Before - Legends Qui-Gon Jinn Challenge Thread - Note on first post

This is a little dark, something I've been pondering for a bit, and strange for me to write now, since I'm working on something else funny. Writing is strange.


Title: Like the Force
Author: ardavenport
Timeframe: young Qui-Gon
Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn, Dooku
Genre: drabble, Qui-Gon first kill challenge
Keywords: Force, killing, death
Summary: first kill for young Qui-Gon


Like the Force


Jedi do not shield their younglings from death.

First, it is impossible. Life is everywhere, and so death.

Like the Force, binding, penetrating all.

Jedi do, however, shield their younglings from killing.

Qui-Gon sat, staring at the feet of the body leftover.

First an assassin?s malice...became a flash of panic, desperation...SAVE ME!...indistinguishable from an innocent crying for help at the end...struggling...gone.

The lightsaber cut can not be taken back. The hilt is still warm in his hands.

Dooku, first annoyed, then understanding, waits for his young Padawan to accept and let go his first encounter with killing.

 

This was great, ardavenport. I especially loved the body leftover and the fact that the hilt was still warm in his hands. The fact that you left this so short just adds to the chilling effect.

Bravo.

 

That was a great entry, ardavenport. Sorry I took so long to comment, though. I had to dig up the thread.

The following happens in my AU Universe of 'Epistles To a Master.' And DeCrion - the name, belongs to oe.

********

Message No: kjgf6677
Date: 453.80.240
Sender: DeCrion, Xanatos, [Affiliation: Jedi Order, Status: Knight]
Receiver: Jinn, Qui-Gon, [Affiliation: Jedi Order, Status: T.B.D.]
Subject: What are you?

Master,

Amidst trifling concerns of your health, mine, young Obi-Wan?s, royal quarrels, bleeding ambassadors, charming women, insane Council Members and the generally mundane affairs of the Senate, one question - and only one - continues to torment me. What, what, what does the acronym TBD mean, when it appears in reference to your status? Kindly note the letters in my message, above if my questions do not quite address itself to your now-swiftly-declining intelligence. What does it mean? That Big Dolt? Thing-Bing-Ding?

Or could it be..? Could they have...? Could it possibly be... To Be Destroyed?

My poor Master. To think that you have gained the status of a relic, that must be swiftly exterminated in public. It isn't that I do not approve of the idea, but I would much prefer it if it weren't advertised in quite so public a fashion.

In mourning,
Xanatos DeCrion.

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

Message No:2154njghb88
Date: 453.80.241
Sender: Jinn, Qui-Gon [Affiliation: Jedi Order, Current Status: Council Member]
Receiver: DeCrion, Xanatos [Affiliation: Jedi Order, Status: Knight]
Subject: Your Harried Message and My Current Status

My dear padawan,

Allow me to congratulate you on your well-being. Such sarcasm can only indicate that you have regained your customary superb health. Allow me also to deplore your manners, for none but an insolent brat might approve of exterminating his Master. For which I must shoulder the blame in part - but I shall do so later, when I have little else to occupy me, and can mourn the lack of your manners.

T.B.D. does not mean any of the things you (hopefully) mentioned. It means, to be exact, To Be Determined - which was the system?s way of acknowledging my superior status (Even that insensible thing, you will note, was intelligent enough to quote my status as one that had to be determined, and not something that had to be destroyed.)

No, my former padawan. I am now, as you will note in this message - a Council Member. of the exalted Jedi Order.

While I will admit that their decision to admit me into their ranks took me by surprise, it did not overpower me (as you will be) - you know that I am bound to the Living Force, and that a sense of balance must be achieved within the Unifying Force, for the Order to strengthen, as a whole. A wise decision and one that met with unanimous approval.

I will not, however, do any of the following:

1. Allow polygamous Jedi
2. Allow Jedi to reproduce in such quantities that the galaxy is overrun by Force-Sensitive (or otherwise) younglings
3. Allow extended recreational or relaxational activities, involving sandy beaches, neglected cliff-sides, or other pleasant regions
4. Allow unlimited use of alcoholic beverages within the Temple
5. Destroy the various prickly bushes you have had the misfortune to fall into.
6. Allow misuse of excessive wealth, even if a Jedi is a scion of one of the wealthiest families in the richest planet in the galaxy.

