Title: Consequences
By: Cassia
Email: cassia_a@hotmail.com
Category: Short Story, Drama, a little Obi torture (always! :D)
Rating: PG
Archive: Early Years & Jedi Apprentice
Spoilers: Minor ones for the JA books
Disclaimer: All recognizable Star Wars characters are the exclusive property of George Lucas. All others belong to me. I have no official permission to use these characters, but I'm not being paid for it either, so that's okay.
Feedback: Yes Please!
Time Frame: 9 years before TMP. Obi-Wan is 16.
Summary: A fellow Padawan disobeys and Obi-Wan ends up bearing the consequences.
Padawan A'lia Kedesh slid silently through the flowering shrubs and bushes, practicing every Jedi secrecy art that the eleven-year-old little girl had ever learned.
She dare not get caught here. What would Master Drenba think...? She shuddered. Sticking her small, pointed chin out straight to keep it from quivering she forced herself onward. She was no coward! She would show those kids that made fun of her back in the village! She wasn't afraid of the Eeoa'lyn priests, or their holy ground!
In her heart however, she knew it was a lie. She was quaking in her boots. Maybe in truth that was why she had accepted the village children's dare, in an effort to prove to *herself* that she wasn't afraid. After all, Jedi weren't supposed to be afraid... She was beginning to wish that she had not been quite so hasty.
"A'lia!" the soft voice behind her made the little Correlian girl jump. Spinning around, she saw Master Jinn's apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi behind her, a worried expression on his face.
Master Jinn and Master Drenba had both been assigned to the difficult Talteeri negotiations and so their two Padawans had spent a lot of time together these past few days.
At sixteen, Obi-Wan was five years A'lia's senior and had every reason to look at her as a mere child, but A'lia had found him to be a very friendly, if also very quiet young man. Truth to tell she had developed quite a crush on him, but that was just the age she was at.
"Obi-Wan! You scared me!" she hissed, putting her hand over her pounding heart. "What are you doing here?"
"That's what I was just going to ask you A'lia," Obi-Wan said, keeping his voice low. "I saw you go over the wall," he explained briefly. "Don't you realize you're on Eeoa'lyn holy ground? Our Masters will kill us if they find out we were here!"
"Then why don't you leave?" A'lia said stubbornly.
"I intend to, and you're coming with me," Obi-Wan replied firmly, trying to take her hand.
A'lia's stubbornness was just a front. She was not a headstrong little girl. She already knew she shouldn't be here, so she abandoned the foolish dare to cross the entire area and let Obi-Wan take her hand. "Okay Obi," she said quietly.
Suddenly they both ducked down behind a large shrub as they heard someone approaching.
About six Eeoa'lyn priests in their flowing yellow and purple robes came into sight.
Obi-Wan and A'lia both held their breath, hoping the priests would pass by quickly, but it was not to be. To the two Padawan's horror, the priests stopped about three hundred meters away, took out gardening equipment and started pruning the grove of fruit trees a little to their right.
"What are we going to do Obi?" A'lia whispered quietly, looking to the older Padawan to take the lead.
Obi-Wan assessed their situation. The Eeoa'lyn priests were very strict about their grounds, surrounding them with high walls and considering them holy. Trespassing was viewed as a serious transgression as well as a crime.
The situation here on Talteeri was already so tense, that even the Jedi were barely trusted. If he and A'lia were caught here, it could badly damage, if not destroy their Masters' chances of being able to negotiate peacefully with the Talteerian peoples at the meeting this evening.
"We're going to have to wait quietly I guess," he said after a moment. "And hope they go away soon."
A'lia did not like his answer. "But Master Drenba will start wondering where I am, she'll know something's wrong!"
*"Master Qui-Gon too,"* Obi-Wan sighed inwardly, wondering just how much trouble he'd get in for this. He would never have trespassed here if he hadn't been going after A'lia, but that didn't diminish the fact that he was indeed there, in defiance, he realized a little too late, of one of his Master's direct orders. "Can't be helped," he said softly. "I think they'll be sizably less upset with us if we *don't* create a diplomatic incident by getting caught."
