Chapter Nine
Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.
Note: About Revan forgetting he was fighting Juhani and still beating her…yes, he really is just that good. Pretty fortunate, too, as otherwise there's no way he'd end up getting anything done. And for those who thought Revan should have just killed Juhani do remember that he was going to but standing back and watching Carth redeem her was less work on his part then shooting or stabbing her.
I should probably also mention that I know the name is supposed to be Sandral. I like Sandal better.
"I see that you have managed to redeem Juhani," Vandar said by way of greeting when Revan had finished his lunch – T3 had saved him a dessert or else things would not have ended well – and reported to the Council chambers to find out if him being an official Jedi meant that he'd have to actually do something now. "We were surprised but not ungrateful."
"Surprised?" Revan feigned ignorance. "Why wouldn't I do my utmost to redeem my fellow Jedi Knight?"
"Perhaps because it's easier to end a life then to change it," Vrook said bluntly. "And Juhani was so vague about what happened that I don't know what to think."
"Saving her was clearly the will of the Force," Revan said piously. The four Council members and Bastila all stared at him. "What? That's your explanation for everything and now that I'm a Jedi I can use it, too."
"You must only use that explanation when something is truly the will of the Force," Zhar cautioned. "Otherwise people will start to believe that that we are just avoiding the question when we say that."
"Start?" Revan muttered.
"Now that you are officially a Jedi it's time that we are honest with you," Vander declared. He blinked. "Well, honest about this, at least. You are still very new to our Order and have much to learn. We have investigated the ruins from your dream-"
"Wait, dream?" Revan interrupted, ignoring Bastila's death-glare for daring to interrupt the Council. "What dream?"
"What dream?" Bastila repeated, sounding incredulous. "The dream we had about Revan and Malak in those mysterious ruins when we first got here, remember?"
Revan dutifully thought back before shaking his head in defeat. "No, I still don't know what you're talking about but for the sake of speeding things along let's pretend that I do and you can tell me what you learned from investigating the ruins."
"We had never heard of such a place," Dorak spoke up. "But after Bastila described it to us in extensive detail we checked the archives and found that there does exist a ruin matching that very description a mile and a half away from this very enclave."
Revan stared at him. "A mile and a half? And you'd never heard of it? You know, between this and the caves I'm starting to think you people just never leave the enclave unless you're leaving the planet."
"Be that as it may," Vandar said a little awkwardly. "We need you and Bastila to go investigate it."
"We would do it ourselves," Vrook explained. "Except that your dream means it's clearly the will of the Force that you do it. Besides, we can't very well go ruining our reputation for never stepping foot outside of our Enclave, can we?"
Revan knew he'd regret not keeping his mouth shut.
"We did send out another Knight to look into the ruins some time yesterday," Zhar informed them. "Alas, he hasn't returned and we're beginning to fear the worst. I understand that the ruins are your first priority but if you have time could you put some thought into finding Nemo?"
Revan coughed. "Certainly. If we happen to stumble across your missing Knight, alive or dead, we'll be sure to let you know and by 'we' I mean 'Bastila.'"
"Well isn't that a surprise?" Bastila sighed. "Let's go, I suppose."
As they turned to leave a man stormed through the door and shouted, "I AM THROUGH WAITING! IF THE JEDI DO NOT TAKE IT UPON THEMSELVES TO FIND MY SON THEN I WILL BE TAKING MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS!" Then, without so much as waiting for a response, he promptly turned and left again.
"Does anyone want to explain that?" Revan asked a little uncertainly. Why did no one else appear even the slightest bit unnerved.
"That's Mr. Matale," Bastila explained. "His son went missing last week and he's been storming in here to threaten to actually do something about it twice a day now since then. We don't think he actually will, but if we have time we might want to check it out."
"I assure you, 'we' most certainly do not," Revan disagreed.
"Well, we'll just have to see now won't we?" Bastila asked rhetorically, ending the discussion.
