Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.
Six weeks later, Revan was quite thoroughly sick of being surrounded by so many Jedi. They all seemed to act like he was one bribe of an awesome droid away from joining the Sith and several of the older ones actually started praying when he walked past. Most people would be suspicious – and truthfully Revan was a bit – but he didn't have the desire to get more involved with the ways of the Jedi than he could help.
Fortunately, he was almost past this.
"You have done well, apprentice," Zhar said warmly. "Better than many even after years of study. You-" he stopped. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Are you even talking to me?" Revan returned.
"Yes, I am," Zhar confirmed. "One would think you could have worked that out as we are the only two in this room."
"I was kind of wondering about that, but you addressed some person named 'Apprentice' and my name is 'Revan'," Revan countered.
"Well you are an apprentice but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you're no more amenable to the idea of being addressed as one than you were bef-" Zhar broke off, coughing. "I mean, very well, Revan. I was trying to avoid calling you that to stop upsetting some of the others, but I suppose that's just delaying the inevitable. Once you finish your training we can't just call you 'Padawan' forever…can we?"
"No," Revan said firmly. "You can't."
"Now that that's settled, let's start with something that's very important to our Order. Learn the Jedi Code and recite it to me," Zhar instructed.
Instead of leaving like Zhar had expected, Revan just sighed. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force."
Zhar started. "I…see that someone has already taken the time to teach you our Code. That's very good, as long as you live by these principles you can weather any storm."
Revan blinked. "Actually, now that I think about it it is a bit strange that I knew that, isn't it? I mean, no one's taught it to me since I've been here and I don't think I would have willingly spent enough time around a Jedi to have picked it up prior to Taris…"
"I'm sure you picked it up somewhere," Zhar said quickly. "Your next step is building your own lightsaber. Go speak with Master Dorak about the matter before returning here."
Revan nodded and turned to go. He knew where he'd find Master Dorak. He and the other members of the Council – save Zhar when he was training him – were always in the exact same spot. So was Bastila, for that matter. Didn't the Dantooine Jedi Council and the Republic's Only Hope have anything better to do with their time then just standing about in the same room accomplishing nothing? Evidently not.
Revan cloaked his presence – if only because everyone always freaked out when they could no longer sense him or he appeared someplace without them noticing – and walked towards the Council Chamber. As he neared the entrance, he was surprised to hear voices coming from inside. It would seem that the Council did do something, after all, even if it was just talking. Naturally this development was well worth halting his epic quest of finally crafting a lightsaber of his own to listen in on.
"-would be a lot easier if he'd stop hitting on me and had some sort of motivation to do anything," Bastila was saying.
"He wouldn't be Revan if he did," Vrook pointed out.
"What of his companions?" Vandar asked. "I understand that they are still here?"
"They are," Bastila confirmed. "Carth contacted the Republic and they told him to stay with me if I needed him, the Mandalorian thinks Revan is indolent but a kindred spirit, and the other two don't have anywhere else to go."
"Will this be a problem?" Dorak spoke up.
"I don't think so," Bastila replied. "The T3 unit has to stay or Revan won't help us no matter how urgent it is or what else we say. He's rather…attached."
"Revan, obsessed with a droid. Never seen that before," Vrook said dryly.
"The Wookie Zaalbar swore a life debt to him, and from what I understand that means he won't be leaving anytime soon and the Twi'lek Mission has no intention of leaving Zaalbar. Canderous could pose a problem but his skills in battle could be prove useful and I do not think he'd leave willingly," Bastila continued.
"What about the Republic pilot, Carth?" Vandar inquired.
"In addition to the fact that he is an amazing pilot and someone has to fly the ship, he really needs to stay with Revan. I've never seen anyone so effective at convincing him to do things since Ma-" Bastila cut herself off when Revan's curiosity was actually piqued and she felt it through their bond. "Revan."
"Is now a bad time?" Revan asked innocently.
"How long were you standing there?" Vrook demanded, ignoring the question.
"Because I really don't want to interrupt," Revan continued, also feeling no need to address the question.
"What do you need, Revan?" Vandar asked warmly.
"Master Zhar suggested that I speak to Master Dorak before I construct my lightsaber," Revan replied.
The three Masters exchanged looks of surprise.
