![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
First Part | Previous Part | Next Part
More!
(Also, Maul's first efforts in dealing with clingy Jedi apparently involved making concussed Jedi.)
Anakin:
Anakin pulls Zett with him to the edge of one of the long drops, and grins at the Padawan a moment before jumping, wind rushing by him as he falls. It's exhilarating, and he takes a moment to revel in the sensation of free-fall before he touches the Force to steady his descent a little. Looking up, he sees Zett has followed his example, though there's a hint of sheer terror threading through Zett's Force-presence, and reaches out to make sure Zett's fall is stable as well.
They land on a lower walkway - not down to the surface, but deep enough into the city there are far fewer lights, and Anakin thinks they'll mostly pass unnoticed. He reaches out a hand to make sure Zett is steady on his feet, and catches the euphoria the Padawan is wrestling with.
"Enjoy it for the moment." Anakin grins at Zett's stare. "You don't have to let it go right away, no matter what the Jedi tell you. It's good to feel."
"And what if I get us killed?"
"You won't, and keeping you safe is my job." Now, since Zett's Master has to be dead in the Temple. Anakin tugs the boy closer, keeping him close as they start walking. "I promise, Zett. You won't be left alone again, and you're not going to die before you're knighted."
Anakin knows he can't promise anything after that, but unless someone takes really drastic measures, he's not going to leave a Padawan in danger. Even if he has to take Zett on as his own apprentice, of which he doesn't know if anyone here or at home would approve. It doesn't matter, though, not if there's few choices. Someone has to teach him, and Anakin doesn't know how many Jedi might be left here.
He can feel the surprise from Zett, but pretends not to notice as they make their way further into the warren of walkways that wind between the bases of tall buildings. Hopefully making their way to a rendezvous with Master Windu.
"Are there even enough of the Council left to arrange Trials or Knightings?" Zett's voice is quiet, just audible over the background hum of the city.
"Master Windu is still alive." Anakin shrugs. "My masters didn't look to the Council to decide when my training was done. They decided it themselves." And if he trains Zett, he will decide when the Padawan is ready to be on his own, and call himself Jedi Knight or whatever he wants to call himself. "We'll figure it out together."
Zett doesn't respond to that, though Anakin can feel him mulling it over, and he lets the boy do so as he follows the thread of Force that draws him on toward Master Windu. He smiles sharply at a Weequay who is watching for marks for his little gang, shaking his head slightly. Letting some of the Dark Side swirl about him, the oppressively cold feel of it usually enough to keep all but the Force-null away from him.
"What are you doing?" Zett is watching him with the same wariness he'd had at the Temple, rubbing his arms to fend off the cold. "It feels wrong."
"For a Jedi, it would be." Anakin gestures the boy closer, wrapping the side of his cloak around Zett's shoulders. "It's meant to intimidate, and frighten. Maul taught me it."
"Who's Maul?" Zett glances up at him a moment, curiosity winding its way through the wariness.
"One of Sidious's former apprentices, and a Sith." Anakin lets Zett move away, amusing at the thrill of fear that runs through the boy. "He's not here, or we wouldn't be running through the underworld of Coruscant."
He'd not be alone here - he might not be here at all - and while he and Maul might be running, Zett would have been safe in the Temple and Sidious dead. Or dead on the platform outside the speeder bay, slaughtered like the other Jedi.
Obi-Wan:
"Sometimes," Obi-Wan admits slowly, watching Cese for a long moment. It's easier than looking at the scarred face of a man who moves and sounds and almost looks like his dead Master. "Does Anakin here help you with the visions?" Or his alternate, but he should ask that question of the man directly, as he's in the room.
Cese shrugs. "A little. So does my padawan-brother. Darth Maul taught me a meditation to help, too." She glances back at Qui-Gon, a cheerful smile crossing her face. "Master tries to keep me focused on the here and now, though that doesn't always work."
"Because foresight and truesight are both irritatingly persistent, as well as inconsistent." Mace Windu crosses his arms, looking over Obi-Wan with his usual inscrutable expression - though it seems underwrit with a peace the Mace Obi-Wan knows does not have, rather than the exhaustion of war. "I hope you don't have the same bad habits as your counterpart, Master Kenobi."
"I would imagine I have at least some, though perhaps not all of them." Obi-Wan shrugs, looking around the room for his boots, and his lightsaber. "I don't tend to steal other Jedi's lightsabers, certainly."
"I didn't steal it. Maul did." His alternate shrugs, crossing his arms. "Your boots are next to mine in the outer room."
Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. "Why so far away?"
"They're less likely to be thrown at my head in the morning."
