Chapter 6

Anakin followed Bruck onto the transport and was instantly hit with the smell of sweaty bodies of different species, especially the smell of Hutts. "I hate Hutts!" Anakin muttered under his breath. The air contained particles of miners dust that, unfortunately were not taken care of by the air conditioner scrubbers. The Hutts he was familiar with but the species with moldy hair and tusks were unfamiliar to him, as well as the species that had triangular heads atop tall bodies and had eyes that glittered like that of a spice addict.

As Anakin maneuvered through the crowded corridor, he came to a sudden stop as a large Hutt had blocked the corridor and was holding Bruck in the air by the throat and then threw him suddenly into a wall.

Not staying to see what would happen, Anakin ran, as much as he was able, back to the entrance of the ship. After a few wrong turns, he finally dashed down the ramp and almost ran smack into Obi-Wan.

/Whoa Anakin. What's wrong?/ Obi-Wan asked through the Force.

"Bruck…a Hutt caught him…picked him up and threw him against a wall! I don't like this transport. Hutts are bad news…." Anakin's voice trailed off as a sharp pain lanced through his head. Anakin felt himself falling. The ground beneath him disappearing, sucked away into a void. A multitude of voices crashed over him in the darkness and then the voices faded away and Anakin opened his eyes that he had not been aware that he had closed.

The darkness faded away and he found himself standing in a small office with a stone desk, three velvet cushions, a bookcase on the opposite wall next to a large window. Sitting on the chair in front of the desk sat a dark haired man, with a broken circle marring his cheeks, sipping on his red wine.

"Hello?" Anakin said but the man did not hear him. Anakin walked closer to the man and looked down on the desk to a lone note that said: I have been looking forward to this day. The name of the addresser was scrawled in small cursive letters on the bottom right corner of the paper. Xanatos.

Anakin's face scrunched in puzzlement and then he continued wandering around the room, looking at the titles of the books on the bookshelf and then looked out the window. The window overlooked a large body of water, much large than anything Anakin had seen at the Temple, in fact it probably would have swallowed the Temple whole with its vastness. He could also see some type of towers in the distance, tall and forbidding.

There was a clink as the man at the desk set his glass down and Anakin went back over to the desk. He looked into the man's dark blue eyes that still did not see him and saw that the man's mind was elsewhere.

Anakin backed up and felt a stirring of the Force. It moved like a warm wind, filled with knowledge, and wrapped itself around Anakin.

"Where am I?"

Anakin turned around and saw Bruck, unharmed, staring at Anakin and the man at the desk. "Can you see me?"

Bruck snorted, "Of course I can see you."

Anakin turned and pointed at the man at the desk. "Can he see you?"

Annoyance flared off Bruck, "He's probably in a drug induced daze. Now who are you?"

"Anakin Skywalker. I thought you just got throttled by a Hutt?"

Bruck grimaced in remembrance. "Yeah, I was. This must be some sort of pain induced dream."

Anakin shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. But I was talking to Obi-Wan."

"Humph," Bruck walked over to the bookshelf and read the titles on the books. "Why would I have a dream like this?"

"You're searching." Anakin stated although he didn't know why he said it in the first place.

Bruck swung back around and stepped over to the dark haired man and waved his hand over his face. "Hello, anyone in there?"

Anakin rolled his eyes and went to open the door, but found it was shut tight, it would not budge.

"Let me do that. It's my dream." Bruck snapped and turned the knob to open the door but it would not budge, even when he put weight against it and when he tried to pull it. "Great. I'm trapped in a dream room with a youngling and a creepy guy."

"Maybe we should meditate?" Anakin suggested. "Obi-Wan taught me how to do it a few days ago, although I'm not very good at it yet."

Bruck looked quizzingly at Anakin. "All initiates are taught meditation by the time they are five. You must be around seven years old, how do you not know how to do meditation?"

Anakin frowned. "I am nine! I wasn't raised in the Temple, I live on Tatooine with my mother."

"Then how do you know Obi-Wan?" Bruck asked.

"I was assembling an engine when something went wrong and somehow I ended up in the Temple. Only Obi-Wan was able to see me until now." Anakin explained.

Bruck shook his head and marched back over to the man and looked into the man's dark blue eyes. "His eyes don't look drug induced." He stumbled back suddenly in surprise when the man's gaze shifted and then the man stood up and walked over to the window.

"See. I told you. He can't see us." Anakin said as he walked up to the man and kicked the back of the man's leg.

Bruck's eyes widened in surprise, "Anakin!" Grabbing Anakin's shirt, he pulled him back.

Unshaken, Anakin pointed to the man who was now scanning the room. "See, he really doesn't see us."

Steaming in frustration, Bruck shoved Anakin away from him. "So you were right." Bruck sat down on one of the cushions and it rose to the height of a regular chair. It was in that moment that the man's eyes suddenly snapped into contact with Bruck's own and then it all became dark.

The darkness was cold, bordering on being totally unbearable. When the darkness was finally banished, Anakin and Bruck found themselves back in the Temple in one of the training salle's. Inside, a lone initiate danced across the floor, blue blade flashing in the air as the initiate practiced a kata.

