A/N:
This is an alternate version of Chapter Seven of my story "Book One: Korriban". I recommend you read that before you read this one. The italic portion at the beginning of this chapter is lifted directly from the aforementioned work.
I've outlined 8 chapters for this. Updates will be sporadic since I'm primarily focusing on other projects.
I think this chapter stands alone though.
Chapter 1
"Acolyte?" asked the Jedi Quorian Dorjis. "Why don't you come with me?"
"What?"
"Leave the Sith," he said. "Come with me! The Jedi would welcome you."
"Sure, with a blaster and cuffs," I scoffed. "No thanks, I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a force cage."
"We wouldn't do that to you," he said. "That's not the Jedi way."
"I use the dark side," I said, "they wouldn't just let me go free."
"You wouldn't be a prisoner," he said. "You'd be like...a medbay patient. We'd take care of you. You'd have teachers. You deserve better than this place."
"This is exactly what I deserve," I said, the guilt inside me eating away at my soul. He eyed me, and I felt the Force swirl around us as he used it to sense my feelings just as I was sensing his.
"Why do you say that?" he said.
"I belong here, Quorian," I said. "I'm not peaceful. I'm not kind. I've lost track of the beings I've killed just to get this far. It was them or me, and I don't regret it. I will kill anyone and do anything to become Sith." He stared at me, and for a moment I worried he would decide I was his enemy after all.
"But you helped me," he said. "You didn't have to do that. I know you can be kind and selfless. Come with me!"
For an instant, I saw it, as clear as day. It was like a vision. I would take his offer. The Jedi would welcome me to their temple, giving me training and care and kindnesses that I'd never known. I saw myself eventually giving up my rage, my fear, spending my days healing others. I wouldn't be anything special. Just another brown-robed jedi. For that instant, I felt the peace that Quorian described; it was almost euphoric, addictive. Then I remembered exactly why I was helping Quorian escape, and the sensation was gone, and reality set in. I was nothing like that being I'd just seen.
"I belong here," I said. The whine of a landspeeder drew closer as we sat quietly. A powerful speeder pulled to a stop nearby. Inside waited a squat human with an astromech droid.
"I should go," said the Jedi Quorian Dorjis. "I still don't know why you helped me, but I thank you. Will you be alright?"
"I'll be fine. I..." I coughed, but my throat was still thick. Kriff it, I was just going to say it. "Be careful with what you recall of your time on Korriban. They say the Inquisitors can twist your memories." I watched the understanding dawn in his eyes, and I had to look away. He sighed, long and deep.
"I'm sorry you grew up in the Empire instead of the Jedi," he said. "If things had been different, maybe you could've been part of the Order."
"Goodbye Quorian," I said.
"Goodbye Sith," he said. He took two steps towards the speeder, then paused. I saw his uninjured fist clench briefly as the force swirled around us. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but I pulled up my force shield anyway. If he attacked, I was going to zap him and run.
"No," Quorian said flatly, turning around and coming back towards me. The smuggler shifted in his seat, watching silently behind a full face mask. I could feel his unease through the force. "No, I'm not leaving you here."
"Get going!" I said. "This is your only shot to get off of Korriban. If you don't take it, we'll both be killed, and it won't be quick."
"Come with me," he insisted. "Leave this place behind. You don't belong here--you're better than this!"
"I only helped you escape because it was my job," I said. "I despise you."
"No you don't," he said. "Or why would you tell me the truth just now?"
"A mistake. A moment of weakness."
"Goodness and kindness are attributes of the strong, not the weak," he explained. He was very near me now. "It takes more courage to follow the light--it's easy to hate and fear. You chose to do the right thing. You belong with the Jedi."
"Inquisitor Zyn tortured you because I asked him to," I said viciously, backing away from his advance. He shuddered to a halt, almost stumbling mid-step, and I felt my stomach drop. I'd done it. I'd convinced him to leave. Why did it feel like failure? He closed his eyes, pressing his bandaged hand close to his body. I saw his lips move, and I recognized the Jedi Code.
"Get out of here, Quorian," I said tiredly. "I am Sith." He looked at me for a long moment, and then he smiled.
"And I am a Jedi," he said ruefully. "And I don't let emotion rule me. Come back with me."
"I'm not like you!" I said. I was desperately trying to find reasons now. Anything to get him to leave.
"We're more alike than you realize," he said. "Come with me. You deserve life. And peace. And happiness!" I felt the force swelling around us, but it was the strange geometric warmth of the light, not the biting wind of the dark side.
"The Jedi don't want me," I said. "I'm their enemy." He actually laughed.
"You're an acolyte, one of many," he said. "You're barely a student at the academy, not even an apprentice. You're not my enemy. You helped me, and I'm not leaving you behind!"
"I'm afraid." It was the light side of the force around me that caused me to be so honest, I was certain.
"Sometimes it's frightening to choose the right thing," he said. "But you are stronger than your fear."
"Better to be Sith than in chains again."
"I won't let that happen to you; I give you my word," he said. He held out his one good hand to me.
I took it.