Star Wars: Learning to See. (Slash) R [3/8]
Title: Learning to See [3/8]
Fandom: Star Wars, The Prequels
Rating: R Overall, PG this chapter
Characters/Pairing(s): Obi-Wan Kenobi/Mace Windu / Obi-Wan, Mace, Master Yoda, Bant Eerin, Bruck Chun, Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker
Word Count: ~3,200/32,000.
Warnings: Light slash, violence, character death, language.
Timeline/Spoilers: Alternate Universe/Some spoilers for Jedi Apprentice #6: The Uncertain Path & #7: The Captive Temple by Jude Watson and Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.
Disclaimer: Read my general disclaimer here.
Beta: The absolutely amazing and wonderful lias9!
Written for: 2010 scifibigbang, round 2.
Summary: AU. As the galaxy is thrown into turmoil, Obi-Wan tries to fulfill his duty to himself and the Jedi Order, even in the face of his new disability.
A/N 1: PLEASE NOTE! You do NOT have to know anything about the Jedi Apprentice books or Expanded Universe to enjoy this story!! A basic understanding of the Prequels should be all that's required to read and comprehend this piece of work!
Previous Chapter
Chapter Three: The Investigation
Three years later (46 BBY)...
The last few weeks had been difficult for everyone in the Temple. The atmosphere was wary and strained. Everyone living in the hallowed halls watched each other with mistrust, as if they could root out the wrong-doer with their mistrustful stares.
The incidents had started off small, nothing more than a few petty thefts and vandalism, but those incidents had quickly lead into something much larger. Something that made all those living within the Temple watch each other with open suspicion.
Gone was the peaceful air of content and love. The respectful atmosphere that had been felt so clearly was now soured into fear and suspicion. Masters that had trusted their students so completely before, now required their charges to account for every second of their day. Younglings and Padawans walked the halls, clustered into anxious groups. The Knights that were currently in residence seemed nervous; even some of the Masters were jittery under their venerable Jedi calm. All Jedi that were away from the Temple had been told to stay away, and anyone set to leave on missions had been detained, excepting only emergencies. Life at the Temple had basically come to a stop.
Mace shook his head at his own thoughts. He couldn't believe something like this could have happened at the Temple of all places. He had grown up trusting these people, thinking of them as his family, and knew they felt the same way.
It had started only a few weeks back when some small, almost inconsequential, items had gone missing. Nothing large: a meditation robe, a toolkit, a sports kit, some files. The reported thefts had been dismissed as carelessness and the general populace had been kept uninformed and clueless. Only one Council-member had not dismissed the significance behind the thefts. At the time, Mace had noticed Yoda's preoccupation and, in an action he would later regret, had offered his help in any way he could.
Not long after that, one of the training rooms had been heavily vandalised, and all the training lightsabers that had been stored within, stolen.
Mace could safely say he'd never seen that particular sad and troubled look pass across Master Yoda's face until he watched the tiny Master survey the destroyed training room.
There was an anger Mace could feel in the room's destruction that was worrying. Since this room was buried in an older section of the Temple, it would not be easily accessible for an outsider to find without being spotted by the Temple Security force. Realising that, it was easy to conclude something no one wanted to say aloud: this act of destruction on Temple property, executed with such hate and violence, had been committed by someone living within the Temple. And that scared him. It scared all of the Jedi.
***
Prior to the incident in the training room, Mace himself had only known about the smaller thefts because of Master Yoda's askance that he investigate the instances. But after the destruction of the training room, the Council supported Master Yoda's assignment by raising Mace's security clearance and, with great reluctance, raising the Temple's security to high alert.
The news of the incident itself had spread quickly through the populace, leading to the current attitude of distrust and fear.
Another few days passed while Mace tried to pinpoint sources of the rumours and whispers that an intruder had been seen inside the Temple. Everyone he questioned led him to someone else who heard the rumour from, in turn, someone else.