When the initiate was finished with his kata, Bruck and Anakin walked over to him. "Hi, we haven't met before, my name's Bruck Chun."

The initiate studied Bruck for a moment and then spoke. "My name is Xanatos Ortinc." He nodded toward Anakin. "What is your name youngling?"

Anakin crossed his arms and scowled. "I am Anakin Skywalker and I'm nine years old!"

Xanatos gave Anakin a fake smile and then looked at Bruck. "I am in need of a dueling partner. Would you like to spar with me, Bruck?" Xanatos asked.

Eager to prove himself against an unknown opponent, Bruck nodded his head eagerly. "Sure!"

Anakin found a nearby wooden bench and sat down to watch the match. Bruck and Xanatos were about equal in height with the exception that Xanatos was leaner and Bruck more broad shouldered. Bruck relied heavily on powerful strikes as he fought Xanatos, but Xanatos easily countered them using speed and flexibility.

The match continued for some time until Xanatos landed a killing blow at Bruck's stomach. Xanatos switched his lightsaber off and reached out a hand to help Bruck up. "Good match, but you rely to much on your strength. I could have finished you off several times over."

Bruck glared up at Xanatos and stood up on his own. "I could have beat you. Your footwork is sloppy."

Xanatos snorted. "My Master tells me the same thing but I like to think of it as a distraction to my opponent."

Bruck rolled his eyes and walked over to a rack that held dry towels and took one to dry off his hair and face. "Yeah, one that will get you killed!"

Anakin remained where he was sitting, glancing warily at Xanatos who was busy drying off his jet-black hair.

Tossing his used towel at Anakin, Xanatos walked over to Bruck. "Fancy doing the blindfold test?"

Bruck saw the predatory gleam in Xanatos' hard blue eyes and Bruck narrowed his eyes. "You're on!" Bruck declared, ready to wipe the smile off Xanatos' face.

Xanatos collected two black rolled up blindfolds and tossed one to Bruck. "No cheating! I happen to be the best at the blindfold test and so even if you do cheat, I will still win."

"In your dreams." Bruck muttered underneath his breath as he secured his blindfold over his eyes. Standing in the middle of the room again, Bruck lit his lightsaber and stood in a ready stance.

Xanatos smirked and launched the first strike. "You are foolish to challenge me with the blindfold test."

Bruck blocked the blow and twisted away from Xanatos. "You're the one who asked." Bruck launched a series of strikes at Xanatos that were all easily blocked.

"When's your birthday? You must be pushing close to thirteen. Finding it hard to get a Master are you?" Xanatos mocked and chuckled as Bruck's anger spiked.

"Shut up! I will have you know my attempts to get noticed by Master Jinn will be fruitful in time." Bruck boasted.

Xanatos drew back a step in shock and then anger. "You must either be stupid or a liar or both. I am Master Qui-Gon's apprentice!"

"No, you're the liar!" Bruck retorted angrily. "Master Jinn has not chosen another apprentice since his second apprentice betrayed him!"

With a growl deep in his throat, Xanatos launched himself at Bruck and rained heavy blows down at him.

Bruck easily blocked Xanatos' blade with his own, but the force of the blows were to much as they came in rapid succession and sent shudders up Bruck's arms. He struggled to maintain his defensive stance even as he was driven backwards, clutching his lightsaber desperately.

Meanwhile, Anakin was watching the duel with increasing nervousness. While he didn't like Bruck, he didn't want Bruck cut to a pulp either. A logical step would be to get an adult to stop the fight, but if they couldn't hear or see him then it would be pointless. Licking dry lips, Anakin stood up and hurried across the training floor to the two combatants. He paused briefly behind Xanatos and then threw himself forward towards Xanatos' legs. "Bruck, run!"

Unprepared for an assault from behind, Xanatos tripped and fell to the ground. Ripping the blindfold off, Xanatos saw Bruck and Anakin making a run for the door of the training sale. "You won't be able to hide forever!"

Anakin and Bruck ran to a nearby garden and hid themselves among a grove of trees.

Bruck remained still, his eyes watching the entrance of the garden for any sign of pursuit. After several minutes he looked down at Anakin. "I didn't need your help." He hissed. "I had him where I wanted him!"

Anakin looked up at Bruck challengingly. "Then why did you run?"

"Because you interfered and made me look like a cheater!" Bruck retorted, his anger not yet abating.

"Well you just had to make the only person who can probably hear and see us right now mad at you." Anakin told him.

"Yeah well I'm sure he's mad at you too after you tripped him!" Bruck responded in disgust.

Anakin smirked. "I can always tell him that you told me to trip him when an opening appeared."

Bruck eyes narrowed to slits. "You tell him that and I'll pound you till theirs nothing left! Anyway, this is all some blasted dream that I'll wake up from really soon, I'm sure."

"Then why haven't you pounded me to a pulp yet?" Anakin asked, backing away just in case Bruck actually tried to carry out his threat.

Bruck looked back at the garden beyond the trees, his right hand clutching his left arm. "Because this lightsaber burn hurts like hell and I haven't woken up yet."