After many hours, Ayanna slowly made her way through to the cockpit of the ship. It was a struggle for her as the headbutt she had recieved gave her a booming headache which effected her balance, but she tried her best. She finally walked into the cockpit and sat herself on the seat.

"Ah you're back! I was worried for a while there..... You should consider yourself lucky to be still alive! It was only too late when I found out how dangerous Li really is....."

"Lucky? That's not how I would call it...... Well at least I know it was him...... Argh, was my own fault anyway...... I followed him when he went to leave for a few minutes, I was concerned that he was going to track you down...." She said placing her hand over the wound on her shoulder.

"Well, I contacted both Vader and the Academy, Vader was not happy at all when I reported what happened...... The Academy knows that he is now considered a fugitive....... So if he's stupid enough to return to Korriban then we'll have him in no time..... Unfortunately, I don't think he's that stupid...... So do you have any idea where he might be going?"

"No...... He didn't say so much.... Just that I wasn't worthy to die at his blade..... Yet...... He said he would wait, and seek me out when I'm ready...." She sighed with a sad look on her face, "He went over my scar again...... He pierced me with his lightsaber when I was a child..... He thought he had killed me..... And for a while I thought he had too......"

"Well luckily he didn't and your wound will heal perfectly, but yeah, that will not make your old scar disappear...... Old scars never disappear......" He said in a serious tone.

"Where did you find me? I don't remember much what happened..... I went after him, and then suddenly he attacked me and was holding me to the wall, choking me around my neck..... I couldn't even scream...... Next thing I remember is I'm waking up here with a splitting headache and a gaping shoulder...."

"I found you in some sleazy chamber where most men go to have some fun with the slaves... You know?..... That is all I know.... When I got there, Li was probably long gone......"

"Wait, why are we in space?! I know the situation with Li put us back but I still have research to do....." She said concerned at Kalin's move.

"Well concerning your research...... There's something I have to tell you..... And this might be a shock..... Li killed your parents and wanted to kill you out of vengence....."

"Vengence for what?! We hadn't done anything! My father was a simple farmer..... I was a child....." She said confused.

"Yes but...... Vader told me who the child was your mother abandonned on Ryloth..... It was Li himself...... He's your brother....." He tried to speak with careful words but he knew this surely came as a big shock.

"That...... That's not true...... It can't be..... The baby died.... It MUST have died...... It's not Li!" She said shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm only telling you what Vader told me, and I don't see any reason why he would lie..... I can't deny or confirm the story..... But you said yourself, you didn't know a motive to kill your parents...... So you can't deny the possibility....."

Ayanna sat in shock, she couldn't believe what he had told her. It was too much, but at the same time, she knew it was the truth. When they had met on Ryloth in the club, it wasn't necessarily the killer of her parents she recognised, but her mother's own eyes. He too has them as she has.

"He is...... He is..... My brother...... He's.... Just like me...... My mother..... Argh.... She never wanted a boy..... She felt girls were pure...... She left him on Ryloth...... How could she do that........" She spoke quietly.

"I wish I could give you an answer, but I know as much as you do....."

"I don't suppose there would be any way of convincing him to talk to me without the intention to kill me...... I didn't do anything to him.... And okay..... Now I understand why he did what he did..... Hell..... I would have done the same...... I still hate him for what he did but..... To be abandoned by your mother and left on a rotten planet such as Ryloth...... And whatmore, she got another family under her belt....... Just unbelievable......" She said sadly.

"Even if you could reason with him, how are you going to find him..... You said yourself you have no idea where he's going......" Kalin tried to reason with Ayanna in this matter as it seemed she was too desperate to solve this matter.

"He will find me when the time is right...... When I've matured more in my skills I guess..... Not too much though of course...... Otherwise he would know that he didn't hold a good chance of beating me....... So strange why he didn't just kill me....... He could've ended all of his anguish......."

"Well, from my experience, he didn't kill you because, as you said, you weren't much of a challenge, and he loves challenges...... In his missions he toyed a lot with his victims, made them suffer as much as he could.... As long as it stayed challenging...... If it wasn't, he just killed them on the spot...... That is just how he works..... I'm not sure if it's something personal....."

"You knew him though..... As a friend......." She asked curious.

"Friend is a big word..... I knew him from the Academy..... But he was one of the Dark Jedi who bullied me...... Of course when I was recruited, that stopped in an instant..... We shared some conversations, mostly about 'business', but we never got close as friends......" He said in a serious manner.

"Well, looks like I don't have much time left then do I...... There's no way I'll be able to beat him..... And something tells me you won't be around to help me when he does decide to confront me....." She spoke sadly.

"Then you'll just have to stay close to me, so we can face him together.... Then it should be no problem to get rid of him..... Once and for all..... At least, if that is what you want....." Kalin was not sure on this matter as Li was still her brother.

"I don't know..... I guess only time will tell..... You talk about us facing him together, but no doubt when we get back to Korriban we will be assigned different missions...... It was only due to training that I have stuck with you so long..... And I know that it has been longer than you intended...... Don't misunderstand me.... I know the things you said to Li about me being an annoyance and such were just for show but I can't help feel that a part of it is from truth...... I don't want to be a burden to you all the time and this mission to Ryloth has proven to me that I've wasted your time.... And at too much cost......"

"I'm not going to let something happen to you, Ayanna.... I won't let you face this butcher alone...." Kalin pointed out.

