Chapter 2: Such Sweet Sorrow
Visas and Mira approached Bao-Dur quietly. The Zabrak did not get much time to meditate on his own, and Visas and Mira did not want to be the ones to disturb him. Patiently, they sat and waited for him. When he finally arose, he looked more refreshed than usual, and he greeted them both casually.
"Nice of you to wait for me," he said.
"Of course," said Visas. "We did not wish to disturb you."
"Don't worry about it. I was getting up anyway. I've actually been here for a while. Now, what was it you wanted?"
Visas swallowed. "Atton is gone."
Bao-Dur nodded. "I was aware of this. But he's not far."
Puzzled, the Miraluka asked, "If you knew of this... why did you not tell us? Atton has a class to teach, and we had to set them on…" Visas shuddered, disgusted at the lengths to which they had resorted, "independent study time."
"Yeah," broke in Mira, "that confused them pretty well."
"Yes," Visas continued, "and Atton has three more classes today, too."
Bao-Dur looked up as he pondered this for a second.
"It's really quite simple, Visas," Bao-Dur explained. "Atton is not following his head. He's following the place in his heart that feels the Force, but not with the discipline of a Jedi."
Mira stood. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Bao-Dur looked over at Mira. "I know only what Mical told me this morning. And he knows only what Atton told him."
"And what are you going to tell us?" asked Mira curiously.
"I'm going to tell you both to calm down. Don't worry about Atton, and don't try and gouge the information of Mical."
"Well, there goes all my fun," Mira quipped.
"Just let it be. Know that Atton has every intention of coming back, and be content with that."
Mira was hardly content, but she stayed quiet. Visas seemed to easily be able to toss the incident from her mind and move on. Mira looked at both of them, and her brow furrowed. Shrugging, Mira followed Visas out of the room.
As soon as they were out of earshot from Bao-Dur, Mira began to speak to Visas. "Are you just going to accept that?" she asked incredulously.
"I am going to do as Master Bao-Dur instructed," Visas said coolly.
"Just like that? You don't wonder if maybe Atton's gone off to join the Sith or kill himself or something?"
"I will trust Bao-Dur. You should as well."
"I do! But Bao-Dur doesn't know everything."
"Your choice."
"Yeah. Well, I'm going to talk to Mical."
"Mira, were you even listening to-"
"Not to gouge anything. But I can read people. You can't survive on Nar Shaddaa for as long as I did without learning to read people."
Atton sliced the kinrath neatly in two. Was there no way to get his mind off of it? Why did his brain keep tingling like something was happening? It was almost as though he could hear a pain echoing through his head, a pain that would never leave him. He felt like driving the lightsaber through his head.
"Why won't you leave me alone?" he yelled. His own voice bounced back at him, off the cave walls. He smashed an egg into dust.
This cave spawned crystals and kinrath. Atton was here for neither.
"Where is it coming from?" he asked himself out loud. The pulsing vibrations had been troubling him since the morning, but now that he was in the heart of the cave, he felt as though they were rattling his entire skull, from the top of his head straight through his jaw.
He stumbled towards the center of the chamber, where the dissonance became the most powerful. He grabbed onto the largest of the crystal formations, and suddenly the pain grew into agony. Atton cried out as he fell down and rolled down the slope. By the time he reached the bottom, he was staring up at the top of the damp cave, and he finally knew whose pain he was hearing.
"Alainna?" he asked the emptiness around him. The name rang throughout the enclosure, almost as a confirmation. Rubbing his back, he sat up and crawled, frightened, to the crystals that he had touched before. This time, he gripped them as tightly as he could.
Anguish flooded Atton's senses as he felt the fierce pain that he knew Alainna must have been feeling. He struggled to hang onto the sensation, to keep him from being consumed by the pain, and in a flashing moment, he was able to see everything around her. All he needed was three letters: TSF.
As Atton let go, the pain propelled him backwards. Atton rolled onto the ground, ecstasy overwhelming his pain.
"Mira, Visas, Mical, pack up. We're going to Telos."
"What's up?" Mira looked up from her datapad to see Bao-Dur whisk through the room.
"I'll explain when we're on the ship," said Bao-Dur. "Now let's go."
Mira looked back and forth from Visas to Mical, both of whom seemed to be as confused as she was.
"Hey," called Mira, "what about Atton? Does he know where we are?"
Bao-Dur half-smiled. "If I know Atton," he said, "he could already be halfway there."
The four of them did not need to do much packing; they usually kept their excess equipment on the Hawk. Grabbing their lightsabers, they followed Bao-Dur. Mira walked at a faster pace than the others to catch up with Bao-Dur, whose long strides kept him reasonably ahead of the other Jedi.
"Who's covering our classes, Bao-Dur?"
"I've got it under control, Mira."
"Are you serious? How long are we going to be gone?"
"Don't know. Could be some time."
