I am SO incredibly sorry it takes me so long to get new chapters up but I have a busy school life which doesn't allow a lot of time for story writing, no matter how much I love writing. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where I'm going with this story and I think I know now. That might speed things a little.
I have two weaknesses in writing. The first is if I don't write clearly, and the meaning of things can be lost and the reader loses all understanding of the story. I don't often do that, but it happens. So to hear Romanse say I was writing clearly overjoyed me, thank you ^-^ The second thing I do, which is far more common, is rush the ending, making the story way too short. The story just fades into something really low quality. I hate it when I do that, so because you all like this story loads I'm making sure I try to keep it good, and not condense the ending into one chapter or anything like that. That takes me time, which explains a little of why these chapters take so long in coming. Too long in coming. Please let me know if I'm doing either of those, or anything wrong, I won't hate you for it :)
Just to clear something up, Anakin isn't born yet. It's just that some of you were emailing me elaborate theories about Anakin, Xanatos, and I think one even included Darth Maul 0.o
You don't like cliffhangers? No way, everyone loves cliffhangers! I love them, and you'll find loads of them in anything I write. So those of you prone to heart attacks may not want to read any more of my writings... although I do like the power I have over all of you though *grins wickedly*
Hard to Break, Harder to Fix
Traces
- A few minutes earlier -
Qui-Gon was finally asleep. He'd realised he should get some sleep so he could spend as long as possible looking for Obi-Wan tomorrow. That plan was all but ruined when the buzzer to his room sounded noisily. Qui-Gon moaned sleepily and glanced at the chrono.
11:37? What does somebody want this late at night?
He got up groggily and opened the door. A boy, about Obi-Wan's age, stood in the doorway, a tentative expression on his face.
"Um, I'm sorry to bother you so late at night Master Jinn but I, um," the boy stopped a moment, bracing himself for a possible unsympathetic reaction.
Qui-Gon looked at the young apprentice through bleary eyes and cocked his head in consideration.
"I recognise you - you're one of Obi's friends. Garen, isn't it?" The boy nodded. "I suppose you'd better come in then."
Garen breathed a silent sigh of relief as he followed Qui-Gon into the room and sat down.
"Obi didn't turn up for class today and I got worried because the Master who took us wouldn't tell us anything..."
Qui-Gon nodded and sighed inwardly. He should have expected Obi-Wan's friends to be asking questions. He picked his words carefully, as not to worry Garen too much. He couldn't lie, Garen would only sense deception.
"Obi-Wan's run away." Garen's eyes widened in astonishment. "This morning. He's..." Qui-Gon searched for an appropriate word, "annoyed with me. I spent today trying to talk to him but he just ignored me. I'm trying to find him again tomorrow."
"But why - " Garen stopped mid sentence. He saw the crestfallen look on the Master's face and knew better than to ask more questions. He shook his head. "Never mind."
Qui-Gon forced a weak smile. "I'll find him, don't worry." Feeling a sudden sense of paranoia, he gave an involuntary glimpse over his shoulder for no apparent reason. The force was disturbed, and in his mind it was screaming an incomprehensible warning at him. He looked at Garen; he obviously felt a little uneasy too. Little Garen couldn't be experiencing the same kind of foreboding dread as Qui-Gon though, nobody could be. Not even Yoda. Abruptly, as quickly as it came, the feeling left, but the force was still restless. Mystified, he pushed it to the back of his mind and carried on.
"I'll let you know if anything hap- " The end of Qui-Gon's sentence was ripped from his mouth as a shattering bolt of pain cleaved it's way through his mind. Suddenly, he knew exactly what the force was trying to tell him moments ago. The realisation tore Qui-Gon's hope into shreds. He drew a sharp intake of breath, to compensate for the shock hitting him with the force of about 10 brick walls. He sank to his knees.
Garen raised his eyebrows in concern. "Are you ok Master Jinn?"
Qui-Gon could only manage a whisper.
"Obi-Wan."
***
Thump.
Obi-Wan and the lightsaber fell to the floor.
There they lay.
Perfectly still.
***
Hearing his friend's name, Garen knew something was wrong. And judging by the tremor in the force and Qui-Gon's reaction, something was really wrong.
