Hidden5

Title: One Apprentice, One Pathway #2: Hidden (Part Five)
Author: Ginger Ninja

*****

Qui-Gon and Lena followed the Vices' to the Combined Military Hanger. In an astoundingly short space of time, the three Vice Rulers, or Yashan at least, had thrown together an attack plan that was a little too rushed and very careless in both Jedi Master's opinions. Basically, the Sectioned Army would go aboard a Misfit ship, search for their Rulers and then if they found the Rulers, the ship and all onboard would be destroyed. Anyone thought to be withholding information on ships that weren't carrying the Ruler's would also suffer.

To Qui-Gon and Lena, it was just a thoughtless excuse to vent pent up emotion on innocent people. At least, that's how Yashan's opinion came across. Shirai and Frea seemed only to want to get their Section Ruler back. If only they would stand up against Yashan. That way bloodshed would be prevented.

And of course, they were worried that their Padawan's would be caught in the crossfire-something neither Jedi wanted to have to deal with.

As they waited for the three Vices' to brief the soldiers, Qui-Gon and Lena attempted to contact their apprentices. Both were met with a void. Both knew that time grew shorter as the hours wore on.

When the Vices' emerged from the briefing room, they explained that the Jedi would be accompanying them on their speeder.

"Perhaps you'd be willing to give us some pointers here and there," Yashan said as the speeder took them to the nearest harbour. "After all, it is the Misfits who have your apprentices'."

"We will serve justice where we feel necessary," Qui-Gon replied. "We will not kill innocents."

"I will not allow anyone to escape from me! There is no such thing as an innocent Misfit," Yashan sneered. "If not for them, our planet would be clean."

"Is that how you see the Misfits Yashan?" Frea asked. "As unclean beings that have no right to live when in truth they are only guilty of life? Don't you think that they deserve a chance too? Or are you and your section afraid of them? Perhaps you are afraid of the other Sections as well."

Yashan said nothing; his livid expression said it all.

"There is no time to argue now," Lena said quietly but firmly. "We have a mission to accomplish."

"Exactly," Yashan said smugly, thinking he had a Jedi on his side.

"We will not harm anyone unnecessarily. We'll accomplish little by doing that and by doing so you could spark off something you are not prepared to deal with," Lena added, setting Yashan right on a few things.

"Hmph, women!" Yashan muttered. "You are all the same! Weak and full of nice little dreams of fluffy things like global peace. You make me sick! Men on the other hand know what we must do."

"Then take it from me," Qui-Gon said, his disgust at Yashan completely disguised by the coolness in his voice. "By attacking the Misfits needlessly you may start a war."

Yashan said nothing. He merely glared at Qui-Gon, who gazed back serenely.

A soldier spoke up from the front of the speeder. "Sir we are about to arrive at the harbour."

"Thank you soldier," Yashan said.

Without speaking, Qui-Gon warned Lena. //Remember we are here for our Padawans, not to get involved in a civil war.//

Lena gave a slight nod. //Indeed. Kyrana's safety comes above all else.//

//As does Obi-Wan's.//

*****

When consciousness returned to Obi-Wan the first thing he was aware of was pain. His entire body throbbed and ached from the pounding he had taken from the guards earlier. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself in a cabin much like the one he had awoken in when he had met the Section Rulers. This time though, there were no rulers. But what about Kyrana?

"Kyrana?" Obi-Wan's voice was hoarse.

"I'm here." The girl's voice was quiet. "A...are you OK n...now?"

Obi-Wan slowly levered himself in to a sitting position. He was surprised that Kyrana didn't rush over and help him as he sat up and leaned on one wall. Looking around the room, he saw her huddled in the corner opposite him, head resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around herself. Her hair and clothes were looking messy but she didn't look as though she too had been beaten. But there was something wrong with her nonetheless.   There was a lack of something in her eyes. The sparkle was gone, replaced by a dimness that Obi-Wan did not like the look of.

"Looks like they beat you up pretty bad," the girl mumbled, her eyes not meeting his.

