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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

FREEZE FRAMES - Vignettes of life in the Jedi Temple - UPDATED 11/19/03 Obi-centric, cradle to purge

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction Stories--Classic JC Board (Reply-Only)' started by CYNICAL21, Aug 25, 2002.

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  1. obi_ew

    obi_ew Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2002
    :D Here here ! I agree with Shanobi! Love these and can't wait for more! [face_love]
     
  2. jedi-jenn

    jedi-jenn Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Wonderful, more please!! [face_love]

    You're right, sweet isn't usually your ambiance, but I enjoyed it nevertheless :) Dark, sweet, tragic, whatever, if you write it I'll read it!
     
  3. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    *** *** *** *** *** ***



    OK ? moving right along, as they say. Obi?s still just a wee bairn ? but things are not quite so bright and rosy. The Jedi, after all, are hardly a social club ? and all is not, of necessity, sweetness and light. Discipline is more than just something one uses on a recalcitrant pet; it?s a way of life ? and it demands much ? sometimes more than can be borne.

    Does it sound like we?re straying into shadow here? :eek:

    Good guess.

    Time to renew the disclaimer, I suppose. All that is recognizably StarWarsian is the property of the Mighty Lucas, and the only rewards I earn here are those of ego strokes and frozen Cokes ? other than that ? Nada!

    Note that italics indicate thought ? bold italics indicate Force speech!


    Sub-Title: The Slowing Dance

    Is that dance slowing in the mind of man
    That made him think the universe could hum?

    ----Theodore Roethke, The Dance

    Arizalyn Muillo was a pre-adolescent Firrerreo ? and Obi-Wan Kenobi ? aged 5 cycles and 8 months ? considered her the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. With good cause. Riz ? she was, by custom and Jedi decree, never addressed otherwise ? had long, silky hair, dark burgundy streaked with pale silver and saffron yellow, huge eyes of lilac, shaded to mauve; soft skin, vaguely opalescent, a small, rose-tinted mouth, and a sculpted face, with dramatic bone structure. In addition, she had a soft, lilting voice ? and moved with uncommon grace.

    All of which made her exceptionally attractive to any number of sentient beings around the Jedi Temple ? but had nothing to do with the reason young Kenobi thought her so beautiful.

    Despite having prodigious Force sensitivity, Obi-Wan was basically a typical five-year-old, and very pragmatic in his approach to life and judgment. Riz was intensely beautiful ? because she was his champion, his comrade in arms, and ? above all ? his protector. Although he didn?t much like having to admit that he needed one. Still, when one?s back was to the wall and one was running out of options, it didn?t make sense to reject any assistance that was offered. Especially when the assistance in question was invariably effective.

    Obi-Wan was a spritely, effusive, enthusiastic child with extraordinary Force abilities and a manner that, occasionally, bordered on the belligerant. Riz often chided him gently for starting fights that his body simply could not complete, for the simple truth was ? Obi-Wan was small. Obi-Wan was very small ? much smaller than most of his agemates, and it was not exactly a blessing that what he lacked in stature, he more than made up for with sheer bravado.

    Which meant that he earned a lot of black eyes and bloody noses ? except when Riz was around. For everyone in the crèche ? and its environs ? knew that, if you wanted to get to the copper-haired brat, you first had to get around the Firrerreo ? or, at least, make sure that she was nowhere around when you began your attack.

    Of course, there was no way she could always be around; she was a Jedi initiate, in the final year of her novitiate, and, of necessity, she was frequently away from the crèche, despite performing many of her duties as assistant to Creche Master Lao. Still, there were many aspects to Jedi training, and she was not always available for defensive duty. Those were the times when the tiny initiate had no choice but to take his lumps.

    It wasn?t that he wasn?t well-liked among his crèche mates; on the contrary, he was very popular. The problem was that he could never leave well enough alone ? or stay out of confrontations that really shouldn?t have involved him. Obi-Wan ? much like Riz ? was a chronic defender, with a passion for justice. Unlike Riz, however, he lacked the physical prowess ? or brute strength ? to back up his contentious nature. Thus, when the boy stepped in to defend others who were more frightened or more helpless or more intimidated than himself, more often than not, he simply took the beating that
     
  4. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    Just a quick thanks for all the kind words - and for bearing with this radical departure from my usual style.

    This is proving to be more of a challenge than I anticipated - and more fun, as well.

    Need to reload a bit - and think through my next approach - to broaden my horizons a bit, perhaps.

