"Do you actually believe a Jedi would return here? After all they've done to us… they wouldn't dare." A young woman with strawberry blonde hair spat, placing her hands on her hip as she spoke in a loud enough whisper for the Jedi to pick up on as they entered the Khoonda building.
From what Dacen observed of the building and it's location, he assumed it was the old Matale household where Revan had resolved the feud between the two bickering families of the area. "They certainly would. You remember how they were - always so superior, so arrogant. Especially that stuck up Knight Ortiz, you remember her? And never lending a hand when we really needed them." her companion replied in the same loud whisper, drawing the narrowed eyes of Sasha who recognised the two women.
"I still don't believe it." the first woman fumed, folding her arms stubbornly over her chest, her eyes being drawn to the hooded figure making her way over to the pair of women. "I'm sorry, but I heard you mention Knight Ortiz?" Sasha spoke sweetly, it was an effort for sure. "Yeah, what about her? I doubt a whelp of a woman like you would know anything about Jedi." Sasha chuckled at the first woman who was still red from rage. "I actually know more than you think about Jedi, Jaina." Sasha spat, turning on her heel and beginning to walk off until a hand grasped her left arm, spinning her to look at the second woman, the first still at a loss for words.
"How do you know her? And how do you know Knight Ortiz?" She demanded, looking as if she wanted to beat Sasha senseless. Sasha merely chuckled before pulling her arm back to her side, "I'd be more careful about talking about old friends." Sasha spat, stalking off back to the group as they were permitted to speak to Administrator Adare.
"A visitor. Please, come in. Welcome to Khoonda. I am Administrator Terena Adare. You're the owner of the, um… ship that just landed?" The kindly middle aged woman asked politely, motioning for the group to take a seat each, to which they complied to, keeping their identities hidden for now. "It's a pleasure to meet you milady. I'm Dacen Kenobi." With a small smile, the woman accepted his outstretched hand, shaking it gently before she replied, looking at her paperwork as she set it neatly on her desk.
"Depending on your business here, the feeling may be mutual. But you didn't answer my question, is that ship yours?" The woman pressed, backing Dacen into a political corner to where he merely replied, "Yes, the ship is mine." he muttered loud enough for the Administrator to hear before he began muttering profanities about politicians in a colourful choice of Huttese curse words. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, that's the Ebon Hawk. That vessel has been on Dantooine before, during the war. That was a Jedi vessel." Terena spoke quickly, eyeing each of the hooded people before her, watching as the security in her office raised their blasters when three of them stood and brought their arms up and pulled back their hoods, revealing their faces. Unknowingly revealing the hilts to their lightsabers as well as the security gasped, lowing their weapons slowly.
"Indeed milady. Though I'm sure we'd much rather you kept that small amount of information to yourself. Jedi don't seem to be liked in many places these days." Dan requested, bowing a little to the politician. "With me here are Knights Newberry and Ortiz, milady. I'm currently studying under Newberry but I'm no Padawan learner. My name is Jedi Dacen Kenobi. I used to live here as an apprentice." Dacen introduced, bowing himself as the other two Jedi inclined their heads in respect.
An unexpected smile seemed to grace the aging woman's lips as she replied, "A pleasure to meet you all. Especially you, Daniel. It has been some time." Terena welcomed, looking at Dan last, to which he smiled in return. "It has been far too long Administrator." Dan replied, shrugging off his cloak and placing it on the back of the chair that he had been sitting in. "Would I be right in assuming that you're here on a hunt for Jedi?" Terena asked, reclining in her chair slightly. When the group nodded, she smiled a little more as she placed her hands in her lap.
"I still maintain… discreet… connections with Jedi. I suppose your arrival here is of no coincidence. My friend… let's just call him Vrook. We've known each other for many years. And our continued friendship could create many problems in the current political climate. He came to Dantooine not too long ago. He was looking for something quite important. He's gone missing recently. Did he send for you in case something went wrong?" Dan was about to reply when Dacen held up a hand, halting his progress. "Master Vrook was here? What happened to him?" Dacen inquired, pulling the cloak closer to him as a cold shiver ran up his spine.
Something was wrong. The sound of Dan retrieving his cloak and walking out the door helped him to relax, no doubt Dan would discover what it was.
He was panting heavily, running as fast as he could through the tall grasses. He'd thought about losing his cloak, but it would only put his lightsaber on show to the many men and women who were walking around Khoonda.
He'd sensed something wrong and decided to check on the ship in case they'd been followed by the Sith. The grass abruptly ended and he felt a greater urgency to reach the ship, tearing down the ramp to the open aired hangar at an inhuman speed, causing passers by to stop and stare. In some cases nearer the ship they followed him to see what the commotion was about. A large scream from ahead of Dan gave him reason to pull out his lightsaber and drop his cloak.
No doubt about a problem now.
