The Divided City - Pt 1
Title: The Divided City
Author:
autumnsdarling
Fandom: Star Wars
Setting: Prequel-Era
Rating: G
Characters: Original Characters (Shai Laren Ashak, Anselm Erith)
Length: 5 parts
Words: 3,500
Summary: Fresh from Coruscant, a Jedi Master takes his new padawan to a city at war with itself - where everyone has lived underground for decades in fear of one another - on a diplomatic assignment to find some common ground between the warring factions, and make the city whole again.
A/N: Although I'm posting this one later, this story actually falls chronologically before Murder on the Outer Rim Express, and is the first thing I ever wrote for Shai. It's worth noting that Anselm (in all his glory) belongs to
dark_knight_130 , who is kind enough to let me borrow him from time to time.
* * * * * * * * * *
The two Jedi stepped out of the transport ship and on to the No Man's Highway that ran through the very centre of the Divided City.
The first of them had the determination and strength of three full decades of training behind him, while the other was little more than a girl. As their pilot glanced around warily and fired up the engines, she started. Then she spared a quick, telling look towards the man beside her, before turning back reluctantly to face the city.
He looked down at her for a moment with the barest breath of sympathy in eyes like murky water, then he followed her gaze back to the pockmarked concrete that stretched out forever into the hazy middle-distance.
"Anxious, padawan?"
The girl looked up at him, and her eyes were violently violet amidst all the expanses of grey: the highway; the concrete; the buildings; the sky. Perhaps she would have argued, but there didn't seem much point. Even if he couldn't see it, even if she didn't say it, he could still sense it in her.
"Yes, Master."
The Jedi smiled wryly, and folded his arms across his chest. The sudden stillness in him, beneath that rueful look, left her in awe of him.
"Don't be," he told her.
The girl sighed. "How can I not be worried, Master? How can I not be afraid when I know what we have to do here? When I know that I'm not ready?"
"You are more than prepared for this, Shai Laren," he told her calmly. “I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think so. It's just nerves, that is all. Try not to think about it, padawan. Clear your mind of it.”
The girl closed her eyes.
“There is no emotion,” she said under her breath, her voice lost in the crack of the wind on the concrete.
The Jedi smiled.
“Come along,” he told her.
** Read Part 2**
Author:
autumnsdarling
Fandom: Star Wars
Setting: Prequel-Era
Rating: G
Characters: Original Characters (Shai Laren Ashak, Anselm Erith)
Length: 5 parts
Words: 3,500
Summary: Fresh from Coruscant, a Jedi Master takes his new padawan to a city at war with itself - where everyone has lived underground for decades in fear of one another - on a diplomatic assignment to find some common ground between the warring factions, and make the city whole again.
A/N: Although I'm posting this one later, this story actually falls chronologically before Murder on the Outer Rim Express, and is the first thing I ever wrote for Shai. It's worth noting that Anselm (in all his glory) belongs to
dark_knight_130 , who is kind enough to let me borrow him from time to time.
* * * * * * * * * *
The two Jedi stepped out of the transport ship and on to the No Man's Highway that ran through the very centre of the Divided City.
The first of them had the determination and strength of three full decades of training behind him, while the other was little more than a girl. As their pilot glanced around warily and fired up the engines, she started. Then she spared a quick, telling look towards the man beside her, before turning back reluctantly to face the city.
He looked down at her for a moment with the barest breath of sympathy in eyes like murky water, then he followed her gaze back to the pockmarked concrete that stretched out forever into the hazy middle-distance.
"Anxious, padawan?"
The girl looked up at him, and her eyes were violently violet amidst all the expanses of grey: the highway; the concrete; the buildings; the sky. Perhaps she would have argued, but there didn't seem much point. Even if he couldn't see it, even if she didn't say it, he could still sense it in her.
"Yes, Master."
The Jedi smiled wryly, and folded his arms across his chest. The sudden stillness in him, beneath that rueful look, left her in awe of him.
"Don't be," he told her.
The girl sighed. "How can I not be worried, Master? How can I not be afraid when I know what we have to do here? When I know that I'm not ready?"
"You are more than prepared for this, Shai Laren," he told her calmly. “I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think so. It's just nerves, that is all. Try not to think about it, padawan. Clear your mind of it.”
The girl closed her eyes.
“There is no emotion,” she said under her breath, her voice lost in the crack of the wind on the concrete.
The Jedi smiled.
“Come along,” he told her.
** Read Part 2**