THE TRIAL OF REBIRTH

Leena resumed with her daily routine. Practicing her skills under the rain with one later, later on, she was already performing with two lightsabers. Vette watched her friend by the window with a smile on her lips, Leena seemed more relaxed for reasons unknown to her. After having a nice bath and lunch with her Twi'lek companion – the apprentice proceeded to leave the stronghold, thinking it through.

With Arrun off-world and with Darth Occlus herself, even the apprentice knew that Baras wouldn't be so stupid to go against them even if he sent out his best assassin. Regardless if Baras found out about their latest meeting or not, she was bold enough to actually defy him.

She thought about it for a while now. Having the power of the Force in balance, perhaps there was more to it than mere anger and hatred, and even the craving of vengeance – and there as more to it.

The first order of business was to relocate the Revanites within the jungle, just as Arrun told her to. She had a hunch that it would be difficult, they have a reputation within the Empire about being a cult. Instead of following the Emperor and his Dark Council, they follow a long-dead Sith Lord named Revan who was tainted by Jedi ways.

All she needed was to give the token Arrun gave to her and she will learn what he saw. She wanted to understand and see the Force as he sees it, regardless if he stands in the dark. Besides what the Sith Lord said before he left, there was some sort of tingle in her soul, it whispers in her ears that she had to go and see the Revanites as if the galaxy was pulling her close for this particular purpose.

She passed through the jungles of Dromand Kaas. Trying her best to handle the rain and the mud on her boots, she didn't feel comfortable within the cold as she looked around. As large as the planet is, inhabited by humans, slave rebels and imperial soldiers – she was never going to get used to this even when she lived here for two years already.

The more she tried to look for the Revanites, the more her temper was getting shorter under the rain. If she was lucky, she would spot a Revanite and he would show her to their compound. Though even she knew that wouldn't be easy, they were considered criminals to the Empire and besides that, she knew nothing else of them.

Leena stopped from her tracks, closing her eyes and took a deep breath. Allowing her instincts, allowing the Force itself to guide her – she did wonder if this is what the Force wanted for her.

Leena opened her eyes, walking further into the jungle as if the Force is pulling her somewhere. A place where she should be.

After hours looking, she managed to find some sort of camp with a man wearing an odd kind of hood. Nothing she has seen in the city nor in any other part of the planet.

"Excuse me," Leena spoke politely. She had a gut feeling and she was planning on taking the chance. She wondered if she would learn something useful within this encounter of hers, and the Force did provide her an answer.

"Hello there." The man greeted her. "Did you lose your way in the jungle? You have my sympathies, but we can't help. We have no food or water to offer. There's nothing for you here, and strangers are not welcome in this place. You'd best get going."

Despite him trying to be kind, she could sense the paranoia inside of him. The apprentice got the impression that he wasn't so good at hiding things –so much for a cult. She slid her hand into her pocket, showing the man the token that Sith Lord Arrun gave her, if he was right then she would probably learn the same things he did and see the galaxy with a different viewpoint.

"Ah," he smiled as he took the token from her. "Someone must have great faith in you to send you our way. Welcome to the Order of Revan. Welcome to your new life."

"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you say you were a Revanite in the first place?" Besides the obvious question, she wanted to hear it from him

"You must know by now that our ways are secret." The Revanite began to explain. "We have enemies who believe that we should be silenced. This place is our haven, built by the Master and protected by the faithful. Here, we leave our duties to the Empire behind." The apprentice listened carefully to the details. "This is where the Master, guides us in the mysteries of Revan – the one who began a Jedi, but grew into a Sith and then, something more."

"I have heard tales of Jedi falling into the dark side and turned Sith," Leena spoke as these were the classic tales when war is to emerge between the two factions of the galaxy. "What makes him different from them?"

"As a Jedi, Revan was a warrior who slaughtered armies. As a Sith, Revan was a teacher who trained a thousand dark apprentices. Eventually, Jedi and Sith both turned on Revan but instead of being destroyed, Revan was reborn."