"You know the Code already?" Dorak asked, intrigued. "Did Bastila teach it to you? You were supposed to come to us in case you had questions, but I suppose she could answer any you had."
Revan shook his head. "No, it's the strangest thing. I already knew it."
"So you needed to talk about your lightsaber?" Dorak asked loudly. "Come over here, then."
Revan walked over to Dorak. "I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to ask you about so I'm really hoping that you have some idea because let me tell you, that is a very inconvenient walk back to Master Zhar."
"I do indeed know what Master Zhar sent you here to do. You need a crystal to power your lightsaber and we use three different crystals. Depending on if you aim to be a Consular, Sentinel, or Guardian you will have a green, yellow, or blue crystal," Dorak explained.
"What's the difference?" Revan wondered.
"A Consular puts studying the Force before combat, a Guardian puts Combat above studying the Force, and a Sentinel seeks to balance the two," Dorak explained.
Revan made a face. "I'd rather not have to limit myself but…yellow? Really?"
"I need to ask you a set of questions to help me determine which class best suits you," Dorak continued. "If there was an Sith attack on a Jedi enclave you were at, what would you do?"
"Probably leave," Revan answered. "That sounds like it would be a regular nightmare to deal with. Of course, if any Sith tried to stop me I'd kill them – Jedi duty, after all – but after that I'd go find a Cantina or something and wait to see what happened."
"I see," Dorak didn't look pleased. "And if you came upon a locked door?"
"Can you be more specific?" Revan requested.
Dorak blinked. "You want me to be more specific? There's a door in front of you and it is locked. How much more specific can you get?"
"Well, there's all sorts of factors at work here. Do I need to get into this room? Do I simply want to go in? Do I have anyone with me who can get it open while I just stand there, probably complaining? If you're not going to specify, though, then I'd probably just leave. It's probably not all that important anyway," Revan announced.
"What would you do if an opponent surrendered to you?" Dorak asked, still not looking happy.
Revan shrugged. "Without knowing more, I'd have to say…let them leave. That sounds easier."
"Based on your answers I would say that you best fit the category of…well, frankly you wouldn't normally be Jedi material – or Sith material for that matter – given your extreme apathy but you're far more powerful than someone as lazy as you has a right to be so just pick a class," Dorak ordered.
"I don't really want to limit myself," Revan repeated. "Even saying that I want to be a Sentinel is limiting if you really think about it because then you have an obligation to improve both combat and Force training in equal measures."
"Well, you have to pick something," Dorak insisted. "You do need a lightsaber crystal, after all."
Revan stared at him. "That's what this was all about? Choosing a lightsaber crystal? I already have one, see?" With that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a violet crystal.
"Where did you get that?" Dorak demanded.
"I found it in some cave not far from here," Revan replied. "You honestly didn't know it existed? You people don't get out much, do you?"
"We had heard rumors of a cave that held lightsaber crystals," Dorak admitted. "But it had, until now, been unsubstantiated. The question is how you happened to get your hands on it. You weren't supposed to leave the enclave, remember?"
"Really?" Revan looked surprised. "Must have missed that. Then again, it wouldn't have stopped me even had I known."
"Just…take that crystal back to Master Zhar," Dorak said, sounding tired.
"Will do," Revan said cheerfully before making his way back to his temporary teacher. "Okay, I have it."
"Let's see that…" Zhar said, peering at it. "Revan, that's violet. Violet is a Sith color."
"I thought red was a Sith color," Revan said, sounding confused.
"It still is," Zhar assured him. "But Revan popularized the use of violet crystals among them."
"I don't care," Revan said stubbornly. "So this Revan character had great taste in lightsabers. Hardly my problem and Master Dorak wouldn't give me another crystal."
Zhar frowned. "He won't? Then how are we to know if you are a Consular, Guardian, or Sentinel?"
Revan opened his mouth to respond.
"On second thought, I probably do not wish to know," Zhar decided. "Now follow me and I'll take you to the workbench where you can get started."
- -
"So…is it any good?" Revan asked, a bit nervously. The double-bladed lightsaber he had constructed had taken him far less time to build then he'd expected, even considering the minor adjustments he'd made and the extra crystals from the cave that he'd added. He was actually rather proud of it, but then he was hardly an expert on lightsabers and Zhar had been staring at his first try for over twenty minutes.
