~Ravenchild~
By: Lone Draco
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Obi, Qui or anything that I don't own…that the lovely Mr. Lucas owns. I do own Raven, and I own her family, also in the few chaps/ sequels to come, I own the new characters there…everything else is the happy property of Lucas Films.
An: Well…here it is, for all my friends who know me as Jedi Ravenchild…here's her history…plus some happy slash for the happy slash reader! I hope you enjoy and please take the all of two minutes to review, like or hate!
" And no one shall call her master, only those who fear shall address her as 'Jedi'."
~From the Journals of Apollo~
The lone child stood on the high dune, her steady gaze on the twin suns dipping below the horizon of her home world, Apollo. The tan cloak that hung on her shoulders seemed to fade into the mass of sand that rested at her boot-clad feet, causing her to blend into the desert world that surrounded her vision on all sides. Her hood lay against her golden-toned neck and reviled the sandy-blonde hair that was tossed by the wind and painted the greens and blues of the sunset.
"Raven!" A sharp voice drifted across the sands to play in her ears before scuttling away. Raven turned and squinted across the sand to see her mother calling to her from their keep. She sighed and cast a final glance at the sunset and the appearing stars before collecting her cloak about her waist and running towards the lanky woman who awaited her.
From inside the door Raven's uncle regarded her mother with eyes the color of plants that would never flourish on this planet. "She unnerves me Alodai," he commented before taking a small sip from his cup of fern- flavored tea. "She knows things and does things no 5 year old should do, she sits still for long times on end, she studies and thinks and knows to much," He rose and came to stand beside his sister to watch his niece stalk the sands like the desert creature she was.
"You worry to much Geri," Alodai replied shading her eyes to make sure her daughter was crossing the sand carefully. "We are people of a difference than most, with that comes the expectancy of different habits, after her father's death there was not much for her to do but be silent," The girl in question was only a few yards away now and her strange, pale silver eyes stood out from the same-colored land.
"Too quiet," he muttered before turning back into the house. Alodai glared at him for a moment before dropping to her knee and offering her arms to her daughter. The young girl stopped a few feet before her and bowed in the formal greeting of her planet before she stepping into that warm embrace. She leaned against her mother for a moment before stepping back and studying the older woman's face.
"There are visitors mother," She slipped past the woman's arms and walked into the house with a manner that was far beyond her 5 years. Alodai stood and looked to the quickly darkening sky and was not shocked to note the incoming ship that skimmed across the higher sand dunes. The woman ran a weathered hand through her graying hair and walked back into her house, putting another batch of soup in the kettle.
* * * * *
Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped down from the starship and glanced over his shoulder for his lover. Qui-Gon Jinn smiled at his young apprentice /Now my young knight/ he reminded himself before taking his first step onto the desert planet, his rucksack slung over his left shoulder.
"The nearest keep is that way," the younger man stated, pointing in the general direction of north. The gray-haired man quirked an eyebrow at the lack of preciseness that his padawan /his knight…no longer my imp Obi- Wan/ usually showed. The spoken man shrugged and explained. "The sand messed up my data read-out, so I couldn't find an exact place, but there is strong evidence that there is a human gifted in the force residing there," The tall man nodded, it was why the council had requested they take this mission, a hopefully non-dangerous one that would strengthen both the knights, and would be a come-back for Qui-Gon from his brush with death. The younger man sensed the way his master's /your master no-longer/ thoughts had turned and he snuggled into the crook of the man's arm.
"Alright, my Obi. Let us go see what this person is all about," Both knights began their walk towards the keep they knew lay beyond the dunes.
* * * * *
"They have no idea how to survive in the desert mother," Raven's voice was soft, but aged. Her sentences well thought out and her tones matter-of-fact. She slowly pulled on her cloak and headed towards the door. "They may be only 10 leagues away but there are many dangers to two off- worlders in 10 leagues, I'll bring them to the house and that's all, I know that stretch of sand well, there are no pits or sand-dogs," her eyes were level with her determination and her mother lowered her head to show her defeat. /Out spoken by my 5 year old daughter/ Her brother's words swan through her head 'She knows things, and does things no 5 year old should know'. Watching the small figure on the dunes she shook her head as if to rid it of the thoughts and silently cursed Geri. /Her father's death was the cause/ she told herself, as if to calm the nerves that grew in the base of her spine.
