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Don't forget // denotes mind speech or thought. ewen
The next day the Jedi pretended to go about their business. They informed the inn keeper that they would make their way up to the mountain people and be there most of the day. Delbe's wife would not have to make enough food for the four Jedi.
After Jinn relayed their false plans to Delbe, he joined the others in the dinning area for Break-fast. Jinn could not help but notice Xanatos seemed well rested and in a particularly good mood. Could his zeal have anything to do with Jinn's plans to renounce Obi's bond and to keep him from his mind by shielding. Qui-Gon suspected so.
Break-fast was eaten with very little chatter from the Jedi. They could not discuss their plans there. They suspected though, that the slave auction might be held today in the barn and they would be there to see that the padawans were saved long with the others. Now Jinn queried to himself as to what to do with the boy. If indeed that powerful and possessed the dark within him, he was not at all sure that Master Yoda and the other council members would allow the boy to rerun home, at least with his powers in tact. He would have to tell what he knew and Jinn felt the council would suspect the same thing he and Xani did, Obi-Wan Kenobi was controlled by the dark side. If not by Darth Sidious then by someone just as evil.
Obi-Wan came in to where the Jedi were, to serve their food. He looked up at the master and dared to display a little smile on his face. He was met by a stern look from the big master. Jinn scared the boy with the unusual scowl on his face. Kenobi was not sure how to reach this big Jedi through their mind link but he stood there and hoped it would happen again. It did not however.
Qui-Gon could feel a nudge to his mind and knew that the child had attempted to link with him. Jinn leaned back in his chair crossed his arms and gave a satisfied look to his Padawan.
"See Xani, I told you it could not happen again."
Tahl smiled.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just something Xani and I discussed last night. A joke you might say between us. Nothing more."
"Master you mean…………?"
"Yes Padawan, that is exactly what I mean and it didn't work."
Jinn hesitated to see if Xani understood he referred to Obi-Wan's attempt to link with him. Xanatos did and was pleased that his master had succeeded in keeping the slave out.
Kenobi did not know what was wrong because the child truly did not know how they connected in the first place. He however thought it must be over because there was nothing there this morning as it usually was when he met with the Jedi master. It made Obi-Wan sad and lonely. He felt nausea sweep over him in waves. He fought down the sickness and continued serving their break-fast. Qui-Gon had not thought all the possibilities through. If it was a bond forming that the force demanded then he would make Obi-Wan ill and suffer insurmountable pain by keeping the boy out.
Qui-Gon on the hand could control the pain and illness; thus never even knowing at first that the bond would bring him also the same pain and queasy feeling, eventually. He would have to be without the connection a substantial amount of time longer than Obi-Wan to know of the effect it had on him.
The child though was not so lucky. His affects were manifested instantaneously when Jinn closed himself off to the little slave .
Jinn spoke up with a voice a little too loud and almost accusatory to the boy just after he poured tea.
"You think I should have cold tea on such a chilled morning? Take this back and get me some more."
Qui-Gon did not mean to sound so harsh or be so loud. He realized when he saw Delbe coming to their table that he must have heard the undeserved chastisement by Jinn to Kenobi.
Obi-Wan bowed to the master and started to apologize. It was too late for Jinn to take back what he said and for the apology Obi-Wan planned to offer.
The Inn keeper jerked the carafe of tea out of the slave's hand and with his free hand drew the boy too him very close.
"Go do your outside chores, NOW. I see you are too dumb to handle things in here this morning."
He released the boy's arm and shoved Obi-Wan toward the back door.
"Boy?"
"Yes Master"
"Tell Master Jinn you are sorry."
Kenobi walked back over the table, being sure he steered clear of Delbe. He knew he might end up with a slap a crossed the face at anytime. He bowed from the waist and when he rose up from that position, his eyes met the stone cold, uncaring ones of Master Jinn.
"I am sorry Master Jinn. I meant no harm. I didn't know your tea had grown cold."
//There it is again. That overwhelming urge to embrace this boy when he calls me Master. I have to keep that under control. I have to build my bond back sufficiently with Xanatos. I have no room in my mind or my heart for this boy. Besides I am sure Xani is right. The boy feeds off the dark side.//
"Well that is alright. I think I overreacted Mr.Delbe. I am sure the boy did not know it had cooled to such a temperature."
"Part of his job is to know that Master Jinn. I will deal with him later. Now Kenobi out of here."
The boy again went to the back door only to be called again by the Inn keeper.
"Boy when you are finished out there and then in the kitchen wait for me in the barn. You and I will have a long productive conversation about this, understand?"
Delbe flashed a smile, but not a nice smile; something akin to a threatening smirk.
Obi-Wan had no doubt what he meant and neither did anyone sitting at the table. Jinn realized that he quite likely had caused Obi-Wan to receive another beating later that day. That realization weighed heavily on his heart.
The Jedi left but they did not go up into the mountains as they led the pirates and the inn keeper to believe. They went out in to the woods just at the foot of the steep cliffs and commed Kerchuk. They had given their friend and leader of the settlement a comm link so they could speak with him.
He was to let them know when the pirates left their ship with the kidnapped children, that without the Jedi's help would become slaves.
The woods would be their cold and damp haven until they were notified by Kerchuk. Then they would make their way back to the Inn, surround the barn and wait the arrival of the kidnapped children. Once there with their sabers and other abilities blessed them through the force, the pirates would not take long to overpower.
Tahl walked up to Jinn while they waited, huddled in their robes trying to stay warm.
"I know you and I also know you must feel bad for getting the little slave in trouble this morning."
"In some ways I do. But to be candid with you Master, I think there is evil in him. I don't want you to mention this to anyone else, but he was able to establish mental contact with me. He even tried to tamp down Xani's bond with me in favor of his. I am not so sure the pirates do not know that Bant and Garen are Jedi. Everyone around here were all too aware of the fact that it was the Jedi order that helped the Movine people settle in the mountains and that we would certainly be here from time to time to check upon their progress. I think someone may have planted Obi-Wan at the Inn to try to gain access and knowledge of the Jedi through me. It didn't work though. I wizened up and now I have blocked him permanently from my mind."