    Later, All.

    CYN
     
  5. naw ibo

    naw ibo Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 1999
    CYNICAL, looks like you may have the makings of another classic on your hands here. :)
     
  6. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    Merci, Naw. Looks like we share more than a fondness for a certain Jedi. Night owl, are you? Like me?

    CYN
     
  7. naw ibo

    naw ibo Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 1999
    Oh of course, this is nothing. :) I should be up at least another hour and a half yet. LOL!
     
  8. Jovieve

    Jovieve Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2002
    Jeez, what time is it where you guys live?

    I know Naw never sleeps.
     
  9. naw ibo

    naw ibo Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 1999
    Where I live, right now, it's 1:22 AM :) But I am going to bed soon. Really!
     
  10. LadyDamia

    LadyDamia Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    May 27, 2002
    As ever - brilliant Cyn. I'm looking forward to more stories centering on the actual training of a Jedi - as per my everlasting enthusiasm. I'm sure you'll turn out to be as eloquent on that subject as on all else...

    By the way - I wish someone could enlighten me; I don't know where else to ask this so I'll just slot it in here...Since I don't 'do' EU I have no idea: what did supposedly happen to those intiates or padawans who failed to become knights? And also - are Jedi healers knights who 'specialize' in healing and in that case, do they take padawans as well? Or are they some of the 'failed' prospective knights?
     
  11. Sabe126

    Sabe126 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 2002
    That was so sad and amazing. Poor poor Riz. What a choice to make. And poor Obi-Wan and the other children when they find out.

    Loved the humourous touches, the stuffed wookie, Bant's bed having the best springs and the spider patrol. :)

    Am going on holiday for a week but will catch up with life at the temple when I get back.

    Sabe126
     
  12. shanobi

    shanobi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2001
    So sad that Riz felt she had to do that, rather than find another place within the order :(

    I loved the part where Ciara sneaked into Obi's bed, and that Garen is terrified of spiders :)

    The life of a jedi seems to be a hard one from the moment they enter the creche--to a lesser degree of course, than it is later in life.

    Wonderful post CYN.
     
  13. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    You're right - it IS a hard life. Qui-Gon is very clear on that subject in TPM - even if he doesn't elaborate very much. Yet, even though he says it - and we see some of Obi-Wan's trauma in the film - there is little in either TPM or AotC that demonstrates just what he meant - and there's not even a heck of a lot in fan fiction. You can always read Jude Watson, of course (if you can fight down the waves of nausea that her writing generates) but it still provides only bare bones. We are told that all initiates worry and twist in the wind while waiting to be chosen as padawans - but it is never really explained what happens to those NOT chosen - or how they feel about the Jedi and the course through life that is determined for them. I hope to be able to explore those feelings - even if very briefly. I mean - just think about it; if you spend your entire life preparing for the pinnacle of achievement that is knighthood, and, in the end, you are denied on an entirely subjective basis - because someone else deems you unworthy - how would you cope with it? Personally, I think I'd be looking to take a lightsaber to the selfish bastard that denied my dream - which is why I would NOT make a good Jedi!!

    Maybe the best glimpse of how hard it is to be a padawan occurs in the Darth Maul book (Somebody shoot me because I've forgotten the author's name) in which the bravery and dedication of a young female padawan goes through the ultimate test. Although we are often reminded of how dangerous the training is, it is usually in a very generic way; it is much more real - and much more memorable - when it becomes personalized.

    Maybe I can achieve a bit of that in all this. I hope so.

    Thanks for the kind words, All. I'm now dividing my time between these vignettes - and a tentative first draft of Songs. More soon, I hope.

    CYN
     
  14. Darth_Tim

    Darth_Tim Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2002
    You can always read Jude Watson, of course (if you can fight down the waves of nausea that her writing generates) but it still provides only bare bones. We are told that all initiates worry and twist in the wind while waiting to be chosen as padawans - but it is never really explained what happens to those NOT chosen - or how they feel about the Jedi and the course through life that is determined for them. I hope to be able to explore those feelings - even if very briefly. I mean - just think about it; if you spend your entire life preparing for the pinnacle of achievement that is knighthood, and, in the end, you are denied on an entirely subjective basis - because someone else deems you unworthy - how would you cope with it? Personally, I think I'd be looking to take a lightsaber to the selfish bastard that denied my dream - which is why I would NOT make a good Jedi!! >>

    Interesting, Cyn, because I can't help but wonder at what kind of resentment from other padawans/initiates Anakin must have triggered, given his means of induction into the Jedi.

