Chapter Text
The sound of clashing lightsabers isn’t far from you and you throw your hood up over your head, backing against the wall, surrounding yourself with shadows. You’re suppose to stay hidden, that’s your mission.
You hear the familiar hum of lightsabers before you actually see them. Red and green crashing against each other, angry hisses coming from each blade. You watch on as the Sith and the Jedi fight one another, each trying to take the other’s life. Darth Maul manages to catch the Jedi Master off guard with a hit to the face and before he can recover, one end of Maul’s saber slides its way into his stomach.
A scream breaks your eyes away from scene before you, you thought Qui-Gon was suppose to be alone, apparently he isn’t. You make eye contact with Darth Maul before a blue saber comes crashing down on the dual-bladed red one. The attacks are quick and in rapid succession, whoever he is, he aims to kill. When the unknown assailant manages to cut off one blade of Maul’s saber you’re impressed. You’ve never seen anyone best him in a fight so quickly. You notice the Padawan braid swinging behind his ear for the first time and you're even more surprised. Who knew a Jedi held such power.
With a flick of his wrist the Sith Lord pushes the Jedi backwards into the melting pit. You smirk, the fight is over, there's no way he survived that fall, and even if he did, he's out of your hair now. You push yourself off the wall, getting ready to congratulate Maul on a good fight before you notice the Padawan is back, his master's saber in his hand. One quick slash and the green blade cuts the Sith straight in half, each half falling into the pit behind him. You raise your eyebrows, a smirk working its way onto your face, he really is impressive.
The Padawan deactivates the lightsaber and runs to his master, holding his dying body in his arms. Qui-Gon whispers something to him and you wonder briefly what he could be saying to him.
You feel it when the Jedi Master finally dies, there's a certain disturbance in the force, letting you know that one of its own is joining it again. You close your eyes, emptying your mind into the force, feeling your way around. Your force signature brushes against the Jedi Padawan; he's angry, he feels betrayed. You open your eyes, wondering what exactly Qui-Gon said to the boy, whatever it was it didn't sit well with him.
"I know you're here. Show yourself."
You push yourself away from the wall, quickly glancing into the pit Maul had fallen into. You grimace, he definitely didn't survive that.
“You fought quite admirably,” you say, your voice cuts through the eerie silence. “Your Master would be proud.”
“You know nothing of my Master.” He picks up the lightsaber on the ground, igniting it, a fire shining in his eyes.
You smirk again, “My apologies.” You raise your hands, “I mean you no harm.” You stare at each other for a moment, he's trying to decide whether or not he actually believes you; when he deactivates the lightsaber, you suppose he does. Neither of you say anything, and you slowly make your way towards the door that will lead you out of the power generator. You have no intentions of sticking around longer than necessary.
“Who are you?”
You smile, you knew he wouldn't be able to resist asking for long. “Who are you?” You repeat the question back at him.
You don't need to see him to know that he's contemplating on whether or not to actually tell you his name. “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
“Well,” you say, edging closer to the door. “Congratulations Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He doesn’t try to stop you, he lets you exit the power generator without another word.
~~
You almost feel bad for showing up at Qui-Gon’s funeral, but you have a job to do and you certainly aren’t going to upset your master. You’re in the corner of the room, far away from the Jedi council's prying eyes, watching silently as Obi-Wan places a reassuring hand on the small boy’s shoulder. Anakin Skywalker. Your master is quite interested in the boy, so he has requested that you keep an eye on him. You didn’t object, not that you would have anyway, it gave you an excuse to also keep an eye on Kenobi. He had caught your eye since he had bested Maul back in the power generator. You could see the darkness in him, lying just beneath the surface, waiting for someone to tell him it’s there. You felt it the moment his master had died, it wanted to swallow him whole; you just had to find a way to show it to him.
You feel eyes on you and glance up, noticing the blues of Obi-Wan peering back at you. You turn around, deciding that now is the perfect time for you to take your leave, you don’t want him to make your presence known. With one final glance over your shoulder at Obi-Wan, you pull your hood up over your head.
You don’t make it too far, a soft accented voice stopping you. “Wait,” it says; and you do just that. You want to move but something in your body won’t let you, it’s like the force itself is holding you back, making you wait. “What are you doing here?”
You shrug, “Paying my respects.” It’s a simple answer, but as far from the truth as it gets.
“To a man you barely knew?” He sounds skeptical, but you decide to ignore it.
You don’t answer him, you just start walking. You don’t have time for this, you have a mission to do and council members to keep away from.
“I saw your eyes you know,” he calls after you, causing you to stop again, “I know what you are.”
Dread settles in your stomach because you might actually have to fight and kill him in order to keep him from telling the council about you. He might have piqued your interest but he certainly isn’t worth getting thrown in some Jedi prison. Unconsciously your hand travels toward your hip, your lightsaber is clipped in the same spot it always is. You don’t want to have to use it, but you absolutely will if he threatens your existence. You swallow, your throat suddenly dryer than the sands of Tatooine. You unclip the saber, letting it fall into place in your hand, the weight is familiar and somewhat comforting. You shrug your robe off, letting it gracefully land on the ground below, before turning to him, lightsaber still clutched tightly in your hand. You don’t ignite it, not until you’re sure he’s actually going to advance on you.
He holds up his hands, backing away from you slowly, “I mean you no harm.” You’re suddenly reminded of the power generator and how you had told him the same thing. “You didn’t harm me then, so I won’t harm you now.”
You lift an eyebrow suspiciously at him, what kind of Jedi lets a Sith go free? Certainly not a very good one. “You would be praised for bringing me in, just like you were praised for killing Darth Maul I’m sure.” It’s true, if he could best you in a fight and took you back to the council, they would have a field day; Obi-Wan Kenobi would be a name the entire galaxy would know, a famous Jedi who killed one Sith and captured another, all within days of each other. “The entire galaxy would know your name.”
Something shines in his eyes, something mischievous, and he smiles. “Maybe I don’t want the entire galaxy to know my name.”
You finally clip your lightsaber back to your hip, convinced he’s not going to turn you in, and pick up your robe. You brush some dust off of it as you slip it back over your arms and pull the hood over your head again. You might regret this, “Darth Vulpine.” When he sends you a questioning look you roll your eyes. “Darth Vulpine, that’s my name.” You suppose he’s actually earned your trust enough to at least know your name. When he smiles you’re positive this isn’t the last time the two of you are going to see each other.