" Sooo. I was right in my assumptions. I thought there was something between the two of you. I could feel it. Are you sure it is not a bond the force has deemed necessary to be formed? If that were the case then you would have to relinquish Xani's apprenticeship and take the slave child. I mean you talk as if the dark side in him is reality and not theory. You may be wrong you know Qui-Gon."
"Tahl do you hear yourself? He is too old to train as a Jedi even if I should be wrong about him. Even Master Yoda agrees with me on that. I don't think the force wants me to rid myself of Xani and I wouldn't anyway. Yoda said Kenobi will be shipped home. Now of course we might have to decide if he is a danger to the Jedi or not. I mean if he is being controlled by someone evil, Sidious or someone else then his force abilities will have to be stripped from him, even without his parent's permission. Although I am not sure he has parents. I know his mother is dead. Well if he has to go to an orphanage then we would still strip his powers if it is decided necessary by the council."
"I don't know if I want you to be right about him or not. If he is of the dark and no live guardians, the temple will take him, remove his abilities, and it could quite possibly leave him no more than a vegetable. But if he is one blessed with the same force as we are and you deny him this bond then he is still not better off. I would say the boy has nothing left to lose but yet there may possibly be less to gain by his freedom. For someone so gifted with the force, that's sad Qui-Gon, very sad………."
Obi-Wan laid in an empty horse stall in the barn. He had no choice but to lay there. He had been punished for bringing Master Jinn cold tea. His head spun with an unknown illness and he was forbidden food for the day. It was part of his punishment. The only thing good to come out of this was he would not have to work that day. He wasn't able too and Delbe didn't want the Jedi to see him in this condition. Obi-Wan did have one regret though, he would not see the big master who had at first embraced his friendship. Now Obi-Wan wasn't so sure about Qui-Gon. He should rightly be angry with the master, however he wasn't. all he could think of was to get to him and be in close proximity to Qui-Gon. He felt a bit better that way.
Obi-Wan brought back his thoughts to what was going on before him. He listened to the men from the ship direct the captured children and adults in the barn. There would be no people gathered there besides a handful of slavers.
Obi-Wan felt sorry for the ones led in to be "placed" in various jobs with people who would more than like be as cruel or more so as Delbe was too him.
The barn became crammed and some of the children were put in the stall beside Obi-Wan. Obi didn't think the pirates or his master, Delbe knew he was there. Now he feared he would be punished if he was found there. He had never been witness to a slave auction. He regretted staying in the barn. He should have ignored his curiosity and gone to his little room in the basement of the inn. Obi-Wan would not be in for more trouble that way. Well at least for the day.
Obi let his curiosity better him again when he felt a certain connection to the two children in the next stall. He let his eyes drift to the stall wall where the two Jedi padawans sat on the other side.
In between the slates of wood in the stall he could see a girl from.. Well Obi-Wan didn't really know where the little girl was from; what species she was. He knew for sure though the boy looked like him in overhaul general appearance. Obi-Wan knew he was humanoid. Still something tugged ragingly at him as if there was a connection between them. The only connection he could think of was that he was roughly their age and they would suffer the same fate that he had.
Pain and hurt for the two children swelled in Kenobi's heart. He felt sympathy for all those there taken from there loved ones, but the girl and boy who sat over in the other horse stall brought actual pain to him.
Obi-Wan could not help himself, he had to do something to help him and so he did.
"SSH.. Hi my name is Obi. I am in the next stall."
"Were you from the ship?"
"I was from a ship but not yours. I was brought here a little over six months ago. I think that is how long it has been. Days run in together now. Sometimes I go for weeks without seeing a calendar to even know what day it is."
"Well we were brought on this ship. What do they have planned for us?"
"You don't know. No of course you wouldn't I didn't either when I was brought here. I however have had to learn quickly. You are to be as slaves. Oh they will tell everyone you are paying a debt owed by your family from working or that they took you in because you had no home. But make no doubt about it you will be slaves and will suffer the indignity and abuse of people who are slavers.
"Well, we will just have to do the best we can. My name is Bant and this is Garen. We have a few tricks up our sleeves now that we are on land. We don't plan to be slaves for long."
The three whispered very softly. It would be hard to here them over all the other talking and the auctioneer shouting out prices.
"I thought the same as you when I first got here. You see I possess powers that…. What did Master Jinn call them, through the force. That's what my mom said about them too. Only I never got a chance to be trained."
"You know Master Jinn?"
"Yes he is staying here at the Inn. Him, his padawan, a Jedi Weiss, and I believe the pretty lady's name is Master Tahl."
"Oh Obi that is good. It think it would be safe to tell you. We are Jedi apprentices just like Xanatos is, only we just started our apprenticeship. We were kidnapped. I bet they are here to get us. The other two are our masters in the Jedi order."
"I don't know they didn't say they were here for you. Then again I guess they wouldn't tell my master and the pirates that."
"Your master, who?"
Garen seemed interested that Obi-Wan had a master. He didn't know Obi meant a slave master.
"My slave master."
Obi-Wan felt sorry for the two padawans. He could not get out of his situation but maybe he could help them get out of theirs.
"Listen I can show you a way out of here . I mean I know a hole in the barn back here and you could go to your masters. I know where they went."
"Oh Obi that would be great. Where is it? Obi-Wan pulled himself up and winched with pain. The Jedi padawans could not help but notice that the boy had been injured. Obi showed them a loose board right in the stall where they were.
"See you just pull. Be careful not to make any noise. O. K.. My master would get really mad if he found us. Anyway. Go on. When you get out go into the brush and head for the mountains. You won't be seen with all the trees and tall weeds. Just be quiet until you get away from the barn and the Inn."
Garen pulled the board out.
"Thanx Obi for helping us. I imagine our masters will be back to set the others free. The Jedi are like that you know. Master Tahl would never let them suffer the same fate you have. Look we can get you out too."
Obi smiled. He thought that would be great!!
Just as the kids got out, they waited outside just a moment. They heard someone yell and Delbe came over and found Obi there. He did not know that the Jedi padawans had been put in there, so he didn't know they were gone.