Revan and Bastila made their way towards the Enclave's exit when they ran across Juhani and that annoying girl who had yelled at him for not wearing Padawan robes when they'd first met (and as it happened he still refused to wear them on the grounds that they made him look stupid). If the regular robes were bad the bright orange monstrosity Juhani was wearing made Revan start to wish he'd joined up with the Sith after all. If the uniforms on Taris were any indication, they had great taste.
"Thank you for saving Juhani, Revan. She is…very special to me," the girl said, blushing a little. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Even if you still refuse to respect our Order now that you're a part of it-"
"Yeah, I still don't care," Revan cut her off. "And if I somehow gave you the impression that I did care well then I apologize because that was wrong of me in addition to just plain being wrong."
Juhani frowned at him. "That is most rude, Revan, but all things considering how I was redeemed, I suppose I should not be too surprised. Do you remember, by any chance, when I told you that I had killed my Master?"
Revan shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"Well, it turned out that I had merely injured her. I was foolish for thinking my meager efforts would be enough to kill one such as her," Juhani said sheepishly. "If you would be so kind as to let Carth know?"
"I'll do it, Juhani," Bastila volunteered, well aware that Revan would probably not bother if he even remembered at all.
"That is probably for the best," Juhani agreed.
- -
"Hey look, a corpse!" Revan exclaimed, pointing to a body a few feet away.
"That would excite you, wouldn't it?" Carth sighed. He had run into Bastila and Revan on their way out and, after hearing Juhani's news about her Master, had decided to accompany them.
"What?" Revan asked defensively. "Someone's got to keep our finances up and you keep trying to give money away and refuse rewards."
"I know, but don't you have a moral problem with stealing from the de-" Carth started to say before he remembered who he was talking to. "Never mind then."
"Hey, look, this datapad contains his diary," Revan told them.
"Now you're reading his diary?" Carth grumbled. "Is nothing sacred?"
"Perhaps the diary will help us identify this poor man so we can inform his relatives what became of him and then can have a proper burial," Bastila suggested, trying to be positive.
"Wow, this Casus Sandal is all kinds of awesome," Revan announced. "Apparently he was managing to date five girls at the same time."
"That sounds despicable," Bastila sniffed.
"Well, yeah, if he were cheating," Revan conceded. "But that's just it: he wasn't. They all knew and he was apparently so awesome that they were cool with it…too bad these Kath hounds ate him. Force knows they were probably just jealous..."
Carth decided to forego his obligatory protest at Revan's depravity in favor a more relevant matter. "Sandal, Sandal…wasn't that who Matale was feuding with?"
Bastila slowly nodded. "So Matale's son is missing and now Sandal's son is dead. This is beginning to sound ominous."
"This is beginning to bore me," Revan announced. "And as I'm done anyway let's keep going."
"Alright," Bastila agreed. "But we're going to stop by the Sandal estate to inform them about what happened to Casus."
"But-" Revan started to protest.
"Seconded," Carth interrupted. "And that means you're outnumbered. Not very nice being on the other side, is it?"
Revan groaned, remembering how he and Canderous had ganged up on Carth regarding moral issues earlier. "I knew I should have spent the extra time looking for him."
"Wouldn't that still be two against two?" Carth asked.
"It would," Revan allowed. "But you see, if I had taken the time to bring Canderous then my beloved T3 would have come as well and of course he'd side with me. Droids all love me, you know."
"Well of course they would," Bastila said. "You've always been their biggest supporter."
Carth glanced over at her. "Wait, did you just say 'always'? I thought you met Revan a few weeks ago like I did."
Bastila shot a panicked look at Revan but he was, predictably, too busy waxing poetic about T3 to have noticed.
- -
"So my droid said you had news of my son?" Sandal asked once they were lead into his main foyer.
"We do," Bastila nodded. "I'm sorry to inform you that your son is dead."
"That bastard!" Sandal growled, his eyes flashing.
"What bastard?" Carth asked, confused. "You mean your son? I hardly think he went off and got himself killed on purpose."
Sandal shook his head impatiently. "Not him, I meant Matale."
