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tamingthemuse2012-09-27 08:48 pm
47thlight.livejournal.com) wrote in tamingthemuse2012-09-27 08:48 pm
Entry tags:
Prompt 323 All Soul's Day - "Calm Before the Storm" - Star Wars
Title: Calm Before the Storm
Fandom: Star Wars (prequel-ish)
Character(s): Obi Wan Kenobi & Qui Gon Jinn
Genre(s): Friendship & Drama
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,671
Summary: Warned by a nightmare of what's to come, Obi Wan must accept something he doesn't want to face
Notes: Heavily inspired by the Jedi Apprentice book series, and by an episode of "The Clone Wars" in which a certain menacing man makes his return. Hmmm! lol And yeah, I put in a tiny bit of fanservicefor myself for the fans. ^_^;;
Calm Before the Storm
His vision was tinted red. Blood in his eyes, perhaps?
He blinked, trying to will away the strange discoloration of the world around him, but it remained, clouding his thoughts in a strange haze.
He felt himself take a deep breath, but shuddered doing so. Was he afraid?
He put his hand over his heart, steadying the frantic pulse beat beyond his human walls. The rapid pace was causing extra strain on him as he breathed again painfully, as if having stopped from a dead sprint.
His hands were sweating. Nervous?
He waved them absently, shaking off the jitters in an effort to focus on what his eyes couldn’t quite make out.
Then a blur caught his attention, ribbons of green twirling swiftly against the redness shrouding his vision. He moved his hands to touch the emerald light, but was pushed back by an electrical like shock. He didn’t feel the pain, only the unbearable curiosity now as to why he couldn’t clearly see what was before him.
A humming sound then processed into his senses, opening his mind a little more. The green glow continued to dance before him, gliding over crimson smoothly, but erratically. Colors, sounds and sensations… why couldn’t he piece all of it together?
“Who are you?” he asked dumbly into the scarlet scene.
“Stay where you are! Don’t interfere!”
Now a voice had penetrated him, stirring a hidden emotion in the depths of his soul. But the passion didn’t quite surface, leaving him again toiling with what he did and didn’t know. Still, the voice brought familiarity along with guilt.
“I won’t interfere,” he said in reply to the voice he couldn’t identify. “But tell me you who are and what’s going on.”
“There’s no time! You’ve got to get away!”
Time? Get away? But why?
“Go now!!”
The breath quickened. His heart began to feel pain. His eyes were no longer shrouded by red, but by tears.
A scream came from his chest and filled the scene, resonating and permeating his ears over and over. He tried to push again against the redness barring his path, but his struggles were in vain the harder her tried. Then, the redness evaporated and instead black stole crimson before his eyes caught the glimpse of what had caused him to cry out only moments before.
He awoke in a cold sweat, his arms pushing him up automatically from his bed to stare at the shadowy room he was in. The same rapid pace of breathing was in his chest until he forced himself to calm down, hand over his heart, the sensation of skin on and skin making the present more real than the illusion.
When his gaze turned towards the window to see the familiar twinkling of the Coruscantian city, a silhouette was seated beside it. “First nightmare in some time, I suppose,” the ghostly man said to the one who had just awakened from what one could only call Hell.
Obi Wan wiped his brow free of the sweat and swung his legs over the side of the bed to throw his evening robe on. He had forgotten how cold it was at night on this planet, the chilly air creating goose flesh on his already sensitive skin.
“First nightmare since I was your student, from those days in the brain washing camp.” He replied, turning to face the ghost watching over him. “I thought those days were long behind me, Master? Why would they come back?”
The ghost shook his head. “No, that was not a nightmare brought on by your youth, but from your confrontation with evil itself.”
Obi Wan looked surprised, but at the same time curious. “The Sith? Maul was an intense adversary, yes, but not my first encounter with the Dark Side. I’d fought against many servants of the Dark Side of the Force before him.”
“But he was the one that took what was most dear to you at the time. Your attachment to me…” the ghost advised, a knowing finger rising to point to the culprit – himself. “Don’t think of it as a sign of weakness, Obi Wan, but rather a warning. The Sith and those that subject themselves to the Dark Side are each capable of invoking negative emotion in their victims. Seeing as how I’m already dead, he can’t harm me directly. You on the other hand…”
Obi Wan became visibly tense, his mouth open slightly with disdain and despair. His attachment to the man who was like a father to him had brought on this nightmare? What more could that mean, if anything at all?
