AN: Alright, this chapter was going to be way different, but this is where the Force led me, I guess, and I really like where it's going. The chapter I intended to write will go up tomorrow or Monday. I was thinking of making this chapter super long, but it actually broke here pretty nicely, so two chapters it is. Enjoy, lovelies!
Chapter 9: Meditations
Hera sighed as she docked the Phantom back on its rear position on the Ghost, running the landing checks as she powered the ship down and watching as Ezra and Sabine left the small transport for the bigger ship. Ezra was chatting happily about their very close call with a squadron of TIE fighters, waxing almost romantic about Hera's stellar piloting skills to a much more sullen Sabine. The Mandalorian was not happy, and Hera understood why. The mission was far messier than their intel indicated, what had been happening quite a bit, and the skeptical, mistrusting Mandalorian was beginning to severely question the source. It didn't help either that Hera wasn't sharing anything about Fulcrum.
Not that Hera herself knew anything about Fulcrum, not really, but what she did know was strictly confidential, served up on a need to know basis, and of the Ghost crew, Hera was the only one that needed to know. Fulcrum was a pert of something larger, something far bigger than themselves. Something that Hera would give her life for without question. Fulcrum provided the missions and Hera carried them out. It was the best way she could help the growing rebellion. The only way she could help. Her crew trusted her, and she trusted Fulcrum, and for Kanan, the fact that Hera trusted the source was good enough for him, and Hera knew that Ezra and Zeb felt the same. Anything at all to stick it to the Empire.
Sabine wasn't having any of it.
"All I'm saying is that I was told not to ask questions at the Imperial academy, and that's exactly what you're telling me now! I didn't end up here to blindly follow orders!" Sabine snapped at Kanan as Hera climbed down the ladder from the Phantom's perch.
"If Hera trusts the contact, I trust the contact," Kanan said firmly, turning to look at Hera as she approached and smiling brightly. "Bit of trouble out there?"
"Yeah, I scraped the hull of the Phantom trying to get away from those TIE fighters!" Kanan drew back, his eyes wide as he gasped, and he clutched at his chest.
"You?!" he said, completely shocked. "You scraped the ship?!"
"It was unavoidable!" Hera said defensively, a sly smile on her face as she drew closer to the Jedi and ran a hand down his cheek. "Once your plan went south..."
"Oh, of course!" Kanan said, smacking his forehead. "I knew there was a way that this was somehow my fault."
"And you'd be right about that, dear..." she said, smiling as she saw Chopper wheel in from the back, beeping excitedly about something or other, and she turned to Sabine, the Mandalorian's face hard and her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm sorry, Sabine. This information is need to know."
"And I need to know!" the Mandalorian insisted. "If we're out there risking our lives, I need to know what it's for! It's great that we're inconveniencing the Empire, but I'm not going to die for something that will amount to nothing!" She pointed an accusing finger at Hera. "I need to meet this Fulcrum. No more secrets, I need to know who I'm fighting for!"
"Trouble in paradise?" asked a smooth, accented clip, and they all turned to see Obi-Wan walk casually out of the docking bay doors, Sabine tensing immediately and suddenly very nervous. Kanan groaned loudly.
"Well, there wasn't trouble," the Jedi muttered. "Then you showed up..." Kenobi smiled faintly and bowed his head.
"Always happy to be of service."
"When did you even dock!" Hera asked quickly. "I didn't allow this!"
"Oh, your droid let me on!" Kenobi chirped, pointing to Chopper, the outdated astromech looking between the Sith and the Twi'lek. "I don't usually like droids, but this little scrap heap is wonderfully abrasive."
"...wait, Chopper let you on?!" Hera said in astonishment, looking at the droid. Chopper looked back in what could only be described as apprehension and a fair bit of defiance. "Chopper, you don't like anyone, has he messed with your circuits?" Chopper let loose with a string of indignant mechanical grunts and whirs, and Hera gasped, smacking the top of his flat, round head. "Just because he's a Separatist doesn't mean he has an ample amount of droid appreciation!"
"Oooh, we're just going to let it keep thinking that..." Kenobi drawled.
