Something wasn't right. The passing of days only compounded Tahl's fears. Perhaps that was it, the fear that drove her to Master Dooku's quarters.

She went to press the chime, but the moment her hand stretched forth, the door glided open. Startled, she stared into the quarters, unsure what to do. Then, mustering her courage, she stepped inside. She and Qui-Gon had been friends since they were eight. She shouldn't be afraid to talk to his master! Tahl stared around, puzzled. Dooku wasn't in the main entrance. But she could hear his elegant voice coming from out on the balcony. Ah, he was receiving a transmission. She settled herself down on the hard couch in the living area, to wait.

~*~

Something is about to give,

I can feel it coming,

I think I know what it is

I'm not afraid to die,

I'm not afraid to live,

And when I'm flat on my back,

I hope to feel like I did

~*~

The forest was dark. The tree's that lined the path stood silent and angry, as if offended by the cleared road that divided the once untamable life. On either side they were the kings of their realm, but the middle was barren and smooth, hacked clean of life. Qui-Gon watched the tree's whiz by from the back of a speeder. The Living Force was disturbed here. The life around him tasted bitter, fouled by something he could not quite place. Dust clogged the air around him. The path broadened and opened out to a small clearing in the forest.

It was in that next moment when he saw it. Though he didn't know it now, it would be this site that would burn into his nightmares forever. A place where he would see the true cruelty of other beings. A place which would scar him....

But for now, it was only a large, ugly stone building filled with fools that underestimated him. His hair stirred in the breeze and his eyes sparked with defiance. So this was their mysterious prison? He smiled grimly. *No, thank you.*

With a quick glance at the guard next to him, he gathered the force. He only needed a few second; he could easily escape into the woods. Recklessly throwing himself off of the speeder, he dropped to the path. His hands were bound, which threw his jump off, but he managed to spin around and land on his back anyway. The landing drove his breath from him and he lay there gasping like a landed fish a moment, in a daze. He heard shouting and snapped to, turning over on his side and rolling off the path into the ditch. Finally getting to his feet Qui-Gon hurled himself toward the forest.

Faster than he could blink, a squad of guards were on him. He sprinted toward the tree line but his foot caught in a hole. Without his arms to balance the boy fell hard. Instantly the guards were on him, kicking and punching him into submission. He fought back but was hopelessly outnumbered and without his hands he could do little to fight them. He went down in a screaming, brawling mass of soldiers.

"Enough, let him be." spoke a cold drawling voice. The guards parted to reveal the young Jedi, who was curled up into a protective ball on the ground. His nose and lip were bleeding and he was covered with bruises and dirt but he still managed to glare at Conn. "Little whelp." the Muh-hadden regarded Qui-Gon with disgust. He turned to the guards. "Get him inside, take him down to the cells.."

"The cells?" A man a few years older than Qui-Gon stepped forward. His pale blue eyes gleamed. "Are you sure, I mean, you do know what's down there..."

"I don't recall asking your opinion, soldier. I said take him down to the cell." Conn gestured at the man, his yellow eyes narrowing. "Besides, a few days down there with it, maybe he'll be more willing to talk."

Qui-Gon shuddered as he was lead away. This one he couldn't manage on his own. The call went out into the force as the young Jedi was pushed inside, into the darkness.

*Master!*

~*~

"We have followed your orders, sir." The voice on the other end was full of pride.

Dooku glared at the comlink in faint annoyance, dislike for the other party coloring his tone as he spoke. "You have the boy then?" he asked, feeling a nagging prick of nerves.

He hated this. Hated dealing with these fools, hated betraying Qui-Gon like this. No, not betrayal, he corrected. Testing. The boy was coming of age. In a short while, he would be out on his own, a full Knight. But he needed to learn first. And there were some things Dooku couldn't teach. So, ingeniously, the master had concocted up a plan, a test. He would hire a mercenary group to capture the boy, but not harm him, sever the mental link they shared, and let Qui-Gon use his own abilities to escape. Of course, the odds were weighed in the boys' favor, nothing could go wrong. If Qui-Gon could not escape on his own, he would come and fetch him. Nothing wrong. Just a test, to see how far he was on the path to Knighthood. Then why did he sense something was wrong?

"We have him. The boy's dead, just like you told us. Now please, we'd like to discuss the matter of our-"

Dooku felt color and warmth drain out of him, as if his blood had turned to ice. He couldn't breathe, like inside of him were frozen. He stood absolutely still, not daring to move. He must have misheard the man. He *must* have! "What?" His voice was weak. "You..."

"Yeah, we killed him. The Jedi boy? Dead. Just as you said!"

