KAYWANTHA
by Vicki Vance
Summary: A light mission for Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan turns out to require more involvement than originally planned. Ranges from deep drama to quip humor.
Rated PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing, so I am making no profit from this.
Author's note: You get a golden balloon if you can tell me what the meaning of a certain planet's name is. Here's a clue: it has nothing to do with Star Wars.
"The Bass Beat Rock Club," Qui-Gon read the glowing red sign just ahead. "This is where we think she is. Looks good, doesn't it?"
Obi-Wan didn't think so. The Bass Beat Rock Club nestled between a seedy restaurant and what looked like a Twi'lek strip club. It must have been painted red once, but it had grimed itself to a greenish gray. Besides the front entrance, there was a tiny alleyway to the side that must have led to the backdoor.
As they stood aside in the shadows, a group of diverse teens chattered they way over to me door. A broad-shouldered Trandoshen let them in. Obi-Wan frowned. He thought they were too young to be allowed in a club of this kind.
A group of older beings in their mid-twenties sidled up and the Trandoshen rejected them. They left, grumbling that they'd be back later with blasters, to which the Trandoshen replied he would call his mommy for help.
"It appears to be teen oriented," Qui-Gon said. "You know what that means."
"All right, what does she look like again?" Obi-Wan grumbled.
"Her name is Pikinel, Pikinel Roemohn. You can tell she's Mebyli because her skin is slightly redder than ours. She may try to conceal that, though. Her hair is dark brown and eyes are a little lighter brown, but now that I think of it she may try to conceal that, also. Erm... Here's a hologram of her."
He held aloft the projector and flipped it on. The bust of a teenage girl appeared, smiling widely. Her hair was fashioned in fancy loops around her head and jewelry laced over it. A fur like a small animal circled her neck. Besides her skin that seemed to have seen too much sun, there were no distinguishing marks on her face. If she had disguised herself, she'd be hard to find.
"Try to get out as soon as you can," Qui-Gon told him. "Once we get her back to her father, we're done with this mission."
"What if I run into trouble?"
"Bluff your way out," Qui-Gon said. "Analyze your surroundings and blend in. You should be fine."
"All right," he said, checking quickly to see if his lightsaber was there at his waist. "I'll be back."
"Be careful with your weapon, Padawan," Qui-Gon warned.
"I always am," Obi-Wan assured.
He strode purposefully toward the entrance. The Trandoshen stopped him and asked, "Membership card, please?"
Obi-Wan summoned the Force to his command and casually passed his hand before the Trandoshen's eyes. "You don't need to see my membership card."
The Trandoshen paused for a moment. Obi-Wan sensed he was a bit more strong-minded than he had anticipated and all he'd done was confuse him.
"I- uh..." he said.
"You can just let me in," Obi-Wan said, more strength in his voice this time.
"I'll just let you in," echoed the Trandoshen, stepping aside so Obi-Wan could enter.
He walked along a small, dim hallway that ran along the outside of the club and came upon a door. He pushed it open and was hit immediately by an explosion.
Except it wasn't an explosion. It was noise. No, it wasn't noise. It was... music?
The sight that lay before him was alien to him. A cramped but wide dance room, completely dark save for the stage lights and flashing colors being thrown from the reflective globe hanging from the ceiling, was filled entirely with teens his age. Beings of all sorts danced to the slamming of the drum and plucking of jizz instruments coming from the performers on stage. Scantily clad females danced enticingly toward the males. Those who weren't at the receiving end of this seduction banged their heads in time to the drums. Most were dressed in black and no one wore bright colors, unless a female wanted just a little bit more attention...
The performers were just as young and miss-matched as the dancers; a drummer, two jizz guitarists, a singer, and a teenage Wookiee playing a modified kloo horn. Obi-Wan didn't pay much attention to them. He approached a table to his right where two boys his age were sitting quite stationary.
"Can you tell me where I can find..." Obi-Wan said, then trailed off. One boy looked up at him with red eyes and a pale face.
"You want some death sticks?" he asked slurredly, grasping some cylinders of spice.
"No thanks," Obi-Wan said, backing away from the boys. He reviewed the area again and made a careful note: the teens there were either dancing, getting high, or making out. It completely slipped his mind to look at the teens who were performing.
He wound his way over to the snack bar. He bought a cup of punch, sipped it, winced at the alcohol and dumped it in the nearest trashcan. The woman at the bar looked like she was rapidly approaching twenty and was getting ready to shed her teen life.