Obi-Wan slowly moved his aching head to look at himself. His clothes were ripped and bloodstained. He didn't recall how many of them had happened. His memories of the beating were a little hazy.

"Are you OK Kyrana?" Obi-Wan asked the girl. "What happened?"

Kyrana's bottom lip quivered and a few stray tears trickled down her face. "Please," she whispered, her eyes finally meeting Obi-Wan's. "Don't...don't make me talk about it."

Obi-Wan wished he knew how to comfort her as she broke down into sobs. He went over to her on hands and knees because he knew his legs were still a little too wobbly to support him just yet. Obi-Wan rested his hand on her arm but she flinched and slapped it away. "Don't touch me!" she cried out and then buried her face into her arms.

Obi-Wan withdrew his hand and sat back a little. What had happened to leave her like this? "I won't hurt you," he said with gentle reassurance. "I promise."

"I know that Obi-Wan," came the muffled reply. "It's just..."

But before Kyrana could finish, the door to their cabin slammed open, and the Captain stood in the doorframe.

"Listen," he said, his voice uncharacteristically fearful. "You've got to get off my ship. There's an army coming for the Section Leaders but you've got to go too. I..."

But before he had a chance to finish what he was saying, there was the sound of a blaster. The Captain cried out only once before his tentacles refused to carry him and he crashed to the floor. Looking up, Obi-Wan and Kyrana saw the same hooded figure from before.

"My dear Captain you talk far too much," Hood sneered. He turned to the two young Jedi. "I trust you are feeling better? I must admit you took quite a beating back there Obi-Wan. I had to forcibly pull them away!"

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. How did Hood know his name?

Hood walked over to them and stroked Kyrana's face with one bony hand. She shoved him away. "Leave me alone you pervert!" she screamed.

Hood slapped her round the face. Then he pulled out his blaster and aimed it at Obi-Wan. "Watch your mouth little girl," he hissed. "Or else your friend here gets it."

Kyrana remained silent. "That's better," Hood said but didn't move his blaster.

Obi-Wan's eyes fell on the Captain. Amazingly, he was still alive. Kyrana had noticed too. Hood's voice brought their attention back to him. "The question is, which one of you two to take with me?" He tapped a finger on his chin. "Hmm, well, I guess there's no competition really."

Hood grabbed Obi-Wan, ignoring the boy's hissings of pain. He levelled his baster at Kyrana and backed away. "One wrong move from you boy," he informed Obi-Wan. "And dear, sweet Kyrana will be joining the Captain. I really don't like women. Their almost as useless as Misfits." Turning back to Kyrana Hood said, "And you dear girl. If you try anything, there's a group of guards who I'm sure would love to be in your company once again."

Obi-Wan saw the fearful look in Kyrana's eyes as they met his. Both knew what had to be done. Obi-Wan appeared to reluctantly be lead out by Hood. When they reached the door, Obi-Wan head butted Hood and then rammed his elbow into his abdomen. But Hood simply laughed the pathetic escape attempt off. He threw Obi-Wan out into the hallway, and aimed his blaster at Kyrana. There was one shot and then�nothing. Hood locked the room again, hauled Obi-Wan to his feet and dragged the stunned boy away from the cabin.

*****

"NO!"

Qui-Gon looked away from the carnage of several destroyed Misfit and Sectioned ships and faced Lena. "What is it?" he asked her, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

Lena turned to Qui-Gon, tears already spilling down her face. "Kyrana..." she whispered heartbrokenly. "My girl...she's..."

Qui-Gon gave her his full apologies. Deep inside him, he felt a sort of relief yet it came with guilt. He was relieved it wasn't Obi-Wan who had gone but he felt so wrong for thinking such a thing.

Lena excused herself and Qui-Gon went to find Yashan. The Vice Ruler was plotting the next stage of his attack when Qui-Gon strode into the room. Yashan was talking about the unforeseen issue of armed Misfit ships. They had taken down a few Sectioned ships already. Qui-Gon cleared his throat and with a little help from the Force, he got everyone's attention away from the biased Vice.