"Can't - can't we make them go away?" A'lia asked hesitantly.
Obi-Wan shook his head decidedly. "No. We are not supposed to be here. I don't know if it would be a miss-use of the Force or not to use it to get us out of this, but I for one do not want to risk it. Won't help anyway. We're going to have to tell Master Qui-Gon and Master Fioni about this when we get back anyhow," he sighed.
"Do we?" A'lia asked softly.
Obi-Wan looked at her sharply. "Yes, we do. A'lia, I don't know about you, but Master Qui-Gon specifically told me to stay off the Eeoa'lyn's estates. I'm going to have to tell him that I disobeyed, and why."
A'lia's face turned very pale. "Oh, Obi, you wouldn't! Y-you just can't tell him about the dare! He'll tell Master Drenba, and, and she'll send me away!"
"SHH!" Obi-Wan pressed his finger urgently to his lips, quieting the girl before she drew attention to them. "She won't send you away, where would she send you?" Obi-Wan shook his head a trifle unsympathetically. He liked A'lia, but right now he was more than a little annoyed with her for getting them both into such trouble. After he said it, he regretted his harsh tone, because he realized A'lia was trembling and there were tears in her large brown eyes.
"Back to the Temple. She'll send me back to the Temple," A'lia said, the tears in her eyes overflowing down her cheeks. "We've only been together for a few months, and-and she's regretting asking me to be her Padawan, now, now that she knows me better," the little girl's chin quivered. "I'm not a good student and I don't learn things quickly, I'm always messing up," all of A'lia's fears, frustrations and hurts tumbled out of her in a soft, sobbing whisper. "I-I've taken dares before, and, and she forbade me to ever do it again. If she finds out I disobeyed, she'll have a reason to send me back. No one will take another Master's reject, I'll - I'll be stuck with the agri-corps! And I'll be alone," she whispered the last part so softly that Obi-Wan could barely hear her.
"A'lia," he took her chin gently in his hand. "You're working yourself up over nothing. Yes, we'll probably both get in trouble for being here, but it's not the end of the world. Your Master won't send you back over this."
A'lia shook her head, terror in her eyes. "You don't understand Obi-Wan, how could you? Master Jinn loves you; you've been together for over three years. You don't have to worry about him rejecting you. You don't understand what it's like to live every moment in terror that you're going to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, and ruin everything you've worked for, everything you want so badly! I'd give anything if Master Fioni liked me half as much as Master Qui-Gon loves you. If she could trust me like that... but then I go and do something stupid like this and blow it all!" A'lia was sobbing silently, but uncontrollably now.
*"You don't know what it's like..."* but Obi-Wan did know. Reaching out he squeezed A'lia's small hand tightly.
"I do know what it's like A'lia. Things weren't always as smooth with my Master and I as they are now. In the beginning it was very easy for me to believe that I was unwanted, and uncared for, but I was wrong, and you are too."
From their place behind the shrub, the two Jedi youngsters saw the priests leave as suddenly as they had come.
"Come on," Obi-Wan said quietly, seizing the opportunity. "We've got to hurry, they left their gardening supplies behind so they'll be back soon."
"Obi, there's no reason our Masters have to know, is there?" A'lia pleaded desperately with him. "I mean, now we're getting out of here before we're missed, and - and... Oh Please Obi! Promise me you won't tell!"
Obi-Wan was torn. He didn't feel it was right to hide what had happened, but the look in A'lia's eyes cut right through his heart. In her eyes he saw himself three years ago. Every little bit of trouble he had gotten in had cemented firmer and firmer his fears that Qui-Gon did not want him and did not even like him. He didn't want A'lia to suffer that way. He knew how badly it hurt.
"I can't lie to my Master A'lia," he said sadly.
"I-I'm not asking you to lie Obi-Wan," A'lia pleaded. "Just don't say anything. Please Obi-Wan, please!"
Obi-Wan sighed, wishing he knew what the right thing to do was. "Okay A'lia. I won't tell," he said softly.
"You promise?" A'lia brightened tearfully. "You won't tell anyone that I was here or about the dare?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "I promise A'lia, but don't you *ever* take another stupid dare, do you understand? That is not the way a Jedi behaves and it is not how you prove yourself."
