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splinteredstar) wrote2019-06-01 09:13 pm
squad fic: prequel trilogy part one
This timeline takes place during the prequel trilogy. Like... after phantom menace, before attack of the clones. Anakin is about 14.
This is the most elaborate timeline. This is the one that is closest to being an actual novel. This timeline is /25k and 117 word pages long/.
I never even wrote Phasma's plotline, and there's still like a quarter of this plot missing.
I am... pretty sure that if I tried to put it all in a single post dw would have some Concerns. So I found a decent breaking point and I'll put the first one here, and the other... later. (I'm still thinking about writing the last bits.)
So. Prequel trilogy. This is not a pro jedi story. I am not a pro jedi person. Tw: Jedi are bad at consent and also kind of ableist.
This timeline incorporates a lot of this headcanon verse, which is not mine:
http://fialleril.tumblr.com/tagged/tatooine-slave-culture
http://fialleril.tumblr.com/tagged/amatakka
http://fialleril.tumblr.com/tagged/tzai-is-very-important
http://fialleril.tumblr.com/post/167292062431/tatooine-prophets-series-submitted-by#notes
Be nice to the author, she’s incredible. Other references will be in the story proper.
splinteredstar
All righty. *cracks knuckles*
splinteredstar
Prequel trilogy. After phantom menace, before attack of the clones.
splinteredstar
Anakin is about *hand wave* 14
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Within the jedi temple, a portal of force energy opens - something not even the oldest among them have seen
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Jedi masters surround it, wary - and out of the portal stumble two youths
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A young woman, dark hair and dark eyes and pale skin , scars and calluses on her hands and a lightsaber of pure sky blue - a young man with dark skin and a lightsaber of gentle green.
They are not any jedi known to the order, but what else could they be?
splinteredstar
There are questions about their signature in the force, rey's even grey and Finn's shadowed light.
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But they are jedi. What else could they be?
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They are given a room - with observation. Time travelers, they say - not impossible, the council thinks, but keeps it secret. They are explained as jedi from another temple
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They get a medical exam, with a midochlorian test. Finn's is 1200, a perfectly respectable jedi number. Rey's is 1900, the highest in the order besides Anakin
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("I wonder what kylo's is," Rey says to finn afterwards , smirking a little. "I bet mine's higher.")
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Finn is...quiet. there is something about this place that unsettles him, and it is not the lack of the rest of the squad that does it.
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Rey notices - they have a force bond, warm and familiar between them - and she watches around then too
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(She has one with kylo, but it is loose in the wind right now - he is not dead, but he is not there either - and it worries her)
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It is agreed that it is not yet time for them to tell of the future. Something in the force says not yet, not yet
They learn what it means to be a jedi in the height of the order
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Rey didn't expect for the most scandalous thing she did to be calling finn her boyfriend? But it gets her shocked expressions and explanations that jedi are banned from forming attachments.
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They're very kind about it, finn notices. They're very polite. It wasn't their fault they didn't know the right way to be a jedi.
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Rey opens her mouth to argue, but finn mentally nudges her and she closes it again.
(Finn doesn't like it here much)
splinteredstar
(His instincts or maybe just his memories are screaming at him, telling him to hide and keep himself safe, be what they want him to be, be correct, be a good soldier, hide hide hide. Rey picks up on it, and holds his hand, even though jedi are watching)
heyktula
Oh no, poor Finn. It's like being right back in the Order, and that's not what being a Jedi was supposed to be.
splinteredstar
I should mention I am not pro jedi. I think they are - at best - misguided in their approach.
splinteredstar
The people in it mean well but the institution is. Yeah
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Yoda is - concerned about these children now in his temple. They are too dark and too wild for him to trust them, but too light to justify destroying. They do not mean harm, he knows, and if they can be trained as jedi, then...
splinteredstar
They do not make sense. They refuse to be quantified, to slot into the world he knows.
They do not mean harm. That does not mean they are not a threat
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He will observe, and guide them if they will he led, and perhaps he will gain two new jedi. Rey is too powerful to be allowed to be anything else
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Elsewhere, in the political sectors -
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Chancellor Palpatine orders a room empty and watches for a long moment at a seemingly empty place.
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A moment later, a portal opens - out stumbles a man in military garb. He catches himself, brushes dust off of his thick coat, and looks up - and freezes
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Hm, Palpatine thinks. The strands of time have folded oddly here.
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"Hello, are you all right?" He says, politic perfect and friendly. "Do you know where you are?" The man shakes his head, still staring. His shields are thick, but he seems force blind. But the impression still seeps through - surprise, awe, anticipation -
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- imperial banners and the smell of blaster fire -
- Palpatine smiles
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"You're in the Senate dome, in the year " (pretend I know what year it is) "Do you know who I am?"
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Armitage Hux swallows - and goes down in a kneel.
"Yes, my emperor."
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His voice trembles, very slightly
splinteredstar
(Will pause here for a bit to do actual work)
Today at 2:59 PM
heyktula
Omg, Hux.
I like this timeline.
splinteredstar
Hux earns Palpatine's trust easily.
