Star Wars.

Jedi Apprentice.

THE TIES THAT BIND.

By Jude Watson.

CHAPTER 1.

The air was thin and sharp on this world. It had taken Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi almost a full day to get used to it. Now he enjoyed the bite of fresh, cold air in his lungs.

He and his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, were high in the mountains of Ragoon-6, one of a cl.u.s.ter of planets that were known for their spectacular, remote beauty. The two Jedi's mission was simply to survive.

They took no more than their survival packs. Another Jedi had left a trail for them to follow to a transport. The trail led over snow, high cliffs, and huge sheets of rock, so it was not easy to follow.

Qui-Gon had decided on the test after their last mission. Upon their return to the Temple, he had seemed distracted, almost moody, which wasn't like him. At last he had appeared in the doorway of Obi-Wan's quarters one morning at dawn.

"It's time for some amus.e.m.e.nt," he said.

Amus.e.m.e.nt? Obi-Wan had never heard his Master use that word. He had pushed himself up on his elbows sleepily, blinking in the dim light. He wondered if he was dreaming.

Only an hour later he found himself on a transport headed to Ragoon- 6. A Jedi pilot named Rana dropped them off on a high, windy plain. Qui-Gon explained that they would be testing their survival and tracking skills, while also seeing some of the most astonis.h.i.+ng scenery in the galaxy. Obi- Wan had felt cold and hungry and doubtful at the time. But for the past ten days, he had enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Obi-Wan sat on a flat rock overlooking the valley below. It was mid- morning, and the sun had already warmed the rock underneath him. He pressed his bare hands against it. Below him he could see a sea of bright yellow wildflowers in a mountain meadow. The sky here was very blue. At night it turned purple. During one storm, it had streaked yellow and green. Obi-Wan had never seen such deep, clear colors in the atmosphere.

There were no cities on Ragoon-6, no industry or transports to give off emissions to cloud the pure air.

He and his Master hadn't spoken much. Qui-Gon was in a reflective mood. There were times that he seemed... not tense, Obi-Wan thought, searching for the right word, but distracted. Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon had something on his mind, but he also knew that it was not time for his Master to share it.

Obi-Wan was sixteen years old now, and his relations.h.i.+p with his Master was making a subtle s.h.i.+ft. They were growing to be companions, as well as pupil and teacher. Obi-Wan knew he still had much to learn from Qui-Gon, but he enjoyed this new feeling of maturity. For the first time he could see the day when he would stand next to his Master as a full Jedi Knight.

He heard the crunch of his Master's footsteps over the snow. Qui-Gon squatted down beside him. His eyes swept the landscape below. "Tahl and I came here on a training mission like this one, long ago," he said.

"We always said we would come back together. We never did."

Tahl was a Jedi Knight who had gone through Temple training with Qui- Gon. She was a renowned Knight now, and their friends.h.i.+p was deep and long. She had been blinded a few years before, and Obi-Wan could always pick up a strain of tenderness when Qui-Gon spoke of her.

Qui-Gon's blue eyes scanned the mountains and valley. "We are here now and gone in a moment of time," he said quietly. "You must be sure of what you want and believe, Obi-Wan.

Sometimes the way will be confused, but allow yourself the time to understand yourself. Take yourself out of your life if you must."

Obi-Wan nodded, but Qui-Gon's words seemed vague to him. Usually Qui- Gon's advice was clear and direct. Even his gaze was faraway.

Then, in one of the s.h.i.+fts in concentration that marked his character, Qui-Gon abruptly stood, his concentration clear now.

"Something is tracking us," he said briskly.

"Something?"

"Animals. No doubt they are tracking us for food. The tracks indicate that it is a pack of malia."

"Malia?"

"Fierce beasts that live in the high country. They are not large - they travel on all fours, and come up to your knees, but they are very dangerous. It is said that if you are close enough to hear the cry of a malia, you are already dead."

Despite the bright sun, Obi-Wan s.h.i.+vered. "And they are tracking us?"

"It has been a hard winter here. It is better to avoid them. Let's go."