"You making that noise Obi-Wan?"
"Yes master."
Garen and Bant could not stay longer. They appreciated Obi's help, but they knew he would be in trouble for being there and making so much noise when in reality they had. Obi-Wan stayed and took the blame. The kids had not thought to ask Obi to join them.
Bant regretted that oversight. Nevertheless they had to get to their masters and right away.
Garen thought if they could find them soon enough maybe they could save Obi from the hands of his master, who to Garen seemed a very mean angry man. He sounded that way.
The Jedi apprentices took off running in the direction Obi-Wan had given them, straight for the mountains.
Qui-Gon could hear footsteps coming toward them. They had been walking toward the Inn to circle the barn and overtake the pirates.
Surprise is not a descriptive enough word to say how shocked the Jedi were to see Bant and Garen come running as they could toward them.
"Well Masters I think your padawans did not need our help. They have escaped without it.
"Yes, we escaped but the others are being auctioned off as slaves right now. The people down there, a lot them kids are going to the highest bidder to worktheir lives away, like Obi. We wouldn't have gotten away without the help of the little slave boy who lives at the Inn."
Jinn perked with interest while he listened to Bant spin her tale.
"Then we should be careful It may have been a trick to find us. The boy could be on the side of the dark if I am correct in my assumptions.
"Oh Jinn you know nothing for sure."
Tahl could say anything she felt like to Qui-Gon because they were old friends and the thing of it was, she usually did.
"Master Jinn I do not mean to question you, but he didn't seem from the dark side. He seemed like a poor little boy dragged unwillingly into slavery. I just know he was nice and helped us. Even though I don't think he could have gotten up had we thought to bring him with us."
"Why did you want to bring him with you Padawan Bant?"
Jinn did not want the boy there. He would be handled when they collected the pirates and his slave master to send to prison.
"Well I think he had been beaten before we even met him. I mean he had bruises all over him and he could hardly get up to show us the loose board in the barn. Then just as we left we heard his master, I think Delbe came in and caught Obi where he shouldn't be."
Bant talked in a hurried voice to tell the entire story. She defended Obi-Wan. Then Garen continued the story with the same haste as Bant had.
"Yes Master Jinn I think he got in even more trouble for being there. He pretended it was him who made the noise so the man would not know we escaped. Now I wished we would have brought him, but like Bant said I don't think he could have walked let alone run."
"So that's your big bad evil child is it Qui-Gon? He sacrificed himself to see that my padawan and Padawan Garen could escape, but yet you insist he guided by the dark I think you should rethinking your stand against the boy.….."
"We will see Master, after we have captured our slavers. I am still not convinced the boy does not have some kind of ulterior motive for entering my mind. A link like that is unnatural even Yoda said he had never seen anything like it. That's a good enough for me to believe it might be of the dark this bond he tried to force on me, or it would not have been done against my will."
Master Tahl walked up very close to Master Jinn. Close enough so she could whisper and not be heard by anyone that stood there.
"Are you sure Qui-Gon?"
"Sure about what?"
Jinn whispered his question back to Tahl.
Tahl took the big calloused hands of her friend and whispered.
"Are you absolutely sure this mysterious bond between you and Obi started forming without your permission?"
There was no time for Jinn to think of his answer or to give it. Out of the wooded area walked Delbe and three of the pirates. The Inn keeper had a big smile on his face. He was not aware that the children were Jedi or that the Jedi knew of his slave ring.
"Master Jinn I do owe you my gratitude for finding our little people that escaped. Of course we knew they came this way. My boy pointed the direction of which they took off, once they escaped."
The slavers still did not know they were in for trouble when they tried to take Bant and Garen away from where they rightly belonged.
//So the boy did have Bant and Garen lead the slavers to us. Was he so naive he thought the pirates and his master could overtake the Jedi? Xani and I were right all along.//
"Obi-Wan told you which way they went?"
Tahl could not believe what she heard. She felt there was good in the Kenobi slave but if he indeed set the padawans up to be followed, then he was of the dark side. Qui-Gon was right. The future held nothing for the little slave boy now. The Jedi would not help him. If anything they might well destroy Obi-Wan Kenobi for his betrayal.…………..
Delbe confirmed to Master Tahl that it was with Obi-Wan's help that they found the children.
"I think we will gather up our missing children and be on our way. Thank You for finding them for us."
"Well Delbe we did not exactly find them, they found us. You see they were looking for us. It seems your little slave tried to ride both sides of the fence. He told the kids how to get out, then set you on them. The only thing is, they belong with us. They are Jedi padawans just as my apprentice is. They are beginners padawans."
Delbe's smile faded and turned into a frown.
"Oh I don't know how we managed to get them. We were suppose to get only the children that to work off a debt… I mean.."
"I think you aren't telling the truth. I think we will take you and your friends to the authorities on Coruscant and let them sort through this mess. If you have done nothing wrong then it will be cleared up and you and your friends will be set free. Delbe. If you are running a slavery ring then you will be put away for quite possibly the rest of your life."
Jinn meant what he said. Of course the pirates who were not armed attempted to make a run for it, but to no avail. The Jedi had them and the Inn keeper rounded up within just a few minutes and they were headed back to see to the last three pirates .
There mission after that would be to see that the ones kidnapped received safe and swift passage to their homes. Master Tahl suggested they stay the night to give the kidnapped children and adults a rest.
Qui-Gon had to agree. He hated to spend more time with the Kenobi boy. He would have to tell Master Yoda that Obi-Wan had betrayed the padawans and go into more detail with him about the unwanted bond that the boy tried to push on Jinn. In fact Qui-Gon still could feel the nudge of the boy's own mind on his as the bond tried to form. Jinn battled continually to keep shielded from Obi-Wan.
That was something the healers would have to deal with if it continued. Qui-Gon did not have the power to shield all the time forever against the persistent child and the evil bond he tried to force on the Jedi master.
All the pirates, the inn keeper, and his wife were tied up and placed in the basement to await their trip back to Coruscant. The Jedi temple would send ships to take them back and more ships would arrive to take the kidnapped-almost-slaves back to their various planets.
