Disparate Jedi
by ardavenport
- - Part 6 - -
Thankfully, Obi-Wan did not have much time to wonder over his Master's non-answer while he spent his next few hours with flight simulators with several other Padawans and some of their Masters. They were only familiarizing themselves with a variety of different transport and ship controls since using the Force in a simulator was not the same at all as in the real crafts. That would come the next day.
Qui-Gon had passed up this training in favor of a trip to Archives to look up the Living History Lands on Pozph-Din and the Defeat of Darth Yarr. They had collected some significant artifacts on their mission and he had already delivered them to the Archives the night before, but he still needed to record the events of their mission. The final disposition of the artifacts would be settled and Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon wanted to satisfy his own interest in that world's curious history and customs as well.
When he finished with the simulators, Obi-Wan found a com waiting for him, requesting his presence at a Temple visiting hall. He took a lift to the Temple's base level.
"Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan turned at the sound of the familiar voice. It was not a shout or call, but loud enough for a Jedi to hear, even in the immense Temple corridor.
Dyuda Plum strode toward him. Obi-Wan smiled and he congratulated the former Padawan. Plum returned the greeting, nodding his horned head. The Ithok's braid was gone. They walked together, slowly down the columned walkway. Plum had also been called to the visitors' hall. They were to be interviewed by the Judiciary, collecting evidence about Administrator Toolay.
"There is no hurry, however. Master Tekta and Kokom are with them now and that could take some time." Obi-Wan noted Plum's leisurely pace. There were no other Jedi near them.
"Master Tekta was very prompt with her demand for an explanation about what transpired between myself and Master Narimoyak yesterday," Dyuda began. Obi-Wan carefully kept his expression neutral though he doubted that really concealed his intense curiosity from his fellow Jedi. "I thought it only appropriate to tell you and your Master as well, what happened." Dyuda smiled, showing his small brown teeth.
"I had suggested that you and your Master be invited to Master Narimoyak's gathering last night, but she was adamant that you or Master Qui-Gon would not be interested in attending. She did not wish to say why, but Master Tekta and a few other were quite happy to explain what happened the one time that you did." Obi-Wan smiled. After the death of Narimoyak's young Padawan, Qui-Gon had hosted a gathering with her and more than a dozen older Masters. The 'discussion' had degenerated into a colossal food fight in Qui-Gon's room, a huge embarrassment for the Jedi Masters. Neither of them had ever attended another such gathering, or spoken more than a few words to Narimoyak since then, until this last mission.
"I failed my Jedi Trials."
Obi-Wan turned, surprised by the sudden change in subject and the gravity of the statement. Dyuda Plum continued sedately walking down the corridor. Unable to think of a suitable reply, Obi-Wan fell in step with him again and waited for him to continue.
"It does happen at times. I am far from a rare case. But it isn't spoken of. One of many things." Dyuda stared ahead, his expression mild, thoughtful. In the quiet hall, far ahead of them, three Jedi walked together and disappeared around a corner.
"Master Yumang's death was my Trial." His eyes glanced toward Obi-Wan. "It was not an easy death, and I was to accept it, as a Jedi. I thought I had, but the end did not go as planned.
"Master Yumang developed a degenerative nerve disorder, common with aging in our species, but his illness was uncommonly aggressive. He lost his coordination first, his ability to feel the Force lessened, he lost weight and the scars and lesions throughout his body were painful, more than the droids could control, but Yumang always kept some command of it, even to the end.
"The Council sent me on a mission, when Master Yumang was most gravely ill. I knew I was being tested then. I went. Yumang might have died while I was gone.
"He didn't."
"When I returned and entered the Med-center, I felt as if it was filled with my Master's dying. It was everywhere, in the whole space of it." Dyuda fell silent. Still speechless, Obi-Wan waited. Another Jedi appeared and briskly walked toward them on the other side of the corridor, her dark robe spread out away from her. The Ithok waited until she passed before resuming.
"I destroyed the droids. And the life supports. Master Yumang died a few minutes later." Obi-Wan couldn't speak through the sadness he felt through the Force; even if he had known what to say, the words would not have come out.
They approached an intersection. A few other Jedi passed them, on their own business, none of them approaching close. If any of them sensed the intensity of what was being spoken of, they gave no hint of it as they serenely passed, brown robes dragging behind them.
"I was absolved of my Master's death; he would have been dead within hours in any case. And the Council confirmed that he died peacefully. But I could not say why I did it, nor could they, other than it was an apparent act of passion." Dyuda's green eyes looked to Obi-Wan. "Which is quite unacceptable for a Jedi Knight."
Obi-Wan swallowed. "Do you know why now?"
Dyuda sadly smiled. "Yes." They slowed, turned a corner, into a wider promenade, the ceiling high above them as they walked toward the main entrance at the base of the Temple. "I was surprised when Master Narimoyak couldn't explain why she needed to confront Toolay yesterday. I'm still not sure. But I understood action without reason. Then it seemed clear. Sometimes it takes time for the words to catch up. And sometimes they don't."
"Master Yumang was alone in the Med-center when I came to him. He didn't want to be alone, but he had sent everyone away. The disease had transformed his body into something that he was not. But he continued to live, and he didn't know why." Dyuda sighed.
"He simply wanted to be with someone when he died, but he didn't know how to ask; he did not know what was missing. And the droids repelled him." He grimaced.