Zhar pulled himself out of his stupor. "Is this any good? This is…without a doubt, this is the finest lightsaber I have ever had the privilege of seeing."
Revan smiled. "Really? Wow. And to think I got it on my first try…I must be some kind of prodigy or something, huh?"
"Or something," Zhar agreed quietly.
Revan narrowed his eyes. "What was that?"
"Now it's time to get some first-hand experience," Zhar told him. "There are a lot of Kath hounds in the area. Why don't you kill some of them?"
"Does this mean I'm allowed to leave the enclave?" Revan asked innocently.
Zhar smiled at him. "Yes, Revan. After six weeks of staying where we can keep an eye on you, you are finally allowed out of the enclave. Your final task is this: there is a disturbance in the grove a little ways away from here. You need to deal with this disturbance and then you will be ready to take the next step on your path to becoming a dedicated servant of the light."
"Oh, the excitement," Revan said monotonously.
- -
Twenty minutes later, Revan was wandering around merrily killing Kath hounds with Carth and Canderous. Mission and Zaalbar had nowhere to be found but Carth still didn't trust Revan to go anywhere unsupervised and Canderous just wanted to kill something.
They soon came across a man standing by a speeder who was cornered by a Mandalorian and two Duros.
"This is terrible!" Carth exclaimed. "We have to help this poor man."
"Do we?" Canderous asked rhetorically. "Do we really?"
"I'm with Canderous on this one," Revan said. "Big surprise, I know."
"Please don't kill me!" the man begged. "Take my wife and children instead!"
"And…now so am I," Carth remarked. "Wow, some people are scum."
The Mandalorian seemed to agree as he took out his blaster and shot the man. "Hm…wife and children, huh? Now there's an idea."
"Um, boss?" One of the Duros spoke up. "We just killed him. How are we supposed to be able to find his wife and children."
"Perhaps he has some identification on him," the Mandalorian suggested.
"Or we could always just find a woman and children and pretend that they're his family," the other Duros offered.
"More pitiful farmers? Maybe they have identification," the Mandalorian said gleefully.
"What's this?" Canderous hissed. "A Mandalorian praying on the weak and terrorizing a farming community? I knew things were hard after the war, but this is NOT befitting a warrior. You two take care of those Duros, I'm going to rip his head off…"
Carth shot at one of the Duros but Revan killed not only his but Carth's as well due to Revan's competent aiming. Carth looked over at Canderous to see him pulling the head from the body of the Mandalorian.
"Lovely," he said dryly.
"Thanks," Canderous replied. "It takes a certain amount of talent to be able to separate the head from the body so easily when you're unarmed."
"…Let's just get going, shall we?" Carth suggested.
"As soon as I'm done looting," Revan called, searching the corpses for anything even remotely valuable.
After Revan was done they made their way through a few more Kath hounds to a bridge where a Twi'lek was standing.
"Ah, hello there young Revan," the Twi'lek greeted. "I am Bolook, a fellow Jedi Knight. Would you care to help me solve a murder?"
"Isn't there any local law enforcement?" Carth demanded.
Bolook eyed him strangely. "Why do you think they called me in?"
"Well, I suppose at least there's a reason I'm going to be expected to do everything," Revan sighed. "No, I don't really care to help."
"If you don't I'm going to tattle on you to the Council," Bolook threatened.
Revan sighed. "Fine. Tell me what happened."
"Rickard Lustoff and Handon Guld were both standing over a dead body when I arrive and they both blame the other for the crime," Bolook explained. "If you need any more information, ask the droid. Otherwise, have fun."
Revan closed his eyes and groaned. "I can't believe I'm doing this…"
"This had better not take too long," Canderous warned. "I was really on a roll."
"Hey, Handon. Come stand over here by Rickard, will you?" Revan entreated.
Reluctantly, Handon did as was requested, glaring at Rickard the entire time.
"Now, I'm only going to ask this once so look into my eyes and don't blink," Revan instructed. "Handon, tell me what happened. Rickhard, when he's done you tell me what happened."
"That bastard was having an affair with my wife. I caught them in our bed one time but when I confronted him about it he just laughed! I lured him out here and killed him!" Handon declared.