Qui-Gon had yet to see Obi-Wan, but he could feel his presence close. He, being the highest Jedi master on this mission took it upon himself to decide that Obi-Wan would be considered one of the aggressors. He did tell on the children, thus putting Bant and Garen in a trap to find the other Jedi.
Qui-Gon discussed Obi-Wan with Tahl and she even agreed with him. The Kenobi child would have to be assessed to see of his powers and then decide if he had a part in the slavery ring or was just drawn in.
"You know Qui, we still need to get a hold of his parents and let him know he is being held for questioning. They have a right to know he is alright. "
"I suppose you are right. I mean we would be no better than the slavers if we just took him and let no one know about it. When I find him around here I will get his home planet's name and his parents name. I will contact them before he is sent to Coruscant. However Tahl I plan to make sure that the boy face charges along with the pirates and Delbe for his part in all this, if the council masters find he participated in aiding the slavers."
"Qui, he could have been forced into this."
"I don't know Master Tahl. I mean he wears a force collar, but I think his powers supercedes any power through the force we are familiar with. He is capable of using them even with the collar on. I battle constantly to keep him and the bond from my mind. I fear that if the collar is removed I would be overwhelmed with the demand by his mental link to form an unbreakable bond, possibliy woven by pure evil. I think he would succeed in forming that bond if we remove the collar. No it will remain on until I can get him to the Jedi healers."
Qui-Gon set out to find Obi-wan. It was not difficult for the master to find him. He could feel his presence in a storeroom, just off from the kitchen of the Inn.
He walked in slowly, not sure what to expect from the boy. He imagined Obi must be hiding because he helped the pirates and his master find the Jedi. Why else would he hide from the peace keepers of the galaxy, the Jedi, who were never guilty of bringing harm to any innocent, if indeed they wee innocent.
"Kenobi I know you are in here. I need to speak to you. Come on out."
Slowly the little "former" slave edged his way out into the middle of the room from behind some storage boxes. Fear had a way of slowing your pace when you had to come up face to face against your fear. In this case Kenobi's fear was of Qui-Gon Jinn, although he could not explain. Certainly the Jedi master knew Obi was part of the slavers ring in any way. After all wouldn't Master Jinn know by now he was the one to helped the children out of the barn by showing them his hidden escape route?
"I am here Master Jinn. Do you wish to speak with me?"
"Yes I need to find out where your parents are, to let them know you are now safe and will be returning home once…"
Qui-Gon didn't finish his sentence. He didn't know how too.
//Do I tell him we suspect he could have been in a conspiracy with the pirates or worse yet the dark side? Do I tell him he has to be assessed, prodded almost dissected by the Jedi healers to see why the bond is forming and what powers he has, good or bad?//
Obi-Wan waited for what seemed like hours but in reality was only a few minutes for the Jedi master before him to collect his thoughts and continue on with what he was telling Obi-Wan.
"Well the temple with have to check over your force abilities and see when exactly would be a good time to safely take the collar off. We need to let you family know you will be on Coruscant safe and sound. We will even send them a ship to bring them too you."
Obi-Wan began to feel leery of this Jedi master. If he and the others were freeing the slaves, didn't that mean he had his freedom also? But not according to what the master just said, Obi-Wan would still be a captive of someone.
"I am not sure Master Jinn what you mean. Why can't I just go home?"
A touch of anger flared in Jinn. The boy questioned Qui-Gon's plan for him.
"Look Kenobi, I don't where or what you are from, but you possess much strength in the force. Enough to try to initiate a bond by that force, I neither wanted or needed. You continue to do so even as we speak and you stand there before me…....playing dumb. You heard me. You will be coming to Coruscant and be the guest of the Jedi for a while, just until we are sure of what is going on with you. I mean…….."
"You mean I am to become a prisoner yet again because you are not sure which side I am on, right? I have heard of the dark side that the Jedi preach about and I know nothing of it. That should be enough for you and the other masters. I want to go home. Surely the Jedi do not kidnap children and enslave them."
Now Obi-Wan showed defiance in what Jinn said. He didn't like the implications of what the master insinuated about him. He was being accused of "something". Obi-Wan was just unsure of what?.
"Home, just where is home and who are you going to go home too?"
The question stunned Obi-Wan at first. The Jedi was right. He didn't even have a "home" to go back too. It was destroyed when his parents were taken out and slaughtered by the pirates who took him for their slave ring.
"I had no wish to alarm you but I guess I will have to tell you since you are being so bull headed not to listen to reason. We know of your aid to the pirates and your slave master. You pointed the padawans to their freedom, then set the pirates on them, I believe to find us, in hopes of having us disposed of. You will have to remain in protective custody of the Jedi until we figure out what is going on with you. The authorities will issue us papers allowing the Jedi to temporarily have legal custody of you until we are satisfied we know the truth of your part in this slavery ring."
Jinn didn't tell him the Jedi would also be very sure of what his intentions were by initiating a bond with him and that the Jedi healers would find to way to stop him.
Obi-Wan was terrified. He was being taken into custody but for what? He didn't know anything about the bond Jinn referred too.
"There is nothing going on with me. I want to go home."
"To what? You father is dead or so you say. Where is your mother?"
//My home was burned down, my father and mother were both murdered at the hands of the pirates. This life here at the Inn was all I truly had.//
All the hurt, anger, and loneliness welled up in the boy. He suffered many times over that day at the hand of Delbe, a strange illness seemed to grip every cell in his body, and in truth he had no one to go home too or even a home to go too. There was no one to protect him from the slavers earlier or from the Jedi now, who planned to, in their own way hold him against his will.
The little slave boy sat down on a box and let his head drop. He hoped the man before him would not see the tears that fell on his cheeks.
The best thing the boy could have done was to offer up a reason for why he sent his slave master and the pirates after the children, but he didn't know how to explain it. Obi-Wan Kenobi remained silent and with that silence, Jinn assumed came his guilt………..
PEACE ewen
It really is true feedback is like food to the author,.I am hungry right now!!!
