Before - Legends Jedi Snapshots *New story 15/06/06* 'These Boots Were Made For Walking'

TITLE: The Hidden Ingredient
AUTHOR: Jemmiah
TIMESCALE: Pre-JA
CHARACTERS: Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Yoda and Dex Berlingside

*******

"Now" Tuurith Wending eyed her class of initiates, making certain that she had everyone's rigid attention before continuing, "it's very, VERY important that you follow my instructions to the letter. Cooking is an exact art. You have to use the correct amounts of the specified ingredients for this to work. There can be no deviating from the tried and tested..."

She stopped as a small arm was raised at the back of the room. The arm itself was attached to a little blonde haired boy with a rather floppy fringe that almost covered his eyes. Tuurith swore inwardly. She hated initiates and she had reason to suspect that was the reason that she'd been slated to give this culinary demonstration. On days such as this she wished she'd never decided to work in the refectory.

"Er?yeah, you. Blonde kid. What is it?"

The fringe was brushed away to reveal an impudent pair of sparkling eyes.

"I was just wondering, is all."

"Wondering what?" Tuurith felt like screaming.

"Well, if the same rancid food has been cooked in the same way for generations?"

We have a comedian here, thought Tuurith as she examined the troublemaker from a distance. He must've been about seven years old, with a smart Corellian mouth on him to boot.

"We have certain traditions in this place." She retorted. "The food is prepared as it always has been."

"But that's so boring! I s'pose it keeps the healers busy with all the stomach pumping." The boy winked.

The pink skin became even more flushed.

"Correction: Cookery is an exact and boring art." She addressed the other kids but somehow contrived to keep one eye staring straight at the boy. "What's your name, youngster?"

"Dex Berlingside, Master Wending."

"Well, Dex. We'll have less chat and more concentration."

The Corellian looked hurt and turned a morose and strangely out of place expression on the bigger boy who was standing by his left-hand side.

"Next time you can ask your own silly questions." Hissed young Berlingside.

"It's not MY fault." The older lad replied tersely out the side of his mouth.

"But you said?"

Tuurith walked menacingly towards the duo armed with an intimidating soup ladle.

"I thought I asked you to hush up?" she bristled.

"OK, OK. Keep your moustache on." Dex mumbled.

"What was that?" demanded Tuurith venomously.

"I said I need to put my apron on." The boy replied innocently. "I can't tie it up at the back properly."

Tuurith sniffed.

"Should have thought of that before. You," she pointed at the taller boy, "whoever you are?"

"Initiate Jinn, Master."

"Help this little monster with his apron. If he drops scalding soup over himself I'm the one who's going to get the blame. Wouldn't put it past him to do it on purpose." She gave Dex a final glare before walking away to the front of the room again.

Qui-Gon sighed, shaking his head as he tied the tags at the back of the boy's apron. He'd known young Berlingside for a year now and found that he liked the boy, but even he had to admit that he pushed his luck too far on occasion. He was cheeky and scamp like. This endeared him to his friends. It didn't endear him to the masters. This worried Qui-Gon. Which of the masters would chose such an impudent initiate for their padawan? He didn't want to dwell on it but Qui-Gon knew that Dex was a perfect candidate for becoming a farmer on some backwater planet?

He pitied the poor plants.

Tuurith smiled with no real warmth at all as she picked up a sharp little knife.

"You are going to be split up into groups of three. I want one person to remove the skins, one to chop and the other to get the stock reheated."

"I want to dice the veggies!" Dex grinned.

She regarded Dex with a grimace. "You are not getting the knife."

"Why not?" Dex looked disappointed.

"Because you are too young and not to be trusted with a dangerous implement. Personally, I wouldn't put you in charge of

 

"But be sure of one thing Windu, if it takes me forty years to think of something, I'll be waiting to collect!"

You know, I cannot wait to find out what it is! All I know that it will be something good!

But it's nice to know that throughout the years that Dexy really never grew up!

 

LOL, Dex DID get his revenge...remember the scene onboard the Kaligari in TLST where they all had Mace playing kids games and doing all manner of undignified and un-council like things?