Raven padded silently along the darkened sand, her soft footsteps leaving no prints as she moved, her ears remained alert for any sound that would give away the presence of a sand-dog. Or the two off-worlders for that matter. There. The small sound of shifting sound made by none that knew the planet, no desert creature dared be that noisy for fear of detection. She confirmed her direction when a rumbling voice drifted over the sand.
"I sense a slight disturbance in the force Ma…Qui-gon." The voice, dangerously loud for the night was replied by another, deeper voice.
"I sense it as well my Obi, we must be getting closer to this person." Raven ducked low and covered her hair with her cloak and stalked along the other side of the dune where the two men walked. The sounds of their footsteps told her more about the visitors. Warriors of some kind, prideful, yet serene, powerful, yet had tranquility, and defiantly men of the city or firm ground. She slowly scaled the sand to walk silently behind them, as a cat would stalk its unsuspecting prey.
Suddenly the younger man tensed and his partner looked down at him with stunning sapphire eyes, the bluest Raven could ever remember seeing.
"Obi?" The question was more in those eyes than spoken, and the younger man, Obi, slowly looked around them. Raven dropped to the ground to blend with the sand.
"We are being followed…by what I cannot place, but it is there and it seems to mean us no harm," Raven saw the older man wrap a protective arm around the other man before dropping it quickly and looking her direction. /I am the sand, I am the dune, the desert is my home/ She chanted to herself silently to calm her racing nerves. She felt a brush, a touch of something, something she couldn't place, on the edge of her mind before it slipped away. The deeper voice, which she now associated with the taller man spoke first to his partner.
"It's her, the one with the force, but I cannot spot her, but her mind is there, subtly, but there."
"Are you sure it isn't some desert mouse?" The softer voice asked, Obi, Raven remembered and then she felt another brush of that same something on the edge of her mind. "No, you're right, it's something with the mental capacity far more than any simple desert mouse…almost human I would say."
"I agree…but where?" Raven could almost feel those bluer than blue eyes on her as they scanned the dunes for something alive. Slowly she stood, her hood still covering her face from the off-worlders.
"Qui?" Obi-wan asked as he looked at what seemed to be the dune coming to life. " Qui-gon, is that her?" The younger knight looked up to his former master with his own clover-green eyes and his hand slowly went to his side, were Raven could see a strange saber-like thing. She had heard of such weapons, but only in legends, and never seen one in the flesh or on the flesh of a real person.
"You are not of the desert are you?" The sound of her voice surprised the men, her tongue that of standard speak. Obi-wan looked up to his partner and received his look of approval before answering the demand of the girl before him.
"No we are not. If you could help us, we are looking for the household nearest here, we have a request of the tenets." Raven pushed back her hood and fixed her silver eyes on the men sizing them up.
"You stand less than 9 leagues from my keep. You may follow me there, however, if you wish to survive that 9 leagues I suggest you walk softer." She squared her shoulders and walked closer to them. "If I can hear you, the sand dogs of this area can surely also hear you, and their diet has been lacking of human for some time." She now stood less than five feet from the men and she took the chance to study them once again.
Both of them stood strait, and with what seemed years of study and orderly training. They wore matching black cloaks over off-white leggings and shirts, adorned with darker brown belts and topped with tall, soft, black boots. The shorter man, /Obi/ she reminded herself, stood slightly back from the taller one, in a fashion that seemed to have resulted from years of habit, his hair falling about shoulder length and in a color that she had never seen on the desert world, where everyone's hair blended with the sand or was black as the night with no stars. This man's hair was a strange reddish brown that reminded her of the sunset. Her silver eyes traveled up to the older man, his eyes were that stunning blue and his hair was much longer, reaching his middle back, also in a shade she had never seen in the desert. A chestnut shimmering with streaks of gray, that commanded more respect than they showed weakness.
// She's too old for her years // Obi-wan commented in bond speech to his lover. He knelt in front of the girl and offered a hand.
"Thank you, we will take your advice, for we do not know the way of this land." Raven looked at the hand for a second before taking it. //That's my obi// Qui-gon smiled through the bond before also kneeling to make eye contact with the strange girl.
