George owns it...two writers at this point...blah blah blah.
Undomiel
There is no possible way to describe the sense of dread I feel as I follow Master Nim to the Council chambers; defending oneself more strongly than needed is one thing, attacking another student unprovoked is another matter altogether. I look to the elder Jedi as she opens the chamber door, stepping back to let me through.
"This is out of my hands." She says, shaking her head; I can see the disapproval in her face, and wince at the thought of disappointing her. Sighing, I take a step through the door and breathe deeply, preparing myself for the worst.
Seated around the room are the greatest of the Jedi, each chosen to be on the Council by virtue of their abilities with the Force. Master Windu and Master Yoda sit at the center of the circle, both looking stern and serious.
"Enter," Master Windu says, motioning to the area at the center of the Council ring; I do as I am told, taking my place and hanging my head. "What do you have to say for yourself, young Padawan?" He asks, his voice strong.
I look up to face him, my eyes wide, not knowing how to respond. "Master Windu, I ..." My voice trails off as I flounder to keep my thoughts coherent, and I drop my head again, finding the tips of my boots, brown and scuffed, strangely interesting.
"Let your emotions control you, you did," Master Yoda interjects, and I nod my head in agreement.
"But ... my friend was being hurt," I manage by means of explanation. "One of the other students was trying to injure him!"
Master Windu shakes his head and tuts disapprovingly. "Undomiel, your desire to protect your friend is truly noble, but what you did was out of bounds, even if this other student was attacking him, as you say."
My temper begins to rise as I stand amidst the circle; how could they not see that Aeryn had tried to not only injure, but incapacitate Gabe! My hands clench in fists as I try to control my breathing, concentrating on calming myself.
"Much anger I sense," Master Yoda says, breaking me from my introspection for the moment. I turn to face him, fighting between calm and rage, eyes blazing. "Control is the key, young Padawan."
Slowly, I begin to come back to myself, calming my nerves and breathing deeply. "Yes," I mutter, hanging my head in shame. I had just done it again; I had just let myself become angered at the slightest infraction, and with the Masters at that. What had I been thinking? With a sigh, I look up again to face the Masters, hoping to redeem myself. "What must I do?" I ask.
The Masters regard each other thoughtfully, their gaze showing understanding, as if this is not the first time this has happened. Well ... that MIGHT be an encouraging thought I think to myself as I wait for a reply.
"You will be required to perform extra meditation. Discover the root of your anger, and weed it out." Master Windu replies, nodding. I nod in return, and pivot on my heel to leave the room, somewhat relieved. "Undomiel," Windu calls, stopping me in my tracks.
"Remember ... anger can be more harmful than you realize."
"Yes, Master Windu," I respond; with that, I exit the room, making my way directly for the meditation rooms.
Cienanos
As I sat examining the cube and trying to find some way to activate it, I searched through my memory trying to remember if I had ever seen markings like that before. Each figure consisted of a maze of right angles intersecting each other. Could it be a numbering system? An intricate alphabet? Or some sort of hieroglyph that I couldn't decipher? All I new is that I began to feel more and more uneasy as I examined the cube. I felt myself slowly drift off to sleep. My eyes were growing heavier and heavier.
Slowly, the atmosphere around me morphed from the jungle pit to a harsh wasteland. At my eyes adjusted to this new scenery, made up of burnt trees and scorched earth, I saw figures in the distance. I felt as it I was floating towards these figures…moving faster and faster until I could see the outlines of four humanoids. Three men in black were leading a woman in vibrant green. She clutched a box, the same box that I had just smashed open. Tears were running down her face as the wind whipped her soft red hair behind her. She handed the box to the tallest of the men and whispered quickly what I thought were instructions but I couldn't be sure. He simply nodded at her and ran towards the black remains of a forest nearby.
Whatever force had drawn me towards the woman was now beginning to pull me back. I observed two more figures emerging over the horizon and my blood went cold. Sith. The wind around me whipped even more violently as the figures began to approach the woman and the two remaining figures in black. I rushed back faster and faster and the scene began to fade once again back into the jungle. I could only head the wind now…the wind and the screaming. I felt something grab me as the screaming continued. It was getting louder and louder as I just got colder. It was the feeling of murder. Cold-blooded rage and the desire to extinguish something pure from the universe. I had encountered it only once before on a mission with Master Siren but I would never forget its foul taste. The wind continued whipping around me, especially at my shoulder. I suddenly felt it stop, but the sensation in my shoulder continued. I fought to open my eyes.