 

TITLE: The Importance of Having Seaweed
AUTHOR: Jemmiah
TIMESCALE: JA - Obi-Wan is roughly 20-ish.
CHARACTERS: Qui-Gon Jinn, Dex Berlingside, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jemmiah Gleshan & others.
SUMMARY: A quick dip in the sea has unfortunate consequences for Qui-Gon and his fellow masters...


******

?Well??

?Well what??

?You wouldn?t.?

?What makes you say that??

?Because you?re?you?re a coward!?

The conversation had gone round and round in similar fashion for the last hour as the little group made their way down towards the sea. Florizan had been the ideal choice for a vacation. It was a lush, verdant and prosperous planet and one where Jedi were looked upon in an almost reverential manner. Relatively undisturbed by tourist types, it appeared to Qui-Gon to be virtually idyllic.

As he surveyed the warm, salty waves Qui-Gon decided that the time to cut a little loose and enjoy himself had definitely arrived.

?I?m game.? He said finally.

Mace looked more than a little startled. ?You are??

?I just said so.? Jinn smiled at him. ?But what about you??

?Well?? Mace frowned. He?d been banking on his friend bottling out. ?I suppose if you are prepared to strip off for all the world to see??

?It?s hardly the whole world.? Qui-Gon replied patiently. ?The padawans are back at the camp. They have their lessons to attend to.?

?Even so.? Mace felt uncertain.

?I?m certainly going to go in.? Berlingside pulled off his socks one after the other and dropped his boots onto the golden sand. ?I?ve got nothing to be ashamed of.? He treated them to his biggest Corellian grin.

Faced with such solidarity, Windu took comfort and nodded his assent.

?Been a good few years since I tried this.? He said, removing his belt.

?You?re just scared incase somebody sees that tattoo on your rear.? Dex Berlingside remarked as he removed his tunic top.

?Relax, Mace. Just think of it as reliving your wasted youth.? Qui-Gon said reassuringly.

?I had less scruples in those days.? He countered as he started to undress.

?Scruples?? Berlingside frowned. ?Never heard it called that before.?

The handsome Corellian stood completely naked, looking towards the inviting sea.

?Last one in is Sith spit!? He yelled and charged down towards the glittering waves.

?You got a head start, you sneaky Corellian!? Mace growled as Qui-Gon removed the last of his clothes and followed Dexy at a fair clip. ?Wait up, Qui!?

Fumbling as he rid of himself of the last of his garments, he reluctantly strolled down towards his fellow Jedi.

Whoever heard of Jedi going skinny-dipping at their age?

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

Kryztan Harkley grumbled to himself as he tossed aside his lessons for that morning.

?Some vacation.? He groused. ?Our masters cart us all the way to this so called paradise and then make us spend the best part of the day inside a tent doing galactic geographic studies!?

?You think THAT?S bad.? Jemmiah pouted at him. ?I?ve got learn archaic poetry! My sixteenth birthday is only two weeks away. I?ve got a party to plan, and I have to read this ancient nonsense.?

?Really?? Letina Sorrell pulled a sympathetic face. ?Makes my humble history assignment seem insignificant.?

?Let?s have a look.? Kenobi walked over to peer at the book screen she was reading from. ?I?m sure I can find something worth reading.?

?Good luck.? Jemmy grimaced.

He flipped through the screeds of text. As Jemmiah had said, a lot of it was fairly heavy reading. Eventually his eyes alighted upon one that seemed more understandable.

?How about this?? He pointed at the words.

?But to see her was to love her
Love but her, and love forever.
Had we never loved so kindly,
Had we never loved so blindly,
Never met-or never parted-
We had ne?er been broken hearted.?

Obi-Wan hadn?t been aware he?d said the words out loud.

?That?s nice.? Jemmiah said, surprised. ?I like that. You can read it at my funeral.?

Obi-Wan shook his head. ?I have never met anyone so morbid in my life!?

?Everyone dies.?

?Bu

 

I have got to read the other stories...

 

Poor Simmy! *snicker*

Although I'm quite surprised at Dexy that he actually wanted to use the seaweed. Qui must have talked him into it!

Now here's my humble comtribution. Enjoy!