"Yes, what is it Master Jedi?" Yashan asked, his voice showing his annoyance of being disturbed.

"I am asking you one last time to stop this needless destruction," Qui-Gon said, his voice deadly calm. "My companion and I have reason to believe that because of this war you have started a young Jedi has lost her life."

"My deepest condolences for your loss," Yashan said his tone bordering on sarcastic. "However the loss of one girl's life can not be compared to the loss of the three most important lives on this planet."

Qui-Gon had to call on all of his Jedi training to keep his expression neutral. "I assure you, if you continue this battle, many more than that will be lost."

And with that, Qui-Gon left in order to find Lena.

*****

At first all she could do was slow her breathing to a more regular rate and calm her racing heart that was trying to force its way out of her chest. Then, she slowly began to move out from under the dead weight that pressed against her. Kyrana lowered the Captain's body to the deck and then she backed away.

"Why?" she asked the dying Captain. "Why did you take the shot for me?"

The Captain coughed. "No�sense�wasting the�life of a�Jedi."

"But�but if you thought that then why did you do all those things to Obi-Wan and I?" Kyrana asked, moving slightly closer to the fallen Elmvaninan.

"That...man had a control...over me. He said...if I dared to oppose him...he would kill us all..." The Captain coughed and grey blood seeped out of his nostrils.

"Who is he?"

The Captain hacked and coughed a few times through his nostrils before gasping, "Moeren, one of the Section Rulers. He lied to me. He�said that if I...worked for him...he would give me�whatever I wanted. Instead...???he's just taken...everything...from me."

A thousand questions burned through Kyrana's mind but one took precedence over the others. "Do you know how to get rid of whatever it is stopping me from using the Force?"

"In...my pocket. Injection will destroy the chip in your body...only two left...use it...save...yourself and your friend...escape."

"But what about the children?"

"They...have nowhere else...to go."

Kyrana felt a tear trail down her cheek. All this time, she had wanted to save these children, take them somewhere, anywhere, else but what the Captain said was true. There was nowhere for them to go other than another ship. Shifting her gaze back to the Captain, she was about to thank him when she realised it was too late. He was gone.

Turning away, Kyrana looked at the syringes in her hand. One for her, one for Obi-Wan. As she injected herself, she felt lost. What could she do? Even when she had the Force back with her, she didn't know if she would be able to control it like she used to. She had changed so much since then. She didn't know if she was still...good enough to be a Jedi.

But Obi-Wan was as he always had been.

And as the Force returned to her, Kyrana's purpose did too. Even if it was the last thing she ever did as a Jedi, she knew she had to save Obi-Wan.

*****

Obi-Wan didn't struggle as Moeren, who had long since removed his hood and revealed his true identity, pulled him onto the chilly deck. The Misfits were all missing but Obi-Wan could see Suo and Tonir standing in front of guards a little further up the deck. They were being led onto another boat. On the horizon, Obi-Wan saw not only an incoming storm, but also many plumes of smoke rising.

"That, my young Jedi, is the beginning of the end for the Misfits," Moeren said, noticing the young Jedi's distant gaze. "No more ships, no more filth, just the Sections. Only I will rule the Sections myself, my way."

"And what is your way?" Obi-Wan asked, trying to sound genuinely interested and not just sarcastic.

"Elmvanis is for us only. No more Misfits and no more Jedi," Moeren sneered. "I don't want anyone else who is unworthy stumbling onto MY planet."

"Was it you then who had shields orbiting the planet?" Obi-Wan asked. "To keep outsiders out and everyone else in?"

"What do you think?" Moeren retorted.

"But if that's the case, how is it that you brought us onto your planet? And how do you know so much about the rest of the galaxy?" Obi-Wan asked, stalling for time in a desperate attempt to come up with an escape plan. 'If only I could use the Force...'

"As I told your Master Jinn, Elmvanis is a spectator, not a participant. We don't mingle with the likes of you but we like to know about you," Moeren replied. "I only let you on because I was curious. I even had your Master fooled into thinking it was a band of Misfits who captured you."