My tenure is bound to be of extreme benefit to the Order, you see.

Qui-Gon Jinn,
Council Member,
Jedi Order.

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

Message No: hkghjb6745574
Date: 453.80.242
Sender: DeCrion, Xanatos, [Affiliation: Jedi Order, Status: Knight]
Receiver: Jinn, Qui-Gon, [Affiliation: Jedi Order, Status: Council Member]
Subject: Gah

I hereby resign from my position as Jedi Knight in the Jedi Order, Principal Head-Quarters, Coruscant. Any attempt to contact me will be met with severe resistance and will be rebuffed. Said contact will h

 

That was adorable. I love the banter between the two. Such affection and trust that they could say those things and know that the other doesn't mean it. TBD - LOL, love that Xan thought it meant to be destroyed. And Qui-Gon giving back as good as he got.

Reminds me just how much I miss that story!

Great job.

 

My tenure is bound to be of extreme benefit to the Order, you see.


I could picture him saying that perfectly. Oh you're so clever, P_A, the banter was just hilarious.

What, what, what does the acronym TBD mean, when it appears in reference to your status? Kindly note the letters in my message, above if my questions do not quite address itself to your now-swiftly-declining intelligence. What does it mean? That Big Dolt? Thing-Bing-Ding?

Or could it be..? Could they have...? Could it possibly be... To Be Destroyed?


'That Big Dolt' was my favorite. They can be so incredibly wicked to one another, but there's always this underlying respect and affection. Wonderful, of course.

 

You write Xan as not-dark-but-still-obnoxious so well. It's wonderful that Qui-Gon has to deal with a too-smart former pupil. But now it looks like former-pain-in-the-neck-padawan is leaving his old master because he's on the council! Oh, they must be brought back together. Perhaps little Obi-Wan can heal the rift.

 

I'm gone for the weekend and this is what happens? I miss a post!

Great to see Xanatatoes taking his Master so seriously.

Is this a precursor or postscript to Epistles?

 

lol - great job PA!

ardavenport - wow- short, but powerful...well done!

 

So I saw the "Kill Jinn" in the title of the discussion thread and got myself back into the thread right quick. And there were so many who were so traumatized at the idea of a Kill Jinn challenge that I created this little piece for them to read as an epilog to each story... I was told to post it here. And we all know I always do as I'm told, right? I've tweaked it a bit from the version in the discussion thread to make it more comforting. Or less, 'not so comforting after all' or something. If the general consensus is that the other version was better let me know and I'll change it back to the other version.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist and twisted another into his hair to absorb as much of the moisture as he could. His padawan would want the shower soon, so he opened the door preparatory to leaving and found himself face to face with an Obi-Wan who couldn't be paler if the vampire moths of Endor had feasted on him for a year.

"Good Morning." He waited, but no response was forthcoming. "Are you alright, Obi-Wan?"

"You were dead!"

"Nope, don't think so. I'm sure I'd remember."

"No, really, you died."

The stress in his padawan's voice convinced Qui-Gon that something was wrong. "I'm real. I'm here. See?" He held out his hands. Obi-Wan grabbed them and held tight a moment before the color started to return to his face.

"It was just a dream? It was all just a dream?"

"Yes, Padawan. Dreams pass in time. Return your attention to the moment and the echo of the dream will leave you soon."

"When?" Obi-Wan's voice was still shaken.

"I cannot say for certain. But I do know our shuttle leaves in an hour. You need to get ready." With a squeeze to the young man's shoulder Qui-Gon left him in the hallway and went to dress for their next mission.

 

That was wonderful, K_D!

 

Thanks KD. Loved the Dallas shower dream nod!

 

KILL Jinn! Our latest challenge. He can be any age, any genre. But he has to die in the story. Not a dream or a mistake or a clone double - the actual Qui-Gon Jinn! Buys the farm, kicks the bucket, flys off to Valhalla, rides the big bantha to the ranch in the sky. Going, going, gone! Starts May 1.

