| Title: Silent Nights (Part Three) Author: Ginger Ninja ***** The Darkness is coming for me. Qui-Gon sat by Obi-Wan's bed, watching as his Padawan slept heavily and apparently peacefully. Why had Obi-Wan said such a thing? Was he just confused, or did he see something no one else could? And was this all linked to the mysterious dreams Obi-Wan was having? But why Obi-Wan? Why not someone else? Qui-Gon knew Obi-Wan was prone to prophetic dreams but never ones as dark as this. Qui-Gon wasn't entirely sure what happened in the dreams but from what he could tell from Obi-Wan's disturbed state, they were deadly serious. "Qui?" Qui-Gon turned to see Mace come into the room. "How is Leezal?" Qui-Gon asked his friend. Mace sat down next to Qui-Gon. "Just fine," he said. "They're sending her to the cr�che soon." "Good," Qui-Gon sounded distracted. "How is he?" Mace asked. Qui-Gon sighed. "Fine I think. He's sleeping peacefully for the first time in a while." As if to disagree with his Master, Obi-Wan let out a moan. Qui-Gon and Mace shared a concerned look. This wasn't good. ***** White, pure white. His surroundings were nothing but white as far as the eye could see. No land monuments, no mountains. Just white. And him. Yet something stirred in the white abyss. Something other than himself. "Tell me...Have you...Have you ever heard...have you ever heard children playing?" He lifted his head. "Yes, of course I have." "Tell me then, have you seen the children...play with...fire?" "Sure. They only got burnt." "Burnt? So tell me...did you ever hear children...dying...in fire? Burning...to...death in fire?" "What?" The voice began to sing. "The children will die! The children will die! The children will die!" "No!" "Can...you...save them...boy?" "Where are they?" "Find...them yourself..." Hundreds of tiny voices scream out in unison. All sounded as if they were in pain. "Help us!" they cried. "Please! It hurts! Please! Save us! Burning! No!" "I'm scared." "I...am...dying?" "I don't wanna die!" "Where's the new baby? Has anyone seen her?" "Dead? My Force they're all dead!" The singsong voice came back. "Bet you can't save them Obi-Wan Kenobi!" Obi-Wan shoved away his horror. "I can and I will." And the whiteness became dark... ***** "...you hear me? Wake up!" Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open and the blurriness cleared rapidly. Qui-Gon stood above him, his large hands gripping Obi-Wan's muscular shoulders. "Are you alright Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked, the concern clear to see on his face. Everything came back to Obi-Wan in a rush. The crash, the nightmare and then the other dream. Obi-Wan pushed his Master away and sat up and started to get off the bed. "Obi-Wan what are you doing?" Qui-Gon asked, surprised that his apprentice was being so forceful. "You aren't ready to get up yet." The pounding in his head told Obi-Wan the exact same thing but he knew he couldn't stay here while so many young lives were in danger. "I have to go somewhere Master. Please, it's very important!" "Obi-Wan where do you have to go?" Qui-Gon placed a hand on his Padawan's shoulder to hold him in place for the moment. "The cr�che! I have to go now or else they'll all die! Master please!" Without waiting for a response from his fairly surprised Master, Obi-Wan pushed Qui-Gon away and got to his slightly unsteady feet. He made it to the door just as Mace Windu stepped in his way, startling Obi-Wan and causing him to stumble backwards into his Master's arms. Qui-Gon attempted to drag Obi-Wan back into the bed but his apprentice was having none of it. Using the Force, Obi-Wan sent his Master tumbling backwards over the bed and Mace followed shortly after. Obi-Wan scrambled out of the room and headed for the exit of the infirmary. ***** Mace sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the ground. To his left, Qui-Gon was doing the same. "That is one determined apprentice you got yourself there Jinn," Mace said, looking at his friend. Qui-Gon only frowned in response. "But why did he do that Mace?" "Let's follow him," Mace suggested. "Maybe then we can make sense of all this madness." Nodding Qui-Gon followed his friend out of the small infirmary room and out into the hallway of the infirmary. ***** Obi-Wan made it to the cr�che in record time, literally throwing people out of his path in order to get to where he had to be. The cr�che was quiet but there were no signs of fire or dying children. Curious, Obi-Wan entered the cr�che, determined to find out what was going on. The cr�che was still quiet. There weren't the usual sounds that young children made. No excited chatter, no sounds of children playing or eating or sleeping... In fact the cr�che seemed completely devoid of life. Reaching out with the Force, Obi-Wan could only detect a few life forces. That was odd. Where was everyone? ?"Excuse me! Hello!" Obi-Wan turned around to come face to face with a cr�che Master called Bemc. She was a fairly tall, dark woman with the kind features one associated with a loving mother. She could calm the most upset child and punish the most unruly one. "Ah! Padawan Kenobi it's been a while! But what are you doing here? And why are you in your pyjamas?" It was the first time Obi-Wan realised he