Every lead he followed brought him to just another dead end. So when the Healing Crystals of Fire were stolen next, Mace was beginning to feel rather helpless. His investigation hadn't brought him any closer to the culprit, or the missing items. The Council was acting as if they were walking on eggshells, and the next time Mace saw Yoda; he couldn't help but notice how tired the old Master looked. The theft of the Crystals was just that extra little bit that could tear the Order apart and Mace wondered if there was anything he could do to stop it.
The Healing Crystals of Fire were a set of Focusing Crystals that had been passed down through the Order for millenniums, one of the Jedi's oldest treasures. The Crystals had been under some of the highest security the Jedi could offer, while still being accessible to any Jedi who wished to use them. Mace himself had mediated with the powerful stones many times.
When Yoda had informed him that the Crystals had disappeared, Mace could tell the Master was apprehensive, desperate even, to stop the intruder. At the time, the tiny being reiterated the need to catch the person responsible and the need to know why such Jedi treasures had been targeted.
"Something else is troubling you. What is it?" Mace had watched Yoda pause by the door and turn to face him.
There had been a deep sadness on Yoda's face that made him start. "Troubled visions I have been having during my meditations."
Mace had felt himself speechless as Yoda turned again and left, the Master's limp more pronounced than he had ever remembered seeing it. Mace knew Yoda was very strong in the Unifying Force, and had seen many horrifying and sad things in visions over the many years of his life. If a vision could leave the Master this disturbed, he couldn't help but worry over what Yoda had foreseen.
***
Mace sighed as told the knight assisting in organising the interviews to bring the next student into the room. He'd been interviewing Initiates and Padawans who had access to the Crystals all morning. He'd not yet been able to catch a break and he was tired. Mace looked down at his list, the next one was-he rubbed his head in frustration-Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was wasting his time even bringing in the child. Mace had been giving Obi-Wan private lightsaber instruction for the past three years and trusted the boy almost as much as he trusted his own Padawan. Obi-Wan had an incredible dedication to the Force and the Order; Mace knew without doubt that the child would never have had anything to do with something like this.
When the door opened, to Mace's surprise, not one but two Initiates stepped over the threshold and into the room. Obi-Wan strode in first, dragging his best friend Bant, in after him.
"Obi-Wan," Mace frowned as the small auburn haired boy and his friend sat on the chairs provided, "I'm pretty sure Knight T'ryelli asked only you to come in."
Obi-Wan grinned back at the dark-skinned Master jollily. Mace fondly recalled a time when his frown had scared the boy half to death. There was little he could do to intimidate the rambunctious child these days.
"Let's make this quick then Obi-Wan, I have a lot of interviews to finish and it's almost time for noonmeal." Mace shuffled through the case notes on his datapad before finding a new line and entering Obi-Wan's name and Clan-Master.
"Do you have anything to do with the thefts that have occurred in the past few weeks?" Mace recited from the pre-made questionnaire. The question was so stupid that Mace couldn't help but feel he should do away with the questionnaire entirely. Even if he were to interview the culprit, they would not answer yes. The Master who had made the questionnaire for him had obviously been deluded. Just because the Jedi valued honesty, didn't mean each individual practised it, especially if they were vandalising property and stealing priceless Jedi artefacts.
"No, I-"
"Have you seen," Mace cut the boy off. After all, he really didn't want to miss noonmeal today. He hadn't been to noonmeal in almost a week because of this case. "Any suspicious activity amongst any of your peers in the past few weeks?"
"No, but-"
"Have you heard anything unusual circulating amongst your crèchemates?"
"I-"
"Then you are free to return to your class. If you think of anything later, please inform your Clan-Master," Mace finished his spiel, his mind far away.
"But Master Windu!" Obi-Wan's voice broke through Mace's contemplation with its urgency.
Mace looked up from his notes, his face neutral, even in his impatience.
Realising he had the Knight's attention, Obi-Wan glanced at his friend sitting to beside him. "While it's true that I haven't seen or heard anything myself, something unusual happened to Bant the other day... Well, maybe she should tell you," Obi-Wan gave the girl an encouraging nod.
Mace turned his attention to the small amphibious girl, who looked about ready to bolt out of her seat in fear.