Now, this timeline is a bit different
splinteredstar
So after Palpatine sets hux up somewhere as a New Assistant
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Hux is in his new (and heavily monitored) apartment
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And - a whirl of force power -
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Hux is gripped by the collar
Even after death, Anakin Skywalker has enough power to influence the world
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"You /knelt/ for him." He snarls. Hux rolls his eyes.
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"So did you. Calm down, I didn't mean it." Skywalker crosses his arms, snarling. "I assume he can't hear us right now? I will kill him, don't worry."
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Hux snorts, brushes dust off his jacket. "I am quite certain that if I tried to support the emperor in truth, my mother in law would tear apart the fabric of reality simply to shoot me."
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Anakin inclines his head, nodding. "Accurate."
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Anakin can distract Palpatine, assist with hux's intense shielding. Anakin /knows/ how Palpatine works
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Poe and phasma get dumped nearby. Hux explains they're allies - phasma "the head of stormtroopers, my lord," and poe "a useful field agent"
(Poe can't decide if he's offended or not)
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Palpatine - allows this. He's not quite convinced, with poe, but he'll accept it. For now
Meanwhile
splinteredstar
Okay I have to stop for a while. I know what happens, but
(missing context: there’s a flare in the force that feels like Rey and Finn’s portal. Obi Wan and Vos, plus padawans, are sent to investigate)
splinteredstar
Anyway. *settles back into flow*
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"Masters," Obi Wan opens once he lands on the planet. He is tense and uncomfortable. "There is....a complication."
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On the other side of the holocom, Yoda twitches an ear. "Not there, the Jedi is?v
Obi Wan lets out a harsh breath. That would have been preferable.
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"No, we have found someone who bears all the marks of being lost in time, however..."
His hands clench as the masters wait impatiently
Obi Wan looks up and his expression is - it is earnest and confused and desperate. It is a man out of his depth.
splinteredstar
"He is a dark sider, masters. He claims he is not a sith, but his aura is dark and his lightsaber is red."
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Mace half rises from his chair. "Have you been attacked? Are there injuries?"
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"....no, masters." Somehow, that makes Obi Wan's expression grow even more hopeless. "At first, Knight Vos and I - once we recognized him as a darksider we attempted to destroy him in accordance with the Code."
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It was simple, clear cut. All darksiders must be destroyed before their vile influence could spread. The Code of the Jedi was very clear. Obi Wan remembered Xantos, his fallen fellow padawan.
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"Attempted?" Yoda says, ears up.
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"We lost." There is a ripple of shock through the assembled council. "He defeated and disarmed us easily, and then offered to heal what injuries he caused."
heyktula
!!!!!
splinteredstar
More than one jedi master blinks. "The dark cannot heal." Mace says.
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"He says he can." Obi Wan is close to fidgeting, running his hands through his hair. He has not lost his composure in front of the council since he was a teen. "We did not accept. Ayla healed what injuries there were."
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"He has not raised his saber in anything anything other than self defense and has made no aggressive actions. He has offered to share his camp, knowledge of the local wildlife, and to heal injuries that he himself caused." Obi Wan finally breaks, his hands clenching on his robe sleeves. "Masters, I do not know what to /do/."
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Murmuring in the chamber. "And yet, clear the code is." Yoda says. Obi Wan does not know if it is a criticism.
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Obi Wan huffs out another breath. "Masters, he disarmed two of the best duelists in the temple in minutes. If the impression of his power and skill that I gained in that fight is anywhere near accurate...." he gives in and runs one hand through his hair. "I do not know if there is a jedi alive who could kill him."
splinteredstar
Silence.
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Finally, Mace nods. "We contact the two jedi from the future here and see if he is known to them. Until then, keep him under observation. Don't start a fight, but be wary."
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Obi Wan nods. "I will. I will send you a description and any details I know of him. Thank you, masters."
And scene break
heyktula
Poor Obi Wan.
heyktula
Like, the Jedi code is just broken.
And Kylo is a force into himself anyways.
*unto
splinteredstar
The jedi code is broken but Obi Wan truly believes in it
heyktula
And that's why this makes for such a good story, because the squad is so separate from the code.
splinteredstar
Yeah. Like I said, if I was ever going to /write/ this, this is the timeline I would pick
splinteredstar
Okay. *settles in*
splinteredstar
One of the council members calls Rey and Finn in to the chamber.
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"We have found a portal similar to the one you came out of," they say. "However, what we found there..."
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"Oh, it's probably kylo." Rey cuts in. Finn shoots her a look, and she taps the side of her head to indicate the force bond. "I told you about him, right? My cousin?"
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The council blinks. Yoda alone is not surprised.
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"Miss," Adi says. She likes rey, despite Yoda's concerns. The girl feels like sunshine. "We found a darksider there, not your cousin." It could not be. No one so light as her could have any sort of bond with someone in the dark....
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Rey nods. "Nope, that's him. Dark aura, dark hair, red lightsaber with a cross guard, scar on his face, about this tall," she holds her hand up as far as she can to indicate. "That's him."
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The council members stare at each other.
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"If it helps, he's -" Finn tilts his head. "He's not /harmless/, but he generally doesn't want to hurt anyone."
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"Usually." Rey adds
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Mace clenches his fist. "I see. You are dismissed."
heyktula
Hahahaha, put that in your pipe and smoke it, Jedi order.
splinteredstar
Meanwhile, on a forested moon somewhere....