"We most certainly are not!" Hera said forcefully, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Ezra as he slowly scooted closer to the Sith Lord. He was interested, and given Kenobi's inclinations, neither Hera nor Kanan wanted Ezra to have anything to do with the man, at least not until they better understood his intentions. Like Hera, Kenobi kept a lot of secrets. "Zeb, Ezra," Hera quickly barked when it looked like the young Jedi hopeful would begin pestering the Sith about the frankly stunning powers he possessed. "You two go with Chopper and run repairs and a diagnostic on the Phantom. The steering's off, it needs to be adjusted, and if there are other problems, I want them found. I'll be taking it out soon to pick up a shipment for Fulcrum."
Sabine began seething. "Fulcrum again..." she growled to nobody in particular, but she caught the attention of the Shadow King, ever in tune with his Mandalorian brethren. Groaning, Zeb and Ezra dragged their feet to the ladder and ascended to the upper level, disappearing behind the doors where they would head up again into the Phantom so they could conduct repairs. It left Kanan and Hera standing awkwardly with an very angry Sabine and a profoundly amused Kenobi, the Sith Lord keeping his silence and observing the trio.
"I'm done taking orders," Sabine said firmly. "So let me tell you what's going to happen. I'm going with you on this pickup so I can meet this Fulcrum."
"Sabine..." Hera sighed. "This is a matter of keeping our crew safe. If any of us are captured and we know too much-"
"Wait, you think I'd talk?!" Sabine gasped in disbelief. "Do you really trust me so little?"
"No, but I think the Empire has ways of making anyone talk," Hera sighed watching the Mandalorian as a whole mess of emotions played across her face.
Before she could respond, Kenobi quietly said, "Syndulla is correct. The only way to maintain a level of safety for the rest of the crew is for everyone to know only the bare minimum. Syndulla is your link to Fulcrum. That is enough."
"I wouldn't talk!" Sabine insisted. "I want to be part of something larger. I know what the Empire can do, I-"
"Shall we run a test?" Obi-Wan asked softly, his golden eyes seeming to glow with amusement and cruelty, and Kanan quickly put his hand on Sabine's shoulder and moved next to her defensively. "I'll put you under interrogation. You see how long you can keep your information to yourself."
"Kenobi," Kanan warned, "she's-"
"You're on," Sabine said quickly. "I'll show you what a true Mandalorian is made of, Shadow King." Obi-Wan grinned wickedly and sat upon the rounded couch, gesturing for Sabine to sit opposite him, which she eagerly did, excited to have the chance to prove herself to this man, the true Mand'alor of her people, so far as she was concerned.
"Tell me no truths," he said softly, smiling at the girl, keeping an eye on Kanan as he fretted beside Hera. "Say nothing, lie to me, it matters not." Sabine drew up taller, her head held high and a cocky smirk on her face. "Your name?" Kenobi asked, and Sabine said nothing. "Planet of birth?" Again, nothing. "Family? Who do you fight for? What is your rebel call sign? The names of your crew. Where are the rebels based out of? Do you count Jedi among your rank?" He leaned in closer to the silent girl. "Who is Fulcrum?"
"I'm not telling you anything, so you may as well stop," Sabine said proudly, and Kenobi gently inclined his head and extended his hand, his fingers splayed.
"Your name."
"Sabine Wren," she said without delay, her eyes widening as she realized what she had said and her hands flying to clamp over her mouth. There was a smirk on Kenobi's face, but the amusement in his eyes was gone, replaced with a burning, searing malice that Sabine couldn't look away from, even as she felt herself burning under the fiery gaze.
"Planet of birth?" Kenobi asked softly, his voice cold and emotionless, and for just a moment, Sabine shivered, her breath held and her face turning red, her arms shaking as she resisted against something nobody could see.
"Krownest," Sabine gasped, her hands slipping from her mouth and the words rolling unbidden off her tongue.
"Kenobi, stop, your point is made!" Kanan growled, and Obi-Wan held up a hand, silencing the Jedi.
"Are there Jedi in your rebel cell, Spectre Five?" Kenobi asked, and Sabine absently nodded.
"Two," she said, her voice quivering. "Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger."
"Fulcrum," Kenobi growled dangerously. "Who is it?"
