A/N: A prelude to memories...Obi-Wan and Lyri reach the clearing and the ship, but as Lyri stalls and tries to put things outside the ship in order before going in, Obi-Wan is left with more questions.

Disclaimer: All Star Wars characters, arcs and locations belong to George Lucas and Disney. Only the originals are mine. Not for financial gain, just for fun. Just shooting through the galaxy.

Feral Moon: Discovery

Chapter 10

Coming out of his meditation, Obi-Wan felt a much-needed sense of calm. Looking around, he was surprised to see that Lyri had packed up the entire camp and was sitting calmly stroking Tika's head and looking out over the plain. She turned and spoke to the canine every so often, the creature turning to look at her and Obi-Wan wondered what they shared, reminded once again that there was much he didn't know about the zakitas and their bond with Lyri. He was curious how much they perceived through their Force sensitivity.

Feeling a little guilty when he realized he had been in meditation for over an hour and a half by his wrist chrono, and that Lyri had packed his things as well as her own, he started over to apologize. This was certainly no way to treat a lady, even if the meditation was needed. But when she turned and saw him approaching, far from being irritated as he had expected, she just smiled and got to her feet. As she tightened the lacings on her travel moccasins, she and Tika looked at one another one more time as though something passed between them and Tika trotted off toward the rest of the pack.

"We go now?" the young woman said with a sweet smile. "Erm...yes," he answered, hoisting his rucksack onto his shoulder. They had walked for about half an hour when the Jedi, who couldn't help his overwhelming need to be a gentleman, came to a stop. Lyri stopped and looked up at him, puzzled. "Erm...I do need to tell you I'm sorry, Lyri," he said. She cocked her head to one side still looking puzzled. "Why?" she asked. "Well...erm...because you were left to pack my things as well as your own and then wait quite a while with no explanation on my part," he said sincerely. She only smiled saying, "Not sorry, Obi-Wan. Y-you...need sleep-think. Is...good." She sensed the meditation calmed him and the poor man had no idea how many times Lyri had waited for her parents when they'd been lost in thought. She had known their work was important and learned to be patient. It was something she just accepted. She started off again and Obi-Wan just stared after her for a moment before catching up.

After this short exchange, Lyri didn't say much more. She seemed very quiet and subdued and, being Obi-Wan, he grew a little concerned. He had not seen her in this particular mood before. He sensed sadness, anticipation, apprehension, and hope coming from her in fairly equal amounts and wondered at the odd juxtaposition. He knew she still grieved for the big golden zakita who had mothered her. But he had the sense of old memories surfacing along with the emotions that accompanied them. He began wondering about the ship they were headed for. Had it crashed or had it landed here with some purpose? He dearly hoped it was the latter and it was still in fairly good working condition. But then, if that were the case, what had happened to the rest of the beings that had arrived here and what were they doing here in the first place? Lyri's language skills were getting better as she tapped into her memory, but he thought it might be too much for her to try to explain what had happened. Reaching out to sense her emotional state, he sensed the turmoil she was in, and thought it might be too much for her to relive the experience right now anyway. Well, he was good at investigating, so he could probably figure it out. Almost all beings left clues of some sort behind.

They had walked for about three more hours, when Lyri's pace began to slow noticeably. Obi-Wan studied her surreptitiously, noting her apprehension had grown considerably in the past half hour. She finally slowed to a halt, standing with her eyes to the ground and that shiny curtain of hair hiding her face. Obi-Wan, who was beginning to read this gesture fairly well, stopped at her side and, after a moment, gently swept the hair out of her face and back over her shoulder. Leaning down and tilting his head to see her face, he said gently, "What is it Lyri? " She kicked at a tuft of grass with the toe of her moccasin. She knew what he was asking, but she didn't know how to answer. She couldn't describe the feelings inside her. "I..ship...no mama...daddy. Lone...a...lone," she whispered, looking up at him with the shadow of sadness in her eyes. Obi-Wan straightened up and held her eyes silently for a moment, thinking what it must have been like for a youngling suddenly finding herself alone on a strange world in an empty ship. Had she been witness to her parents' deaths? He would have liked to access her memories, but wouldn't do that without her consent, even in order to help her. He finally spoke, offering the only comfort he could. "You won't be alone this time, Lyri. I'm here with you," he said, gently stroking her hair. She threw her arms around his waist and held tight for a moment. When she stepped back, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Th-thank you," she said very softly. He swallowed, saying "You're welcome, little one," and lightly rubbing slow circles on her back as she stood next to him. The thought went through his mind that, in another life, he may have held onto her for good. It surprised him and he sighed thinking, "But I'm not in that other life and I have duties to attend to." He squeezed her shoulder and slowly stepped back. "Shall we keep on, then?" he asked, turning back in the direction they'd been traveling. "Yes, Obi-Wan...we go," she said quietly.

