As always, beta-read by MillionLights

Chapter 3

In the late evening, Jedi Master Dooku walked slowly on the busy streets of Coruscant, ever-watchful and always on alert. Although the war was over, it was just the official state of the relationship between Jedi and Sith – emphasis on the word 'official'. Most of the time, the prominent members of both of the Force-user groups avoided each other, as was expected from them in accordance to the signed treaty. But there were the few – or not so few – radicals who simply didn't give the slightest damn about the treaty and practically begged for trouble.

Dooku himself had needed to deal with more than one radical Sith who had tried their skills on him. They regretted it miserably later, but still, they were a problem, and a rather big one at that.

Dooku was about to enter one of his preferred tea houses in the city when he felt a kind of warning from the Force. There was somebody or something nearby that could be dangerous or interesting to him. Dooku decided to follow his instincts and investigate a little, so he turned on his heel and started to search for the source of this uneasiness.

He passed a few rows of houses before the feeling got stronger, and it wasn't long before he came across a small group of Sith sitting together and talking on the terrace of a tavern. It seemed they had already consumed quite a few shots because they didn't notice Dooku nearby, he could probably get to the terrace, sit down, and order a drink without the Sith spotting him.

While he waited for his drink to arrive, Dooku subtly but carefully watched the band, trying to determine if they were up to something he shouldn't let happen; the Force led him here for a reason, after all, of that he was sure as hell.

The Sith band didn't look like a real threat even if they had been sober. They were all humans, two males and a quite pretty female; even Dooku had to admit that. She had long, raven-black hair and big amber eyes, and her face looked nice, as long as one didn't take a better look at her gaze. It was cruel and cold, a gaze of a killer who'd gut anyone without a second thought.

The arrival of the waitress distracted Dooku for a minute, but his attention soon snapped back to the Sith when he heard a familiar name: Jinn. His anger almost instantly flared with the thought that someone had once again tried to hurt his favourite apprentice, and he could barely restrain himself from doing something rash and hasty.

"...hear that? Maul pretty much beat the bastard up," one of the males told to his companions; Dooku almost Force-choked him on the spot.

The only thing that stopped him was his hunger for more information. He had seen this Maul creature a few times. A bit short but thickly-built man with strange red and black tattoos on his face, and a dangerous warrior to boot.

"Well, it doesn't really matter since he didn't manage to kill Jinn, and got a pretty little beat-down himself." The female wasn't so impressed by Maul's accomplishments as her friends.

"He'll do it next time, I'm tellin' ya," the drunkest man stated, rather overconfidently. "That bastard can't run foreva'..."

That caught Dooku's attention. Why did the Sith want Qui-Gon dead so much? Why Qui-Gon? What did he do to them? It must've been something rather painful for their community, like killing half of them, or something just as grave.

Unfortunately, after a few more words about how big a "bastard" Qui-Gon was, the subject of the conversation changed to the best sword makers and blacksmiths in the city, and other topics just as important to warriors like them. That didn't interest Dooku, as he had his preferred places where he could get everything he needed as a Jedi. So, after he finished his drink, he got up and walked away from the tavern.

"Hey... do you see what I see?" said one of the male Sith, "We have a Jedi here!"

Dooku sighed impatiently; they weren't drunk enough not to spot the Jedi symbol on the back of his kimono. It was an easily recognizable emblem with the white wings forming a circle around a sword-like silhouette. Most of the time, the Jedi wore it proudly, but in some situations, it could attract unwanted attention. Like now.

"You don't want trouble," Dooku said as he slowly turned toward the sitting group.

He didn't use a Force-suggestion, he simply stated the facts while resting his hand casually on the hilt of his katana. He knew that if the situation got out of hand so much that he had to draw the sword, there'd be bloodshed, something he wasn't really up to right now. Not because he wasn't prepared enough, but because he simply wasn't in the mood for it. It was getting late and chilly, and he wanted a cup of hot tea and a few hours of sleep.

The Sith who called after him began to stand up, but the female yanked him back while casting a malicious glance at Dooku, as if she was trying to tell him that they weren't done yet. Dooku just looked back impassively, his dark brown eyes as cold as they could get with such a warm colour. After a minute or so, the woman grudgingly looked away first.

"That's what I thought," Dooku smirked, turning away.

He expected at least some obscene shouting after him, but the Sith were strangely silent; perhaps they really didn't want trouble. Dooku was, in fact, glad that he could avoid the fight with these pieces of scum. He didn't like Sith at all, but he didn't want to directly go against the treaty either; he wasn't a troublemaker after all.

However, it seemed that his ex-apprentice was just the opposite, preferring to give a reason to the Sith to actively hunt him down. Dooku really wanted to know what Qui-Gon did to them, and for this, he just had to find him. The only problem was that he had no idea at all about where to begin this search.