Shadows In The Light

by Romania Black

Hey everyone! here's chapter two up! Please Read and Review for me! Oh, and I don't own any of George Lucas' characters...sadly...LOL!

Chapter Two: His Name Was Dooku

Master Jinx's ship bounced a little as we hit the landing ramp, and I was tossed forward in my seat, only to grasp onto the dash of the shuttle for support. Master C'Ton never faltered or shifted in her seat. I was in awe at her control of the Force, and constantly found myself shifting my eyes away from her as she turned her gaze upon me. What this feeling was, I did not know at the moment. It was not love, no, not the same love I had carried with Master Quailmorth, but it was more of a slight admiration mixed with intimidation that I felt when I stared at the sharp, powerful grey eyes.

"Follow me, young one," Master Jinx said smoothly as we exited the shuttle. It was night on Coruscant; the star shone brightly in the sky as I stared up at them in slight awe. My mind was still weighing heavily on Master Quailmorth, but I found it interrupted by the sight in front of us. Three men dressed in patrol officer uniforms ran towards us and made quite a fuss in the concerns of C'Ton's shuttle. I was amazed at how remotely calm Master Jinx was.

"If we could possibly move you closer to the Temple," One of the officers rambled, running his hands through his jet black hair. "I know of a closer docking area that would more conveniently--"

"That will not be necessary," Jinx said sharply with a calm sweep of her hand into the man's face. "I prefer the walk." She motioned me past the officer with a light tug of my brown tunic.

The officer seemed stunned for a moment as Master C'Ton led me into the elevator. I was quickly shuffled into the door, but Master Jinx remained on the outside of the elevator, and I saw a calm, quick wave of her hand pass in front of the officer's faces.

"There will be no need to move the shuttle," She said slowly, a slight extra authorital command in her voice. "It will be fine right here." There was suddenly a great coldness that swept the area, and it chilled me so much I started to shiver slightly. The air was damp for a second, and then everything was normal again.

The officers seemed beside themselves for a second, then the black haired man turned to the other two, a blank expression on his face. "There will be no need to move the shuttle. It will be fine right here." The other men nodded and turned to face Master Jinx. They bowed their heads slightly and turned to leave, the third man with black hair nodded and shuffled off with them as she stepped gracefully into the elevator door with me.

I stared up at her with wide eyes. She had just used the Force to make those men let her shuttle stay where it was. I had never seen anyone do that before. Master Migdon had told me about Jedi having that ability, but had never used it before, or taught me the technique. I suppose my stare was quite noticable, because she tilted her head downwards and gave me a slightly curious look.

"Something wrong, young Qui-Gon?" Her voice had a slight humorous amused tone to it I had never heard before.

"It's just that I've never seen anyone use the Force to make people do things," I mumbled. I figured she must have thought I was an idiot, but she merely gave me a odd warm smile that seemed so unlike her.

"I would have thought your master would've taught you that already," She said serenely.

Suddenly there was an intense feeling of embarrassment that embedded itself into me, and a feeling of offense. Was she mocking my master? His teachings? I frowned, "Master Quailmorth believes in the Living Force and says that we do not need to persuade others to find ways to get things accomplished."

"I did not mean to shame you in such a way, young one," She apologized suddenly in concerned tone, smiling slightly still. "I am none too proud of the fact that so many Jedi use that to their advantage either, but in this case it was essential that I did."

"Why?" I said quickly. What was the reason for using it?

Master C'Ton sighed, "We are a little way from the temple, but I felt the walk would be good for you. The guards are merely doing their duty of curtisy, but I'm afraid that them following us was out of the question." She moved her hand slightly towards my shoulder and I stared at it with a confused look. "You will find, young one, that many Jedi here use the very technique almost dayly, and some have never even heard of it as such you are. You are going to see the bigger picture that is the Jedi Council shortly enough."

I stared up at her long face, slanted gray eyes and sharp, pointy ears that gave her a surreal other-worldly appearance. I could feel the embarrassment and offense melting from my person even as she still spoke. I suppose that was a good enough reason. A thought suddenly occured to me.

"Are you going to be my new master?" Why was there a feeling of hope and anxiety in my heart? I had just been taken from my master of eight years and already I'm excited I may be getting a new one? I felt awkward for a moment. Out of place.

Jinx gave me a wary smile and raised one of her eyebrows a notch. "I'm not sure yet, young Qui-Gon. I don't beleive I need to take on any Padawans at this time, though." She released her hand from my shoulder as the elevator door came open. "Here we are," She said in happier tone.

I did not know why, but for some reason I found myself with a feeling of disappointment and shallow concern in the pit of my stomache. If not Master Jinx, than who? I didn't really know any other Jedi, save for Master Yoda, whom I seemed to recall from a long time ago. Yet all I knew of him was that he seemed very small and diminuative. Master Quaimorth had always taught me, though, to never judge someone based on their looks. He had said that Yoda was very strong in the ways of the Force.

We exited the elevator and entered a walkway that was entirely covered in glass. My eyes were filled with awe as we walked down the paved pathway through the clear tunnel. Master Jinx said nothing during our walk, but was more concerned by what was ahead of us. I looked to see what she was staring at and my eyes quickly darted to a person standing alone at the end of the tunnel.

He was dressed in a tight black tunic, polished boots, and a lightsaber that hung on a thin cord that wrapped around his waist. He was tall, thin, with slicked back, raven black hair that was the darkest I'd ever seen, save for the strands of gray that mingled at its roots. The man had a sophisticated face, with a strong jawline and powerful deepset dark pools for eyes. He greeted Master Jinx with a kiss of her thin hand.

"An honor once again, Mi' Lady." He spoke with a deep, strong voice that had much power behind it.

"The council is gathered?" Master C'Ton spoke with a level of skeptisism and surprise. She raised an eyebrow at the Jedi.

"As well as waiting for you and," he paused and seemed to notice I was there. His face formed a smile. "young Qui-Gon here." He patted my shoulder. It was a different feeling than I was used to, and slightly uncomfortable, but it seemed not wise to point this out now. "Hello, son." He said as a father or uncle would to his child or nephew.

"Hello," I said in an oddly, shy manner. This man seemed nice, but there was an unfamiliar air about him I could not place. Something was not right with him. "I guess you already know my name's Qui-Gon Jinn."

The man smiled sweetly and rested his hand from my shoulder, which relaxed almost instantly.

"Good to meet you, young Jinn. My name is Master Dooku. Mi' Lady," He raised his head up to Master Jinx, "If you two will accompany me, I will lead you to the council." With that he turned and walked away from the glass tunnel to the stairs of a large structure that I was absolutely sure was the Jedi Temple. It was a huge building with lots of steps to climb. I felt exhausted just looking at it.

Master C'Ton nudged me forward as we started up our long journey to the top of the Temple, Master Dooku leading us along.