"Look, I get that you're apparently consumed by hatred and obsessed with vengeance or whatever but don't you think you might want to put that off until after you show some token grief for your son?" Revan demanded. "I mean, chances are I'd have made more of an effort even if I couldn't stand the guy. Have you no respect for the dead, sir?"
Carth started choking at Revan's blatant hypocrisy. Where was that supposed respect for the dead when he was looting Casus' pockets and reading his diary?
"Don't you dare accuse me of not mourning my child," Sandal shot back. "In fact, I'm going to make sure Matale knows exactly how it feels to lose a son when I brutally murder his!"
"See, you might say that you're upset about your son but you're still talking about your archrival," Revan pointed out.
"Well of course I am!" Sandal burst out. "How can I possible mourn my son in peace if his killer is still out there?"
"Mr. Sandal, Mr. Matale was not the one who killed your son," Bastila corrected him.
Sandal blinked. "He wasn't? But I was so certain…how do you know?"
"His body was ripped apart by Kath hounds," Revan replied cheerfully. "It was pretty unrecognizable but fortunately his data pad diary was still in one piece so we could identify him for you."
"That fiend!" Sandal cried out.
"Are you still fixated on Matale?" Carth inquired.
"Who else could have pulled off such an elaborate and sinister cover-up job?" Sandal asked reasonably. Or what he thought of as reasonably.
"Did it ever occur to you that he might have been actually killed by Kath Hounds without any involvement from Mr. Matale?" Bastila asked.
"No, it did not," Sandal answered honestly. "But even if that's the case, it won't matter. I'll kill his son anyway."
"That's really not the course of action I'd recommend-" Bastila started to say.
"Hey, is that Casus' datapad?" Sandal cut her off.
Revan, who had been perusing the dead boy's diary, looked surprised. "Why, yes it is in fact. May I mention that it's a little creepy that you recognized it?"
"Feel free," Sandal said graciously.
"It's a little creepy that you recognized it," Revan said frankly now that he had permission to do so. "There's nothing really important on here, jus his diary."
"And you're reading it?" Sandal demanded. "Isn't that an invasion of privacy?"
"Privacy?" Revan scoffed. "Please. Since when has that ever stopped me?"
"I don't know," Sandal replied. "Seeing as how I've just met you. But tell you what: I'll give you one hundred credits for that datapad."
Revan hesitated to the great shock of both of his companions who had assumed he'd jump at the chance to make some more money. "I don't know…" he said carefully. "This diary…he put a lot in here. Probably more than you'd really want to know."
"I don't care," Sandal insisted stubbornly. "I want all that's left of my son. Will two hundred credits change your mind?"
"That it will," Revan said, immediately handing over the datapad. "A pleasure doing business with you."
"Thank you for your kindness, brave Jedi Knights," Sandal bowed to them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be alone with my grief. I trust you can see yourself out? Enchantment!"
"Enchantment?" Carth repeated, sounding confused.
"Ignore him," Bastila advised. "He didn't seem all there to begin with and now he's grief-stricken. Revan, why in the name of the Force would you make that poor possibly unbalanced man give you two hundred credits for his son's datapad?"
"Hey," Revan objected, holding up his hands defensively. "I was going to hand it over for just one hundred but, well, he offered."
"But it is not the Jedi way," Bastila insisted.
Revan snorted. "You say that like that's supposed to mean something to me."
"Excuse me," a young black girl approached them, looking nervous. "My name is Rahasia Sandal. Did I hear you correctly when you said that my brother is dead and the Matales were not involved?"
"I'm sorry," Carth told her. "But it's true."
"Oh, thank the Force," Rahasia sighed in relief.
Revan shot her a strange look. "Thank the Force? Did you really hate your brother or something? Either way, the dead get no respect these days…"
"Oh, that wasn't what I meant at all!" Rahasia looked stricken. "I just meant that I'm glad that the Matales weren't involved although, of course, father thinks they were."
"No kidding?" Carth muttered.
"In fact, he kidnapped Shen Matale and is planning to kill him," Rahasia told them. "You have to help me get him out of here."
