A Mismatched Set-Chapter One

A/N: It's been a while since I've managed to upload anything, mostly because I've been working on this, and it looks like it's gonna be a beast. And by that, I mean long and time consuming. Good thing summer's coming up and I'm gonna have a load of free time. Either way, this is pre-KOTOR Revan, aka Revanna, the little girl that would one day become the galaxy's greatest threat and savior. I drew up my own timeline for this story, so it may stray from what's considered canon. Finally, I know Revanna's only six and Trae (aka, the future Jedi Exile) is only five when this takes place, but remember, the children of nobility are often taught to act like adults far sooner than they're meant to... And so, with that fair reader, enjoy! (And review! Please?)

~*~*~*~

Deralia

Mid-Spring, 3978

Revanna Bridgette Jacobin Stormrider was both a tomboy and a bookworm, an unfortunate and unfavorable combination of traits in the youngest daughter of the highest ducal household of Deralia. Because of them, she never managed to keep her fine silk robes and slippers clean and in tact, much to the dismay of her mother, the Duchess Cyeralia Mae Jacobin Stormrider.

Full titles were always used, as well, as was befitting a noble house.

It was enough to make a six year-old girl sick.

So, to escape the many garden parties her mother hosted as soon as the chill of early spring wore off, Revanna would climb a tree with a good databook, or portable holovid if one wasn't available, and would hide until the party was over.

'Psst. Vanna, come down here,' a disembodied voice called.

Revanna stuck her head out of the thick green foliage to see her eldest brother, Finnian waiting for her. Apart from her mother, only Finnian was permitted to call her Vanna, and only she could call him Finn, his childhood nickname; at seventeen he considered himself to be well above such things and would generally only respond if he was referred to as Finnian Xander Jacobin Stormrider.

'Finn, I can't. The minute I come down, Momma's gonna be after me to get cleaned up and talk to some old court crone. I'm happy where I am.'

Finn grinned in amusement as his youngest sister hung from the tree above him, her strawberry-blonde hair obscuring her face.

'Yes, I know, she sent me to fetch you,' he said with a grin, reaching up to catch her under the arms and bring her back down to earth. With gentle hands, he brushed dirt of her clothes and nose, murmuring, 'There you are. Now, have you studied Deralian custom? You know Mother expects you to rattle this off in front of all of her court friends.' He arched a brow as Revanna rubbed her nose, databook tucked tightly under her arm. 'Now, Vanna, tell me why all Deralians wear braids and what they signify,' Finn commanded as he sat in the thick grass at the base of the tree she'd been hiding in. This put him at her eye level, and made it harder for Revanna to avoid the question.

She sighed and rolled her eyes before rattling off, 'We wear them to signify class. Back when the gods first saw fit to bless the people of Deralia with the knowledge of agriculture, they also saw fit to bestow us with the proper way to dress. Those that worked the fields wore a single, thick braid, all the better to keep the hair out of their face. Now, all peasants wear their hair in braids to signify their labor; nobility wear braids to show our support of the lower and middle classes, as well to signify our rank. The more braids a noble wears, the lower their class. The proper number for a family of our rank is two thin braids worn on both sides of the face. Only the King and Queen may go without braids; even their children must wear a single braid on both sides of their heads.'

She finished her spiel and plopped down next to her brother.

'Very well rehearsed, Revanna, but you know Mother will be upset if you deliver it the way you just did. New question: How does naming work on Deralia?'

'Members of the royal family have five names. Nobility has three, other than the great ducal houses, which have four. Peasants have two. 'Jacobin' was Momma's maiden name, which she would have given up if had she been of a lesser ducal house. However, her and Papa's marriage unified two of the four ducal houses upon which the Deralian throne most depends, and therefore, even Papa took on her family's name, in order to show complete conformity between the two families. With the union, we are now the most powerful ducal house on the planet; our books account for nearly eighteen percent of the court's wealth, second only to the King and Queen.'

She finished, looking expectantly at Finn. When he didn't respond, she became irritated and demanded, 'Well?'

'Well, what?'

'How did I do, Finn?'

'Passably, I suppose.'

'Passably?! Only passably? Finn, I know it! I told it all, just the way the Masters of Ceremony taught me and Aidan and Lilian!'

'Aidan Mishkal Jacobin Stormrider and Lilian Eileen Jacobin Stormrider, Vanna,' he gently chided her.

'There's my mistake! It's stupid, Finn, them expecting us to use our full names all the time! At least the lower classes only have two names, but whenever you address nobility, you're out of breath before you even being getting to your point! And Momma won't allow us to just address people by their title... she even gets upset when we call each other by shortened forms, and we're family!'

She huffed as her tirade ended and folded her arms across her chest. Finnian laughed, remembering that he had been just as exasperated with the custom when he was her age.

