Soulbond Book 5: Innocent (JA) POST!!!! Nov 7/03

Hey all, Here it is Book five in all it's glory. I kinda have to go so I'll post soon guys!

Okay, anyone who is new, the other four books are linked on my bio. This one isn't really connected to the other ones but you should at least read the first two to understand this one.

So as of tomorrow Jan 3rd 2003: The madness begins!

 

Okay so this took a bit longer than expected. Sorry!!

Title: Soulbond Book 5: Innocent
Author: Arwen Jade Kenobi
Genre: Drama, little bit of angst (Obi is 19)
Rating: PG
Summary: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan take a young outcast child to the Jedi Temple as a ward. But, things go downhill from there
Authors Note: The other four books are in my profile, they aren?t really necessary to understand this one. But for the record this takes place three months after book 4

Part 1

Qui-Gon Jinn was not amused in the slightest. He sat, arms crossed across his chest, in the co-pilots seat of the ship that was currently in hyperspace en route to Lerenus. Lerenus had been under Katramian occupation for a year until the war had ended, the people needed help getting back on their feet. Had this been any other day of the year, he wouldn?t have minded so much.

But his Padawan only turned nineteen once.

Qui-Gon had it all planned out weeks in advanced, he had begged the council and pulled in many favours to keep the council off his back on this special day. It had worked all right for the first few hours of the day, all morning actually. But even that was too good last, right in the middle of morning meal, Mace Windu had found them and dragged them before the council.

Shortly thereafter, they had left the Temple and had made the jump to hyperspace. At least this mission was going to be short, this gave him time to plot his revenge on Yoda, Mace and the rest of the Council.

He heard Obi-Wan step out of the fresher and take his seat in the pilot?s chair. His blue/green eyes stared at his Master for a moment before he spoke. ?Don?t worry about it.? he assured Qui-Gon as he broke out a ration pack and handed it to his Master, ?I still have a few other milestones to reach. Like 20...and 30...and 40?

Qui-Gon chuckled as he accepted the rations and Obi-Wan took one out for himself. ?Should you not kill me before then Padawan.?

Obi-Wan smirked. ?I need you alive so I can continue to torment you.? he indicated Qui-Gon?s graying hair. ?I haven?t succeeded in turning you completely gray yet.?

Qui-Gon groaned. ?Don?t worry about that,? he muttered, ?I?m sure my hair will have gone white by the time you reach knighthood.?

The Padawan burst out laughing, Qui-Gon joining in shortly thereafter. ?So,? said Obi-Wan as he struggled to regain his breath. ?What are we supposed to be doing??

?Help relocated orphaned children to Republic families and basically help a relatively small population get back on it?s feet.?


Obi-Wan nodded. ?How small is the population??

Qui-Gon thought a moment. ?About 300 people in this particular village?

Obi-Wan nodded again, but Qui-Gon still sensed some confusion from the young man. He waited for his Padawan to speak, he did.

?Why do they need Jedi to help relocate some kids??

The Jedi Master shrugged. ?I have no idea.? he admitted. ?I can assume that they want us to help out with that aspect while we help get the town back on it?s feet.?

His apprentice seemed to accept this and slouched back in his seat, but Qui-Gon knew Obi-Wan well enough to know when he was still confused. Qui-Gon didn?t bother to explain again, he didn?t see the need for Jedi Social Workers himself.
---------------

 

a really good beginning wingmate hope to see more soon

 

Falcon: Thanks! Probably tonite or tomorrow if I can manage

 

hello

 

A very intriguing beginning. Why are the Jedi needed and how will Qui-Gon get his revenge?! Looking forward to finding out!

 

Very interesting start Arwen!

 

Jenny: Nice to see you

Kitara: Hi!! *waves*

sabe: All we be revealed soon, man i love saying that

Huntress: thanks!
--------------
The child, a young girl, sat alone in a broken down house, far away from the village she was born in. Of course, she didn?t even remember the place, her family had been banished within a week of her birth. It wasn?t so bad, she?s been happy in her exile. Better than she was kept away from others, all she needed was her mother and father.