More!
(Also, Maul's first efforts in dealing with clingy Jedi apparently involved making concussed Jedi.)
Anakin:
Anakin pulls Zett with him to the edge of one of the long drops, and grins at the Padawan a moment before jumping, wind rushing by him as he falls. It's exhilarating, and he takes a moment to revel in the sensation of free-fall before he touches the Force to steady his descent a little. Looking up, he sees Zett has followed his example, though there's a hint of sheer terror threading through Zett's Force-presence, and reaches out to make sure Zett's fall is stable as well.
They land on a lower walkway - not down to the surface, but deep enough into the city there are far fewer lights, and Anakin thinks they'll mostly pass unnoticed. He reaches out a hand to make sure Zett is steady on his feet, and catches the euphoria the Padawan is wrestling with.
"Enjoy it for the moment." Anakin grins at Zett's stare. "You don't have to let it go right away, no matter what the Jedi tell you. It's good to feel."
"And what if I get us killed?"
"You won't, and keeping you safe is my job." Now, since Zett's Master has to be dead in the Temple. Anakin tugs the boy closer, keeping him close as they start walking. "I promise, Zett. You won't be left alone again, and you're not going to die before you're knighted."
Anakin knows he can't promise anything after that, but unless someone takes really drastic measures, he's not going to leave a Padawan in danger. Even if he has to take Zett on as his own apprentice, of which he doesn't know if anyone here or at home would approve. It doesn't matter, though, not if there's few choices. Someone has to teach him, and Anakin doesn't know how many Jedi might be left here.
He can feel the surprise from Zett, but pretends not to notice as they make their way further into the warren of walkways that wind between the bases of tall buildings. Hopefully making their way to a rendezvous with Master Windu.
"Are there even enough of the Council left to arrange Trials or Knightings?" Zett's voice is quiet, just audible over the background hum of the city.
"Master Windu is still alive." Anakin shrugs. "My masters didn't look to the Council to decide when my training was done. They decided it themselves." And if he trains Zett, he will decide when the Padawan is ready to be on his own, and call himself Jedi Knight or whatever he wants to call himself. "We'll figure it out together."
Zett doesn't respond to that, though Anakin can feel him mulling it over, and he lets the boy do so as he follows the thread of Force that draws him on toward Master Windu. He smiles sharply at a Weequay who is watching for marks for his little gang, shaking his head slightly. Letting some of the Dark Side swirl about him, the oppressively cold feel of it usually enough to keep all but the Force-null away from him.
"What are you doing?" Zett is watching him with the same wariness he'd had at the Temple, rubbing his arms to fend off the cold. "It feels wrong."
"For a Jedi, it would be." Anakin gestures the boy closer, wrapping the side of his cloak around Zett's shoulders. "It's meant to intimidate, and frighten. Maul taught me it."
"Who's Maul?" Zett glances up at him a moment, curiosity winding its way through the wariness.
"One of Sidious's former apprentices, and a Sith." Anakin lets Zett move away, amusing at the thrill of fear that runs through the boy. "He's not here, or we wouldn't be running through the underworld of Coruscant."
He'd not be alone here - he might not be here at all - and while he and Maul might be running, Zett would have been safe in the Temple and Sidious dead. Or dead on the platform outside the speeder bay, slaughtered like the other Jedi.
Obi-Wan:
"Sometimes," Obi-Wan admits slowly, watching Cese for a long moment. It's easier than looking at the scarred face of a man who moves and sounds and almost looks like his dead Master. "Does Anakin here help you with the visions?" Or his alternate, but he should ask that question of the man directly, as he's in the room.
Cese shrugs. "A little. So does my padawan-brother. Darth Maul taught me a meditation to help, too." She glances back at Qui-Gon, a cheerful smile crossing her face. "Master tries to keep me focused on the here and now, though that doesn't always work."
"Because foresight and truesight are both irritatingly persistent, as well as inconsistent." Mace Windu crosses his arms, looking over Obi-Wan with his usual inscrutable expression - though it seems underwrit with a peace the Mace Obi-Wan knows does not have, rather than the exhaustion of war. "I hope you don't have the same bad habits as your counterpart, Master Kenobi."
"I would imagine I have at least some, though perhaps not all of them." Obi-Wan shrugs, looking around the room for his boots, and his lightsaber. "I don't tend to steal other Jedi's lightsabers, certainly."
"I didn't steal it. Maul did." His alternate shrugs, crossing his arms. "Your boots are next to mine in the outer room."
Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. "Why so far away?"
"They're less likely to be thrown at my head in the morning."
