Laryngitis


by Meiou Setsuna

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

It was six in the morning and Qui-Gon had been awake for awhile. He decided that his apprentice needed to get up as well. He called out, �Padawan, wake-up!�

No answer. Qui-Gon frowned and contacted his apprentice through their Bond. /Obi-Wan, wake-up/

/Master, can you come here, please/ Obi-Wan�s voice was muted a little.

Curious as to why, Qui-Gon did as the boy asked. Obi-Wan was sitting on his bed, already dressed, when his master entered his room. �Obi-Wan, what�s wrong?� Qui-Gon was very concerned. His padawan was usually a chatterbox. He couldn�t get him to be quiet! So when Obi-Wan didn�t say anything, Qui-Gon KNEW something was wrong. Obi-Wan tapped his throat lightly. �Does your throat hurt?�

The apprentice nodded. Then, he whispered, �I can�t talk, Master.�

It was a raspy sound, which almost made Qui-Gon cringe. �Come on, Padawan. Let�s take you to the healers. They�ll tell us what�s exactly wrong.�

The Master Jedi led his apprentice to the Healers� Wing. One of them approached the Master and Apprentice. �Master Jinn, Apprentice Kenobi; May I help you with anything?�

�My padawan needs a check-up.�

�All right. Follow me, Apprentice Kenobi.� The healer led Obi-Wan into an examination room. She ran many tests on Obi-Wan. When she found out what was wrong, she came up to Qui-Gon. �Your apprentice has a mild case of laryngitis.�

Qui-Gon smiled. He would finally have silence. �Thank you. May he leave? We have a meeting with the council.�

�Yes, he can leave. I strongly recommend that Apprentice Kenobi not be allowed to talk for at least three days.�

�Be sure to tell him that,� Qui-Gon said.

The healer nodded and went in the same direction she had come in. Distress slammed into Qui-Gon through the Bond he has with his apprentice. He smiled. The next three days would be interesting. Obi-Wan walked out of the examination room and toward his master.

Qui-Gon patted his padawan on the shoulder. �Come on, Obi-Wan. There�s a meeting with the council that we have to attend.�

/But, Master-/ Obi-Wan began.

�No buts, Obi-Wan. We BOTH are required to attend this meeting,� Qui-Gon interrupted his apprentice�s excuse as he led him into the Council Chamber. When they reached the center of the room, both Jedi bowed.

�Masters,� they chorused, though only Qui-Gon was heard.

�Apprentice Kenobi, speak up. We cannot hear you,� Windu said.

�Yes, Padawan. You should speak up,� Qui-Gon said. After a second and a death glare from Obi-Wan, he added, �Oh, that�s right. You have laryngitis, and you�re not supposed to talk for three days.�

Obi-Wan glared at his smirking master. Mace Windu smiled at hid friend. Qui-Gon was sure making the most of his padawan�s predicament.

�A mission for you we have,� Yoda said.

�A planet, Teroon, needs to be surveyed. It needs to be decided if its people are peaceful or war-like,� clarified Windu.

�A boring surveillance mission? Why couldn�t it be something more exciting?� Obi-Wan half-whined.

/Because, Padawan, the surveillance mission is just as important/

/Master! You were reading my thoughts/

/No. You were just thinking too loud/ Qui-Gon turned to the Council. �We accept, Master.�

Both master and apprentice bowed and exited the room, after receiving a padd on the mission.

/What�s it say, Master/

�It says that it�ll take one day to get there, we are to do twenty-four hours of surveillance, and report back.�

/So, it�ll take three days/

�Yes. Three days.�

EN ROUTE

Qui-Gon had put the ship on autopilot and was in a meditative state. He was just thinking that it would be a quiet flight when�

/So, Master. Do we have a map of the planet?/

/No/

/The council didn�t give us a map? How are we supposed to map the area without a map? On a surveillance mission, we�re supposed to survey the planet and to survey the planet we need strategic locations to survey from but we need a map to locate the towns from and we don�t have a map. We�re on a surveillance mission without a map?/

Each word Obi-Wan �spoke� widdled down Qui-Gon�s patience until�

�Padawan, I need quiet!�

/Yes, Master/ Five minutes passed before Qui-Gon�s peace was interrupted again. /Master�/

/PADAWAN/

Obi-Wan flinched at the level of anger in his master�s voice.

/Sorry/ Obi-Wan decided to not bother Qui-Gon for the rest of the trip.

Before entering the planet�s atmosphere, Qui-Gon (having come out of his meditative state) said, �Obi-Wan, we�re going to enter the planet.�

/Yes, Master/ Obi-Wan sat down next to his master in the navigator�s seat. They began entering procedures and the ship entered the atmosphere. Their craft suddenly veered to one side, which made the ship off-balance.

�Obi-Wan!�

Obi-Wan rubbed the back of his neck. /Now, how did that happen/ He punched a few buttons and the ship leveled out.

Once they landed the ship, Qui-Gon turned to his apprentice. �Padawan, are you all right?�

/I�m fine, Master, aside from the laryngitis. Why do you ask/

�You normally don�t make mistakes like this,� Qui-Gon motioned to the controls.

/My mind was on our mission/

�I have has thoughts about our mission, too.�

/Master, aren�t you surprised? My mind was on the here and now. You�re always teaching me about that/

�Oh.� Both master and apprentice climbed out of their ship and headed out to survey the planet. They walked to a section of trees. �We�ll begin our survey here tomorrow morning. Then, we�ll go to the plains I saw on our decent. The mountain chain would be after that, followed by the cliffs. Going underwater will be last.�

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan headed back to their ship. /Underwater? Do we have to, Master/

�If we want a full survey of the planet, yes. Now, get some sleep.�

/Yes, Master/

Part Two

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