Qui-Gon slung his survival pack over his shoulder and began to walk. Obi-Wan hurried to gather his things and follow. They spent the next hour hiking over sheer rock, which led them to forest trails. The trail left by the Jedi was difficult, but with eyes sharpened by the Force they were able to pick up the minute differences in soil, leaves, and snow that indicated a presence had pa.s.sed. They were able to move quickly. Obi-Wan hoped they were putting kilometers between themselves and the malia pack.

Suddenly, Qui-Gon stopped ahead. Obi-Wan could see that the trail now forked into two paths. The two Jedi studied the area, then split up to travel a short distance up each path, looking for clues. They did not need to confer; they had been through this process many times before.

Usually, either Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan found a clue as to which path to take. This time, they returned to the fork without a clear idea of which way to go. A probe or tracking droid would have been helpful, but this exercise was designed to teach Obi-Wan how to survive without them.

"Rana has given us a challenge," Qui-Gon said. "We have to pick a path and then travel back if it is the wrong one."

Obi-Wan nodded.

"If we have to double back, we'll lose the time we gained," Qui-Gon said. "We could run into the malia pack. Why don't you choose a trail?"

Obi-Wan stared at the two paths. Neither gave him an overwhelming feeling. He chose the right, which rose steeply up a rocky hill. Perhaps Rana had wanted them to work a little harder.

They walked for an hour without picking up any further clues.

Finally, Qui-Gon stopped.

"I think we should head back, Padawan. We should have seen some indication before this that this path was the correct one." Qui-Gon scanned the sky. "It will be dark soon."

The going was tougher in the gathering dusk. The temperature had dropped, causing ice pockets to form in the rocky trail. They headed downhill, using all their concentration to avoid slipping.

As they drew near their starting point, Obi-Wan heard a high-pitched scream. He stopped abruptly.

"It's not human," he said. "At least, I don't think so."

"It's the cry of the malia," Qui-Gon said. "It sounded close."

Obi-Wan did not hear fear in his Master's voice - he never did - but Qui-Gon didn't sound too comfortable, either. "Do you fear them?"

Obi-Wan asked.

"Not exactly," Qui-Gon said. "I respect them. If we run across them, Padawan, remember that they are very fast. Very cunning. When they hunt, they have a highly developed sense of strategy."

They continued down the slope, now walking as silently as possible.

Obi-Wan did not disturb a rock or leaf.

"As soon as we find somewhere suitable, we should stop for the night, " Qui-Gon said in a low tone. "The delay will not hurt us. And a fire will protect us."

Obi-Wan did not hear or see any movement around them. The surrounding trees pressed close to the path here, with feathery blue-green leaves that did not stir. Yet he had the sense they were being stalked. Despite the cold, he felt a trickle of sweat break loose from the hair at the back of his neck.

The shadows of the leaves lengthened, dimming the path ahead. He could barely glimpse the fork where they had stopped. There was a clearing there where they could make camp.

Off to his right, he saw a flash of green, a fluorescent color strangely out of place in the natural hues of the forest. He was about to point it out to Qui-Gon when his Master suddenly drew his lightsaber.

"Malia!" Qui-Gon warned.

A split second later Obi-Wan saw a blur of blue-gray fur as an animal bounded out of the trees toward them. Now he knew the origin of that odd green flash. It was the eyes of the malia, gleaming with the fever of the kill. The malia was perhaps knee-high to Qui-Gon, lean and rangy. Obi-Wan was startled by the ugliness of the face, with its tapered snout and yellow teeth sharpened into lethal points.

Obi-Wan's lightsaber was in his hand, and he jumped back to protect Qui-Gon. At the same time, another creature darted from the trees on the opposite side. And then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. They moved quickly, so fast they seemed to change shape. They circled, snapping their teeth at the Jedi's whirling light-sabers, but always staying out of reach. Their movements seemed ch.o.r.eographed to tire their prey. They kept the Jedi moving with the constant threat.

"They are playing with us," Qui-Gon said, turning to protect himself from a rear a.s.sault from two malia.

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth. "I can't wait for them to get serious."

"Careful, Padawan. Do not let them get close. If a malia gets its teeth into your wrist, it can rip off your arm."

"That's rea.s.suring," Obi-Wan muttered.

"If we keep them at bay, they might give up and look for easier prey, " Qui-Gon said. He whirled and twisted in a fast combination, driving off three malia that had joined forces to attack.

