Chapter Four

He watched her sleep, a concerned and thoughtful look on his face. The Jedi master was perplexed as he observed the poor girl's actions as she rested. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a neat braid, her face was pale, sweat covered her entire body, and she shook slightly. Every once and awhile she would murmur an audible word, but she would usually something like 'No' or 'Stop'. Qui-Gon would wonder about the words she spoke, but didn't let his hopeless worrying get the best of him.

After a few minutes, the twi'lek teenage girl he had seen in the waiting room walked in. She looked at him, her eyes filled with an unimaginable amount of hatred, and leaned against the wall, her arms crossed. He pretended not to notice her arrival and continued to watch the little twelve-year-old girl in her medical bed. The Jedi master wasn't caught off guard when the twi'lek spoke.

"You're going to take her from us." she spat with anger quietly, making sure not to wake up the little girl. Qui-Gon removed his gaze from Denali, stood up, and looked at the twi-lek. The anger erased from her eyes as he lifted his hand, his palm facing her. He waved it infront of her blank face as he spoke, his voice clear as water.

"You will respect the decision of the Jedi Council and allow your friend to be trained in the Jedi Arts." he said, using a Jedi Mind-trick on the mind of the teenager. She was silent as she stared at him, then began to spoke. But what she said wasn't what Qui-Gon wanted to hear.

"I.... I won't." Zendara spat, rage filling her words. "Your tricks won't work on me, Jedi. I've been the leader of the Rancor Slayers long enough that every single one of it's members knows that I'm not weak-minded. I am surprised that a man such as yourself would stoop to such a desperate level. Just give up, Jedi. You have no right to steal her from us, from her brother, from her true family. What makes you think she even wants to be a jedi?"

"I believe that we all have our choices. Denali may want to become a Jedi, and she may not. Only time will tell. We will be taking her to Corasaunt whether you like it or not, but her stay may not be permanent there. She will stay there under my super-vision for a week, then we will return her here if she does not want to become a Jedi apprentice." Qui-Gon told the girl.

"Why should I trust you? You could brain-wash her as soon as you left Alderaan so that she would say she wants to become a Jedi, whether she wants to or not. You could cause her more harm than good and we wouldn't know anything about it till it was too late."

"I asssure you, Zendara. No harm will come to Denali when she stays at the Temple. I or my padawan will be with her at all necessary times so she will be safe. Master Yoda will want to speak with her, and possibly the rest of the Council-"

"Will you take her in this state? When she's near death?"

"No, we will wait til she is in better condition. Then we will leave-"

"She'd be back in a week? Do you mean an Alderaan week or a Corasaunt week? We both know that the time-zones are different on each planet. How long exactly will she be gone?" Zendara asked as they walked out of the room and into the hall. Qui-Gon walked with his hands crossed, just as Zendara was doing.

"I'll contact you when the week is up. It won't be very long, just a few days. The purpose for this visit to the Jedi Temple is just for her to see what becoming a Jedi would be like. I believe that her training won't be as hard for her since I've heard she is already very skilled with hand-to-hand combat. That is a very good thing, I'm impressed with how well you've trained her. The easier this is for her, the better." Qui-Gon said as doctors and nurses passed them as they walked.

"I've trained her in the ways of a bounty hunter, not the Jedi. She hasn't been prepared for your teachings, she'll take the change very poorly." Zendara stated.

"I realize she hasn't been trained with the Jedi Code, but her physical training you have bestowed apon her will help her immensly when she goes through the Trials."

"If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have helped her at all." Zendy said angrilly.

"You don't mean that, Zendara. You and I both know that you care about Denali as if she were your own sister. You're proud of her, I know it." Qui-Gon said, his hand on the girl's shoulder. Tears began to form in the young girl's eyes. She held her head in her hands, sobbing quietly.

"You're right, Jedi. Denali means so much to me, to her brother, to all of us. We don't know what we would do without her. We took her and her brother under our wing when their father left them after their mother's death. They're our family now. And it's hard to let go of family. Especially if you know if they choose a certain path, you'll never see them again." Zendara cried. Qui-Gon patted her shoulder supportively.

"You don't know that. There's a possibility that you'd see eachother again. I know of many Jedi who have re-united with their families." He told her. Zendara shoved his hand off of her shoulder, a fury in her movements.

"You lie, Jedi. Don't lie to me. The last thing any of us need right now is to be fed false hope. The best thing you could do for us right now is help our sister survive this horrible disease she has caught. Can you do that?" Zendy asked. Qui-Gon nodded.

"My padawan and I will do our best to help your friend." he told her. They walked in silence the rest of the way back to the waiting room. The door slid open and they saw Gerg, Danik, and Obi-Wan all speaking to eachother. Well, not really speaking.

More like shouting.

"My master is a great man!" Obi-Wan shouted, his hands balled up into fists at his sides, shaking. Danik and Gerg looked as if they were about to explode as well. The three of them obviously hadn't noticed the fact that Master Jinn and Zendara. Tint, Heff, and Zeffan had noticed though. They watched from their seats as the moment played out. They looked relaxed, as if they were watching a movie or something of that sort.

"Then why is he here, kidnapping my little sister? Why are you two here, taking her from us?" Danik shouted, his face red with rage.

"We're here for the good of the Republic! The good of the galaxy! We're here to help the people who are in need of our survices! And it's pretty obvious that this planet needs our help more than I thought!"

"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon shouted, shocked by his apprentice's harsh words. The three boys finally realized that they were being watched by more than the two wookies and the Zabrak. They turned around and saw the two standing in the doorway.

"What is going on here?" Zendara asked quickly.

"Danik and Gerg were picking a fight with the Jedi. They deserved what they had coming." Zeffan said as if the whole ordeal bored him. Zendara walked over to Gerg and Danik, a glare in her eyes that could kill.

"Danik, Gerg, is this true?" she asked. They were silent for a moment.

"Answer me!" Zendara said loudly.

"Yes, Zendara." Gerg said quickly. They knew not to call her by her nickname if they were about to be punished. And it was pretty obvious to them that they were going to get punished. Zendara turned around and faced Master Jinn.

"My apoligizes, Master Jinn. Apparently my scouts don't know when to keep their mouths shut. Especially when their little sister's life is on the line." Zendara said, looking at Danik in the eyes. Qui-Gon could tell the boy wanted to step away from the very intimidating girl, but he didn't.

"I'm sure it was an honest mistake. Excuse me while my padawan and I go and contact the Council and inform them of Denali's condition." Master Jinn said and grabbed Obi-Wan's shoulder, directing him out of the medical center and towards their ship.

"It wasn't my fault, Master. They were the ones who started shouting at me and saying awful things about you." Obi-Wan said as they walked through the streets. It was still very early, not very many people were out and about. The sun hadn't risen yet, the moon and stars shown in the sky brightly.

"Obi-Wan, you must learn to guard your mind. You can't let the things people say get to you. I understand it may be hard at times, but you need to control your emotions. Does shouting in anger sound like the Jedi way?" Qui-Gon asked. Obi-Wan sighed, knowing that he had done something wrong.

"No, Master. It only adds fuel to the fire." Obi-Wan quoted his Master as they walked onto their ship.

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And that was grand Chapter Four, everyone! Like I've said before, I hope you all enjoyed it! Feel free to support my book series by smacking the vote button, leaving a comment, or following me! Your support is what keeps me going, people! You all are amazing!! 

~Madness