"I-I don't know!" She said, frantic and shaking, and with a soft smile, Kenobi dropped his hand, Sabine inhaling sharply as she was released, her hands grasping her head as she shook it to clear the feeling in her mind. Hera put a hand on the girl's shaking shoulder and shot Kenobi a cautious, grateful smile.
"The Empire," Obi-Wan said softly, "employs those that can do as I do. Perhaps not as swiftly, but they can read a heart like a book, and will have no compunction about breaking a mind to get what they need." He smiled at her gently, reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand. "Vaabir gar suvarir, ner kih Mando?" She looked at him with respect and understanding and not a little fear of the power she was just subject to, and he stood, brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead, a faint blush coming to her cheeks, and Kanan was so glad that Ezra wasn't there to see it. He would have freaked out.
"Well," Kenobi lazily drawled. "You need information on your pickup, yes, Syndulla?" The Twi'lek nodded. "Good!" he chirped, rocking back on his heels. "Let's call Fulcrum."
"W-what, now?" Hera stuttered, and the Sith Lord nodded. "You just-"
"I need to speak with Fulcrum anyway," he quickly dismissed, "and our mutual friend is too smart to say anything to compromise themself." He flicked his wrist in the air. "Contact Fulcrum. Your Mandalorian needs reassurance. I suggest you give it to her." With a sigh, Hera motioned for them to follow her, and they slowly filed behind her and made their way to the cockpit, Sabine walking reverently behind the Sith Lord.
"Do you really have a horned helmet?" Sabine asked when she got up the nerve, and with a soft chuckle, Kenobi nodded.
"It's in my ship. Perhaps next time, I'll show you." Sabine grinned, offering the Sith her seat as they entered the cockpit, and he quickly waved her off, sitting instead in the seat behind Hera as Sabine took her own painted chair behind Kanan. "Who does this make me?" Obi-Wan asked Sabine, indicating to the chair he was siting in as Hera punched in the encryption to contact Fulcrum. Sabine leaned over and smirked.
"Garazeb Orrelios..."
"...what, the cat?!" Sabine laughed and shook her head as Kenobi grumbled. "I chose the wrong seat, no wonder it smells...hey, is it too late to accept the offer of your seat?" Sabine nodded.
"Oh yeah. Way too late."
The com burst with static, and a moment later, a heavily modulated, male voice said, "This is Fulcrum, come in."
"This is Spectre Two, Fulcrum," Hera said, peering out of the Corner of her eye as Sabine got out of her seat and leaned over her shoulder.
"Why don't I talk to him?" Sabine said, and Hera pointed a warning finger in the Mandalorian's face.
"Fulcrum," Kenobi drawled, leaning back in his seat and crossing one leg over the other. "This is Lumis."
"...Lumis?" Fulcrum asked, the voice suddenly sounding surprised. "You are among the Spectres?"
"As we discussed in our last meeting, yes," Kenobi said, frowning in disgust as he picked a tuft of purple fur off his robes, and disdainfully rose from the Lasal's seat. "Consider my promise fulfilled. I do plan on sticking around for a while. Hmm," he mused. "Perhaps I should be a Spectre."
"Not in this lifetime..." Hera muttered, laying her hand on the Sith's arm and pushing him away, and Kenobi let himself fall right into Kanan's lap. Despite the Jedi's frantic struggling, he couldn't dislodge himself from underneath the Sith Lord. With a huff, Kanan slunk against the seat, ignoring Sabine's raucous laughter and the eyes the Sith was making at him.
"And still causing a disturbance everywhere you go, from the sound of it," Fulcrum seemed to sigh. "Do you need a new mission?"
Kenobi scoffed. "Hardly, babysitting these kids is more than enough for me. Did you receive the...sensitive supplies?"
"Received and delivered, Lumis," Fulcrum said quickly. "Though, I don't like the risk you took to obtain them." Kenobi shrugged and patted a very unamused Kanan's cheek.
"Hey, it was either that or destroy them! You have no idea how hard it was to convince Spectre One to give me a shot at grabbing them!" He rolled his eyes and pinched the Jedi's cheek. "He's unduly cautious. Sort of like you, Fulcrum. You'd like him, but...he's already got a girlfriend," Kenobi drawled, kissing Kanan's palm, and the Jedi finally managed to push the Sith Lord off of him as he swiftly wiped his hand off on his seat.