Title: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow or Hair, and Back Again
Author: Mouse
Timeframe: JA
Characters: OC; Simeon Cates, Rela Quinn
Summary: What happens when the temple barbers get a bit too scissor happy? It doesn?t turn out to be a good day.

Simeon looked at his reflection in the mirror and shrugged. He watched as his hand came up and ran itself over his freshly shorn locks. Force it was short. Then again they had told him that they didn?t want to see him back to get his hair cut for at least two weeks. He couldn?t see why they should complain though. Technically he could be considered their best customer!

Still rubbing his head, he could feel the dark stubbly ends with his fingertips. Why did his hair have to grow so fast to make them cut it so short?

And of course tonight he had a date with Rela.

He shifted standing up straight as he brushed any wrinkles he could find out of his tunic. Why was it always brown or some form of brown? Oh well, at least healers were able to wear blue sometimes.

Simeon looked at his chrono and decided it was time to leave. Now if he could just get out of his quarters without having to tell where he was going a hundred times. A hundred and six if you included his master?s wives. At the moment he really wished he knew Rela?s path through the ventilation system so he could slip out unnoticed.

Standing by the door of his room he paused as he tried to remember where everyone would be at the moment. His master would most likely still be in the infirmary taking care of one thing or another. His master?s wives would hopefully still be at their perspective jobs that they had in the temple. Simeon decided that the coast was clear. Opening the door he stepped out into the main room.

?Hey Simeon, where you going??

Kriff! He forgot about little Paj, An-Paj?s son!

?Oh! Hey Paj. I didn?t realize you were here. I?m just going out.?
?Out where?? Paj asked.
?Just out.? Simeon responded.
?Oh! You?re headed out to see her!? Paj teased.
?Yes Paj, that is where I am headed.?
?You should probably tell my dad, your master, where you?re going.? The little boy warned.

Simeon started to throw his hands up in exasperation, but ended up rubbing his shaved head again.

?He probably already knows where I?m going by now.?

Before the young boy had a chance to tease him again Simeon left as quickly as possible. He wasn?t a meter away from his quarters when he was over taken and someone began rubbing on his stubbly head.

?Hey Cates! If you got it cut any shorter you would be a match for Master Windy!?
?Geooffff Jay! I?m not thrilled with it myself.?
?How do you think your lady love will take it?? Jay teased with a wink.

?Why has everything today been about either my hair or Rela?? Simeon wondered aloud.
?Because where you?re concerned they?re both easy targets!? Jay answered as he quickly ran off to keep Simeon from retaliating.

Simeon watched his friend run off as he started rubbing his head again. Force how he hated his hair!

He had no idea how much time had passed or how he had gotten there, but suddenly Simeon found himself staring at Rela?s door. He raised his hand to knock, but paused as he ran it over his head. Rela liked him for him, right? If she was into looks there were thousands of other guys out there that would be better for her then him. She wouldn?t dump him just because of some silly haircut, would she?

Before he had the chance to knock again the door whooshed open and there was Rela. He watched as she jumped and gave a small gasp of shock. She looked up at him and he wasn?t sure but he thought he saw something akin to confusion on her face.

?Simmy! How long have you been standing here? I?m surprised Mrs. K hasn?t tackled you yet to find out who you are.?

Something clicked in Simeon?s head. What had she called hi

 

"...Mister Skull Head!"

I've been laughing at that description for minutes now. I can so picture it! Poor Simeon! The idea of him looking like Mace is rather amusing - although not to Rela, me'thinks!

Great post!

 

TITLE: OF Mice And Men
AUTHOR: Jemmiah
TIMESCALE: Pre-JA
CHARACTERS: Qui-Gon Jinn, Dex Berlingside
SUMMARY: A night out on the town...or should that be knights out on the town???

**********

"Well, it was a cool evening. A bit overcast and cloudy. I remember thinking that the people who were in charge of weather control must be away on vacation some place coz they'd really stuffed up big time. There were huge puddles of water lying on the ground from where it had been pouring with rain that morning and it was so deep that it lapped at the top of my boots. I distinctly recall this because my boots need mending and I could feel my socks beginning to get wet at the toes as the water seeped in.

