Part 3
Morning meal at an end, master and apprentice made their way to the training salles - or so Obi-Wan thought. They were walking along a particularly wide Temple corridor that led to one of them - when Qui-Gon turned to his left, into a smaller pathway that branched away from the bigger one.
"Master?" Obi-Wan queried as he walked faster to catch up with his master's longer strides, yet keeping to the custom that demanded that he be two steps behind him.
"Yes, padawan?"
"I thought we were going to spar."
"We are. At least, you are."
"Oh?" Obi-Wan frowned, trying to make sense of this statement. Was he going to spar with someone else, then? "The training rooms are further along the E'erhul Corridor, master."
"I'm well aware of that fact, padawan." Qui-Gon threw the younger Jedi a look of amusement. "My residence here is of some duration, I believe."
Obi-Wan grinned. "I wouldn't know. 'Temporary residence' would describe it more accurately."
"Ours is a 'hop-skip-and-jump' existance at best," the master admitted, smiling. "but then...that is our way."
Obi-Wan's gaze was centred on an intricate geometric design - one of the few embellishments allowed on the pillars supporting the pathways, inside the Temple. "Of course." he murmured.
Qui-Gon cast a glance at him. "Our lives are committed to duty, Obi-Wan," he spoke as though striving to drive away an unseen, unacknowledged unease. "Very few are chosen for that path - it is an honour."
"I know, master."
"And yet...?"
Obi-Wan bit his lip. "I'm..." He stopped.
"Unsettled. I know."
The apprentice raised his eyes. "That's wrong, isn't it?"
"Wrong? I wouldn't say that. The rest of the galaxy may view us as iron men, endowed with supernatural powers and capable of unheard of feats...but the Jedi are only human. We have our moments - oh, more than a normal being could ever guess. A life of duty may sound intriguing to some," he chuckled, and Obi-Wan smiled in response. "but one sometimes longs for something a little more..."
"Mundane?"
"That wasn't the word I was thinking of."
"Neither was I. More along the lines of..." Obi-Wan paused. There was that fleeting feeling of irritation again. Restlessness? Unease? Why? "I don't know... I can't describe it."
"And you find that perplexing. Disturbing."
Qui-Gon had come closer to the truth than his apprentice would have liked. "Perhaps. I ought to meditate on it."
"Meditation is a cure for unease, in most cases..." Qui-Gon paused. "But I was thinking along other lines. Speaking of which," he stopped in front of a small doorway, plain in appearance. "We've arrived at our destination."
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Obi-Wan raised his eye-brows as the door opened, and they stepped inside. Considerably smaller than the average training room, it had one another sterling quality - barring a mat that covered the floor, it was completely featureless.
"I've never been here," he remarked as he walked over the mat, testing it out. It had a soft, springy quality - almost at once, he realised that it must be one of those used in a regular training room. "Is this a training room too? It's quite small."
"Small, yes," Qui-Gon answered, as he busied himself in a corner of the room, shedding his robe. "It will serve our purpose, however, for the present. All the other training rooms are occupied continuously."
"There's always enough space for a pair, master."
"At the moment, privacy is of more importance - at least, I thought it would be. There'll always be time for a display in public."
Display in public? Obi-Wan pursed his lips. -Ah, the famed Jinn-inscrutability is in evidence, I suppose.- he voiced through their bond. -As is usual, I couldn't make out head or tail of that last statement, master.-
-A little suspense never hurt anyone, padawan. Adds variety to the spice of life, don't you think? And no more smart remarks about my inscrutability. It's an excellent weapon - you know it.-
-Only on missions - and it didn't seem to work on Nelth V.- Obi-Wan sent a chuckle along the bond.
-Do not mention Nelth V again. That is not a planet - it's a freezing excuse for an asteroid, and the beings existing on it are just that - beings. As a Jedi, I grant them that concession. Others wouldn't.-
Obi-Wan grinned. -You won't find me disagreeing on that point. What was that about variety and the spice of life, though-
-Trust me, padawan.-
-Don't I, always-
-A debatable point.-
Obi-Wan gave in to laughter, at this. "Unfair, master," he said.
Qui-Gon smiled, walking along the perimeter of the training-mat. "A little, perhaps."
"Are we waiting for someone?" Obi-Wan asked, removing his robe, folding it and placing it carefully, along the wall.
"Something, rather."
"What thing?"
Qui-Gon had opened his mouth to answer, when a chime sounded, indicating the arrival of a visitor. The master moved towards the door, and opened it to reveal another Jedi - Knight Donan, a blonde human built on generous lines, and older than Obi-Wan by about ten years. He stepped in, bowing to both master and apprentice, and handed Qui-Gon a small, circular box of a gleaming silver colour.
"Master Yoda asked that I deliver it to you personally," he explained, as Qui-Gon took the box. "And here is the key. I apologize for being late, though - I was required to sign and countersign several records regarding its removal."
"That was only to be expected. Thank you, Knight Donan."
"It was no trouble, Master Jinn." Knight Donan hesitated, his eyes flying to Obi-Wan, and then back to Qui-Gon. "It's for him, isn't it?"
Qui-Gon threw a glance at Obi-Wan, hesitating the barest second. "Yes."
A smile lit up the placid features. "I hope you succeed." He turned to obi-Wan and bowed deeply. "I wish you the best." Obi-Wan bowed in return.
The Knight excused himself, and the apprentice turned his attention to his master, brows knit.
"I'm beginning to feel like a crecheling in the midst of an exotic angel-tale," he commented. "What is in that box, why must the Artifact-keeper of the Jedi Temple deliver it to you in person - especially instructed by Master Yoda - and why do I need Knight Donan's best wishes?"
Qui-Gon chuckled. "Impatience was ever your undoing," he said as he turned the box at a certain angle, located an array of tiny buttons, and began pressing them in a pre-arranged pattern. Obi-Wan approached him, curious.
"You're not going to tell me what it contains, are you?" he spoke, taking in the silvery smoothness.
"Considering that you'll see it in a moment-" Qui-Gon inserted a finely crafted silver key inside a small key-hole, beside the buttons. The lid of the box moved up with a slight hiss. "Ah, it's open."
Obi-Wan stood close to his master, as the latter twisted the lid off carefully, placed a hand inside the box, and brought out something in the palm of his hand.
"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked, eagerness and curiosity striving for supremacy in his eyes.
Qui-Gon moved away from the box, opened his palm, and jerked it - releasing the object into the air. As Obi-Wan watched in amazement, it - whatever it was - jumped towards the ceiling, zipped to the left, then right - and finally slowed down, hovering in the air, exactly in his line of sight. The apprentice blinked.
Qui-Gon smiled. "The Ischila."
A/N:
jedi keliam kenobi,amber75 : Thank you -) And here's your update.
Rieyeuxs : You have? Wow. Sure, it'll get updated here. -)
DarkKnight92: Thanks.
Pokey1984: You'll know, soon -)
Shadow131: Thank you so much-) I love the title, myself - it's connected, in more ways than one. -)