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Obi Wan emerges from the ship where he was speaking with the council and glances around the camp. Vos catches his eyes and nods. All as before
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They are both wary, unable to relax with the dark aura on the other side if the camp fire.
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Kylo looks up from adjusting his saber, and Obi Wan frowns.
"The council is... deciding on the best path."
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Kylo nods, looks down again. "I'm willing to go to corsecant with you. I'm just not willing to go to my death."
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Obi Wan frowns deeper and says nothing.
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Vos talks with his padawan but keeps an eye on kylo. Kylo ignores it.
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"Kenobi." Obi Wan starts, annoyed at his own surprise, and turns to the man. "You've fought a sith before."
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Obi Wan - nods, once.
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One side if kylo's mouth hitches up. It's almost a smile. "You reacted to my saber." He taps the side of his handle, of the blade that had sent Obi Wan spinning into the memory of his master dying on the floor of a Naboo reactor core.
splinteredstar
(It's also in the history books, but kylo doesn't say that.)
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"The master is still active, then?" Kylo nods to his own question. Obi Wan doesn't respond. "I'll help you kill him."
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"What, to take his place?" Vos snorts.
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Kylo shakes his head. "I'm no jedi, but I'll help you to defeat depur."
heyktula
!!!
splinteredstar
The jedi frown at the unfamiliar term. Out of the corner of his eye, Obi Wan sees Anakin jerk and glances at his padawan, but Anakin doesn't say anything.
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"Do you know who the sith lord is?" Vos asks.
Kylo smirks. "Would you believe me if I told you?"
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"Nope."
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Kylo inclines his head, still smirking.
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Kylo hangs his saber on his belt and stretches his arms up above his head. Everything about him sets Obi Wan's nerves on edge - he's too strong and too big, everything about him a sharp edge. He moves like a warrior and he smells like lightning.
splinteredstar
"I'll take first watch," the dark sider says, and Obi Wan's nerves kick up again. Kylo's smirk widens. "Don't worry, if I were going to kill you, I wouldn't do it when you were sleeping."
heyktula
omg Kylo. You are gonna give Obi Wan a heart attack, he is not mentally prepared for this.
splinteredstar
Kylo may or may not have a bone to pick with the person his parents named him after, yes
heyktula
Just a bit, haha.
(I feel like Kylo gets a lot out of travelling backwards because he knows? Like, he knows who people are and how history worked the first time, and it grounds him in a way that he didn't always have in his original timeline.)
splinteredstar
Yes. Plus it's only like the fourth most wtf thing that's ever happened to him
heyktula
Exactly.
splinteredstar
Kylo flexes his hand, the metal glinting dully. Firelight catches on symbols carved into the surface, outlining them in gold
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"Are you from Tattooine?" Anakin blurts out.
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Everyone stares, including kylo. Anakin flushes slightly.
"It's just, the symbols on your arm, and you said-"
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"My family is." Kylo says. He is no longer smirking. Instead he stares at Anakin with an expression no one understands. "Mom was Freeborn, grandad wasn't. I've picked up a bit of the language and the stories from him." He shrugs, suddenly awkward, his flesh hand wrapping around his metal one, tapping his thumb on the symbols.
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"What - what do the mean?" Ayla says, inching closer. Her lekku twitch, and she looks back to her master for encouragement. Vos - nods, because any information is better than none.
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Kylo tilts his head at her. He looks - strange, not just the darkness of his aura but also - the way he moves and the intensity of his stare.
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He holds his arm out to show her.
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"Lukka, freedom. My uncle. Leia, my mother." He looks up at Anakin's snort, one side of his mouth kicking up again. "It suits her, trust me. Rey, the wanderer, my cousin. Ekkreth, the trickster, for granddad." He pulls it back, awkward once more. ".....I've thought about getting the unfettered mark, but I. Haven't decided if I've earned it, yet."
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Anakin swallows, and nods in understanding
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Obi Wan stares at him, but will not ask in front of kylo.
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Anakin is - his mind is stuttering, a past he was told to abandon suddenly relevant to the jedi.( He tries not to be bitter about that.) He thinks about what it would mean for a a darksider to bear the unfettered mark.
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He thinks, why am I not afraid of you, and then feels guilty for it
splinteredstar
(I can explain the Tattooine Slave Culture bits there now but they will explained eventually anyway. Up to you)
heyktula
(I'm following everything up to the unfettered mark and the significance of a darksider wearing it. But I can get that info in context too!)
(as you continue)
splinteredstar
Kylo Ren stands, nods to the jedi, and walks to the edge of camp to take watch.
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Obi Wan stares at Anakin but Anakin just shakes his head and changes the subject to his classes in the temple
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That night, Obi Wan takes the next watch.