With a small, elegant leap in which he twisted his body into an elegant flip, he landed in a low crouch, his silver blade ignited and in his opening stance. When Dan raised his lowered head to see what the commotion was all about, he spotted a figure with his head lowered as he sat on his knees, a torn and tattered Jedi robe on his body and a destroyed prosthetic arm before him. A darkly dressed woman behind him. When Dan recognised the man, a cold dread filled his being.
"James?" Dan called, keeping his guard up. James raised his head and Dan almost stumbled at how pale the man had become, dried tears on his face. "I failed you. I'm sorry." he called out before he screamed in pain, the tip of a burning red lightsaber exploded from his chest as his back arched.
The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. The lightsaber was removed from his chest and he began a slow descent to the concrete floor, all the while Dan was calling out in disbelief, charging the woman that had killed him.
The woman stumbled from Dan's first strike, a powerful overhead slash until she regained her balance and began delivering blows in return. She made a slash for his feet, to which he hopped over, barely ready for the strike at his side, and even less ready for the one at his other side. When Dan spotted an opening in her strikes, he brought his saber to bare on her but was dealt with a roundhouse kick to the temple that left him stumbling for a few metres.
When he regained his senses and ignored the pulsing headache he leapt over the lightsaber that was flying through the air at a horizontal angle. When he was in mid air, he felt himself flying backwards from a powerful Force push, sending him through a concrete wall, close to where the onlookers were stood, watching the small duel. When Dan landed on his back, coming to a standstill in his movements, he looked up to see the woman flying towards him, lightsaber pointed towards the ground in a two handed grip. With a powerful leap, he turned his body so he was looking at her back, and charged, absorbing the lightning she shot at him with his lightsaber.
The two entered a duel once more until the sound of two more blades springing to life behind Dan echoed through the crowd. The two entered a saber lock that was joined by an orange and pink blade, pushing down on the Sith woman, pushing her further to the floor. As she rolled backwards, and Sasha lost her balance, the Sith woman extended a cupped hand, pulling a choking Sasha into the air before she threw her through the already created hole. Dan brought his blade to connect with her side but was blasted with nerve numbing Force lightening, as it coursed through his system forcing him to drop his lightsaber as he convulsed painfully.
The sound of a woman in pain forced his eyes open once the lightening stopped, giving him the view of a woman on her hands and knees, a destroyed lightsaber lying before her. She spoke through heavy breaths, as if breathing was something of an effort to her, "My lightsaber… you have destroyed it. I yield, master. It is as I have felt through the Force. My life… for yours." She announced, crumpling to the floor, her chest still rising and falling.
Atton, who had just made his way through the throng of onlookers was panting heavily as he laid eyes upon the woman on the ground.
"Perfect. Just perfect." he muttered, loud enough for Dacen to hear, his blade still active as he looked down on her. "Atton, take her to the medical room." Dacen ordered, his voice stiff and commanding. Atton mumbled a few profanities as he cradled the woman in his arms, carrying her through the crowd who parted before him.
Slowly, Dacen's blade was retracted into the hilt, and the man turned around and helped a panting Dan to his feet who gave him a thankful nod before the two froze.
"James." Dan whispered, racing through the crowd to a smaller crowd who was huddled around a barely breathing man, cradled in Sasha's lap her tears flowed freely. Dan, collapsing to his knees grasped his friends hand as he opened his eyes weakly, giving the faintest of smiles. "Hey…" the ashen coloured man coughed, a small train of blood falling from the corner of his mouth as he winced slightly in pain. "Hey." Dan smiled, tears falling freely down his own face as he looked on at his friend as he lay dying.
"Do me a favour, please." James whispered, coughing a few more times. "Sure." Dan laughed weakly, grasping his shoulder warmly as he continued, "But you've got to keep on fighting James. What am I going to do without having to save your sorry ass from trouble? I'll be bored." Dan joked, earning a struggled chuckle from James as more and more onlookers joined them, the crew of the Hawk among the closest.
"We both know that isn't happening. But, promise me. Promise me you'll kick some Sith ass." James cracked, weakly grasping Dan's left bicep until his eyes closed and his breathing stopped. His one remaining hand dropping to the floor and didn't move again.
The anguished cry of Sasha as she buried her face in James' robes was the only sound made as his head hung limply. Dacen, who kneeled down next to Dan was instantly gripped by the collar by the grieving Jedi.
"You have a gift! Use it! Save him!" Dacen, who was struggling to find the words to retort merely looked around at the watching faces of the citizens of Dantooine before he nodded, fully knowing what could be in store for him if he exerted too much of the gift. Slowly, he knelt down and placed an open palm onto the hole of James' chest, exerting as much of his power as he could.
Slowly, painfully so, the hole began to close and the colour began to return to James' face before the light that was emitting from Dacen's palm began to flicker, causing the corpse of James to convulse violently in Sasha's lap as she looked on in a mixture of horror and hope. When Dacen began to sweat profusely, and the light became solid once more, James' chest began to rise and fall before the light stopped all together and Dacen fell onto his back unconscious.