"It's a wonder you manage to make friends at all, Lumis..." Fulcrum sighed, the Sith Lord rising to his feet and winking quickly at Kanan before he leaned over the ship's controls.
"I delivered on my promise. Did you manage to make any headway on my task for you?"
"I have," Fulcrum said, sounding very pleased, and Kanan and Hera leaned back to look at each other. Whoever this Fulcrum was, he was on equal footing with Kenobi. It seemed like the Sith Lord wasn't just talking a big game, he was involved with some kind of larger rebellion. "Though the information is sensitive. We will discuss it when we meet for training next month." Kenobi frowned.
"That's a long time to wait, Fulcrum."
"Patience," Fulcrum said, "is the way of the Jedi."
"For the record, it is also the way of the Sith!" Kenobi snapped. "Honestly, are you trying to insult me? Give me something to work with."
"Chimera." There was silence for a moment, the Sith Lord staring at the com for a long while before he slowly nodded. "Anything on the location I sent you?"
"Yes," was the swift reply. "We have confirmed an outpost at the location. The target has yet to be determined. Hostilities are high. I advise caution."
"I'll start making the plan," Kenobi said quietly, stepping back from the com and gesturing at it to Hera, the Twi'lek looking at him in astonishment for a moment before shaking her head and returning her attention to the com.
"Fulcrum, we need the coordinates for the supplies," Hera said quickly, and after a moment, the navicom beeped with the received coordinates.
"Rendevous sent, Spectre Two," Fulcrum said. "Take care. Don't let Lumis give you too much trouble. Fulcrum out." The com cut, the static dying quickly, and the Spectres slowly looked back at Kenobi and the man just rolled his eyes.
"That Fulcrum...so unhelpful."
"You sound like you two are close..." Hera said, moving closer to the Sith and suddenly very interested. The way it sounded, Kenobi was an agent like Fulcrum, working for the same group, and now, not only did she have missions from the Fulcrum agent, but she had the personal attention of Kenobi, a recruiter, by the sound of it. They had the interest of a rebellion. Kenobi simply shrugged.
"Sorry," the Sith Lord said slyly. "Need to know only. You understand." Hera flushed deeply when Sabine burst out into laughter.
"Yes, I understand..." the Twi'lek said between grit teeth, quickly slamming her hand on the intercom to ask Zeb and Ezra how the repairs were going, and she leaned ack in her seat, arms crossed as the boys read off the diagnostics, the Twi'lek occasionally interrupting to add minor fixes to their task.
"Sure is taking them a long time to run maintenance on that shuttle of yours, Syndulla," Kenobi drawled. "Want me to pop on up and take care of it for you?" He grinned in Kanan's direction. "Since I am, by your own admission, the best pilot you've ever seen..."
"Best pilot doesn't mean best mechanic, Kenobi," Hera said, looking back and flashing the Sith a sardonic grin. "They can handle it. Until I get to fly the Umbra, you aren't touching my ship." Obi-Wan shrugged and leaned against the bulkhead. "They're almost done anyway, and I'll be off to pick up that shipment from Fulcrum."
"And speaking of which..." Kenobi drawled, looking over at Kanan, and the Jedi slunk down in his seat. "It appears to be supply run day. I've come to collect on our bet, Kanan." Amused, Hera looked at her grumbling lover and laid a hand on his arm.
"You did promise, dear," Hera said softly. "May as well get it over with while we're laying low."
"If you're going out to do this pickup for Fulcrum, I should be there," Kanan insisted, and Hera just rolled her eyes.
"It's a supply run, Kanan, it'll be fine. I'll take Sabine, and Zeb and Ezra won't even have the time to destroy the ship before we return." She lightly kissed his cheek. "I'll see you when you return." She looked pointedly at Kenobi.
"Just a supply run, right? Nothing dangerous?" Obi-Wan laid a hand over his heart.
"Nothing dangerous, Syndulla. I swear it. Just procuring the essentials. I'll have him back soon enough." She forced a smile.