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Kylo sleeps separate from the rest, and yet
- okay, I know how this goes but I wanna get it right so, so, gimme a bit
Eeeeeeeeee. Ok!!!
splinteredstar
Kylo sleeps. Obi Wan spends more time watching the man sleep than he should, some instinctual awareness that does not go away
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He looks younger than he should. He looks vulnerable in a way that a sith - and Obi Wan cannot call him anything else, no matter what he claims - should not be
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There is a ripple in the force, the sense of something impending -
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The padawans are closer and feel it first, jolting out of their sleep - then Obi Wan feels it, a thick mess of guilt and shame and viceral /terror/ -
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- and kylo ren jerks awake, his metal hand flying to his face to hold in a scream. A pressure wave explodes out of him and the low campfire flickers
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The man looks up, oozing panic like an open wound
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-and then realization hits, and shame, and he shoots to his feet, fingers digging into the meat of his own arm
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"Shit, I didn't mean, my shielding is, /fuck/,"
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(His shielding is /awful/, Obi Wan thinks distantly, not weak but cracked and warped, like the aftermath of an air strike. The sith's shields were nothing like that, he thinks.)
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Kylo Ren heaves in a breath, and then another. The fire flickers and quakes under the the wave of his emotions.
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"Sorry," he finally says. He runs his metal hand through his hair, messing it further. "I. Didn't mean to wake anybody."
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"Depur?" Anakin meets kylo's eyes and there is something far too aware in that gaze
splinteredstar
Kylo laughs, breathless and exhausted. "Not the same one, but, ha, yeah." He heaves another breath, looking towards the edge of camp. "I'm gonna...try and meditate."
heyktula
Oh no, Kylo.
splinteredstar
Obi Wan nods, absently, and watches as the man settles on the edge of camp in a rough lotus, facing away. Obi Wan swallows, and looks over the padawans with raised eyebrows until they curl back up in their beds.
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Vos comes over to sit next to him. "May as well get up for my watch now, eh?"
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It is a long time before kylo ren returns to the camp, his presence in the force - calmer than it was before, at least.
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Eventually Obi Wan nods to Vos, and settles onto his sleeping bag. He expects troubled thoughts, but falls into sleep almost instantly
Aaaand I need to sleep myself, so, pick up from there in a bit
heyktula
Ok!!! I have many Kylo feelings. And also many obi wan feelings.
splinteredstar
I always have kylo feels. And Anakin feels tbh. There'll be more Obi Wan feels soon
splinteredstar
Obi Wan - tbh for me he's mostly the... well meaning believer. He fucks up with Anakin. He's aware enough to tell that shit goes wrong but not enough to think that the jedi might not have the solution.
splinteredstar
Like I feel sorry for him but I also want to shout at him a lot
splinteredstar
....I just realized that applies to a lot of characters. Whoops.
heyktula
Totally accurate, though. Obi Wan did fuck up big.
Today at 9:13 AM
splinteredstar
Obi Wan sleeps and - dreams
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It is a dream. It must be a dream.
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It starts with fire, with his throat clogged by smoke and grief; it starts with staring down at his friend, his brother, his student burning and not being able to do what he should; it starts with knowing that he had failed.
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Maybe if he had been a better jedi, he thinks in the dream; if he had been more impartial, if he hadn't loved the man so damn much he would have been able to save him
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"You can," the dream whispers, in a voice scraped raw by grief and desert sand. "He can be saved yet. But it will not be by being a better jedi, Knight Kenobi."
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He whips around, looking for the voice. "What do you mean?" He is dreaming and so he can plead, he can shout, he can feel all the things a jedi shouldn't. "How do I save him?"
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His vision fills with a desert, and a man in battered old robes and white hair. He is familiar, somehow, but the meaning of this escapes him.
splinteredstar
"Do what you must, not what you have been taught. Trust in yourself and in the force, not in those who claim to speak for it. Your love is not a weakness, Knight Kenobi." The man smiles, very sadly. "Good luck."
splinteredstar
Obi Wan awakes, with words in his head and the taste of sand in his mouth.
heyktula
!!!!!!!
splinteredstar
Obi Wan feels?
heyktula
Yessssss.
splinteredstar
Yeah, Anakin isn't the only force ghost knocking about.
splinteredstar
(Also: why the jedi found kylo and Palpatine didn't)
heyktula
Aaaahhhhhh, yes.
splinteredstar
*snazzy scene transition here*
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"The council will contact us this evening with their decision."
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The padawans nod. Kylo ren sits, fiddling with his saber, and eventually looks up with an acknowledgement
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"Well, if we've got time then...." Vos says, grinning. Ayla catches his expression and groans.
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"Sparring, master?" She says, her lekku crossed over her face.
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Vos slaps her on the shoulder, laughing. "Na, why don't you and Anakin take a run? Environmental awareness in an unfamiliar environment."
Anakin looks up at Obi Wan, but his master inclines his head. "Yes, that would be a good place to start today."
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"There is a waterfall two clicks that way," kylo indicates with a tilt of his head. "But the ground is unstable. That way," he indicates another direction, "there are some local beasts. I don't think they're carnivores but don't get too close."
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The padawans look at each other, and then their masters. "Waterfall?" Anakin says, and Obi Wan suppresses a smile. Always drawn to water.
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Permission given, the padawans take off.
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(Time passes)
heyktula
(now I have Anakin feels)
splinteredstar
(You'll have more)
heyktula
(*tries to prepare*)
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Obi Wan tries to meditate, still tasting smoke and sand whenever he touches the force. The dream lingers, details solid but meaning obscured. He does not recognize the man burning on the ground, or the old man in the desert.
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Part of his mind follows Anakin. The padawans are chatting as they run, apparently - and then there is a flare in the force and a spike of panic -
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He's on his feet and running before he notices that Vos and kylo are following.