 

You evil, terrible women, making me think of this when I should be sewing. Or breaking Qui-Gon's nose or having him save Obi-Wan or hiding out in a hotel room or any of those other starving bunnies I have.

Based on the assumption that it is May 1 somewhere on planet Earth and I won't be back on the boards until tomorrow night, my entry into this fiendish plot is here, What Are You Smiling About?.

And I like the security blanket of the Dallas-like out for Qui-Gon, K_D! We can celebrate that with some verse.



Not Dead Yet Jinn

Qui-Gon Jinn is dead!
No, he's just in the shower.
All hail the towel!

 

I suppose we could do a lost towel challenge to make up for all the times Qui-Gon gets to die? Weeeeeelllll, that might be a bit silly. I'm sure we'll find some way to make up for that death thing somehow.

 

Lost towel plot bunnies are my speciality.

 

I come in here all prepared to read 'Kill Jinn' fics and what do i get but images of a towel-less Jedi thrown at me!

Not that I'm complaining...

KD- Loved the dallas spoof! lol...

 

Hmph. Well, I killed him. But I'm not planning on doing it again for a long time. I settle for breaking his nose next.

 

I'm working on one but it's coming along slowly. RL has been very real lately...

 

Okay, here's mine.



Title: Lost Soul
Author: VaderLVR64
Notes: Written for the Kill Jinn Challenge.



Lost Soul



I truly did not mean to do it.

I know, I know, everyone says that when something like this happens. No one comes out and admits, ?Yes, I meant to do that, I wanted to kill him.? Such an admission is too brutal for most of us, too honestly cruel. I am also aware that my ability or willingness to tell the truth is somewhat suspect. This I accept as well.

I am outside the ?brotherhood? of the Order now. I am no longer one of them, and so they find it easy to doubt my sincerity. I knew the moment I walked away from the Order and all of its meaningless rituals and rules that I was leaving behind the only life I had ever known for something that could be both wondrous and terrifying. And so it has proven to be, both living up and down to my expectations. Life is a complicated mixture of joy and sorrow, giving and taking, life and?death. Death is the ultimate goal of living, after all, isn?t it? One cannot die unless one has lived; the journey alone is ours to command, not the destination.

So there we were, two friends turned enemies, Master and Padawan become strangers. The bond between us hung lifeless and darkened, nothing sparking to life between two minds that had once worked as one, anticipating the thoughts of the other. Brotherhood had turned to enmity, affection to indifference. I could not even care enough to hate him, not after all this time. I had made my peace with my past, with his betrayal and all that entailed.

Though, in my more honest moments, I admit that our betrayal was a mutual one, each of giving up on the other, walking away when we should have confronted, being silent when we should have spoken, giving up when we should have worked to heal the breach between us no matter what it took. I had turned my back on him as much as he had done to me, though I think my youth alone should perhaps excuse my rash behavior to some degree. He was older and should have been wiser.

No matter now, he is dead and I am the one who stilled his beating heart and stole the breath from his lungs. I was the one who held him as those blue eyes lost awareness and the spark that had been Qui-Gon Jinn flickered and faded from his body. I felt his soul push past me, soaring into the mystery that waits beyond. I held his body as it tensed in pain and denial and then slackened in acceptance and death, even as it cooled, the warmth seeping away from it as surely as the life had done so.

It was an easy death, as such things go. I suppose he had been glad to see me, though I am sure the shock of our unexpected meeting had us both reeling for a moment. Maybe he thought he could make me see The Light. I always heard it in those terms when he spoke of it, his voice made it clear that it was an entity in and of itself. There was The Force and there was The Light. Qui-Gon served both, but he lived for The Light. He wanted to bring me back into that warm fold, I think. Perhaps he had never given up on me, never really accepted that I could stay away forever. In that, he would be proven both right and wrong, as our ending illustrates so vividly. But even he had not expected our reunion to happen then?there.

