Title:
The Quandary
Author:
BaBaKaNuSh13
Category: Action (an adequate amount, anyway), Angst, AU, (Age 13) (If only
'13' started with 'A', too!)
Summary:
AU to the ending of Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival. Qui-Gon
didn't take Obi-Wan as his apprentice after the incident in the
mine, and the young Jedi is faced with the task of trying to stay
alive as another prospective master takes an interest in him.
Rating:
PG/K+
Spoilers:
Minor ones for the JA books
Archive:
Yes, of course! That is, if anyone would want it. Just please email
me first.
Disclaimer:
The Star Wars universe belongs to George Lucas. I'm not making any
money out of this, so please don't sue.
A/N: Finally, a new chapter, and I can stop apologising for stuffing everything up … until I do it again next time, that is.
Enjoy.
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Chapter 4
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Over the next few days, his visions, the constant warnings, and the need for an intense and deep connection to the Force were wearing Obi-Wan out. The visions were always of the same troublesome quandary between jumping and some other, unknown fate, but he had come no further to discovering what they actually signified.
To top it off, every day without fail, the familiar tingling sensation would arise in the back of Obi-Wan's mind, and he would be forced to jump, spin and duck to dodge blaster bolts, knives and other deadly projectiles aimed in his direction. Xanatos would appear out of nowhere, somehow sneaking past Agri-Corps security without ever being seen, and attack him in some way. He'd never actually made contact with Obi-Wan, but it was almost as if he was testing him, taunting him, trying to goad him into a reaction.
Obi-Wan refused to submit to the man's whims.
He'd tried to alert security of the danger, but no one had believed him, since Xanatos had never been sighted, besides on the first day when he'd crashed the speeder bike. Even then, it had been assumed that he had been just some random hooligan, merely out to disturb the peace. The worst thing was, however, that although he had not been believed about Xanatos' continual appearances in the Agri-dome, Obi-Wan had been blamed for any scorch marks or damaged plants as a result of them. They'd even gone so far as to threaten to put him on probation.
After searching the Agri-Corps' holonet for any current information on Xanatos' movements, Obi-Wan came up with no leads, not that he really expected anything. Xanatos seemed influential enough to be able to keep his presence quiet. There was nothing to indicate what he could be doing back on Bandomeer, and that only worried the young Jedi more. He had thought of sharing his thoughts and suspicions with Si Treemba, but didn't wish to involve the young Arconian in Xanatos' deadly game any more than he had to. Obi-Wan felt that he'd already endangered him too many times in the past, already.
But it made Obi-Wan feel so alone to be unable to share his worries with someone older, wiser than him. He had no one to turn to, no one who would believe him. It was now that he wished for Qui-Gon to be with him more than ever, to tell him what to do, despite the hurt that clouded Obi-Wan's mind every time he thought of the man.
No, he didn't need Qui-Gon. He could manage on his own.
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Obi-Wan lay down on his narrow sleep-couch after another tiring day, and fell asleep almost instantly, weariness lulling him into the grip of the night. He rolled over restlessly in his sleep.
It was time to make his choice. Time to decide between what was safer for him – what was easy – and what was right, yet so much harder to follow through with. He knew what he would choose.
He went flying through the air, falling down towards the turbulent water…
Obi-Wan woke up with a gasp as the Force screamed a warning to him and he tumbled out of bed, grateful for the Masters who had drilled it into the initiates to sleep in their clothes, always ready for anything. All he lacked was his boots. In one fluid motion Obi-Wan grabbed his lightsabre from the bedside table, and rolled to the space under his window sill. He was given a moment's breath to quickly pull his boots on with two violent tugs.
A dark figure, like a large, black bird, sailed over his head, smashing through the newly-repaired window. Glass scattered across the room and tinkled against the cold tiles of the floor. Xanatos landed lightly and turned to face Obi-Wan with a predatory grin.
"Are you ready to decide, young Kenobi?"
It was time to make his choice.
"What am I to decide?" Obi-Wan asked, feeling dread pitting in his stomach. It was him then, in his vision. He was sure of it.
"Whether you will join me and learn the ways of the Force with my teachings," Xanatos paused dramatically, "or whether we will have to come to some … other agreement."
Obi-Wan raised his lightsabre into a guarded position in front of him, yet did not ignite it, waiting for Xanatos to make the first move. "I will never turn to the Dark Side, Xanatos. Mustafar will freeze over before I will ever follow you."
Xanatos merely shrugged, lip curling slightly. "Big words, little Jedi. Nevertheless, that can be arranged. It seems you just need a little … persuasion."
