Note: I don't own anything and.. If Obi-wan wasn't sure about me before - he's gonna hate me now...
The Hostage
"I'm glad to find you awake" said the Sith as he eyed the Jedi. "We have much to discuss." He said as he walked past his captive toward another doorway. He entered a code into the wall display and was rewarded with a resounding chime as the door slid open. Inside was a collection of knives, vibroshifts, whips and other dangerous looking objects. The Sith took out a thick baton with two prongs on the end of it and slowly walked back to stand in front of Obi-wan.
"Now, where should we begin?" asked the Sith with an evil smirk.
"This is certainly not the most pleasant situation I've been in." thought Obi-wan as the Sith swung the ugly looking baton in small circles as he paced in front of the force held jedi. Once again he tried to grasp the force, but it slipped like oil between his fingers. "If I can keep him talking, maybe I can figure a way out of this."
"Who are you?" he asked as he looked his captor over. The response was a powerful swing from the baton across the right side of his face. Obi-wan's head snapped to the side, his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.
"That is for speaking when not spoken to," replied the Sith as he delivered another blow to the left of Obi-wan's face, whipping his head the opposite direction.
"And that is for the trouble you have caused me."
Obi-wan blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear the stars that were now floating before him. He returned a steady gaze to his captor as if nothing had happened; the two bright red marks on his face and cracked lip were the only indicator of the beating. The Sith took a step back, surveying his captive, his eyes raking the shirtless apprentice. He flicked his right hand and Obi-wan went flying backwards through the air, hitting the wall with a crack. The impact dropped him to the ground, where he rolled to the right to avoid landing on his injured left leg. He exhaled slowly as he got to his feet, using his good leg to support most of his weight. He would not let the Sith see how weak his body was. He could still feel some lingering effects from the poison dart and he hadn't eaten anything since the afternoon of the day before he and Qui-Gon had faced the Sith in the reactor pit. The Sith walked toward him slowly, the black baton hanging from his left hand. As he neared Obi-wan, he swung the baton at his head. Obi-wan ducked under the swing, only to be grabbed by his shoulders and pulled in for a knee to the abdomen. The Sith immediately let go of the young jedi as Obi-wan fell backwards against the wall and gasped for air. Not giving him a moment to recover, the Sith directed the baton at his kidneys, hearing a resounding smack as it made contact with his bare skin. He grabbed the jedi by the throat and pinned him straight up against the wall. He tightened his grip, hearing the wheezing sound of air fighting its way in and out as Obi-wan tried to breathe. The attack came out of nowhere. Obi-wan kicked out with his injured foot and hit the Sith three inches above his right knee. He then brought his right arm around and down on top of the arm that was pinning him to the wall while at the same time, slamming his left palm at the Sith's chin. The Sith took a step back from the force of the blow. Obi-wan struck at the Sith again, knowing this might be his only change to escape. He stepped forward and delivered a powerful elbow to the Sith's temple, knocking him to the left. The Sith staggered for a second, but recovered quickly. As Obi-wan went to backhand him once more in the same spot, the Sith took the opportunity to deliver a quick punch directly to Obi-wan's make-shift bandage on his injured thigh. Obi-wan's blow landed weak as the pain of the strike temporarily blinded him. The Sith used the force to call the baton to his hand and pushed a button on the handle. The soft buzz was the only warning Obi-wan had before the Sith pushed the now electric weapon into the Jedi's unprotected chest. Obi-wan let out an audible shout as the current ravaged through his body. He fell to the ground as the Sith straightened, still holding the electric in place. All Obi-wan could do was try to keep from crying out as the Sith looked down with his yellow eyes, watching the Jedi squirm with each additional current flowing through him. To Obi-wan it seemed as hours had passed before the electric was turned off. He lay there, gasping, as the Sith watched him. He was in a semi daze as he was dragged to the center of the room and chains were attached to his wrists. His legs felt like jelly and he was forced to kneel with his arms straight up, as the chains were the only thing keeping him vertical. The Sith came and stood in front of him. Obi-wan could see the blood trickling from the corner of the Sith's mouth where he had managed to hit him. The Sith must have been able to sense the young jedi's thoughts. He quickly reached up and wiped the blood from his face with his hand. Kneeling beside the apprentice, he took his hand and smeared it on the Jedi's bare chest, a red stain easily visible against his white skin.
"You will pay for that, young… padawan." At this, Obi-wan jerked his head up.
"I have a Master," Obi-wan replied, his voice strong even though his body was weak, "And I will die before I let that happen."
The Sith stood slowly and walked around the shackled Jedi. As he got back in front of Obi-wan, he kicked him hard in the face. Obi-wan's whole body turned from the force of the strike. The Dark Sith walked over to a corner of the room behind the Jedi. Obi-wan heard a lever crank, and then his body rise as the chains around his wrists pulled him into a standing position. He heard the chime of the door as it opened to the vault of weapons. He stood on his feet and looked forward with determination. He was curious what awaited him but didn't want to give the Sith the satisfaction of his backward glance. He didn't have to wait long. There was the sound of something whipping through the air, and a moment later the crack as it collided on his bare back. The pain was intense and breathtaking. Obi-wan briefly closed his eyes. "So this is the next course." As he awaited the next strike, he mentally prepared himself. He would not show weakness to this Sith. He would not show how tired he was or how shaky he felt. He would not show sickness or hunger or thirst.
