#jedi shadow

I did not like the back leg of today's pose and it didn't fit how I imagine him positionning himself to shoot.

But I dutifully did the original one 💖

More half-crouched, reading to spring up and run if needed - danger!- than putting his whole weight on it. It seems too

much like it's relaxing to me.

Increasing the magnification to the maximum, O’won could just make out gold on white. “Another Temple Guard?” The anxiety churning in Wind made O’won turn his head to study his veiled partner. “Wind? Even if it isn’t the Jedi Vos sent us to find, shouldn’t we…” He trailed off as his heart echoed the rapid beating of Wind’s. 

“We do not. The longer we stay, the more likely we will be involved in things beyond our capabilities.”

“Thought Jedi worked together.” O’won scoffed. 

“O’won, what you must understand,” Wind whispered. A tremor of awe and fear raced through the bond. “We are burdened with a different path in the Force. We are not prepared to encounter the … events that kindred of mine is handling. I do not want to face what he has seen.”

Suddenly the Temple Guard mask turned directly towards him. Those glowing blue eyes pinned O’won in place. O’won dropped the macrobinoculars and scuttled away. “Kriff!” He barely got the word out when he realized Wind stood between O’won and the Temple Guard. Twin yellow blades crackling from Wind’s bracers blocked a solid yellow blade. 

****

The Temple Guard’s mask was broken, slashed through, scuffed. Wind calmed their own presence and projected the gentle breeze through a wheat field that so many kindred knew them by. O’won’s shock slowly eased. It was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ferocious protectiveness that Wind needed to reassure. 

No, Wind and O’won were not ready for what Kenobi was doing. Though that didn’t mean Wind would fail to aid his kindred. Wind deactivated his unorthodox lightsabers and kept their hands open as they reached for their helmet. Slowly, under the yellow glow of a lightsaber, they revealed the black balaclava and their own exhausted eyes that had seen far more than any single being should. 

“Be at ease, kindred.”

Kenobi lowered his weapon. Those brilliant blue eyes brightened in recognition for a moment, then closed. Wind caught the human and deactivated lightsaber pike, gently settling on the sands. 

“Wasn’t expecting that.” O’won muttered. 

“Neither was I,” Wind traced the large scar on the mask. The traces of the Force pained their fingertips. “He has been in distress for too long.” Wind reached out in the Force to continue to sooth their kindred. One they had protected from the Shadows. “O’won, notify Vos we will be seeking refuge. It is not who we were sent to find, but it is one who needs assistance.”

“Thought you didn’t want to deal with this guy?”

“I don’t. You are correct. He is still my kindred.” Wind handed the lightsaber pike to O’won before carrying Kenobi to their speeder. “Without doubt we will regret this.”

“Can’t be that bad.” O’won watched them carefully. His eyes shifted away, looking to his commlink. Bringing his hand to his hear, O’won strengthened the signal. “Understood. Will send our coordinates once we find a safe hidey-hole.” The Clone huffed. “Move it, Wind. Vos will join us after he locates the lost Jedi.” 

With O’won at the wheel, Wind could ensure Kenobi remained asleep. The human felt as though he had not closed his eyes in years. Perhaps he truly hadn’t been safe for that long. Wind still wondered what Kenobi hoped to achieve with a task so poorly understood. They still remembered their own first task when assigned to Kenobi’s Secret.

****

Temple Guards and Shadows may as well be one in the same. One protected the Temple from within. One protected the Order by any means necessary. Vansok donned his faceless gray mask, intensely imbued with the urge to forget ever being seen. Few Jedi could overcome the compulsion and non-Force sensitives had no hope. Still Vansok did not rely on the Force made artifact to become invisible to the eyes. He was a Shadow. He could be anyone’s Shadow. It was a skill he had to learn to evade the very Jedi he called his Fellows. Other Shadows. Even the ever alert Temple Guards. 

The Council of First Knowledge had noted a strange incident in the past of a Temple Guard who had not belonged. Now that lost starship had reappeared in this time with a Temple Guard who belonged to this time. That was what the Council wanted. 

Knowledge of Time Travel. Or the means to eliminate the possible threat a time traveler could represent. The Council had sent Vansok Exior. The one who observed Secrets and determined if assassination was needed. There was no pride in his tasks. He did so only to protect the Jedi Order. He hoped there was a Shadow with himself as their Secret. Death before turning to the Dark Side was preferable. Vansok wasn’t sure he would recognize the descent. 

He slipped through the Main Hanger to the nondescript starship. The kind the Temple Guard kept for the unusual ongoings of their kindred who were deep within the grasp of the Force. Donning the garb of a civilian maintenance crewer, Vansok tended to the ship. Refueling. Running diagnostics. Slicing into the memory boards. Delving into the jumbled Force energies swirling around the ship’s hull. The Story it told was beyond anything Vansok could ever imagine. 

Carefully, he wiped the ship’s memory clean. Scrubbed all remnants of Force Echoes from every possible surface. The ship slowly returned to an empty ship. Never having been used. No transponder to transmit. Invisible to every known sensor except the naked eye. Even then it was designed to be forgotten. Much like his gray mask. 

Vansok shivered as he became the only being besides Obi-Wan Kenobi who remembered. Mandalorians of the past and future. Battles to protect and survive. There was a danger to the Order, but the words Kenobi spoke to the Temple Guards rang true in the Force. The Temple was in danger, but the when could not be determined. 

