Four
The pool was still, despite the slight breeze that wafted through the trees. Luke bent to observe the water and stretched forward to stare into its depths.
A familiar face stared back out.
Luke scrambled backward in surprise. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s face gazed out of the pool, but it was not the Obi-Wan that Luke knew. If it weren’t for the holograms that Leia had shown him, he wouldn’t have recognized his wizened teacher in the boy that stared out of the pool’s still surface.
Absently, Luke reached forward to brush at Obi-Wan’s face. He was surprised when he only touched water; the picture seemed too real to be a mere reflection. He crouched down closer to study the image.
Aragorn blinked rapidly, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind. How had they arrived so quickly? He glanced around the clearing, finally registering where he was.
Then his gaze fell on Luke. The boy was bent over the pool (Tarnon? Was that what Elrond had called it?) and was avidly studying the picture of a young man, still in the throes of puberty, that stared back out. Something in the tenseness of the Jedi’s back told Aragorn that this was no mere stranger.
“Do you know him?” the Ranger whispered.
The sound of his voice seemed to break the spell that surrounded the group, and out of the corner of his eye Aragorn saw Will, Legolas, and Jack start. He paid them no mind, but focused on the back of Luke’s head.
“He was my teacher,” the Jedi whispered. “He died many years ago.”
Legolas was the first to see the dangers this entailed. He strode forward to drag Luke from the water’s edge. “Tarnon! Stop this. You cannot play with time in this manner! If you change the past, you change the future!”
“I see them both. Why should I not play with them as I see fit?”
Stunned silence greeted these words.
“Tarnon?” Aragorn ventured.
“Of course it is I. Did you not just speak to me?”
“You are......a person?”
“Of course not! I am that which one world cannot contain.” A smirk seemed to grow in the voice. “But I can appear as one, when I see the need.”
“Well, then, show yourself!” Jack called irritably. “I don’t like talking to empty air.”
“What you wish is immaterial. I am in control here.” The voice seemed to caress the words. “Nevertheless, I suppose I might as well grant you this one request.”
A man appeared, standing on the surface of the pool. His hair was matted to his skull-like face, and his body was little more than skin and bones. His eyes seemed to burn in his sunken sockets. “Is this better, Pirate Sparrow?”
“Much,” Jack replied, crossing his arms across his chest in satisfaction.
“Now. Why did you call me?” Tarnon demanded. “I was quite enjoying studying this......Jedi.” He stepped from the surface of the pool to stand in front of Luke. Slowly, the creature extended the palm of his hand until it was directly in front of Luke’s nose, then waved it to cup the air around his face. “I find his species quite fascinating.” Luke didn’t even flinch. Only then did Aragorn realize that the Jedi hadn’t moved since Legolas had pulled him from the pool.
Tarnon seemed to sense Aragorn’s thoughts. He abandoned his evaluation of the Jedi to focus on the Ranger. “Yes, he will not move until I give him leave to.” The being’s tone hardened. “I do not appreciate you meddling in my experiment.” He turned to appraise Luke once more. “I have never ensnared a Jedi before. They really are a remarkable race.”
“So, you’re some kind of all-knowing, all-seeing scientist, then?” Jack demanded.
Tarnon laughed, the carefree sound of a child at play contrasting sharply with the face of a man who did not seem to know joy. “Ah, so you DO understand what I am.” A smirk played across his features. “When your words do not get in the way.” He peered at Jack’s face. “That is what I do not understand about you humans. Your reliance on words to convey meaning. The Jedi have no need of this crutch, yet they use it regardless.” He smiled as he turned back to stare at Luke. “I am quite tempted to send this one on your journey. It could be a very.....enlightening......experience.”
“No!” Aragorn had a hold of Tarnon’s tattered tunic before he knew what he was doing. Quickly, he backed off again, but not before a shadow of a frown crossed the being’s lined face. “You have us. Is that not enough?” Aragorn implored.
“No. You are not nearly enough. Rest assured, many more will join you before you return home. Theirs will be a shorter journey, but a journey it will be.” The creature smiled as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Do you blame yourself for this, son of Arathorn? That is foolhardy. You are blameless. I chose you, and your friend, because you, too, are fascinating to watch.” Tarnon sighed. “Then again, perhaps I should spare this Jedi. He could make your journey far too easy.” At the relieved look on Aragorn’s face, Tarnon shook his head. “You should want him along, for without him you will be forced to discover the truth for yourselves. Believe me, many will seek to mislead you.”
Aragorn nodded. “I understand.”
Tarnon stepped back onto the surface of the pool. “I leave it up to you. Leave him, if you wish. I can wait for another time. Perhaps I shall ensnare this one’s mentor next.” He shimmered like the waters on which he stood. “Call me when you decide.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Aragorn looked at his friends and sighed. “Leave him. We can finish this on our own.”