"Well, uh, five days ago, the night the training room was broken into..." The girl glanced nervously at Obi-Wan.
Before he'd begun interviewing the students for the investigation, only a few days ago, Mace had never before realised how terrified the younglings were of him. He nodded encouragingly at the girl, "Go on."
"Well, when I was getting ready for bed that night, I realised I'd forgotten something by the lake where I'd been for a swim just a few hours earlier. Rather than leave it for the night, especially with so many things in the Temple going missing, I decided to go get it. I left my dorm and went down to the Lake Level. I had just found what I was looking for by the lake's shore and was about to leave when I heard what sounded like someone surfacing in the lake. It was pretty dark, but I watched as someone came out of the lake a few feet away and hurried towards one of the exits. I thought it was odd at the time, but dismissed it and returned to my room." The Mon Calamarian finished.
"Why didn't you come forward with this information earlier?" Mace looked at the girl suspiciously.
The girl's salmon-pink skin flushed magenta in embarrassment. "I, uh-"
Mace watched as Obi-Wan placed his hand reassuringly on the girls arm.
Bant nodded and looked up at Mace from where she'd been studying the floor. "That night, I didn't ask my Crèche-Master if I could leave. I didn't want to get in trouble, especially the next day when everyone was looking so angry and suspicious." The girl paused and glanced at her friend. "But Obi-Wan convinced me that it was important that I tell you," She looked back at him, her fear apparent on her pink face.
Mace was quiet for a minute, contemplating what the girl had said. Finally he looked up at the children and nodded. "You did the right thing in telling me."
He stood and walked to the door. Opening it, he asked Knight T'ryelli to dismiss the rest of the children waiting to be interviewed. It was almost noonmeal, so at least someone would get to eat it, if not him, again.
Hand still on the door, he entertained the idea of dismissing the two children sitting behind him and calling the Temple Security to search the lake's bottom. He knew though, that such a large number of people searching in one spot would probably let the culprit know how close he was and he wanted to keep the thieving bastard as out of the loop as possible.
Turning, he looked down at the two Initiates, one wide-eyed and the other strangely calm. "Follow me," he spoke before turning back and walking out of the door.
The trip through the halls was quiet, the Jedi passing through them silent and nervous. Only a few weeks ago, Mace would have encountered smiles, chatter and open trust. He was glad for the lead and could only hope it proved fruitful. He wanted, no, he needed to see his Jedi brothers and sisters smile again. And he wanted to hear quiet laughter echo through the hallways of the crèche once again.
***
The two males stopped just in front of the lake while Bant walked a few feet along the shore.
"He came out about here," she pointed.
Mace looked out at the lake. "Bant, could you dive under just a few feet out? Look for something along the bottom of the lake in this area that shouldn't be there."
The Mon Calimarian nodded enthusiastically, giving Mace a small smile that surprised him. She stripped off her tunics to a suit she always wore underneath her clothes that was made for swimming.
Obi-Wan stepped forward, standing close to Mace's side as Bant dove into the water.
"Master Mace?" The boy looked up at him. Obi-Wan and his Padawan, Depa, were the only ones who had ever called him that. It was strangely odd to realise the boy reverted to the standard "Master Windu" when in the presence of other Jedi.
In the past, he would have protested the informality. Maybe he was growing soft as he aged, or maybe-more likely-the kid had grown on him over the past three years.
Mace cocked his eyebrow, giving Obi-Wan silent permission to continue.
"It's a Jedi isn't it," a pained look crossed the Initiates face, "The person doing all of this."
Mace frowned in response.
"How are we supposed to protect ourselves from one of our own?" The child had always been strangely mature for his age, and sometimes Mace forgot how young Obi-Wan was. There was a fear on Obi-Wan's face that Mace knew the Initiate would be trained to hide over the next few years of his Jedi training. Mace realised what a shame that would be, Obi-Wan had such an expressive face.
"I don't have all of the answers," Mace admitted quietly.
Obi-Wan looked like he wanted to reply, but before he could, the silence that fell between them was broken, as Bant surfaced and the water splashed around her.
