DISCLAIMER: As usual, this is a FANFIC. so, that means we are not making any money yadda yadda yadda. Characters belong to the "Great Ewok Inventor" to quote Anthony Daniels. Please don't steal our original characters, or we will ..* what? (Chani looks at DM) what are you talking about?* yea ok she says something about hunting you down like the scum you are. Anywho, read it, review it. please don't hurt us.
Fade to Black
BY: DuneManic and Chani
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Elliot
: 28 year old just knighted. Strong Jedi but careful. Not confident enough in himself to take an apprentice. Tall, dark haired. Often mournful expression. One pale blue eye and one dark blue eye that gives strangers the idea of a manic*. Wears darker colored robes and his lightsabre is ornate and carved in the traditions of his homeplanet's jewelry. Was taken from his parents by force at a relatively old age. Is a prime example to the council that older apprentices can be taught.Duncan
: Elliot's best friend; rowdy young human.28yrs. Complete opposite of Elliot. Light haired, on the shorter side and deep brown eyes. He is liked by most everyone and good in a fight. Is a closet romantic who constantly worries about his friend. No force talent but his mechanic and "traders" skills are renowned. Spends he free time hauling spice for anyone but the Hutts.Lumar Tora
-55, the world senator for Bardonoi, an arrogant person who led his world to civil war. Now he's paying for it. A short graying man gone to fat. He is fond of long tailed jackets and a pair of hand held glasses. Sports a white beard and mustache. Father of Les.Les "Tavish" Tora
-18, Lumar Tora's son, he is good-humored and wants to help his people. His nickname comes from his mother and he often goes by it because his father doesn't want him to. A medium height, well built human. His hair is a bronze color and in a short spike. Green eyes. Seems to be the fantasy for teenage girls on his planet.Conrad Saroyan
-38, the protector of the royal family, trained in every type of combat, he will give up anything for Les but is not to fond of Lumar right about now. A tall imposing man, with the courage of a lion and the heart of a kitten. Long blonde hair and rare purple eyes.Blaine Russo
: age 17, one of the best fighter pilots of Shadow Sq. but often a hotshot. He looks to Duke Garen for guidance and as a mentor, although he won't admit it. Going through life as an orphan it takes time for him to get close to anyone, and he carries emotional baggage. Short of height, long black hair kept in a pony tail.Duke Garen
: age 35, lead fighter pilot of Shadow Sq. Very serious and cautious when fighting, he's good-humored and easy going. He often takes pilots under his wing. Tries to get past Blaine's emotional scars. A short man(as most fighter pilots) his face is craggy, and his arms and chest are scarred from a punch out accident.Bectra Doon
-25, a natural healer of her people often puts her at odds with the other healers, she is caring and understanding but very cautious and has only ever trusted her younger brother. Has short strawberry blonde hair. And is slender of build.Aidon Doon
-20, is looked upon by the people as a great friend and story teller, despite his upbringing of a lower class he is secretly best friends with Tavish. Resembles Tavish in ways, except his hair and eyes are brown.Bastien Jade
: a medium height man with a dark past. Resides at the Jedi temple on Curuscant under the watchful eye of Yoda. About the age of 30, he has blonde hair and strikingly green eyes. Found beaten and bruised in a healing trance by two young Jedi on a minor mission, he is a redeemed Sith. It is said he was brought back under dubious circumstances by Yoda himself, and lightning stuck the temple when Yoda broke the darkside's grip on Bastien . He now works to cleanse himself and he wants to help the Jedi.Arika Jade
: sister of Bastien. Bastien believes her dead and has secretly vowed revenge upon her so called killer. She lives however and is in the grips of the darkside.Petra
-18, a healer in training she has her sights set on Les Tora, impatient and adventurous yet understanding she longs for something more, dark brown hair, light blue eyes, she's slender and attractive.Stephanie Jints
-26, newly knighted she is adventurous and outgoing, very in-tuned to the living force, nickname Spike, red hair, green eyes and a keen appetite to learn. Though she is strong in the force she is also vulnerable to the darkside.Tark
-young ,13,(apprentice) and impatient, he sometimes gets too cocky for his own good., but he has a good heart and cares about the people he loves. An adventurous guy who idolizes his master. He is newly chosen by his master so he is eager to please. average height, brown hair, green eyes, and well built. He is also quite handsome according to the girls at the temple.Rib Saln
- 46 Jedi Master, a careful person, he works hard for the order, not quite a rebel but at times takes things into his own hands. He feels protective for all he loves and is in-tuned to the living force, well-built, black/gray hair. Unlike other masters he keeps his hair short and his face shaven. Is eager to train his first apprentice, but also understandably nervous.CAMEOS: Obi-Wan and Anakin. Yoda, Mace Windu, and anyone else we feel like sticking in there.
CHAPTER ONE
Tark ran down a hall way in the Jedi temple on Curuscant. He was late, really late. 'Stupid Stupid, just got yourself a master and you already late. Jeez!' Coming around a corner at full tilt he sensed a presence but too late. He rammed head first into a tall blonde man who was coming in the opposite direction. They both tumbled to the floor. Tark prayed to every god in the galaxy that he hadn't just knocked over a master, looking him up he was relieved to see a braid hanging from behind the man's right ear.
" I apologize, I wasn't concentrating, please forgive me." he said as he got up and helped the other to his feet..
The taller apprentice smiled and offered his hand. "Its all right, nothing is broken."
Tark took his hand and smiled as he shook it. Looking at the apprentice he was amazed at the power he possessed. Raw and more than any other apprentice he'd met.
"I'm Tark, apprentice of Master Saln."