Obi-Wan felt hope rise within him as Moeren spoke. Had his Master not died after all? Was he safe?

"I told your Master this quite a while ago boy," Moeren continued. "Just before I killed him."

And just like that, Obi-Wan's hope was crushed. Tears threatened to fall but Obi-Wan held them back. He could cry as much as he wanted later. First he had to get out of this mess.

"Lord Moeren!"

Obi-Wan turned to see a guard running toward them from the passageway they had just left. The guard was yelling something but there was a sudden ripple in the air and he went flying overboard.

"What?!" Moeren cried, outraged. He grabbed Obi-Wan by the neck, cutting off the boy's air supply. "How did you do that?"

"He didn't."

Both Moeren and Obi-Wan turned to find see the person who had spoken. To Obi-Wan's joy and relief it was Kyrana.

"Let him go," she ordered, her voice deadpan.

"What will you do about it if I don't, you filthy..."

Kyrana didn't give Moeren a chance to finish. Using the Force, she summoned his blaster to her hand and shot him cleanly through the head with perfect accuracy. Obi-Wan fell with Moeren and when he hit the deck, he began to gasp in great gulps of air. Kyrana dropped the blaster, her face a mask of shame, guilt and disgust. Jedi didn't use blasters. This was, to Kyrana anyway, a sign that she no longer was what she once was.

Obi-Wan backed up to Kyrana. "Thanks," he said breathlessly. "I owe you my life."

"Your welcome," she said, her voice still lifeless. She handed him a syringe. "Take this. You'll be able to use the Force again."

Obi-Wan did so and within a few seconds, he felt the Force rushing into him. The first thing he did was search for his Master. He knew Qui-Gon wasn't dead.

//Master!//

//Obi-Wan?//

//Yes it's me. Where are you?//

//Obi-Wan are you OK? What happened to Kyrana? Is she really dead?//

//I'm fine Master, just some bruises and scrapes, nothing to worry about. No, Kyrana's not dead but she's not right either.//

//What happened to her? Master Lena is beside herself.//

//I don't know Master, she won't tell me. She seems so...lifeless. She just killed Moeren. I believe you know him.//

//Hmm, I'll tell Lena. So it was Moeren behind all this. I was beginning to suspect him.   Padawan, are you still aboard a ship?//

//Yes but I couldn't tell you which one. It hasn't been attacked yet though but I can see at least five ships on the horizon, all of which are on fire.//

//Master Lena and I are there now. We will be with you shortly. Hold on my Padawan.//

Obi-Wan turned to Kyrana. "It's all going to be all right now Kyrana," he told the girl.

"Yeah," she said absently.

The Misfits suddenly poured out of different doorways. "Abandon ship!" many of them were yelling. "The Sectioned are coming! We've got to go!"

From above, there came the sound of engines. Looking up, Obi-Wan saw it was too late.

The Sectioned were here.

*****

"But she's alive?"

Lena looked at Qui-Gon in relief and disbelief. Her beloved Padawan was alive, yet she couldn't feel her. Even if she was alive, something was very wrong with the teenage girl.

"Yes, Obi-Wan assured me she was but he says she's acting odd. He thinks something happened to her," Qui-Gon said, not even bothering to sugar coat in the slightest. "He also told me she shot Moeren. She killed him."

"She's never killed before. Kyrana's such a gentle girl. We'll have much to talk about and she will need time to heal. The sooner we get to them the better," Lena said quietly, her voice holding unmistakable concern.

Shirai and Frea approached. "We have a small speed boat ready," Shirai informed the Jedi. "And we have the co-ordinates of the ship you asked for. But with all the fighting that's going on, it'll take you a few hours to get there at least."

"Well, it'll have to do," Lena said. "Come, let's go. We can't waste anymore time."

The two female Vice's lead the Jedi to the craft. After they were told how to control the small boat, the Jedi rushed off in search of their Padawan's.