"Hello, I am Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my Appr…partner Obi-Wan Kenobi," Raven looked at him for another moment before taking his hand as well. Both of their hands, she noted, were weathered and callused.
"I'm…"
"RAVEN," Her uncle's voice came across the sand. She sighed and walked past the two men.
"This way," Silently Obi-wan looked at Qui-gon, who returned his look, before they followed the girl.
From the keep Geri turned and addressed Alodai. "She's coming, and she's got two off worlders," The dark-haired woman nodded and walked to the door, opening it for her daughter and the two men that flanked her. The off worlders stopped a few feet in front of her and bowed to which she returned her bow. They then followed her daughter inside.
"Mother, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi," Raven's soft but demanding voice brought her to look again at her visitors. Her eyes widened slightly and she bowed to them again.
"Masters, it is my honour," Both men looked startled for a moment before Qui-gon smiled slightly and returned her bow.
"Alodai, your husbands memory still lives in the temple," It was a simple, routine response when a Jedi came in contact with the family of the dead, but it was enough for the widowed woman.
She smiled slightly and moved further into the keep, her brother's and Raven's eyes on her and the men that followed. She pulled out the extra two chairs and coughed slightly, causing the young girl to jump to her feet and grab two sandstone bowls and place them on the table. Geri eyed the jedi for another moment before resigning to his room. Alodai sat across from the two men, and Raven sat playing with her kaigi bird in the brightest corner. Obi Wan shifted and looked at his master silently.
//Who was her husband? // His bond-voice was slightly confused.
//Do you remember your old poetry instructor, Knight Demitan? That was her husband, he was killed in on a mission a few years ago, the girl must have only been 1 or 2, it broke the family's heart, I never expected to see them here. // Obi-Wan nodded slightly to show he understood and then fixed his gaze on the girl in the corner. She sat silently with the kaigi bird, a native species, ( a brightly colored creature with clawed feet that were used for climbing ( rubbing it's head as the thing almost purred into her touch. //She's too quiet for a five year old ma…Qui-Gon//
//I agree, that's why we're here my Obi// The older man then looked at the woman who he had only seen in faded holographs before.
"Alodai, as you know, the force makes no mistakes, and has no coincidences. There was a reason for our arrival here," His words were thought out and well said, the woman studied him with startling gold eyes, before looking down into her cup of tea.
"You came for my daughter didn't you?" Raven's head turned slightly and Obi-Wan noticed how she watched the conversation and speakers out of the corner of her eye, while looking to be completely occupied. It startled him that a five-year-old girl knew how to trick one who thought she wasn't listening.
"She is gifted in the force, and could easily be trained as a jedi. However we need your and her consent," Alodai nodded to her daughter and the girl stood and walked over to the table. She bowed her head to each man before taking her own seat.
"Raven, these men are(" the girl interrupted politely.
"Jedi, I know…like father. Why are they here?" Obi-Wan noted again how she made it seem as if she hadn't been listening. He smiled at her warmly, but at the same time was unnerved by the tact on her part. No five- year-old should be able to plan like that.
"They want to take you to the temple…and train you to be a jedi, like father was." The girl turned her silver eyes on Qui-Gon and the elder knight returned her gaze.
"So why don't they just take me then?" She asked the question almost as a challenge to his former master, yet her mother brushed the undertones aside and answered.
"They need your consent," Raven turned and fixed her eyes on Obi-Wan, he felt like he was being read, and his mental shields snapped into place. /Easy Obi…the girl has no training/ he calmed himself and lowered his shields.
"They said they needed yours too." There, she had revealed she was listening.
"Yes, and I give it, how may I keep you from something that was in your blood? It's your choice, and even if I could choose for you, I wouldn't." //Well said// Qui-gon spoke through the bond and the younger knight nodded slightly to show his agreement. The young girl studied them both for another few seconds before nodding almost to herself.
"I will always be a person of the desert mother, but this is the path I need to take." Both jedi shared a glance before nodding.
"Pack your things then." Her mother's voice was thick with hidden emotion and Raven smiled at her before sliding form the chair and padding into an adjoining room. " Take care of my girl, as you took care of my husband." The comment was almost a plea and it was directed at Qui-Gon more than at Obi-Wan.