"Reborn?" She began to wonder in question. "There is only the light or the dark side of the Force, there isn't a middle ground." A Sith such as herself was slowly being guided to commune with the dark side of the Force, though the influence wasn't enough to corrupt her like other Sith before her – the only way she knew was to fight fire with fire. To harness such power through passionate hate and fury – Baras made her bottle those emotions, all she needed to do was to use them.

The man continued. "Revan was stripped of power, stripped of life, of memory – and left to rot and still, Revan relearned the ways of the Force. The reborn Revan destroyed Jedi and Sith and came to Dromand Kaas. Although Revan's life ended here, the Master preserved that life so we may learn from it."

"You mean this… Revan… found a way to learn both ways of the Force?" Shocked as she was. Deep down inside, something whispered that it was possible. That there is no way to fighting the dark side if one does not understand it.

"Revan mastered the light side and the dark side – war and peace. We seek to walk the same path. Take part in our rituals. Learn Revan's path to greatness. Succeed and you earn the right to join us."

On Korriban, all she was ever taught was that the dark side is the only way to fully master the Force – enslave it like the dark Lords before her. That the Jedi are tainted and detachment was a mockery to such power that the force-sensitive should ever go to. Detested cruelty, seeking inner peace and avoiding violence, Leena didn't want to be Sith but she had to be one if she wanted to be free from Baras.

A Sern who was strong with the Force. Perhaps her instincts were correct on listening to Arrun about seeking the Revanites. To learn and perhaps, one day, master both sides of the Force – there was a small strand of hope that she might do something better for the galaxy than rather harm it.

Maybe this is what the Force planned for her, but she wasn't sure of her destiny just yet.

"Around you, you'll find your new teachers – Revanites who have spent their lives recovering the works of Darth Revan. Speak to them. Complete the task you are given. When you are through, return to me, and the Master will give you your final lesson."

Maybe Arrun was right, there is a possibility of balancing the Force while retaining the ways and beliefs of the Empire. It would be treason to join them but for now, this was a source of knowledge that she needed to achieve.

As the apprentice was guided in the compound, she saw more Revanites and initiates performing trials or conducting them. She could sense the Force within so many, Sith and Jedi alike – it was something that she could never hear from her teachers and masters in the Academy of Korriban. The Revanite compound is filled with mystery and questions, questions that she wanted answers to.

"You." A voice pointed towards the girl which caught her attention. "You are Lord Zylas Sern's oldest surviving child – I never thought that you would be interested in learning the path of Revane." He was no Sith, from what she was sensing, he was a Jedi before he became a Revanite.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, initiate." He acknowledged the apprentice with a smile. "This is good. You are here because of the Order of Revan, are you ready to die for us?"

Leena was taken aback. Death was not in her to-do-list. "I don't understand?"

"You are very honest." He spoke highly. "But not very wise, young initiate. Consider carefully, for every Revanite must face the Trial of Rebirth. Just as Revan died in the hands of the Jedi and Sith, death freed Revan, left him unbound from all vows and promises. It paved his road to rebirth. Death will free you from your past."

"The Force has guided him to such a path, I'm actually impressed but what if the Force does not intend for me to be reborn like Revan did?" Leena asked. Revan managed to die and live, relearn the ways of the Force. Both sides of the Force and both factions turned against him because it was his destiny, and she was uncertain about hers.

She was even clueless.

"Do not be frightened," The Jedi Master preached. "Change is nothing to fear. Before us is a path beyond the path is a cave, a cave dedicated to Darth Revan. Initiates fall on the path. Initiates are torn apart by things inside the cave. But initiates who reached the end are reborn, just like Revan."

Then she asked. "What if I don't want to change?"

The Jedi smiled. "No one can stop the change, initiate. No more than you can't stop the suns from setting. Now go, and see for yourself. See the path and the cave will be more trying. Survival is not your goal. Trust in the path of Darth Revan. We have nothing more to discuss, young one – you will go to the cave."