Legolas nodded. Jack rolled his eyes, but agreed as well.
Will just looked thoughtful. “May I ask you something, Tarnon?”
“Certainly. But I may not answer.”
“You can appear however you want, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Why do you choose to appear in this form? Surely there are others more suitable.”
Tarnon cocked his head to the side. “Because I find the wearer of this form to be quite interesting. He has led a fascinatingly terrible life. Only ten years out of it could have been counted as remotely satisfactory before he was put in prison for betraying his best friend and murdering another. Yet, those ten years involved one of the closest friendships I have yet to encounter in these worlds. When I chose to inhabit this form, he was currently hunting down a close friend of his in order to kill him for the very betrayal he was imprisoned for.” Tarnon smiled as though this were merely a play for his enjoyment. “Fascinating, is it not? I may have him join you at a later date.”
“I’m sure we can get on quite well without him, and it sounds like he is a bit busy to be bothered with our quest,” Aragorn said hurriedly.
“As you wish,” Tarnon replied. “I care not. I may yet, if the urge takes me. We shall see.” He waved a hand in Luke’s general direction, then gave the four friends a mocking bow. “Until we meet again, I must bid you all a fond farewell. Enjoy your time in this world. Its wars have just finished, and it could be a while before another begins. Enjoy the aftermath, but do not relax overmuch. Your stay will be quite abbreviated.”
The man’s form dissolved into the water on which he stood.
“Wait!” Legolas called. “Will we be able to sense you again whenever we want to?”
Tarnon’s laughter filled the clearing. “Of course not. Do you believe I would give you the power to find me whenever you want to? When I wish for you to find me, you will feel where I am.”
And suddenly, the clearing seemed to empty of his presence.
Luke suddenly came back to life. As if nothing had happened, he bolted for the pool. “Obi-Wan!”
But the depths showed different pictures now. A dragon swooped over a castle, wreathing it in flames. A man lunged through a door into a darkened room as the lights behind him went out. A man shrouded in darkness defended his city from the creatures of the night.
Luke’s shoulders slumped. “Gone.” He bowed his head. “He’s gone.”
Aragorn placed a comforting hand on the Jedi’s arm. “He was never there to begin with. Come, let’s return to your base.” He hauled the boy to his feet.
They set off into the forest, never looking back.
Behind them, the pool dissolved into mist.
A familiar face stared back out.
Luke scrambled backward in surprise. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s face gazed out of the pool, but it was not the Obi-Wan that Luke knew. If it weren’t for the holograms that Leia had shown him, he wouldn’t have recognized his wizened teacher in the boy that stared out of the pool’s still surface.
Absently, Luke reached forward to brush at Obi-Wan’s face. He was surprised when he only touched water; the picture seemed too real to be a mere reflection. He crouched down closer to study the image.
Aragorn blinked rapidly, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind. How had they arrived so quickly? He glanced around the clearing, finally registering where he was.
Then his gaze fell on Luke. The boy was bent over the pool (Tarnon? Was that what Elrond had called it?) and was avidly studying the picture of a young man, still in the throes of puberty, that stared back out. Something in the tenseness of the Jedi’s back told Aragorn that this was no mere stranger.
“Do you know him?” the Ranger whispered.
The sound of his voice seemed to break the spell that surrounded the group, and out of the corner of his eye Aragorn saw Will, Legolas, and Jack start. He paid them no mind, but focused on the back of Luke’s head.
“He was my teacher,” the Jedi whispered. “He died many years ago.”
Legolas was the first to see the dangers this entailed. He strode forward to drag Luke from the water’s edge. “Tarnon! Stop this. You cannot play with time in this manner! If you change the past, you change the future!”
“I see them both. Why should I not play with them as I see fit?”
Stunned silence greeted these words.
“Tarnon?” Aragorn ventured.
“Of course it is I. Did you not just speak to me?”
“You are......a person?”
“Of course not! I am that which one world cannot contain.” A smirk seemed to grow in the voice. “But I can appear as one, when I see the need.”
“Well, then, show yourself!” Jack called irritably. “I don’t like talking to empty air.”
“What you wish is immaterial. I am in control here.” The voice seemed to caress the words. “Nevertheless, I suppose I might as well grant you this one request.”
A man appeared, standing on the surface of the pool. His hair was matted to his skull-like face, and his body was little more than skin and bones. His eyes seemed to burn in his sunken sockets. “Is this better, Pirate Sparrow?”
“Much,” Jack replied, crossing his arms across his chest in satisfaction.
