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: This Summer. It's frying my brain! If I start talking about green cordial somewhere (which I've been drinking religiously in his heat), please just ignore it. I apologise in forewarning.
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Chapter 7
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After taking stock of all the vehicles and crafts in the Agri-Corps hangar, RonTha came hurrying up to Qui-Gon.
"Two of our land speeders are missing. You were right, Master Jinn, there have been thefts during the night," he said, wringing his long hands.
Qui-Gon frowned, though the news wasn't unexpected. He looked around the hangar, musing. He walked over to where the speeders should have been. There were no tracks or clues around the first vacant space, just the usual Agri-dome dust and the grime and oil from the hangar. He scoured the area of the second, instead.
Little pieces of hair were scattered around, with a few tiny splashes of blood, and there were heavy scuffs on the dusty floor. He knelt down and picked up a few of the hairs. They were short, brown and wiry, curving slightly mid-strand.
Whipid hair.
Qui-Gon picked up a few more. These were different to the others, however they were still unmistakably the same species. All he knew was that Xanatos – because he was now certain that it was his former Apprentice behind the attack on Obi-Wan – had at least two of his henchwhipids with him.
Qui-Gon pursed his lips. At most three whipids, he mused, estimating by the amount of variation between the fur samples, and by the fact that the particular land speeder they had stolen only carried a maximum of four passengers.
He looked at the hairs in the palm of his hand again, and his brow furrowed. He lifted one of them up. It was fairly short and soft, not wiry like the others, and was a peculiar ginger-brown colour. He was immediately positive it was Obi-Wan's.
So, the young Jedi had been taken by the whipids. Somewhere far away from the Agri-dome, Qui-Gon thought, judging by the iron-red dust left by their heavy trooper boots. All of the soil in the dome was dark and rich, whereas the surrounding was a mixture of the red earth and the dark soil. Much of the rest of Bandomeer was covered in dry, russet, infertile dirt.
Still, Qui-Gon thought, that doesn't narrow my search down much.
He remained crouched, balancing on his heels, and thought the situation over. There were no other clues to go on, no way to track Obi-Wan.
Unless …
Qui-Gon sighed deeply.
He had no other choice.
He would finally have to face up to the fact that he had a bond with the boy, as much as he was reluctant to do so. He didn't want to encourage the link. He definitely didn't want to be connected to anyone or become used to relying on someone other than himself. After all the years of solo missions, of living life alone and trusting no one but himself, Qui-Gon feared for the consequences of reaching out to Obi-Wan. Yet he knew that it was the only way he could even have a chance of finding Obi-Wan quickly. Otherwise it might be too late to save the boy, if he knew Xanatos. And he did..
Qui-Gon steeled himself and tentatively reached out to the bond that he had shielded himself from. He had blocked it in an attempt to be rid of it. The echo of pain, which he had felt earlier whilst on Riskala, came flooding back. This time it was accompanied by a sharp ache in his shoulder and a profound dizziness. His sense of what Obi-Wan was feeling intensified as he moved further into the surprisingly tenacious bond. He pushed the sensations away and buried himself deeper into it.
Just a little more and he could get a rough sense of Obi-Wan's direction.
He pressed on a little further.
A sense of surprise and blurred confusion washed over Qui-Gon. The boy had sensed his intrusion. He quickly wrenched back to reality before Obi-Wan could realise what was happening.
But it didn't matter anymore. He knew where the boy was.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Obi-Wan jerked, and the speeder swerved sharply to the side.
What was that?
Something had been in his mind. He closed his eyes and focussed, holding the speeder in a straight line. He was in an open plain, desolate and depleted of any substantial landmarks or signs of sentient life, so there was no chance of him crashing as long as he kept the craft running on course.
He reached out with the Force, sweeping himself up in its wave. He didn't try to wield it, he was too worn out for that, but he followed it, letting it control his senses.
Nothing.
Obi-Wan shook his head wryly. He must have been imagining it. He opened his eyes and sighed wearily. He was exhausted and couldn't wait to get back to the Agri-Corps so he could rest and have his injuries seen to. His shoulder was bothering him painfully, but as long as he kept still, the blaster wound in his side didn't hurt him at all. Obi-Wan's head, on the other hand, was pounding terribly. His vision swam every now and again when he moved his head too fast, and dizziness swept over his senses in frequent waves.
Obi-Wan glanced down at the readouts on the panel in front of him. He would be out of fuel soon. Then he was afraid that he would have to walk.
"What are you doing? I told you to wait for me at the cliffs, and when I get there you weren't there. By the Force, if you've botched this up, I'll have your heads on my wall."
Obi-Wan stopped himself from making a sound. It was Xanatos.
"Answer me, you tooth-faces!"
Obi-Wan let the silence drag out, unwilling to give Xanatos any indication to what was happening.
"When I get my hands on you, I–" Xanatos paused, and Obi-Wan's heart pounded faster. He'd worked something out, Obi-Wan knew it.
"Kenobi." The former Jedi said, his tone final. "You don't have to say anything, but I know it's you. I have to say that I'm impressed. What did you do to my whipids? When I find them I'm going to tear apart with my bare hands. I'll bet you didn't hurt them too badly for me, the good little Jedi Padawan that you are."
Obi-Wan's throat constricted. The whipids' fates finally sank in. He'd killed them. His hand tightened on the steering stick.
"You didn't actually murder them, did you? You did. I can feel their deaths." Xanatos roared with laughter. "Oho, little Padawan. Who'll take you now? No one," he spat, "I'll offer you my helping hand, again, Obi-Wan. Come with me and I will teach you the ways of the Force, show you true power. You could be great, you know."
"You wouldn't know power if it hit you round the head with a lit lightsabre," Obi-Wan snapped, forgetting himself.