“What would he seek to gain from bringing about a haunting nightmare or two?” Obi Wan asked, taking up his lightsaber to inspect out of reflex.
“As I said, to warn you.”
Obi Wan shook his head and set the lightsaber back down on the bedside table. “It doesn’t make sense. What could he warn me of? That you’ll die again? That he’ll come back and try to kill me?”
The ghost looked out the window, as if ignoring his former student’s questions, but the younger male persisted. “I killed him, Master. There was no way he could have survived.”
Steady crystalline eyes turned back and were gazed straight through to the wall, just like he wasn’t there. But he was, and he felt that was why this was happening.
“Darkness feeds on the anger in one’s soul, but in your case, it’s living off of the residual sadness you’ve kept since my death. You can’t go on feeling sorry for me, Obi Wan. I can’t do you any more good.”
Obi Wan shook his head defiantly. “No. No, I left my grief behind years ago – on Naboo. I gave you up to the Force that day. I gave you up!”
An eyebrow rose up when the opposing voice did the same. “So you say, but that reaction tells me otherwise.” Obi Wan swallowed away his next remark, then turned away to recollect his thoughts. His master then chuckled and went on. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s rather flattering to know you care so much about me and my afterlife, but holding onto me in such a way is only bringing you a greater danger than what you’ve already faced.”
Trying to mask his anger with a layer of placidity he’d acquired in training, Obi Wan turned back to face the transparent man. “In what way?”
“It would seem that our mutual friend is living off of the sorrow in your heart, as I so said, and he’s fed off of that for the past several years. Now he’s strong enough to not only invoke nightmarish hallucinations for those he chooses, but he’s on the move. You have to prepare yourself and your young padawan.”
Obi Wan’s sarcasm returned and he folded his arms. “Prepare for a dead man, Master?”
The ghost gave a familiar chuckle, sardonically humoring his pupil’s remark. “It’s too late to stop him now, but you’ve got to protect Anakin, too, from this experience.”
“How?”
His master smiled warmly. “By letting my spirit truly pass over from this life. I can’t protect you anymore, and I’m deeply sorry that my mere presence in the Force has brought this upon you.”
Obi Wan sensed his heart break like it did that day he cradled this wonderful man in his arms. All his life, this man had been his universe – the one thing that kept things in balance for him. Knowledge shared, skills passed on… jokes exchanged. This couldn’t be the end.
He shook his head again. “You said so yourself that it’s too late to stop the inevitable. There’s no point in telling you to leave forever when you can stay and I can just kill him for the final time.” Obi Wan threw the robe from his shoulders, moving to find the clean tunic he had folded on the dresser across the room. Before he had even unfolded it, however, his master’s voice commanded him to a stop.
“Did you not suffer in that nightmare, Obi Wan? Have you learned nothing of patience?”
The tone in his voice radiated through Obi Wan’s body like a violent tremor, stirring shame and humility. Bowing his head reflexively, he replied, “Forgive me, Master. I didn’t mean to sound like I was casting your suggestion aside. I only meant to convey that I don’t think it’s necessary to commit your soul to oblivion when I can stop the threat before it truly starts.”
“It’s already begun, though. What you need to do now is confront him again, but before you do, spare the mind of your own padawan before he is thrown into chaos.”
Obi Wan hadn’t considered that. Anakin was a delicate piece of work, especially since his mother’s death, and hearing that his father figure’s ghost was the entity disturbing the natural flow of the Force… it would shatter an already fragile balance between passion and bravado.
Then the nightmare’s imagery returned and flashed in his memory, bringing his hand up to cradle his head before tears came rushing back. “For Anakin… I’ll let you go.”
“With tears in your eyes again?” the master said, a smirk tugging his lips upwards, mindful of his apprentice’s feelings. “You’re a strong young man, Obi Wan, don’t ever doubt that. The Force will give you even more strength to combat this recurring evil, I promise. I only wish I could be there with you.”
“You… you can…” Obi Wan said hopefully, chuckling just the same. Smiles exchanged between them and a sense of understanding solidifying the connection between student and master, he gave a final farewell to his father in spirit. “Be one with time, Qui Gon. Thank you again for what you’ve done to protect me.”