“Now. Why did you call me?” Tarnon demanded. “I was quite enjoying studying this......Jedi.” He stepped from the surface of the pool to stand in front of Luke. Slowly, the creature extended the palm of his hand until it was directly in front of Luke’s nose, then waved it to cup the air around his face. “I find his species quite fascinating.” Luke didn’t even flinch. Only then did Aragorn realize that the Jedi hadn’t moved since Legolas had pulled him from the pool.
Tarnon seemed to sense Aragorn’s thoughts. He abandoned his evaluation of the Jedi to focus on the Ranger. “Yes, he will not move until I give him leave to.” The being’s tone hardened. “I do not appreciate you meddling in my experiment.” He turned to appraise Luke once more. “I have never ensnared a Jedi before. They really are a remarkable race.”
“So, you’re some kind of all-knowing, all-seeing scientist, then?” Jack demanded.
Tarnon laughed, the carefree sound of a child at play contrasting sharply with the face of a man who did not seem to know joy. “Ah, so you DO understand what I am.” A smirk played across his features. “When your words do not get in the way.” He peered at Jack’s face. “That is what I do not understand about you humans. Your reliance on words to convey meaning. The Jedi have no need of this crutch, yet they use it regardless.” He smiled as he turned back to stare at Luke. “I am quite tempted to send this one on your journey. It could be a very.....enlightening......experience.”
“No!” Aragorn had a hold of Tarnon’s tattered tunic before he knew what he was doing. Quickly, he backed off again, but not before a shadow of a frown crossed the being’s lined face. “You have us. Is that not enough?” Aragorn implored.
“No. You are not nearly enough. Rest assured, many more will join you before you return home. Theirs will be a shorter journey, but a journey it will be.” The creature smiled as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Do you blame yourself for this, son of Arathorn? That is foolhardy. You are blameless. I chose you, and your friend, because you, too, are fascinating to watch.” Tarnon sighed. “Then again, perhaps I should spare this Jedi. He could make your journey far too easy.” At the relieved look on Aragorn’s face, Tarnon shook his head. “You should want him along, for without him you will be forced to discover the truth for yourselves. Believe me, many will seek to mislead you.”
Aragorn nodded. “I understand.”
Tarnon stepped back onto the surface of the pool. “I leave it up to you. Leave him, if you wish. I can wait for another time. Perhaps I shall ensnare this one’s mentor next.” He shimmered like the waters on which he stood. “Call me when you decide.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Aragorn looked at his friends and sighed. “Leave him. We can finish this on our own.”
Legolas nodded. Jack rolled his eyes, but agreed as well.
Will just looked thoughtful. “May I ask you something, Tarnon?”
“Certainly. But I may not answer.”
“You can appear however you want, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Why do you choose to appear in this form? Surely there are others more suitable.”
Tarnon cocked his head to the side. “Because I find the wearer of this form to be quite interesting. He has led a fascinatingly terrible life. Only ten years out of it could have been counted as remotely satisfactory before he was put in prison for betraying his best friend and murdering another. Yet, those ten years involved one of the closest friendships I have yet to encounter in these worlds. When I chose to inhabit this form, he was currently hunting down a close friend of his in order to kill him for the very betrayal he was imprisoned for.” Tarnon smiled as though this were merely a play for his enjoyment. “Fascinating, is it not? I may have him join you at a later date.”
“I’m sure we can get on quite well without him, and it sounds like he is a bit busy to be bothered with our quest,” Aragorn said hurriedly.
“As you wish,” Tarnon replied. “I care not. I may yet, if the urge takes me. We shall see.” He waved a hand in Luke’s general direction, then gave the four friends a mocking bow. “Until we meet again, I must bid you all a fond farewell. Enjoy your time in this world. Its wars have just finished, and it could be a while before another begins. Enjoy the aftermath, but do not relax overmuch. Your stay will be quite abbreviated.”
The man’s form dissolved into the water on which he stood.
“Wait!” Legolas called. “Will we be able to sense you again whenever we want to?”
Tarnon’s laughter filled the clearing. “Of course not. Do you believe I would give you the power to find me whenever you want to? When I wish for you to find me, you will feel where I am.”
And suddenly, the clearing seemed to empty of his presence.
Luke suddenly came back to life. As if nothing had happened, he bolted for the pool. “Obi-Wan!”
But the depths showed different pictures now. A dragon swooped over a castle, wreathing it in flames. A man lunged through a door into a darkened room as the lights behind him went out. A man shrouded in darkness defended his city from the creatures of the night.
Luke’s shoulders slumped. “Gone.” He bowed his head. “He’s gone.”
Aragorn placed a comforting hand on the Jedi’s arm. “He was never there to begin with. Come, let’s return to your base.” He hauled the boy to his feet.
They set off into the forest, never looking back.
Behind them, the pool dissolved into mist.