This is my first attempt at fan fiction. It's still very much a work in progress (and I progress QUITE slowly!), so I would appreciate any tips or pointers or encouragement any of you might have to offer.
Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!
-Kiyral
P.S. Thanks to Kalantha for the review!! You'll find out what Obi-Wan did...eventually!
Now on with chapter 2:
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Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn left for Dagobah almost immediately. Only a brief stop by their residence hall to gather a few belongings and survival rations kept the two from heading to the shuttle directly from the Council Chambers. Not necissarily in a rush but hurrying just the same, Master and Apprentice were in the mindset of getting this over and done with.
It wasn't until starting the preflight sequencing onboard their personal craft that either spoke.
"Master," Obi-Wan ventured as he flipped the switch to turn on the repulsorlift generators under the ship, "...what's on Dagobah?"
The senior Jedi finished calibrating the quardinates for their impending hyperspace jump and turned, briefly, to glance at his protoge before replying, "You'll soon find out, Padawan. Nothing the two of us can't handle on our own, you needn't worry. Just have--"
"Patience, I know."
"I was going to say 'faith', actually. But I suppose 'patience' would do quite nicely in lieu."
Obi-Wan frowned at his mistake, then reached out for the Force to quiet his sudden influx of frustration using a familiar calming technique. He was going to learn to be patient if it took a lifetime.
It was only a matter of minutes before they had clearance and were heading for their exit vector.
* ~ * ~ *
Obi-Wan found himself wandering the small craft for the seventeen-billionth time, not that there was really anywhere to go. Not knowing about what he would be facing once reaching Dagobah was making him feel apprehensive and unsettled. He was having a hard time sitting still, which was making things difficult, as he hadn't realized they were going to have such a long hyperspace jump. The young Jedi was beginning to show signs of cabin fever after spending nearly two days couped up in the three-room vessel - smaller, even, than their personal apartment back in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
The ship was an older Q-class Abode Transport, used mainly by the Jedi (and some nomadic travelers with few belongings and a lust for travel) when embarking on longer assignements far from the comforts of modern technology. Not designed with luxury in mind, the triangle-shaped 'home-with-a-hyperdrive' was endowed with only the barest of essentials. One room held two small sleep couches, a tiny closet and refresher annex, a second held a food-synth and cooler unit as well as a small table with three chairs, and the third was the cockpit, having the pilot and co-pilot chairs and room for two more passengers to sit.
After knocking his elbow on the door-jam between the cockpit and the kitchenette for the third time that day, Obi-Wan gave up and carefully crossed into the sleep chamber to sit with his Master. Qui-Gon was in the same place he had been for nearly the entire trip; he spent most of his time sitting cross-legged on his sleep couch meditating, only getting up to eat and use the 'fresher before going to sleep. Obi-Wan was beginning to think that there never really was any planet called Dagobah and his punishment was just to be stuck on this tiny ship for a week with nothing to do. With a sigh, the Padawan decided to take a hint from his mentor and settled in for some quality meditation.
With a deep cleansing breath, Obi-Wan pulled the Force from around him, guiding it through his body and pooling it in his mind. With a second breath he did the opposite: he spread himself out in the Force, extended his being beyond his body, beyond the room, beyond the shuttle and out into space. The experience never ceased to fill him with wonder and awe. Next to him, he could clearly feel the presence of his Master, who's gentle aknowledgement showed how pleased he was that Obi-Wan had finally joined him. He had apparently been waiting for him...patiently, he noted.
Qui-Gon's thoughts flowed through him like they were his own, "Have faith in yourself, Obi-Wan. When the Force is your teacher, you learn even when you do not realize you are being taught."
"But how am I supposed to remember lessons if I'm not aware they are being given? When will I know what I should have learned?"
"You know the answer to that,"
"When I have patience and listen to the Force?" Obi-Wan felt a wave of warmth flow through him at his Master's satisfaction with the correct answer.
"You will face many obstacles while on Dagobah, Padawan. I cannot help you them, but I am confident you will surmount them with very little trouble."
"...Master, what kind of obstacles? What do you mean you can't help me with them? Why can't - "
"We have arrived, Obi-Wan. It's time to go."
And with that, Obi-Wan awoke from his meditation to the alert of the hyperspace timer telling them the ship had returned to realspace. He had strapped himself into the co-pilots acceleration chair before Qui-Gon had even stood up. Wait a minute...Qui-Gon was still in his meditation! The younger Jedi called quietly to his Master through the Force, "...Master?"
"...go ahead, Padawan. I trust you."
Switching quickly to the pilot's seat and restrapping himself in, Obi-Wan glanced at the display panels and toggled a few switches to get ready for atmospehric re-entry. He'd done the routine hundreds of times on nearly as many worlds, but he wasn't prepared for what happened next.
A sudden flashing from across the panel showed that the landing skids were being extended. His first thought was that he must have accidentally hit the wrong switch, even though it was clear on the other side of the board. Not a second later, the flash was followed by a beep saying that the landing skids were now being closed at the same time. What?! But before the Jedi had a moment to ponder the glitch, a warning siren told him that the navigational system had completely bottomed out. A quick check of the system diagnostics screen left him in dismay, as it had suddenly switched to what looked like an old dialect of Huttese or Ithorian. Either way, he couldn't read it. Not that that mattered for too much longer, anyway. Five seconds later, Obi-Wan had the manual stick control in his hand and a look of panic on his face as all the ship's power suddenly vanished and he found himself plumeting towards the planet through a thick fog.
"If we somehow survive this, Qui-Gon is going to kill me."
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Chapter 3 is in progress, please let me know what you think!
Thanks!!
-Kiyral