The apprentice proceeded to where the shrine was, slaying a couple of beasts in her way. Climbing up the mountain to find a cave from afar. The rain continued to pour, not too far and the wind blows cold. Near the entrance were a couple of droids on stand by to protect.

She didn't know what's inside the cave and she would soon find out. Leena took her chances and walked towards the entrance calmly with a lightsaber in hand. The droids open fired and Leena immediately took them on, slicing them into pieces as she passed by. She could feel a strange power flowing from inside the cave. Some say death would be waiting inside for her, some say that it would make her life better. She would be reborn, like Revan and his followers. The girl took a deep breath as she took her steps inside the cave.

A couple of beasts inside and they weren't any difficult to exterminate – but what caught her attention was the tall shrine of Darth Revan. Much like any shrine to a Darth, the capacity of strength this one held was strong as the tombs she ventured back in Korriban years ago. She climbed up the steps, feeling this powerful sensation around her body.

When she reached the top, she looked at the statue – another masked man. She remembered what her mother said before – she couldn't trust people with masks. Who knows what they want?

The apprentice took a deep breath, as she slowly sat down on a meditation position. Her hands resting on her lap, her head lowered and her eyes closed as she continued to feel the energy around her. The Force speaks for her and will guide her to what she needs to do.

The Force always has a plan.

As soon as she heard sparks and flames bursts around her, the apprentice couldn't help but stand up and look around. From the stairs emerged a man, passing through the flames as if he were a god. Leena's eyes widen as she saw the mask – the mask of Revan. She was confused, he should have been dead. When he passed by the flames, she could feel an even greater power dancing around her. She couldn't avert her gaze away from Revan as he stood there, in front of her presence.

Moments later, she began to feel the shock of lighting running through her body. She knew this kind of painful procedure, it reminded her of the times where she failed and Baras had to "tame: her like a common beast. The pain was real and she couldn't hold it any longer.

Leena found herself surrounded in the dark as she heard a calm and kind female voice. "Life is very beautiful."

The apprentice turned around to find herself in a different room. It was a rather large and bright room. The walls aren't anywhere as bland or metallic as the rooms of the Sith back in Korriban or in her stronghold. There was a warm feeling, a kind, and loving feeling. She saw the woman standing by the small cradle, with a smile on her lips as she watched the stars dance on top of the babe.

Zylas Sern stood there before her as if she was alive.

"Life is very beautiful, isn't it… my little Azal?" The warm kindness on her face brought tears, feeling the warmth of her eyes – the sadness in her heart. The empty void in her heart, the unknown kindness of a mother – she didn't know any of those. Perhaps she did but was too young to even remember.

The more she saw her mother's smile, the emptier she felt. Her mother was inside a Holocron, wanting to guide her – her oldest surviving child in a cruel lifestyle. "The Force may not be with you, but you're special too."

'Azal…' the apprentice recited the familiar name. Her younger sister who she left alone in their father's care. She doesn't know her mother's face, in this case, she didn't remember it and it was understandable. But the saddest reality was that – she doesn't remember what her father nor her sister looked like. With all this horror that came to her family, all because her mother made a single mistake in Alderaan.

Her sister who was not force-sensitive, who knows what could have happened to her since the day she left home. It was already a decade since she last heard or seen her.

It was as if, there were already stars in her life and the Republic killed them all – took those stars, took the light away from her. If it wasn't for the Republic she would still have a mother, she would still have brothers – and she would still be with her father and her sister Azal. She wouldn't be the apprentice of a dark lord named Baras and she would have been free. The Republic allowed the rain to pour hard on her life and she knew that eventually, someone had to kill the stars for her to find how generous the dark is.

Leena jumped from the sound of screams, turning around to no longer find the same warmth and the gentle color of the walls but instead – she found the metallic atmosphere and the dark aura of the Sith. She found herself on the ground, hurt and bleeding.