"I'm not your responsibility Kalin..... You are to do Vader's will..... Not babysit a rookie like me...... Your patience with me has already been surprising...... You've now been brought into my own business..... And I know it was not your intention nor mine but..... It's now become a family business as it were...... You can't tell you you're actually interested in all of this...... You once told me that you hated teaming up, that you liked being solo and yet you've been stuck with me....... And..... It's not fair on you......." She said, rubbing at her neck which was now bruised in a dark blue and black colour.

"People change.... You've changed me.... I was a lot more selfish before I knew you.... Thought only about myself and my success.... Now, I care for more than just myself, but for you too...... That is why I want to help you...." This was really a big thing for Kalin to say. He felt uneasy saying it, but he had to.

Ayanna felt a little nervous about what he said, and not sure whether he was being serious or not.

"You really know how to confuse me Kalin..... One minute you act like you can't stand me, the other you act like you don't know I'm there, and the rest of the time you're laughing at me!" She said laughing herself, "I never know where you're coming from...... I always..... I always thought you'd kill me at some point actually..... Was always like I was just waiting for it to happen..... Guess that's why I'm surprised that you want to help me with this Li issue...." She spoke quietly.

"Oh who knows.... Maybe I just want to kill Li first and then you afterwards! It's maybe because I want to kill you two at the same time! You know? Like a family carnage? Would make things easier for me I think...." He laughed.

"Well, I've already been apart of one family carnage, that's quite enough for me for one lifetime..." She spoke a little hurt concerning all that had happened recently.

"Yeah maybe that wasn't so funny as I intended it to be.... Anyway, as I said, I will help you....."

Ayanna sat back into her chair, still trying to recover from the run in with Li....... Her brother.....

The Thranta had travelled many hours in the darkness of Hyperspace. Another long journey that Kalin had to suffer. Kalin thought back of Ayanna, he knew that she did not like the situation that Kalin was sent by himself to kill Li as she was personally attached to this matter. He felt guilty that she couldn't join him.

Suddenly a transmission opened, "Kalin.... Kalin do you copy?" It was one of the instructors from the Academy on Korriban.

"I copy... What is it now?" He asked annoyed.

"It's about Ayanna....." They paused to see if he would speak.

"Don't tell me.... You can't locate her....." He smiled as he had an idea of what happened.

"No we can't! We've searched the entire Academy, she's no where to be found! And no one has seen anything of her since the interrogation! Where is she?"

"I have no idea.... How would I know where she is?" He said sarcastically.

"Just tell us if you hear anything from her!" The transmission ended.

Kalin walked back to the sleeping quarters. He stood by the bed and spoke, "You can come out now...."

Ayanna popped her head out of the bottom of the bed, "Where you referring to me?" She said in an innocent way.

"No, I thought Gardulla the Hutt was hiding under the bed... My mistake!" He grinned.

Ayanna pulled herself from underneath the bed, she had a little look of guilt on her face but also a slight smile.

"Well.... Em, what can I say really...."

Kalin sighed for he was happy but also concerned with her presence. He didn't feel guilty anymore now that she was with him as he wanted her to be with him in the first place to solve this mission. But no doubt, this would get her into trouble which made her presence uncomfortable. He sighed once more,

"What am I going to do with you?" He said shaking his head.

"Common, did you really think I was going to stay on that dusty rocks with those old farts.... I don't think so.... Plus who says you get to have all the fun..." She said walking passed him towards the cockpit.

"This isn't about fun Ayanna, we're on a dangerous mission... Well, there's no point arguing.... I've set the coordinates for Nar Shaddaa but if you have a better idea where he's going then I'll change the flight path...."

"I don't know.... He may be my brother but I don't know him..... If you think Nar Shaddaa is a good idea then, we'll go..." She said sitting back in her seat and getting herself comfortable for the rest of the long journey.

"Well the only reason I chose Nar Shaddaa is because a lot of criminals hide there.... I thought it would be the best start to look for him.... But there's no guarantee if he's truly there..... There could be a thousand other systems he could be on..." Kalin was silent for a moment as he was thinking, "Hmm, maybe it's better to go back to Ryloth.... No doubt he's probably not there anymore, but maybe we can find out there where he truly went to.... Going to Nar Shaddaa would be a rough gamble, so what do you think?"

"I agree, it would be a better choice..... There are surveillance systems on Ryloth, he was in the restaurant with us, if we can check the cams to see what happened, not only to me, but where he went...... Also, we need to find out where his ship was situated..... Did he land at a port? Or elsewhere? Then we can find out where he went.... If we can anyway....." Ayanna thought for a moment about what the ramifications would be on going back to Korriban in future, "Hmmm, I wonder if the instructors think me to be just like my brother now.... Disobeying orders..... Vanishing into thin air.... Hmmm, I'll be punished for this won't I..... No matter.... Aslong as this has been completed, and Li is.... Dead.... Then I don't mind to follow him...." She said quietly.

Kalin nodded, "About the Academy, I think it's best to fix it now instead of just waiting and keep them uninformed....."

Kalin opened up a transmission to the Sith Academy,

"Masters, I have located Ayanna.... She's right next to me...." He laughed, "But don't worry, if anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility..... Bye now!" Kalin immediately shut the transmission down before any reply could be made. He smiled back to Ayanna to give her a little bit of hope that no punishment would come. But he wasn't sure if he could really alter her fate.