Hi! I meant to post this earlier but I got caught up doing stuff for my website. With a little info from a great guy named Adam, I figured out how to work a floating frame into my site. It basically looks the same as it did before, except now the text and everything else, other than the border images, is in a frame. This solves the problem I was having in Netscape and now the only thing that looks different in Netscape and IE is the fact that Netscape doesn't load different colored scrollbars, so the frame's scrollbar clashes with the rest of the site. Anyway, if some of you have time and actually want to, I'd really appreciate it if you'd check out the new version of my site and tell me what you think.
http://thesanctuary.fateback.com
Thanks for the FB and I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far!
I hope this next part isn't
too boring and that you all like it!
Time's Arrow
~ Part Three: Loneliness Shared ~
Obi-Wan:
Both of us stood completely still as we reached out and found our centers. Then we drew the Force in and threw our senses outward within it. By using it as an extra sense, we would be able to 'see' the probes actions quickly enough to use our super-fast reflexes to defend ourselves. Also, just as importantly, we would be able to sense each other's movements and operate as a team, working together and defending one another to defeat the probes.
Activating our lightsabers at almost the same instant, we quickly shifted our positions so that we were back to back. We both knew that we would have to destroy as many probes as we could simultaneously so that we could get a good number of them before they had time to adapt.
As we moved, half the probes immediately began to fire, half targeting me, and half targeting Tahl. The rest pulled back slightly. It was a classic attempt to draw our attention to the ones that were a threat so that the rest could collect input and modify their attack pattern.
With quick, easy, swerving passes of my humming lightsaber, I deflected two blaster shots from separate probes so that they would fly back on themselves. Then I leapt into the air and somersaulted outside of the circle of firing probes so that I could I swerve and slice my blade through another one.
The probe sputtered loudly as it came apart in two even halves and crashed to the floor with a loud, resonating clash. As intended, the high-level blaster shots that I had blocked hit their targets and, with a small explosion and wave of heat, destroyed the two probes that had fired them.
Seconds later, I heard a dull bang as the emergency doors, activated by weapons fire, slid shut.
Without looking, I knew that Tahl had somehow managed to destroy four of the probes and was now defending herself against the remaining five, which had all acquired her as a target and had formed a circle around her. Firing without rest, they had her rapidly spinning and swerving her weapon about. Her whirring lightsaber, a constant blur of green, was dancing about her with easy grace.
Unfortunately, the probes had programmed in a defense against the methods we had used to destroy the first seven. Whenever a blaster shot was deflected back at them, they would use their impressive mobility to veer out of the way in a random direction. Likewise, when she tried to spin forward and cut them to pieces with her lightsaber, the other probes would all fire at once in rapid succession, forcing Tahl to break off and block their shots.
"A little help, please!" Tahl called out a little breathlessly.
Smiling, I quickly jogged forward to the circle of probes. One of the blaster shots that Tahl had already deflected towards a probe that had avoided it was flying directly at me. Through the Force, I sensed that a probe currently attacking Tahl was going to fire and then zoom behind her to fire again, so I blocked the approaching blaster shot in such a manner that the little probe flew directly into it.
"Nice," Tahl breathed, as the probe went up in a small ball of flames.
Using the Force as a link between us, we were able to sense the other's actions and intent. So when I deliberately struck my lightsaber between the four probes' circle, to scatter them, she knew to take advantage of their distraction and jump out of the way.
Quickly retargeting, the probes tried to follow her when she ran towards the computer console, but I was just as fast and somersaulted in front of them. By keeping my back to the wall where Tahl was working, and facing the probes, I could deflect all their blaster fire and cover her.
Two of the four probes retargeted to me but the other two were persistent and continued trying to whiz around me and get out Tahl. As a result, I kept on having to block the blasterfire of the first two while I jumped back or to the side in order to keep the two renegade probes from getting at their goal.
Slowly, but surely, they were pushing me back towards the wall. Unfortunately, they were avoiding all my deflected blaster shots and never letting me get close enough to use my lightsaber directly on them. If I wasn't careful, I would soon be standing back to back with Tahl.
Speaking of which, what was taking her so long? The system was designed to be easy to use, in case of an emergency like this one. She should have already typed in the failsafe code, so why weren't the probes disengaging, and why was Tahl still working?
Oh no! The four probes had spread out! The ones that were attempting fire at Tahl were each on opposite ends, and the ones that were targeting me were in the center. As my probes continued to fire on me, the other two were inching around to her from either side of me. There was no way I could stop both of them while still defending myself.
I couldn't see both of them at the same time, but the Force told me that the one to my right was closer to reaching her, so I somersaulted backwards in the air to land between Tahl – who was busy with the computer system – and that probe.
As I was deflecting its fire, I extended my thoughts outward and sent a Force wave flying towards the one that was approaching Tahl from my left. Since it was equipped with a Force inhibitor, the pulse of energy passed harmlessly by it, but not before it stopped its blaster fire and sent it flying back across the room.