She remembered this scene.

Baras stood before her knowing that he had a please smile under his metallic mask. Those horrid years of torture for every mistake until she was tamed like an animal. But in this case, she didn't find the dark generous but found it horrid within her Master. And the worse part was that in all those years she suffered under him – she did nothing out of fear. A fear that still haunts her even with her connection to the Force.

Even with constant reminders that the Force is strong with her and yet, she was afraid like a little girl. And even with her age now, she is still a little girl fearing for her life and fearing for those she loved. And perhaps the Republic was right to be at war with the Empire. Perhaps it was right for the Jedi anguish the cruel ways of the Sith – she was a star of her own who was about to burn out all because she surrendered herself to fear.

Though Arrun would argue that she has not yet completely surrendered to fear. For there was not a trace of corruption in her eyes, deep down inside she didn't want to be Sith. She didn't want to be the monster that haunts her every night or hurts her when the sun refuses to show. With every failure, she was reminded of the harshness of the victory of those who stood in the dark.

That sometimes the dark is generous at the same time dangerous.

Leena opened her eyes. Feeling her heartbeat rapidly as she was trying to catch her breath. Like she just got out of prison underwater, wanting to see the light and the sky.

"Ah, there you are." Smiled the Master Jedi who spoke for her first trial. He was seated beside her on a bed, inside of the tent. They were in the compound and for the apprentice, she was confused about what just happened. "You returned dripping with the blood of the womb, you are reborn."

But even with those words – it didn't explain what she saw. She had memories of Baras and she knew those happened but her mother and her sister, she didn't know if they were memories or if the Force allowed her to see the small shine of love and kindness that she could have had in her life. The kind of warmth, the kind of love that she will never receive.

"Your old life, everything you were – all of it is dead and buried inside of that cave." The Jedi master continued to speak. The apprentice tried to focus her gaze on the Jedi. Feeling dizzy, she felt a heavy burden on her body but at the same time her mind was somehow at ease, and yet, there was still conflict inside of her.

The conflict between dark and light.

"The Trial of Rebirth is an examination of your past." He continued to catch the Sith's attention. "You must recognize your burdens, your mistakes, your actions, your identity – then you must be willing to abandon it all through your allegiance with the ways of Revan."

"A-abandon?" Leena grew confused.

"You must forget who you are, initiate. Abandon who you were, become the person who will embrace the ways of Revan – the ways of the light and the dark. For Leena Sern is a dark apprentice and that Leena Sern is dead." The Jedi Master continued to say his piece towards the apprentice. "The Force has a will but it needs a commander."

She remembered Arrun saying those words to her before he left. Freedom is not her ultimate goal but that's what she wanted throughout the years, and she doubted that she would want anything more than to be away from Baras. So, the apprentice asked: "What is your name?"

"I was once known as Jedi Knight Tarun," the master smiled. Helping the girl sit up, offering her some tea he managed to prepare. "It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, both sides of the Force, and other planets and races will help you become whole."

Offering the tea, the apprentice gave him his thanks as he smiled. Seeing those familiar grey eyes, he couldn't help but smile. "You are not the woman you are pretending to be," he spoke as the apprentice looked at the Jedi. Shocked by his words, she didn't truly understand what he was saying. He spoke of rebirth and how she should forget who she is.

But who is she, really?

"It would be easy to forget who I am if I wasn't shackled to my Master. He holds my life and tells me who I am."

Tarun nodded. "That is why Leena Sern is dead. From now on, you will make your own decisions and have your own will. Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. No one is bound to a Master, not even the Jedi – the Force is always with us."

Tarun saw what all Masters live to see – raw untamed power within this young Sith apprentice, and beyond that – was something truly special within her. She had the body of a woman and yet, he knew that there was something inside of her. A conflict within her.

She was lost, much like his former padawan was.

