Saga Thrums from a Tale Weaver's Loom - new thrum added 10/15/05

Hello lovely reader,

First by way of an explanation (of sorts) of the thread title: the definition from dictionary.com

thrum
n.

1.
1. The fringe of warp threads left on a loom after the cloth has been cut off.
2. One of these threads.
2. A loose end, fringe, or tuft of thread.

Title: Thrums from a Tale Weaver's Loom
Author: Knight_Dilletante
Timeframe: All over the timeline, probably mainly JA through RotJ but who knows...
Characters: Canon, EU, OCs. Any and all may eventually appear.
Genre: mixed
Keywords: Jedi, RepSec, random, purge, JA, OC, canon, miscellaneous
Summary:

This thread is where I will be posting all the random bits and pieces that don't have their own thread and most likely will have no relation to each other. Things like challenge responses that I started but were eventually not used, little bits written for challenges that I am particularly fond of and so want to keep track of, plot bunnies that I flesh out just enough to get them off my back but decide I'll never finish, birthday viggies. Random stuff like that.

Some may have their own titles and so on, others will not. I will be posting all my thrums here though, rather than having separate threads for each era. I suspect most will be in the Saga area so I will start that thread here, now, with a Saga era tale in the next post.

I hope you will enjoy reading them.

KD

 

First up, the entered story for the ABC challenge in the Writer's race, without the editing error that disqualified it .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Title: Autumn's Zenith
Author: Knight_Dilletante
Timeframe: approximately RotS
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Yoda, OC
Genre: angst
Keywords: Jedi Purge

~~~~~

Anger, pain, and despair filled her. Bone-chilling cold slowed her steps. Countless friends were now dead. Darth Vader was stalking her, so soon she too would be dead. Everything she knew was either destroyed, or decaying from within.

Force help me, I have begun to long for death. Goading herself with images of the babes she was to protect was the only way to make sure she kept walking toward the city she had hoped to lose herself in. Huddling again into her cloak, she tried to forget the cold. Ice crystals forming in her breath would not let her forget.

"Jedi," a voice taunted.

"Kenobi," she answered. Licking chapped lips, she turned to face her hunter.

"My name is Darth Vader now," her old friend's voice said. New cybernetics adorned him since she had seen him last, covering his face as well as his chest.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi is how I knew you, and it is Obi-Wan Kenobi who will kill me."

"Postpone matters with argument if it pleases you. Quibble over semantics if you must. Remember though, in the end you will still be dead."

"So sure are you, that win this battle, you will?" The sound of her first mentor's voice filled her with a wild hope. Yoda moved out from the shadows to stand next to her on the path. Zephyrs moved her cloak, and she knew Ani and Qui-Gon had come to join their strength to hers and Yoda's, and possibly turn the tide of history.

 

*Looks around**

Do I get first reply?

I look forward to all your little stories that will be posted here. And I love your thread title- it is an attention grabber for those like me who love little bits and pieces. Of course, I may later demand a whole story out of it

 

Wowie that was good, KD. It packed a real punch.

 

Ok, second try at this - the first one got eaten by a browser hang. And yet, here I am still writing it in the post window... The eternal optimist, that's me.

Kitara! You're back! I haven't "seen" you around lately. I hope you're here for a while, sometime in the next two or three posts in the other story your cameo will be appearing. <insert evil laugh here> I'm glad you liked the thread title. I was insufferably proud of myself for thinking of it. Demand all you like, it has been known to work in the past...

LE Thank you for that reaction. I love it when I get that.

Leona Shush, they'll think you're a shill.

Actually she's right. The tale above is the second one written. The first one being considerably less serious. But it does, I think contain every letter including the one we were allowed to skip. And thus, should perhaps have been my entry after all.

I was going to go back into the deeper recesses of time for the next tale but since Leona brought it up...

This is the first story written, but not entered for the ABC challenge in the Writer's Race.

Shaindl won that one very deservedly. Go check out all the entries. They were great!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Title: Alderaan's Zoo
Author: Knight_Dilletante
Timeframe: late JA
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Garen Muln, Bant Eerin
Genre: action
Keywords: lightsaber, tiger

~~~~~

Animal screams filled the jungle. Bant looked over her shoulder to make sure that Obi-Wan and Garen were still following the trail it was her turn to hack out of the undergrowth. "Can't you go any faster?"