"We're the core of the Academy! How is it going to function?"
"Well enough. I've put some of the most advanced students in charge, Mira. Don't worry so much."
"Just because they're mature students doesn't mean they can handle it. I can barely handle it half the time. And why all the secrecy?"
"Because anyone could have this place bugged."
"Oh, and the Hawk couldn't possibly be bugged."
"Not the way HK takes care of things."
"Is that thing still onboard? I'm not so sure about this..."
"You'll understand, Mira. I promise."
Mira narrowed her eyes. "Well, okay," she said, "but it'd better be worth it."
The four of them walked in complete silence, except for the quiet cascade of the fountain in the Enclave's sublevel. As they left, walking Dantooine's dew-soaked plains towards the Ebon Hawk, Mira breathed in the chill morning air and shivered. Refreshing, and yet so very painful, she reflected. I hope that doesn't mean something.
The four of them walked into the ship and were greeted by the bronze assassin droid that Alainna had left behind after her mysterious departure, a year, three months, and twenty days ago, if Atton was correct.
"Begrudging Salutation," began the droid, "Welcome, neglectful meatbags! It has been so long since you came to see if I was even functioning! I was beginning to think that perhaps you had all forgotten about me until Rand informed me of this sadly peaceful journey."
"Atton?" asked Mical, confused. "Is he here?"
HK-47 turned its ruby red photoreceptors on the bewildered historian. "Why, of course, meatbag. He is priming the engines as we speak. He has been here all afternoon, as a matter of fact, grating on my metaphorical nerves."
Mira turned to Bao-Dur. "Did you know Atton was on board?"
"I had my suspicions. Honestly, I thought he'd be at Telos already."
"Yeah," said Atton, walking into the garage, "but I thought I'd go the cheap way. I mean, I didn't want you guys to worry about me or anything."
"The thought hadn't crossed our minds," said Mical pointedly.
"Master Bao-Dur," Visas broke in, "would now be the time to ask you exactly why we're going to Telos so suddenly?"
Bao-Dur thought for a moment before gesturing for everyone to follow him into the main hold. They proceeded without question. Once in the hold, they instinctively arranged themselves into a circle around the hologram projector.
"I received this transmission last night, from the colony on Telos."
Bao-Dur slid the datapad he used to store transmissions to and from the Enclave into a slot on the side of the round fixture. A soldier dressed in Republic garb flickered into being.
"Master Jedi," she began, "we are requesting your presence at the Uris colony of Telos to investigate the matter of two Jedi who crashed on the surface of the planet yesterday afternoon. We do not have many details on the crash as of yet; one of the Jedi is in critical condition, and the other is unconscious at the moment. Please respond as soon as possible. Telos Security Forces, signing off."
Everyone was silent, sobered by the message and the implications it held. Bao-Dur looked at Atton sympathetically as Atton stared at where the hologram had been, his eyes filled with an incomprehensible ache. Mical's face was paralyzed, frozen into shock, and Mira became dizzy. Visas remained inscrutably silent.
"It's not..." began Mical.
Bao-Dur shrugged. Atton reacted slightly, but decided not to say anything.
"After I received the transmission," continued Bao-Dur, "I replied and told them that we would come this morning. At that point, I knew that Atton was missing, and I assumed, naturally, that he had somehow caught this news before I had, which would be unsurprising, considering some of his..." Bao-Dur looked at Atton with a smirk, "contacts. I got on the ship this morning to prepare for the trip, and I found that Atton was already waiting for us."
"Took you long enough, too," Atton cracked half-heartedly.
"How..." Mira began. Looking into Atton's anguished eyes, she thought better of her question. "Never mind. So... let's go, then."
"My thoughts exactly," Atton said, almost pleadingly, to Bao-Dur.
Revan relived the past six years in her sleeping mind. She could not snap herself out of these nightmares, these reenactments of the tragedies she had seen. She could almost feel the pain, feel herself beaten over and over by those unstoppable enemies. Then she felt the helplessness again when she realized over and over that she was wrong about how to defeat these creatures. She could not do it alone, or with just two people.
She could not handle it. The discouragement flooded her as she begged to whoever was listening to let her wake up again before it was too late and she did not want to.
Then, she felt warmth. Wherever she was, somebody was nearby, someone who loved her.
Carth. Carth was with her now.
Author's Note: Thanks to all who reviewed! Just some quick responses:
Ewanlover64 - Well, we'll just have to see... heh heh heh...
Alexandra3 - I agree (about Mira). I realized that while I was editing this for the last time, but I decided to use this excuse as soon as someone pointed it out: Exile's leaving has basically shaken everything up. Ok, it's not a good excuse, but it's there nonetheless.
R Little Dragon - And this is just the beginning, believe me...
And to all the rest of you ravenous hordes of fangirls/boys - thanks for reviewing! I shall return!