Shadows in the Light

by Romania Black

hey everyone!

FINALLY! Another chapter up! I was working this summer, and the story kind of took a back seat for a while, but I'm back! laughs and ready to carry on!

So this is chapter Five, which takes a small departure from the main story for a moment, and goes into the heart of another person's mind and situation that takes place a long way from Qui-Gon Jinn.

Thanks for the reviews, and please: KEEP 'EM COMIN! I love all the response I can get on this! Please post comments and suggestions! I'm open to all responses! Thanks again and enjoy!

Romania Black

Chapter Five: The Parting of Master and Apprentice

Footsteps echoed through the halls of the Jedi Temple; as a lone figure walked the deserted collidor, she thought of all the evidence before her and of the things she had to tell him. All of the things. She took a breath, which seemed heavy and yet hollow, for it was of no good. Three-hundred years and she was still the learner. Still the apprentice in her former master's eye. Jinx C'Ton smiled grimly, This will not be easy, but I must do this. For the Jedi, I will defy the questioning of the most powerful Jedi of all.

He was sitting in his usual seat, his wooden cane firmly planted on the ground, his sleepy eyes staring off into the Force, his brow furrowed in concentration. Jinx knew it was unwise to wake her former Master while he was in meditation, so she sat herself in front of him in a small, cramped seat, and stared at him, waiting for him to finish. He could be there for only mere seconds more, or he could be there for another three hours. It did not matter to her though; she would wait, and be patient. Thus was an important Jedi virtue.

"Come to me you have," Yoda blinked sleepily, turning his gaze towards her. She involuntarily shifted in her seat, straightening the wrinkles in her orange kimono that hugged her lean, tall figure and smiled grimly.

"The Force willed it," She breathed. The air around her was warm, but she felt colder than usual.

"So sure are you?" The wizened Jedi leaned forward on his gimer stick and smiled. "A vision, you have seen?"

"Yes," Jinx said, perhaps a little too childishly. "One of great importance, Master."

"Important it is, that you have had this vision, is it? A gift of the Force, most important this is. But it's contents, of no importance they are." He stretched his neck out as if to sense the Force flowing through him. Jinx sat in awe at her Master's calmness; at the power that flowed so easily through him.

"It's contents," She challenged, "are very important, if I may argue, Master."

"Indeed?" His eyes flashed for a moment. "What are the contents of this vision, Master C'Ton?" He said in a business-like tone. "Who do they concern, Jinx?" He steadied himself in his seat.

Jinx closed her eyes, "They were of the Jedi Council. I saw--," She choked on the words, "--I saw them fall, Master. Every one of them." She shuddered as she finished.

Yoda merely blinked. "Certain, death is, Master C'Ton. All things die. Even Jedi," His eyes seemed to sadden for a moment, then he looked up at the Elementian Jedi, "Sadly, the way of the Force it is."

"I understand this, but this was not of them simply dying, Master. There was a presence...another being there, striking them down. It...It was a Sith, Master." Her eyes closed shut and she gave a heavy sigh.

"Since the moment you returned from your first trip to Naboo, told me you have, of this Sith you have found. Blame the Sith for the death of your apprentice, you do." Yoda said softly. "And now, blame it of many things as well."

Jinx's eyes snapped open, "Is that what you think, Master?" She fumed quietly. "That this is all about Jarla's death?"

"No doubt, I have, that it has not affected your views," Yoda mused gently.

She straightened herself in her seat, "Jarla was a noble apprentice, Master. She was also a skilled Jedi."

"So proud you are of her, I know. Jarla Duganjo, a worthy Jedi, she may have been. But proof to the cause of her death, you have not ever obtained."

"There is no possible way, Master, that a droid's blaster could have penetrated my Padawan's armor I supplied to her--"

"Sure of this are you?" Yoda snapped back. "Measured the armor, have you? Tested it against blaster fire?"

Jinx stared at him with a fire in her eyes that was blazing. She lowered her voice and spoke softly to the wizened Jedi, "Why do you not believe me Master? Why can you not see what is so plain in front of us?"

"Plain it is? Nothing is ever plain. In front of our faces, rarely something is. No," He blinked sadly, "A Sith, there cannot be."

Jinx paused, and knew that saying this was going to hurt her Master, but she had no choice. He had to believe her.

"Master...The stories of the Sith being long and gone are...they're ancient stories from the Jedi of long ago. But what if some of the Sith survived? And our ancestors did not know of it? Couldn't that mean that they would be able to start anew again? And rebuild their order?"

"Doubt the ancient stories, you do?"

"I'm afraid I find them to be less than the credibility they were stamped with, yes." She said quickly.

There was a moment of silence between them. Yoda sighed heavily.

"The ancient tales of the destruction of the Sith...told to me they were, long ago, as I started my Knighthood. Told to me, they were, by a great Jedi. This Jedi, there he was, to see their turmoil."

"But if one escaped...If only one got away, wouldn't that be enough?" Jinx said softly. The room was so quiet now she heard the sounds of the evening crickets chiriping outside the window.

"Found them, the Jedi would, were one to attempt escape." Yoda said with a tone of finality.

Jinx knew he didn't believe her, and that he was not going to. But she also knew that the fate of her fellow Jedi may have well rested in her hands. She sighed and rose to her feet; found that she was shaking terribly.

"Master, there is a Sith on Naboo. I will find out who it is. There has been too many Jedi deaths on that planet for there not to be. I refuse to believe that droids are the cause. Master, I am your most faithful and devoted student, but if you are to believe me, I must bring you the truth of their existence. I will not rest until Jarla and all of the other Jedi's who have died can rest in peace knowing the Sith is ridden. I am sorry, Master, but an ancient tale of their defeat is not believable any longer to me."

Yoda frowned and leaned on his stick, still sitting, not even looking at Jinx. "Your decision, I see. Chose to defy me, to defy the Council, to defy the History of the Jedi, you have." The tone in his voice was of dissappointment, and sadness; but of no anger or hatred.

Jinx blinked back drops of water in her eyes, "Yes, I suppose I have chose that." The words came out wrong though, and a drop of water slid down her cheek.

"Then go, you must, Master C'Ton. Find your Sith," There was a bitter snap in his voice, "And prove a thousand years of Jedi History wrong." His words stung her as if he was brandishing a whip at her.

She wiped a tear from her cheek and turned to go. There was nothing more to be said, and she knew that this was the Parting of her and her former Master. She loved her master, but knew he would never take her seriously. She had to do this alone. Yoda may have had the entire council believing him, but something in her heart told her that he was wrong.

She turned back to Yoda, a small smile strewn across her face amidst the tears.

"I hope to, Master, I hope to." And with that she walked out of the door.

Well, that's chapter Five! I hope to add a few more chapters shortly, but if you have any comments for me, don't hesitate to send them! Thanks for all the support and rock ROCK ON!

Romania Black