Denial was written all over Obi-Wan's face. Exhaustion, the only thing she could read from Garen's. Fingering the axe she was using to cut away foliage she calculated that they had just enough time for one more rest.

Garen either read her mind, or decided he didn't care how loudly she scolded. He dropped to the narrow path, trying to breath deeply, and slowly. "I don't care what anyone says," he panted, "this is impossible."

"Jedi do the impossible every day." Obi-Wan quoted sarcastically.

"Kill me now. Leave my body here to slow them down," Garen said. "Maybe that will mean you two can get away."

"No one is killing anyone," Bant answered.

Obi-Wan groaned. "Please, tell me we're almost there. Quick, before I forget why-"

Roars behind them interrupted Obi-Wan in mid-sentence. Snarling as they moved, four brown and tan striped tigers sprang out from the jungle, running at the Jedi. Three lightsabers ignited together, and the three friends separated slightly on the path so that each would have room to fight.

Unnoticed by any of the Jedi, a fifth tiger circled around the group looking for an opening. Viciously snarling from behind Garen, it sprang at the Jedi's unprotected back. Whirling, Bant sliced off its nose before using a roundhouse kick to snap the neck of her own attacker.

Xenobiology in the classroom had never been this much fun, Garen mused silently as he fought. "Yes!" he shouted as he dispatched the tiger in front of him.

Zigzagging to avoid the two tigers focussed on him, Obi-Wan finally maneuvered them so that Bant could help him finish them off.

 

Amazing! What else can I say? Of course, that isn't surprising when I see the author's name.

 

Another great one. Extra kudos for using 'x'.

 

Definitely extra kudos for using 'x' but they're taken away since you put it after 'y'.

Great job, KD! Love the little bits you've put up so far and I can't wait to see more soon...yes, that's a hint.

Shaindl

 

Sigh. Thanks for catching that, Shaindl. See this is why I should have written them out one sentence to a line and then returned them to proper paragraphs. If I'd done that when I was previewing the first one I'd have caught the missing Q. (Always assuming I remembered my alphabet of course.) Learn something new every time you do something.

Fortunately, I can fix that easily enough. So I will.

I may have to stop doing these challenges though. They are too frustrating and I clearly still don't have detail catching capabilities back yet. Which are clearly required.

KD

 

Just because I feel like it (thanks to recent talk about evil Padmé somewhere and talk about Obi-Wan in general), I am reposting an old old old challenge response. This is the result of a Halloween Challenge from 2003 (ok, I guess it's not that old) that I am thinking of drawing from to create a full fic for this Halloween. If I start soon I might make it by October at my typical rate... If you have an opinion on whether or not I should attempt it please do let me know.

The challenge was to use the following words and the initial paragraph as given below in a short tale.

Word List: Blood, Undead, Sacrifice, Death, Slayer, Zombie, Grave, Surreal, Black, Doom

Beginning paragraph:

They had gone. Foolishly gone. The outsider was dangerous. The dwellings of a hermit were no place for children, and yet they had blindly stolen a speeder to uncover the mysteries of the loner.

The result:

Title: Horror In The Sands
Author: Knight_Dilettante
genre: Horror
Characters: Beru, Obi-Wan, Padmé, Luke, Wedge, Biggs
Notes: Challenge response

*********************************************

They had gone. Foolishly gone. The outsider was dangerous. The dwellings of a hermit were no place for children, and yet they had blindly stolen a speeder to uncover the mysteries of the loner.

She couldn't think for a moment, the feeling of doom overwhelming her normally prosaic self. She scribbled a note for Owen and ran for the garage. They had a two-hour head start on her. She had to get them back. Not just Luke but also Biggs and Wedge too. If something happened to their sons the neighboring farmers would try to attack the hermit. And she knew it would mean death for all involved. Or almost all.