About half an hour later they were almost at the foot of the mountains, Obi-Wan thinking he should ask if they were close, when he felt the excitement running through the zakita pack. Lyri called them to her and spoke to them. Some of the canines were literally prancing in place when she pointed and sent them off to a slightly wooded area just before the terrain started its ascent. Most of the pack spread out in a sprint over the remaining flat expanse, with the exception of a couple of the females who remained there with the pups, and the canines carrying packs. "They go see no teygra...see is...safe," she said at the Jedi's questioning look. "The teygras live in the mountains?" he asked. "Yes. Come down wh-when...time to make baby," she answered. He thought she might mean mating season, but would have to figure out later how to ask her. He reached out with the Force, but didn't feel any nearby threats. He was quite anxious to see what shape the ship was in and now had more than a passing curiosity about Lyri's past. He was fairly certain he could find clues to that in the ship if it was intact. He also hoped it might still be in good enough shape to fly, though he wouldn't mention that to Lyri just yet.

The zakitas suddenly barked in a lively chorus causing the remaining females and pups to start running in their direction. "Is o...kay," smiled Lyri, starting after the female canines and pups as she began to walk alongside the pack animals. "Stay with me," Obi-Wan directed, still thinking of the massive teygras. Lyri was startled by the command in his voice since she had never heard that tone from him. She turned to look at him hesitantly. He was calm but looked deadly serious, so she did as he said. His eyes had gone to a steely blue as he looked in the direction the zakitas had gone. "Is okay, Obi-Wan," she said in a small voice. He looked down at her with an expression that broached no argument, saying "Stay behind me, Lyri." She felt a little unsettled, but did as he said. Stretching out again with his senses, he didn't discern any danger, but still kept Lyri behind him as they approached the wooded area. As they came through the trees into the clearing at the base of the mountains, Lyri said, "See, Obi-Wan? No teygra! Is okay!" Looking down at her, his expression softening, he nodded. She ran ahead toward the ship, only stopping to pick up a couple of pieces of makeshift furniture that had been knocked on their sides.

Obi-Wan stood and stared at the modified Corellian YT-1760 transport sitting at the far end of the clearing. It was an older model, but there were still plenty of them in service. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it had not crashed, but had been landed in that spot with a particular purpose. It looked like someone had intended it as a temporary base of some sort. The old transport looked a little weathered and there were lacy vines winding and climbing their way up the hull at various spots. He knew he would need to check for structural damage to the ship to determine if it was still safe to fly, but he felt a sense of anticipation. He could finally do something about getting off this moon and back to the Temple and his mission. He had a lot of people depending on him and he knew Anakin was probably beside himself. He remembered how distraught the young man had been the last time he'd disappeared. Truth be told, he missed his former padawan.

With an end to his musing on what he needed to do for the time being, he looked about to see what Lyri was up to. She seemed to be trying to put things outside the ship into some kind of order before going inside. There appeared to be a couple of crude chairs she had set upright not too far from the space the boarding ramp would put down. She was now placing what appeared to be a mixture of low-tech manufactured and hand-made weapons into a rack set against the hull of the ship. He walked over to see if she needed a hand and to get a closer look at the weapons. There was a professional grade hunting crossbow and two or three primitive bows and quivers of arrows. He had read about these ancient weapons in the archives, as he loved reading different planetary histories along with the Jedi histories. There was an assortment of knives, two of which he recognized as being from the nomadic tribes on Ansion. He also saw another old Corellian hunting knife. There were three well-made spears he recognized from one of the planets the rich went to pretending to be big game hunters in the old style-a practice he himself found disgusting. There were also a few old style blasters of different makes.