"You were right Master Windu," she spoke as she tread water. "There's something down here. A container of some sort."
Mace paused to pull off his robe, outer tunic and boots before picking up the carbon rope he'd brought with him and waded out into the water.
Bant dove back under the water and Mace followed, watching her pale pink form move further and further into the artificial lake's murky depths. He hadn't brought a breather with him, instead he would use the Force to slow his lungs and thereby decrease the amount of oxygen his body needed and hoped it would be enough to make the trip down and back up.
When the container Bant had mentioned came into view, Mace wasted no time in tying the cord around the box and pulling it up out of the mud that made up the bottom of the lake.
After resurfacing and pulling the crate out of the water, Mace braced himself against a nearby tree and let himself catch his breath.
After his heartbeat had returned to its normal rhythm, he knelt before the crate and opened it, conscious of the two Initiates watching him. The box was an air-tight container with a special pump used to store things underwater.
The box was filled with the missing lightsabers. Underneath the lightsabers were almost all of the other missing items. All except the toolkit and...
Mace sighed unhappily. "The Crystals are not here."
***
Yoda had seemed pleased to learn that the lightsabers and other items had been found, but his face gave away his worry when he was told the Crystals were still missing.
The recovery of the Crystals and the discovery of the culprit were still as necessary as ever and so, a trap was set.
The container holding the lightsabers was returned, as if untouched, and a watch of a few highly trusted Jedi Masters were set to watch the lake after the high-security enforced curfew started each night for the next week.
And so it was that when the trap was sprung two nights later, Mace was catching up on some much needed sleep.
The two Masters on watch that night claimed to have seen a small figure approach the water and shed his cloak. Before he’d been able to dive into the water, one of the Masters had been able to identify the figure as Initiate Bruck Chun.
When the child had resurfaced, he siphoned off as much water from his clothes as he could before turning. Instead of exiting, the initiate took off on a footpath that wound around the lake and through the rooms fauna, ending at a service entrance near the base of the Temple.
Convinced that Bruck could not have orchestrated the crimes by himself, the Masters had followed him, hopeful that they would learn the identity of the collaborator. The Masters had thought that by following him instead of detaining him, they might be able to catch Bruck's partner.
Their assumption that Bruck was going to meet his partner was mostly based on the fact that Bruck was heading towards the lake level’s service entrance and away from any of the exits to the Temple. The two Masters’ knew that the lake level's service entrance would be the perfect place to arrange a clandestine meeting as it would be easy to use the cover of darkness that blanketed the room at night. On top of that, both were aware that security wouldn't bother going all the way around the lake to check the rarely unlocked entrance on their night patrols.
As they had followed Bruck along the path, essentially blind in the darkness of the huge room, they came to the realisation that they were being followed themselves. The being following them was not a Jedi, both Masters could tell this from the sound their stalker's heavy boots made against the path and the whisper of the synthetic material of the stalker's clothing as they brushed against plants. The handwoven material and light leather boots of the Jedi uniform were an important part of the Jedi appearance. Consequently, they could safely assume their stalker was not a member of the Order.
Assuming that this was the co-conspirator, one of the Masters turned back to confront the unknown entity, but a sudden high whistle had pieced the silence and suddenly both Initiate Chun and the dark entity had begun running in opposite directions. The two Masters had been so startled, that both of the suspects had been able to make their escape.
When the two Masters gotten the chance to report the next morning, what Mace had found most disturbing by the tale was not Initiate Chun’s role in the whole mess, but the role of the unknown stalker. Though the person who had followed them had most likely not been a Jedi, they had been exceptionally familiar with the rough path, even in the almost pitch black of the room. Also, the stalker's presence was a darkness in the Force that neither of the two Masters had ever felt within the walls of the Temple before.
A thorough search of the gardens, surrounding rooms, Temple exits and Initiate Chun's dorm room was conducted by Temple security following the incident. The search had come up empty.
Mace suddenly found himself right back where he had started-without a clue to who was doing this and with no idea why. Even with nothing to do that night but leave the security force to keep watch on the Temple's exits, Mace found he could not sleep.