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He skids to a stop when he reaches them, a klick away from camp. No predators and no attackers - just padawans with bruises and a swollen ankle
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"Masters!" Anakin tries to stand, but staggers. Broken, at least hairline. "It was my-" he starts, but Ayla shushes him.
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"It was not, I was the one distracting you-"
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"Padawans. " Obi Wan says in what has been called his librarian voice. "Start from the beginning. And stop putting weight on that ankle."
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Anakin thumps down on the ground. It is very uneven, and loose stones litter the ground.
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"We were coming back, masters," Ayla starts, her lekku twitching with her nerves. "I - was asking him about Tattooine, and what he remembered of it, and I wasn't paying attention so I slipped, and he tried to catch me and then /he/ slipped." She swallowed, trying to still her lekku
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"I should have been paying better attention," Anakin mutters.
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"We can discuss that when we return to camp." Obi Wan says. "Anakin, can you walk?"
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"I can fix your ankle." Kylo says. Everyone looks at him. He shrugs, awkward. "If you want. I can."
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"Anakin-"
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"Yeah, sure." Anakin says. He meets Obi Wan's eyes and then looks away. "Go ahead."
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Ren kneels, and reaches for Anakin's ankle carefully. Obi Wan wants to rip him away from his padawan, but something in him hesitates.
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Anakin has no fear of this man, and Obi Wan has not figured out why
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The dark cannot heal. This is basic knowledge of the jedi. Healing is a light side power, the power to restore and organize cells correctly. The dark can only destroy
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Likewise, those who are in the dark cannot touch the light. This is basic knowledge as well, taught in the creche and echoed by yoda
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As Obi Wan watches, kylo ren, darksider and possible sith, reaches for the light and touches it
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He heals Anakin's ankle, and then offers a hand to help him up.
Anakin tests the ankle and nods.
Obi Wan - stares.
*scene break, assume they get back to camp*
heyktula
Anakin! So brave to just be like "yeah, totally, heal me"
And Obi Wan, I can basically hear the cognitive dissonance from here. Like, none of this should be possible.
heyktula
And Kylo, being friendly and helpful and not threatening.
And also, like, Kylo's feelings as he fixes Anakin's ankle.
splinteredstar
As non threatening as kylo is capable of, yes
heyktula
Ha, yes.
splinteredstar
And yeah, I honestly could have written that from any pov
Anakin or kylo's
splinteredstar
Obi Wan is not having a good time
heyktula
Yeah, there's good emotional points no matter whose pov.
Making Obi Wan squirm is just delightful to me.
splinteredstar
It is very fun
heyktula
I just really feel like as a character, he was in a really pivotal position re Anakin, but wasn't the right person to be able to help him because he just believed in the Order so strongly.
But if that relationship had been different - specifically, if Obi Wan had been different - things might have turned out very differently for Anakin.
splinteredstar
Yep. And this fic is largely "SLAVERY MATTERS" tbh
heyktula
Yes, it really is.
I think it also deals with "individuals matter" as well.
And not just, you know, legacies, or who you represent.
splinteredstar
I think I might have like a brand new fucking subplot actually but we'll see how that happens
splinteredstar
Okay. *cracks knuckles* when we last left our heroes...
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Jedi + kylo have returned to camp. Everyone is quiet. Kylo walks as if he doesn't realize he has shaken the foundations of all those walking with him - as is what he has done is meaningless and unremarkable
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Ayla sits as her master heals her bruises, her lekku twitching. "Anakin," she says. She feels bashful and uncomfortable, but none of that is his fault, she thinks. "I'm sorry if I - made you uncomfortable with what I was asking." Anakin looks up, and then shrugs.
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"It's fine, it just surprised me." He quirks a smile, and it looks familiar somehow. "....not a lot of people ask about Tattooine." He doesn't call it home. He doesn't.
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One lekku goes up in a sort of shrug. She braces herself, glances around - Obi Wan is watching, and she doesn't understand his expression. Kylo is watching the fire.
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"You were born a slave?" Anakin -pauses, glances at Obi Wan, and slowly nods. "...Wow. I mean. That's awful, I mean that you went through that- " she hides her face. "I'm just gonna stop."
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"Hey, you're doing fine kid," Vos says, patting his shy padawan on the shoulder.
splinteredstar sent a post Sometim...
(This is....gonna be relevant later.)
heyktula
Ooooooh yeah.
heyktula
Of course there's no therapy.
splinteredstar
Anakin shrugs. He seems smaller, now, something in his aura shrinking in on itself. Obi Wan stares, and wonders why he'd never seen this before
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"It's fine, just..." he looks down, thinks of the symbols carved into kylo's hand, meanings he'd made himself believe he'd forgotten. "People don't usually believe me. Slavery is illegal in the republic, after all."
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Obi Wan stares. He tastes smoke and sand in his mouth.
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Ayla blinks at him. "...Anakin, I'm a twi'lek." She gestures with her lekku, then catches her master staring at her. "....sorry, master Vos, but. Sometimes when we're out, people don't realize we're jedi and - assume things."
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"....fuck, kid, you should have said something!" Vos bursts out. Ayla shrugs a lekku.
"It wouldn't have changed their minds, master."