With a loud yell, James sat up sweating just as much as he looked down at his chest and the various onlookers. "That was… interesting." James muttered, looking at the relieved expressions on all the watchers and especially of the crew. When he turned to Sasha, he saw a flicker of anger as it burned in her eyes. "Don't ever do that again, you reckless nerf-hearder!" She yelled, slapping James' arm as he smiled and kissed her passionately on the lips, not caring who was watching.
For a moment, the briefest of moments in a war torn galaxy, an everlasting happiness was forged. When a slow, deliberate applause was started by a small, innocent child, the chorus grew until the entire audience was clapping. Some were even crying. They watched as a cloaked woman in white robes rushed from the crowd and inspected the unconscious Jedi, wrapping one of his arms around her neck as she carried him to the cargo ramp of the ship that was docked in the hangar.
Among the crowd, Dacen spotted the old man from earlier, tears in his eyes as he clapped faster than anyone else. Stood next to him was the young woman who greeted them when they landed, a warm smile on her face as she wiped away tears that had smudged her carefully placed makeup. As Dan looked back to the crew, many were helping James and Sasha to the ramp, while Dan just stood there, watching the people of Dantooine lose their opinions of the Jedi. It was a welcome sigh to behold to say the least.
Exhaling a breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding, he began moving back to the Hawk, disappearing into it's maw.
"Let's never let a Sith woman get the drop on us again." James muttered as a spare prosthetic was attached to the stub of his arm, flexing it as he experimented with it. When he slowly sat up, trembling slight he once more unconsciously rubbed his chest before he placed a new tunic onto his muscled torso.
With a sigh, he found his two discarded lightsabers from when the attack had happened, remembering it vividly before he shook it off.
Sasha, who was watching the whole thing sauntered over to the Jedi and gripped his shoulders soothingly, massaging them gently as he relaxed and laid down on his bunk, Sasha straddling his back as he moaned softly in pleasure. When she leant down and kissed the nape of his neck, she suddenly found herself under him and giggling girlishly at his antics as he delivered kiss after kiss to her neck and lips, running his hands up her tunic. With another girlish giggle, she pulled off his new tunic and tossed it to the floor, revealing his muscled torso, causing her to blush when he tensed from the feel of her cold fingers against his warm skin. When he too turned a deep shade of crimson, she pulled his strong features down to meet her soft lips, relishing in the taste of them.
"This woman… she's a Miriluka. Now I've seen everything. Didn't think there were any left in this part of the galaxy." Atton gasped as he checked over her injuries, applying Kolto where needed. When Dacen acknowledged his sentence with a thoughtful nod, he began walking out asking, "Can you tell me when she wakes up? I need to ask her a few things."
When he looked back to see Atton nod, he smiled and went to check up on Dan and Shaleena, only to find them in the main cabin, drinking mugs of caffa as they sat there, listening to the storm that had abruptly presented itself an hour after the duel. With a sigh, Dacen collapsed into the seat next to Dan, on the opposite side as Shaleena. "I know why you asked me to use it." Dacen said slowly, putting his hands behind his head as he relaxed slightly.
Dan, who looked at him sadly replied, "I know. And I know how long it's been since you tried it on Master Vash after she was shot, not to mention your nowhere near like you were then… it was wrong of me. I'm sorry." Dan apologised, earning a kiss on the cheek off Shaleena as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Like I said, I understand. So there's nothing to apologise for. If you don't mind me asking, why are you two so sad when your close together? You act as if you both lost something important to you." Dacen inquired slowly and carefully, looking between the suddenly sad couple as they looked down at the floor.
"I had… I had a miscarriage. It was Dan's." Shaleena announced softly, squeezing Dan's limp hand tightly, to which he replied in kind. It was a few minutes as they sat there in a silence before Dacen clapped Dan on the shoulder warmly. "Well, there's nothing stopping you from trying again. I fear that a similar situation is taking place right now…" he mumbled, looking towards the dormitory slowly as Dan chuckled heartily before Dacen continued, "Just make sure that the first born is looked after properly, and make me a godfather." He winked, before removing his cloak and heading through the dark corridors towards the Handmaiden's quarters, preparing for another sparing session.
AN: Bet none of you expected that now did you! x3
So, now that we all know Dacen has a remarkable gift (that I'd always planned on him having) we can see the link between Kenobi and Skywalker again. Anakin was lured by promises of power over life and death, though only Plagueius and Dacen have ever had that... gift. I just wanted to clear up a matter quickly as well. There are limits to what he can do, such as if the body is too badly damaged, the body has been drained of the Force, the body is maimed badly and if they've been dead for more than a few hours. It all costs on physical level as well. If Dacen were to exert himself too much in healing someone, he could completly and utterly exhaust his body to the point where he doesn't even have the strength the pump him heart, effectivly killing him. We saw part of that cost from when he healed James (when he fell unconcious). Remember, each of these Jedi has a special gift that will play a larger part in the series yet to come, and I'm also thinking about making the Handmaiden and Dacen fall in love quicker than before (possibly have her become a Knight after this next chapter).
RnR!