Don't forget // denotes mind speech or thought. ewen
The next day the Jedi pretended to go about their business. They informed the inn keeper that they would make their way up to the mountain people and be there most of the day. Delbe's wife would not have to make enough food for the four Jedi.
After Jinn relayed their false plans to Delbe, he joined the others in the dinning area for Break-fast. Jinn could not help but notice Xanatos seemed well rested and in a particularly good mood. Could his zeal have anything to do with Jinn's plans to renounce Obi's bond and to keep him from his mind by shielding. Qui-Gon suspected so.
Break-fast was eaten with very little chatter from the Jedi. They could not discuss their plans there. They suspected though, that the slave auction might be held today in the barn and they would be there to see that the padawans were saved long with the others. Now Jinn queried to himself as to what to do with the boy. If indeed that powerful and possessed the dark within him, he was not at all sure that Master Yoda and the other council members would allow the boy to rerun home, at least with his powers in tact. He would have to tell what he knew and Jinn felt the council would suspect the same thing he and Xani did, Obi-Wan Kenobi was controlled by the dark side. If not by Darth Sidious then by someone just as evil.
Obi-Wan came in to where the Jedi were, to serve their food. He looked up at the master and dared to display a little smile on his face. He was met by a stern look from the big master. Jinn scared the boy with the unusual scowl on his face. Kenobi was not sure how to reach this big Jedi through their mind link but he stood there and hoped it would happen again. It did not however.
Qui-Gon could feel a nudge to his mind and knew that the child had attempted to link with him. Jinn leaned back in his chair crossed his arms and gave a satisfied look to his Padawan.
"See Xani, I told you it could not happen again."
Tahl smiled.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just something Xani and I discussed last night. A joke you might say between us. Nothing more."
"Master you mean…………?"
"Yes Padawan, that is exactly what I mean and it didn't work."
Jinn hesitated to see if Xani understood he referred to Obi-Wan's attempt to link with him. Xanatos did and was pleased that his master had succeeded in keeping the slave out.
Kenobi did not know what was wrong because the child truly did not know how they connected in the first place. He however thought it must be over because there was nothing there this morning as it usually was when he met with the Jedi master. It made Obi-Wan sad and lonely. He felt nausea sweep over him in waves. He fought down the sickness and continued serving their break-fast. Qui-Gon had not thought all the possibilities through. If it was a bond forming that the force demanded then he would make Obi-Wan ill and suffer insurmountable pain by keeping the boy out.
Qui-Gon on the hand could control the pain and illness; thus never even knowing at first that the bond would bring him also the same pain and queasy feeling, eventually. He would have to be without the connection a substantial amount of time longer than Obi-Wan to know of the effect it had on him.
The child though was not so lucky. His affects were manifested instantaneously when Jinn closed himself off to the little slave .
Jinn spoke up with a voice a little too loud and almost accusatory to the boy just after he poured tea.
"You think I should have cold tea on such a chilled morning? Take this back and get me some more."
Qui-Gon did not mean to sound so harsh or be so loud. He realized when he saw Delbe coming to their table that he must have heard the undeserved chastisement by Jinn to Kenobi.
Obi-Wan bowed to the master and started to apologize. It was too late for Jinn to take back what he said and for the apology Obi-Wan planned to offer.
The Inn keeper jerked the carafe of tea out of the slave's hand and with his free hand drew the boy too him very close.
"Go do your outside chores, NOW. I see you are too dumb to handle things in here this morning."
He released the boy's arm and shoved Obi-Wan toward the back door.
"Boy?"
"Yes Master"
"Tell Master Jinn you are sorry."
Kenobi walked back over the table, being sure he steered clear of Delbe. He knew he might end up with a slap a crossed the face at anytime. He bowed from the waist and when he rose up from that position, his eyes met the stone cold, uncaring ones of Master Jinn.
"I am sorry Master Jinn. I meant no harm. I didn't know your tea had grown cold."
//There it is again. That overwhelming urge to embrace this boy when he calls me Master. I have to keep that under control. I have to build my bond back sufficiently with Xanatos. I have no room in my mind or my heart for this boy. Besides I am sure Xani is right. The boy feeds off the dark side.//
"Well that is alright. I think I overreacted Mr.Delbe. I am sure the boy did not know it had cooled to such a temperature."
"Part of his job is to know that Master Jinn. I will deal with him later. Now Kenobi out of here."
The boy again went to the back door only to be called again by the Inn keeper.
"Boy when you are finished out there and then in the kitchen wait for me in the barn. You and I will have a long productive conversation about this, understand?"
Delbe flashed a smile, but not a nice smile; something akin to a threatening smirk.
Obi-Wan had no doubt what he meant and neither did anyone sitting at the table. Jinn realized that he quite likely had caused Obi-Wan to receive another beating later that day. That realization weighed heavily on his heart.
The Jedi left but they did not go up into the mountains as they led the pirates and the inn keeper to believe. They went out in to the woods just at the foot of the steep cliffs and commed Kerchuk. They had given their friend and leader of the settlement a comm link so they could speak with him.
He was to let them know when the pirates left their ship with the kidnapped children, that without the Jedi's help would become slaves.
The woods would be their cold and damp haven until they were notified by Kerchuk. Then they would make their way back to the Inn, surround the barn and wait the arrival of the kidnapped children. Once there with their sabers and other abilities blessed them through the force, the pirates would not take long to overpower.
Tahl walked up to Jinn while they waited, huddled in their robes trying to stay warm.
"I know you and I also know you must feel bad for getting the little slave in trouble this morning."
"In some ways I do. But to be candid with you Master, I think there is evil in him. I don't want you to mention this to anyone else, but he was able to establish mental contact with me. He even tried to tamp down Xani's bond with me in favor of his. I am not so sure the pirates do not know that Bant and Garen are Jedi. Everyone around here were all too aware of the fact that it was the Jedi order that helped the Movine people settle in the mountains and that we would certainly be here from time to time to check upon their progress. I think someone may have planted Obi-Wan at the Inn to try to gain access and knowledge of the Jedi through me. It didn't work though. I wizened up and now I have blocked him permanently from my mind."
