Chapter Text
Just a few days after the balloon prank, Quinlan and Obi-Wan were on their way to a month long visit to Kiffu. That was part of why they timed the prank the way they did. If they were caught, they would avoid the worst of the annoyance by going on their prescheduled visit to see family. Besides, there was only so much of the chaos they could take, and people were still finding balloons when they left just a few days in. By the time they got back, most of the stashes should have been found.
For now, though, the two padawans were very excited to be visiting family. Since Obi-Wan's adoption, two years previous, they had only been able to do two one-week visits, mostly thanks to the timing of their longer missions and Quinlan's promotion to senior padawan. And now they were finally going back for an entire month.
When they got off the ship it was to find much of the family waiting for them. Obi-Wan and Quinlan shared a grin and ran for their family, leaving behind their masters. After happily greeting everyone, which included a pile of cousins on top of them when they lost their balance, they were quickly ushered to get everything unpacked. Obi-Wan now had his own rooms, but he planned on mostly staying with Quinlan anyways.
They already had plans for this visit. They would do their usual meditations, and set aside two hours every day (at different times depending on the plans for the day) for keeping up their skills over the month, and otherwise, they would spend the rest of the time with Clan Vos, enjoying their family time, as well as taking lessons in things they should know as Kiffar, and members of Clan Vos.
There was also one Festival during this time, the Festival of Giving. This one was about giving gifts. About giving others something they would enjoy, crafted with one's own skills.
Obi-Wan had been working on mosaics for this purpose for a long time and had the supplies to finish them out during spare time in the two weeks they had until the festival. Quinlan was working on paintings for everyone and thoroughly enjoying his hobby.
But that ended up not being the one thing they enjoyed the most. No, that was the Hunt. Quinlan wasn't quite old enough, as it was technically for those who were of age, twenty, but Clan Vos decided to do it early because of the struggle it had been for Quinlan to visit for even a week over the last two years. Obi-Wan got to do it early, because it was always dpne with siblings or cousins, if they were at least fifteen. Because siblings were often close, and that way they could have the coming-of-age Hunt done at the same time, even if they weren't considered the same age.
Kiffar didn't really hunt, not anymore. At least... not in the same way as they did when Kiffu was young. Nowadays, they got meat from agriculture as much as they did hunting, oftentimes more. But they never forgot their roots. The Hunt was part of ensuring they never forgot.
As the youngest adults close to Obi-Wan and Quinlan, Conall and Craig were the ones to explain it to them as they went for their first lesson that first night on Kiffu. Obi-Wan and Quinlan had been warned, but it was still a surprise to be going out after nightfall, even with the promise of safe camping.
“Alright, now that we're at the jungle... it's time for the first lesson.” Conall got a fire going and they settled around it. “Long ago, we were the hunters, not farmers, or anything else. We hunted, and we gathered what we could when we did not hunt enough.”
“We ran through jungles, across the plains, freely but not without our predators. They still lurk in the jungles, waiting for the chance of a big meal to see them through the hard times.” Craig explained, poking the fire. He and Conall it seemed were going to alternate.
“As we learned more, we started learning how to do more than evade and hope to find a hiding place where the jagliar could not find us. We learned how to be faster, stronger, smarter than it, and that led to us eventually turning to the life we have now.
“But we can never forget the lessons the jagliar taught us. We only hunt it for the Hunt, that keeps the numbers from growing too fierce. But jagliar also keeps the population of the grazers down so that they do not overrun us and get too bold. We need them to keep the balance on Kiffu.”
“And so, we respect the jagliar, respect the circle of life of Kiffu. For the next three weeks, Quinlan and Obi-Wan of Clan Vos, you will learn the ways of the jagliar, and then, the fourth week, you will work together to hunt one and kill it. That is the way of Kiffu, that is the Hunt of Kiffu, the prey becomes the predator, as you two become adults.”
Craig tossed some more wood onto the fire, grinning. “And that's the end of the formalities.”
“Wow,” Obi-Wan breathed, wide eyed.
“Wow, indeed... but what do you mean by learning the ways of the jagliar?” Quinlan asked suspiciously.
“Aside from your meditations and Jedi lessons... almost all of your time is going to be spent here; this is going to be our base camp. Even at night. You'll not need anything you brought with you,” Craig explained. “And we're not going to be the only ones teaching you, just about everyone in the clan will take a turn. We get the start because we're the youngest.”
“That... doesn't answer Quin's question...” Obi-Wan pointed out cautiously.
“Well, then to answer it... the way we defeat the jagliar is by acting like it. We learn to do the things it can do, and then we turn it on them to hunt and kill one. Oh, and it'll be preferable if you can do it without the Force and just rely on Kiffu.”
