The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

The Cantina

Kenobi and Cordelia stuck close together as they navigated the streets of Nar Shaddaa.

The moon wasn't anything special; in fact, it was very much the opposite. It had the same look and feel as the Coruscant Underworld. The entire sector was all steel and concrete. There were millions of people squished into every nook and cranny. It was a place that people came to get lost in. It was smelly and disgusting and damp, so pretty much the personification of the Hutts themselves.

There were railings that prevented the unwitting civilian from toppling thousands of feet into whatever material made up the surface of Nar Shaddaa. Grimy joints that varied from clothing stores to droid shops to shifty looking doctor's offices lined the sector, all in the same dingy metal as the streets.

A variety of shaped lights glowed neon in the dim sector, flashing the opposite facade pink and green. The air was musty. It smelled of sweat and bodies and garbage, along worse things. There was also the metallic edge of dirty steel.

There were people pressing in on them from all sides, forcing Kenobi and Cordelia closer together. Their shoulders were touching as they shoved their way through the thick crowd.

Kenobi kept brushing his arm against his waist, feeling for his saber. It was a subconscious act in crowds like this, which were easy to "lose" items in.

They made a turn and the cantina, called Solari's, entered into view. The crowd had thinned exponentially on this block. Kenobi jaw tightened as he sensed a cold, dark aura coming from within Solari's. Dooku. Cordelia stiffened next to him.

"I sense Darth Tyranus." she stated darkly. Kenobi stopped immediately, his suspicions shooting up. The Gray stopped and gave him a concerned look.

"What is it?" she asked confusedly.

"Dooku. You called him Tyranus. Why?" he asked suspiciously. That was new information to the Jedi Order. How would she know this? Cordelia's cheekbones raised as she smiled beneath the cloth.

"Haven't you figured it out by now, Obi-Wan?" she asked, her voice purring. "We Gray know a lot of things about both sides. It's part of our job. We know about Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, born of the Force to rebalance it, the one theorized to be the Chosen One of Mortis. We know the location of the Darksaber and what happened to Revan during his disappearance. We know a great many things." Kenobi's eyebrow raised.

"You said the Chosen One of Mortis?" he repeated. He had fuzzy memories of his, Anakin, and Anakin's former padawan, Ahsoka Tano's time trapped on Mortis. The Father, Son, Daughter, their deaths... It was strange. Like a dream, yet a memory, and somehow this woman knew about it. That was something between only them and Master Yoda.

"Of course." she replied flippantly. "We are the keepers of the prophecy. Why do you think Master Qui-Gon was so insistent on taking the boy into the Order in the first place?" she asked him. Kenobi thought on this.

Master Qui-Gon had been quite stuck on the idea of training Anakin, even threatening to go against the council when they said no. Following his own path wasn't uncommon for his master to do, but it was strange why he cared so much about Skywalker becoming a Jedi. This new piece of information sent Kenobi's mind buzzing. Cordelia continued on. She realized she had got him.

"Anakin is the Chosen One of a single prophecy out of the dozens that surround the orders. Some that have come true, some that have not, and some are yet to be. But the events that are to happen at Mortis are to be the first of many that will rebalance the Force." Cordelia said. So she didn't know that Mortis had already happened. Interesting.