Obi-Wan had never been much of a panicker. His first instinct, upon spotting Master Windu's yellow eyes, was not to scream. He did not even attempt to flee, knowing that he was at a disadvantage. Master Windu was more powerful in the force than Obi-Wan and would no doubt be able to restrain him with the Force. He knew without searching that his lightsaber would not be with him - even if he was not restrained to the bed, no darksider, however arrogant, would leave such a deadly weapon in the grasp on an enemy.
If fleeing was not an option, and fighting back was laughable, there was only one thing Obi-Wan could do, and so he did it.
Talk.
He was a negotiator, a convincer. It was just another mask, an act. He could do this. Find a hole to dig in. Concessions and negotiations. Delay and avert. Distract.
"Master Windu?" Obi-Wan asked, masking his fear with confusion that he did not have to fake. For a moment, he was sure he failed. His voice had a tight quality to it that he didn't usually have. The yellow eyes were alarming. When did Master Windu fall to the dark side, and did anyone else know?
"Padawan Kenobi," Windu said tonelessly. He pursed his lips, saying nothing else. The Force churned at the bedside, caused by neither of the two, yet both of them. It knocked down Obi-Wan's walls before they could fully form.
"Master Jinn! The Sith! W-what happened to Naboo?" Obi-Wan blurted out as memories he considered more pressing than the darksider returned. What did one darksider matter when his master was dead? When the stake of an entire planet-
Windu gave him an intense look that made Obi-Wan quail in a way he never had when the man had dark eyes, flinching back and tensing into the pillows. The Jedi master frowned at the padawan's reaction. "You were unconscious for a week from both a Force blast from the Sith and burns from the explosion. The Sith is dead now."
The Sith is dead now.
The Sith is dead.
The Sith is dead.
Obi Wan was not sure why he could not get the words out of his head, but he brushed it off. It didn't matter.
"But what happened to Naboo? The people? Are they okay?" Obi-Wan demanded again, deciding to forego manners. If Windu chose to become a Sith, then he didn't deserve respect.
Something changed with that question. Some of the tightness around Mace Windu's eyes disappeared. "The people are unharmed." He hesitated. "You did well." He raised his hand, reaching forward, as if to lay it on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
No!
Obi-Wan flinched back, not wanting a darksider's hands anywhere near himself. Windu's hand hovered in the space between them for a long moment before the man withdrew it. The moment, he did, the residual tension in the room decreased palpably.
Despite the fact that the compliment came from a darksider, Obi-Wan relaxed back into his pillow. He had succeeded. If Windu killed him now for killing his fellow darksider, Obi-Wan would die happy. "What are you going to do with me now?" he asked, lifting his chin up.
Windu stared for a long moment. "Your fate shall be decided by the Council when you are well. For now, Master Yoda wishes to talk to you."
For a long moment, the room was still as Obi-Wan processed this. Yoda was here. The Council was whole. Whatever happened to turn Windu, whatever betrayals he had a hand in orchestrating, had not harmed the Order to the degree that Obi-Wan feared. At least, he hoped it did not.
No...
"And when will Master Yoda be here?" Obi-Wan asked, fighting to keep the tremble from his voice. Whether it was hope or fear that caused it to shake, not even Obi-Wan was able to tell.
"He notified me of his intent to visit ten minutes ago. I expect he will be here soon," Windu said, crossing his arms.
Obi-Wan examined Windu, who stared right back at him. Obi-Wan could sense the man weighing him, testing him with the Force on a surface level but not delving further. It was deep enough to make the padawan uncomfortable, but light enough that confronting him would be considered petty, if not rude. At least, it would be rude to point it out to another Jedi, especially one of a higher rank. Obi-Wan was not sure how offensive it would be to tell a darksider to stop, but he was not particularly eager to die when Master Yoda was only minutes away at most.
Strangely, the darksider seemed completely unconcerned that Yoda, the light side's grandmaster, was only a few minutes away, at most. However, what alarmed Obi-Wan the most was the slowly deepening frown. It only grew more pronounced as the seconds ticked by, and Obi-Wan realized that lengthening the silence would do him no favors.
Distract. Divert.
"Is he here yet?" Obi-Wan asked as obnoxiously as he could, trying to irritate Windu. If he could anger the darksider enough that his eyes became yellow when Yoda was in the room, the little green troll would realize there was a Sith among them and attack!
"He is not," Windu answered, raising an eyebrow.
"How about now?" asked Obi-Wan.
"No," Windu stated, lips pressed firmly together.
Heartened by that one sign of irritation, Obi-Wan asked, "Now?"
"The healers will alert us when he arrives," Windu said slowly, yellow eyes sharpening on Obi-Wan's face.
Stop it. You've done enough.
Obi-Wan bit his lips, wondering if it was worth it to badger the man before Yoda arrived. After all, he could still annoy the older Force user when Yoda was in the room. He glanced back at Windu, then decided that one more time would not hurt. "Is Master Yoda here yet?"
Stop! This is dangerous.
The dark-skinned Jedi's eyes flashed, though he did not move a muscle. Obi-Wan felt Windu prod at him with the Force. With trepidation, Obi-Wan scooted to more of a sitting position, feeling that the extra height would lend him courage. It had no tactical advantage, merely a psychological effect, but Obi-Wan felt more confident now that he was sitting up.
"I told you," Windu began, "that the grandmaster will-"
"Scold the youngling, you need not," reprimanded a croaky voice.
"I'm not a youngling," argued Obi-Wan, registering the words. Then, he recognized the voice. Master Yoda was here. Obi-Wan perked up. Now he could warn the little green troll that Windu had fallen. In his mind, he could already see Yoda could defeat Windu. He turned and stared at the doorway as the healer stepped aside.