A'lia nodded. "I promise you Obi-Wan, no more dares, ever. I'm sorry, but thanks, thanks so much!" She was so happy that she stood up on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss right on his lips.
Obi-Wan smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Okay, okay, let's just get out of here. I'll be look-out for you while you go over the wall."
So, while Obi-Wan watched to be sure they were not spotted, A'lia scrambled back over the high wall. They had to be careful because the priests mental discipline was such that they could not be sensed in the Force. Before Obi-Wan could follow A'lia, he saw the priests returning and ducked behind some trees.
*"Obi-Wan?"* he heard A'lia whisper through the wall after a few moments.
*"The priests are back. I'm going to have to slip away and cross the wall somewhere else. You head on back, I'll get out and be there soon,"* Obi-Wan whispered in response.
*"Okay,"* A'lia agreed and Obi-Wan felt her presence recede as she obeyed.
Obi-Wan slid silently along in the shadow of the wall, seeking to put some distance between himself and the priests. Suddenly a firm hand closed on his shoulder and Obi-Wan felt his heart drop down into his toes. The tall, robed priest turned the young Jedi slowly, but firmly around.
*"Blast!"* Obi-Wan thought miserably. He wished the priests were not invisible to him in the Force, they never could have caught him if they weren't. Now he didn't know what he was going to do.
There were suddenly four or five other priest present as well, Obi-Wan had no idea where they all came from. "You are trespassing here, child of the Jedi," the man who held Obi-Wan by the shoulder said in a low, calm voice.
"I'm sorry." What else could he say?
"It is a crime to touch the sacredness of our holy ground, know you not of this?" the priest questioned, his tone neutral, but his eyes sharp.
"No, I-I know," Obi-Wan admitted truthfully. "I came here looking for a friend. I did not mean to trespass."
"But trespass you did," the priest said. "And punishment must follow such a transgression."
Obi-Wan bit the inside of his lip, but remained outwardly calm. He wasn't afraid of the priests, well, maybe just a little. What really had him worried was that this was going to wreck their mission.
"W-what will you do?" he asked slowly.
"That choice is up to you," the priest told him. "If you wish to insist that there is a justifiable reason for your crime, we can take you to the magistrate. He would try you and if you are found guilty you and your guardian will be fined and have a censure placed upon you for the remainder of your stay on Talteeri."
Obi-Wan felt a surge of panic rise in his heart. Whether he was found innocent or guilty, such a trial would destroy everything they had worked to accomplish here! Once this became public knowledge, the thin trust that the Jedi had managed to earn would be shattered and the entire negotiations would fall to pieces. "Or?" he asked hoarsely.
"Or," the priest continued, "If you admit your guilt, we will punish you ourselves and send you on your way."
Obi-Wan considered this. "If I chose the second option, no one else needs to know?"
The priest inclined his head slightly. "There is no need, we do not wish public attention."
Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Then that is what I
chose. I admit that it is wrong of me to be on your sacred grounds without permission, and I accept whatever the penalty is for trespassing."
The priest nodded. "Remove your tunic and lie on the ground child of the Jedi," he ordered quietly.
Obi-Wan obeyed. His heart was pounding but he forced himself to be calm as he unfastened his belt and removed his outer tunic. Pulling his inner shirt off over his head, Obi-Wan knelt down on the grass. *"What happens now?"* he wondered. Then he wondered if he really wanted to know.
One of the priests pushed him the rest of the way down until the young Jedi was lying flat on his stomach on the grass.
Obi-Wan felt the priest's hands close tightly around his wrists and was momentarily struck by the strength of the older man's grip. The Eeoa'lyn knelt in front of Obi-Wan; holding the Padawan's wrists pinned to the ground on either side of his head in a surprisingly secure manner.
There was several moments wait as the priest that had caught Obi-Wan stopped to cut a thick switch from one of the bushes nearby. He paired off the branches, but did not try to make it entirely smooth.
The ground pricked Obi-Wan's bare chest and the side of his face as he waited. The apprentice's mouth felt dry and his heart was still pumping too fast. He wasn't afraid really, but he could not seem to help the body reaction he was having. If only they'd hurry up and get it over with, waiting like this was terrible.