That was before they had come, entering the village like a poisonous fog ascending upon her world. There were many murderers, even more assimilations, on the third day of the invasion she decided to aid the people who had banished her family.

She closed her eyes as she remembered that day, she had stood in front of the army, shouting her name to the wind. Her name, the two words that held all she ever was and all she ever would be. All she had succeeded in doing was confirming her people?s fears of her.

They?d locked her away, the Katramian had promised to assimilate no more unless she was confined. They had obviously been threatened by her attacks, even though she was a child.

The girl had been released from her exile as soon as the Republic had won the war. She returned to her exile to learn that her parents had been assimilated and were most likely dead. She had shed her tears for them than continued on with her life, there was nothing else for her to do. Months later, she learned that Jedi were coming to the village, the official reason was to help put the planet back on it?s feet and aid with some orphans.

But she knew why they were here.

The people of her village had put up with Sheylandra Nebringa for seven years, they wanted her off planet for good.
-------
Obi-Wan Kenobi rolled his eyes in the back of his head, his senses over loading with a sense of imminent danger. His mind was filled with darkness and death, he saw the Jedi Infirmary, bodies being disconnected from life support machines and sheets being pulled over their corpses. He recognized some: Den Calthorpe, as Arwen Jade sat in a chair crying. A Master he had as an initiate.

And Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan saw him at the other end of the room, still alive but hooked up to every machine known to the galaxy. Obi-Wan moaned and clutched his stomach, his own insides feeling like acid. He fell to his knees, his surroundings blending into each other.

The last thing he saw was a child with flaming red eyes.
------
Obi-Wan?s eyes shot open, his was damp - sweat he realized.

?Are you okay?? asked Qui-Gon with a twinge of worry.

Obi-Wan shook his head and wiped his face on the sleeve of his robe. ?I?m fine,? he assured his Master. ?Just got a bit shaken up.?

The Jedi Master gave the Padawan a look that indicated that he believed that Obi-Wan was far beyond ?shaken up.?

Obi-Wan knew that he was somewhere between disturbed and terrified. Those eyes at the end scared him beyond belief, even more so because they were those of a child. The images didn?t make him feel better either, Den Calthorpe was one of his best friends as well as the Master he had seen there. Master Garnen Meyran had taught him advanced lightsaber technique when he was younger, he still kept contact with him every so often.

But the image of Qui-Gon on life support had been the worst, even more so than the whole vision combined. Obi-Wan had come close to losing Qui-Gon before and had actually lost him once already. Getting Qui-Hon back was pure luck, not something that would happen again, as well as being an experience he didn?t wish to repeat.

?We?re coming up on Lerenus.? he informed his Master as he started landing process. Come on Kenobi, calm down. You don?t know what it means

That bothered him as well.

 

Cliffy.... Ooh Obi having nightmares of a child with red eyes? [face_shocked] And how does that girl in the begining of the post fit into things? Great chap Arwen!

 

WOW! What is going to happen next? Why is Obi-Wan having these dreams and who is the girl?

 

up

 

Huntress and Sabe: You'll see and here is more!
-------------
Qui-Gon decided against pressing his Padawan about what he had seen, Obi-Wan would tell him when he was ready. Qui-Gon was pleased that he had never been plagued by visions, that was reserved for Jedi strong in the Living Force.

Such as Obi-Wan. He?d known that as a young child, Obi-Wan had experienced visions that terrified him and gave h im nightmares for weeks on end. They had slacked off by the time he?d turned eight and received them less frequently after he hit his teenage years. This was only the second one that Obi-Wan had while under Qui-Gon?s tutelage.

He was brought back to the moment by the sensation of the ship making contact with the planet. He followed Obi-Wan as he picked up his travel bag and slung it over his shoulder, hitting the activation for the ramp as he left. When Qui-Gon stepped onto the world, he noted the capital ?city? of Lerenus, Arta, in the distance. A short walk by the looks of things.

