43 BBY - Mandalore
The constant hissing of blaster shots passing over their heads marked the beat to which the two youths ran through the underbrush, ducking as they went and crawling through the dirt and thicket when necessary. The long grass swayed with the gentle winds of the night as they hurried away, hearts beating at a frightening rate.
In a wish to keep hidden from their enemies and maintain the stealth of the mission as much as possible, it had been agreed that trying to fight against their pursuers would hinder them more than help. They were being hunted like animals and their hunters were numerous, a few counter attacks wouldn't amount to much in the grand scheme of things. So they ran, quiet like mice, fast as felines, hoping against hope to lose them in the greenery.
But their hunters were many, their hunters had equipment; it was only a matter of time before one of their random shots found its mark.
"Aah-!" The sharp scream of the girl was quickly silenced by her own hands as they pressed tightly against her mouth, her face was swiftly tear streaked and contorted in pain. The hurt was immediate and sharp.
"Satine!" Whispered the boy in desperate concern; someone would've definitely heard that. He rushed them away, taking her hand and skittering on bent legs and backs until they found a small outbreak of rocks that offered them sanctuary for a moment or two.
Taking the girl by her arms he pulled her low into the greenery with him as gently but swiftly as he could. She was choking on her cries as the redheaded boy shushed her with tender words. Carefully, he pealed the burnt fabric from her shoulder where the shot had gone through, she gasped in response, digging her nails into the soft of his arm.
"Oh dear," it looked bad. It was raw and burnt, it would get infected soon if someone didn't treat it.
Their heads shot up at the sound of approaching heavy-footed boots, beneath his hands, he felt her trembling. He held her by the waist in a half hug in terrified silence until the noise strayed away. He turned to her then.
"Satine, listen to me, do you remember precisely where Qui-gon said to meet him?" He asked hurriedly and she nodded just as fast, well aware of their predicament "Can you get there on your own?"
The girl started nodding but stopped cold.
"Obi-wan, no." she hissed fiercely despite the pain and the tears in her eyes.
"Yes, Satine, you need to get out of here and Qui-gon will help I promise, but if we stay together we're not going to escape them. I have to make them think we've gone another way-"
"No… no, no, no Obi, please, together remember? We can do anything together!" She pleaded with a desperate shaky smile.
"Of course, and we're doing it, this is us, working together." He tried smiling back.
"No, this is you wasting yourself in a stupid sacrifice, I won't let you." Satine held tightly onto his arms. There was silence between them.
"Please…. Please Satine, I need you to stay safe, you need to take care of your people and be a fair and just ruler when your time comes. And you need to be alive to do that." Obi-wan told her shakily, he was very frightened.
The murmur of movement and voices could be heard not too far away. Moving, searching for anything that shouldn't be there.
"But I need you! And- and you need me too, and… what about all the people in the galaxy that will need you to save them?" She attempted, already distraught by the resolve in his eyes.
"Yes, you need me and I need you, but your people need you more. And there's a whole Order out there of wonderful Jedi who can save the galaxy in my stead. Mandalore needs you." He said with finality.
Satine was quiet, she lowered her eyes and wiped a stray tear from her cheek, she understood.
They flinched, the voices through the tall grass were closer now. She turned to him.
"I'll… I'll see you at the randevu, right?" She tried smiling again, uncertain and wobbly.
"Of course," he willed himself to say, tasting the ash in his mouth at the lies they were whispering to one another "It'll be another story to tell around the campfire." He squeezed her hands "Be safe, Qui-gon will be there, he'll find you." He reassured her and started to stand but Satine hadn't let go.
"Obi!" She pulled him back down until his lips were pressed against hers, quick and chaste. "You be safe." She threw back, a spark of her usual fire returned.
The young Jedi half crouched there, looking at her worn out face and sharp brilliant eyes, maybe a second longer than he ought to considering the situation. Then Obi-wan leaned into her and kissed her sweetly, stepping back up he looked at Satine one last time before disappearing through the tall grass.
She waited anxiously in between the sounds of heavy boots and waving grass until a minute or two later, far away in the distance, the bright radiance of a Jedi's sword burst into life, shining through the dark.
"Over there! Move it!" Shouted a voice, uncomfortably close to her hiding spot. Several armored people hurried away, shooting at the blue firefly that moved further and further away from her as the seconds ticked by.
Soon, there was silence, after a while, the shots and shouts got so far away she could barely make them out anymore.
She shot up from the grass and ran towards the opposite direction, wiling her aching legs to go a little further tonight. She needed to find Qui-gon, he could fix this, he would save Obi from himself and she'd laugh at him for his stupid heroics in a few days. She just needed to find Qui-gon, he always made things right.
Abril: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the prologue of my NaNoWriMo project. The whole story is almost finished but needs A LOT of work yet. I do want to ask if you guys enjoy shorter chapters (around 2000 words) or longer chapters (around 4000 or possibly more), I still have a lot of structuring to do so I can move that around.
Last thing, moving onwards, this story will not contain anymore Satine, I just want to make that clear, this story isn't about them though she will be occasionally mentioned (I love her and Jango and no one will ever make me side with either of them, I just want Mandalorian peace ya'll).
A world of thanks to my beautiful beta and friend Shadow-ying for his work 3