Anyway, we continued to walk along the streets. We sometimes go for a walk at night because it helps us to get away from?I mean, it helps us to clear our heads of clutter. Being near to people, walking amongst the hustle and bustle, watching the pretty neon signs flashing away advertising?things. It's kind of hypnotic. Of course, we were only stretching our legs; there was no other reason that we were heading downtown at that time of day. Well, I say it was day but it was very nearly night.

We stopped off at some fast food place. I think it was a Corellian eatery that served all kinds of greasy stuff, you know? Things that are so full of oil that it slips out your fingers when you go to take a bite. I had a spiced Nerf sausage in batter with extra helpings of Takkini sauce. It was perhaps a trifle overcooked but perhaps I am being a touch picky, however the sauce certainly made it very palatable even if it did stain my fingers and tongue a rather violent shade of orange. My friend had some kind of burger with green bits sticking out the side. He thought he saw an insect in amongst the greenery and refused to eat the other half, so I had to finish it off for him.

It kept on getting darker and darker but we hadn't realized how far away from the temple we had walked, or how many hours had passed. I think maybe those few drinks we had in the cantina we stopped off at had something to do with it although I couldn't swear to it. It was only after we had left the aforementioned drinking establishment that we realized that somehow or other we seemed to have lost some time. Well, it was such an interesting and unusual phenomena that we felt we had to discuss it and so we went to the Dragon's Teeth Cantina to debate it some more. Then after that we pondered it some more in the Golden Castle Cantina and then we did nothing but confer over the matter in the Assassin's Blade Cantina just a few doors away?

By then it was pitch black and I noticed that my boots were not only stained with water but that someone had also been rather sick on them. I think it might have been me, although my mind was a bit of a blank at that point. Up above you could see the stars swirling about. They seemed to do a lot of swirling for some unknown reason and I remember the road cleaners trying to sweep my friend away as he lay on the pavement.

We woke up in a skip. It was rather smelly and disgusting but I figured that it was a better place to sleep than the roads. After a little while spent picking strange objects out of our hair we staggered about trying to find the best way home, providing we could find an air cab that would take us. The traffic was very busy that night because there always seemed to be two of everything heading our way, and dodging it was extremely difficult. The speeders and hover cabs were very obliging though because I can remember they came to a screeching halt as we staggered about the road, all making encouraging beeping noises with their alarms. I think we almost got to one side but then my friend thought he saw something interesting on the other side and we crossed back over, much to the delight of the cab drivers.

I think there might have been a few collisions at one point between the cabs and speeders who were too slow and coming to a halt.

The neon signs seemed a lot sparklier in the dark then they had in

 

ROFLOL!!!

I so love all these stories!

Jem, your naming of Dex was hilarious. And it was great to see some of my faves again, like like the skinny dipping masters and Obi & Qui swapping places for a day.

Mouse, another entertaining post! You're quit right, Frizzy wouldn't be frizzy without the hair!

 

LMAO!!!!! Where have I heard that story before...

Obi-Wan shook his head. ?I have never met anyone so morbid in my life!?

?Everyone dies.?

?But you are obsessed with death.? Obi-Wan sighed.

*shudders* ENOUGH WITH THE FORESHADOWING ALREADY!!!


And LMAO!!! Crab!!!

 

TITLE: Don't let the bedbugs bite!
AUTHOR: Jemmiah
TIMESCALE: JA - Obi-Wan is 19/20
CHARACTERS: Obi-Wan, Jemmiah Gleshan, Qui-Gon, Evla Sovalla.
SUMMARY: Obi-Wan and Jemmy try their hand at child-minding, with mixed results...

*********

?This is my idea if hell.? Jemmiah stated firmly to Obi-Wan.

The crèche was filled as far as the eye could see by a Sithly swarm of the youngest of initiates, aged roughly between two and five. Jemmiah had supposed that being force sensitive the squidlings would have been instructed in the importance of proper behavior.

Not a bit of it.

?It?ll only take half an hour,? Jemmiah sarcastically mimicked her guardian Evla Sovalla, who was the crèche master in charge of the little dears. Except that she had to take one little boy to see the healers after an accident on a slide.

Why, Jemmiah cursed silently, had she picked that moment to visit her guardian? Half an hour, indeed! That had been an hour ago.