"We will Alodai, we will." Obi-Wan also nodded to her and turned to watch the girl as she entered carrying a small backpack. The kaigi bird sat on its perch in the corner, and as if it sensed its only friend was leaving, it launched into the air and began shrieking in high tones. Raven dropped her back and walked over to the animal, placing a small hand on its head and rubbing him slightly behind the ear. Slowly the bird calmed and became docile once again, its breathing slowing to the normal rhythm of sleep.
"You may bring him if you wish," Qui-Gon's words startled his bond- mate and Obi-Wan looked up at him in question.
" She is too much a desert creature," Raven left it at that and returned to get her backpack, slinging it over a shoulder. She walked over to her mother and paused for a moment, as if thinking what to say or do, before she launched into the other woman's arms. "I love you mom, I'll see you again," she pulled her mother close before backing away again. Both jedi bowed to Alodai and walked out the door, Raven at their heels. Alodai watched the trio with worried eyes until she could no longer see them as they slipped behind a dune. Slowly she raised a sleeve to dab at her moist eyes.
"So we've lost another one to the Order have we?" Geri's hard voice was filled with hate for the two off-worlders that had 'stolen' his niece from him. His memories were only those of his brother-in-law's death and how the council had played the part of sending him to the planet before it had been gassed by the federation.
"Be gone with you Geri," She muttered before walking back into the house, whispering silently to the wind that played in the window. "Be careful, my Ravenchild."
* * * * *
Qui-Gon sat at the controls and carefully piloted out of the dunes, Obi-Wan and Raven standing at his back. The young girl watched with utter amazement as he went through the routine procedures for leaping into hyperspace, and her eyes were larger than either man had even seen them as they actually made the jump. The older jedi switched the starship into autopilot and the trio walked into the main bay area.
Taking her seat, Raven began to shiver slightly and Obi-Wan offered her a blanket. Taking it she smiled at him slightly before slipping back into her silence. //Qui…how long till we get to the temple?// the younger man asked through bond-speech. Both men were tired and both could use rest.
//I believe maybe another couple of hours// the reply was equally exhausted and Obi-Wan sent a wave of comfort to soothe his tired lover.
//Actually, I think, it's more about an hour// Both knights looked at each other, confusion evident in their eyes.
//That wasn't me Qui//
//Nor I// Both heads turned to look at the young girl. //Raven? // The gray- haired man touched the edge of her mind with his, and was surprised to see the silver and blue threads of a bond with himself and Obi-wan evident in her force signature.
//Yes, Master Qui-Gon? // Obi-Wan had sat in silence until this point; he carefully raised his shields to the new presence in his mind and spoke only to his bond-mate.
//Qui, this is impossible. Not in the history of the council, or the order, have people been able to sustain a life-bond, as we share, and another bond. There is no record of such a thing, yet here we sit, bonded with this child…she's only five Qui! // The older men read his mate's eyes and the evident confusion and worry there.
//Easy, love. No one can take me from you. // He sent an image of his arms wrapped around the thinner man and a wave of love and comfort through the bond. //We will take this up with the council when we arrive. Until then, I suggest we stop shielding her, as she seems to know when we are doing so. // Obi had to smile at that and he obeyed; dropping his mental shields to allow the girl.
"I apologize Raven. I was…surprised at a new being in my mind. It's been only Qui-Gon for so long." He offered her a hand, which she took in a sign of forgiveness. The other knight had watched this exchange in silence before offering his own hand to her. She accepted again before leaning back into the chair and watching the stars and wonders of space through one of the port windows.
* * On Coruscant * *
Both knights stood at complete attention under the eyes of the council. The wizened master watched them with studious yellow eyes.
"A soul bond, this is not. Understand yet what it is, we do not. Research the council will do. May the force be with you. " Both of the men bowed and backed out the door. Once outside they shared a silent look and both understood the worries and fears that lay in that look were released into each other's minds.
"Easy Obi, I won't leave you, not for anyone…I wouldn't share you if I could. But it seems the force has had another view for us." He offered a smile and sent a wave of love, support and loyalty across the bond ties. The younger man stood silently for a moment, and when he spoke, it was cautious with his words, which were spoken in a slight whisper.
"Maybe, maybe the force has granted us with the child we could never have," He looked up with soft blue-green eyes and smiled slightly.
"Maybe it has, maybe it has."