was dressed in a pair of light grey pants and short sleeved grey top. "Never mind that Master Bemc," he said, grabbing hold of her shoulder. "You have to evacuate the cr�che. Something terrible is about to happen." The sound of happy, excited childish chatter filled the air and Obi-Wan realised that it was the end of the young children's recess time. Turning back Obi-Wan saw that Bemc had a worried look in her eye. "You're right," she said gravely. "I sense a disturbance in the Force. Thank the Force you warned me, I might never have thought to check! What do you feel?" "I...I'm not sure but something terrible is going to happen if we don't evacuate immediately," Obi-Wan replied in an equally serious tone. Bemc nodded and hurried to the playroom where all the children were, Obi-Wan following close behind. Once in the room, Bemc clapped her hands twice loudly, instantly getting the children's attention. "OK little ones," Bemc said in a gentle, happy tone that didn't betray her apprehension, "We're going to have a fire drill! Now, everyone line up in order and get in your pairs. Remember, one older child to one younger one!" With the help of the other cr�che Master's and Padawan's, the children were soon filing out of the playroom in an orderly fashion, most of them blissfully ignorant of the trouble surrounding them. Some of the older ones looked a little concerned but they were too young to realise the danger they were in. Obi-Wan was pulled aside by Bemc. "Obi-Wan I need you to go and tell the Master's in the nursery to evacuate. Hurry though, something bad is about to happen. Something is about to erupt." Nodding tersely, Obi-Wan hurried down to the nursery. He was nearly there when he felt it, felt the darkness explode over him and his surroundings. The lights above him flickered on and off again and again. A loud blast ripped through the quiet cr�che, followed by frightened screams and the pounding of tiny footsteps. Turning back, Obi-Wan saw a group of children, about six in number, running towards him. He headed to the children, who were struggling to remain calm. The eldest three were probably no older than six and the youngest trio aged three. Behind them, a fire was beginning to rage, it's bright orange tongues reaching out of a doorway and tickling the ceiling, turning it a dark black colour. Grabbing the children, Obi-Wan pushed them forward to the nursery, where all the babies were and closed the door. There weren't any Master's in there with them as Bemc had said and the tiny babies were already howling, their untrained Force abilities warning them of the danger they were in yet unable to escape from unassisted. Looking around, Obi-Wan was incredibly relieved to see a fire exit at the back of the small nursery. Smoke was starting to swirl in the room from under the doorway and the children began to cough. "OK everyone, get as far away from the door as you can," Obi-Wan instructed. The children did so, the younger ones whimpering in fear and clutching tightly on to their older partners. Obi-Wan placed the back of his hand against the door and pulled it away instantly, the heat scalding him. The fire out there was bad and getting worse. The door probably wouldn't hold much longer. Obi-Wan ran over to the fire escape and pressed down the button that would open it. The fire door remained closed. He knew that the cr�che fire escapes were coded in order to keep the little kids from accidentally getting out of them. Normally it was a good idea. Right at the moment however, it was a grave setback and possibly a deadly one. Obi-Wan didn't have his lightsaber to cut through the door. Things were not looking good. The smoke was getting denser and the children more panicked. There were babies in the room as well. Obi-Wan called to the older three. Bending down to their level, he said: "I want each of you to pick up a baby and then bring it back here OK? Then we'll see about getting that door open." The three nodded and each went off to pick up a baby. Obi-Wan turned to the toddlers. "You're all being really brave. I just need you to stay brave for a little while longer OK? Then we can get out of here." The toddlers nodded and huddled closer together, coughing and rubbing at their smoke-irritated eyes. The older children came back with a baby each and Obi-Wan congratulated them too. As long as they didn't focus too heavily on the fire, everything would be fine. The door at the other end of the room was starting to give way to the fire and the heat in the room rose steadily. The babies continued to wail. The toddlers began to sob and even the older kids were starting to tear up. ~The children are going to die and you'll be there to see it.~ ~Haven't you heard children screaming in agony as they burn?~ Obi-Wan shook his head to clear it of the nagging voices and focused on the door. Reaching out with the Force, he caused the door to buckle under his repeated shoves. The children dashed out into the open air and down the staircase that led to the playground. Obi-Wan stepped out the door. ~Are you sure all the children are free? How can you be sure you haven't left one behind?