    -Tim
     
  15. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    Tim - Interesting, Cyn, because I can't help but wonder at what kind of resentment from other padawans/initiates Anakin must have triggered, given his means of induction into the Jedi.

    Is there really any question of what their reaction would be? If we've learned nothing else in our long perusal of what it is to be Jedi, surely we should understand that they are just as plagued by the weaknesses of the flesh and the psyche as the rest of us; they just learn to suppress them better when they get older. (And, yes, I know they don't phrase it that way - but "Release your emotions into the Force" sounds remarkably like "Chill out" to me.)

    I mean, if it were you or me who had dedicated out entire lives - almost from birth - to achieving this very nebulous goal - only to have some Johnny-come-lately rush in and assume the role of Messiah - well, how would you feel? While there may be some kindly souls within the Order, with sufficient generosity to accept his arrival philosophically - I don't think I'd be one of them.

    Could this be a factor in his eventual slide to the Darkness? Almost certainly, I'd think - and it would be a facet of his life that Obi-Wan would have little sway over. It's even likely, I think, that the other initiates and padawans would resent Anakin, on Obi-Wan's behalf - believing (possibly correctly) that Anakin's training had been forced on the young knight, with neither his willing desire or consent - hardly a fitting reward (from the perspective of the young members of the Order) for the only living Sith-killer.

    Anyway - I digress. Hopefully, I'll address some of that as I travel this path.

    Later, All.

    CYN
     
  16. Darth_Tim

    Darth_Tim Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2002
    I mean, if it were you or me who had dedicated out entire lives - almost from birth - to achieving this very nebulous goal - only to have some Johnny-come-lately rush in and assume the role of Messiah - well, how would you feel? While there may be some kindly souls within the Order, with sufficient generosity to accept his arrival philosophically - I don't think I'd be one of them. >>

    I agree, and also Anakin's sheer talent and abilities, as well as his arrogance, probably didn't help him very much either. I know both of us can't stand Rogue Planet but IIRC he was portrayed as keeping to himself and constantly tinkering with droids and such...


    <<Anyway - I digress. Hopefully, I'll address some of that as I travel this path. >>

    That's cool. It's one of those things I wish I could have touched on myself but that my story didn't really allow, save for a few references here and there. I'll be looking forward to it.

    -Tim
     
  17. obi_ew

    obi_ew Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2002
    :eek: :_| Thanks for running my emotions through a gauntlet! :p
     
  18. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    Damia - didn't mean to ignore your questions. Hopefully, I'll provide some answers in this thread.

    Re: healers. This is, I believe, a separate- but equal - branch of the Jedi, and they do, indeed, take on apprentices - but they are NOT actually Jedi knights when they are trained. Rather they are Jedi healers - unless I'm mistaken.

    Anyone who wants to put in their 2 cents here is entirely welcome, in case my take on this is wrong.

    CYN

    OH, BTW - working on a post with NO Obi. Can you believe it? :D
     
  19. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    * * * * * * * * *


    Next up ? a bit of Qui-Gon, with (Gasp!) not an Obi in sight. A bit of introspection ? a bit of memory ? a bit of misery.

    Sounds like fun, hmmm? [face_mischief]

    In this segment, italics represent memory and/or dream sequences, as well as thoughts.


    Sub-Title: A Continuing Silence



    He tried to remember when it was that he had stopped loving Coruscant, with its incredible wealth of life signs, its endless display of arts and culture and entrepreneurial enthusiasm ? even its rampant commercialism and economic upheavals and sometimes bloody turf wars. At one time, he had been fond of it all ? but that fondness had simply deserted him somewhere along the way. Probably, he conceded, at the same time when he had stopped thinking of the Jedi Temple as his home.

    It wasn?t as if something else had moved in to supplant either the planet or the great edifice.

    He no longer loved much of anything ? and he no longer had a home.

    He had the Force ? and his precious connection to it ? and he was determined that it would be enough to sustain him for the remainder of his life.

    He was, after all, a Jedi, and, with very few exceptions, the life expectancy of members of the knighthood was decidedly brief.

    He sat on the balcony outside his living quarters and sipped listlessly at a glass of very pedestrian red wine that he had unearthed from a cabinet ? probably a parting gift from some diplomatic associate on some long-forgotten mission. He remembered that he had once taken some pride in his ability to recall all of his missions, usually in great detail, but that ability had also gone the way of all flesh ? and he cared as little about that as about most other things these days.