His spirit fading into the cityscape, the elder man replied in kind. “I look forward to the day when we meet again, General Kenobi. Be strong and be safe until then.”
Fandom: Star Wars (prequel-ish)
Character(s): Obi Wan Kenobi & Qui Gon Jinn
Genre(s): Friendship & Drama
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,671
Summary: Warned by a nightmare of what's to come, Obi Wan must accept something he doesn't want to face
Notes: Heavily inspired by the Jedi Apprentice book series, and by an episode of "The Clone Wars" in which a certain menacing man makes his return. Hmmm! lol And yeah, I put in a tiny bit of fanservice
His vision was tinted red. Blood in his eyes, perhaps?
He blinked, trying to will away the strange discoloration of the world around him, but it remained, clouding his thoughts in a strange haze.
He felt himself take a deep breath, but shuddered doing so. Was he afraid?
He put his hand over his heart, steadying the frantic pulse beat beyond his human walls. The rapid pace was causing extra strain on him as he breathed again painfully, as if having stopped from a dead sprint.
His hands were sweating. Nervous?
He waved them absently, shaking off the jitters in an effort to focus on what his eyes couldn’t quite make out.
Then a blur caught his attention, ribbons of green twirling swiftly against the redness shrouding his vision. He moved his hands to touch the emerald light, but was pushed back by an electrical like shock. He didn’t feel the pain, only the unbearable curiosity now as to why he couldn’t clearly see what was before him.
A humming sound then processed into his senses, opening his mind a little more. The green glow continued to dance before him, gliding over crimson smoothly, but erratically. Colors, sounds and sensations… why couldn’t he piece all of it together?
“Who are you?” he asked dumbly into the scarlet scene.
“Stay where you are! Don’t interfere!”
Now a voice had penetrated him, stirring a hidden emotion in the depths of his soul. But the passion didn’t quite surface, leaving him again toiling with what he did and didn’t know. Still, the voice brought familiarity along with guilt.
“I won’t interfere,” he said in reply to the voice he couldn’t identify. “But tell me you who are and what’s going on.”
“There’s no time! You’ve got to get away!”
Time? Get away? But why?
“Go now!!”
The breath quickened. His heart began to feel pain. His eyes were no longer shrouded by red, but by tears.
A scream came from his chest and filled the scene, resonating and permeating his ears over and over. He tried to push again against the redness barring his path, but his struggles were in vain the harder her tried. Then, the redness evaporated and instead black stole crimson before his eyes caught the glimpse of what had caused him to cry out only moments before.
He awoke in a cold sweat, his arms pushing him up automatically from his bed to stare at the shadowy room he was in. The same rapid pace of breathing was in his chest until he forced himself to calm down, hand over his heart, the sensation of skin on and skin making the present more real than the illusion.
When his gaze turned towards the window to see the familiar twinkling of the Coruscantian city, a silhouette was seated beside it. “First nightmare in some time, I suppose,” the ghostly man said to the one who had just awakened from what one could only call Hell.
Obi Wan wiped his brow free of the sweat and swung his legs over the side of the bed to throw his evening robe on. He had forgotten how cold it was at night on this planet, the chilly air creating goose flesh on his already sensitive skin.
“First nightmare since I was your student, from those days in the brain washing camp.” He replied, turning to face the ghost watching over him. “I thought those days were long behind me, Master? Why would they come back?”
The ghost shook his head. “No, that was not a nightmare brought on by your youth, but from your confrontation with evil itself.”
Obi Wan looked surprised, but at the same time curious. “The Sith? Maul was an intense adversary, yes, but not my first encounter with the Dark Side. I’d fought against many servants of the Dark Side of the Force before him.”
“But he was the one that took what was most dear to you at the time. Your attachment to me…” the ghost advised, a knowing finger rising to point to the culprit – himself. “Don’t think of it as a sign of weakness, Obi Wan, but rather a warning. The Sith and those that subject themselves to the Dark Side are each capable of invoking negative emotion in their victims. Seeing as how I’m already dead, he can’t harm me directly. You on the other hand…”
Obi Wan became visibly tense, his mouth open slightly with disdain and despair. His attachment to the man who was like a father to him had brought on this nightmare? What more could that mean, if anything at all?