" Sooo. I was right in my assumptions. I thought there was something between the two of you. I could feel it. Are you sure it is not a bond the force has deemed necessary to be formed? If that were the case then you would have to relinquish Xani's apprenticeship and take the slave child. I mean you talk as if the dark side in him is reality and not theory. You may be wrong you know Qui-Gon."
"Tahl do you hear yourself? He is too old to train as a Jedi even if I should be wrong about him. Even Master Yoda agrees with me on that. I don't think the force wants me to rid myself of Xani and I wouldn't anyway. Yoda said Kenobi will be shipped home. Now of course we might have to decide if he is a danger to the Jedi or not. I mean if he is being controlled by someone evil, Sidious or someone else then his force abilities will have to be stripped from him, even without his parent's permission. Although I am not sure he has parents. I know his mother is dead. Well if he has to go to an orphanage then we would still strip his powers if it is decided necessary by the council."
"I don't know if I want you to be right about him or not. If he is of the dark and no live guardians, the temple will take him, remove his abilities, and it could quite possibly leave him no more than a vegetable. But if he is one blessed with the same force as we are and you deny him this bond then he is still not better off. I would say the boy has nothing left to lose but yet there may possibly be less to gain by his freedom. For someone so gifted with the force, that's sad Qui-Gon, very sad………."
Obi-Wan laid in an empty horse stall in the barn. He had no choice but to lay there. He had been punished for bringing Master Jinn cold tea. His head spun with an unknown illness and he was forbidden food for the day. It was part of his punishment. The only thing good to come out of this was he would not have to work that day. He wasn't able too and Delbe didn't want the Jedi to see him in this condition. Obi-Wan did have one regret though, he would not see the big master who had at first embraced his friendship. Now Obi-Wan wasn't so sure about Qui-Gon. He should rightly be angry with the master, however he wasn't. all he could think of was to get to him and be in close proximity to Qui-Gon. He felt a bit better that way.
Obi-Wan brought back his thoughts to what was going on before him. He listened to the men from the ship direct the captured children and adults in the barn. There would be no people gathered there besides a handful of slavers.
Obi-Wan felt sorry for the ones led in to be "placed" in various jobs with people who would more than like be as cruel or more so as Delbe was too him.
The barn became crammed and some of the children were put in the stall beside Obi-Wan. Obi didn't think the pirates or his master, Delbe knew he was there. Now he feared he would be punished if he was found there. He had never been witness to a slave auction. He regretted staying in the barn. He should have ignored his curiosity and gone to his little room in the basement of the inn. Obi-Wan would not be in for more trouble that way. Well at least for the day.
Obi let his curiosity better him again when he felt a certain connection to the two children in the next stall. He let his eyes drift to the stall wall where the two Jedi padawans sat on the other side.
In between the slates of wood in the stall he could see a girl from.. Well Obi-Wan didn't really know where the little girl was from; what species she was. He knew for sure though the boy looked like him in overhaul general appearance. Obi-Wan knew he was humanoid. Still something tugged ragingly at him as if there was a connection between them. The only connection he could think of was that he was roughly their age and they would suffer the same fate that he had.
Pain and hurt for the two children swelled in Kenobi's heart. He felt sympathy for all those there taken from there loved ones, but the girl and boy who sat over in the other horse stall brought actual pain to him.
Obi-Wan could not help himself, he had to do something to help him and so he did.
"SSH.. Hi my name is Obi. I am in the next stall."
"Were you from the ship?"
"I was from a ship but not yours. I was brought here a little over six months ago. I think that is how long it has been. Days run in together now. Sometimes I go for weeks without seeing a calendar to even know what day it is."
"Well we were brought on this ship. What do they have planned for us?"
"You don't know. No of course you wouldn't I didn't either when I was brought here. I however have had to learn quickly. You are to be as slaves. Oh they will tell everyone you are paying a debt owed by your family from working or that they took you in because you had no home. But make no doubt about it you will be slaves and will suffer the indignity and abuse of people who are slavers.
"Well, we will just have to do the best we can. My name is Bant and this is Garen. We have a few tricks up our sleeves now that we are on land. We don't plan to be slaves for long."
The three whispered very softly. It would be hard to here them over all the other talking and the auctioneer shouting out prices.
"I thought the same as you when I first got here. You see I possess powers that…. What did Master Jinn call them, through the force. That's what my mom said about them too. Only I never got a chance to be trained."
"You know Master Jinn?"
"Yes he is staying here at the Inn. Him, his padawan, a Jedi Weiss, and I believe the pretty lady's name is Master Tahl."
"Oh Obi that is good. It think it would be safe to tell you. We are Jedi apprentices just like Xanatos is, only we just started our apprenticeship. We were kidnapped. I bet they are here to get us. The other two are our masters in the Jedi order."
"I don't know they didn't say they were here for you. Then again I guess they wouldn't tell my master and the pirates that."
"Your master, who?"
Garen seemed interested that Obi-Wan had a master. He didn't know Obi meant a slave master.
"My slave master."
Obi-Wan felt sorry for the two padawans. He could not get out of his situation but maybe he could help them get out of theirs.
"Listen I can show you a way out of here . I mean I know a hole in the barn back here and you could go to your masters. I know where they went."
"Oh Obi that would be great. Where is it? Obi-Wan pulled himself up and winched with pain. The Jedi padawans could not help but notice that the boy had been injured. Obi showed them a loose board right in the stall where they were.
"See you just pull. Be careful not to make any noise. O. K.. My master would get really mad if he found us. Anyway. Go on. When you get out go into the brush and head for the mountains. You won't be seen with all the trees and tall weeds. Just be quiet until you get away from the barn and the Inn."
Garen pulled the board out.
"Thanx Obi for helping us. I imagine our masters will be back to set the others free. The Jedi are like that you know. Master Tahl would never let them suffer the same fate you have. Look we can get you out too."
Obi smiled. He thought that would be great!!