Xanatos chuckled. "My, my, little Padawan, such anger."
Obi-Wan's mouth snapped shut.
"No comment? Never mind, Kenobi. I shall see you soon, my Padawan."
"In your dreams, Xanatos!" Obi-Wan let go of the steering stick and slammed his palm against the comm power control. His pulse was quickened, beating urgently against his ribs, yet Obi-Wan felt overwhelmingly lethargic. He didn't want to think anymore, just wanted to collapse and sleep for a few weeks. But he had to keep on going.
Xanatos was after him now.
Obi-Wan suddenly snapped to attention.
No doubt there was a tracking device on his speeder. Xanatos didn't trust anyone and would want to follow the progress of his men. Nevertheless, Obi-Wan realised, there was really nothing he could do now. Xanatos already knew where he was and Obi-Wan couldn't afford to change course at this stage; he didn't have enough fuel to. He would just have to try and race the former Jedi back to the Agri-Corps.
No doubt it would be harder than it sounded, Obi-Wan thought. He wouldn't even hesitate to guess that Xanatos had a faster craft than he.
He dared not even think of what would happen when his speeder ran out of fuel.
Obi-Wan tried to adjust the frequency of the craft's inbuilt commlink, steering with his knees, but it was no use. The speeder had been sabotaged, and the only other comm he could contact was Xanatos'. The least likely person from whom Obi-Wan could ask for help.
Not the help he was searching for, anyway.
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Review. Now. Pay me with reviews. I get drunk on them. Since I'm not legally allowed to drink for a little more than a week, until I turn eighteen, I have nothing else. Help me with my habit. ;)
So, I hope you liked this chapter. As per usual, if you have any suggestions, complaints, anything about the story, please just go ahead and say it. I need to hear that sort of stuff so that I can improve. I can't help you if you hate this fic if you don't tell me how to develop it (within consideration, naturally. One thing I refuse to do is change Obi-Wan's hair colour to blue. Not that I have anything against the colour, but he already has a blue lightsabre and blue-green eyes, so I think that's enough).
Can you tell it's hot here?
Thankyou for all the reviews! I was feeling quite down and stressed until I read them, and you guys made me feel heaps better.
Oh, and since I posted this on the 25th and you'll probably get this on the 26th, HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!
Anyway, to the replies:
Tiamath: Thanks. I've been trying to adapt my writing style to fit closer to Jude Watson's, and keep the characters as much in canon as possible, so you've made me feel so much more confident about that. Thankyou. I'm glad you like my fic. And angst … (also has an evil grin) … I love the stuff! Thankyou about the action sequences, they are my absolute favourite things to write (along with any angsty stuff) … my heart was in my mouth as Obi-Wan jumped, too … and I'm writing the thing! I'm so hopeless.
whatevergirl: Thankyou for your wonderful reviews. And Xanatos is very determined. I feel kinda sorry for Obi-Wan, but it's so much fun to write. I'm glad Qui-Gon came back, too. Otherwise I was going to have to kill him off, and I didn't want to do that just yet. Poor Obi-Wan wouldn't be able to cope with anything else on his plate, at the moment!
i luv ewansmile: I'm sorry, I can't help being evil. It comes naturally. My friends even tell me that I have an evil laugh, so … Anyway, thanks for the awesome reviews. I'm glad you think my fic's kewl. :) I'm sorry chapter 6 was so short, but it was actually the longest one. :) I'm glad you liked it, though.
Writer of all: Wow! Even though you started reading after I'd posted heaps of chapters, you reviewed them all! That is so cool. Thankyou so much! I'm blushing so much that you think my fic is the best thing you've read in some time. I'll try to keep my head down to a normal size. I went all warm and fuzzy inside when I read that. Thanks! And I loved writing the speeder fight scene and writing Xanatos, so I'm delighted that you liked reading it, too. Thanks for your amazing reviews!
Child-of-the-Dawn: Mushy stuff … you'll have to read on (insert evil grin here). I'm so mean to my reviewers. I'm not overly-keen on OTT mush, but you might get some … if everything turns out as planned for Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, that is … (insert another evil grin here). Thanks for your review!
Yasona Black: I updated! Yay! I'm excited, too. It seemed as if I never would. :) Thanks once again for your constant reviews!
The Burninator Named Trogdor: I feel so sorry for Obi-Wan, too. I am really brutal to him … but I love it. About the Xanatos leaving Obi-Wan alone … whoops, I won't say anything yet, but I'll talk to you about it in a later chapter. :) Xanatos is my favourite bad guy, too. I love being able to write him, that's why I did an AU to "The Dark Rival." He's so awesome in a really evil way. :) Anyway, thanks for your cool review!
Nathalia Potter: I have to apologise to you. I never meant for that Author's Note to be offensive. It was written in a light-hearted manner. I will remove it from Chapter 5, however, because I do not wish to offend anyone. I'm glad you informed me of it though, because, as I said, I had no intention to offend anyone. I love my country and its people, so it was not written in discrimination or hate. If you haven't received it yet, I sent you an email explaining my comment. I hope you will accept my apology. :) The only thing I ask is that if you have a complaint about me and not the fic, then please just email me directly. The review page is meant for story reviews. Thankyou :)
charie:
Thanks once again for reviewing! I love getting the stuff! And I'm sorry I took so long to update. :) Thankyou!
wyldcat:
I wondered where you were:) Good guess about the NSW thing! Yay! Oh,
and VCE is just HSC in Vic. Same thing, just different names, I think.
And about the lightsabre reference: "An idea
lit in Obi-Wan's mind like a powered-up lightsabre." Yeah, it was when Obi fought the whipids. :)
And a chant over the net ... YAY! Oh, and Happy Australia Day! Thanks once again for the ever-awesome reviews!
BaBaKaNuSh13
