Jediya Quest

Chapter 7

Anakin had been down the majority of the streets in Gatamo when he stumbled upon yet another dingy alleyway. He gave a frustrated sigh and began trudging through the puddles that gathered on the broken cobblestones. It was dark and he nearly tripped over the dirty Trian that was trying to crawl into a cardboard box.

"Hey, watch it!"

Anakin quickly regained his balance and turned around to apologize to the man. "Excuse me. I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

The man grunted and leaned back against the wall. "S'okay. Ya know, my lot just mus' be the place ta be tonight."

"That's nice," Anakin said, only looking to be on his way. He turned and began walking down the alley but the Trian beggar got up and began following him. The aura of "mystique" that Sekiro had said went with the robes obviously did not give the dirty Trian any reason to pause.

"Like I said, it's been busy through 'ere tonight. First dere was dose two ladies who work da bar down tha' street. I always like seeing 'em," he said with a wink. Anakin rolled his eyes and slightly quickened his pace. The man just walked with him and kept up his garbled speech.

"Den there was tha' pack o flea-bitten mongrels dat kept tearing through here. Den I slept for a while til dat palace guard came through here with dat sick looking human. Strange pair, dat two." The man grumbled and shook his head.

Anakin came to an abrupt halt and the beggar crashed into his back. "A sick human, you said?"

"Aye. The sorry looking sap musta been through 'ell an back to look as bad as 'e did." The man paused and gave Anakin a shrewd look. "Whas a big thinkin guy like you doing down 'ere anyhow? Aren'tcha afeared of getting' your fancy clothes all mussed up?" The man looked over Anakin again and spit out of the corner of his mouth.

"Uh, I'm looking for someone, that's all."

"Ya know, dat guard is a no good Arlin' lover. Da fool tinks they're our equals. Can ya believe dat?"

Anakin didn't answer. He turned around and began striding down the dark alley again. The beggar had to jog to keep up with him.

"Isa tinkin dat youse can believe that. You're one of dem, aren't you?"

Before Anakin could open his mouth to answer, he felt the muzzle of a blaster pressed into his back and the Trian's hand shot out and pulled the hood and face cover back from Anakin's head.

"What da . . . you a human!"

Anakin quickly dropped to his knees and reached under his robe to pull out . . . Obi-Wan's lightsaber. What? Where's mine? He barely hesitated though and thumbed the switch to bring the green blade to life.

"That's right, I'm a human. And you're very wrong to treat the Arling people the way you do." The green light emanating from the saber threw harsh shadows around the brick walls.

"So, even da Jediya have sided wit dat scum. Well, we can handle dat, can't we me boys?" Roughly a dozen heads popped up out of the trash with their blaster's sights set on Anakin.

Anakin gave a nervous laugh and began backing up. "Now fellows, come on. Let's not do anything you might regret . . ."

The lead beggar cut off Anakin's reasoning with a yell.

"YEEE-AAH!" On that cue, all blasters opened fire on the Padawan. He quickly blocked a few shots but then turned and began running down the alley. It was difficult to maneuver with a lightsaber between the cramped bricked walls. A door opened towards the end of the alley, spilling light out into the dark and silhouetting two figures standing in the frame.

"Anakin!"

The surprise at hearing that voice almost caused Anakin to stop, but he continued his dash for safety. "Master! You're all right!"

"Look out!" a female voice called.

Anakin whirled and blocked a pair of blaster shots that had been aimed at his head and turned to run for the small house. A blue blade ignited from Obi-Wan's hand, blocking yet more of the blaster shots and thus allowing Anakin to dive through the doorway and into temporary safety.

The clamor outside grew as the scruffy band of Trians closed in on the house and the Jedi inside. Anakin and Obi-Wan wordlessly exchanged lightsabers and then the Master hastily introduced Anakin and Suriyama to each other.

"You're the philosopher that ran into me at the marketplace!" she exclaimed upon seeing Anakin's robes.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He gestured to the robes. "These aren't mine. I'm only borrowing them until . . . oh no!" came the exclamation upon finding a blaster burn on one of the drooping sleeves. "Sekiro's going to kill me!"

"You can worry about that later, Ani," Obi-Wan said while shoving a chair against the door. "We need another way out of here."

"There's a small window back in the bathroom. Come on!" Suriyama swept Arya into her arms and dashed for the small room. She walked through the door and propped open the small window. She pushed Arya threw it and then shimmied through it herself. With her slight build, it was no problem to fit through the opening, but it presented much more of a challenge for the two Jedi.