"Have him back too late, and I'm going to make you babysit the kids while we have some alone time." Kenobi scoffed.
"I'm not even part of your crew, you can't tell me what to do."
"Oh?" Hera asked, a sly smile spreading across her face. "Aren't you though, Spectre Zero?"
"Alright, Jedi, let's go," Kenobi grumbled as he pulled Kanan's short ponytail. "I want to get out of here before she ropes me into something else I don't want."
"You know, you could carry out a supply run literally anywhere," Kanan said to Obi-Wan, his eyes fixed outside the viewport at the blurred blue and white of hyperspace, taking them further and further away from Lothal and the Ghost. Kenobi had been silent since they made the jump, his hands resting relaxed on the armrests of the pilot's chair, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and even. The clone beside hin in the co-pilot's seat was similarly relaxed, peacefully running his fingers over a lightsaber as he read from a holographic display projected before him. Kanan would have been reading it as well, but the display was written in Mando'a, and Kanan hadn't learned how to speak it. He hadn't learned much of any language outside of Galactic Basic.
He was finding that to be a problem now, and he quietly cursed himself for not learning another language from his Master, who had been fluent in several, though none of them would have helped him here. The entire ship was programmed to display information exclusively in Ancient Sith and Mando'a, and worse still, Kenobi and Cody spoke to each other in the tongue of Mandalore and nothing more. Kanan was beginning to wonder why he was even brought along. Perhaps Kenobi just wanted to tease him with the Jedi holocron in his possession.
"Really," Kanan continued when the Sith Lord didn't respond. "Most of our supply runs are conducted in Kothal." Kanan waited. There was silence. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, Kothal is a settlement on Lothal, thanks for asking! We do our supply runs there, they have everything we need!"
"My needs are different than yours," Obi-Wan finally said softly, not moving from his place, and Kanan almost jumped when he spoke. The Sith had been silent for so long that Kanan thought that he forgot how to speak.
"Well they can't be that different," Kanan drawled, draping his arm over the back of Kenobi's chair and trying to feel him in the Force. There was nothing. Less nothing than usual, if that was even possible. "You are human, aren't you?" There was no response, no twitch of acknowledgment on his face at all. "So you must eat and sleep and-"
"I do not sleep," Kenobi said swiftly, but otherwise didn't move. The clone, however, did look up, and Kanan unconsciously backed up a step.
"You need to sleep, brother..." Cody quietly admonished, his voice strained with concern and the Sith Lord finally opened his eyes and shot the clone a weary glare before turning his seat around to look at the Jedi, his hands folding in his lap.
"I do not sleep, I lose myself in the Force." He shrugged when he felt Cody's disapproving eyes on him, but he did not look at the clone. "To the same effect, more or less."
"It's not the same," Cody insisted, and the Sith Lord sighed in frustration.
"No, it's not, sleep is unproductive." His hands unclasped and quickly moved to grip the armrests, his fingers digging into the padded material. "Lost in the Force, I have visions, insight. There is nothing in sleep but nightmares, and what good are those, hmm?"
"Your mind needs rest brother," Cody sighed heavily. It was clear they had this conversation before. Many times. "And the Dark Side takes a toll on your body when you allow it to take you, you know it does."
"And it is still preferable to nightmares!" Kenobi snarled, his eyes flashing dangerously, and for just a moment, the man looked...haunted. "Everything I have ever lost appearing before me, visions of the way things should have been, not the way things are..." Obi-Wan muttered. "What good is any of it, what is the purpose of such things if not to tear open old wounds and make them deeper, make them bleed." Cody sighed and looked away, and the Sith's eye twitched slightly in irritation. "No use at all...give me instead visions of what will be, not what should have been and cruelly wasn't..."
"You're saying the Force sustains you?" Kanan asked carefully, and the Sith Lord slowly nodded, as if uncertain to the answer. "Is that how you stay young? Is that how you achieved immortality?"