“We can do that.” Quin nodded. “Our friend Kit taught us some tricks to doing things without the Force, so we've been practicing.”
“Even gave us a practical test on it. No winners or losers, but we did get a lot masters complementing us for not relying on the Force, apparently that's something few bother to learn so thoroughly, since it's just another sense, like psychometry, for Jedi, so why bother not relying on it, but those who do don't usually try until they're masters or close to it and it was great.”
Conall grinned. “Good, I know just about everyone's been worried about you two with that.”
“So... what's the deal tonight?” Quinlan asked, leaning closer to the fire.
“Tonight, we're starting with learning a bit more about the energy, then we're getting up with the sun for the next lesson. You'll have to wait a bit on Jedi meditations.”
“We'll do a little meditating before sleeping, it'll be fine.” Quinlan waved a hand.
“Okay, good. Now for the lesson.”
They set up a pot over the flames. Conall took out a bottle of glowing water. All water from Kiffu glowed at night in the end and was used as a nightlight or flashlight at night. Some places just used water instead of lights.
“Since you two already meditate, this is going to be easier for you than most,” Conall explained. “Now, we can actually connect with the energy of the planet itself. We don't teach it before the Hunt because it can be dangerous to do so, to be able to feel the pulse of Kiffu itself.”
Both Obi-Wan and Quinlan straightened and nodded solemnly. They'd had similar warnings about the Force, but unlike the energy of Kiffu, there was no way to avoid connecting with the Force.
Craig tilted his head, then nodded. “Of course you wouldn't need any further explanation to get it. Force stuff, yeah?”
Quinlan nodded. “You've heard what happened when my parents died, and that wasn't even me going too deep into the Force.”
“So, you get it. Good.” Conall started pouring the water into the pot. “Now, we're not going to quite meditate. It's easiest to start to get a sense of Kiffu through water as it changes from liquid to steam. So, we're all going to focus on the water and try to sense the energy.”
“Does it feel anything like it does with us? Or is it different?” Obi-Wan asked immediately.
“It's... close to the same, but at the same time it's... it's more and different.”
“Alright.”
Silence fell as the four concentrated on the water. The water started boiling, turning to steam. Obi-Wan started sensing it before Quinlan, but Quinlan wasn't far behind. There was something subtle, like a flare of energy that disappeared quickly, as the water turned to steam.
By the time the water boiled away, both of them felt confident in consistently sensing the energy in the water. Conall pulled out more water and tossed them each a bottle.
“Can you sense it? It's okay if you can't, sometimes people get it right away, sometimes it takes several tries. Took me two pots of water.”
“Took me two, and Bernard was really frustrated it took him four.”
Obi-Wan could sense the buzzing, and yeah, it wasn't really buzzing but that was the best word for it, and it was... definitely more. Bigger, and more intense. He looked up and met Quinlan's astonished gaze before they turned to their cousins and nodded.
“Excellent. You'll be able to feel it in everything from Kiffu, everyone even. The planet itself buzzes with energy. It's quite amazing. And quite useful. Every native creature here senses the energy in some way, which means it's important for us to learn to do the same to Hunt.”
“Right. How do we do that?”
Craig tossed more sticks into the fire. “Close your eyes, do you sense the energy around you? Not just in yourselves, or the water, but all around you?”
“Starting to...” Quinlan mumbled. “It's... strange.”
“Good, keep at it until everything is energy to you.”
It took a few minutes, but eventually both Obi-Wan and Quinlan expressed that they could feel the energy everywhere.
“You two are really quick at this. Now, focus on the energy, it knows the shape it's in, and you'll be able to sense everything around us, even the fire.”
Quinlan gasped as he started to get a full picture in his mind of what was around him. “Whoa...”
Obi-Wan let out a breath of air, awed at how well this worked.
Craig and Conall started quizzing them on where everything was, moving things, around. Conall even climbed a tree for them to find him, and then eventually they called an end to the exercise.
“Now you should always have some awareness of the energy no matter what, but we'll be doing that every night, and we're not going to learn how to actually do anything with the energy until next week, just to be sure that you have it down.”
“Got it.” Quinlan nodded, and then he yawned. “If there's nothing else... we should meditate and then we'll go to bed.”
“Dessert first,” Conall teased, pulling out the marshmallows for roasting.
Quinlan lit up. “Oh, I haven't had those in years!”
“What... is that?” Obi-Wan asked, staring at the sugary concoction with suspicion.
“Trust me, Obes, you'll love it,” Quinlan told him.
...yeah, it was pretty great.
.
The next day, it turned out that the lesson was basically Kiffar jungle parkour. Though it was called tree running. While this was actually a bit of an instinctual skill (which explained why they picked it up so easily from Kit), it still needed lessons. Thanks to Kit, the lesson was easy, and they were soon able to keep up with their cousins through the trees. Which meant they saw their first jaglier that day.