She passed Shmi's grave on her way to the garage and muttered a short prayer begging the woman's spirit to protect the grandson she had never seen, even as she resolutely ignored the toppled headstone of Padmé's grave alongside Shmi's.

*******************

She shifted her position on the swoop's seat. She was catching up to them but they would still have arrived at the hermit's hut enough before her that she feared to find nothing left of Biggs and Wedge but blood and bone. The slayer of thousands would not stop at two six-year-old boys.

*******************

She leapt off the swoop before it had even come to a complete stop and ran towards the figures she could see in the harsh reddish light of Tatooine's moons. Two small bodies lay on the slab of rock and she feared they had already been used in some horrific sacrifice. The tall, black cloaked figure standing on the other side of the rock raised his head, the hood falling back to expose his hair, tinged to nearly the color of dried blood in the moonlight. His red gaze pinned her in place before she could touch the bodies of the children on the rock.

"Beru" he said, inclining his head in a surreal parody of one neighbor greeting another.

"Obi-Wan", she returned the nod. She tore her eyes from his and watched the boys anxiously. After the third shallow breath each took she was certain she was not imagining it, and she went on the offensive. Where she found the courage, she did not know.

"Release the boys, Obi-Wan. It is time they came home."

"I did not call them" he answered obliquely.

"Where is Luke?" she asked after moving close enough to see that Biggs and Wedge were sleeping. Albeit, most probably, it was Force induced and waking them might be problematical.

"With his mother. She wanted to see him." the red eyes flared in pain remembered, and Beru pitied him even as she feared him.

"You never could deny her anything." Beru said in understanding. Her voice hardened, "I will not let you make Luke one of her undead."

"And you will stop him how, farmer's wife, should I desire it?" the harsh voice spat out behind her, making her spin around to face the greater threat. The zombie had her arm about Luke who was looking up at her. He was just a bit frightened, but clearly still under the glamour that Obi-Wan had no doubt ensured

 

I am still trying to catch up on all the race challenges. These two are great.


A cameo for me?

 

That was gruesome, horrific, shivery, etc. etc etc. And I loved it. Great job.

 

Wow, KD, that was so creepy. I'm glad you decided to repost that, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it. Great job - one of the better Halloween responses I've seen.

Shaindl

 

Yes, Kitara, be afraid, be very afraid.

LE, Leona, and Shaindl you won't believe how pleased I was to hear that you found that little bit to be gruesome, spine-tingling, and creepy. Those being the exact reactions I was aiming for when writing. I'm thinking of basically writing the back story and possibly the follow on for Halloween this year. Might get to it... We'll see.

Today's post is something that came to me when I was perusing resourse threads when I should instead have been writing on any or all of the ongoing works. This was inspired by one of the titles in DarthIshtar's What's in a Name title challenge thread. So, thanks, Ish!

Title: A Saber's Kiss
Author: Knight_Dilettante
Timeframe: At or just before the beginning of the Jedi Purge, perhaps? She didn't really say.
Notes: challenge response for the What's in a Name title challenge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A saber's kiss, no matter how delicate, marks you. I don't mean just physically. But mentally and psychologically as well.

And worse, it marks you deep on your soul when one of those you have called friend for all your life moves their saber against you in anger. Or hate. Or perhaps, really it is fear that drives them to strike. No matter why, if they touch you, even just a touch, you will carry the mark always. On your soul long after the mark has faded or been removed from your skin. Possibly even after you become one with the Force it will stay with you. I cannot say for certain. Yet.

As long as you can keep their saber from touching you, you can pretend, in your soul, which is where it counts, that it was just a sparring match. That your dearest friend, from your days together in the creche, is not evil. Has not turned. Is still with you in the Light. No matter what you hear or see, your soul can pretend.

But that searing kiss, once given can never be fully called back. Once received, can never be forgotten. Forgiven, perhaps, but never forgotten. Scars to the soul fade, but never fade completely away.