We had become so accustomed to being apart that we no longer even unconsciously searched for the other in the Force, as I know I did in the early days of our estrangement and I am sure he did as well. I would find myself reaching out for him, seeking his comforting and familiar presence in the Force because it had been with me for so long, a part of me. That was the hardest thing about walking away from the Jedi?from him. He was my Master, and perhaps I loved him, the bond between us forging a bridge between our hearts.

Staring at each other after so much time, all the old memories came to roaring life. I remembered his big hands wrapped around mine as I struggled with the lightsaber, that legendary weapon

 

Awwww MamaVader that was so sad!!

 

Is it too late to post a hair viggie? Or are all challenges on-going?

 

I think most of them are ongoing. Have fun!

 

Title: Work Smarter
Author: Ara-gon
Characters: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan
Summary: The duo returns from a mission, and Qui-Gon finds an unconventional way to teach another important lesson.
Notes: For the hair challenge (Yep. I?m a slow writer.)
Disclaimer: I know the Star Wars world isn?t mine, but I?m immensely grateful to Lucas for sharing it with us. No money has or will exchange hands over this piece of fluff.
Personal word: Concrit welcome if it's with a sincere desire to help me become a better writer. PMs preferred.

Work Smarter

Tap-click-tap-click-tap-clack

The sound of Qui-Gon?s cracked boot heel echoed down the halls of the Temple, attracting more attention than Obi-Wan cared to receive. A sigh escaped in Obi-Wan?s exhale. A brief turn of his master?s head revealed a raised eyebrow and an ever-so-slight upturn of his lips. Quickly, the obedient padawan schooled his expression back to bland normality.

While it was true that the return of the team to the Temple usually resulted in a fair amount of curiosity, and often, no small amount of activity on the part of the healers, this homecoming was different. Not only were both Master and Padawan healthy and uninjured, they were practically unrecognizable as Jedi, or indeed, humans. Jedi were accustomed to the occasional return of a disheveled colleague, but Obi-Wan was aware that they were drawing the notice of even the most stoic Jedi they met. Qui-Gon, as usual, was unaffected by the whispers that followed them. Nothing was vibrating through their training bond, other than exhaustion and a sense of relief to be back in the Temple.

Amazement caused Obi-Wan to scrutinize his Master. All that was available was a view of Qui-Gon?s back, but the story told in those spare lines was eloquent. Of course, there was the noisy matter of the boot heel, drawing the eye to the feet. Even beneath the tattered edges of the master?s robe, Obi-Wan could see that the boots were muddy, abnormally scuffed, and practically torn through on the left heel. And the robe itself was in a sorry state. He knew that the sheer numbers of tears made repair impracticable.

Obi-Wan?s eyes narrowed to sharpen his vision. What was that in Qui-Gon?s robe, hidden among the variety of stains? Oh, it was those infernal thorns that seemed almost sentient in their ability to work their way into the most resistant fabric. His eyes swept up to his master?s hair. The normally neat locks were a mass of tangles, sticking out at odd angles. The tie that traditionally held back a portion of hair had long-since disappeared in the jungle world?s muck and overgrowth. Nights of sleeping on the ground showed in the swirl of mats around a patch of white scalp. Clumps of mud and bits of leaves were entwined with all the tenacity of the jungle vines they had encountered.

Obi-Wan knew his own hair was only slightly less disheveled, made so by its shorter length. His padawan braid was stiff from the sap of some native tree. The tail in back was badly matted, and something crumbly fell from his hair if he touched it. As it was, a shower and change of clothes sounded positively celestial.

. . .


Standing before the mirror, Obi-Wan struggled to maintain the composure he knew all Jedi should possess. But who knew that hair could be so?so frustrating? In the course of the shower, his thin braid had revealed a surprising number of tangles. As he attempted to unravel them, a most Sith-like thought entered his mind. If he was having this much trouble with a short tail and a padawan braid, how must his master be faring with that thick mop of shoulder-length hair? He grinned at his reflection.

Surely, this was what would convince Qui-Gon to adopt a more conventional hairstyle. The Council objected to the length, which was enough for Obi-Wan, but not for his master. Other masters had attempted to use logic with Qui-Gon, reasoning that long hair was at best, a nuisance and at worst a liability in hand-to-hand conflict. Qui-Gon thanked them f