?It?s not that bad.? Obi-Wan replied, as one of the kids flicked him with paint. It splattered across his face, leaving a big trail of red across his nose.

?No, I can see you?ve got everything under control.? Jemmiah snickered.

?I?m doing better than you are,? he retorted as he rubbed the paint from underneath his eyes, ?at least I?m trying to be nice.? He set his teeth in a smile. He had the vaguest idea he resembled a holo news presenter.

?Why should I?? Jemmy grumbled. ?I hate kids.?

?They?re OK.? Kenobi shrugged indifferently. ?Provided you can hand them back at the end of the day.? He dodged a foam brick.

Jemmiah couldn?t help but sulk. The sparkle in her eyes had completely disappeared and altered into something altogether more sinister. A small Wookie child got to feel the heat of her glare as it sat picking at its nose.

?Don?t stare like that!? Hissed Obi-Wan, ?You?re frightening them.?

?I don?t like brats getting too close and brushing against me.? She shivered.

?He was over five meters away!? Obi-Wan exclaimed. ?Say something nice to the children!?

Jemmiah looked horrified.

?Pardon?? She asked. ?Did you just put the words ?nice? and ?kids? in the same sentence??

?I give up.? He folded his arms. ?Why don?t you play with them. Didn?t you ever play when you were a child??

?Who with, thin air?? Jemmiah bit back. She saw the look in his eye and backed down. ?OK, OK,? she grumbled, ?I?ll try and be nice. But the emphasis here is on TRY. I don?t care what Yoda says on the subject.? She let her gaze rest upon a freckle-faced boy not too far away and tried to smile sweetly.

?If you could look as if you weren?t about to go for their jugulars, that would be really good.? Kenobi said dryly.

She sighed. It was obviously more difficult than she thought.

The little boy stared up at her. ?My name?s Toms.? He said with a wide, gap toothed grin.

?Hi!? Jemmy drawled. She studied him a moment ?You?re Corellian, aren?t you??

The boy nodded.

?That?s good. That?s really?good.? She frowned. What else should she say? Sith, she hated kids!

An idea struck her.

?Hey kid, you know what us Corellians are good at, don?t you?? She grinned.

?No?? The boy blinked.

?Causing mayhem and mischief. You any good at mayhem and mischief, Toms??

?Yeah!? He giggled.

?Good!? She smirked, and let him take her hand. ?I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.?

Obi-Wan watched her in amusement. So much for the ?I hate kids? routine.

A foam brick hit him on the head.

?OK. Who threw that?? He snapped.

**********

Twenty minutes later and Evla had still not returned.

?Time for lunch.? Obi-Wan said, looking at the nutritious gloop that had been served up.

Did I really survive on this stuff for twelve years, he wondered?

?Yum! That looks really?really good!? He lied unconvincingly.

?Stop fibbing, Ben. It looks like a great big pile of cat sick.? Jemmiah argued. She fished into her shoulder bag. ?Who wants some candy?? She asked, her ears immediately being assaulted with little soprano scre

 

ROFLMAO!!!!!! Too funny!

And TOMS!!!!!

 

ROTFL!

"Well," Evla frowned as she recollected the scene from the last few nights, "for some strange reason, the kids are afraid to go to bed. It started when another crèche master and myself were tucking the initiates in. We started to say 'Goodnight, sleep tight and hope the bedbugs don't bite', and they all jumped up and refused to go back to bed."

She sighed. "I can't think what on Coruscant made them do that."


I'm not going to be able to hear that phrase again without remembering this snapshot!

 

TITLE: A Fridge Too Far
AUTHOR: Jemmiah
TIMESCALE: Pre-JA
CHARACTERS: Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Dex Berlingside.
SUMMARY: There's no such thing as too much food when it comes to the matter of near-teenage padawans!

*********


"Hell's teeth, I am staaaaaaaarving!" Qui-Gon groaned. "If I don't get something to eat in the next ten minutes I will expire for certain!"

"You like to exaggerate." Dex replied, an evil little grin creeping onto his face. "What's the matter? Doesn't Yoda feed you?"

"Too much," Qui-Gon nodded, "of the wrong kind of thing."