'Yes, I know it's frustrating, Vanna, but a Deralian's love of tradition is second only to...'

'... his love of family and planet,' Revanna finished, bored as a girl could be. She was extremely intelligent for such a small girl, and Finnian couldn't help but feel pity for her; she was made to jump through hoops that he and their eldest sister, Jaenna, had been made to jump through regardless of the fact that she wouldn't need to know that kind of protocol as an officer in the Deralian Armed Forces.

He stood slowly, taking measured movements to wipe his silk breeches off before offering his hand to his sister. She grasped it, and he swung her up to ride on his shoulders, a pastime Revanna loved, but their mother forbade.

'C'mon, Vanna. We'll head up to the house and see what the rest of our esteemed siblings are up to. If we're lucky, we'll manage to avoid mother and, what did you call them? Ah, yes, those court crones.'

~*~*~*~

'Revanna, GET OFF ME!'

Revanna giggled as she rolled off her eldest sister, Jaenna. At fourteen, Jaenna felt she was far above wrestling and other games the Stormrider children loved to play on the wide, sweeping lawns of their family estate.

'Revanna Bridgette Jacobin Stormrider!'

She froze in her tracks at the ice in her mother's voice. The Duchess was a month overdue in her pregnancy with the youngest and last of the Stormrider children, a boy to be named Joshua Quinn. Her father had already sat all of his children down to explain the dire consequences of upsetting his wife; Revanna had a sinking suspicion she'd be getting a similar lecture after dinner this evening. She turned to face the terrace her mother stood on.

'Yes, Momma?'

The Duchess sighed with impatience. 'Revanna, you're already six. By now you should be broken of the habit of calling me anything other than 'mother'.'

She turned her eyes downward, looking as a properly shamed Deralian girl should.

'Yes, Mother. I'll remember.'

The hard look melted out of Cyeralia's eyes, and Revanna was taken by how beautiful her mother truly was, even at forty, past what most Deralians considered a woman's prime. She had golden brown hair that was styled into plentiful curls pulled into a partial up do with an ornate clasp; her braids hung at her temples. But her most striking feature was her eyes, which were a blue brighter than the Deralian sky. Of her siblings, Revanna was the only one to inherit her mother's eyes. When paired with the strawberry blonde hair all of the Stormrider children had inherited from their father, it made for an adorable girl who would one day grow into a beautiful woman.

Or so all the courtiers told her parents.

Just then, Duke Ferdinand Rimmonad Jacobin Stormrider came out to join his wife in watching their five children. He, too, was an impressive man. At sixty years of age, the hair that had been red as a child was white now, but his green eyes were still bright and intelligent; his entire demeanor was that of a man many years younger than him. His hair was styled in the same fashion as her brothers and other Deralian men: the braids that distinguished their class were tight to their scalps with the rest pulled into a short horsetail. He was a man that loved his family dearly, even if he did it from a distance.

Revanna smiled at the image of her parents, and went to turn back to play with her siblings.

Suddenly, a shout arose from her father. When she had turned back, her mother was hunched over the railing in pain, supported by her husband.

'Finnian, Aidan! Run for a healer! It's the baby!'

~*~*~*~

The boys hadn't been able to find a healer, but they came back with the next best thing.

They came back with a Jedi.

Revanna stood in the marble hall outside of her parent's chambers, clutching the thick velvet draperies and watched as Finn, flanked by men at arms dressed in the livery of the Stormrider house, escorted the Jedi to the Duchess.

He was a hard man, dark as ebony and completely bald. In fact, the only hair on his head, as far as Revanna could see, was the goatee and short beard he wore, both of which were completely white.

He looked at her as he entered the chamber, and suddenly, Revanna felt rooted to the spot, and with certainty she knew that man knew things about herself that she had yet to discover.

The feeling passed in an instant, leaving Revanna cold and shivering.

~*~*~*~

All of the children were allowed into see their mother that evening. The Jedi had used what he called the Force (her father called it the will of the gods) to ease the birth of their newest sibling. Joshua slept comfortably on his mother's breast, oblivious to the curious stares he was at the center of.

Revanna approached cautiously. Something felt off about the room, something that made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

She scanned the room.

Her mother and brother were fine... two men at arms at the doorway, standard for a sick noble... her father at her mother's side... there, the Jedi, trying to be discreet behind the window draperies.

His presence set Revanna on edge; he had something in mind, something to do with her.

She went to her family, huddling close to Finn for comfort.

After half an hour had passed, her father entered.

'Children, take your leave. Your mother needs rest.'

Revanna began to file out with the rest, only to find that her father had a firm hold on her left shoulder.

'Not you, Revanna. Your mother and I have something we must discuss with Jedi Bindo, and as it concerns you, you have the right to be present.'