"What's your angle?" Bastila asked her. "Do you share your father's distaste for the Matales?"
"What? No, not at all. Shen and Casus were close friends and Shen and I…" Rahasia blushed. "We're in love."
"So you'll show us where this Shen is being kept?" Revan asked, sounding resigned. "I don't suppose Carth or Bastila will just let me leave when you asked for our help-"
"We won't," Bastila confirmed.
"So we'll come with you," Revan concluded.
Rahasia looked awkward. "Well, that's the thing. I won't be coming."
"We are not going down to rescue your boyfriend from your father without you," Revan said flatly.
"But…but what if I'm caught? My father will never understand," Rahasia said desolately.
"Look, if you're going to be in a relationship with this boy then sooner or later your father is going to have to find out if only because you elope," Carth said sensibly.
"I…I can't," Rahasia said. "I know I should but I just can't risk it. My father might get so angry that I wouldn't be safe here. It's best if he never finds out that I'm involved."
Bastila frowned. She really hated to do this but… "Revan?"
"Right," Revan nodded. He made eye contact with the Sandal heiress. "Come with us to rescue Shen. We'll never succeed without you."
"Alright," Rahasia agreed.
And that was that.
- -
It hadn't taken much to convince Shen to leave with them. He didn't want to leave Rahasia behind to suffer her father's wrath – seriously, what kind of monster did these kids think that man was? – and Rahasia was a bit hesitant in leaving, it was true, but Revan quickly persuaded them otherwise.
"I can't believe I'm finally free!" Shen laughed as he took Rahasia's hand in his. "I'm not sure how I'll explain it so that I don't have to mention your father held me hostage but-"
"Don't bother," a vaguely voice cut him off. They looked up to see Matale and three battle droids standing across from Sandal and three more battle droids a little ways away. "I've heard enough."
"You have no right to be here, Matale," Sandal snarled.
"You kidnapped my son!" Matale shot back. "I have every right to aid in his recovery."
"How did he even know what happened?" Revan wondered.
"Well, you killed my son first so fair's fair," Sandal snapped.
Bastila sighed. "We talked about this, remember Mr. Sandal? About how Mr. Matale was not, in fact, guilty of your son's death and the Kath hounds were the true guilty party?"
"Well, yes, but…that's not the point!" Sandal insisted.
"Isn't it?" Carth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Shen, you're coming home with me right now and won't be having anything to do with that Sandal harlot in the future," Matale commanded.
"I'm not coming with you, father," Shen said bravely, tightening his hold on Rahasia's hand. "I love Rahasia and you're just going to have to deal with that."
"Shen…" Rahasia said softly, her eyes shining.
"Don't call me daughter a harlot, you bastard!" Sandal cried out.
Carth and Bastila both turned simultaneously to look pointedly at Revan, who rolled his eyes.
"Hey everybody – and especially the two morons with the battle droids – look at me!" Revan instructed. When Sandal and Matale turned to glare at him, he said very clearly, "Stop fighting and be happy for your children."
"You know, maybe I was a little harsh on your daughter," Matale said immediately. "It's clear that she risked a lot to save my son."
"And I'm sorry, too," Sandal added. "I thought you were behind my son's disappearance but when I was proven wrong I should have released him. I'll make sure to treat him better when the children come to live with me."
"What?" Matale sputtered. "Don't be ridiculous! They'll be living with me."
"Maybe you could build us our own home?" Rahasia suggested hopefully.
Matale and Sandal looked at each other and shrugged.
"Why not?" Matale agreed.
"It'll be closer to my land," Sandal declared.
"What? Not on your life!" Matale countered.
"Let's just leave," Revan proposed.
"Agreed," Carth echoed.
"Now that that's settled, we can finally move on to attempting to save the galaxy," Bastila declared.
Revan groaned. "You know, if we stopped wasting half our time solving other people's problems for them we'd have this whole Malak mess sorted out in three months, tops…"
"It's not the Jedi way," Bastila replied simply.
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