Thank you, sir–! Uh, I mean…" It wasn't long before Tanjiro realized something. "Sorry, but I don't think I ever got your name..."

"I have a great many names, but as of now you may call me Revan."