"Thirst. Like the time on the planet Gorman where the short villagers thought that Qui-Gon, being so tall, must drink 5 times the normal dose of the sweet fermented drink than the traditional average 3 foot tall local. After trying to convince the villagers otherwise, and not wanted to offend the grateful residents – much to the amusement of Obi-wan, he proceeded to down the whole drink in 10 swallows. Later that night, after he had spent most of the hours in the refresher, he had told his padawan that, "Even if I am dying of thirst, I will not drink another drop of that foul drink."
Obi-wan allowed himself a small smile at the memory, just as he heard the swoosh of the whip in the air. The blow raked him from rib to rib, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.
"And on his 21st Name Day, when, after a night of drinking with Bant, Garen and Reeft, he came home and according to Qui-Gon, "confessed his undying love to the leftover crisp cake in the cooling unit" and then promised to do Qui-Gon's laundry for a year." He could see the laughter in his Master's eye as he told him this the next morning, and, since Obi-wan had no recollection of the night before, had grudgingly complied to the task, albeit a little skeptical.
Crack! The whip striked again.
"And the time when…." Crack! The whip came down rapidly, faster and harder than the time before. Again and again if fell on his back and shoulders, leaving anger red welts and cuts. After what seemed like an eternity, and left Obi-wan barely able to stand, he heard footsteps walk again to the cabinet. He again heard the lever release as the chains were lowered back to the original length. Obi-wan stood, his hands out to his side, waiting for the next trial. He never heard the Sith, but felt the boot kick his legs out from under him. He fell to his knees hard, his hands now above him and hanging from the cursed chains.
The Sith took advantage of the Jedi's immobilized position and, drawing the dark side of the Force, delivered a powerful blow to the young man's face. The physical abuse was getting to be too much for Obi-wan's body. As black spots swam before his eyes and his consciousness started to slip, the Sith knelt down and used his hand to cup the Jedi's face.
"Look at me" said the Sith. Obi-wan weakly tried to shake the hand off his face, but it just got tighter.
"Listen and listen carefully," he said, "You will die. It might not be tonight. It might not be tomorrow. It might not be this month. But you will die or be mine."
He watched as blood ran from a new wound down Obi-wan's face and onto his fingers. He roughly released his chin from his grip. He watched as the Jedi's head dropped and didn't rise again. He exited the room and extinguished the lights, locking the door behind him as he went. Maul allowed himself a grim smile as he went. The jedi was turning out to be perfect, just as he had planned. He walked down a silver hallway until he came to a clear cylinder tube at one end. He got inside the turbo shaft and pushed a code in the keypad. A second later, he heard the whirling as the turbo shaft made its way up to the first floor. The doors opened to a black void. He exited and made a sharp left, walking down a dark hallway. He stood in front of a seamless section of wall. He drew a semi-circular figure on the wall and it opened, revealing a dark room. He entered the room and heard the satisfied hiss of the secret door sliding shut. Walking across the room, his thoughts went to the look on the old man's face when he had seen his padawan all strung up with the lightsaber to his neck. "If only he could see him now."
He had planned this for a year, and the time had finally come at last. He had been watching this master/padawan team for the last three years – discreetly, of course. When his Master had said he was ready to take a padawan, he wanted to choose the right one… and Kenobi was remarkable. He was strong in the force, a superior fighter and was quick to take action. His Master had recommended he take a younger apprentice, and train him up in the dark side. But Maul was not a patient man, and why spend years training a being who might turn out to be a disgrace when he could turn a completely trained and gifted jedi? When he had told his Master his plan, he was expecting him to shoot down the idea, but instead he did the opposite. His Master's words rang through his ears.
"I also took in interest in young Kenobi years ago." He had gotten up from his chair and paced in front of his desk, rubbing his chin with his hand, "Very well. I am planning a droid invasion on the small planet of Naboo. You would be wise to have lodging there so you can overseer the attack… somewhere secret where you can break the padawan without the filthy jedi interference. Hide it well. The jedi will not give up the apprentice easily.
And that is exactly what he did. He had hired a scientist and had funded their research in a remote part of the planet. Unlike the scientist, he could care less about the Kundi frogs and their strange reproductive attributes, but had been kind enough to fly in food and supplies so the good doctor could study his creatures in absolute solitude. He had built the dome shaped building from the ground up and had included a secret entrance to the lower levels where he covertly resigned unknown to the thick headed scientist. Although, there were setbacks to his plan. He had to break the apprentice, and the easiest way was to kill the master. The boy must have realized he was trying to separate the master to kill him off. "But" he thought with another grim smile, "this could work out in my advantage." He could now bide his time, slowly breaking the padawan day by day. When the time is right, he will kill the master in front of the young jedi. That will be the final straw. He had seen how close they were. He would break everything Kenobi knew until he cracked. He laughed to himself, "Yes, he will be perfect."
Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome! I really appreciate the feedback, advice and helpful pointers! I apologize for the few and far between updates. I'm trying to be faster! Writing is a lot harder than I thought! Please review and let me know what you think! It totally makes it completely worth it!