My maneuvering had kept a distracted and furiously working Tahl protected, but had left me vulnerable and wide open to the other two probes, which had followed me in and both fired simultaneously.
Leaping to the side, I managed to completely dodge one of the blaster shots, but wasn't quite fast enough for the other, which grazed my right upper arm as it shot speedily by me. The burning pain flared in the now tender and quivering flesh and muscle under my shoulder. A flash of lightning carried a burst of stabbing agony down my arm, making my fingers jerk spasmodically and unwittingly release my weapon before the pain settled down to a brutal throbbing at the point of impact.
Gritting my teeth, I ignored the pain and called my weapon back to my hand just in time to activate it and turn to face the probes, which were in the process of powering down. One after the other, they promptly fell to the floor without firing another shot, leaving the room silent except for my loud panting.
During the fight I had managed to ignore the physical reactions of my body but now I had to struggle to calm my breathing. My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest and I could feel the sweat beading on my skin. Merciless pain stung at my wound and for a few moments my vision darkened and the room spun in dizzy circles around me.
Closing my eyes, I forced myself to suck in five calm deep breaths of air. My heartbeat slowed in response and once I felt my body's tension ease slightly, I deactivated my weapon and opened my eyes.
Tahl had come to stand in front of me and slowly, giving me enough time to prepare, she reached out and gingerly touched the patch of burned skin on my upper arm. The stinging flared, momentarily pulsing outward, but considering how bad blaster wounds could be, it really wasn't that bad and I could easily control most of the pain by releasing it into the Force.
"Don't they teach you when to duck?" Tahl teased with a radiant smile, drawing back and gesturing for me to follow her to the benches at the other side of the room.
Shrugging, I grinned, "I guess not."
Together, we sat down on the benches.
"What took you so long with the failsafe?" I asked.
Tahl sighed, "The Temple's computer system has been experiencing random malfunctions. It wouldn't accept the failsafe code so I had to bypass the system."
Surprised, I cocked an eyebrow, "You good with computers?"
"My Master's an expert, I've picked up a couple things in the last few years," she answered modestly, eyeing my wound, "I should bandage that."
I shook my head, "No, when the doors ceiled an alarm should have gone off, alerting the Council that there's some sort of problem. Someone should be here soon."
Tahl tore off the sleeve of her garment and answered, "The malfunctions have rendered the communications system within the Temple useless, so the alarm won't have sounded. No one will realize we're in here until people start waking up in a couple hours and coming here to train."
Normally, that would have alarmed me, but now I felt that this was supposed to happen. It would give me a chance to talk to Tahl and figure out just what I was meant to do back here in the past. For all I knew, having a conversation with her and learning or teaching something was the reason I was here.
"So, I guess we're stuck with each other," I said for no particular reason.
"What an astute observation," was her dry response, "with wisdom like that, you'll be a Master in no time."
I laughed, and despite the fact that to her, we were virtual strangers, she did too.
~~~~~~~~~
I ran my fingers lightly over the make-shift bandage Tahl had fashioned from her sleeve. She had drawn it over my red-and-black-scabbed-burn wound rather tightly, and my entire arm felt stiff and difficult to move. The pressure, however, lessened the stinging pain and I now only felt it when I shifted my shoulder, which I was making a point of not doing.
Tahl gazed at me intently, questioning thoughtfully with her bright gold/green eyes. "Why do you want to know about my friends?"
The truth was that I wanted to learn more about my Master's strong, wise, and witty best friend. We had spoken, but never at great length. She had died before I had gotten to know her as well as I would have liked. I had always been curious about how Tahl and Qui-Gon had met, and since my Master wasn't about to talk to me about her while in such a deep state of grief, I thought I could coax the story out of Tahl without actually mentioned Qui-Gon's name or anything to specific. Of course, I couldn't very well tell Tahl that, could I?
"I'm just curious," I flashed her a hopefully charming smile. At least this time it wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth either.
Raising her hands above her head and interlocking her fingers, she stretched her arms and back before leaning back against the wall and giving me a quizzical look that said, 'You're not the only one.' She did not question me further, though, just as I knew she wouldn't. Instead she said, "I don't really have any."
That caught me by surprise and I had to stop myself from blurting out, 'What about Qui-Gon?' Instead I frowned, "None?"
A sad smile touched her face, and she nodded, "I've had friends, over the years, but after a while they all seemed to grow tired of me and we don't speak anymore. I think people find my straightforward honesty troubling."
Smiling, I thought back to a time when I had come face to face with Tahl's 'straightforward honesty'. Once, when I had been sparring against another Padawan, she had pulled me aside and listed all the things she sensed I was doing wrong, right down to my grip of the hilt. At first I thought she was being overly critical, but with her help I had greatly improved the fluidity of my movements. I did not, however, change my grip, which favored more acrobatically oriented fighting while she preferred another style of defense/offense.
I knew, from listening to the banter exchanged between Qui-Gon and Tahl, that that honesty extended to everything. Tahl had certainly not be shy about voicing her opinions and seemed to enjoy it more when those opinions conflicted with my Master's.