Just as the kids got out, they waited outside just a moment. They heard someone yell and Delbe came over and found Obi there. He did not know that the Jedi padawans had been put in there, so he didn't know they were gone.
"You making that noise Obi-Wan?"
"Yes master."
Garen and Bant could not stay longer. They appreciated Obi's help, but they knew he would be in trouble for being there and making so much noise when in reality they had. Obi-Wan stayed and took the blame. The kids had not thought to ask Obi to join them.
Bant regretted that oversight. Nevertheless they had to get to their masters and right away.
Garen thought if they could find them soon enough maybe they could save Obi from the hands of his master, who to Garen seemed a very mean angry man. He sounded that way.
The Jedi apprentices took off running in the direction Obi-Wan had given them, straight for the mountains.
Qui-Gon could hear footsteps coming toward them. They had been walking toward the Inn to circle the barn and overtake the pirates.
Surprise is not a descriptive enough word to say how shocked the Jedi were to see Bant and Garen come running as they could toward them.
"Well Masters I think your padawans did not need our help. They have escaped without it.
"Yes, we escaped but the others are being auctioned off as slaves right now. The people down there, a lot them kids are going to the highest bidder to worktheir lives away, like Obi. We wouldn't have gotten away without the help of the little slave boy who lives at the Inn."
Jinn perked with interest while he listened to Bant spin her tale.
"Then we should be careful It may have been a trick to find us. The boy could be on the side of the dark if I am correct in my assumptions.
"Oh Jinn you know nothing for sure."
Tahl could say anything she felt like to Qui-Gon because they were old friends and the thing of it was, she usually did.
"Master Jinn I do not mean to question you, but he didn't seem from the dark side. He seemed like a poor little boy dragged unwillingly into slavery. I just know he was nice and helped us. Even though I don't think he could have gotten up had we thought to bring him with us."
"Why did you want to bring him with you Padawan Bant?"
Jinn did not want the boy there. He would be handled when they collected the pirates and his slave master to send to prison.
"Well I think he had been beaten before we even met him. I mean he had bruises all over him and he could hardly get up to show us the loose board in the barn. Then just as we left we heard his master, I think Delbe came in and caught Obi where he shouldn't be."
Bant talked in a hurried voice to tell the entire story. She defended Obi-Wan. Then Garen continued the story with the same haste as Bant had.
"Yes Master Jinn I think he got in even more trouble for being there. He pretended it was him who made the noise so the man would not know we escaped. Now I wished we would have brought him, but like Bant said I don't think he could have walked let alone run."
"So that's your big bad evil child is it Qui-Gon? He sacrificed himself to see that my padawan and Padawan Garen could escape, but yet you insist he guided by the dark I think you should rethinking your stand against the boy.….."
"We will see Master, after we have captured our slavers. I am still not convinced the boy does not have some kind of ulterior motive for entering my mind. A link like that is unnatural even Yoda said he had never seen anything like it. That's a good enough for me to believe it might be of the dark this bond he tried to force on me, or it would not have been done against my will."
Master Tahl walked up very close to Master Jinn. Close enough so she could whisper and not be heard by anyone that stood there.
"Are you sure Qui-Gon?"
"Sure about what?"
Jinn whispered his question back to Tahl.
Tahl took the big calloused hands of her friend and whispered.
"Are you absolutely sure this mysterious bond between you and Obi started forming without your permission?"
There was no time for Jinn to think of his answer or to give it. Out of the wooded area walked Delbe and three of the pirates. The Inn keeper had a big smile on his face. He was not aware that the children were Jedi or that the Jedi knew of his slave ring.
"Master Jinn I do owe you my gratitude for finding our little people that escaped. Of course we knew they came this way. My boy pointed the direction of which they took off, once they escaped."
The slavers still did not know they were in for trouble when they tried to take Bant and Garen away from where they rightly belonged.
//So the boy did have Bant and Garen lead the slavers to us. Was he so naive he thought the pirates and his master could overtake the Jedi? Xani and I were right all along.//
"Obi-Wan told you which way they went?"
Tahl could not believe what she heard. She felt there was good in the Kenobi slave but if he indeed set the padawans up to be followed, then he was of the dark side. Qui-Gon was right. The future held nothing for the little slave boy now. The Jedi would not help him. If anything they might well destroy Obi-Wan Kenobi for his betrayal.…………..
Delbe confirmed to Master Tahl that it was with Obi-Wan's help that they found the children.
"I think we will gather up our missing children and be on our way. Thank You for finding them for us."
"Well Delbe we did not exactly find them, they found us. You see they were looking for us. It seems your little slave tried to ride both sides of the fence. He told the kids how to get out, then set you on them. The only thing is, they belong with us. They are Jedi padawans just as my apprentice is. They are beginners padawans."
Delbe's smile faded and turned into a frown.
"Oh I don't know how we managed to get them. We were suppose to get only the children that to work off a debt… I mean.."
"I think you aren't telling the truth. I think we will take you and your friends to the authorities on Coruscant and let them sort through this mess. If you have done nothing wrong then it will be cleared up and you and your friends will be set free. Delbe. If you are running a slavery ring then you will be put away for quite possibly the rest of your life."
Jinn meant what he said. Of course the pirates who were not armed attempted to make a run for it, but to no avail. The Jedi had them and the Inn keeper rounded up within just a few minutes and they were headed back to see to the last three pirates .
There mission after that would be to see that the ones kidnapped received safe and swift passage to their homes. Master Tahl suggested they stay the night to give the kidnapped children and adults a rest.
Qui-Gon had to agree. He hated to spend more time with the Kenobi boy. He would have to tell Master Yoda that Obi-Wan had betrayed the padawans and go into more detail with him about the unwanted bond that the boy tried to push on Jinn. In fact Qui-Gon still could feel the nudge of the boy's own mind on his as the bond tried to form. Jinn battled continually to keep shielded from Obi-Wan.
That was something the healers would have to deal with if it continued. Qui-Gon did not have the power to shield all the time forever against the persistent child and the evil bond he tried to force on the Jedi master.