Obi-Wan would find that the Eeoa'lyn priests did nothing in a hurry. It seemed like an eternity from the time they made him lie down, until the time when the first stroke fell.
Obi-Wan tightened and jerked a little as the rough switch came down across his shoulders. The priest delivering the beating worked his way slowly and methodically down the young Jedi's back, laying stripe after stripe from Obi-Wan's shoulders to his waist. It stung like everything and Obi-Wan fought to blink back the tears that gathered in the corners of his eyes.
A low moan escaped him as the priest moved back up to his shoulders and went over the smarting area again, and again. By the fourth pass Obi-Wan had started squirming and unintentionally pulling against the iron grip on his wrists. His struggles had no effect. The priests held him down firmly as the rod smacked his raw back again and again. Tears the apprentice could no longer hold back wet the earth beneath him and he wondered how long this could last.
Obi-Wan's struggles grew desperate as the fifth set of blows drew blood. Choking back a sob and pressing his eyes shut Obi-Wan tried to remain calm, but he couldn't.
The priest stopped after the fifth set and they released Obi-Wan's wrists.
For a moment Obi-Wan just lay on the ground, sobbing for breath and sobbing in pain. He didn't want to ever have to get up again, but he knew he must. Pushing himself up to his knees, Obi-Wan grimaced at the way the movement made his burning back screech.
"You will leave now," the priest said calmly, as if he had not just beaten the teenager bloody. "And you will not return, or the penalty is doubled."
*"Don't worry! I won't be coming back here again!"* Obi-Wan thought ruefully. "Yes, sir," was all he said aloud. Struggling to his feet he gathered his shirt, tunic and belt and took his leave.
Once outside the Eeoa'lyn walls, Obi-Wan stopped to collect himself. Leaning face first against the rough bark of a tree he calmed himself until his heart rate and his breathing returned to normal. Breathing deeply and leaning his face against the back of his hands, Obi-Wan tried to figure out what he was going to do now.
There was no way he could hide this from Qui-Gon. Well, maybe he could, but he didn't think he should. Yet, then Qui-Gon would want to know what had happened, and after the promise he had made to A'lia, what could he tell him?
Obi-Wan sighed. Why did this have to be so complicated? How had he gotten himself into this mess? He supposed he could blame A'lia for starting it all, but he knew he probably had no business making a promise like the one that he had made in the first place.
Slowly and painfully putting his clothes back on, Obi-Wan headed back towards the housing facilities that the Jedi were staying in. He still did not know what he was going to do.
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon greeted when the apprentice slipped into their rooms. "I was just going to look for you. The owners of this establishment inform me that the gym is empty today due to some cancellations and I have arranged that we have some time to use it to do a little sparring. It's been too long since we've had the opportunity and I don't want your physical training to suffer," the big Jedi Master said cheerfully, he knew how Obi-Wan loved doing
anything with his lightsaber.
Obi-Wan usually jumped at the invitation to a mock-duel, but in his current condition the thought made him cringe inside. "Yes, Master, I'll go get changed," he said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
He almost hoped that Qui-Gon would notice something amiss about him. He almost wanted his Master to ask him if anything was wrong, because then his decision was simple, if Qui-Gon asked him, Obi-Wan was bound to tell him the truth, or at least, as much of it as he could without breaking his promise to A'lia. For once however, Qui-Gon seemed to notice nothing unusual, or if he did, he did not chose to comment on it as of yet.
Obi-Wan sighed as he went to change into his workout tunic. It was ironic, he supposed, Qui-Gon sure noticed things well enough when the apprentice *didn't* want him to.
Going into the 'fresher and locking the door, Obi-Wan pulled off his tunic once more and found that he was going to have to wash it. The inner, rear side of his under shirt was lightly stained with his blood. Looking at himself in the mirror, Obi-Wan winced at the sight of the welts that striped his back like a Furr'arr's coat. If he didn't get medical attention for those, they could very possibly leave scars.