"Can you tell me where I may find Pikinel Roemohn?" Obi-Wan asked her. The moment the words came out of his mouth he realized he sounded too dignified and he reminded himself to try to blend in.
"You mean Pike?" she asked, looking up from her work. "She's a performer. She's on the drums right now."
Obi-Wan looked up at the stage and saw a girl no older than himself pounding away at the drums. Her skin was pink, as if she'd powered it. Her brown hair flew wildly around as she finished off the song with a quick pummel and a yell. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the performers bowed. A few switched instrumental places and a few left as others came up to replace them. Pikinel got up, leaving her drums and slung the strap of a bass jizz guitar over her shoulder.
"Goon he gey!" the drummer called. The bass guitar had a brief solo, quickly followed by drums and vocals. Obi-Wan found it difficult to understand the continuity of the song and then he realized there wasn't supposed to be any continuity.
This song was quicker than the last. Good thing too, because during the song everyone became particularly wild, jumping all over the place and frenzying themselves up. Even the kids on downers were getting excited.
Obi-Wan was waiting for a time when he could pull Pikinel aside and speak with her, but so far the opportunity hadn't risen. She preformed somehow in every song the club played. He waited through six more songs, each one slightly creepy in its own way and much too loud for comfort.
Finally, at the end of a song about the terrible lifestyle of parents and the strong desire to shoot them, the performers descended into the roaring crowd. Obi-Wan hoped he could get Pikinel at that time, but she remained onstage, chugging down a bottle of water and yanking her guitar off.
"Hey, how you guys doin' out there, you intha back, you fine?" she said into a microphone, running the syllables together as if it were all one word. Everyone cheered in response.
"That's great," she said, taking the mike over to her place at the drums. "Now, it's gettin' a little late, so I'll slow things down a little bit for ya."
Obi-Wan watched, interested. Pikinel took the sticks into her hands and drummed out a rather gentle rhythm. After a few beats she began to sing.
Obi-Wan thought she sang quite well. The drums accented her light voice with near perfect harmony. The song was about a sleazy cantina closing up for the night. He liked the song; he could understand every word. It was a great relief from the previous noise.
She finished on a note that didn't feel like a final note. It left the song open to a future. Obi-Wan decided he really liked the song.
His serenity was interrupted when cheers went up throughout the club. Pikinel grinned and descended into the crowd. Obi-Wan began to weave his way over to her. Up at the bar the woman rang a bell.
"No more drinks," she called out. "We're closing up. No more drinks. Get outta here."
With surprisingly little complaining, the teens began to leave.
Qui-Gon had been meditating outside in the alleyway for longer than an hour now. He wasn't worried about Obi-Wan at all. He sensed no danger and he trusted Obi-Wan to accomplish his task. After all, how hard was it to find one young lady?
But then again, she was a girl and he was a boy. Kids could find reasons to delay. Birds and bees weren't that common of creatures you'd find in the galaxy but everyone sure knew they existed.
Qui-Gon wasn't worried about any possible relationship for Obi-Wan; the thought was rather amusing.
So far in his life Obi-Wan had had so little time to become intimate with a girl, or any peer at that. He and Qui-Gon were always away on missions. Qui-Gon longed to see something new enter Obi-Wan's life, rather than near-death missions and close escapes. He was sure it would help him grow as a person.
Near-death missions and close escapes. They'd seen a lot of that on ModusTollens. Too much, really. Although he didn't show it, Qui-Gon himself was a little upset that they hadn't been able to complete the mission. He felt Obi-Wan was taking it much worse and decided to keep a positive face for his sake.
Qui-Gon noticed a few men sneaking about the club's walls. He would have dismissed them for harmless troublemakers but he saw they all had red skin and blasters in hip holsters.
"Hmmm," he said to himself, and casually approached them.
"What are you doing here tonight?" he asked one, using the same mind trick Obi-Wan had used earlier.
"We were sent here from our leader to find and capture Pikinel Roemohn," he immediately rattled off. One of his comrades smacked him downside the head.
"That's a Jedi mind trick, you fool," he barked. "Blast him!"