By: Lone Draco
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Obi, Qui or anything that I don't own…that the lovely Mr. Lucas owns. I do own Raven, and I own her family, also in the few chaps/ sequels to come, I own the new characters there…everything else is the happy property of Lucas Films.
An: Well…here it is, for all my friends who know me as Jedi Ravenchild…here's her history…plus some happy slash for the happy slash reader! I hope you enjoy and please take the all of two minutes to review, like or hate!
" And no one shall call her master, only those who fear shall address her as 'Jedi'."
~From the Journals of Apollo~
The lone child stood on the high dune, her steady gaze on the twin suns dipping below the horizon of her home world, Apollo. The tan cloak that hung on her shoulders seemed to fade into the mass of sand that rested at her boot-clad feet, causing her to blend into the desert world that surrounded her vision on all sides. Her hood lay against her golden-toned neck and reviled the sandy-blonde hair that was tossed by the wind and painted the greens and blues of the sunset.
"Raven!" A sharp voice drifted across the sands to play in her ears before scuttling away. Raven turned and squinted across the sand to see her mother calling to her from their keep. She sighed and cast a final glance at the sunset and the appearing stars before collecting her cloak about her waist and running towards the lanky woman who awaited her.
From inside the door Raven's uncle regarded her mother with eyes the color of plants that would never flourish on this planet. "She unnerves me Alodai," he commented before taking a small sip from his cup of fern- flavored tea. "She knows things and does things no 5 year old should do, she sits still for long times on end, she studies and thinks and knows to much," He rose and came to stand beside his sister to watch his niece stalk the sands like the desert creature she was.
"You worry to much Geri," Alodai replied shading her eyes to make sure her daughter was crossing the sand carefully. "We are people of a difference than most, with that comes the expectancy of different habits, after her father's death there was not much for her to do but be silent," The girl in question was only a few yards away now and her strange, pale silver eyes stood out from the same-colored land.
"Too quiet," he muttered before turning back into the house. Alodai glared at him for a moment before dropping to her knee and offering her arms to her daughter. The young girl stopped a few feet before her and bowed in the formal greeting of her planet before she stepping into that warm embrace. She leaned against her mother for a moment before stepping back and studying the older woman's face.
"There are visitors mother," She slipped past the woman's arms and walked into the house with a manner that was far beyond her 5 years. Alodai stood and looked to the quickly darkening sky and was not shocked to note the incoming ship that skimmed across the higher sand dunes. The woman ran a weathered hand through her graying hair and walked back into her house, putting another batch of soup in the kettle.
* * * * *
Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped down from the starship and glanced over his shoulder for his lover. Qui-Gon Jinn smiled at his young apprentice /Now my young knight/ he reminded himself before taking his first step onto the desert planet, his rucksack slung over his left shoulder.
"The nearest keep is that way," the younger man stated, pointing in the general direction of north. The gray-haired man quirked an eyebrow at the lack of preciseness that his padawan /his knight…no longer my imp Obi- Wan/ usually showed. The spoken man shrugged and explained. "The sand messed up my data read-out, so I couldn't find an exact place, but there is strong evidence that there is a human gifted in the force residing there," The tall man nodded, it was why the council had requested they take this mission, a hopefully non-dangerous one that would strengthen both the knights, and would be a come-back for Qui-Gon from his brush with death. The younger man sensed the way his master's /your master no-longer/ thoughts had turned and he snuggled into the crook of the man's arm.
"Alright, my Obi. Let us go see what this person is all about," Both knights began their walk towards the keep they knew lay beyond the dunes.
* * * * *
"They have no idea how to survive in the desert mother," Raven's voice was soft, but aged. Her sentences well thought out and her tones matter-of-fact. She slowly pulled on her cloak and headed towards the door. "They may be only 10 leagues away but there are many dangers to two off- worlders in 10 leagues, I'll bring them to the house and that's all, I know that stretch of sand well, there are no pits or sand-dogs," her eyes were level with her determination and her mother lowered her head to show her defeat. /Out spoken by my 5 year old daughter/ Her brother's words swan through her head 'She knows things, and does things no 5 year old should know'. Watching the small figure on the dunes she shook her head as if to rid it of the thoughts and silently cursed Geri. /Her father's death was the cause/ she told herself, as if to calm the nerves that grew in the base of her spine.
