| Title: Silent Nights Author: Ginger Ninja Rating: R Disclaimer: Obi, Qui and all other recognisable characters belong to that George Lucas dude. All others belong to me!! A/N: Just a quick warning to everyone. This story might later rated 'R' because it is a horror... Just be careful everyone! I don't want to cause any nightmares! Thanks to my close friends and reviewers of my other fics. This is for you guys! //Denotes conversations over a bond!// /Thoughts/ ~ are freaky voices in Obi's head ~ . ***** ***Part One*** It was late and most of the residents in the Jedi Temple were asleep. Only those who had important missions to prepare for and those on duty at the infirmary were awake. The night was calm and peaceful. Initiates smiled contentedly in their sleep, Padawans rested after long days of training and Masters dreamt of the pride they held in their apprentices. Tranquil silence reigned and no one was troubled. But all that was about to change. It started as a small mild prickling at the back of everyone's mind. Sleeping Jedi's faces twitched in response to the feeling. Then the feeling crashed over the senses of each and every person in the Temple, from the youngest initiate to the oldest Master. Sleep was gone and the peaceful silence was filled with tenseness. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn sat upright in bed, his heart pounding. Something was wrong. Such a dark surge in the Force could not bring any good news. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Qui-Gon slipped into an uneasy meditation in search of an answer, knowing sleep would be impossible. ***** Ten-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi was surrounded by Darkness. There was nothing but the Darkness that was devouring everything around it. The usually white walls of the Jedi Temple decayed in front of his eyes and became a rusted brown colour with blood splattered over them in random places. All around him he could hear the screams of terror of the other Jedi and the evil laugh of something far more deadly than even the brightest imagination could conjure up. His footsteps clanged beneath him and his breath came in terrified gasps. "Help," Obi-Wan whispered, fear constricting his throat. "Somebody help me please!" He gingerly crept up the corridor. Obi-Wan noticed bundles of cloth suspended from the walls. Curiosity made him reach out and touch it. Whatever was underneath the cloth was warm. Obi-Wan pressed his hand against the cloth a little harder. Something began to ooze out from underneath the cloths. It trickled over Obi-Wan's hand. In the very dim lighting, Obi-Wan realised that it was very thick blood. Crying out, Obi-Wan pulled his hand away and stumbled backwards, only to collide with another body. Screaming in shock and fright, Obi-Wan stumbled to his feet and began to run down the corridor as fast as he could. He heard footsteps behind him. Someone, or something, was trying to capture him. Obi-Wan's heart pounded in terror and his chest tightened. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see who was behind him and what was around him. The footsteps were closing in now. They were so close Obi-Wan could feel the thing behind him as it reached out to grab him. In one last desperate attempt to find help, Obi-Wan opened his mouth. "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!!!" he cried out as loudly as he could, his voice trembling with sheer terror. "HELP ME!" And then the thing from behind pounced and landed upon the young boy's back. ***** "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!!!" Qui-Gon's eyes snapped open as he heard the scream from the corridor just outside. Instinctively grabbing his lightsaber, Qui-Gon pulled a robe on and left his quarters. Outside Qui-Gon looked around the hallway. There were a few other Jedi out in the hallway because the screaming had disrupted them as well. The lights were dim but it was still quite easy to see. Listening carefully, he could hear someone sobbing quietly. Carefully, Qui-Gon walked to where the crying was coming from. A little way up the corridor, a small male child was curled up against the wall, crying. Qui-Gon carefully approached the child and knelt down in front of the boy. Qui-Gon didn't reach out and touch the boy's shoulder in fear of terrifying the boy further. "Hello there," Qui-Gon said in the most child-friendly voice he could muster. "What are you doing out here at such a late hour?" The boy slowly lifted his head. His expression was one of raw fear as looked around at his surroundings. Then the boy met Qui-Gon's eyes. "What?" the boy stammered. "W-where am I?" Qui-Gon gently patted the boy's shoulder. "You're in the Temple, remember? It looks as though you've been sleeping walking young one." The boy took another look around him, as if to make sure it was real and not a dream. "Everything's OK," the boy whispered. He turned his piercing blue/green eyes back to Qui-Gon. "Can I go back to my room now?" he asked. Qui-Gon looked at the boy. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to someone first? You sounded very upset a minute ago." "I'm fine," the boy replied and stood up. "It was just a nightmare. Everyone gets nightmares sometimes right?" Qui-Gon looked at the boy uncertainly. Qui-Gon saw the boy was trying to put on a brave face in spite of what had happened. "Would you like me to take you back to your quarters?" Qui-Gon offered. The boy nodded. "I don't really know where I am." "Right, where are your quarters Initiate...?" "Kenobi sir," the boy replied. "Obi-Wan Kenobi." The Force stirred between the two ever so slightly yet neither picked up on it. In fact Qui-Gon ignored it. He had no wish to take interest in the boy or any other boy for that matter. Nevertheless, the stirring was a sign of what was to come between the two. So Qui-Gon went with young Obi-Wan to the boy's quarters. Once the boy was safely inside, Qui-Gon returned to his own quarters, shaking his head. That was the first time he'd spoken to one so young in a very long time, and never under such circumstances. Despite all that had happened to the Jedi Master concerning a certain previous Padawan, Qui-Gon felt something of an anxious, yet reluctant, feeling for him. Perhaps he ought to report finding the boy to one of his teachers. Qui-Gon sighed aloud. It certainly was an odd night. ***SEVEN YEARS LATER*** It was back. The Darkness was trying to swallow him, trying to claim him as its own. Seventeen-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi ran as fast as he could down the darkened hallway, finding himself once again unable to escape the Dark terror that had been chasing him on a regular nightly basis. "Obi-Wan!" came a familiar cry. "Obi-Wan help me!" Exhausted, Obi-Wan cried out. "Master!" And then the Darkness attacked. ***** Qui-Gon Jinn bent over his apprentice, shaking the slumbering teenager. "Padawan wake up!" It was mid morning but Qui-Gon had allowed his apprentice to sleep in because Obi-Wan was free till the afternoon, when he was scheduled to pick up a young Force sensitive child from a local Courscant family and Qui-Gon had an early council meeting that did not require his Padawan's presence. An elderly Master had recently died.The Master, a female Bothan called Yasleigh had died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Strong in the unifying Force, she had often received visions. But, according to the healer's reports, she had died in her sleep due to sheer terror. The council believed foul play was the cause of Yasleigh's death because she had been quite a public figure in her early knighthood, warning Force sensitives who hadn't been brought to the temple on Courscant or those who had left the Jedi for whatever reason to be wary of the power they had the potential to use. She made sure none fell to the Dark Side although she couldn't find and help all of them. The galaxy was a large place after all. It was the council's belief that someone she had tried to help had fallen to the Dark Side had somehow killed her. The council had produced a list of the most likely suspects and given it to Qui-Gon, informing him that he and Obi-Wan were to investigate. Qui-Gon had left the council chambers shortly after due to feeling a massive amount of emotional turmoil coming from his bond with Obi-Wan. Clearly allowing Obi-Wan to lie in hadn't been such a good idea. The teenager was having a nightmare...again. "Obi-Wan wake up. It's a dream Obi-Wan, wake up!" Obi-Wan had been troubled with nightmares for a few weeks now but in the past couple of days, they had been at their worst. Qui-Gon had even found Obi-Wan sleepwalking, or rather sleep sprinting, around the temple a few nights back. The nightmares were clearly terrifying the boy but he only explained it in the barest of details to his Master. Something dark was chasing him through a part of the temple that looked as though it had seen a war. Whatever it was, Obi-Wan couldn't escape it. The sleepwalking reminded Qui-Gon of a ten-year-old Obi-Wan Qui-Gon had found curled up in the hallway of the temple seven years previously. Obi-Wan awoke with a cry and sat bolt upright in bed. He took a moment to catch his breath and then turned to face his Master. "Master," he said in relief and, to Qui-Gon's surprise, hugged his Master tightly. Qui-Gon rubbed his hand in a comforting gesture on Obi-Wan's back. "Same dream?" "Same dream," Obi-Wan confirmed. "Would you like to tell me about it?" Qui-Gon asked. "Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you," Obi-Wan said, sitting up so he could see into his Master's eyes. "I've been wondering. Why do we call it the Dark Side and the Light Side of the