Dooku felt rage mingled with the grief and disbelief, creeping into his head like poison. Each beat of his heart felt like "Dead. Dead. Dead" an echo he could not escape. And the finger pointed at him. He wanted to scream, rant, throw the comlink against the wall and call the man a liar. "I...did not....say to kill him...you *fool!*" Dooku choked out, hate and raw, aching sorrow consuming him.

All the light, the cheer, the talent that was Qui-Gon was gone, leaving a black, soul-cracking void. Never again would he feel the warm purity of his padawans connection to the force, a glowing light at his side. Gone. All gone.

No words came to his mind. Nothing. A wide gap that would never, never again be filled. Dooku was vaguely aware of the comlink falling to the ground. He turned, staggering to the door, and pushed it open. He met the vibrant eyes of a young girl, standing in the threshold, mingled surprise and sorrow on her face.

"Master Dooku?" Tahl began, her green-gold eyes filling with tears. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, honestly, she hadn't. But the before the words of excuse found her lips, she found herself facing an enraged Dooku. A soft cry escaped her lips, and her eyes went wide with terror.

"What did you hear!?!" Dooku bellowed at her, unmistakable fury on his face. His fingers tightened into fists, and his ebony eyes were glinting with mad grief. He wanted to kill her in that instant, crush her throat for the intrusion. She knew...knew he was a killer. He advanced on her, moving closer and closer until he was inches away.

Tears ran down her cheeks and she gasped out the words between sobs. "Where...is...is he...?"

"Gone." Dooku whispered, looking haunted. "Was a...mistake..." he stared at her, desperately, as if trying to convince her. "Didn't mean..." He turned away from Tahl, finally. "My fault..."

"Qui-Gon? No." she whispered, violent denial burning within her. Dooku's rage, the questions surrounding it all, *everything* felt meaningless beside this empty sorrow. She felt as if she were in a dream. A nightmare.

Dooku turned to regard her, eyes, soft, and broken, his anger melting away into agony. "I must contact the Council. Go home. Please...if you would... not speak of this to anyone..." Guilt laced his elegant silky tones.

Heart-broken, she faced Dooku. Strength came suddenly and she heard herself speaking, boldly. "Can I go with you...to bring him home? Please?" her voice ended in a soft whimper. She had to *know*...

"I am not going to Childor."

"You're going to leave him there?!" she burst out, cheeks flushing red, eyes glimmering.

"He's dead. I don't want to see. You will go home. I'm going to the Council." he said, his eyes cold with quiet anger.

"You'd leave him."

"I believe I told you to go home, Learner." His voice was a dangerous growl.

Tahl spun on her heel, tears streaming down her cheeks.

~*~

There was no light in the cell, but Qui-Gon could see the white glow of his captors' faces from the small glowrod one of them held. They seemed rather uneasy down here and he was pretty sure it had something to do with the creature they kept mentioning. He was grateful; perhaps they would leave quickly if they thought it might come. But Conn was here, and he was not a mindless guard, frightened off by a ghostly specter. His hopes dimmed.

"I grow tired of this game, little Jedi." The familiar voice echoes in the cell.

*Not this time.* Qui-Gon tensed as a guard fumbled with his shackles, then used the moment of distraction to kick out. He sprung at Conn, seeking his foe in the darkness blindly, kicking and punching the Muh-Hadden that closed in around him. At a yell from Conn five more rushed in from outside the cell. But Qui-Gon did not feel the weight of the numbers on him. There was nothing but the white light of the force filling him, empowering him. He stretched out with his mind, reaching for a dropped blaster with one hand and landing a punch with the other. The blaster flew into his hand but before he could get off a shot the sheer mass of the guards in the tiny cell smothered him. They used the sheer weight of their bodies to pin him, while Conn secured his binds again.

The Muh-Hadden was out of breath, his hair plastered to his face with sweat, as he turned his enraged stare to the boy. "That was a foolish, foolish move." He waved some of his men out, and began to circle the bound Jedi, who was being held upright by a guard. "Very, very foolish." he murmured, catching his breath.

Suddenly there was an electro-jabber in his hand. Qui-Gon now regretted his few moments of freedom, knowing it would be much worse for him now. Conn moved forward savagely, pressing the pole against the Jedi's bare side.

Qui-Gon winced as it burned across his skin, but the torment did not cease with one jab. Conn held it there for a few moments, allowing the pain to build to an unbearable crescendo. Sweat rolled down the padawans face as he fought the agony running up and down his side. He gasped, finding it hard to catch his breath suddenly. But Conn did not budge. He kept it against the boy until he forced out a cry of pain and then pulled it back teasingly.

Then again. Conn smiled.