Raven padded silently along the darkened sand, her soft footsteps leaving no prints as she moved, her ears remained alert for any sound that would give away the presence of a sand-dog. Or the two off-worlders for that matter. There. The small sound of shifting sound made by none that knew the planet, no desert creature dared be that noisy for fear of detection. She confirmed her direction when a rumbling voice drifted over the sand.
"I sense a slight disturbance in the force Ma…Qui-gon." The voice, dangerously loud for the night was replied by another, deeper voice.
"I sense it as well my Obi, we must be getting closer to this person." Raven ducked low and covered her hair with her cloak and stalked along the other side of the dune where the two men walked. The sounds of their footsteps told her more about the visitors. Warriors of some kind, prideful, yet serene, powerful, yet had tranquility, and defiantly men of the city or firm ground. She slowly scaled the sand to walk silently behind them, as a cat would stalk its unsuspecting prey.
Suddenly the younger man tensed and his partner looked down at him with stunning sapphire eyes, the bluest Raven could ever remember seeing.
"Obi?" The question was more in those eyes than spoken, and the younger man, Obi, slowly looked around them. Raven dropped to the ground to blend with the sand.
"We are being followed…by what I cannot place, but it is there and it seems to mean us no harm," Raven saw the older man wrap a protective arm around the other man before dropping it quickly and looking her direction. /I am the sand, I am the dune, the desert is my home/ She chanted to herself silently to calm her racing nerves. She felt a brush, a touch of something, something she couldn't place, on the edge of her mind before it slipped away. The deeper voice, which she now associated with the taller man spoke first to his partner.
"It's her, the one with the force, but I cannot spot her, but her mind is there, subtly, but there."
"Are you sure it isn't some desert mouse?" The softer voice asked, Obi, Raven remembered and then she felt another brush of that same something on the edge of her mind. "No, you're right, it's something with the mental capacity far more than any simple desert mouse…almost human I would say."
"I agree…but where?" Raven could almost feel those bluer than blue eyes on her as they scanned the dunes for something alive. Slowly she stood, her hood still covering her face from the off-worlders.
"Qui?" Obi-wan asked as he looked at what seemed to be the dune coming to life. " Qui-gon, is that her?" The younger knight looked up to his former master with his own clover-green eyes and his hand slowly went to his side, were Raven could see a strange saber-like thing. She had heard of such weapons, but only in legends, and never seen one in the flesh or on the flesh of a real person.
"You are not of the desert are you?" The sound of her voice surprised the men, her tongue that of standard speak. Obi-wan looked up to his partner and received his look of approval before answering the demand of the girl before him.
"No we are not. If you could help us, we are looking for the household nearest here, we have a request of the tenets." Raven pushed back her hood and fixed her silver eyes on the men sizing them up.
"You stand less than 9 leagues from my keep. You may follow me there, however, if you wish to survive that 9 leagues I suggest you walk softer." She squared her shoulders and walked closer to them. "If I can hear you, the sand dogs of this area can surely also hear you, and their diet has been lacking of human for some time." She now stood less than five feet from the men and she took the chance to study them once again.
Both of them stood strait, and with what seemed years of study and orderly training. They wore matching black cloaks over off-white leggings and shirts, adorned with darker brown belts and topped with tall, soft, black boots. The shorter man, /Obi/ she reminded herself, stood slightly back from the taller one, in a fashion that seemed to have resulted from years of habit, his hair falling about shoulder length and in a color that she had never seen on the desert world, where everyone's hair blended with the sand or was black as the night with no stars. This man's hair was a strange reddish brown that reminded her of the sunset. Her silver eyes traveled up to the older man, his eyes were that stunning blue and his hair was much longer, reaching his middle back, also in a shade she had never seen in the desert. A chestnut shimmering with streaks of gray, that commanded more respect than they showed weakness.
// She's too old for her years // Obi-wan commented in bond speech to his lover. He knelt in front of the girl and offered a hand.
"Thank you, we will take your advice, for we do not know the way of this land." Raven looked at the hand for a second before taking it. //That's my obi// Qui-gon smiled through the bond before also kneeling to make eye contact with the strange girl.
