across the floor that was now soaking into her trousers and Obi-Wan’s robes Get it off Obi-Wan shouted Cut it off me Prie scowled at him in disapproval dark eyebrows drawing drawing low over brown eyes Her hair was braided away from her face only her smaller Padawan braid trailing downward She tucked it behind her ear as she leaned forward It’s only a baby See She stroked one hand down the spikes that lined the pulsing main sac of the demon squid’s body It shivered and then to Obi-Wan’s shock and relief slowly deflated retracted its barbs and uncurled from his wrist Prie lifted it off Obi-Wan’s now bright-red and weltcovered weltcovered skin cooing at it This time the tentacle wrapping a wrist did so lovingly Obi-Wan stood covered in the soup that definitely should not have contained a living predator There was no sign of further threat in the Padawan dining hall but that didn’t mean they were safe We should check the kitchens Someone must have planted this Maybe an assassin or The same liquid Obi-Wan was soaked in flew out of Bolla’s mouth streaming down his scaled green chin as he laughed so hard he couldn’t contain it His fingertips were still suctioned to his own bowl of steaming and decidedly demon-squid-free supper Ow Bolla said trying not to spill his bowl as he wiped under his mouth The spices in this soup hurt my skin 2 KIERSTEN WHITE
Obi-Wan’s hands clenched into fists Pain spiked through his raw and throbbing wrist Hot soup also hurts when it splashes all over you while a demon squid tries to inject you with poison But you should have seen your face When that first tentacle came waving up and you looked at it like maybe it was part of the meal debating whether or not to try eating it Oh I hadn’t even considered you might try to eat it That went so much better than I had planned Poison Obi-Wan repeated trying desperately to keep his anger in check Bolla had finally managed to set down his bowl and he waved one long-fingered hand dismissively his ears still twitching with mirth You would have been fine I have the antidote in my he patted his belt where a pouch would normally be and the white film over his shiny blue eyes blinked once Well I have the antidote somewhere You really would have been fine I don’t feel fine Obi-Wan grabbed a cloth napkin from the table At least they were only in the Padawan dining hall and he hadn’t just embarrassed himself in front of There you are said Qui-Gon Jinn Jedi Knight and Obi-Wan’s master Obi-Wan couldn’t tell whether Qui-Gon sounded amused or irritated to find his apprentice in this state Obi-Wan felt his face turning as red as his injured hand PADAWAN 3
You should really be more careful Prie chided scowling scowling at Obi-Wan as though any of this had been his fault It’s only a baby You could have hurt it But he What about Obi-Wan pointed at Bolla Now that there was a Jedi Master in the room Bolla was casually slurping his own soup as though nothing had happened Obi-Wan was sixteen years old A Padawan learner not a youngling initiate anymore Still the urge to tattle on Bolla was nearly overwhelming If not tattle at least get a chance to explain why he was covered in soup holding an injured wrist To recover some semblance of decorum in front of his master It looks as though you’re finished with your meal Qui-Gon said lifting an eyebrow Or perhaps it’s your meal that is finished with you Qui-Gon was definitely laughing on the inside whether he showed it or not Obi-Wan wanted to be able to laugh too but his heart was still racing not yet calmed down from the fight If it could even be called that since the demon squid in question was apparently so docile when handled correctly that it was now nestled into the space between Prie’s shoulder and neck She continued to whisper gentle nonsense at it Who spawned just right You did Who’s a good demon squid Obi-Wan didn’t know who was a good demon squid but certainly it wasn’t that one Bolla had his bowl tipped up to 4 KIERSTEN WHITE
hide his expression but Obi-Wan could see his shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter Anger was a path to the dark side and Obi-Wan wouldn’t take any steps down that path Much as he wanted to fling Bolla’s soup in his face Qui-Gon clasped his hands beneath his sleeves Whether he felt Obi-Wan’s turmoil or was simply embarrassed for him he said nothing about it I’m on my way to meditate and thought you might want to join me Meditation was the last thing Obi-Wan wanted to do soaked and still caught somewhere between panic and fury But given that it was the last thing he wanted to do it was probably the best thing for him Many things in the Jedi Order were like that the less he wanted to do them the better better they were for him And he wanted to be better He wanted to be the best The best Padawan the best learner the best Jedi He owed it to the Order Could we do saber practice instead Obi-Wan asked hopeful He hadn’t been apprenticed to Qui-Gon for long but so far his master hadn’t moved him beyond the most basic forms Obi-Wan was good at them Genuinely good He was ready to move on and working out some of this anger and frustration through saber forms would be much easier than trying to meditate Meditation was always harder than movement much as that felt like a paradox PADAWAN 5