~ As if to remove any doubt Obi-Wan had, a terrified, hoarse scream of a young child hit the air. He had heard babies cry before but not in such petrified, pained way. It tore at his heart to hear such distress coming from one so young and Obi-Wan plunged back into the smoky room, his eyes watering and his lungs coughing uncontrollably as he attempted to locate the child. The door to the cr�che had completely gone, the fire raging inside the room unconstrained. The pretty pictures drawn by young initiates went up in the flame, lost forever as they turned to ash. Cot covers began to shrivel up as the flames spread over them, engulfing them. Obi-Wan felt the skin all over his body prickle as it burnt. The deeper he got into the room, the louder both the roar of the intense fire and the agonised wails of the baby became. Obi-Wan eventually found the cot the baby was in. Flames surrounded it on three sides, forming an incomplete circle that had both ends drawing closer together. "Leezal!" he choked out. He seemed to keep meeting up with this child in the strangest of situations. He grabbed her and started back to the fire exit. There was a loud crash and Obi-Wan realised it was the fire exit door slamming back into place. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it to open again and he couldn't concentrate enough to use the Force. Leezal twisted and turned in Obi-Wan's grasp, as if trying to escape. Her crying became more of a snarl as she used her tiny arms and legs to hit and kick the person who was saving her. There was something about this child, something Obi-Wan could sense. Something about her was... Evil. Obi-Wan found himself flying backwards and before he could stop himself, he rammed right into a wall of fire, knocking any air left in his strained lungs. Agony sweeping through him, Obi-Wan desperately looked for Leezal as she had gone from his arms. He spotted the baby just ahead of him, crawling unaided back to the exit. As if sensing his gaze, Leezal turned her head around. Obi-Wan gasped as he saw her eyes were now two completely black discs. Obi-Wan edged forward away from the fire that was burning his back and towards Leezal. His senses screamed at him to leave the child, to not touch her but he couldn't leave a baby alone in this place. Leezal turned away and carried on crawling away. Obi-Wan was astounded. How could a baby that young be showing so much intelligence? The little girl seemed to be full of evil intelligence, but that wasn't possible in a child that young. Was it? Obi-Wan's back proved to be too painful for him to cope with. He watched as Leezal disappeared into the smog, as if the smoke and flames were unable to touch her. //Master, help me!// And Obi-Wan once again gave way to the darkness that seemed to so urgently need him. ***** Qui-Gon and Mace arrived at the cr�che just as the fire was really starting to tear the place apart. Mace used his comlink to alert the necessary people and then turned back to Qui-Gon. The tall Master had a anxious look in his face and Mace knew his friend had his mind on just one person: Obi-Wan. "He's in there Mace," Qui-Gon told his friend without tearing his eyes away from the door to the blazing cr�che. "I can feel his pain." Before Mace could stop him, Qui-Gon bolted into the cr�che, giving no consideration to his own well being. //Master, help me!// Qui-Gon doubled over as he felt his Padawan's torment. //Hang on Obi-Wan, I'm coming!// he sent back but received no reply. Following his senses, Qui-Gon located Obi-Wan, sprawled unconscious on the floor in a room that was completely blocked off by fire. Closing his eyes, Qui-Gon sought out his centre, knowing he had to be perfectly calm for this to work. When he found it, he created a strong Force barrier around himself. Confident that it would hold, Qui-Gon stepped into the flames. He strode through them and was soon by Obi-Wan's side. Picking up his apprentice, Qui-Gon quickly assessed Obi-Wan's condition. The burns were thick and serious and needed attention immediately. Qui-Gon prepared himself once again to build up the barrier. He was coughing already, the smoke here was thick and dense and practically impenetrable. Qui-Gon closed his eyes and began to focus. "Qui-Gon..." Qui-Gon's eyes snapped open and he looked down at Obi-Wan. The teen was still unconscious. Who had called to him then? "Qui-Gon...!" Whoever it was sounded as if they were mocking him. "Don't forget the baby!" "What baby?" Qui-Gon called allowed, as if he was speaking to someone who was concealed in the smoky atmosphere. A tiny figure emerged from the smoke. It was Leezal and she was somehow flying right at Qui-Gon. He caught her and gazed down at the little girl. She was giggling gleefully, oblivious to the danger around her. Carrying her as best he could with Obi-Wan in his arms, Qui-Gon once again tried to concentrate but the oppressive heat and haze made it impossible. Qui-Gon came over very dizzy and crashed heavily onto his knees, Obi-Wan and Leezal falling from his arms. Finding it increasingly difficult to breathe, Qui-Gon found himself lying flat against the floor, Obi-Wan and Leezal both unconscious on either side of him. With lungs incapable of drawing in any air to sustain him, Qui-Gon passed out, the flames growing steadily nearer his inert body. ***End Part Three*** |
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