"Hello, I am Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my Appr…partner Obi-Wan Kenobi," Raven looked at him for another moment before taking his hand as well. Both of their hands, she noted, were weathered and callused.
"I'm…"
"RAVEN," Her uncle's voice came across the sand. She sighed and walked past the two men.
"This way," Silently Obi-wan looked at Qui-gon, who returned his look, before they followed the girl.
From the keep Geri turned and addressed Alodai. "She's coming, and she's got two off worlders," The dark-haired woman nodded and walked to the door, opening it for her daughter and the two men that flanked her. The off worlders stopped a few feet in front of her and bowed to which she returned her bow. They then followed her daughter inside.
"Mother, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi," Raven's soft but demanding voice brought her to look again at her visitors. Her eyes widened slightly and she bowed to them again.
"Masters, it is my honour," Both men looked startled for a moment before Qui-gon smiled slightly and returned her bow.
"Alodai, your husbands memory still lives in the temple," It was a simple, routine response when a Jedi came in contact with the family of the dead, but it was enough for the widowed woman.
She smiled slightly and moved further into the keep, her brother's and Raven's eyes on her and the men that followed. She pulled out the extra two chairs and coughed slightly, causing the young girl to jump to her feet and grab two sandstone bowls and place them on the table. Geri eyed the jedi for another moment before resigning to his room. Alodai sat across from the two men, and Raven sat playing with her kaigi bird in the brightest corner. Obi Wan shifted and looked at his master silently.
//Who was her husband? // His bond-voice was slightly confused.
//Do you remember your old poetry instructor, Knight Demitan? That was her husband, he was killed in on a mission a few years ago, the girl must have only been 1 or 2, it broke the family's heart, I never expected to see them here. // Obi-Wan nodded slightly to show he understood and then fixed his gaze on the girl in the corner. She sat silently with the kaigi bird, a native species, ( a brightly colored creature with clawed feet that were used for climbing ( rubbing it's head as the thing almost purred into her touch. //She's too quiet for a five year old ma…Qui-Gon//
//I agree, that's why we're here my Obi// The older man then looked at the woman who he had only seen in faded holographs before.
"Alodai, as you know, the force makes no mistakes, and has no coincidences. There was a reason for our arrival here," His words were thought out and well said, the woman studied him with startling gold eyes, before looking down into her cup of tea.
"You came for my daughter didn't you?" Raven's head turned slightly and Obi-Wan noticed how she watched the conversation and speakers out of the corner of her eye, while looking to be completely occupied. It startled him that a five-year-old girl knew how to trick one who thought she wasn't listening.
"She is gifted in the force, and could easily be trained as a jedi. However we need your and her consent," Alodai nodded to her daughter and the girl stood and walked over to the table. She bowed her head to each man before taking her own seat.
"Raven, these men are(" the girl interrupted politely.
"Jedi, I know…like father. Why are they here?" Obi-Wan noted again how she made it seem as if she hadn't been listening. He smiled at her warmly, but at the same time was unnerved by the tact on her part. No five- year-old should be able to plan like that.
"They want to take you to the temple…and train you to be a jedi, like father was." The girl turned her silver eyes on Qui-Gon and the elder knight returned her gaze.
"So why don't they just take me then?" She asked the question almost as a challenge to his former master, yet her mother brushed the undertones aside and answered.
"They need your consent," Raven turned and fixed her eyes on Obi-Wan, he felt like he was being read, and his mental shields snapped into place. /Easy Obi…the girl has no training/ he calmed himself and lowered his shields.
"They said they needed yours too." There, she had revealed she was listening.
"Yes, and I give it, how may I keep you from something that was in your blood? It's your choice, and even if I could choose for you, I wouldn't." //Well said// Qui-gon spoke through the bond and the younger knight nodded slightly to show his agreement. The young girl studied them both for another few seconds before nodding almost to herself.
"I will always be a person of the desert mother, but this is the path I need to take." Both jedi shared a glance before nodding.
"Pack your things then." Her mother's voice was thick with hidden emotion and Raven smiled at her before sliding form the chair and padding into an adjoining room. " Take care of my girl, as you took care of my husband." The comment was almost a plea and it was directed at Qui-Gon more than at Obi-Wan.