All the pirates, the inn keeper, and his wife were tied up and placed in the basement to await their trip back to Coruscant. The Jedi temple would send ships to take them back and more ships would arrive to take the kidnapped-almost-slaves back to their various planets.
Qui-Gon had yet to see Obi-Wan, but he could feel his presence close. He, being the highest Jedi master on this mission took it upon himself to decide that Obi-Wan would be considered one of the aggressors. He did tell on the children, thus putting Bant and Garen in a trap to find the other Jedi.
Qui-Gon discussed Obi-Wan with Tahl and she even agreed with him. The Kenobi child would have to be assessed to see of his powers and then decide if he had a part in the slavery ring or was just drawn in.
"You know Qui, we still need to get a hold of his parents and let him know he is being held for questioning. They have a right to know he is alright. "
"I suppose you are right. I mean we would be no better than the slavers if we just took him and let no one know about it. When I find him around here I will get his home planet's name and his parents name. I will contact them before he is sent to Coruscant. However Tahl I plan to make sure that the boy face charges along with the pirates and Delbe for his part in all this, if the council masters find he participated in aiding the slavers."
"Qui, he could have been forced into this."
"I don't know Master Tahl. I mean he wears a force collar, but I think his powers supercedes any power through the force we are familiar with. He is capable of using them even with the collar on. I battle constantly to keep him and the bond from my mind. I fear that if the collar is removed I would be overwhelmed with the demand by his mental link to form an unbreakable bond, possibliy woven by pure evil. I think he would succeed in forming that bond if we remove the collar. No it will remain on until I can get him to the Jedi healers."
Qui-Gon set out to find Obi-wan. It was not difficult for the master to find him. He could feel his presence in a storeroom, just off from the kitchen of the Inn.
He walked in slowly, not sure what to expect from the boy. He imagined Obi must be hiding because he helped the pirates and his master find the Jedi. Why else would he hide from the peace keepers of the galaxy, the Jedi, who were never guilty of bringing harm to any innocent, if indeed they wee innocent.
"Kenobi I know you are in here. I need to speak to you. Come on out."
Slowly the little "former" slave edged his way out into the middle of the room from behind some storage boxes. Fear had a way of slowing your pace when you had to come up face to face against your fear. In this case Kenobi's fear was of Qui-Gon Jinn, although he could not explain. Certainly the Jedi master knew Obi was part of the slavers ring in any way. After all wouldn't Master Jinn know by now he was the one to helped the children out of the barn by showing them his hidden escape route?
"I am here Master Jinn. Do you wish to speak with me?"
"Yes I need to find out where your parents are, to let them know you are now safe and will be returning home once…"
Qui-Gon didn't finish his sentence. He didn't know how too.
//Do I tell him we suspect he could have been in a conspiracy with the pirates or worse yet the dark side? Do I tell him he has to be assessed, prodded almost dissected by the Jedi healers to see why the bond is forming and what powers he has, good or bad?//
Obi-Wan waited for what seemed like hours but in reality was only a few minutes for the Jedi master before him to collect his thoughts and continue on with what he was telling Obi-Wan.
"Well the temple with have to check over your force abilities and see when exactly would be a good time to safely take the collar off. We need to let you family know you will be on Coruscant safe and sound. We will even send them a ship to bring them too you."
Obi-Wan began to feel leery of this Jedi master. If he and the others were freeing the slaves, didn't that mean he had his freedom also? But not according to what the master just said, Obi-Wan would still be a captive of someone.
"I am not sure Master Jinn what you mean. Why can't I just go home?"
A touch of anger flared in Jinn. The boy questioned Qui-Gon's plan for him.
"Look Kenobi, I don't where or what you are from, but you possess much strength in the force. Enough to try to initiate a bond by that force, I neither wanted or needed. You continue to do so even as we speak and you stand there before me…....playing dumb. You heard me. You will be coming to Coruscant and be the guest of the Jedi for a while, just until we are sure of what is going on with you. I mean…….."
"You mean I am to become a prisoner yet again because you are not sure which side I am on, right? I have heard of the dark side that the Jedi preach about and I know nothing of it. That should be enough for you and the other masters. I want to go home. Surely the Jedi do not kidnap children and enslave them."
Now Obi-Wan showed defiance in what Jinn said. He didn't like the implications of what the master insinuated about him. He was being accused of "something". Obi-Wan was just unsure of what?.
"Home, just where is home and who are you going to go home too?"
The question stunned Obi-Wan at first. The Jedi was right. He didn't even have a "home" to go back too. It was destroyed when his parents were taken out and slaughtered by the pirates who took him for their slave ring.
"I had no wish to alarm you but I guess I will have to tell you since you are being so bull headed not to listen to reason. We know of your aid to the pirates and your slave master. You pointed the padawans to their freedom, then set the pirates on them, I believe to find us, in hopes of having us disposed of. You will have to remain in protective custody of the Jedi until we figure out what is going on with you. The authorities will issue us papers allowing the Jedi to temporarily have legal custody of you until we are satisfied we know the truth of your part in this slavery ring."
Jinn didn't tell him the Jedi would also be very sure of what his intentions were by initiating a bond with him and that the Jedi healers would find to way to stop him.
Obi-Wan was terrified. He was being taken into custody but for what? He didn't know anything about the bond Jinn referred too.
"There is nothing going on with me. I want to go home."
"To what? You father is dead or so you say. Where is your mother?"
//My home was burned down, my father and mother were both murdered at the hands of the pirates. This life here at the Inn was all I truly had.//
All the hurt, anger, and loneliness welled up in the boy. He suffered many times over that day at the hand of Delbe, a strange illness seemed to grip every cell in his body, and in truth he had no one to go home too or even a home to go too. There was no one to protect him from the slavers earlier or from the Jedi now, who planned to, in their own way hold him against his will.
The little slave boy sat down on a box and let his head drop. He hoped the man before him would not see the tears that fell on his cheeks.
The best thing the boy could have done was to offer up a reason for why he sent his slave master and the pirates after the children, but he didn't know how to explain it. Obi-Wan Kenobi remained silent and with that silence, Jinn assumed came his guilt………..
PEACE ewen