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Anakin smiles, barely. Something in his aura has relaxed a bit. "Yeah, mom knew some twi'lek dancers from back when she worked at a Hutt's place. I never got the chance to meet them, though I speak a little Ryl."
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Ayla kicks her feet against the rock she's perched on. Suddenly she looks very, very young. "Yeah. I mean." She looks around, a little guilty. "If I hadn't been found by the jedi, I might have been found by...someone else. Even now if I get separated from my master in the wrong place and I mess up and can't protect myself I -" she shakes her head. "I'm sorry master vos, I know I should be more confident and trust the force, I just - I wanted to. I don't know. Find out more."
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Obi Wan watches. He knows what the jedi masters would do in this situation. He knows what he should do - reassure her in the will of the force, that fear and doubt will cripple her.
His dream echoes in his ears
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(He is in a place where a darksider can heal. He is so very far from the temple and the masters and his doubts, his confusion freeze the words in his throat)
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"You're facing a threat you don't know how to handle. Gathering information from a reliable source isn't a bad place to start." Kylo says, and then smirks. "Not that I expect you to take advice from me."
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Vos nods, and takes his padawan's hand. "Hey. Kid. I'm sorry you've had that happen, and that you've been afraid. When we get back, we'll talk about adjustments we can make to your training so that that doesn't happen, okay? Self defense and escape tactics."
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Ayla blinks at him, her lekku stiffening for a second. Then she smiles. "....okay, master, I think... that might help. Thank you. "
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Obi Wan swallows. That is not what a master would have said. But maybe it is what she needed, and even that thought is uncomfortable.
heyktula
(ha, Obi Wan. Sit with your discomfort until it stops feeling bad. Just, like, sit with it.)
splinteredstar
I kind of want to hug Ayla now.
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She wasn't even this scene the last time. I added her and vos as a whim but suddenly she's important
heyktula
She's so important.
And, like, twi'leks are treated so poorly in star wars.
splinteredstar
Right. At the temple, the council is arguing. Finn is spending a lot of time in the library, and asking very innocent questions
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Eventually, the council agrees to a solution. It is not ideal. But it is better than nothing.
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"Masters," Obi Wan says with a bow when the holocall comes through.
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"Knight Kenobi. What is the situation?"
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Obi Wan opens his mouth, and lets out a breath. He spent the afternoon meditating, but he is still not sure how to begin
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"It is... stable," he settles on. "There have been no conflicts. The darksider is willing to come to the temple, as long as he is not killed." A council member snorts. "He has also offered to assist us in defeating the sith."
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Yoda's ears flick. "Many things, the darkness promises."
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Obi Wan swallows. He feels so many things that he should not. He should not correct master yoda and yet -
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"Master Yoda, I -" that ancient being looks at him with raised eyebrows, and Obi Wan swallows again. "He can touch the light, master."
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Silence.
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"Are you certain, Knight Kenobi?"
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Obi Wan chuckles, breathlessly. "Masters, I admit that I am not certain of many things right now. But I have watched him heal, and felt him touch the light. I do not know what it means."
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Silence once more.
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"Speak to him, I would. To the call, bring him."
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A few moments later, a man steps into the view of the call.
splinteredstar
(Out of steam, will pick up later)
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The council wishes to speak to this darksider that has unsettled Obi Wan so much.
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A human steps into the holocall. They are taller than most, towering over Obi Wan. Their robes are black and battered, cut for battle and hard wearing.
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Black hair, braided away from their face; a scar, thick and ugly crossed their face, barely missing an eye; a lightsaber that looked like it was made out of scrap hung from one hip
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Symbols unfamiliar to the council glint on the man's hand. A glove? No.
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From the other side of the galaxy, with only the connection that eye contact allows - the council can tell that this man is dark as night, and incredibly powerful
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And yet. No aggression, no intent to harm.
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Yoda's ears flick back, and he frowns.
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"Of the dark, you are. Your name?" Yoda says. Rude, but the man had started it by not greeting them properly
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If the man notices the rudeness there is no indication. "Kylo Ren," he says, and there is no flicker in the force to indicate that he is lying. "I know who you are."
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Yoda's ears flick once more. There is nothing about this he likes
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"If you do," Mace says, leaning forward in his chair slightly, " then you know that we are sworn to destroy the dark."
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"You can't."
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Muttering through the council chamber. Yoda straightens in his chair and scowls. "Doubt our strength, you do?"
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Finally a flicker of expression emerges on the man's face. Before this he spoke flatly, bluntly, his face blank and impassive -but now he sighs slightly, rolling his eyes.
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(For a moment, he looks years younger)
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"That's not the point, it's a naturally occurring phenomenon. You may as well swear to destroy the force of gravity." A huffed breath.
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"And yet, you say you will help us defeat the sith." Mace says. He does not argue philosophical points.
heyktula
(I'm over here just, like, contemplating the dark as a naturally occurring phenomenon. I don't know why I never think of things this way till you suggest it, but wow.)
splinteredstar
(A lot of it depends on definitions - whether you define darkness as cruelty and acts of evil which unavoidably cause harm, or things like selfishness and anger which are necessary and healthy to accept.
heyktula
I think I'm used to thinking about dark as the cruelty and acts of evil, which I don't believe to be naturally occurring, but also I think they come from selfishness and anger and jealousy and all those other 'negative' emotions, and I think those are very very normal.
splinteredstar
Yeah, that.