The other nodded and replied, "I'm Anakin, apprentice to Maser Kenobi. Pleased to meet you. I'm afraid you will have to excuse me I have a sparring lesson, I'll see ya around. " Smiling once more he walked down the hall towards one of the many sparring rooms in the temple.
Tark was taken aback as the man walked away. Probably at least 6 years his senior, Tark had heard many things about Anakin Skywalker. Including the fact that according to the late master Jinn he was the chosen one, destined to bring balance to the Force, whatever that meant. Remembering that he was in a hurry Tark began to walk fast, remembering to open himself to the Force so that he didn't slam into anyone around a corner, to his master's quarters.
Jedi Master Rib Saln checked his chrono once more. 'Patience Rib, he's just a boy he's allowed to be late once..' Sitting down on his sofa he regarded Master Windu, the statuesque man was regarding him with a raised eyebrow and Rib could feel his silent laughter at his impatience. He looked at Mace, "Shut up! He's late I'm not allowed to be angry?'
Mace Windu burst out laughing and was still laughing when Tark came flying through the door and came to an abrupt halt in front of his master. "I'm sorry master I did not realize the time, I am late and that is inexcusable please forgive me." he looked like he was about to get the worst beating of his life and Rib thought that was extremely funny. Goaded on by Mace's Force laughter Rib sat down and laughed till tears were streaming down his face. Tark did not find any of it funny and just stood there feeling like a fool. 'Why are they laughing at me?' he thought hard to himself.
"Um I don't understand what is funny.." he stared at his feet for a moment while the laughter died.
"I'm sorry my padawan, we are not laughing at you we are laughing at my own faults. I was impatient because of your lateness and master Windu rightfully thinks this is funny. Its nothing to be mad about and yet I am. It is I who should be asking for your forgiveness. I am sorry."
"As am I," said Mace as he got up." My laughter was immature and not appropriate. Especially concerning the nature of this meeting."
' Ok here it is, this is where they tell me that I'm not fit to be an apprentice and send me home to wherever it is that I came from.'
" I sense insecurities my padawan, please feel free to voice them."
Mace sighed, "Not right now gentleman I would like to send you out before your ship-out window is closed. I'm sending you two to Bardonoi. There is a mission of importance there that could require some assistance. The mission should not be that difficult, there is already a Jedi there. Its a good mission for Tark to get his feet wet and something simple in which you can work on the training bond," Mace smiled, spoke a word with Rib and left.
' Probably to go talk about deep concerns and more important missions with master Yoda.' Thought Tark
He couldn't believe it, I mission an actual mission. He didn't think he'd be going out on a mission that fast. He didn't even care that it came from Master Windu and it wasn't going to be that exciting.
They packed in silence and all the while Tark's excitement grew. This made Rib uneasy because he had a feeling the mission wasn't going to very interesting. He felt bad that the boy was going to be disappointed but there was nothing he could do about that, it was a natural part of growing up. When they were both packed and ready to go Rib instructed the droid to save all messages sent to him and forward him to his next location. Meanwhile Tark took the bags into the hall, there were only two, and paced. Presently he heard arguing coming toward him. Seeing no where to go he walked to the nearest window and tried to ignore the raised voices by counting the many ships crisscrossing in lanes above the temple. Never the less he still heard the voices.
"I don't want to talk about this Ani, this is neither the place nor the time. Its not important focus on other things or your training will not progress."
"Oh, I'm sorry its neither the time nor the place, well when do you want to talk about it? I want to know what is going on. Id rather find out from you, your my friend as well as my teacher. I need to able to trust you and I don't want to have to ask Padme. Please.."
The voices abruptly stopped when they came around the corner and Tark once again saw Anakin and this time he was accompanied by his master Obi-Wan Kenobi. As they passed him eyeing the bags neatly stacked near the door to his masters quarters Obi-Wan muttered something to his apprentice that Tark could barely make out.
"The Queen and I are not nor have or do we plan to undermine your trust in us and ruin both of our friend ships. Now get a hold of your anger or you will be pulled in front of the council again. Don't let Yoda's premonitions be true, I remind myself every day of Qui-Gon's belief, but your anger must be held in check. We will work on that this afternoon in meditation. Now go and find something to do." The rest was muffled and unintelligible as they rounded the corner and Tark was dumbfounded. The temple's star pupil had big problems and the relationship between master and padawan was not going well. He could tell that. He desperately hoped that his own master/padawan relationship never had anything like that happen to it. He was still going over the conversation in his head when his master came out of his quarters, smiled and grabbing both bags lead him to the temple's own hanger.
Tark loved the hanger. It was full of gleaming skiffs and tough little ships. There were even a few fighters
used by Jedi-pilots who resided in the temple. Rib lead him up to a small ship that was a matte gray and
had a shadow of white on the side that resembled the Republic's seal. 'It must be a donation from the
Republic navy' thought Tark. He followed his master into the ship and into the sleeping quarters.
" Its not the most impressive ship but she'll do." Said Rib out loud. " Ill give you first pick of the bunks," he gestured to the two bunks recessed into the wall. Tark nodded and set his bag on the top bunk. Rib
smiled and set his own bag on the bottom bunk and led the way out of the room. He gave Tark a tour of the ship, 'fresher, cargo, engine room, and finally the cockpit.
"I hope you don't mind but I requested that we not have a pilot. I thought this would be an opportunity
for you and I to bond. And I can teach you how to pilot. I learned from my master and I love it. Its
very freeing." He sat down in the pilots chair and gestured to the co-pilot's. "Sit down, your first flight lesson begins now."
Tark sat down and smiled broadly. He liked his master. He wasn't a rule follower., he liked to have
fun. Tark had a feeling this was going to be a good partnership. Strapping in he grabbed the co-pilot's
controls and listened expectantly.