Wetting a cloth with cold water, Obi-Wan ran it lightly over as much of his hurting back as he could reach. It did nothing to sooth the injuries, but the coolness of the water helped bring down the heat of the flaming sensation he was feeling and wash away the remaining blood so that it would not stain his workout cloths like it had his normal tunic.
Qui-Gon knocked on the door.
Obi-Wan jumped slightly in surprise. He hadn't realized he was so on-edge.
"I just need to get a towel," Qui-Gon's voice was muffled by the door. The handle rattled as Qui-Gon tried to turn it.
"Just a minute!" Obi-Wan called, quickly wadding up his cloths rinsing the blood out of the washcloth. Sliding gingerly into his workout tunic, he tied it loosely in an attempt to minimize its contact with his throbbing back.
He knew it was foolish to try to hide his injuries from his Master, but the young apprentice did not yet know what else to do.
On the other side of the door Qui-Gon smiled in mild amusement. He knew that Obi-Wan was growing up, but his sudden desire for so much privacy was a little puzzling. The boy was only changing his shirt for goodness sake...
The Jedi Master shook his head. Who could fathom the quirks of youth? Especially during the teenage years.
"Obi-Wan are you planning on taking up residence, or do you want to let me get my towel and come out here so we can practice?" Qui-Gon called through the shut door.
Obi-Wan hurried out, blushing slightly. "Sorry, Master," he mumbled an apology for making the elder Jedi wait.
Qui-Gon nodded, and retrieved his towel. Then the two Jedi made their way down to the gymnasium on the ground level of the temporary housing unit's complex.
Easily sliding into his own workout tunic, Qui-Gon led Obi-Wan out into the middle of the large gym's floor. After running through their stretches and warm-ups Qui-Gon initiated the training duel.
Blue and green blades of light buzzed and tangled as Master and Padawan sparred.
Qui-Gon decided that it truly had been too long since their last match. Obi-Wan was not performing at the level that Qui-Gon knew him capable of. The boy moved stiffly and actually seemed to be avoiding the more ariobatic moves that he usually favored.
Qui-Gon thought Obi-Wan would warm up to the fight as it went on, but the Padawan's performance did not improve.
Obi-Wan's shoulders felt as if they were on fire as he forced them to move. The pain was distracting. Too distracting. He missed an obvious feint and Qui-Gon's elbow caught him squarely in the face, flinging him to the ground.
There were no mats on the floor to help absorb his fall and the Padawan's injured back slammed into it at full force. The sudden jolt of searing pain that that caused made Obi-Wan cry out. He was too stunned and breathless to rise, and in too much pain to try. Rolling onto his side, Obi-Wan curled into a tight ball, biting the side of his fist to choke back any further sounds and struggling desperately to rein in the pain that was surging up and down his back as if he had fallen in an open lava pit.
"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon said in concerned alarm as the boy curled up on the floor, obviously in a great deal of pain. No doubt the blow Obi-Wan had caught had hurt, but it shouldn't have hurt the apprentice *that* much. Qui-Gon was kneeling by Obi-Wan in an instant.
Obi-Wan's nose was bleeding from the impact of Qui-Gon's elbow, but that could not account for the waves of pain he felt rolling off the teenager.
*"What did I do to him?"* Qui-Gon thought, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder and trying to look into Obi-Wan's eyes. When he caught them, Qui-Gon saw the glistening sheen of unshed tears sparkling just below their turquoise surface. Had he so badly misjudged his own strength and Obi-Wan's lack of practice?
"Padawan," he said gently. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you so badly?"
"N-no Master," Obi-Wan tried to force the pain away and rose to a sitting position. "I-I'm sorry Master." Obi-Wan was talking about more than just his reaction to the fall.
Qui-Gon's brows were knitted in a frown of concern as he hooked his hand under Obi-Wan's armpit to help him up.
Obi-Wan stiffened slightly and drew a sharp breath in.
Something was not right here. Not right at all. Before Obi-Wan could react, Qui-Gon pulled the Padawan's tunic up, getting a good look at the red, blistering welts that heavily striped the young Jedi's back from his shoulders to his waistline.
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon's voice was concerned and pained, but also firm. "What happened?"
TBC
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