< .../chapter... >
Next Chapter
Comments/Feedback is much appreciated!
Master Post
Fandom: Star Wars, The Prequels
Rating: R Overall, PG this chapter
Characters/Pairing(s): Obi-Wan Kenobi/Mace Windu / Obi-Wan, Mace, Master Yoda, Bant Eerin, Bruck Chun, Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker
Word Count: ~3,200/32,000.
Warnings: Light slash, violence, character death, language.
Timeline/Spoilers: Alternate Universe/Some spoilers for Jedi Apprentice #6: The Uncertain Path & #7: The Captive Temple by Jude Watson and Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.
Disclaimer: Read my general disclaimer here.
Beta: The absolutely amazing and wonderful lias9!
Written for: 2010 scifibigbang, round 2.
Summary: AU. As the galaxy is thrown into turmoil, Obi-Wan tries to fulfill his duty to himself and the Jedi Order, even in the face of his new disability.
A/N 1: PLEASE NOTE! You do NOT have to know anything about the Jedi Apprentice books or Expanded Universe to enjoy this story!! A basic understanding of the Prequels should be all that's required to read and comprehend this piece of work!
Previous Chapter
Chapter Three: The Investigation
Three years later (46 BBY)...
The last few weeks had been difficult for everyone in the Temple. The atmosphere was wary and strained. Everyone living in the hallowed halls watched each other with mistrust, as if they could root out the wrong-doer with their mistrustful stares.
The incidents had started off small, nothing more than a few petty thefts and vandalism, but those incidents had quickly lead into something much larger. Something that made all those living within the Temple watch each other with open suspicion.
Gone was the peaceful air of content and love. The respectful atmosphere that had been felt so clearly was now soured into fear and suspicion. Masters that had trusted their students so completely before, now required their charges to account for every second of their day. Younglings and Padawans walked the halls, clustered into anxious groups. The Knights that were currently in residence seemed nervous; even some of the Masters were jittery under their venerable Jedi calm. All Jedi that were away from the Temple had been told to stay away, and anyone set to leave on missions had been detained, excepting only emergencies. Life at the Temple had basically come to a stop.
Mace shook his head at his own thoughts. He couldn't believe something like this could have happened at the Temple of all places. He had grown up trusting these people, thinking of them as his family, and knew they felt the same way.
It had started only a few weeks back when some small, almost inconsequential, items had gone missing. Nothing large: a meditation robe, a toolkit, a sports kit, some files. The reported thefts had been dismissed as carelessness and the general populace had been kept uninformed and clueless. Only one Council-member had not dismissed the significance behind the thefts. At the time, Mace had noticed Yoda's preoccupation and, in an action he would later regret, had offered his help in any way he could.
Not long after that, one of the training rooms had been heavily vandalised, and all the training lightsabers that had been stored within, stolen.
Mace could safely say he'd never seen that particular sad and troubled look pass across Master Yoda's face until he watched the tiny Master survey the destroyed training room.
There was an anger Mace could feel in the room's destruction that was worrying. Since this room was buried in an older section of the Temple, it would not be easily accessible for an outsider to find without being spotted by the Temple Security force. Realising that, it was easy to conclude something no one wanted to say aloud: this act of destruction on Temple property, executed with such hate and violence, had been committed by someone living within the Temple. And that scared him. It scared all of the Jedi.
***
Prior to the incident in the training room, Mace himself had only known about the smaller thefts because of Master Yoda's askance that he investigate the instances. But after the destruction of the training room, the Council supported Master Yoda's assignment by raising Mace's security clearance and, with great reluctance, raising the Temple's security to high alert.
The news of the incident itself had spread quickly through the populace, leading to the current attitude of distrust and fear.
Another few days passed while Mace tried to pinpoint sources of the rumours and whispers that an intruder had been seen inside the Temple. Everyone he questioned led him to someone else who heard the rumour from, in turn, someone else.