"Quick, Anakin. Go through next."

Anakin quickly complied with his Master's order, but just as he finished wedging himself through the window, the front door of the house crashed down. Obi-Wan threw a quick glance over his shoulder and then pulled himself up to the window.

"Ay, look! They're getting' away!"

"Master, hurry! Here, give me your hand!"

Anakin reached out to Obi-Wan and pulled while Obi-Wan pushed against the frame. He was almost through when a pair of hands grabbed his feet and began dragging him back in. Anakin's grip on his Master slipped and Obi-Wan let out a small cry as his injured shoulder slammed against the window frame. He reached out his hands to Anakin again, this time grabbing on with the Force as well as physically. He kicked his leg back and the grip on his feet was released. Obi-Wan shot through the window, scrambled to his feet and began running down the alley.

The three dashed at a frenzied pace through the alleyways. They only stopped to rest once Obi-Wan was certain that they had lost their pursuers.

Anakin slumped down against a stone wall. "Where are we?"

"I'm . . . not sure," Suriyama answered between breaths. She stood up on a small crate to peer over the wall.

While Suriyama got her bearings, Anakin turned to his Master.

"Obi-Wan, how did you escape?"

Obi-Wan pointed to the Trian girl. "Suriyama's father is a guard . . . in the palace prisons," he gasped out between breaths, his chest heaving. "He . . . he helped me escape." The Jedi Knight closed his eyes and calmed himself down in order to slow his breathing. By the Force, please don't let the fever come back!

"We're just outside the palace gardens," she announced, whirling around on the crate and hopping down. "Don't get me wrong, Jediya Kenobi. It's not that I wish you were still in the prisons, but I now no longer have a home to go back to."

"What are you talking about?" Anakin asked. "Those beggars were after me, not your house."

She looked at Anakin sympathetically. "You mean you didn't know? Maybe because you are not a full Jediya you did not notice it," she taunted.

Anakin's cheeks burned. "Notice what?"

"Those men were not real beggars. Didn't you see their weapons? No street beggar could afford blasters of that quality. They are palace employees, spies and Gatamo guards. One of them must have seen father bringing your Master to my house." Suriyama's already pale face turned ghostly. "Oh no."

"What?" Anakin reached a hand out to her.

"They saw him! They know! I have to find father and warn him! Makono will accuse him of committing heresy against his rule. He'll be killed!"

Obi-Wan put a hand out to steady the frantic girl. "Calm down, Suriyama! We can't help you if you can't think straight. You know this city better than Anakin and I put together."

Suriyama bit her lip and blinked away tears that had started to well in her dark eyes. Then she nodded her head. "If they have indeed discovered that father helped you then he would most likely be in the prisons. I myself have never seen them."

"I have," Obi-Wan said with a slight smile. "I know how we can get in and out. We'll just have to hope that our route won't be too heavily guarded." He stood up and peered over the wall. "Well, come on, this way."

Obi-Wan leapt on top of the wall and then turned around and held out his hand to Suriyama. She grabbed on, and Anakin helped boost her up to the top. As Obi-Wan helped Suriyama down to the other side, Anakin nimbly leapt over the wall.

"Show off," Obi-Wan teased.

Anakin grinned and gave an exaggerated bow. The group started walking, with Obi-Wan leading, Suriyama in the middle and Anakin bringing up the rear.

"Master?"

"Yes, Ani?"

"You're looking a little scruffy," the Padawan teased. "Is this beard you've started growing going to be staying around for a while?"

"Scruffy, eh? I don't know, maybe I'll keep it."

"I think it makes you look very distinguished," Suriyama whispered. Both Jedi turned to look at her and her cheeks flushed crimson.

Obi-Wan gave a quiet chuckle and then peered around a corner before he motioned for the other two to follow him. Once they were safely behind another wall, he leaned back to Anakin. "She says I look distinguished. Couldn't hurt to try it out for a while, hmm?"

Anakin laughed and nodded his head in agreement. He watched his Master carefully as he crept forward and peered around another corner. Night was fading and the first hints of the morning sun were creeping into the sky. The pale light highlighted Obi-Wan's features, and just for a moment, the Knight's confident stance reminded Anakin of someone else. That beard makes you look like Qui-Gon, he thought.

Obi-Wan's head swiveled around and he looked at Anakin. A flicker of sadness from the past showed in his eyes, but then it faded and the Knight came back to the present. "Come on," he whispered. "We better start moving a little more quickly."