Perhaps it is best this way. I will no longer make the mistake of letting my guard down simply because he was my friend. But how it pains me to move that way, always defending, never trusting.

That mark on my soul burns with each movement though the scar on the skin of my shoulder is faded almost to invisibility and troubles me not. Nor others, now that I wear my hair loose to hide it further. Yet, no amount of camouflage can hide the scar on my soul from me. I see it every time I look into my eyes in a mirror. Every time I close the lids it flares in the darkness for a moment before I resolutely look elsewhere.

I was not made for these times. I despair when others do not. I am certain of our defeat when others are not. But they... they have not been marked. They have only sparred. They have not received a saber's kiss.

A saber's kiss marks you.

 

Oh my goodness. That was just really well-written. I loved the subtlety of it. The impact was enormous. How do you do it?



And I know what you mean about traipsing through the different threads when there's writing to do. I do that more than I'd like to admit.

 

No snippet just now. And I'll save author replies for later also.

But it is incumbent on me, and my very great pleasure, to now post a congratulatory message to the winners of the First Running of the Writers Race

Third Place was captured by...

Indra


Second Place was captured by...

DarthIshtar and Drabbo_Fett


And First Place was captured by...

duskwings

Woo Hoo to all the winners! Bravo!

Kettch says she will be doing it again and I heartily recommend to all that you try it out. It was great fun.

KD

 

Title: I will know
Author: Knight_Dilettante
Notes: Future Tense Challenge Response

I will know when it will happen. I will know how it will happen long before it does. I will see it in my dreams for decades. I will understand what it means to have those dreams for years. I will give up trying to escape them. I will let it happen.

I will be working in the back when they come. I will contemplate running once again. I will remember all those who died the last time I ran. I will say their names like a penitent pleading for forgiveness. I will be pleading.

I will say. "Lania, forgive me, my fear."

I will carefully finish the cut I am making to the stem of a rose the color of Dhamian's hair. "Dhami, I will be with you soon," I will say. "Forgive me for not coming with you." I will add it to the vase and then I will dry my hands and turn away from the half-finished arrangement.

I will remove the apron that covers my well-worn clothes. I will remember Santia wearing them before me. I will feel tears run down my cheeks as I remember her pain-filled voice telling me to run. I will ask her forgiveness too. "Santia, forgive me for not doing as I was told."

I will calm Zith's fear and hide her in a small cupboard. I will know she will be safe there. I will kiss her one last time and tell her that her mother loves her. She will cry silently, but she will stay there. She will obey her mother one last time.

I will fish my lightsaber out from behind the hidden floorboard and carefully replace it so that no one knows the small hiding place is there. Zith will find the money and the information there later, when she needs it.

I will take down my old cloak from the top shelf of the closet where it has spend years tucked out of sight. I will shake the dust from it and settle it on my shoulders. My shoulders will straighten and firm in order to carry its weight. I will march out with my lightsaber in my hand and face him. I will suggest we retire to the street. He will agree. I will walk down the street a bit. He will call to me to stop before I get to the intersection but we will be far enough away from Zith then so I will stop.

He will wait for me to attack. I will not. I will not be drawn into such stupidity. Eventually, he will attack. I will not have succeeded in irritating him enough, so he will not kill me quickly. But he will kill me. I will know when it will happen.

 

[nod] Jedi Purge ones feel almost? natural, in the future tense.

I like it. It's nice.

Keep writing!

 

Oooh, love the ominimous feel! The ending is really cool, so unsuspecting!

 

What can I say? They were all lovely

Only to be expected from you, KD. [Was going through a few of the older Qui-Gon challenge broken nose entries - and saw your comment about his manly shriek and running into a padded room...oh, that brought back memories )

 

LE Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Misti, Bobill, and Princess I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was interesting to write.

And now, another moldie-oldie:

This was written ages ago (first draft done somewhere in 2000 to 2001) as part of something I may never finish. But conversation about competition and sports in the Obi-Wan thread inspired me to pop this bit up here.