Is evil a thing you are or a thing you do.
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Also I should say that a part of this timeline is that is possible to do a great deal of damage with the light. Part of Rey's force nature is that she is the light that burns, the desert sun at midday.
heyktula
Exactly. And I'm very firmly in the 'thing you do' camp. Like, there's a couple people who I don't believe have shown much indication they're capable of doing non-evil things, but people are all people. Even if we don't like them or are scared of them or don't understand them, they're all people.
YES damage with the light, thank you. Nobody addresses that.
heyktula
It's so strange to me because there's so much talk about the ethics in terms of dark side users, but hardly any talk on the light because we just hndwave.
splinteredstar
But they're the good guys, so obviously they've got it right!
heyktula
(I went to a writing conference in August and I was at so many panels where other writers wanted to double down on that whole 'some people are just evil' thing and I'm always like 'nooooooooo pls don't')
splinteredstar
(Don't get me wrong, there is a significant subset of the fandom in the "the jedi council is full of shit" camp)
heyktula
You know what I wanna see? A discussion of the ethics of "these aren't the droids you're looking for", and whether mind control being 'gentle' makes it ok.
The Jedi council is so full of shit.
I have anxiety, and I can just imagine how much of a failure I would feel like trying to be a Jedi.
splinteredstar
I think I've seen the mind control thing referenced in a fic but I'd have to dig it up. And there are some fairly intense consent things later on in this plotline
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But it's like. For me, the darkness means secrets. And human beings are allowed to have secrets. I am not obligated to drag my entire being into the light. I am allowed to have somewhere to hide
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The light does not mean safety for everyone
heyktula
Exactly.
I agree with this so much.
It's ok to have secrets or things we don't say - and a lot of times, it's important.
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Slight spoiler but let's just say there is section later of the exact definition of "balance in the force"
heyktula
!!! Good.
splinteredstar
...tbh I'm partially staring at this scene and going "manners kylo ffs" but
heyktula
I think Kylo is doing his best considering his Feelings about everything that happened with Anakin.
I mean, yeah, he could definitely be much politer. But it's not like he's carrying around mild feelings here.
splinteredstar
True. And also he's being stated at by people in authority who hate him for things he can't control.
heyktula
Exactly, and I feel like that's kinda a consistent trigger for him.
splinteredstar
Yeah, seriously. It's not as bad as it could be, because he's shoving them in the box of "they have no real authority over me" - no emotional weight, he could defeat them in battle. There's the symbolic significance of Real Jedi hating him, but he's been preparing for that
splinteredstar
He's approaching it as a conflict, and that helps
splinteredstar
Right. /start
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"I will." And again, the force gives no indication of a lie, even though yoda is looking very closely for one.
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"Why?" A council member asks. Depa, perhaps.
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"Because the sith need to be destroyed and you're not capable of doing it alone." The council mutters. Kylo rolls his eyes again. "If you were capable of killing me, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And if you can't take out a single darksider alone and unsupported, then you cannot touch the sith lord that threatens you."
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Silence. The force rings with the truth of his words, and Yoda's ears twitch with it.
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(To be entirely fair they /could/ beat kylo. But they'd have to do it by throwing bodies at him until he's buried in corpses.)
"....if to assist us you do, concessions we require." It is distasteful, and sets something sour in Yoda's stomach. But the fact remains: the return of the sith caught them off guard and their knowledge of the dark has been lost. Any resource must be exploited.
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The man nods.
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"Your saber will be kept in a secure place unless needed." Mace says, his arms crossed. "You will tell us every thing we ask about the dark and the sith. You will wear a force inhibitor that can only be removed by a member of the Council. We may alter these terms depending on your behavior."
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The force inhibitor had led to the longest argument amongst the council. Some were appalled such a thing existed in the council archives at all. Some argued that cutting someone off from the force was too cruel even against a darksider.
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The man stares back at Mace. They would render him helpless, and everyone there knew it. Finally, slowly, he nods.
heyktula
(ugh, I gasped irl. The force inhibitor. Kylo agreeing. Augh.)
splinteredstar
(Yeaaaah. It's....not quite as horrific as it appears now, but no one there knows that, so. )
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"Very well."
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"Knight Kenobi." Obi Wan steps into view once more and bows. He is still shaken. Listening to this discussion has done nothing to sooth him. "We will send a ship with a shielded chamber. You will swap ships with the pilot and return. We will speak further when you return."
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And the holocall ends
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*insert sensible scene transition here*
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"Results?" Vos says as the two emerge from the ship.
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Obi Wan swallows, tucks his hands into his sleeves. "They are sending a ship with a shielded chamber. We will return to corsecant."
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Kylo walks past. His aura in the force frays, cracking suddenly -
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-he was calm on the call, dark and ready but it was a still darkness- but suddenly Obi Wan can tell exactly how difficult it was, exactly how thin the boundaries are worn
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He is a weapon half drawn, a blaster primed, charged and quivering with impending movement -
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"Ren," he starts - the man spins to him with a snap in the force, power flaring out of him and grounding like lightning -
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- Obi Wan feels the power flash past him, and a rock behind him shatters
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Ren's eyes shoot open and the power is wrenched back. His emotions bleed guilt and shame and a hatred that is directed completely inward
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"Fuck, i." Kylo heaves a breath. He has snapped to icy calm to boiling emotion quickly enough that Obi Wan cannot process. "Sorry, I just. I need to be - elsewhere."