    Sunsets on Coruscant were always a setting for great spectacle, and he watched now in bemused silence as the day plunged toward extinction.

    He generally avoided these sunsets; they were entirely too fraught with memories.

    The sun settled toward twilight over the planet Krish was a bright, acid green, radiating intense lime-gold light that set off an explosion of brilliant saffron and jade and bitter orange as it sank toward the horizon. The jungle grew still, and the silence around him seemed heavier as the quality of the light thickened somehow, almost receding from his touch.

    Padawan Jinn chided himself for being entirely too imaginative; the light was the light. It was NOT shrinking away from him ? and wouldn?t his elegant and dignified Master be amused at his apprentice?s flights of fancy if he deigned to notice them? Amused ? but still basically disappointed in the teen-ager?s inability to maintain his focus and his serenity.

    There was nothing here for the boy to fear; he KNEW that; KNEW that his Master would not have put him in harm?s way. Would most certainly not have abandoned him here, in this strange place, where the Force seemed almost twisted ? almost perverted, where the Padawan?s connection to the great energy field had become tenuous and uncertain.

    No. His Master was nearby ? undoubtedly deep in meditation, waiting for his apprentice to calm himself sufficiently to locate the Master?s Force signature and make his way out of the heavy jungle growth.

    Master Dooku?s entire aura was one of tranquility and deep connection to the Force; he should be as easy to find as a nova in a starless void.

    But something ? something that was somehow not quite in the moment, but rather on the cusp of time suspended ? seemed to be interfering with his ability to trace his Master.

    Much to his bitter embarrassment, he realized that he had been traveling in circles when he stumbled across a broken section of tiled paving that he remembered seeing earlier.

    And now it was growing dark ? but it was a strange darkness, threaded with pale sparks of the same greenish luminescence that seemed to stream from the setting sun.

    Qui-Gon sighed, and decided that he would need to find his center, to reset himself, before proceeding. He dropped to his knees ? and tried to re
     
  20. obi_ew

    obi_ew Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2002
    :( No Obi! Ah well! Hum,and everyone thinks Xan has issues! :p

    Wonder where Qui's two Padawan's got theirs from! :D
     
  21. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    Wow! This is turning into another lovely story, Cyn. Great writing as always! :D Is this sort of a lead in to AUF? It seems like it could be. Good luck with the next part! Don't keep us waiting too long! Great posts, absolutely love little Obi! ;)
     
  22. shanobi

    shanobi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2001
    What an interesting and disturbing look into Qui's apprenticeship with Dooku :eek: You are doing such a good job laying the groundwork for how you so often portray Qui-Gon.

    This is the deeper look into the characters that will never be seen onscreen or in the authorized books. There is so much history behind the characters, that GL just doesn't take the time to explore--i'm so glad someone does. It may not be canon or how GL would have done it--but it's good enough for me :)

    Thanks for the deeper look CYN.
     
  23. CYNICAL21

    CYNICAL21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2001
    OE, Obilegolas, & Shan - I'm delighted that you all seem to be enjoying this - and I'm surprising myself with how much I'm enjoying writing it. I didn't really start out to write an episodic story, each link tied to the one before - but it seems to be working out that way, to some degree.

    I find I'm getting more and more intrigued with Dooku and the shattering of the bond between QG and Xan (OE that might be YOUR fault - :D ) - and will probably explore that a bit more as we go on. I'm not sure this is really prepping for AUF - but it could be, for AUF - until the somewhat ambiguous ending - is not unremittingly AU at all. So it could still be canon - although I'll probably step on some Jude Watson toes before we're done. Also considering working in Master Ramal and Mirilent S. along the way. Still lots and lots of scenarios to explore.

    And still eager to entertain suggestions - so bring them on.

    CYN
     
  24. Cascadia

    Cascadia Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 15, 2002
    Lovely posts, CYN. All original and intriguing in your own unique style.
    I'm looking forward to more.
     
  25. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    Ah come on it'll be easy to work in Master Ramal and Mirilent S. into canon. Jude Watson never really focuses on anyone but Qui so you can say that these two were hiding in the shadows. Plus you already added Ciara.....she has to get her master sometime! :p

    But yeah, boy is Qui's relationship with Dooku scary. eeps. I wouldn't want a master like that Doofus. ;) Really can't wait to see more!
     
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