"That bastard was cheating me in business and so when I heard he was coming out here I decided to shoot him but I was too far away to see who it was and I shot Handon instead," Rickard added.
Revan looked to Bolook. "Is that good enough? They both confessed."
Bolook looked stunned. "Yes…very well done, Revan. I think I'm beginning to understand why so many followed you…"
"Right, well if you'll excuse me I have a taint to go cleanse," Revan said, waving goodbye and continuing along his way.
"I really wished they'd phrased that differently," Bolook murmured, looking stricken.
Eventually, Revan, Canderous, and Carth stumbled upon a Cathar meditating in a grove.
"Excuse me," Revan began politely. "Do you happen to know where I might find a taint that needs cleansing somewhere around here? The Jedi weren't infuriatingly vague."
"You'll never take me alive!" the Cathar hissed, pulling out a lightsaber and charging at Revan.
"I suppose that would be you, then," Revan noted as he fended off her attack. "Way to help me out here, guys."
"This is your coming-of-age task," Canderous pointed out. "I can't interfere; it would shame us both."
"I'm already OF age," Revan pointed out. "Although I do see your point."
"It's not very nice when someone refuses to help out for no apparent reason, now is it?" Carth asked smugly.
"…I just said that," Revan reminded him. "Are you going senile or something?"
"I believe he was trying to prove a point," Canderous explained.
"Really?" Revan was surprised. "And what might that be?"
Carth slapped his forehead. "You know what, never mind."
"I yield!" the Cathar said, deactivating her weapon. "You may kill me now."
Revan looked taken aback at this, although whether that was because he hadn't expected her to surrender or because he'd forgotten he was fighting her was up for debate.
Revan shrugged. "Normally I don't kill people who surrender, but you did ask me to and I do have a grove to cleanse, so…"
The Cathar closed her eyes.
"Wait!" Carth burst out. "Come on, Revan, you're not stupid."
"Thanks," Revan replied. "I think."
"Obviously 'cleanse the taint' means 'redeem the Jedi'," Carth deduced.
"Are you sure?" Revan asked skeptically. "Because it sounded kind of ominous the way they put it and if they wanted me to redeem her, surely they would have just told me. Especially considering that that sounds like it might take some serious effort on my part."
"I am NOT going to just sit back and let you kill this woman because you can't be bothered to save her," Carth said firmly. "Let me handle this." He turned to the Cathar. "What's your name?"
"I am Juhani," Juhani informed him. "This is my grove."
"Why did you attack us?" Carth asked her. "You said you were afraid we'd take you back to the Jedi?"
Juhani nodded. "Yes. You see…I have fallen."
"Surely it can't be that bad," Carth told her soothingly. "I mean, they just trained Revan after all and he was willing to kill you just because he thought it sounded easier."
"He should kill me," Juhani said sounding miserable. "I killed my mentor, you see. I struck her down in anger and now I am doomed to the dark side forever."
"You just made a mistake," Carth assured her. "We all make mistakes."
"This is a pretty serious mistake," Juhani insisted. "My mentor is dead."
"I've made my share of pretty serious mistakes," Carth said wryly. "And I only wish my mentor was dead. But he's not; he's Malak's Admiral. He came to me, you know, and told me that the Republic was a lost cause and that Revan and Malak were planning on conquering the galaxy so if I didn't join up and relocate my family, they'd die when he bombed the hell out of it in about a month when he joined the Sith. Sometimes, I still wonder if I could have stopped him."
"It's not your fault, Carth," Juhani comforted him. "There was no way you should have known."
Carth sighed. "I know," he said heavily. "But I still should have. I mean, he was my mentor."
"Even if I did want to go back," Juhani said hesitantly. "Surely they would not accept me. Not after what I did."
Carth smiled encouragingly at her. "The Jedi are a pretty forgiving group of people. I'm sure they'd be happy to take you back. And if not, if they do want nothing more to do with you then at least you came back and accepted responsibility for your actions."
Juhani nodded. "You're right. I will go back."
"Are you two done then?" Revan asked. "Good. Lunch started fifteen minutes ago and if Mission and Zaalbar took all the good desert again then I swear to the Force I will make you both suffer before I kill you."
Juhani stared at him. "I think you're right after all. The Jedi should have no problem accepting me back all things considered…"
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