A large cat with spots, a mane of fur, a long tail it used for climbing, sharp teeth and claws, and surprisingly quick for all its bulk. They watched it climb and jump around for most of the day.
Quinlan and Obi-Wan started picking up some additional tricks, just from that, instinctively. Which was how it usually went. Observation was a rather powerful skill went coupled with the ability to sense the energy in everything on Kiffu.
And so, their training continued over the next two weeks. They were often sore, but it was worth it. They learned how to connect with the energy, to move with the energy, and how to harness the energy in small ways, though the last was a last resort, as harnessing energy drained it from either the person doing so, or the surroundings, and the result wasn't pretty.
When the Festival of Giving came around, they exchanged gifts with everyone, and each other. They exchanged gifts with their masters, too, who had made things for each of them as gifts. Qui-Gon had been cultivating some plants and made some favorite tea mixes for each of them, while Tholme used his rarely utilized skills with knitting to make them arm and leg warmers for colder days.
The day was rounded out with family time, and much snacking and cookies.
And then it was straight back to preparing for the Hunt for the last week, as Obi-Wan and Quinlan learned more of what was expected out of them on this Hunt. What they would be accomplishing, and how.
When the day arrived, all of Clan Vos was there to see them off. They were dressed in the traditional hunting clothes, in colors of the jungle. They each had a knife and a spear, and one survival pack each. That was it. Before sending them off, Bran and Erin stepped forward to add the traditional hunting paint in place of their parents.
With a last goodbye, Obi-Wan and Quinlan disappeared into the jungle. They didn't say a word, they knew what they needed to do. In sync with each other and the energy, they started tracking a jagliar. The real trouble would begin when they needed to kill it. They waited three days once they caught up, hiding most of the time, until the jagliar had a large meal and fell asleep. A full stomach meant it was less likely to want to kill them.
They got off to a good start with the sneak attack, and then the jagliar woke up. The fight was long, but they used all they had learned over the last few weeks and came out on top, if injured. But that was to be expected. They bandaged those injuries up, and then dragged the body of the jagliar through the jungle. No one would bother those who had managed to slay a predator, and so they had no worries, but the potential of infection and making the worst of the wounds worse.
The hardest part was they were not using the Force, and the jagliar was longer than Quinlan was tall. But they knew the jungle, knew how to jump and climb through the trees. A bit of extra weight made it difficult, but not impossible, even with Obi-Wan limping. They had to stop for the night, curling up together to sleep.
The next morning, they were more energized, but they also were sore from the fight, and most of the wounds were infected. To be expected, jagliar claws and teeth were notorious for causing infection. They had been scratched more than once and there had been a bit of a panic when it bit Quinlan's arm, and then Obi-Wan's foot when Obi-Wan tried to kick it. Both wounds were deep and painful, but they would make it out of the jungle by lunch anyways.
When they made it out, it was just Aisling and Darach waiting for them. Darach made the call to let everyone know they had made it out while Aisling fussed over them and made them sit down. The jaglier was of average size, nothing impressive, but they had done it. Quinlan and Obi-Wan had accomplished the Hunt.
They declined anything from the jagliar itself, content with just getting the tattoos that signified they had passed the Hunt, regardless of their actual age and the fact that they're not adults. The tattoos went around their upper arms. Quinlan received the one that meant 'calm in the face of danger' while Obi-Wan received the one that meant 'quick in body and mind'. These were guided by the energy of Kiffu, the energy having seen what they could do. No one outside of Kiffu would be able to easily see what they meant.
Qui-Gon and Tholme were less than pleased that they would have some scarring from the bites, but had been warned about the tattoos, and ultimately were proud of their padawans. Being able to do such a Hunt, on their own, without the Force, under the age of twenty at that, was impressive, even if they didn't know the details. Togrutas who did their Hunt still used the Force, after all. Neither cared to hear the details, they trusted their padawans to have made the choice to go along with the request for a good reason.
They talked a bit about it over dinner that night.
“Probably would've been a lot harder without Kit's lessons in parkour.” Quinlan waved a fork around before going for another bite.
“Dooku's lessons in fighting smarter probably helped too,” Obi-Wan added with a grin.
As they continued excitedly talking about how they fought off the jagliar, without going into too much detail to spare their masters, everyone watched happily.
Two years ago, this sort of scene had seemed like a distant hope not something that could ever be reality. And now it was. Those two scared, uncertain padawans were so much more confident, so much happier, and were growing in their skills.
Adopting Obi-Wan into Clan Vos really had been the best choice for both him and Quinlan. Both were thriving, even if they had changed. They would never be the padawans of before, but they had healed, and would keep growing into adults, Jedi, all could be proud of.