"So you destroyed the droids?" Obi-Wan asked. Dyuda shrugged his broad shoulders.
"I don't think that Master Yumang would have chopped them up with a lightsaber. But it was the fastest way of eliminating them. There was little time."
They approached the main entryway to the Temple. Natural light streamed in from high above, brightening patches of the polished floor.
"I simply acted. Master Yumang was with someone when he died. But I was missing something. I had no doubt, no guilt, no regrets for my actions, and I could not say why.
"I couldn't say that I acted on an impulse from the Force," Dyuda continued.
"You were not?" Obi-Wan asked, thinking that this was surely the most logical explanation.
"No." Dyuda shook his head. "I knew there was more. My actions were based on what I sensed from Yumang through the Force, but they were not guided by it. Nor was I compelled by any influence from my Master." Dyuda stopped walking. "I could not give a reason for my actions, but I did know that they were my own choice. And I didn't even know how to say that."
Obi-Wan stood with him. There was no one else with them in the promenade.
"Obi-Wan when you spend your whole life letting your emotions pass through you, never letting them to become attached to you, then you are simply and truly not prepared for the times when they do." Dyuda smiled, obviously quite satisfied with this revelation. "And you are certainly not prepared to explain your actions to anyone else when that happens. The words are not there for you." He folded his arms before him.
"Master Narimoyak thanked me. She told me she had acted without thinking, when she confronted Toolay. And when her Padawan died; you and your Master were witnessed that," Dyuda acknowledged.
"And then she and the Council knighted me." Dyuda finished. He turned back toward their destination. Obi-Wan walked with him again.
"That sounds. . . . unexpected," he commented.
"I believe the Masters enjoy surprising their Padawans when they can." Obi-Wan silently agreed to that. "Knightings are always unique. And the other ceremonial parts of it are optional. At this point they would be anticlimactic." They approached the corridor leading to the meeting hall that they had been called to. They spotted Qui-Gon and Narimoyak, sitting together on a bench, next to the door of the meeting hall. They greeted each other and the two Masters slid down to make room.
They waited, silently in a row on the bench. Obi-Wan was quite certain that Qui-Gon now knew as much as he did about Dyuda's elevation, but he wondered how different the story was when told from Master Narimoyak's perspective.
When the door finally slid open, they all stood and a uniformed Judiciary inspector stepped out and invited them in. Tekta and Kokom were already there and they stayed while each of them took their turn on the glowing holo-platform to give their own statements about their encounter with Toolay. Narimoyak and Tekta exchanged a few quiet words; apparently their friendship had not been affected by the previous day's confrontation.
Their testimony was a short formality for each of them. Most of the important testimony had already been given by Tekta and Kokom. When they were finished, the inspectors thanked them.
Though no one asked about Administrator Toolay, one of the inspectors informed them that she had retained a very expensive and capable counsel and her position in the Judiciary had been terminated. None of the Jedi said a word about her.
They all bowed and filed out when they were done. While the others escorted the Judiciary officials and their droids to the Temple entrance, Qui-Gon suggested to Obi-Wan that they take a stroll before going on to the day's second meal.
They predictably ended up in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, one of Qui-Gon favorite places in the Temple. They walked in silence while Obi-Wan thought about what Dyuda had said about not having the words to explain his actions.
"I presume that Knight Dyuda told you what happened?" Qui-Gon's words interrupted his thoughts.
"Yes," he replied. Obi-Wan repeated to Qui-Gon what Dyuda had said. When he finished, he silently looked to his Master for confirmation, which he gave, along with a few other things.
The Jedi Council had been split on the decision to elevate Dyuda Plum, though none of them had thought that Plum's actions had been dark, just. . . .questionable. Narimoyak had been appointed as Dyuda's Master as the deciding vote. She had not been confident that the Force would lead her to solve the mystery, but had accepted the assignment as her duty.
"In the end, she realized that it was Dyuda who the Force would guide. She was merely there to witness it," Qui-Gon told him. "And we were as well."
Qui-Gon stopped and they faced a little pool surrounded by low, leafy bushes. A thin trickle of water squirted up and fell back into it.
"I don't understand something, Master," Obi-Wan finally said. Qui-Gon looked down at him inquiringly. "If there are times when you will be unprepared for emotions that you cannot detach yourself from, how do you prepare for them?"
Qui-Gon grinned. Obi-Wan lowered his head. He had not intended to say anything amusing. Qui-Gon laid his hand on his shoulder.
"You don't Obi-Wan. The definition of things that cannot be anticipated is that you cannot prepare for them. The best that can be done is to recognize them when they happen and find the words for them later. Especially if your actions affect others."
Obi-Wan looked up to his Master's bearded face.
"Dyuda was prepared for his Master's death, but his Master was not," Qui-Gon continued. "That is why he acted and what he needed to find words for. Master Narimoyak told me that she felt deeply offended when she discovered what Administrator Toolay had done. She felt betrayed. She did not recognize the depth of her own feelings before she acted.
"Even Administrator Toolay, in her own way, found her own words for her actions." Qui-Gon turned back to the little pool.
"She did?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes." Qui-Gon nodded. "She got herself a good lawyer."
- - - END - - -
(This story was first posted on tf.n: 16-Nov-2006)
Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox.