Noxious Misunderstandings: (Obi/Qui) Post 52 [01.12.03] (COMPLETED)

Just wanted to drop in and let you know that I am enjoying your story. Poor Obi-Wan always feels unloved by his master, and it always takes something terrible to make Qui-Gon realize his mistake.

I like your frequent posts. Can't wait for more.

 

Sheila : Hi. Thanks.

The next post will be up in around twenty minutes for those of you who are still hanging around this story. I'm currently in the process of writing it, and I hope I'll finish it before the clock strikes twelve.

Aunecah

 

Security guards, huh?
You have me intrigued.

 

I just found this. It looks really interesting.

 

Suzuran : I'm glad.

Here is the next post, as promised. It will probably be the last post for today. I really have to go to sleep.

. . . .

The two security guards vanished into Qui-Gon's dark room, their blasters held at ready. Obi-Wan tracked them through the Force, making sure that they weren't tinkering with anything that they weren't supposed to touch. It wasn't as if Obi-Wan expected Qui-Gon to leave anything important in his room, but Obi-Wan had assumed a lot of things about Qui-Gon that had turned out to be false.

Obi-Wan took an unconscious step backward as a sudden pang of guilt birthed inside his stomach. Qui-Gon had never said it outright, but Obi-Wan still thought that his master was unhappy about their relationship. Obi-Wan knew for a fact that his friends knew their masters a lot better than Obi-Wan knew his; whenever Bant or Siri started up a conversation that somehow turned into a discussion of who had the best master, Obi-Wan had found himself shrinking lower and lower into his chair.

Unlike his peers, he didn't get to spend much time with Qui-Gon. The Jedi Master was usually gone on trying missions, returning in a condition that guaranteed a week in the healers' ward. He usually was given a leeway of one month before being sent on another mission; but even that month, Qui-Gon mostly spent with Master Windu or Master Yoda, helping the two Jedi Masters teach Initiates and Padawans alike the ways of a lightsaber. In fact, the only time that Obi-Wan really spent with his master was when he was sparring with the other, and sparring matches were a bad place to talk.

Obi-Wan's gaze fell on his Padawan braid. He fingered it affectionately, almost lovingly. It was an epitome of what he was and what he was going to become. When he had officially become Qui-Gon's apprentice, almost five years back, the braid had been short, struggling to touch his shoulders. Now it was hanging down his shoulder comfortably, coming nearly to his chest. He had started out his life as a Jedi Initiate without it and that he was going to start his life as a Jedi Knight.

Obi-Wan waited, lived, breathed for that night, the night when he would be declared a Knight. He had imagined that night many times before, but he never got tired of imagining it yet one more time. While each of them was unique and different, all of them held one single constant: Qui-Gon, smiling at Obi-Wan, his eyes shining with pride. The smile on Obi-Wan's face widened, but then dropped when the image of a loving Qui-Gon turned into a stern man looking happy that he was finally rid of an apprentice that he never wanted.

Before he could dwell too deep into his own gloomy thoughts, the security guards came back out, forcing him to switch back into the present. Obi-Wan quickly huried into his own room. He didn't think the security guards, no matter how dumb they were, would miss Obi-Wan when he was standing right in front of them; it was a little too much to ask.

He kept the door open, wanting to hear what they were talking. There was silence for a long while. Then, Obi-Wan felt the security guards moving down the corridor, toward his room. He quickly backed further into his room, shutting the door softly.

He caught a few words of what they were saying as they went by:

"... I don't see any other option. We have to go to the Chief and tell him about the mission's failure."

"Haven't you been paying any attention to what I had said to you earlier?" the second man asked, irritation and fear dripping into his voice, staining it like oil. "If the Chief doesn't forgive mistakes easily. If he realizes that we've screwed up, then he is going to kill us then and there."

There was silence again. The sound of the boots on the floor was growing distant, so Obi-Wan leaned in closer to the door, using the Force to enhance his hearing range. The Force helped him somewhat, but not as much as he would have liked. He only caught parts of the security guards' conversation:

"... Dark ... Commander ... learns ... truth

 

Padawankitara : I somehow missed you when I was replying before the post. Thanks. Hope you'll stick around.

Aunecah

 

That was a great post. Poor Obi (yeah, I'll start saying it ) thinking those thoughts about his Knighthood.

 

I sense that Obi-Wan is headed into trouble here. The poor kid doesn't have the kind of relationship with his master that he'd like. That's sad.

Please post more, Aunecah.

 

*shakes head* That Obi has a knack for getting in trouble. Hopefully, Qui-Gon will listen to his dream and get so worried he checks on Obi-Wan.

Great post, as usual. (You expected something else? )

Now . . . another would be nice.

 

This is great! I love it! Added it to my favourites to check everyday

Kithera

 

another post please!

 

Suzuran : Thanks.

Cascadia : Yeah, of course he's going to be heading for trouble. I know it's sad.

obaona : Will Qui do that? I can't tell. Another post? Well you'll get one today sometime.

Kit' : I feel honored.

Jedi_Umm : You'll get one soon.

Aunecah

 

Yes, I finally I finished the post.

. . . .

All too soon, Obi-Wan found himself out in the open. He had long since lost sight of the two security guards. It was late in the morning, and, consequently, the streets were extremely crowded. Most of the Rivans, though human, were taller than Obi-Wan; the young Jedi could only see the backs of the people in front of him. Occasionally, Obi-Wan caught sight of creatures of the same species as the security guards.

He ran a hand through his hair, puzzled, wondering why he had never noticed this species before. Until now, he had been under the impression that all of Riva's population was made solely out of humans. Shrugging, he continued down the street, feeling somewhat out-of-place.

Only ten minutes into the chase, Obi-Wan had already lost all sense of direction. He kept referring to a datapad that Rivan government officials had given him, which included a small map with all the most important buildings pointed out in glaring-red highlights. Unfortunately, the map didn't really help him any, as he had no idea where he was.

The security guards, however, seemed to know where they were going (at least one would hope); Obi-Wan sensed no confusion from them. As the guards left the downtown streets, the traffic tuned down to normal levels, and Obi-Wan found himself getting occasional glimpses of the guards' heads.

Overhead, the sun was a golden halo, shooting heat and light into the clear-blue skies. Perspiration was trickling down his forehead, making him extremely irritable and oddly weary. He was soon fingering his collar, pulling (or at least trying to pull) the damp material away from his sticky neck. He could have used the Force to cool his immediate surroundings down, but he didn't want to risk losing the guards' presence in the process.

The building that the guards entered didn't look like a security center. It looked more like a shaggy, old building that was most likely to be used by criminals and crimelords. Somehow, it didn't surprise Obi-Wan at all that the two guards were going into the building. He had had his doubts from the beginning about where the loyalty of these guards lay.

He stealthily followed them to the building, a little surprised that he didn't meet any security droids. It still bothered him that the security guards never looked behind them to see if anybody was following. He stood at the mouth of the street, watching as the security guards climbed up to the door and then entered the building casually. Obi-Wan waited for a moment or two, just in case the guards decided to come back, before trying his luck.

Obi-Wan went up the short flight of steps. He hesitated near the door, wondering how he was going to break in. The door was normal, a gray slate, and obviously automatic, because there were no doorknobs attached anywhere. However, there weren't any slots to put data cards through, either. As far as Obi-Wan saw, the door had opened as soon as the guards had come within its sensory perimeter. But it obviously wasn?t going to open up for him.

~Maybe there is a security camera somewhere,~ Obi-Wan thought. He looked up nervously, wiping perspiration off his brow with the back of his hand. ~In that case, there is no point in him staying here.~ In fact, the most logical thing that Obi-Wan could (and should) do right now was leave before destroyer droids turned up to blow him into oblivion.

He turned around, ready to do exactly that, but stopped when he heard the metallic hiss of an automatic door opening behind him. A shiver ran down his spine. He wheeled around, his hand dropping automatically to his lightsaber?

To find the business end of a blaster against his knuckles. He looked at his own hand and then at the owner of the blaster: a large, muscular man with wavy, blond hair that was plastered to his head, and dark eyes that reminded Obi-Wan of cold, unlit tunnels.

"Mr. Kenobi," the man said in a slightly accented Basic. "We have been expecting you."

 

The A'Ksha and the M'Ksha shouted themselves into silence by mid-day. Qui-Gon pretended to be listening patiently, even though what they were saying made little sense to him. At one point, Qui-Gon felt somebody's eyes on him. He let his gaze slip onto the lonely ambassador sitting at the other end of the table.

There had been many attempts on the Rivans' part on coming up with a centralized, bureaucratic system in which everyone had equal representation. All tribes of Riva except the two warring ones formed what they called the United Rivan Tribal Association, claiming to be the "official" government of the world. A'Ksha and the M'Ksha completely ignored them and their roles, of course, but the rest of the galaxy accepted their claim. However, the government had been expected to fall fairly soon after its establishment. Young, inexperienced, and lacking an army, it should have collapsed long ago due to internal and external pressures.

To everyone's amazement, the United Rivan Tribal Association somehow pulled through, managing to have some semblance of power on the planet. Unfortunately, the government very weak, unable to make any drastic changes to the infrastructure of the political and economical mess Riva was in.

The ambassador was from the government, but he didn't participate in the negotiations at all. In fact, until now, he served as someone who announced breaks, something that could easily have been accomplished by a cheap droid.

