“Nonsense, young Padawan,” Obi-Wan chided.
“You fear the nonexistent.”
“But Master…”
“That is enough, Anakin. Now hush.”
Obi-Wan’s warnings were well-advised, as at that moment, the leader of
the Commerce Guild was heading towards them at a sickening pace.
Something was definitely wrong, but Obi-Wan wasn’t planning to
interfere. He just wanted to get
back to the ship before they were discovered.
The mission had been delicate to begin with, and
Anakin’s ever-flaring temper had sent the negotiations into a downward spiral
that had erupted in the Trade Federation pulling out of their peace agreement
with the Commerce Guild. At this
particular moment, the Trade Federation had ships on the way to Malastare to
take out the Guild headquarters, and the two Jedi had to first get off the
planet alive, then get to the Council to call for help in stopping the attack.
When the panicked creature finally passed, the Jedi slid
out of the shadows and took off running at Jedi speed toward the staircase
leading to the roof, knowing the main exits were all blocked, as Nute Gunray had
remembered Obi-Wan from the battle on Naboo and was out to have him destroyed.
Obi-Wan was pretty sure he was going try to do that regardless of the
outcome of the negotiations.
Obi-Wan was not worried, though. He was no longer a Padawan, but a Jedi Knight with an
Apprentice of his own. He could
think through any situation, and he could think of several situations Qui-Gon
had gotten him into that were infinitely worse than this one.
The pair burst out onto the roof, and without thinking,
dove over the side of the palace, aiming for the clear patch of grass between
the trees and the river. Anakin,
being smaller and much more aerodynamic, bulleted through the trees, landing
safely on his feet and looking up to find that his Master was nowhere in sight.
/Master? Where
are you?/
/Up here, Anakin…/
Anakin looked up, but still saw nothing.
/Where is “up here,” Master?/
/In the Blenada tree, Anakin./ The boy turned to find that his Master really was up in the
tree. He didn’t look too happy
about it, either.
/What in the seven sith hells are you doing up there,
Master?!/
/I’m stuck./
/Stuck?/
/Stuck./ Anakin
caught a look of disgust on his Master’s face, even with the great distance
between them, and doubled over laughing.
/I suppose you need my help again, Master?/
/I think I can manage, Padawan./
/Are you sure, Master?/ Anakin was starting to pick up
his trademark know-it-all tone again.
/I am a Jedi Knight, Anakin,/ Obi-Wan growled back as he
called on the Force to loose the branches from his pinned ankle. /I can take
care of myself./ Frustrated and not
thinking clearly, the Jedi Knight forgot to brace himself on something else, and
when the tangled branches gave way, so did the ones holding him in place.
He skidded through the flimsy branches, too shaken to get
a good enough hold on the Force to even slow his fall.
Anakin, meanwhile, watched amusedly from below as his normally graceful
Master crashed awkwardly through the lower levels of the tree and, instead of
landing on the ground, he seemed to go through it, sending fallen leaves and
sand flying in all directions.
Anakin, still laughing, held his cloak up to his face as
his made his way through the settling dust cloud to check on Obi-Wan since he
hadn’t heard even so much as a thud when the older man landed.
Just as he pulled the cloak away to call out, he heard a terrible squawk
that sent him stumbling backwards.
Anakin landed with a heavy thud, and instantly his back
flared with bright pain. Sitting
up, he reached behind himself to find that he had landed on Obi-Wan’s
lightsaber. He started to panic,
clutching his Master’s ‘saber in one hand and his in the other.
“Master?!” he called out, taking off running toward
the base of the tree. “Obi-Wan?!
Where are you?!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, growing more worried
with each passing second.
/Master? Answer me!/
Anakin called out over their bond. No
answer. /MASTER?!/ he tried again.
Nothing again. Anakin, too
panicked to think clearly, was not paying attention to where he was going or his
place in the Force, and was almost unable to stop when he reached the edge of
what proved to be a rather large pit that his Master had fallen into.
The dust was finally starting to settle, and Anakin could
make out the faint outline of his Master at the bottom of the pit.
He looked to be buried under several smaller objects… things Anakin
quickly realized were not only living, but moving as well.
“Master?! Are
you alright?!” He called down into the pit, and was answered by several loud
squawks.
“Anakin! I nee—”
Obi-Wan was cut off in mid-sentence by the sound of flapping wings and a
terrible racket. Not knowing what
else to do, the boy dove into the pit, lightsaber ignited, ready to destroy
whatever lay at the bottom of the hole.
“I’m coming, Master!” he cried out, landing on his
feet some five feet from the older Jedi, only to find that the things attacking
his Master were neither dangerous nor attacking.
He looked over at Obi-Wan and found that he was indeed buried under the
masses of screeching gundarks, but they weren’t eating him like previously
thought…they were trying to use him as a bed.
“Anakin! Distract
them!” Obi-Wan called out as he
tried to crawl out from under the mess of blue and silver creatures.
Anakin, not sure what to do, held his lightsaber over his head and waved
it around. The creatures crawling
on his Master instantly looked up and headed for the bright light.
Using the distraction to his advantage, Obi-Wan crawled
to his feet and Force-boosted himself out of the hole, quickly tailed by his
laughing Apprentice. The Jedi
Knight was not amused.
“Master…how many times have you told me that his
weapon is my life and not to lose it?” Anakin
asked in that same wise-cracking tone while waving his Master’s lightsaber
between them. Obi-Wan scowled and
snatched the weapon from the boy’s hand and stormed off.
“I thought you said you were a Jedi Knight?”
Anakin asked, following behind
as he continued laughing.
“I am a Jedi Knight. And if you don’t stop laughing, you’re not going to make
to your next birthday, much less to your trials.”
“You also said you didn’t need help, Master.”
“Anakin, I am a Jedi Knight, not a miracle
worker.”
“A what, Master? I
don’t think I heard you clearly,” the boy continued, too amused to notice
the angry look on Obi-Wan’s face.
/I will not kill my Padawan…I will not kill my Padawan…/ Obi-Wan chanted to himself, not realizing that he himself was once in the same danger. “I am a Jedi Knight.” /I will not kill my Padawan…/
© Draickin und Phoenix
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