"Ah..." Obi-Wan slowly stood from his seat and laid a hand on Cody's shoulder. "Haa'taylir venjii te me'sen." The clone nodded, and Obi-Wan pushed past Kanan and left the cockpit, indicating with his hand that the Jedi should follow him, and Kanan quickly fell in beside him as they slowly made their way through the ship. The last time he was here, Kanan didn't have the chance to really look around, the Jedi focused instead on saving himself and Ezra so they could return safely to the Ghost, but now, with his attention free to wander, he had the chance to really look at the Umbra. The first time he had seen the Ghost, he thought the ship a wonder, and his affection for the ship only grew as he became closer to its magnificent pilot, the modified freighter seeming perfect to his eyes because of Hera's divine radiance. It was carefully maintained and lovingly cared for. It was...home.
The Umbra, however, was in another class entirely, and no amount of affection for the Ghost could change that. This ship was sleek, elegant, made in a time when Kenobi sat at the height of his influence and power, supported by the Dark Forces that now ruled the galaxy instead of being hunted by them. Like the Ghost, the Umbra was cared for by a hand that knew how she worked, how she functioned, but while Hera maintained her ship out of necessity and pride for that which was hers, Kenobi's care of the Umbra seemed almost a reflection of his vanity. It was immaculate and neat, devoid of anything that could even be considered clutter or dirt, everything neatly and clinically placed that spoke to a highly organized and neurotic mind. Yet another example of Sith extremism. Kanan wondered if Kenobi would have been this meticulous without the Dark Side to heighten and accentuate his innate qualities.
"We don't actually know if I have actually lengthened my life span," Obi-Wan said as he entered his room, far bigger and more spacious than a room on a ship had any right to be. "If I am aging, I do not feel the effects of it. The holocron I learned the technique from was vague on the subject. A step toward true immortality, it said, but it was unclear if the nature of the power granted the practitioner extended life or simply eternal youth." He smiled softly. "I do endeavor to find out. Perhaps I will craft a holocron of my own some day and record my findings. Future generations of Sith must learn somehow if I am not around to teach them..."
"Wait, you want to make more Sith?" Kanan gasped, and Kenobi looked at him like he was an idiot.
"You are making new Jedi, are you not? Why should I be any different?"
"Uh, because Sith are ruining the galaxy." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please, if the Jedi hadn't become so stilted, none of this ever would have happened." He dropped to the ground, his legs tucked underneath him and his hands upon his knees as he settled in to meditate. "The Sith potential for progress cannot be denied, and an Empire in the hands of the right person could yield great things." He was silent for a moment, and Kanan sat before him, carefully observing him as the golden eyes seemed to dull, the glowing light fading from them as they became clouded with...loss. "Satine could have done it," he whispered, staring at the ground before him. "I could have done it beside her..."
"Is that why you left the Jedi?" Kanan asked softly. "To rule the galaxy beside the woman you loved?" Obi-Wan laughed softly and shook his head.
"No...no, ruling the galaxy was never the plan, not in the beginning. And Satine..." He took in a deep, shivering breath. "I had already fallen by the time I found my way back to her arms. No, I left the Jedi for..." He smiled softly. "Many reasons." He shifted his weight and closed his eyes. "Hush now. We'll be on Rajtiri before you know it, and I need to meditate on the information I received from Fulcrum."
"You know, we could always go to Lothal for supplies..." Kanan lightly suggested, and with a sigh, the Sith Lord opened his eyes and gave the Jedi a tired look.
"Kanan Jarrus, never you mind that we already addressed that my needs are not the same as yours and Lothal doesn't have what I need..." He gave the Jedi a pointed look. "My ship is one of the most recognizable in the galaxy."
"It's also one of the most invisible in the galaxy," Kanan pointed out, and Kenobi just rolled his eyes.
"The ship isn't always in stealth, and there are ways to detect it, ways the Empire utilizes because they know my ship runs on stealth technology. Do you really want my ship seen in your territory? All it would do is draw increased Imperial attention, and you're already at your capacity with ISB and the Inquisitorius. Besides, it's highly likely that it's been discovered that we're working together. Do you really want that confirmed?"
"Uh, Kenobi, we destroyed the entire convoy!" Kanan said firmly. "How could they know we were working together? Nobody that saw us together survived!"
"Just because nobody was there doesn't mean we weren't being watched," Obi-Wan said softly, closing his eyes once again and beginning to sink into the Force. "I am," he said slowly, "being hunted. Until recently, he was unknown to me, but I am beginning to grasp what exactly the nature of my enemy is..."