Well, the ambassador announced a twenty-minute break sometime after twelve. Qui-Gon bolted out of his chair and was out the door in the blink of an eye, leaving the Assembly Hall before he could be bogged down by any delegates who wanted a spare ear to torture.

He first went into the 'fresher, and splashed cool water over his face for five minutes. Only then did he give any thought about the rest of the galaxy. Qui-Gon had been on planets that were hotter than Riva (like Tatooine, for example), but he had never been to a planet that was as humid as this one. Wiping his face clean with a towel, Qui-Gon exited into the corridor, heading toward Obi-Wan's room, determined to tell his apprentice about the dream.

Qui-Gon would have told Obi-Wan about the dream if only his apprentice had been in there. He came to a halt before Obi-Wan's room, expecting the door to open anytime. Obi-Wan must have sensed Qui-Gon coming, and usually his apprentice was waiting with the door open even before Qui-Gon had a chance to knock.

However, when the door remained closed for long moments, Qui-Gon sighed, knocked, and settled in to wait again. Still, there was no answer. ~Perhaps he is sleeping,~ Qui-Gon mused. A small part of his brain retorted immediately, reminding him that Obi-Wan rarely ever slept during the day. His apprentice often had trouble sleeping even at night; it was a problem that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were working to correct. Obi-Wan was finding sleeping much easier now, but he still wasn?t slipping into sleep as easily as he should.

Qui-Gon's face tightened as he remembered what it had taken for Obi-Wan to admit that he was having trouble sleeping in the first place. His young Padawan had come up with infinite excuses for staying up late at night?everything from watching a movie to finishing his homework--quite a few of which weren't even plausible. It wasn't until Qui-Gon had threatened him with the healers' ward that the whole truth had come out. Qui-Gon knew that Obi-Wan hated the healers' ward?a place at which he spent too much time already?and would do anything to stay away from it.

Frustrated, Qui-Gon once again used the Force to unlock the door from the inside (if Obi-Wan was indeed sleeping, Qui-Gon didn't want to wake him up by knocking). And once again, he found an empty room staring back at him.

 

Uh oh... Oh boy.... I have a very bad feeling about this whole little situation. Shaping up to be spectacular, Aunecah. Great job!

 

Wild_Huntress : Thanks. I'll try to post more soon, but I'm currently working on finishing up my other fic.

Aunecah

 

Here is the next post.

. . . .


Even before Obi-Wan could blink, the man grasped his lightsaber and forcefully tugged it away from his belt. Obi-Wan briefly considered mind tricking his way out of here, but then decided against it. He could barely even feel the man's emotions, so tight were his shields. It was obvious that this man was a Force user?while he wasn't a very good one, a Force user he was, nevertheless.

Two more men came up from behind him, walking up very close. Obi-Wan looked at them, and then at the street beyond. None of the pedestrians looked at him twice; they couldn't see the gun the blond-haired man was pointing at Obi-Wan, and it rather appeared as if he and the three other men were talking casually. Sighing, he turned back to face the man in front of him. He knew that resistance was futile, and the man knew that Obi-Wan knew it.

"Now, if you would follow us, please."

The man led Obi-Wan through the still open door and into a minimally lit corridor that was mostly deserted. Obi-Wan could just see the two security guards he had followed here standing at the other end of the corridor, wearing smug expressions on their faces. Too late, he realized that everything the security guards had done and said back in the government building was fake, simply meant to arouse Obi-Wan's curiosity and make him follow them. And Obi-Wan neatly fell into that trap.

Obi-Wan followed the blond-haired man down the corridor, noticing how the two security guards hurried ahead of him. ~Probably to announce his presence to this "Chief" of theirs,~ he thought sarcastically. Two men?both having dark hair and dark eyes?brought up the rear, closing and locking the door behind them. Now that they were all in the safety of the building, the two men gave Obi-Wan a little more space, though they whipped out their blasters.

A completely unnecessary move, of course. He was in no hurry to leave. As long as he was going to be forced to stay, there was no point in not learning everything he could about this suspicious building and people. Obi-Wan was well aware of the three blasters pointed at him, but he faked on an expression of disdain and pity onto his face as they led him into a circular chamber.

The only furniture in the room was a single chair, and it was facing a fireplace, turned away from Obi-Wan. There clearly was someone in the chair. Obi-Wan could feel his or her presence. He was also certain that whoever was sitting in the chair was a Force user, a powerful Force user; his or her presence was glowing in the Force like few Jedi's ever did. However, the presence sent shivers running down Obi-Wan's spine. He wasn't sure why, but he was pretty sure that the person in the chair was nothing like the Jedi. Which was rather obvious, as "good" people didn't make their living by abducting others. On the other hand, Obi-Wan felt as if he should know this presence. It felt somehow very familiar, but the exact references eluded him for the moment.