*****

Obi-Wan fought hand to hand with many Sectioned soldiers but he was steadily getting whipped even more than he already had been. He knew his handto hand skills were nowhere near as good as his lightsaber skills but what with his earlier injuries and the fact that Kyrana wasn't helping, he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"Kyrana!" he yelled but she either didn't hear or chose to ignore him.

Kyrana was making sure everyone got aboard the life rafts. When she met up once again with Hany, the little child gave her a tight hug.

"Take care Hany," Kyrana said, patting the child's shoulder.

"You too! But, shouldn't you be helping your boyfriend?" Hany asked, sucking her finger as usual.

"I...I can't anymore. And he's not my boyfriend."

Hany frowned. "But he is a boy and he is your friend so you gotta help! He needs you! Look!"

Kyrana saw Obi-Wan struggling to hold his own against a tall Sectioned soldier. Her mind told her to stay, that she wasn't the person she once was, that she was dirty and unworthy of being a Jedi but her heart told her otherwise. Hearing him cry out again, she could no longer do nothing. Giving Hany one last pat, she took off and ran over to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan heard a sickening crack and was certain he had just broken at least one rib. He collapsed to the deck, unable to defend himself. He curled up in a ball, to prevent any other hits reaching their target.

The soldier who had been beating him cried out suddenly and fell to the deck. Looking up, Obi-Wan saw Kyrana deliver a vicious roundhouse to another soldier and watched as she somersaulted over another guard and punched him in the face until he too fell. A guard grabbed her from behind but she somehow managed to flip him over her head. He landed on his feet, somehow, but Kyrana was already back flipping, both her feet catching the guard in the face. He landed in a pile of tentacles on the deck.

Making sure there were no other guards within the vicinity, Kyrana kneeled by Obi-Wan. "Are you OK?" she asked, only slightly breathless.

Obi-Wan managed a nod.

"Can you stand?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't know. I'll try. Wait, do or do not, there is no try, right?" Obi-Wan gave a small smile. "I can stand."

"That saying really gets on my nerves sometimes," Kyrana muttered as she helped Obi-Wan stand.

Hissing in pain, Obi-Wan managed to stand in a sort of humpback fashion. Kyrana supported him slightly as they started for the life rafts, her body tense. She still didn't like the idea of physical contact.

When they reached the life raft, they discovered that not only was it full, but it was the last one. Hany and Jaren were on board. Both waved at the two Jedi to join them. They even tried to make room for them. Obi-Wan gave the pair a smile. "We can't come on board OK?" he told the two children. "Be careful."

Hany and Jaren shoved their way over to Obi-Wan. "Thanks Obi-Wan," they both said as they gently hugged the teen. They both gave Kyrana a hug too. Jaren climbed back on board to his seat but Hany whispered to Obi-Wan, "Y'know you're the first boy I ever met and I really like you! But I think that Kyrana's your girlfriend."

And with that Hany jumped back on board and the boat cast off. Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile as he watched Hany and Jaren wave madly making the boat wobble dangerously.

"Now what do we do?" Kyrana asked as the ship rocked back and forth violently as the Sectioned Soldiers began to destroy it and rain began to fall from the darkening sky.

"I guess we just have to wait until our Master's get here," Obi-Wan replied. "Hopefully the boat won't have sunk by then."

"We'd better hide then," Kyrana said and began to lead Obi-Wan away from the edge.

There was a ripple in the Force and Obi-Wan turned his head to see a pair of soldiers level their blasters at them. Kyrana felt the disturbance too and she dropped Obi-Wan to the deck as the blasters were fired.

Obi-Wan watched in horror as Kyrana took a blast to the shoulder. She fell to the deck and didn't move again. The soldier then aimed at Obi-Wan, preparing to shoot.

"Wait!" the other soldier said. "This one's already pretty beat up. Let's just dump 'em overboard and get on with what we're supposed to be doing."

The other soldier agreed and then hoisted Obi-Wan up. The other soldier took the semi conscious Kyrana. The young Jedi were carried back to wherethe last life raft had been. Then the soldiers threw the pair into the raging sea below.

***End Part Five***