Every lead he followed brought him to just another dead end. So when the Healing Crystals of Fire were stolen next, Mace was beginning to feel rather helpless. His investigation hadn't brought him any closer to the culprit, or the missing items. The Council was acting as if they were walking on eggshells, and the next time Mace saw Yoda; he couldn't help but notice how tired the old Master looked. The theft of the Crystals was just that extra little bit that could tear the Order apart and Mace wondered if there was anything he could do to stop it.
The Healing Crystals of Fire were a set of Focusing Crystals that had been passed down through the Order for millenniums, one of the Jedi's oldest treasures. The Crystals had been under some of the highest security the Jedi could offer, while still being accessible to any Jedi who wished to use them. Mace himself had mediated with the powerful stones many times.
When Yoda had informed him that the Crystals had disappeared, Mace could tell the Master was apprehensive, desperate even, to stop the intruder. At the time, the tiny being reiterated the need to catch the person responsible and the need to know why such Jedi treasures had been targeted.
"Something else is troubling you. What is it?" Mace had watched Yoda pause by the door and turn to face him.
There had been a deep sadness on Yoda's face that made him start. "Troubled visions I have been having during my meditations."
Mace had felt himself speechless as Yoda turned again and left, the Master's limp more pronounced than he had ever remembered seeing it. Mace knew Yoda was very strong in the Unifying Force, and had seen many horrifying and sad things in visions over the many years of his life. If a vision could leave the Master this disturbed, he couldn't help but worry over what Yoda had foreseen.
***
Mace sighed as told the knight assisting in organising the interviews to bring the next student into the room. He'd been interviewing Initiates and Padawans who had access to the Crystals all morning. He'd not yet been able to catch a break and he was tired. Mace looked down at his list, the next one was-he rubbed his head in frustration-Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was wasting his time even bringing in the child. Mace had been giving Obi-Wan private lightsaber instruction for the past three years and trusted the boy almost as much as he trusted his own Padawan. Obi-Wan had an incredible dedication to the Force and the Order; Mace knew without doubt that the child would never have had anything to do with something like this.
When the door opened, to Mace's surprise, not one but two Initiates stepped over the threshold and into the room. Obi-Wan strode in first, dragging his best friend Bant, in after him.
"Obi-Wan," Mace frowned as the small auburn haired boy and his friend sat on the chairs provided, "I'm pretty sure Knight T'ryelli asked only you to come in."
Obi-Wan grinned back at the dark-skinned Master jollily. Mace fondly recalled a time when his frown had scared the boy half to death. There was little he could do to intimidate the rambunctious child these days.
"Let's make this quick then Obi-Wan, I have a lot of interviews to finish and it's almost time for noonmeal." Mace shuffled through the case notes on his datapad before finding a new line and entering Obi-Wan's name and Clan-Master.
"Do you have anything to do with the thefts that have occurred in the past few weeks?" Mace recited from the pre-made questionnaire. The question was so stupid that Mace couldn't help but feel he should do away with the questionnaire entirely. Even if he were to interview the culprit, they would not answer yes. The Master who had made the questionnaire for him had obviously been deluded. Just because the Jedi valued honesty, didn't mean each individual practised it, especially if they were vandalising property and stealing priceless Jedi artefacts.
"No, I-"
"Have you seen," Mace cut the boy off. After all, he really didn't want to miss noonmeal today. He hadn't been to noonmeal in almost a week because of this case. "Any suspicious activity amongst any of your peers in the past few weeks?"
"No, but-"
"Have you heard anything unusual circulating amongst your crèchemates?"
"I-"
"Then you are free to return to your class. If you think of anything later, please inform your Clan-Master," Mace finished his spiel, his mind far away.
"But Master Windu!" Obi-Wan's voice broke through Mace's contemplation with its urgency.
Mace looked up from his notes, his face neutral, even in his impatience.
Realising he had the Knight's attention, Obi-Wan glanced at his friend sitting to beside him. "While it's true that I haven't seen or heard anything myself, something unusual happened to Bant the other day... Well, maybe she should tell you," Obi-Wan gave the girl an encouraging nod.
Mace turned his attention to the small amphibious girl, who looked about ready to bolt out of her seat in fear.