The two security guards, as Obi-Wan had thought, were here, standing against the wall on either side of the fireplace, in a strict military stance; but there was a smugness about their faces that made Obi-Wan want to spit at them.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," the man in the chair said softly. He didn't turn around. Obi-Wan suddenly had an image of dark eyes thrown into a sharp scarlet relief by the fire. Another shiver ran down Obi-Wan's spine. A deep chill settled in his bones. He watched in trepidation as the man finally stood up from the chair to face Obi-Wan.

The only thing Obi-Wan saw was the brown robes that the other was wearing.

 

NOOOOO! How are you leaving us here? PLEASE! You evil little thing... Meh! More soon, right?

 

Yikes yikes yikes.... Post! Please you must post again! Ummmm, I know you just posted all these wonderful posts but... well ...umm all they did is whet my desire for more. Please?!

 

That was . . . that was . . . fantastic! I must have more!

<--- me on not being able to read more.

 

Wild_Huntress : Yep. I'm evil.

Jedi_Umm : Hmm ... three posts simply 'wet your desire'? Well, no matter, you're going to get at least one more post tonight.

obaona : Why, thank you. No need to cry any longer, I'll be posting as soon as I finish editing it.

If I finish editing before Mom calls me for dinner, I'l post it. Else, you'll get a post after dinner.

Aunecah

 

Well, here it is!

. . . .


Qui-Gon was furious (just as Obi-Wan had predicted he would be). Even though he was pretty sure that Obi-Wan was disobeying his orders and wandering around somewhere, Qui-Gon checked the 'fresher, just to be sure. ~What part about 'stay in the room' does the boy not understand?~ Qui-Gon asked himself as he stormed out of the room. ~Where could he possibly be?~

The annoyed Jedi Master quickly made his way down the corridor. As he waited for the elevator, he scanned the building through the Force, searching for Obi-Wan's presence, remembering how eerily similar this was to last night. On the other hand, unlike last night, Qui-Gon couldn't sense Obi-Wan's presence anywhere in the building.

That meant Obi-Wan was outside the embassy. Qui-Gon growled under his breath as the elevator came to a halt on this floor, and the door opened with a ping . When the Jedi Council had told him about this mission, Mace warned him to keep an eye on Obi-Wan at all times. Riva was definitely no place for young, wandering souls, and Obi-Wan had a disastrous habit of finding himself wandering.

Qui-Gon sighed again as he entered the elevator and hit the button beside the appropriate floor. He had considered leaving Obi-Wan back at the Temple, but the Force took that very night to bless him with dreams of a depressed Obi-Wan turning to the Darkside. The Jedi Master had been rattled, and, just in case the dreams happened to be visions, had decided that he would be able to concentrate on the negotiations much better if he didn't have to wonder about whether Obi-Wan was still a Jedi or not.

Besides, Master Yoda had insisted that Qui-Gon take Obi-Wan with him to Riva. When Qui-Gon had asked him why, the little, green master had only gave him a small smile. Then, he left. That was a lot like Master Yoda: wise and powerful in the Force, he often knew much more than he let on. If Yoda told someone to do (or not do) something, then there usually was a good reason behind it--a reason that almost always didn't reveal itself until it was too late.

Whatever the Force or Master Yoda preached, Qui-Gon fervently wished that he had left Obi-Wan back at the Temple. He had gone through innumerable peculiarities to arrive at where he was today, babysat many Initiates, Apprentices, and sometimes even non-Jedi youngsters. He even had had another apprentice before Obi-Wan: Xanatos, a boy that Qui-Gon had trained since he had been seven.

But never had the Jedi Master in his long life known a hyperactive seventeen-year-old who loved to play hide-and-seek with his master. This wasn't Obi-Wan's only abnormality, either, but this happened to be the one that vexed Qui-Gon the most.

The elevator shuddered to a halt on the ground floor, and Qui-Gon stepped out of it. He nearly made it to the door, and out into the streets under the golden sun. But?

"Master Jedi!" somebody shouted from behind him. Qui-Gon shook his head slightly, seeing clearly that the Force wasn't too happy about him going out to find Obi-Wan. He turned around to find the ambassador of the government jogging toward him.

"Yes, Ambassador Niag?" Qui-Gon asked politely, striving to keep the impatience out of his voice and face.

"I'm afraid we have a situation in the Assembly Hall," Niag said. His face was sweaty, as if he had been running for a long time. The fear and resignation in his eyes had an indelible sway on Qui-Gon, who instantly forgot about Obi-Wan.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"The A'Ksha's tribal chief was found dead in the 'fresher. Ten minutes ago."

 

Another cliffy, and not a single answer when it comes to Obi? You are SO mean. So, by the way, is Qui-Gon. [face_mad] He should care about Obi more than about some stupid ambassador... but that's just IMO.

Great post.

 

yikes <gulp>

 

I am loving this!!!!!!!!!!!!