?Well,? said Obi-Wan as he surveyed the vast prairies and pulled up his hood to keep the dust out of his eyes. ?Off we go head first into another mission.? he said sarcastically. The Jedi Master knew that his Padawan didn?t consider this a mission.

But he laughed anyway as the started walking.

- - -
As Qui-Gon had figured, Arta was not in need of help in the way that they had been led to believe. All they needed was help with the children, there were twenty-seven orphaned children looking for republic families to take them in.

He sat now, with Obi-Wan, in the office of the President of Lerenus: Artim Chalus. Like all of his people, his skin was death-like white, his close cropped hair was naturally an odd colour (deep green) as well as odd coloured eyes (maroon.)

Qui-Gon had heard of Artim before, he was a gifted leader with a great sense of patriotism for his world, making sure that the Leren people were completely independent.

Which made it extremely odd for Leren?s President to be requesting aid from the Republic he had been fighting off for over half his life.

?We have many orphaned young ones who need families.? Artim was saying, delivering the dialogue like a rehearsed speech. ?There are no other families on the planet who can take them, we ask for some Republic families to take them in for us.?

The whole situation seemed reasonable, but something wasn?t right. Qui-Gon could sense it, Artim was definitely hiding something. He glanced at Obi-Wan, who had remained silent during the entire proceeding, he gave a sidelong glance to his Master and nodded.

//Something isn?t right.//

 

ooooh excellent start arwen, keep it coming! nice cliffys.

 

The plot thickens! I wonder what Artim is hiding? It must be something important if he has turned to the Republic for help. Hopefully we will learn more in the next instalment

 

up

 

Hmmm.... Why do I have a bad feeling about this mission? I get the impression this isn't gonna be easy for Obi and Qui.....

....Is anything?

 

kylie: thanks!

Sabe: you'll see

Huntress: hmm.. i won't say anything to confirm or deny those feelings
--------------
Qui-Gon nodded in return. Making sure that Artim?s attention had changed to the view of the barren Leren prairies. //Yoda is definitely hearing from me when we get back// He made a slashing gesture at his throat. Obi-Wan?s face only showed a slight smile, but the Soulbond and Force bond betrayed the amusement he felt.

Artim turned back to his Jedi guests, a slight look of worry on his face. As if there was something he had to say but didn?t know how to put it into words. Qui-Gon sat there, calm but urging the man to get on with it.

The old man sighed. ?There is one child,? he said in a way that sounded like a confession. ?A girl of seven years. I was hoping that the Jedi could take her in as a ward of some kind.?
Qui-Gon was expecting some political favour, like asking to Senate to pretend that Lerenus had done this all on it?s own. But asking this particular favour was just...odd. The Jedi Order was not social services.

Qui-Gon cleared his throat. ?President Chalus,? he said slowly and carefully. ?With all due respect we cannot just take children to the Temple. It?s not fair to the other young ones, she shouldn?t be treated as a special case.?

?What is so special about her anyway?? asked Obi-Wan, breaking his silence.

The President sighed deeply. ?No one wants to take her,? he said in a begging tone. ?And she has these...abilities. We have no way of midichlorian testing, so if you could please speak with her...? he trailed off.

Qui-Gon exchanged a glance with his Padawan, Obi-Wan shrugged.

//I don?t see a problem with talking to her// he offered.

Qui-Gon nodded and said the statement that Artim wanted to hear, he warned that this was not a yes to taking her with them to Courscant.

Though Artim still seemed quite relieved.

 

Shamelessly upping don't mind me

 

Somehow I missed a few posts. Looking interesting, if not a bit creepy

 

Yoda is definitely hearing from me when we get back - LOL!

I get the feeling that the President isn't listening and will expect them to take the child with them when they leave.

This gets more and more mysterious!

 

This needs to go up!

 

And again!

 

OKay, my comp is being a major pain right now. I'll try for a post tonight!

 

Argh, missed a post. I like this. Something weird about the little girl. It actually kinda reminded me of Ani, how Qui ends up picking up another stray. Or, maybe that's just me. Great post. Need more.