"You don't know?" Kanan asked, and with a sigh, Obi-Wan reached out, touched his fingers to Kanan's forehead, and a moment later, there was nothing but head-splitting pain, a scream caught in the Jedi's throat as he heard the rush of the Force, felt water cold as ice engulf him as he rapidly sank into its depths, the ship, the galaxy falling away as he was dragged deeper beneath the surface, and then there was nothing. No pain, no sound, no light, only the cold and the sensation of drowning as water filled his lungs.
He coughed, sputtering as his hands clutched his chest and he quickly clambered to his hands and knees, water pouring from his mouth as he heaved, his vision slowly returning, and Kanan looked around to find himself...transported. Gone was the warm elegance of Kenobi's room upon the Umbra, the blue and white of hyperspace visible through the viewport, the soft hum of the ship's powerful engines. Instead, Kanan found himself on the shores of a vast, infinite lake, the water so calm, so smooth it reflected the starry sky, a galaxy of light painted in deep blues and vibrant greens and soft purples and fiery reds, colors that danced the length of the spectrum, reflecting the nebula, the stars, the arms of the galaxy on its mirror's surface. Kanan could only stare in wide-eyed wonder at the vast beauty of his surroundings, at the calm, serene peace that settled over him as he watched a hundred bright, shining points of light dance along the surface of the water, leaving small ripples in their wake that were quickly stilled.
A soft, low whistle brought his attention over to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord holding his fine, black boots in his hand as his bare feet grasped at the sand beneath him. Still looking around at his surroundings, Kanan slowly made his way to Kenobi, stopping just short of being able to touch him when the Sith stepped into the waters, the gentle waves lapping at his ankles.
"Welcome to my meditations..." Obi-Wan said softly, and Kanan watched as the water began to ripple, the reflected lights blurring and shifting as they began to take shape, hazy and uncertain, but there was definitely something in the water. He quickly looked to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord watching, silent and intent at the visions in the waters. Perhaps Kanan could not discern what was there, but it was obvious that Kenobi could see it, clear as day, his sharp eyes darting over the waters as he took in every detail of what was shown to him. Kanan's talents had never lay in foresight, and if he had visions at all, he could never distinguish between what were dreams, and what were events yet to unfold. But Kenobi, from what he understood, was a rare talent in the subject, and if the place they were in was a reflection of his mind within the Force, then it was no wonder he had been able to so deftly combat the Jedi Order's moves against him. It was likely he saw their movements before they occurred, and armed with such knowledge, he'd be able to take moves to change an unfavorable outcome, or ensure a desirable one.
"What do you see?" Kanan asked, coming to stand beside him in the waters, his own feet sending ripples along the surface, and he leaned over to look at the faded, unclear images. "What are you looking for?" A wry, bitter smile spread across his face.
"Those two things, unfortunately, are not the same thing." He ran his fingers through the water, the smooth surface marred with ripples and small waves as the colors twisted and swirled, reforming into something else, and Kenobi frowned. "I do not dictate the visions the Force shows me, and as of late, it keeps coming back to..." He shook his head. "For nearly five years, I have been watched. Carefully. Meticulously. My enemy is patient and intelligent and calculating, and I have always been able to feel it when I'm stepping into one of his traps, but..." He growled in irritation, and Kanan grasped his arms against a sudden arctic breeze, the wind making the once calm water ripple and roil with choppy waves.
"You haven't been able to find him?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi scoffed and rolled his eyes. "If you can see the future-"
"I see what the Force shows me, and the Force has not shown me him." He breathed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, looking out at the water as it slowly calmed. "A great deal of that is my fault, I suppose. My own...emotions get in the way of my clarity, and no amount of rage and anger, no amount of focus on the man that hunts me can ever truly turn my thoughts from them..."