The interesting thing, however, was that several other weapons looked to be in various stages of manufacture. Someone had been trying to reproduce the ancient weapons, but why? He suddenly remembered the arrow that had struck the teygra back on the plain. He had meant to ask Lyri about it, but now he was even more intrigued. Not only had these beings been hand crafting the ancient weapons, but someone had taken the time to show Lyri how to use a bow and arrows and how to use a spear to catch fish. They had also evidently taught her basic wilderness survival skills. Someone had obviously cared about the child and she had mentioned her mother and father being gone earlier, so there had been at least two other humans here.

Helping Lyri to put the last of the weapons in order in their rack, he then followed her to a little shed with grass overgrown in a riot around the outside. Going inside with her, he saw racks, some set up and some in a jumble at one corner, along with a small fire pit. It obviously hadn't been used in a while. He remembered the smoked meat she'd shared with him and decided this must have been used as a smokehouse. It was most intriguing that these people would decide to come here and, even though they still had the amenities of the ship, live so primitively otherwise.

He really wanted to see what shape the inside of the ship was actually in. Watching Lyri set a couple of the smoking racks upright, however, he knew he needed to give her the time she needed to settle herself by doing these mundane tasks and he smiled a little at her need to put things in order.

Finally she went outside and walked slowly to the ship with Obi-Wan just a few steps behind. She jumped as he gently put a hand on her shoulder. Looking up at him, she bravely tried to smile. Sensing her inner disquiet through the Force, he simply asked, "Would you like me to bring the boarding ramp down?" Nodding gratefully, she pointed at the activation panel and held her breath. The entry code had been affixed to the right of the panel. Thinking of the strict security measures he was used to, it made him smile and shake his head. Quickly inputting the code, he was relieved to hear the hum and swoosh of the ramp as it began its descent. Feeling Lyri's small fingers curl around his own, he looked down at her and smiled encouragingly saying, "After you, milady."

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Heading back to Coruscant, Anakin was still baffled at the Chancellor's reasoning for sending him on this latest mission. It had seemed to require negotiating skills more in line with Obi-Wan's abilities or perhaps even Mace's than his own. In fact, negotiations had broken down rather quickly leading to a skirmish that had to be put down and causing the mission to take longer than he had anticipated. He just didn't have the patience for dealing with whining leaders who couldn't see any viewpoints but their own. Force knows, Obi-Wan had tried to teach him, but he just wasn't cut out for it.

Anakin ached for his wife's gentle, soothing touch. She helped him put things in perspective. This war and its effects seemed endless. On top of that, the one other person who was truly a steadying force in his life, the calm and strength he could always grab onto, was still missing. He needed his best friend and the closest man he'd had to a father. He needed to find Obi-Wan.

As he had set the navigation coordinates for home, he had been sorely tempted just to disregard everyone's directives and head out to the Chorlian sector to start sweeping the area for any stray signal in the Baltimn and neighboring systems. He shuddered at the thought that neither he nor any of the other Jedi had been able to sense his former Master's unique signature since his disappearance. Obi-Wan burned like a raging fire in the Force and Anakin had always been comforted by the ease with which he could find him. Not being able to feel that now left a gaping black hole in his heart and made him feel...well...lost somehow.

That night, as he finally lay in the soft comfort of his wife's arms, he poured his heart out to her. As they lay in the afterglow of love, limbs tangled, Padme's head on his chest, she told him she would try to do what she could to push forward a search effort for their friend. She too felt Obi-Wan's loss and she'd been concerned when Anakin had intimated that he might openly defy the Council if he had to in mounting a search. She certainly knew Obi-Wan wouldn't want that. As Anakin drifted into a fitful sleep, Padme lay awake trying to work out a solution and praying Obi-Wan would come back to them safely. A tiny shadow of fear gnawed at her when she thought of her husband's volatile emotions unchecked by Obi-Wan's steady presence.