They sat companionably on the large leather sofa in Quirida-Xac's apartment, enjoying the time away from their studies. The younger boy kicked his feet about idly whilst Qui-Gon fidgeted with his fledgling padawan braid, desperately hoping that the rumblings in his stomach would abate in due course. Oh, he was proud that Yoda had picked him above all the others although he couldn't help but wonder what the ancient master had seen in him that had marked him out as special. Why had he not chosen Mace? Or Gilda? So many who, on the face of it, were much more worthy of the honor.

That honor came at a price. He was slowly being eaten away by his insides.

"What do you mean?" Dex frowned. "What wrong type?"

"Gruel." Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. "Stews. Stuff from the lower swamps of Dagobah?urgh! Dex, if he ever invites you round to dinner my advice is to decline."

"So, you mean he only feeds you healthy stuff?" Dex answered sympathetically. "That's awful, Qui."

"It wouldn't be so bad if I actually liked his cooking!" Jinn mumbled. "But?"

"It stinks?" hazarded Dex.

"Let's just say the flavorings are?unique."

Dex snorted.

"Doesn't sound much fun to me." The Corellian shrugged. "Didn't any of our cookery lessons rub off on you?"

"I spent most of my time trying to get you out of trouble!" Qui-Gon protested. "How are you supposed to learn about the finer points of cookery when you've got an imbecile pretending to cut off his fingers, or setting his hair on fire, or juggling with onions?"

"Ah, the good old days." Dex said wistfully. "Well, if you're hungry all you need to do is ask me. My master had a very well stocked larder. C'mon, let's see what we can mooch."

Qui-Gon could have given Dex a hug.

"You know, I always knew befriending you would pay off eventually." He said sincerely.
"Thanks, I think." The dry Corellian voice rejoined as they headed across to the monumental refrigeration unit. Qui-Gon's eyes nearly bugged as he stared up at it.

"This is new, isn't it?" he pointed.

"Yup," Dex grinned. "Master Q always says that he never got enough food as a padawan and he didn't want to make the same mistake with me. So he got this."

"But it's huge!" exclaimed Qui-Gon.

"Wait 'til you see the inside!" Dex smiled. "It'll knock you into orbit!"

Berlingside kept his eyes on Qui-Gon's face as his hand slid to the handle and pulled open the door. Slowly, tantalizingly Qui-Gon watched as the door creaked towards him, a beam of light heralding the taste of paradise that most surely awaited him?

He wasn't mistaken.

"But?but IT'S FOOD!" he pointed in awe. "Real food!"

"I can see there's no foolin' you." Dex snickered. "Straight to the top of the class, Yoda's pet!"

"I've never seen so much in my life at one time!" Qui-Gon wondered if he was hallucinating from lack of nourishment.

"Here." Dex picked up a Corellian chocolate pastry and tossed at him. "Eat. Don't worry about Master Q. There's so much there he'll never notice, an even if he did he wouldn't care."

"Oh, you have no idea how much I like you right now." Qui-Gon grinned. "I like your master, too."

"S'okay." Dex waved away the praise nonchalantly, watching as his friend sank his teeth into the chocolate, the cream shooting out the sides. He waited until Qui-Gon had devoured half of the pastry before he next spoke.

"That'll be ten credits, please."

"Wha??" Qui-Gon nearly choked.

"You didn't expect it for free, did you?"

"Dex, you little?"

"

 

"You've got a wonky bladder." ROFLOL!!

So it started way back then! But like Qui I don't think I think of citrus juice in the same way either. Although Mace pretty much deserved it!

 

LOL! These snapshots are a delight. I really enjoy your OC Dex. Can't wait for more........
Thx for sharing these.

 

HEHEHE!!! Well, Like Master, like Padawan...

awesome job, Jem!

 

TITLE:Chariot?s of ?Ire?part 1: Humiliation
AUTHOR: Jemmiah
TIMESCALE: Pre JA
CHARACTERS: Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda...
SUMMARY: A friendly inter-temple sports contest goes hideously wrong for Qui-Gon...

********

Qui-Gon couldn?t believe it. He just couldn?t believe it!

