Chapter Seven

From Beyond

Nothing looked familiar to Obi-Wan as he and Neah walked along the cliff hugging the ravine, the river far below. That morning they rose early and packed up supplies, Obi-Wan demanding to carry more than half to repay Neah's quality care. After arguing back and forth, the woman insisting she always carried her own things with little trouble, Obi-Wan snatched up the large pack and fastened it to his back using the leather ties, crossing his arms and giving her a playfully stern stare. Neah rewarded him with a delighted laugh, doubled over, saying something he didn't understand. Then she waved her arm as if dismissing him and led him up the cliff by a narrow trail, away from the shore he'd washed up on two days before.

They walked along the cliff for several miles, Obi-Wan scanning the edges of both sides to see where he may have fallen. Unfortunately, many places showed signs of having broken away recently. Obi-Wan expressed his confusion to Neah. She nodded.

"The snow and the wind and the water changes the landscape often," she said, looking at a giant, recent landslide from the cliff opposite of where they stood. "That is how I lost my family."

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, glad to have Neah talking about herself. He'd been curious about her since the moment he opened his eyes to her singing in the night.

"My brother and I left our group to travel the region and beyond," she said, continuing to walk, looking ahead. "I am a storyteller."

"Storyteller?"

"We collected stories from different peoples and shared them with others. I keep and spread the history of us. I sing the histories so people can remember and share as well," she said. "My father and mother were storytellers and traveled before finding a group to stay with for their older years. In the south. My people stayed in one place for several years at a time before moving, unlike people around here. But my brother and I returned after several seasons on our first journey and found the group gone, the valley flooded with a new river. I do not know where my parents went." She sighed. "Then my brother died a few moons later. Wolf. But I keep up the work. The stories are a part of my mind, my heart. I travel the same ways, adding stories, teaching people."

Obi-Wan smiled, many of his questions answered. This explained her singing, her traveling, her solitude, the fact her pack seemed so heavy. She was a nomad, but one with a specific mission to inform people about each other. Obi-Wan found this intriguing, as only someone curious about her world would do such work. He enjoyed travel, learning from others, and could easily see himself enjoying this life. In fact, this seemed a bit like his own existence back in his home galaxy, traveling from one conflict to another, helping others, only Neah helped others by setting up lines of knowledge and communication.

"Where are you from?" Neah asked.

"Um…ahhh…" Obi-Wan hesitated. How could he explain his home, how he got here, Neah's world obviously technologically primitive. "From beyond."

She stopped, forcing him to pause as well, now facing her directly. She reached up and touched his hair with the tips of her fingers.

"From far beyond," she said. "You look different than others around here. Your hair is the color of the sunrise, you're eyes like the sky."

Obi-Wan could feel himself blushing, and he thought perhaps he should step away, begin walking again, but Neah continued to play with his hair, her fingers moving down through his beard.

"I like your eyes," he said suddenly, without thinking. "They are warm and deep and…" he stopped and stepped back, feeling foolish. He sounded like an idiot.

But Neah smiled. "Thank you," she said softly. "You must be from far beyond, you and your brother. Over the water?"

Obi-Wan chuckled. "You could say that."

"Your home words are strange, words I haven't heard before," she continued. "But I like how they sound on your tongue. The language is interesting."

"I like your singing," he blurted again, instantly damning himself. What was wrong with him? He was being so uncouth, not his usual clever, graceful self.

But her face brightened. "Really? May I practice a song for you as we walk?"

"Yes!" he said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. But he had longed to hear her sing again since that first night.

They continued to walk, and Neah sang in her light, melodic voice, Obi-Wan, who did not know too much about music, guessing her to be a classic soprano. She sang of a hunt against some large beast, most of the words ones he did not yet know. But the melody hypnotized him. When the song ended, she stopped and looked at him, her eyebrows raised.

"So, what do you think?" she asked.

Obi-Wan didn't know the words for perfect or beautiful or any other adjective to describe what he just heard. So he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"Amazing," he said in Basic. "You're voice is enchanting."

He knew she didn't understand, but she beamed at him, then flushed, turning quickly and continuing to walk.

They moved in silence for quite some time, Obi-Wan shifting the weight of the pack around, studying her with a side glance. A previous thought again came to the forefront of his mind: why did she trust him? A woman traveling alone in the wilderness, apparently not thinking twice about helping a strange man on the shore of a river.

"Why do you trust me?" he said.

She looked over at him and shrugged. "I know I can. I feel like we've met before, or I know you from the past." She turned forward and continued in silence.

Obi-Wan considered this a moment before shock suddenly jolted him. He'd asked her the question in Basic, as he didn't know the word for 'trust,' and she'd responded in her native tongue. How in the world?