Kenobi was crouched in front of me with his hand on my shoulder; there was a look of deep concern in his eyes. I looked past him to where the firewood was scattered on the floor of the pit. He must have dropped when he saw me or when he sensed my discomfort.
"Nano? Are you okay?" he asked.
I just stared at him blankly for a moment not knowing how to put what I was feeling into words.
"Nano," he said a little more urgently. "Are you okay? You're crying. What is it?"
I lifted my hand to my cheek and felt the dampness. What had happened? What was that? A vision? A bad dream? I tried to smile at Kenobi as I answered.
"I'm fine. I just…to be honest I have no idea what just happened. But I think it might have something to do with this holo cube that I just found. I was trying to get up and fix the heating unit when I accidentally uncovered this box…and it was in it. I was sitting here examining it and I must have fallen asleep. Kenobi, I don't know if I just had a dream but whatever it was very disturbing."
"How disturbing?"
I looked up at him; my eyes were filling with tears once again. I answered him with one word, "Sith." His features darkened as the realization of what I had just said hit him. He sat back on the ground and with his arms around his knees, just like a little boy. Then it suddenly struck me that he was sitting just as students had sat as we listened to dark stories of the Sith from the older padawans in the temple. The only difference was that then we had the security of knowing that they were just stories. That the Sith were something that past generations had to deal with…nothing we would have to face. I had no sense of that security now. He hung his head down, examining his hands for a long time before he spoke.
"You must tell Master Siron, if he doesn't already know…if he hasn't already felt your distress."
"I can't," I replied as I felt my denial began to build in my head but not in my heart. I was trying my best to silence every alarm that was going off in my head. I was trying to regain my composure and my confidence. "I don't know what it was. It was most likely a dream, a nightmare caused by the stress of my fall…or of your attempt at cooking."
"Nano, Jedi Knights don't have dreams. They have visions of the past or of the future."
I smiled at him gently and reached forward. I held his hand in mine as I replied, "Well, lucky for us I'm not a Jedi Knight yet."
He smiled back. "I think you should still tell Master Siron."
"Well, maybe I should do a little investigating on my own. Let me have a little time to see what I can uncover about this artifact. It has to have some connection to all of this." I felt stupid stating the obvious but as I talked, a plan began to emerge in my head.
"How are you going to identify it? I mean who, besides Jocasta Nu, will be able to identify it at the Temple?"
My smile got wider. "I have my ways…I have my connections."
"Domie?"
"Domie."
He stood up and began to gather up all of the wood. I watched as with skill, he began to coax a fire from the wood. I went through my bag and began to look for the rations I had packed. As I slowly unpacked the rations, we continued to talk and exchange ideas about what the artifact might just be. I hadn't realized that I had still been shivering until the heat from the fire began to warm our underground camping site. I also hadn't realized my leg hadn't bothered me for some time either. At least I was right about one thing. The mystery of the artifact had distracted me for a while.
We took turns sleeping and "standing guard". Kenobi, at first, had insisted on staying up all night because he thought I was in no condition to stay awake and that I needed rest. I responded with my own articulate argument that he was being a "half-brained dung salesman" and that I was perfectly capable of staying awake and screaming for help if any danger emerged. He then attempted another articulate argument and I was forced to reiterate my point by hurling a hunk of mud at him.
As he slept, I scooted close to the fire to tend it. I knew that morning would be coming any time now. I looked up out of the pit and saw that dawn was beginning to break. I passed more time by scavenging through my bag and founding some more rations. I pulled them out and thought to myself that they would make a good breakfast while we waited for our Masters to find us. I then pulled out the holo cube again and sat staring trying to unlock its secrets once again. Once again I became lost in the cube. I lost track of the time.
"Still no profound idea of what it is for?" Kenobi asked, his head still beneath his blanket and his question startling me.
"Nope."
"So you didn't have any brilliant discoveries during the night?"
"Just one. You snore."
There was a chuckle beneath the blanket.
"Don't laugh. It took all the energy and discipline in me not to smother you while you slept."
"See Siron. I told you that they wouldn't kill each other," Master Qui-gon's voice rang out from above. I had never seen Kenobi jump up that fast in my life.
Master Siron glanced down into the pit and looking at my broken leg and the remains of the heater, he replied, "Well, it sure looks like they tried."
I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Kenobi and we both broke out into big smiles. "Have you ever noticed how everyone happens to think that they are a comedian?"