She turned out of his grip, squaring her shoulders and facing the Jedi as he came out of the shadows. The look on her young face was indescribable. If she'd been any taller than his hip, and if he hadn't been told she was merely six years old, Jolee would have sworn he was facing down a grown woman.

'Lady Revanna,' he began, acutely aware that the eyes of her parents were on him, 'you have the markings of a possible Force user. Do you know what the Force is?'

Clear blue eyes bored into his, chilling him.

'The Force is what a Jedi commands; he can wield it to fight for him, or heal his wounds. It also connects all life, according to Jedi doctrine.'

'A simple, but acceptable answer.'

Oh, she hadn't liked that response. Jolee fought to control his smirk. This was a girl who was used to always getting the right answers, used to always being praised by her instructors. If the Jedi Counsel on Coruscant decided she was worthy of training, she would need to lose that expectation, and lose it in a hurry.

He took his gaze from her to focus on her parents, perched on their bed crooning over the new baby.

'Your Grace, I would like to take your daughter to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for testing; if they decide she is strong enough in the Force to merit training, she would stay there.'

'Stay there?' the Duchess queried, her voice sounding fatigued.

'Children taken into the Jedi Temple to be trained are... encouraged to break all ties with their families... the measure is in place to ensure they focus only on their studies.'

The Duchess looked alarmed.

'There are High Holidays she needs to be home for. Joining the Jedi order does not excuse her from her duties as a noble daughter.'

The Duchess' jaw had the same stubbornness to it as her daughter's; this woman was not going to let go of her child, at least not completely. The Duke cut in.

'Revanna, would you be interested in going to Coruscant to join the Order?'

The girl looked unsure.

'Keep in mind, child, that as our youngest daughter, your role in this family would be to, at one point, serve in our armed forces. All noble houses make this contribution, and you and Joshua are expected to do our family name proud in this faculty. However, you have been giving the option of joining the order of Jedi Knights. Joining them would not be considered shirking your duties; it would in fact be considered going over and above them.'

Revanna's eyes were focused on the plush rug beneath her parents' bed.

'Father, may I have a night to think it over?'

The Duke looked a Jolee and nodded. 'I think that would be alright. You are dismissed, Revanna. We wish to have your answer before breakfast tomorrow morning.'

With that, she left to join her siblings in the children's wing.

Jolee watched her retreat, knowing the answer already.

~*~*~*~

Deralia

Late Spring, 3978

Revanna leaned on a railing at the starship port, watching Jolee speak to two people, apparently the parents of another girl that was going to be sent to the Jedi Temple for testing. Secretly, Revanna was relived to know that she would be traveling with another girl from her home world, although she didn't allow it to show.

The girl traveling with her was a fine boned thing, with amber colored eyes and hair that was black as pitch. She, too, was a noble, but a lesser one, wearing two braids on only the left side of her face and the rest of her hair in a bun held by copper wire. Revanna recognized the adults vaguely, the Baron and Baroness Starmaker, distant relatives of her mother's; she then realized that the girl being sent with her was Trae Corinnina Starmaker, her fourth cousin (or something of that sort) and her junior by a full calendar year.

Revanna turned her back on the scene and leaned over the edge of the railing to look down. It was said that the view from the Deralian Space Port was one of the most magnificent in the world, and she wanted her eyeful incase she never had the chance to return.

The port was built on top of a waterfall, the tallest in all of Deralia and offered a stunning view of the Kupali Valley. The Valley was a mix of lush forest and the country homes that the planet's nobility and the upper middle class used during the warmer months. Revanna allowed a small smile to play across her lips as she found her own family's estate, imagining that her brothers and sisters were playing on the lawns as her parents watched on with baby Joshua.

Just then, she felt the other girl come up on her right side.

'I'm Trae,' she stated plainly.

Revanna looked the girl over with cool blue eyes. She was quiet and held her ground, waiting for an answer.

'Aren't you missing two names?'

Trae's face split into a wide grin. 'My full title is Trae Corinnina Starmaker, but you knew that. You and I are cousins, Revanna Bridgette Jacobin Stormrider. Our mothers share a great-aunt.'

'Great-great aunt,' Revanna automatically corrected.

Trae screwed up her face in distaste at the response.

'Don't tell me you're one of those court drones, too... being able to rattle off our history may be interesting, but it won't help anybody, much less ourselves if we're constantly out of breath from the speeches.'

Revanna started and felt the smile well up inside her and grinned back at Trae. For as young as she was, the girl had nerve and the same apparent dislike of the tradition that had bound both of their short lives since birth.

'I've a feeling, Trae; we're going to be far closer than most cousins. It looks like Jolee's ready to go. We'd better board.'

The girls managed one last glance at the falls before only stars filled their view.