So, Vansok’s task to observe and erase would continue. 

****

“Wind!” O’won said sharply when the veiled being did not move once the speeder had stopped within a narrow ravine. “Snap out of it!” Those black eyes struggled to refocus. “Stop being useless and get him inside the cavern. I’ll hide the speeder. Got to get away from these rocks. Got something jamming the signal.”

“Etardite.” Wind answered. 

“Huh?”

“The mineral etardite. It is an insulator.”

“Oh…. Well it’s not crawling with Jawas or Sand People.” O’won helped remove the unconscious Temple Guard from the speeder. Wind frowned. The bond tipped in that odd way of Wind wrestling with how much to reveal. By now the former Temple Guard should know how much that irritated O’won. “If it’s going to be trouble, then we find something else.”

“No.” Wind secured the human his arms. “That is not the issue. It is superstition that keeps the native populations away.”

“Superstition? You’re telling me that these caverns are haunted?”

“Only with the memories of ancient sea creatures.”

“Great. Ghosts. I can’t shoot ghosts, Wind.” O’won wrinkled his nose at the idea of hiding out in a long lost graveyard. He took the speeder to an alcove he could cover the machine. 

Vos showed up within the hour of receiving coordinates. O’won hadn’t even needed to escort the Jedi to the correct cavern. Jedi always knew. They found Wind with the black veil in place kneeling next to the Temple Guard. Wind was gentle, combing through stark white strands of hair intermixed with what had been a head full of light auburn hair. The sense of serenity radiated from Wind.

The dark Jedi Shadow took offense. “Will you stop that!” Vos bit out roughly. If O’won had a bead on the Jedi’s emotional state, he’d call it on the verge of terrified grief. That wasn’t a Jedi way. Vos pulled the human into his arms and cradled him, whispering what might have been apologies. 

Wind did not stop whatever the peace was projected from the Force. “That one needs rest. He has been my Secret from the beginning.”

The wide eyed horror in Vos’s eyes burned with murder. “You will not touch him.” 

The bond quivered with unbridled rage at the order. Wind did not accept Vos’s leadership in the Hidden Path. Especially when it came to Wind’s talents. “That one is my kin. That comes before all. You may be friends, creche clan mates, but do not attempt to prevent me from my duties, Quinlan Vos.” The tranquility became fragile though Wind attempted to maintain their Force projection. 

“And I am telling you to stay away from him!” Vos growled, holding the human tightly. 

“Don’t.” A quiet voice froze the cavern. The Temple Guard curled into Vos’s chest. 

O’won stared helplessly at what had to be a silent argument among the Jedi. Wind’s side of the bond churned with so many emotions. O’won’s Temple Guard bowed their head before standing. Only a half step away, they halted. The bond went silent. Not because Wind blocked it, but because Wind had no idea how to react. Wind’s voice was weaker than at any point that O’won had known the Jedi. “Please do not involve me.”

“We are vessels for the Force.” The human whispered.

There was little O’won could do but remain steady while Wind grappled with their choices. The veiled face looked to O’won. The Clone just arched an eyebrow, waiting. Sometimes Jedi took too long to make a decision. “Clearly you aren’t going to kill him.” O’won enjoyed the sight of Vos tensing at the mere suggestion. 

“The flow of time is not ours to manipulate.” Wind scowled. 

“Oh? So we can’t make our own futures?” Vos interjected. 

“You know full well, that is not what I am referring to.”

The human Temple Guard pushed away from Vos, though the Kiffar did not fully release his friend. “They are coming. There is nothing I can do.”

“You did enough. I will not instruct you on interpreting the Will of the Force. But I must draw a line…. Being your shield while you change time yet again….” Wind’s eyes had shifted to O’won even though their head remained facing the two Jedi. 

The human broke from Vos’s hold to stand. “We do not choose.” If O’won understood Wind on any level it was the desire to be the anonymous vessel for the Force. 

Abruptly Wind’s center hardened. It was the decision. Wind summoned the human’s Temple Guard mask into their hand. “You will perish on your own. Is this one …. Will it end with this one?” The human shrugged. “Infuriating. Vos, how many came with us on this search?”

“Seven. The three went to other cities. One is keeping the ship secure. Obi-Wan? What is going on?”

“There is a child that must be hidden and protected. I would have succeeded, however your presence has gained attention.”

“That’s not possible.” Vos rejected the idea that he had not managed to evade detection. 

O’won snorted. “The garrison at Mos Eisley. Two Troopers reported the arrival of strange mercenaries.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“He did, Vos. You said strangers pass through here all the time.” Wind said. “Kindred, stop karking with time. I’m certain you left a trail as wide as the Core in your wake.” Wind did gently hand the mask to Obi-Wan. It always stuck with O’won whenever Wind pointedly refused to use names. The human Temple Guard was their kin and they would forever respect that. “I do hope he is worth it.” Something in those words bothered O’won. He doubted it referred to the child. That sense became a foundational belief when Obi-Wan’s glowing blue eyes glanced between Wind and O’won.

“Thank you for not allowing me to become lost.”

Faint amusement trickled through Wind. “O’won, I hope you are ready.”

“My shield is ready. Though honestly, you could use a few more blasters.” O’won grinned as Wind managed a smile. Whatever was coming would be a hard battle. The slight confusion in Vos’s eyes made O’won laugh. Temple Guards were simply insane. 

@worm-strung-string.