"Well, uh, five days ago, the night the training room was broken into..." The girl glanced nervously at Obi-Wan.
Before he'd begun interviewing the students for the investigation, only a few days ago, Mace had never before realised how terrified the younglings were of him. He nodded encouragingly at the girl, "Go on."
"Well, when I was getting ready for bed that night, I realised I'd forgotten something by the lake where I'd been for a swim just a few hours earlier. Rather than leave it for the night, especially with so many things in the Temple going missing, I decided to go get it. I left my dorm and went down to the Lake Level. I had just found what I was looking for by the lake's shore and was about to leave when I heard what sounded like someone surfacing in the lake. It was pretty dark, but I watched as someone came out of the lake a few feet away and hurried towards one of the exits. I thought it was odd at the time, but dismissed it and returned to my room." The Mon Calamarian finished.
"Why didn't you come forward with this information earlier?" Mace looked at the girl suspiciously.
The girl's salmon-pink skin flushed magenta in embarrassment. "I, uh-"
Mace watched as Obi-Wan placed his hand reassuringly on the girls arm.
Bant nodded and looked up at Mace from where she'd been studying the floor. "That night, I didn't ask my Crèche-Master if I could leave. I didn't want to get in trouble, especially the next day when everyone was looking so angry and suspicious." The girl paused and glanced at her friend. "But Obi-Wan convinced me that it was important that I tell you," She looked back at him, her fear apparent on her pink face.
Mace was quiet for a minute, contemplating what the girl had said. Finally he looked up at the children and nodded. "You did the right thing in telling me."
He stood and walked to the door. Opening it, he asked Knight T'ryelli to dismiss the rest of the children waiting to be interviewed. It was almost noonmeal, so at least someone would get to eat it, if not him, again.
Hand still on the door, he entertained the idea of dismissing the two children sitting behind him and calling the Temple Security to search the lake's bottom. He knew though, that such a large number of people searching in one spot would probably let the culprit know how close he was and he wanted to keep the thieving bastard as out of the loop as possible.
Turning, he looked down at the two Initiates, one wide-eyed and the other strangely calm. "Follow me," he spoke before turning back and walking out of the door.
The trip through the halls was quiet, the Jedi passing through them silent and nervous. Only a few weeks ago, Mace would have encountered smiles, chatter and open trust. He was glad for the lead and could only hope it proved fruitful. He wanted, no, he needed to see his Jedi brothers and sisters smile again. And he wanted to hear quiet laughter echo through the hallways of the crèche once again.
***
The two males stopped just in front of the lake while Bant walked a few feet along the shore.
"He came out about here," she pointed.
Mace looked out at the lake. "Bant, could you dive under just a few feet out? Look for something along the bottom of the lake in this area that shouldn't be there."
The Mon Calimarian nodded enthusiastically, giving Mace a small smile that surprised him. She stripped off her tunics to a suit she always wore underneath her clothes that was made for swimming.
Obi-Wan stepped forward, standing close to Mace's side as Bant dove into the water.
"Master Mace?" The boy looked up at him. Obi-Wan and his Padawan, Depa, were the only ones who had ever called him that. It was strangely odd to realise the boy reverted to the standard "Master Windu" when in the presence of other Jedi.
In the past, he would have protested the informality. Maybe he was growing soft as he aged, or maybe-more likely-the kid had grown on him over the past three years.
Mace cocked his eyebrow, giving Obi-Wan silent permission to continue.
"It's a Jedi isn't it," a pained look crossed the Initiates face, "The person doing all of this."
Mace frowned in response.
"How are we supposed to protect ourselves from one of our own?" The child had always been strangely mature for his age, and sometimes Mace forgot how young Obi-Wan was. There was a fear on Obi-Wan's face that Mace knew the Initiate would be trained to hide over the next few years of his Jedi training. Mace realised what a shame that would be, Obi-Wan had such an expressive face.
"I don't have all of the answers," Mace admitted quietly.
Obi-Wan looked like he wanted to reply, but before he could, the silence that fell between them was broken, as Bant surfaced and the water splashed around her.