"Master? Master Jinn? What's happened? What's happened to Obi?"
Qui-Gon raised his head and looked dismally at Garen.
"You don't want to know," he whispered.
A scared look ran across Garen's face as he quickly thought of all the possibilities. Well, most of the possibilities. Some he didn't even want to think about.
Qui-Gon stood, grabbed a warmer robe, slipped it on a flew for the door, leaving Garen alone with his assumptions. He quietly got up but he was still ridden with worry. He heard his Master's composed but concerned voice ring out in his head.
// Garen? Is everything ok? You seem upset. //
// Something really bad has happened to Obi-Wan. //
When he got back to his room, it took a powerful force induced sleep from his Master to stop Garen from blinking back torrents of anxious tears.
***
Grief-stricken, Qui-Gon ran to a small speeder and jumped in. At least he knew where Obi-Wan was now. Qui-Gon had quickly realised that if some emotion had got through the bond to him, then Obi-Wan's shields must be down or weakened. Sure enough, during the massive shock he received whilst talking to Garen, he found Obi-Wan's shields had gone, so he could easily work out where Obi-Wan was. Or at least, what was left of Obi-Wan.
To his relief, it was only a 5 minute speeder journey from the temple.
He reached through the bond quickly again, now he had time to ascertain more than just a location. To his alarm, he could feel nothing. He accelerated the speeder.
A small ripple in the force told Qui-Gon that he had arrived. Obviously the remnants of the massive shock triggered by Obi-Wan. He looked briefly at the small building in front of him. 'Pexin's Mote' was spelt out in a green neon sign - the 'l' on the end of the sign had fizzled out, making it kind of odd to read. He cautiously walked inside and found himself at a small bar. Dim spotlights illuminated assorted tables with various different species sitting at them. A little stage was at the back of the room. Currently performing were a group of dancers - unfortunately for them they weren't receiving a good reception from the crowd, who were getting better entertainment from throwing things at them than watching the dancing. It wouldn't be long before one of the dancers would be leaving the stage bleeding heavily. The motel bar wasn't very busy, so it was easy to find the owner - a stubby humanoid with a scowl on his face. Qui-Gon approached him.
"Excuse me? You must be Pexin?"
"What's it to you?" came the raspy reply.
Qui-Gon calmly carried on, remarkably patient considering. He knew he had to control himself. "I'm looking for somebody. Can you help me?"
Pexin gave an irritable reply. "No I can't. I don't know where your bleedin' lost puppy or missin' sister is ok?"
Qui-Gon quaked with anger. The picture of a smiling, happy Obi-Wan kept haunting him, raking up even more regret and remorse. Struggling to keep his voice steady and calm he said, "Have you got any teenage humans staying here currently?"
Pexin narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Yeah loads, they're meh biggest customers."
"Any unusual ones? People you don't see often? Say, a Jedi?" Qui-Gon knew this wasn't the best approach by far, but he had to work as quickly as possible.
Pexin became visibly even more suspicious. He looked warily at the characteristic Jedi robes Qui-Gon was sporting and picked his reply accordingly.
"S'none of your business."
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. Lifting his hand ever so slightly he said, "Oh, but you don't understand."
A glazed look filled Pexin's eyes. "I don't understand."
"I have to find this person urgently"
"You have to find this person urgently," he said flatly.
"You will let me look at your record of the people currently staying."
"I will let you look at the record of people staying." Pexin got a large looking datapad from underneath the bar and handed it to Qui-Gon, still with a dazed look on his face.
Qui-Gon hurriedly scanned the page for any trace of Obi-Wan. He stopped at the most likely looking entry.
Ben Kenobi | room 17
Wasting no time, he raced up the stairs. The room was locked, but not locked in any way the force couldn't deal with. The door swung open in a moment's work and Qui-Gon braced himself for what might be a horrifying sight.
"Padawan..."
***
A/N
Remember Jedi Masters, Knights and Padawans, your duty is to protect the galaxy, do cool stunts using the force and lightsabers, and review after every chapter ^-^
By the way, next chapter will be up tomorrow (Sunday) because you are all lovely people :)