ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 1}

【 FIVE 】

     ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ꜱᴘᴏᴋᴇ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴏʙɪ-ᴡᴀɴ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏɴɢᴏ ᴜᴘ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ, steering us away from the mesmerizing Otoh Gunga and leaving the glittering lights behind. With me in the back of the transport with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan had to strain his neck to turn around and look at me. "How did you do that?" He asked quietly before turning his attention back to the windshield.

"Do what?" I replied. I tried to keep the strain out of my voice. As much as it pained me to admit, the Jedi Mind Trick had drained a lot of my energy, and it was barely enough to keep me upright in my seat as it was. I leaned my head against the window of the bongo, watching as several schools of fish blurred past.

Obi-Wan scoffed from up front. "That mind trick. I'm years ahead of you and I haven't even started learning illusions yet."

I bit my lip, trying not to get annoyed at his incessant pestering and questioning. "It was simple, really," I replied. "I just asked him to release Jar Jar, and he did."

I could sense irritation flowing in waves from Obi-Wan, but I didn't care. I was too exhausted to explain my second-to-second thought process.

"In all seriousness, Emeré," Qui-Gon spoke up. "That was quite impressive. Was that your first time experimenting with mind tricks?"

"Yes," I told him simply. "Master Hollbar said we were getting there, but we hadn't exactly started yet. I saw you do it earlier and thought I might try."

Qui-Gon looked thoughtful, but didn't say a word after that.

"It was impressive," Obi-Wan admitted after a couple moments of silence.

"I'm glad I pleased you," I remarked with another eye roll, staring once again out the window.

"Mesa thought mesa gonna be stuck dere forever!" Jar Jar cried, obviously not sensing the tension in the air. He turned to me. "Yousa save my life!"

I sucked my teeth with pursed lips, staring at the Gungan thoughtfully. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Why were you banished, Jar Jar?" Obi-Wan questioned, and I sighed silently in relief. At least I was no longer the object of all of his questions.

"It's a longo tale-o, buta, small part of it would be mesa... clumsy," he said sadly.

"You were banished because you were clumsy?" Obi-Wan queried, looking bewildered. I sat up slightly in interest as well, wanting to hear the story.

"Uh... yousa might'n be sayin that. Mesa caused mabbe one, two-y lettle bitty axadentys. Yud-say boom da gassar, den crashing der bosses' heyblibber, den banished," Jar Jar explained.

I was about to open my mouth to reply when the ship lurched, and we all turned in confusion. It wasn't hard to locate the source of the disruption--right out the back window was a giant fish, about twenty times bigger than our transport, with its tongue latched onto the back of our bongo. It retracted its tongue into its mouth and bit down, leaving our transport hanging halfway out of its mouth. Miraculously, the ship stayed intact, and Obi-Wan kept his calm, patiently flipping switches and turning on thrusters to help us escape the creature.

"Wuh-oh!" Jar Jar shrieked, which did not help the situation. "Big gooberfish!"

"It's an Opee Sea Killer," I corrected, trying to stay calm. I leaned over Obi-Wan's seat to get a better look at the controls and what he was doing. "Obi-Wan, try the-"

"Emergency booster," we said at the same time, then locked eyes, as if in disbelief of the other's knowledge. I quickly shook off the feeling of shock and nodded seriously at Obi-Wan. "You can do this."