Obi-Wan saw another blur out of the corner of his eye, and turned to meet the threat. A malia had launched itself from the branch of a tree, straight at Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan leaped forward, his lightsaber a blue glow against the lowering sky.

He saw the malia bare its yellow teeth at him in a frustrated snarl. It twisted in midair to land nearby, safely away from Qui-Gon.

Another malia streaked toward the trees. Now they would be attacked from above as well as the ground. Obi-Wan's foot slid on a patch of ice and he went down on one hand. Qui-Gon leaped forward to cover him, but not before a malia sprang forward, alert for any weakness. Obi-Wan saw the malia's sharp teeth reach for his outstretched hand. He flipped over and risked a quick kick to the animal's flank. He summoned the Force behind it, and the surprised animal flew back across the path, snarling and spitting.

Obi-Wan quickly regained his feet. He was breathing hard. He had never encountered such quickness in an animal before. The malia were relentless. The sound of their cries was bloodcurdling.

A malia suddenly dropped from a tree branch, leaping toward Qui-Gon, while two others attacked from the rear. Qui-Gon whirled, his lightsaber unstoppable. In a moment, the leaping malia was dead on the forest floor and the other two reversed their course. Qui-Gon caught one as it turned to attack again. It fell in a heap of fur.

The other malia stayed a few meters away, snarling at Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan saw its muscles bunch in preparation for a leap. Suddenly, its eyes rolled back and it fell dead.

Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon. He saw that his Master was just as mystified as he was. As if they had silently communicated a signal, the rest of the malia suddenly streaked toward the cover of the woods.

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, his eyes roaming the surroundings to make sure the malia were truly gone.

"We'll know in a moment."

Suddenly the leaves parted and a group of beings appeared. They were short, with leathery brown skin and powerful chests. Their faces were covered in thick hair, their ears long and pointed. They held weapons Obi- Wan had never seen before, long tubes made out of polished stone. He guessed that they were a form of blowpipe.

"Don't move," Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan calmly. One of the beings stepped forward and spoke in Basic.

"You will have a more pleasant death at our hands than the malia,"

he said. "Our poisons are quick." He made a signal and gestured to the others. The tribe put their blow tubes to their lips.

"You are welcome to the malia," Qui-Gon said. There was no hint of hurry or distress in his tone. "We are only visitors to your world, on the way to our transport. We thank you for saving our lives."

The leader held up a hand. The blow tubes were not dropped, but the tribe watched the Jedi warily.

"You do not want the malia meat?" the leader asked.

"We have our own supplies, food from our own world," Qui-Gon said.

"We are not here to hunt"

The leader studied them a moment. "Then pa.s.s on."

Obi-Wan was only too glad to do so. He did not want to turn his back on the tribe, but he noted how easily Qui-Gon did so. He followed his Master's lead. Together they skirted the three dead malia and headed down the other path.

"That was lucky," Obi-Wan breathed when they were out of earshot.

"This is beautiful country, but a hard one," Qui-Gon said. "I know the tribes use the malia for the food and skins they provide. They are hard to kill, and very valuable. That was their main concern. Most beings in the galaxy do not kill without purpose. If you can discover what that purpose is, you can forestall a battle."

"And those who kill but have no reason?"

"They are the ones to worry about. Now, Padawan, we should - "

Suddenly, Qui-Gon stopped short. He closed his eyes.

Obi-Wan waited. Something had disturbed his Master. He could see it as well as feel it. Qui-Gon seemed to weave for a moment, as if rocked by something deep inside.

When he opened his eyes, Obi-Wan could not read his clouded expression, but he could sense Qui-Gon was troubled.

"What did you see?" he asked.

Qui-Gon's lips pressed together. "It is dangerous to interpret visions," he said curtly. "We must return to Coruscant immediately."

CHAPTER 2.

Immediately took too long to suit Qui-Gon. It had taken them another three days to get to the transport. Time and again Qui-Gon had meditated for patience, but he could not find it. He knew he was pus.h.i.+ng Obi-Wan, but it was not to teach his Padawan endurance. It was because of his own anxiety.

The vision had come without warning. One moment he was hiking down the trail, and the next Tahl had appeared before him. She had been in great distress.

On this trip Tahl had been so often in his thoughts. Was this the reason? Did Tahl need him? Or did his own thoughts summon the vision?