"You were right Master Windu," she spoke as she tread water. "There's something down here. A container of some sort."
Mace paused to pull off his robe, outer tunic and boots before picking up the carbon rope he'd brought with him and waded out into the water.
Bant dove back under the water and Mace followed, watching her pale pink form move further and further into the artificial lake's murky depths. He hadn't brought a breather with him, instead he would use the Force to slow his lungs and thereby decrease the amount of oxygen his body needed and hoped it would be enough to make the trip down and back up.
When the container Bant had mentioned came into view, Mace wasted no time in tying the cord around the box and pulling it up out of the mud that made up the bottom of the lake.
After resurfacing and pulling the crate out of the water, Mace braced himself against a nearby tree and let himself catch his breath.
After his heartbeat had returned to its normal rhythm, he knelt before the crate and opened it, conscious of the two Initiates watching him. The box was an air-tight container with a special pump used to store things underwater.
The box was filled with the missing lightsabers. Underneath the lightsabers were almost all of the other missing items. All except the toolkit and...
Mace sighed unhappily. "The Crystals are not here."
***
Yoda had seemed pleased to learn that the lightsabers and other items had been found, but his face gave away his worry when he was told the Crystals were still missing.
The recovery of the Crystals and the discovery of the culprit were still as necessary as ever and so, a trap was set.
The container holding the lightsabers was returned, as if untouched, and a watch of a few highly trusted Jedi Masters were set to watch the lake after the high-security enforced curfew started each night for the next week.
And so it was that when the trap was sprung two nights later, Mace was catching up on some much needed sleep.
The two Masters on watch that night claimed to have seen a small figure approach the water and shed his cloak. Before he’d been able to dive into the water, one of the Masters had been able to identify the figure as Initiate Bruck Chun.
When the child had resurfaced, he siphoned off as much water from his clothes as he could before turning. Instead of exiting, the initiate took off on a footpath that wound around the lake and through the rooms fauna, ending at a service entrance near the base of the Temple.
Convinced that Bruck could not have orchestrated the crimes by himself, the Masters had followed him, hopeful that they would learn the identity of the collaborator. The Masters had thought that by following him instead of detaining him, they might be able to catch Bruck's partner.
Their assumption that Bruck was going to meet his partner was mostly based on the fact that Bruck was heading towards the lake level’s service entrance and away from any of the exits to the Temple. The two Masters’ knew that the lake level's service entrance would be the perfect place to arrange a clandestine meeting as it would be easy to use the cover of darkness that blanketed the room at night. On top of that, both were aware that security wouldn't bother going all the way around the lake to check the rarely unlocked entrance on their night patrols.
As they had followed Bruck along the path, essentially blind in the darkness of the huge room, they came to the realisation that they were being followed themselves. The being following them was not a Jedi, both Masters could tell this from the sound their stalker's heavy boots made against the path and the whisper of the synthetic material of the stalker's clothing as they brushed against plants. The handwoven material and light leather boots of the Jedi uniform were an important part of the Jedi appearance. Consequently, they could safely assume their stalker was not a member of the Order.
Assuming that this was the co-conspirator, one of the Masters turned back to confront the unknown entity, but a sudden high whistle had pieced the silence and suddenly both Initiate Chun and the dark entity had begun running in opposite directions. The two Masters had been so startled, that both of the suspects had been able to make their escape.
When the two Masters gotten the chance to report the next morning, what Mace had found most disturbing by the tale was not Initiate Chun’s role in the whole mess, but the role of the unknown stalker. Though the person who had followed them had most likely not been a Jedi, they had been exceptionally familiar with the rough path, even in the almost pitch black of the room. Also, the stalker's presence was a darkness in the Force that neither of the two Masters had ever felt within the walls of the Temple before.
A thorough search of the gardens, surrounding rooms, Temple exits and Initiate Chun's dorm room was conducted by Temple security following the incident. The search had come up empty.
Mace suddenly found himself right back where he had started-without a clue to who was doing this and with no idea why. Even with nothing to do that night but leave the security force to keep watch on the Temple's exits, Mace found he could not sleep.
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