Force? Why is it that so many people find darkness, such as night, so...frightening? Why do children need lights at night to keep 'monsters' away? Is it because darkness of any shape or form is evil?" Qui-Gon blinked. He too had been curious about such things at Obi-Wan's age but that didn't make the answer any easier, and that was what he told Obi-Wan. "Why do you ask Padawan?" Obi-Wan frowned. "I don't really know. Something to do with this dream I guess." Obi-Wan stood up and stretched. "I'd better have a shower," he then said, changing the subject abruptly. "I have to pick up that kid soon and I doubt my highly scruffy appearance will give the child's parents a good opinion of the Jedi." Qui-Gon watched the boy go and then he too left the room, still pondering on Obi-Wan's question. Something about it was ringing a bell in his head. Something about the Dark Side... Qui-Gon sat down, closed his eyes and opened his mind to the Force and waited for the answers to come. When they came, Qui-Gon's eyes snapped open. "Of course," he muttered to himself. Then he called to Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan, I think I may have some answers for you." Obi-Wan came out of the fresher a few minutes later, towelling off his spiky hair and dressed in a clean tunic. "Answers to what Master?" "Answers to your question about why we call it the Dark Side," Qui-Gon explained. "Come sit down and I'll explain it all to you." Obi-Wan threw the towel into the laundry and sat on a chair opposite his Master. His attention was focused solely on his Master. "When I was a Padawan I too wanted to know why we called it the Dark and Light Side of the Force. Master Yoda used to tell me about the experiences of an ancient Jedi Master, who was alive during the time of the Sith," Qui-Gon began. "The Master was attacked by a Sith but not in the physical sense. This Master was attacked first in his dreams at night and then the Master started to pass out during the day due to the attack on his mind. Whatever it was that the Sith was doing; it caused the Jedi Master to lose his grip on reality. He no longer had the ability to define what was real and what was all in his mind. According to the last records there were of him, he used to rant about the Dark Side taking over the temple and warping it into one large torture chamber full of unimaginable horrors." Qui-Gon paused and studied his Padawan's face. Obi-Wan was lost in thought. The teenager's head snapped up and he indicated for Qui-Gon to go on. "Well this Master used to escape from where he was being held and run riot round the temple, screaming his head off saying 'the Darkness is after me!' He also used to scream out for help even though no one was physically attacking him." Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan's look of surprise. This was all obviously very familiar to the boy. "How did he die?" Obi-Wan asked quietly. "Suicide," Qui-Gon replied. "He simply couldn't take it." Obi-Wan nodded and then looked at his Master. "What?" he asked. "What else is there to this story?" Qui-Gon sighed and looked at Obi-Wan, trying to keep the worry out of his features. "In his medical records there was only one other incident that could be linked to such a breakdown. Seven years before the attack, he had gone to a healer with a complaint about sleepwalking during nightmares." Obi-Wan frowned. "You think that this will happen to me because you found me seven years ago in a hallway after I had been sleepwalking?" he asked sceptically. Qui-Gon laughed a little. "No, Obi-Wan. I'm simply telling you that this...account...is one of the first mentions to the Dark Side ever found in our history books." Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "For a minute there I thought you were telling me I was on the brink of a breakdown." Qui-Gon patted Obi-Wan on the arm. "Believe me, if you were I'd have you locked securely in the infirmary." Obi-Wan gave Qui-Gon a look of mock disbelief. "And that's supposed to help me? Master sometimes I wonder if you really do have my best interests at heart." Qui-Gon gave an aloof look. "Makes you wonder doesn't it?" Obi-Wan stood up and made his way to the apartment door. "Thanks Master. Nice to know you care." He picked up his lightsaber and clipped it on his belt. "Well if you'd excuse me, I've got a child to pick up and you've..." "Got some reports to go over," Qui-Gon concluded with a grin. Obi-Wan shook his head. "Good bye Master," he said and left the apartment laughing. Qui-Gon smiled at the spot where Obi-Wan had stood and then got down to his reports. Soon he was so lost in contemplation on the mission he had been given by the council that he didn't once stop to think of the similarities between Obi-Wan and the ancient Jedi Master's dreams and danger Obi-Wan was actually in. ***End Part One*** |
| hello |