The tips of Windu's mouth pulled down. He grumbled, "Everyone is a youngling to that creaky-"
"Master Yoda!" Obi-Wan shouted the moment he saw the tiny Jedi Master's hoverchair brush past the healer. "Master Windu is a S-"
As Yoda drifted nearer, Obi-Wan suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Yoda had yellow eyes.
No!
He could feel the world crashing down around him. Left was right, Twi'leks were clumsy dancers, Coruscant was a agricultural planet, and Naboo voted to become a Communist planet, because Yoda was a Sith. Obi-Wan jerked back before he knew what he was doing.
Stay back!
For a moment, up was down.
Then, Obi-Wan dazedly remembered that he had lunged out of bed, trying to get away from the lightsiders , because there was nothing he could do against their combined might and help, master! Master, please!
For a moment, he thought that he heard an echo of an answer.
But there was no one.
Obi-Wan realized that a quiet, wordless cry was rising out of his throat and closed his mouth so that the horrified wails became defeated whines because Yoda was a Sith.
-Black Pawn-
Mace Windu tightened his lips as the padawan asked again where Yoda was. He reminded himself that Obi-Wan had faced a Sith, the first one discovered in centuries. Who knew what terrible perversions of the Force the Sith had come up with over that time? It was not above them to twist the Force to harm the ones that slew them. That such a thing could be done worried Windu.
"Now?" Obi-Wan asked yet again.
"The healers will alert us when he arrives," Windu said slowly, examining Obi-Wan's face, ignoring the color of the padawan's eyes that marked him as one of the darksiders. The padawan had always been… unorthodox, but never outright rude. He had never been what one would consider an ideal padawan, but neither was he impatient and deliberately vexing. That Obi-Wan was purposely being irksome… was that a product of whatever the Sith schemed? Did they twist the boy so?
Despite himself, Mace Windu felt something within his chest twinge at the thought. Obi-Wan, while not a standard Jedi, was inherently good. If not for the yellow eyes and the agitated Force presence, Mace would have thought Obi-Wan a lightsider. Physical reactions aside, Obi-Wan's verbal responses were all correct. Frantic demands about the wellbeing of Naboo's people. Concern that the Sith might be around. And Mace would have been deaf to miss the pain in the padawan's voice when he mentioned his deceased master.
Windu was pulled out of his thoughts as Obi-Wan glanced at him. "Is Master Yoda here yet?" he asked, voice curious and innocent.
Mace stared at the padawan, unmoving. Did Obi-Wan forget what he had just told him? Some sort of Sith mind trick that affected memory? Mace tried to feel him through the Force but, as with all the other times, Obi-Wan was muddled. Mace could tell that there was a presence, that Obi-Wan was there, but he could not feel a thing though the storm surrounding the younger human.
Obi-Wan shifted and slowly sat up, obviously discomforted. Mace decided to take pity on him and reminded him, "I told you that the grandmaster will-"
He sensed Yoda and one of the healers approach. "Scold the youngling, you need not," Yoda interrupted. They looked at each other for a long moment, then Mace shook his head, indicating Obi-Wan. Yoda nodded.
"I'm not a youngling," argued Obi-Wan.
Windu swallowed an undignified snort, but was unable to hold back his thoughts. "Everyone is a youngling to that creaky-"
"Master Yoda!" Obi-Wan shouted the moment he saw the tiny Jedi Master's hoverchair brush past the healer. "Master Windu is a S-"
The senior padawan's words broke off in an anguished cry, causing Mace and Yoda to still in shock at the suddenness and the departing healer to rush back to the room. Obi-Wan's Force presence, once so inscrutable to Mace, was now rolling with more terror than one person could possibly hold.
"Padawan Kenobi!" Mace snapped reflexively. He winced, feeling Yoda's disapproval radiate sharply through the Force. "Obi-Wan," he said in a softer voice, but the damage was already done. Obi-Wan all but leapt out of the bed, away from both Jedi masters.
Fingernails scabbling at the floor, Obi-Wan scrambled back with his hands, no regard for his nearly-healed injuries. He pressed himself into the corner furthest from the door and huddled there in a fetal position, shaking.
The commotion drew more healers to the room, but their supposedly calming presences only made the terrified padawan draw into a smaller ball, his fearful noises choked off. Mace did not spare a second thought before sending them away. Helplessly, Windu took a step forward and crouched, but the padawan's wails resumed as he kicked away from the Jedi master. Seeing he was unwanted, feared, Windu froze, hand outstretched in a mockery of their earlier interactions.
Mace looked to Yoda for assistance, and the two exchanged quiet, desperate glances as the padawan's shoulders shook in silent sobs, hoping against hope that there was some way to save the fallen padawan from the dark side.
-Black Pawn-
Somewhere in the Mid Rim, lightyears away on a recently-liberated planet, the Force wailed, seethed, and broke as a master mourned his apprentice. As it curled away, suddenly, he could sense his padawan.
Heart-stopping terror. Freezing horror. Enough pain to send lessor men to their knees.
So far away… Coruscant.
He lashed out at the weakened Force. Scalded, the Force relented and withdrew as the master reached out to send his strength to his padawan.
Coruscant.
Soaring joy. Biting anger. Billowing hope. He savored his emotions, the feelings that gave him the strength to hold on.
Coruscant. He had to get to Coruscant.
Okay… Honestly, I wasn't going to do that middle part, the part with Window's (...I blame autocorrect) POV. Pretty much the only reason I did it was because my not-really-OCD wanted the chapters to be more even, but what I planned for chapter three goes better as its own group, so...