“What would he seek to gain from bringing about a haunting nightmare or two?” Obi Wan asked, taking up his lightsaber to inspect out of reflex.
“As I said, to warn you.”
Obi Wan shook his head and set the lightsaber back down on the bedside table. “It doesn’t make sense. What could he warn me of? That you’ll die again? That he’ll come back and try to kill me?”
The ghost looked out the window, as if ignoring his former student’s questions, but the younger male persisted. “I killed him, Master. There was no way he could have survived.”
Steady crystalline eyes turned back and were gazed straight through to the wall, just like he wasn’t there. But he was, and he felt that was why this was happening.
“Darkness feeds on the anger in one’s soul, but in your case, it’s living off of the residual sadness you’ve kept since my death. You can’t go on feeling sorry for me, Obi Wan. I can’t do you any more good.”
Obi Wan shook his head defiantly. “No. No, I left my grief behind years ago – on Naboo. I gave you up to the Force that day. I gave you up!”
An eyebrow rose up when the opposing voice did the same. “So you say, but that reaction tells me otherwise.” Obi Wan swallowed away his next remark, then turned away to recollect his thoughts. His master then chuckled and went on. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s rather flattering to know you care so much about me and my afterlife, but holding onto me in such a way is only bringing you a greater danger than what you’ve already faced.”
Trying to mask his anger with a layer of placidity he’d acquired in training, Obi Wan turned back to face the transparent man. “In what way?”
“It would seem that our mutual friend is living off of the sorrow in your heart, as I so said, and he’s fed off of that for the past several years. Now he’s strong enough to not only invoke nightmarish hallucinations for those he chooses, but he’s on the move. You have to prepare yourself and your young padawan.”
Obi Wan’s sarcasm returned and he folded his arms. “Prepare for a dead man, Master?”
The ghost gave a familiar chuckle, sardonically humoring his pupil’s remark. “It’s too late to stop him now, but you’ve got to protect Anakin, too, from this experience.”
“How?”
His master smiled warmly. “By letting my spirit truly pass over from this life. I can’t protect you anymore, and I’m deeply sorry that my mere presence in the Force has brought this upon you.”
Obi Wan sensed his heart break like it did that day he cradled this wonderful man in his arms. All his life, this man had been his universe – the one thing that kept things in balance for him. Knowledge shared, skills passed on… jokes exchanged. This couldn’t be the end.
He shook his head again. “You said so yourself that it’s too late to stop the inevitable. There’s no point in telling you to leave forever when you can stay and I can just kill him for the final time.” Obi Wan threw the robe from his shoulders, moving to find the clean tunic he had folded on the dresser across the room. Before he had even unfolded it, however, his master’s voice commanded him to a stop.
“Did you not suffer in that nightmare, Obi Wan? Have you learned nothing of patience?”
The tone in his voice radiated through Obi Wan’s body like a violent tremor, stirring shame and humility. Bowing his head reflexively, he replied, “Forgive me, Master. I didn’t mean to sound like I was casting your suggestion aside. I only meant to convey that I don’t think it’s necessary to commit your soul to oblivion when I can stop the threat before it truly starts.”
“It’s already begun, though. What you need to do now is confront him again, but before you do, spare the mind of your own padawan before he is thrown into chaos.”
Obi Wan hadn’t considered that. Anakin was a delicate piece of work, especially since his mother’s death, and hearing that his father figure’s ghost was the entity disturbing the natural flow of the Force… it would shatter an already fragile balance between passion and bravado.
Then the nightmare’s imagery returned and flashed in his memory, bringing his hand up to cradle his head before tears came rushing back. “For Anakin… I’ll let you go.”
“With tears in your eyes again?” the master said, a smirk tugging his lips upwards, mindful of his apprentice’s feelings. “You’re a strong young man, Obi Wan, don’t ever doubt that. The Force will give you even more strength to combat this recurring evil, I promise. I only wish I could be there with you.”
“You… you can…” Obi Wan said hopefully, chuckling just the same. Smiles exchanged between them and a sense of understanding solidifying the connection between student and master, he gave a final farewell to his father in spirit. “Be one with time, Qui Gon. Thank you again for what you’ve done to protect me.”
His spirit fading into the cityscape, the elder man replied in kind. “I look forward to the day when we meet again, General Kenobi. Be strong and be safe until then.”