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Obi Wan - nods and steps out of his way.
It is unlikely they would be able to lose him, as brightly as he burns in the force
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From the camp, they can feel the outpouring of emotion, the flare of rage-shame-fear, acid fire and power thick enough to down trees.
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The jedi stare out in that direction. "...for the record," Vos says, eyes wide, "when i say to give your emotions over to the force, that is /not/ what I mean."
Today at 2:56 PM
heyktula
Oh, my Kylo feelings. H's doing so well and he's come so far but holy shit, he's carrying so much.
splinteredstar
Ren returns, an hour of what Obi Wan is hesitant to call meditation later.
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His sense of the force is - it is not a true calm, but exhaustion.
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Ren looks over, his hair damp with sweat, and nods. "I...apologize for earlier. It was not intended as a threat. "
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"Accepted." And oddly, Obi Wan believes him. There was no directed malicious intent in the action, merely an overload of emotion. Still dangerous, and still needing to be controlled, but not intentionally
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"How long until the ship arrives?" Ren settles on the ground. He still burns with power, even as exhausted. If burning that much power off left him standing....
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"At least overnight."
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Anakin rubs one foot against the ground. "I can take watch, if you want to sleep." Obi Wan glances over, not sure what to do about his padawan's seeming connection with this darksider. Clearly based on a shared culture, but that was not a problem the jedi often have.
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Ren snorts, shakes his head. "I'll sleep on the ship." Obi Wan stares at him and knows that the others are as well. Any jedi should be able to stay awake for days at a time, but to do so for no reason after such an expenditure of energy...
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Ren glances up and then ducks his head from their gazes, folding up more than a man his size should be able to. "....my shields are weaker when I'm asleep," he mutters.
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"....don't want to wake anyone up." He adds, a moment later.
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Anakin stares, and Obi Wan can feel the boy's heart ache with sympathy when he remembers the nightmare from the night before. He should not, but...now was not the time.
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"Oh. Um, thank you?" Ayla says.
She flushes a bit when Ren looks over at her, but he just inclines his head and settles on the ground.
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(Crap he was already sitting down. Scratch that)
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"Um. Can I ask a question?" She says, nervous, her lekku twitching. "If that's okay."
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Ren stares at her and just waits, so after a nervous glance at her master she soldiers on.
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"Um. I've - never seen someone with shielding like yours? Everyone at the temple, I mean, I've never felt someone else's dream unless we were doing it on purpose, and."
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Her lekku curl around her shoulder. "I'm sorry, that's probably really rude, I."
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"Depur?" Anakin says, his voice too even, too sure, too old for his age, the force ringing in his words. Obi Wan can feel the edges of an idea through his bond, but does not get know what it means.
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Ren nods in Anakin's direction, a sardonic smile on his face
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"Um. You said it earlier, but I've- never heard that word before, I don't know what it means." Ayla is flushing faintly purple, but braver now that she hasn't received a negative response yet.
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Ren looks over to Anakin again, metal hand held out to indicate he can take the lead. The carvings glint in the firelight.
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"It's - in the language of slaves, on Tattooine. It means master-" here, he cuts off with a guilty look at Obi Wan, and obi wan cannot understand what his padawan is feeling. "Well, slaver, really."
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Oh. Oh, Obi Wan is a thousand kinds of fool.
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His emotions, his shock and his sadness, must leak through the bond, and he feels the spike of alarm from Anakin, right before be starts talking - "Master, I know those aren't the same, I was just -"
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"Anakin." A pause, and obi wan swallows. Thinks of Ayla, reassured; thinks of a dream whispering that he will not save his padawan by being a good jedi. "I am not upset at you. We will... speak when we get back to the temple."
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Anakin slowly nods, and kicks his feet against his seat. He's so young, Obi Wan thinks suddenly
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"Depur is what grandad always called the sith," Ren says, as if ignoring the other words. A small, private smirk. "Among other people."
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That idea edges at Anakin's mind once more, it's shape too strange for Obi Wan to understand.
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"Was yours one?" Anakin asks, and for a moment Obi Wan does not understand what his padawan is asking. But ren does.
A shake of his head. "Not a sith. But something like it."
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The shape solidifies, a spike of outrage and terror, the image of a slaver with the force and a sick guilty graditude that watto had never realized what Anakin could do with the force -
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"Well that is fucking terrifying." Vos blurts.
Ren just smiles, and turns back to the fire.
Aaaand scene break
heyktula
Aaaaahhhhh, my feelings. There's just so much.... Like, all of the Jedi are just on the verge of a paradigm shift, and Kylo is able to help everyone find words for things and the masters are starting to see what is going wrong.
And Kylo is doing so well. I'm so proud of him.
splinteredstar
paradigm shift for those four people there, which... is going to get harder when they're back in the temple, tbh
also kylo is probably going to quietly have a breakdown once he knows he's not gonna give every jedi in the system a migraine doing it