"Them?" Kanan asked, looking into the waters that seemed so hazy to him, and he could barely make out the shape of two people. "Who's them?" For a moment, Kenobi didn't move, only stared at the water with an expression of longing that made Kanan's chest ache with the Sith Lord's loneliness. Whoever it was he saw, Kenobi missed them dearly, and Kanan could feel the strength of a powerful, unbreakable bond, a deep, unyielding love that mad their separation nearly unbearable to the Sith, a constant distraction as his thoughts turned inward. It was this attachment, this strength of emotion that the Jedi turned from in order to gain clarity, that the Sith turned to as a font of strength. Kanan wondered if it was Luminara that Kenobi saw in the waters, the Jedi that the Sith Lord had claimed to be close to, or Satine, the mysterious Mandalorian Queen that Kenobi had lost so long ago. He doubted that Obi-Wan would say, even if he asked, even if the trust between them was absolute. Some things were just meant to remain private and personal, even to Sith Lord. Maybe especially to them
Here, deep within him, Kanan saw that Obi-Wan was just a man, cruel and vicious, perhaps, but deep within him was a heart that pulsed with love and care, the intentions which were put to dark purpose in his actions, but the emotion itself was a thing of the light.
After a long while, Kenobi finally shook his head. "It's unimportant..." he muttered, absent and distracted as if he were elsewhere. "Within the Force," he said softly, "those that burn with sensitivity to it shine bright like beacons." Kenobi pointed out to the water, now still and calm once again, reflecting the lights of the sky above them. "When there were Jedi, one just needed to close their eyes to feel their presence, a blaze of thousands burning within the Force, each one their own flame burning brighter than the other life in the galaxy. Now, the Force runs with darkness, and feeling the light of those with the Force has become both easier and far more difficult."
"Is that how survivors of the purge were hunted?" Kanan asked, and the Sith Lord nodded.
"Those of you that touched the Force, used it, drew upon it for strength made their light shine brighter, and it alerted those that hunted for the Jedi to their presence. It may not have led them directly to the fugitives, but it was close enough to begin to sense them, track them, and kill them. But those such as yourself that cut yourself off from the Force became very difficult to find." He laughed softly as he touched the waters again, the colors rippling along its surface. "There are other ways to hide, of course. Ways that I employ, that Luminara used..." The surface of the water wavered as the Sith Lord trembled. "...until she didn't." Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "Luminara, nuyak dhasias zioplys..."
"So who's the man hunting you?" Kanan asked, sensing the Sith Lord's pain through a chill in the Force, and he sought to end it. In this place, his pain became Kanan's pain, and the Jedi didn't like the feelings it inspired in him. It made him miss Hera. "Can you sense him now?" Kenobi shook his head.
"No, he isn't Force sensitive," Kenobi quietly mused, putting his hand in the water and the images swirled around him like a vortex. "It makes them difficult to find, impossible to distinguish among the trillions of other lives." He scoffed in disdain. "Not flames, embers, coals, ashes of something greater. Unless I know what I'm looking for, it is impossible to find him within the Force, impossible to sense..."
"But you know something now, don't you?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi slowly nodded, his eyes growing distant as he watched the images in the waters form.
"A few things, yes..." he said softly. "Enough to narrow my search, but not enough to find him, not yet. I still don't know what I am searching for..." He sighed and stepped out of the waters. "It's no good, I'm too distracted, it's too close to Empire Day." Kanan looked at him in confusion, and Kenobi just grinned. "My favorite day."
"All hail our glorious Empire," Kanan said sardonically with a shrug. "I suppose."
"I'll have him soon enough," Obi-Wan said, pulling his boots back on. After we return from our excursion, after Empire Day, I'll have more focus, and it is his move."
"Uh, his move?" Kanan asked. "What move! Are you playing some sort of game?"
"Oh yes..." Kenobi drawled, a wicked grin on his lips. "It is a game, and I haven't been challenged like this since Skywalker and Tarkin hunted me. I do appreciate a challenge."
"If it's his move," Kanan said warily, "isn't he going to, you know, do something?" Kenobi nodded. "And...don't you want to stop it?"
"Not at all," Obi-Wan said softly. "Sometimes, one must walk into a trap to learn who set it. He'll need to expose himself to make his move, and now I'm watching."
"Dangerous game..."
"Yes, and one I play well." He patted the Jedi on the shoulder. "Time to wake up, Kanan. We've arrived at Rajtiri."