"I know that there are people who want to take care of me," Leena said softly as she took a small sip from her cup. Feeling the warmth of the tea go through her body. "But I need to learn how to take care of myself, by myself."

"You sound like my old padawan." He smiled with fond memories. "Always thinking you need to do things on your own without anyone's support. There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you."

"What if they get hurt because they're helping me?" Leena asked. Knowing that Zylas died trying to get her sons out and bought time for her husband and daughters to escape off-world.

"You're thinking about your mother?" Leena nodded, confirming the question of the Jedi. He paused for a moment giving out a small smile upon the apprentice, as he gently placed his hand onto her head. A comforting smile that was welcomed within the heart of the Sith. "I don't know your mother well but… I know this, if she were to choose to die – she would choose to die protecting you. We're human beings, we will do things for our loved ones that we know we shouldn't do. We would do anything to keep them safe… to keep them happy, mothers would always love their children no matter the cause. They are the first light of our lives."

The mere past of a mother who she doesn't remember, she needed to find a way to let it all go but at the same time, it's the past that defines human beings in the present. The old ways aren't enough, even with the Sith Code teaching her that she should break her chains, she knew freedom to be her ultimate goal – but the Force differs.

It has a different plan for her. The Force is in motion, and they must follow.

"Once you feel better, we will proceed to the second part of your first trial." Said Tarun as he carefully stood up, looking at the girl with a smile still. "Prepare yourself in battle, young Sern."

"Battle? Why?" She grew confused.

"Recognizing your past and accepting are two different things." He began to explain. "You have recognized your burdens, your mistakes, your actions and your own identity – you seem to be willing to abandon who you were and what you were under Darth Baras, therefore the first part of this trial has ended. You must rest, you will battle the Master himself so we may know of your natural abilities and see how they can evolve."

"I thought the Master doesn't show himself to new initiates?"

"The Master has shown himself to you back in the cave. If the Empire wasn't hunting us down, he would have witnessed your skills first hand in combat – therefore, I will stand in as his proxy."

"I'm not good in combat," she said. "You might kill me in the end."

"A good warrior would first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. They understand the need to face and defeat the enemy, and both aspects of the task can be challenging. Both require thought, insight, and planning – but a warrior may forget, that even the task of identifying the enemy, can be difficult and the cost of that failure can lead to catastrophe." It wasn't the words that caught her off guard, but rather that smile upon his lips. "I will see you soon, Leena Sern."

He's a Jedi following the teachings of Revan and he seems to have assured himself that he wouldn't be tainted with the corruption of the dark side of the Force.

Finishing her tea, Leena made sure she had everything with her – considering that someone must have brought her here, she was worried that someone stole something. Luckily, everything she had was still intact.

She oddly had three lightsabers on her belt. One was the one she took from the tomb of Tulak Hord back on Korriban, the other two were the lightsabers of her mother. One was given by Baras, telling her that the lightsabers are her life and the other was given by Darth Occlus who claims to be a friend of her late mother.

Heading out of the tent that was provided for her, Tarun was patiently waiting by the entrance of the compound. With a smile upon his lips, he welcomed the girl to their little journey into the jungle. Feeling the raindrops on her skin, and the heavy mud on her boots – Leena wasn't so comfortable with this planet. Even when Baras bought her a stronghold and placed it under her name.

When the night came into play, Leena was on the ground, catching her breath as the Jedi smiled at her – turning off his lightsaber as he watched the young Sern. They've been at it for a while as they allowed the raindrops to touch the ground and their skins – the girl was tired and the Jedi was rather fond of this one Sith apprentice.

"You have the natural talent of a warrior," the Jedi complimented with a smile still. "But you must learn how to think before you act or else you will lose your head in battle. You must learn how to conquer without being able to do it. You must learn how to be on the defensive as much as you are as knowledgeable in the offensive. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength, however, and attacking is a superabundance of strength. Learn how to balance these and you will be a warrior worthy of the galaxy."

Hence victories do not bring a warrior reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.