If anyone had given odds prior to the race that he and his apprentice would win the most prestigious event in the Master/Padawan sports day he would have said that they were a crystal shot of a lightsabre. But for whatever reason, the force had deigned that the day would be theirs. A triumphant collaboration: a perfect matching of master and trainee, together in complete unison and harmony. Strong in the force.

All the events were designed to be both challenging and fun. The Jedi had always had such a bad press for being stuffy and rigid, and for the past ten years Yoda had been trying to find ways of making the image of the Jedi a little less severe.

These events had been the result.

Most of them had been created specifically with the idea of working with the force. Puzzles, lightsabre matches, tasks of agility and skill? it was meant to be highly competitive, yet fairly fought.

No cheating.

Qui-Gon thought that if Yoda had been aware of just how competitive it really was, he would probably have abolished the whole thing. A Jedi should take pride in his achievements and always strive to do his best, but not at the cost of inducing bad feelings and un-sportsman like behavior. And Qui-Gon wanted to win!

Badly.

He and his apprentice were just ten points clear of their nearest rivals, Master Sal-Fina Falmar and her padawan Ambianca. The points tally showed that if Sal-Fina and her stuck-up apprentice won the final event, they would be declared over-all champions. And Qui-Gon was not about to let that happen.

The last event was the silliest of the lot: the sack race. Why Yoda had decided to include this in the schedule was quite beyond Qui-Gon?s imagination, yet strangely it had become the one that everyone wanted to do well in, for no other reason than it had little to do with skill, or the force. Luck, and teamwork perhaps. It was rendered all the more ludicrous because Yoda had invited, as always, a member of the press to witness the events and Qui-Gon couldn?t help feeling that there was something undignified in Jedi being seen two to a sack, hopping along the ground. Or falling on their rears.

This year, it would be fine, Jinn told himself as he and his thirteen-year-old padawan lengthened their jumps, covering the ground in an amazing display of co-ordination. He thanked the force that he had a padawan who was tall for his age, and as determined to win as his master. They would not lose, they would not!

Just yards to go!

Without warning, Qui-Gon found his force sense alerting him to the presence of another set of rivals on his far left. He made the mistake of looking across and nearly stumbled.

Sal-Fina and Ambianca.

Ambianca was a mere child. She had been claimed by her master at an extremely early age, more to do with looking like a little clone of Sal-Fina rather than any particular force skill she may have possessed. The long blond locks of the master and the short, spiky gold hair of the padawan could just be seen at the edge of Qui-Gon?s vision, although he?d already known who was making that determined charge towards the line long before his sight had confirmed the fact. To see it all taken away from them now?

It was going to be close. The line was coming up fast.

Qui-Gon called on his padawan to make the supreme effort, but infact got a response of a very different kind. From in front of him, he felt his apprentice reach out with the force?

And the next thing Qui-Gon knew, Sal-Fina and Ambianca were on the ground in a large, sprawling heap.

As Master Jinn and his padawan went crashing over the line, he knew that every force sensitive being in the gardens had felt what had been done. This was not going to be good. He looked up, and found himself staring into Yoda?s markedl

 

Still loving these!

Although I have a feeling that as I'm lying in bed tonight my overactive imagination might get the better of me with the bedbugs!

 

Well if anyone deserved to be pushed over it was Sal-Fina and Ambiancia!

Disqualified... They should have gotten an applause!

 

*blinks* Whoa... THe entire time, I thought it was Obi!! *smacks forehead* Oh duh.. it said pre-JA...

And LMAO!!! I could picture that in slow-motion and Chariots of Fire playing in the background!!

 

Tsk, tsk, Xanatos.


What should he do now? He cast about for something else he could use instead and his eyes alighted on the bottle of citrus, now emptied. Yes, it was kind of disgusting. No, he'd never quite think of citrus in the same way ever again. It would have to do.

"Are you OK in there?" Dex called.

"Will you be quiet?" Jinn retorted.

Dex was on the point of calling something back when the chime sounded loud and clear in the living quarters. It wasn't his master. He'd gone to speak to Master Fin-Tial. Then who?

Berlingside stretched out with the force and quickly got an answer to his own question.

Mace.

I was reminded of Jemmiah and the weevils in the flour...and so at this point I was laughing and thinking, "Uh-oh, Mace."