"We will Alodai, we will." Obi-Wan also nodded to her and turned to watch the girl as she entered carrying a small backpack. The kaigi bird sat on its perch in the corner, and as if it sensed its only friend was leaving, it launched into the air and began shrieking in high tones. Raven dropped her back and walked over to the animal, placing a small hand on its head and rubbing him slightly behind the ear. Slowly the bird calmed and became docile once again, its breathing slowing to the normal rhythm of sleep.
"You may bring him if you wish," Qui-Gon's words startled his bond- mate and Obi-Wan looked up at him in question.
" She is too much a desert creature," Raven left it at that and returned to get her backpack, slinging it over a shoulder. She walked over to her mother and paused for a moment, as if thinking what to say or do, before she launched into the other woman's arms. "I love you mom, I'll see you again," she pulled her mother close before backing away again. Both jedi bowed to Alodai and walked out the door, Raven at their heels. Alodai watched the trio with worried eyes until she could no longer see them as they slipped behind a dune. Slowly she raised a sleeve to dab at her moist eyes.
"So we've lost another one to the Order have we?" Geri's hard voice was filled with hate for the two off-worlders that had 'stolen' his niece from him. His memories were only those of his brother-in-law's death and how the council had played the part of sending him to the planet before it had been gassed by the federation.
"Be gone with you Geri," She muttered before walking back into the house, whispering silently to the wind that played in the window. "Be careful, my Ravenchild."
* * * * *
Qui-Gon sat at the controls and carefully piloted out of the dunes, Obi-Wan and Raven standing at his back. The young girl watched with utter amazement as he went through the routine procedures for leaping into hyperspace, and her eyes were larger than either man had even seen them as they actually made the jump. The older jedi switched the starship into autopilot and the trio walked into the main bay area.
Taking her seat, Raven began to shiver slightly and Obi-Wan offered her a blanket. Taking it she smiled at him slightly before slipping back into her silence. //Qui…how long till we get to the temple?// the younger man asked through bond-speech. Both men were tired and both could use rest.
//I believe maybe another couple of hours// the reply was equally exhausted and Obi-Wan sent a wave of comfort to soothe his tired lover.
//Actually, I think, it's more about an hour// Both knights looked at each other, confusion evident in their eyes.
//That wasn't me Qui//
//Nor I// Both heads turned to look at the young girl. //Raven? // The gray- haired man touched the edge of her mind with his, and was surprised to see the silver and blue threads of a bond with himself and Obi-wan evident in her force signature.
//Yes, Master Qui-Gon? // Obi-Wan had sat in silence until this point; he carefully raised his shields to the new presence in his mind and spoke only to his bond-mate.
//Qui, this is impossible. Not in the history of the council, or the order, have people been able to sustain a life-bond, as we share, and another bond. There is no record of such a thing, yet here we sit, bonded with this child…she's only five Qui! // The older men read his mate's eyes and the evident confusion and worry there.
//Easy, love. No one can take me from you. // He sent an image of his arms wrapped around the thinner man and a wave of love and comfort through the bond. //We will take this up with the council when we arrive. Until then, I suggest we stop shielding her, as she seems to know when we are doing so. // Obi had to smile at that and he obeyed; dropping his mental shields to allow the girl.
"I apologize Raven. I was…surprised at a new being in my mind. It's been only Qui-Gon for so long." He offered her a hand, which she took in a sign of forgiveness. The other knight had watched this exchange in silence before offering his own hand to her. She accepted again before leaning back into the chair and watching the stars and wonders of space through one of the port windows.
* * On Coruscant * *
Both knights stood at complete attention under the eyes of the council. The wizened master watched them with studious yellow eyes.
"A soul bond, this is not. Understand yet what it is, we do not. Research the council will do. May the force be with you. " Both of the men bowed and backed out the door. Once outside they shared a silent look and both understood the worries and fears that lay in that look were released into each other's minds.
"Easy Obi, I won't leave you, not for anyone…I wouldn't share you if I could. But it seems the force has had another view for us." He offered a smile and sent a wave of love, support and loyalty across the bond ties. The younger man stood silently for a moment, and when he spoke, it was cautious with his words, which were spoken in a slight whisper.
"Maybe, maybe the force has granted us with the child we could never have," He looked up with soft blue-green eyes and smiled slightly.
"Maybe it has, maybe it has."