"Maybe you haven't found the right people?" I suggested softly, wondering when my Master and Tahl had become friends. "I've found that honesty in a relationship – any kind of relationship – is the most important thing. How can you trust someone to be your friend if they are not truthful with you, or if you can't be yourself around them?"
Tahl nodded, but I could tell that not having anyone to confide in and be close to, other than her Master, greatly saddened her. "It's just that…I see other people together, and I know how close they are…that they can tell each other anything, and I envy that."
I could sympathize with Tahl, although I couldn't say that I knew what she was feeling. Bant and I had been friends for so long that I almost had to struggle to remember how we had first met. I had made and lost other friends, but she and I had stayed close. Bant and Qui-Gon were the two people who I felt closest too. Of course, the relationship with each of them was different. I could tell Bant anything, and before Tahl had died, I had reached that point with my Master as well. There were still many walls between Qui-Gon and myself, but slowly, I felt that I was breaching them.
"Don't worry," I said a bit enigmatically, "you will find your special friend."
"You're just trying to make me feel better," her voice lacked the conviction she usually spoke with, and I knew she was wondering. Wondering who I was and where I came from. Wondering if I somehow knew that what I said was true.
Shaking my head, I spread my hands and smiled, "No, I'm not. I'm making you a promise."
"I don't know why," she murmured, "but I believe you."
~~~~~~~~~~
We probably sat there, talking about completely random things, for about two hours before the doors that had ceiled us in the room opened. I was already thinking of explanations I could offer the Jedi Masters who would no doubt demand to know who I was, when Tahl, taking matters into her own hands, jumped up and ran to the doors.
"Master Renta," she, blocking the entrance so that no one could come in, "thank you for getting me out of here! I was beginning to think that by the time I was released, my Master would have taken another Padawan and forgotten all about me!"
"What happened?" Master Renta, who, though old, still served the Temple as a gardener in my time.
"The seeker/destroyer probes malfunctioned," Tahl explained, "You should get Master Silfer to examine them, immediately."
"Very well," he agreed, "I will wake her. Be sure to wait for her so that you may explain exactly what occurred here."
"Of course," Tahl nodded eagerly.
I heard Master Renta walk away.
As soon as he was out of sight, Tahl signaled for me to follow her. "I can take you to a garden that's rarely ever used anymore," she explained as we speed-walked down the hallways.
"Thank you, Tahl," I said gratefully, glad to have been spared the awkward situation of having to explain to a Jedi Master just who I was.
"I only acted so that I wouldn't have to watch you make a fool out of yourself as you babbled out some ridiculous explanation of who you are. Honestly, even a four year old would be able to tell you're lying when you spout off that lame excuse of yours," she responded in the usual Tahl manner, "Besides," she grinned slyly, "now you owe me one."
~~~~~~~~~~
'The Force works in mysterious ways.' Whoever the first person was to say that age-old Jedi phrase was definitely right. Not only had the Force whisked me through time, but by some miracle, none of the people we passed on the way to the old gardens gave me a second look. It was as if none of them stopped to think about why they had never seen me around the Temple before. Not that I was complaining or anything, since it was because of that that we made it without incident.
The gardens, however, were not empty as empty as we had both hoped.
There was exactly one person kneeling on the grass amongst the small, multi colored flowers, and I recognized him instantly. He was very tall, and skinny enough to make it seem that his muscles hadn't grown into his body yet. With shortly cropped brown hair – streaked with touches of dirty blond – a slim face, and a slightly bent nose, it was his intense cobalt blue eyes that stood out.
He seemed so young now and I expected them to be bright and full of energy, but they were not. No, they were already heavy with worry and sadness, and I recognized the distant look in them. It wasn't anywhere near the withdrawn look of regretful sorrow that had constantly walked with him when I first met him, or the empty lost look of despair that marred his eyes now, but the gaze was tinged with grief.
"Tahl," I whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder and drawing her gaze down into my eyes, "what troubles Qui-Gon?"
Tahl's eyes dimmed and overflowed with sympathy as she told me of my Master; "From what I know, Qui-Gon was brought to the Temple by Master Tybis Camad when he was but a few months old. Master Camad took a special interest in Qui-Gon. When I was little, I remember seeing them together a lot. Everyone knew that when Qui-Gon became old enough, Master Camad would take him as his Padawan."
Tybis Camad? Who was he? Qui-Gon had been trained by Master Dooku.
"I think Qui-Gon was eleven when he went on his first mission with Master Camad. After that, he was hardly ever at the Temple again. Every few months they would come back together, always talking or laughing as they walked through the Temple halls," here Tahl's voice grew wistful and I knew that she wished she was closer to her own Master, and that she envied Master Camad and Qui-Gon, "You could tell they were very close, just by watching them but…"
"But what?" I pressed when her voice fell to silence.
Tahl smiled sadly, glancing over at where my Master knelt with his head bowed and his gaze distant, "But four days ago, for the first time since they left together, Qui-Gon came back to the Temple alone. No one knows, aside from the Council and him, how Master Camad was killed."
TBC…