Title: Midterms
Author: Knight_Dilettante
Timeframe: Pre-JA
Genre: humor if I'm lucky
Characters: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Siri, Adi, Tahl, Bant

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The gimmer stick pounded twice to stop the muted chatter in the room. ?Test of Force Levitation ability, this is. Expecting test of Astrophysics, you are? Wrong room, you are in.? A ripple of restrained mirth flowed out from the listeners facing the small figure at the center of the training room mats. The mats were marked out into sixteen squares. Sixteen padawans, with their Masters beside them, ringed the mats. The bleachers along one side were filled with Masters, Padawans, Knights and Initiates who were observing this test.

?Hrmph, avoid any confusion it will, to have a Master demonstrate.? Yoda turned, looking at each Master ringing the mats. ?Show the young ones, you will Master Jinn?? Qui-Gon Jinn nodded his head, recognizing a command disguised as a question when he heard one.

?Single hand stand position, you will take. Then, Force Levitate you will, the items your Master brings to test you. Preserve unknown for all of you, we will. One item will each Master produce for demonstration. Provides item enough with his person, does Master Jinn,? Another ripple of mirth was released into the Force and Masters began choosing items from the duffels they had brought.

Qui-Gon collected the items given him without comment. Although, when Tahl handed him a flitterbird feather he was unable to prevent his eyebrow from commenting for him. Tahl, though blinded years before, nonetheless anticipated his reaction. ?Just to keep it interesting.?

?Hmmm a challenge Master Jinn has before him it appears.? Yoda said when Qui-Gon returned with 15 objects. ?Many items of similar size and heft make balancing the remainder more difficult, hmmm? When ready you are, proceed you will Master Jinn.? Yoda said moving off the square in which Qui-Gon had settled the items he had received from the other Masters.

Obi-Wan watched his Master as he examined each item swiftly through the Force in addition to his other senses. There were several large datapads, most likely all ?Force Levitation: Theory and Practice for the Older Padawan?. Tahl?s flitterbird feather was the smallest and lightest item. On the opposite side of the scale was the rare, and both heavy and large CBD (Coruscant Basic Dictionary) in the archaic bound book form complete with cellulose pages. Obi-Wan watched his Master stroke the spine and vowed to find one for him someday, somehow.

Looking around he caught an expression on the bearded face of a relatively young Master that reminded Obi-Wan of the expression his own Master got when he met someone as fascinated by subtle oddities of a culture as he was. Obi-Wan guessed that not only was the bearded Master the donator of the CBD, but he thought he had found a fellow bibliophile in Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan, well aware of his Master?s tendency to adopt bizarre new interests nearly as often as he adopted hopeless causes and pathetic lifeforms, resigned himself to spending time in dusty antiquarian book stalls in the near future

He wasn?t sure whose Master had provided the small white chirla. But judging from Siri?s look of dismay, Adi Gallia was the Master who thought a timid rodent would be a good test item. Obi-Wan was congratulating himself for having a much more sensible Master until he remembered that he had no idea what was in the duffel at his feet.

Suddenly, with a grace that Obi-Wan still hoped to consistantly emulate someday, Qui-Gon flipped over into a hand stand. ?Remove their outer robes before beginning this test, the pada

 

Oh, that was fantastic! A levitation test - especially one in which Qui-Gon 'shows-off', first. Hah, loved that little touch. Naturally, Obi-Wan would be the one to win . And those bits about Obi-Wan resolving to buy his master the CBD...little things that go to make the whole story a work of art.

>>>?Well done, Padawan,? the rich voice was carefully pitched to be audible by all occupants of the room but only loud enough for Obi-Wan to be the only one who would have to admit to hearing it.>>>

Vintage Jinn! How like him to acknowledge his padawan's victory - and yet give the impression of a compassionate, 'better-luck-next-time' tone to it. I can just imagine him thinking 'Of course Obi-Wan will win. He's my student . And he was probably simply bursting at the seams with pride as he was saying it. *Loved* that!

Thou hast done excellent work, knight. More thrums, please.