But the sense of knowing her, knowing this place, this planet, this galaxy…yes, he'd felt drawn to this distant world since he and Anakin first arrived. Why? And he'd been the one to suggest they land here, in the northern hemisphere. Was the Force, which felt so odd here, speaking to him?

He said nothing and refocused on looking for the spot he fell into the river. But nothing looked familiar, and he couldn't remember, having spent those frantic moments avoiding drowning.

"Come with me to my next stop," Neah said finally, as they once again paused to study the terrain. "The people in the valley…they only move twice a year, back and forth following the herds. They meet a lot of others. Maybe they know something of your brother."

Yes, go with Neah. The frustration of not knowing which way to go to return to Anakin seeped away. More time with Neah, a chance to hear her sing again, learn stories of the people of this world.

Anakin would know he'd met danger, attempt to find Obi-Wan. He nodded to himself; yes, he could trust Anakin to seek him out. He'd trained his padawan well.

"We turn from the river here," she said, pointing to some distant hills. "Come, Obi-Wan."

He followed her into the woods.

Later that evening, and across the river miles away, Anakin arrived back at the tree he and Obi-Wan parted from more than two days before. They pledged to meet on the third day, but Anakin trekked quickly back, knowing he'd already solved the problem and now just needed Obi-Wan to talk to about gathering the appropriate materials. As the one moon of the world shined brightly on the fallen snow, Anakin settled in against the tree, regarding his plans on his data pad. He glanced over at the antler at his side, smiling about his adventure with the hunting group the evening before, wishing he had the warm, filling meal again rather than the meager protein ration.

He's awakened before the hunting party, slipping away as the sun rose, making sure to take the gift of the antler with him. Anakin enjoyed listening to the group the evening before, even though he understood little, and he felt grateful for their hospitality. But the humans could provide little use for the problem at hand, the problem of the ship. A primitive people in terms of technology, they did not realize the wealth of resources around them. Yet. Anakin wondered what this world would be like in a few thousand years, as the humans proved intelligent and industrious on a planet surrounded by such potential.

Humans. How were there humans in this galaxy as well as his own? Did they originate back home and somehow end up here through that tear in space? Or vice versa. Anakin shook his head in confusion; too many questions he could not possibly find the answer to now. Focus on the ship.

He worked on his data pad for some time before his eyes looked down at the antler. When he returned home, he would find a nice way to mount it on the wall in his and Padme's apartment, a souvenir of his adventure far away. Everything currently decorating the home came from her, artwork from Naboo, gifts from friends and family. He'd acquired little in the way of trinkets and art throughout his life, the Jedi way to live a sparse existence, but having the antler up would be fun indeed. He imagined Padme scrunching her nose at it, and the thought made him smile.

Sitting back and watching the stars, he looked forward to seeing Obi-Wan the next day, telling him of his adventures with the humans. And when he came back to Coruscant, doing the same with the Chancellor over caf. Palpatine would appreciate the antler. The Chancellor had a fascination with archeological artifacts, curiosities. His office featured numerous pieces from all over the galaxy, and Anakin often found himself studying the strange objects, wondering how Palpatine came across them. The Jedi momentarily thought of giving the antler to the Chancellor, keeping with the Jedi way in avoiding unnecessary possessions, but he liked it and looked forward to seeing it on the living room wall.

As the night crept along, Anakin put his data pad down and fell asleep, waking once again with the sun, noticing no further snow fell overnight, the previous day's dusting nearly hardening to ice in spots not touched by the yellow warmth. He rose, removed his cloak, and ignited his lightsaber, wanting to get in a bit of training before the day began and Obi-Wan arrived back. He swung around in his favorite practice stances before trying the ones he struggled with more, mostly due to him still getting used to his artificial hand.

Anakin stopped suddenly, feeling a presence, and he turned off the lightsaber, listening intently. A crunching footfall could be heard, and he spun around to see a fur-clad, dark-skinned man with snowy white hair come towards him through the woods.

"My goodness, the forest is riddled with Jedi these days," the man said jovially.

"What…wait…?" Anakin stammered, realizing with a start the man spoke Basic.

Anakin studied the man, who continued to move toward him. While he wore the furs of the humans of this world, he looked quite different from the others, and of course, speaking Basic caught Anakin off guard. Then Anakin glanced to the man's right hand, which clutched a lightsaber hilt. A very familiar lightsaber hilt.

Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

Fear and anger simultaneously gripped Anakin's heart, and he re-ignited his blade.

"What have you done with him?" he hissed, moving toward the stranger.

Author's Note: Next time, Anakin confronts the stranger, and Obi-Wan ventures further from his former apprentice, growing closer to Neah and this new world.

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