by Anne Carr and Emrin Alexander (njtucker@yahoo.com)
ARCHIVE: MA - anyone else, please ask.
CATEGORY:AU, Eventually FirstTime, Short Story Series, Humor
RATING:G to NC-17 (eventually) - the first one is G
PAIRING:(eventually) Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon
SUMMARY: Baskajett, the only cat to be allowed free run of the
Jedi Temple, is a member of the Clan, who serve the Sacred
Greater Purpose. It is his Duty to train the two Jedi who make
his whiskers twitch. Being a Cat, he also intervenes wherever
necessary to keep the Temple running smoothly. This first story
introduces Basky to a tall Jedi who really knows how to give a
great ear massage.
DISCLAIMERS:George owns the Temple and the Jedi; We own the Cat
(Really, we do. We just let Basky thinks he runs us...)
FEEDBACK: This is the first in a proposed series. If there is
sufficient interest expressed, we'll keep on posting episodes.
If not, we won't keep posting them.
My name is Baskajett and I am a felinoid. We allow humans to
label us cats, but though all felinoids are cats, not all cats
are members of the Clan.
I was born to the Clan. For generations we have owned humans
and served the Greater Purpose by intervening to save them from
the harm they would stumble into without us. The need to serve
the Sacred Greater Purpose is in my genes and cannot be denied.
That is why I came to live with my Jedi.
My lot is not an easy one. Sometimes, I think I will just wash
my paws of them. But, I do not. They need me. I shudder to
think what would happen, were I not there to intervene.
Someday, I will go back to the Clan. Some far away day when all
I can do is done. And I will train the next generations, for
the time when the Jedi rise once more and the Clan is needed
again.
It all really began, when I was 8 weeks old. My grandfather
took me to the main spaceport on Coruscant and told me that
there I would find the human I would own. At the time I was
very small, rather frightened of so many passing feet and not
at all sure I wanted to leave the security of the Clan. But for
more years than the Republic has been in existence we of the
Clan have served. Now it was my turn.
"How will I know who I am to own?" I asked again as Grandfather
gave me a final rubbing over and prepared to leave.
"By the twitching of your whiskers, little one. Remember - you
can always call upon the Clan if you need us, but this is your
time and you will know what to do in every case. You are of the
Clan and the Sacred Purpose is strong in you."
By the twitching of my whiskers, indeed! But I had never known
my grandfather to be wrong about anything, so I did as he said.
Picking my way with careful quickness, I darted between the
passing feet, never looking back.
For the longest time I scurried and slinked my way through the
spaceport, with never so much as a twinge in any whisker. I
knew I was looking for a human - humanoids and felinoids are
frequently companions, but cats of the Clan accept only humans
for training. And humans came and went in the busy area, but my
whiskers never twitched. Not once.
I was beginning to be hungry and more than a little homesick
for my fellow kitlings when another ship docked. The ramp went
down. And then I saw a tall man, tall even for a human, dressed
in brown and cream. My whiskers began to tingle and then
actively twitch. It was the oddest sensation. This was the one
then, the human I would own and in so doing, take my place in
service to the Clan.
I considered him for a time. No one stayed in the space port
for any length of time. I would have to work quickly. I was of
the Clan, and I knew exactly what to do.
QUI-GON
By the Force, he was tired. This last mission had not been
physically taxing, but mentally grueling and it was not over
yet. The Chancellor himself was meeting him at the spaceport in
order to get a first hand account of the political situation on
Balandria Prime. After that, he would have to repeat his report
to the Council, answer their endless questions, and hold on to
his temper the entire time. Only after these tasks were
completed would the mission be a wrap. And then, and only then,
could he go home.
He collected his travel pack and exited the shuttle, drawing on
years of training to smother the headache that was threatening,
releasing a little of the tension to the Force.
The Chancellor was waiting. Dressed in unremarkable dark
clothing he could have been any well-heeled businessman or
politician from any of a 100 different worlds. No one in the
arrival area took any particular notice of him. He waited
quietly as Qui-Gon came forward and bowed.
"Well, I hope it wasn't as bad as you look, Qui-Gon."
Qui-Gon Jinn smiled at that. "You never change, Val. And
thanks." Qui-Gon moved his leg slightly as he felt something
brush over his ankle.
"Was it worse than we feared?"
Qui-Gon shrugged. "As you imagined. Seven rival families all
fighting for control of the government, and none of them cares
what happens to the planet or the people in the process. The
Hutts will get control, I fear."
The something that had brushed past his ankle, was now working
its way up his leg. Automatically, Qui-Gon reached out with a
tendril of Force energy to remove the unknown "something" then
stopped as he registered what it was. Moving slowly, he reached
around and firmly grasped hold of his invading climber.
Valorum stopped talking and shook his head. "Where did that
come from?"
Qui-Gon eyed the small, orange and white kittling quizzically.
It dangled tranquilly from his grasp, not seeming to mind the
large hand that held it or being in mid air. "He just climbed
up my leg."
"You must have a sign blinking over your head, Qui."
"Obi-Wan insists I do." Without thinking too much about it,
Qui-Gon brought the small kitten close to his chest and began
to gently rub around its ears. Green eyes closed and a loud
purr began, quite out of proportion to its tiny size.
"Walk with me and tell me the rest - and then you can take your
new acquisition home."
Valorum knew the Jedi Master of old. Nothing helpless, be it
humanoid, felinoid or species unknown had ever lacked a helping
hand from Qui-Gon. "What about the factions on the southern
continent?" He asked.
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