He leapt forward without warning, straight toward Obi-Wan, his lightsabre suddenly in his hands, ignited and slashing at him. Obi-Wan sidestepped the movement and spun on one foot, striking out to meet the red sabre with his own blue one. The pungent smell of ozone filled the small interior of the room, the swing of their lightsabres singeing the sparse furniture and leaving scorch marks on the tiled floor.
Xanatos swung heavily at Obi-Wan's head, but he crouched down underneath it, striking out with sabre towards the man's midsection. Xanatos easily parried the move, but Obi-Wan had counted on it. He slipped his lightsabre blade underneath Xanatos' with one hand, flicking it towards him as he ducked beneath it, falling back onto his other hand and kicking out with both feet, connecting solidly with Xanatos' thighs.
The unconventional move caught Xanatos unaware, and an unguarded look of surprise crossed his face as he stumbled backwards a few steps.
It was all the time Obi-Wan needed.
He abruptly spun around and leapt out the window. He knew he could never achieve anything in this fight against Xanatos and that it was time to leave. The man was too experienced, too strong, and Obi-Wan somehow felt that that is what he wanted: for Obi-Wan to fight.
He fell through the air, down the three stories to the ground, but quickly reached out to grab a branch to slow his fall halfway down. He swung there for a fraction of a moment before dropping silently to the ground and sprinted lightly around the corner of the building, hoping to either lose Xanatos or find some sort of help.
He stopped in a courtyard, which was in the middle of the circle of living quarters, looking around for some way to escape. He was suddenly forced to cartwheel to the right as a bolt blasted the spot where he'd been standing, and continued the movement, landing behind a series of large durasteel skips. He crouched down and peered around them, quickly jerking his head back as another blaster bolt pinged past and hit the wall behind him, taking a chip out of the solid plasticrete.
Pressing his back to the skip, Obi-Wan thought quickly. What was he going to do? He looked out into the dark of the night, stretching out with the Force to enhance his senses. He could feel Xanatos stalking towards his hiding place, assured in his win over the young Jedi. Obi-Wan stretched out further. Nothing. He couldn't find anything that would assist him.
"Come out, come out, little Padawan," Xanatos called. Obi-Wan could feel him on the adjacent side of the skip, dark glee radiating off him.
Obi-Wan suddenly jumped to his feet and back flipped onto the top of the large bin, gaining the advantage of height. He rolled to the edge and swung down, striking out at the black-clad shoulder of the Dark Jedi, only to be met with his violent red lightsabre. He back flipped again as Xanatos swung at his knees, unintentionally giving the older man room to leap up onto the bin with him. Xanatos pulled out a blaster and took a few well-aimed shots.
Obi-Wan leapt off the top of the skip with the barrage of laser bolts. As he flipped through the air, he felt a searing pain as one caught him in the side. Losing his concentration, he landed awkwardly and fell hard to the ground, banging his head on the uneven stone floor of the courtyard.
He could hear the raucous laughter of Xanatos past the ringing of his ears.
Reaching out to the Force dizzily, Obi-Wan tried to push away the pain searing up his side and raised himself weakly on his forearms. He felt a warning through the Force, but his reactions were sluggish, meaning that he couldn't dodge the electro-jabber aimed at his head.
With the searing agony that pulsed between his temples, Obi-Wan was hard-pressed to maintain his weak grasp on consciousness. Relief swept through him as the electro-jabber was lifted away. It was a fleeting feeling, however, as Xanatos reapplied the stick to his already-damaged side. After several long moments of writhing in pain and battling against the instinct to cry out, the last thing Obi-Wan remembered was a kick to his head, sending him deep into the comfort of oblivion.
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Please hit that little review button and tell me what you think, or I'll have to threaten you with my uber-cool Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsabre that I'm getting for my birthday! Actually, I went out an bought it myself, but I convinced my sister to pretend it's my eighteenth birthday present from her, so that I wouldn't get in trouble with the olds for buying it … er …I mean, so that I wouldn't get in trouble with my parents! ;)
Well, my offers for University come out in exactly one week (well, from when I'm posting it, here in Australia. They come out on the 17th of Jan, '06), and I'm so excited that I might post another chapter tomorrow if I can get on the net. Check out the course I applied for: Bachelor of Multimedia (Networks and Computing)/Bachelor of Engineering (Telecommunications and Internet Technologies). Sounds scary, huh? The long name sounds so intimidating, so I tell everyone that I'm just doing a computer course. :)
Anyway, I'll stop babbling on, now, so you can get quick-smart to reviewing ;D. Have a great day!
BaBaKaNuSh13