Before the rebels could level their blasters Qui-Gon had his lightsaber out and ignited with a threatening vsh-sh. He easily blocked their fire and sliced away at one of the blasters. The rebel holding the remaining piece screamed and dropped the melting metal. They backed away, shooting so wildly now not one bolt came even near Qui-Gon. Just for kicks, he reflected one back at the rebels. It bit into a boot and the rebel yelped and clutched his smoking toe.
"Let's go," a rebel said, grabbing the other by the shoulder and yanking him away from the Jedi.
"Hey, wait for me," the one with the injured foot cried, hopping after them.
Qui-Gon was about to pursue but the doors of the club swung open. He quickly turned his lightsaber off and put it on his belt as teens began to file out. He kept his eyes peeled, looking for Obi-Wan or a Mebyli girl.
"Pikinel Roemohn?"
The girl turned to him, flinging her hair across her shoulder with girlish ease. Obi-Wan noticed her hair had subtle red highlights and her eyelids were streaked with purple shadow. She studied him a moment and smiled.
"Yes, that's me," she said. "And who are you, wannabe?"
"Er, 'want to be'?" the word caught Obi-Wan completely off guard. She chuckled.
"That's what you call a kid who wants to get into alternative jizz or rock, but hasn't the foggiest idea of what it's about," she explained.
"And what is it about?" he asked.
"The power of expression," she said with a bit of passion. "The ability to be mad and angry and letting all that bad stuff out without having to pull a blaster on anyone."
"You don't look like an angry person," he said a bit stupidly. He was surprised at himself; why did he just say that?
"Neither do you," she said pointedly.
"Well, I'm not," he said. "My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I'm a Jedi. I'm supposed to take you back to your father and keep you safe from rebels in the meantime."
She looked at him with a pleasantly bewildered look on her face, then burst out laughing. She put a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles and felt around for a chair to sit in.
"No, really," he found himself saying. "That is why I am here."
She made a "Woohoo!" sound as she calmed down and looked at him, grinning.
"I'm sooo-ooo," she drew the word out longer than necessary. "Tempted to ask you to prove it," she admitted. "Teh heh heh... a Jedi..."
He glanced about to make sure no one else was nearby. "I can," he said, pulling his lightsaber from his belt and showing it to her.
She froze, staring at the weapon.
"That's a lightsaber," she said as if she had been handed a pop exam on astro-navigation. Obi-Wan sensed the fear from her so he quickly put the weapon out of view again.
"Is that proof enough?" he asked. She stood, almost tangling her legs in the chair. She stood at eye level with him, silent and scared, for only a few seconds.
Suddenly, faster than he could have anticipated, she made a fist and hit him hard in the face, just below the cheekbone against his teeth. He staggered back a step, mildly stunned as Pikinel dashed away from him. He regained his composure and ran after her. He was too late to stop her from going through a door, the old kind that swung on a hinge, and slamming it shut behind her. As Obi-Wan reached for the knob he heard the lock click. He tried it anyway.
"Pikinel," he called through the wood. "I won't hurt you."
He touched his lips and found blood on his fingers. Luckily, his teeth were still in place. Wow, she could hit hard.
"Go away!" she screamed.
"I am here to protect you," he insisted. "You can beat me all you want, but know that I won't-"
"Security!" she screeched. "Help me! This man is going to hurt me!"
Obi-Wan felt two different starts of surprise. The first was something like Oh no, she's calling security on me! and the second was She called me a man. Not a boy, or a kid, but a man. Cool.
He didn't have much time to relish in his masculinity. A surly Trandoshen and a burly Wookiee heard Pikinel's screams and had come over to check it out.
"Pike?" the Trandoshen said. "Ish thish creep bothering you?"
"Take him away, please!"
Obi-Wan tried to smile with assurance at them but his mouth hurt and blood threatened to leak out. They were not moved by the attempt. He was soon the one being moved, quite bodily in fact, in the grip of security men.
They manhandled him towards the door and threw him a few meters forward into the alleyway.
"And shtay out!" the Trandoshen snapped after him as Obi-Wan picked himself up from the grimy floor. The Wookiee barked a curse at him, shaking his furry fist. Obi-Wan, who could understand most of Shyriiwook, failed to see how his mother fit into the situation but did not fail to see the insult.
He tried to brush off the dirt from his cloaks but found they were smeared with a liquid with the same consistency as engine grease and sighed. He heard Qui-Gon step out of the shadows. He surveyed Obi-Wan expressionlessly, then beckoned for him to follow.
"I take it you didn't get the girl," he said.
To Be Continued…