The Knight
Part Two:
The young man and the handmaiden were crouching in the foliage of the palace's flowering gardens. They stayed low as a platoon of droids marched by. Padme looked to the Jedi.
"Follow me," she whispered. They crawled to the garden wall. The Jedi looked around, then somersaulted into the air to land on the wall. He cautiously looked around once more. Padme smiled inside. He reminded her of a cat.
He put out his hand. "Come on," he whispered. She grabbed a hold and he lifted her up. They dropped on to the other side and jogged down a forest-litter covered hill, their footsteps barely audible.
There was the sound of rushing water ahead. Padme looked to the Jedi.
"There'll be search parties for us. We must get as far away from the city as possible."
The Jedi nodded then pointed.
"Let's go north."
As they traveled along the outside edge of the city walls they could hear the thundering of tanks scouring the city streets. They came to a glade and could hear water again.
Suddenly, the young Jedi stopped. There was something else... a sound almost drowned out by the gushing river. It was the sound of someone yelling.
Padme was watching the Jedi curiously.
"What is it?"
"Someone is in danger," his eyes searched the distance. The breeze slowed for a moment and Padme drew back her hood. She heard it then, if only for a second. It was a human scream.
The two looked at each other realizing they had the same intention, then began down the rocky landscape towards the cries for help. In this thick part of the forest nothing really dried out, and the rocks were proving to be very slippery. She silently thanked herself for telling all of her handmaidens to wear practical shoes, not their usual elegant slippers, for they could not know what to expect.
They stopped at the edge of the clearing, hidden in the trees to survey the scene below.
Three Naboo soldiers were pinned down in a laser fight with a few battle droids and a destroyer droid. The battle was taking place on a large ledge which also served as a drop-off for a water fall. The blaster fire could barely be heard above the rage of the rushing water.
"I have to help them," the Jedi said. He gestured to a few boulders down the waterfall and down the stream a few yards. "Hide there, I'll come back for you." He shrugged off his robe.
Padme began her climb down as the Jedi stealthily crept forward, unignited lightsaber at the ready. She slithered behind the rocks and hugged her back to them as she looked to the battle above.
The Jedi came up from behind the droids, lightsaber ignighted now. It would have been the perfect move if a droid that had hung back in the trees hadn't fired. The Jedi spun to deflect the bolt at the droid, but the others had already been alerted to his presence. At least he was distracting them. All of them.
The blaster fire intensified and he had to back up, toward the drop off.
Padme watched from below, suddenly worried. She felt like she had to do something- anything to help!
The soldiers ran for better cover as the Jedi ducked and rolled, twisted and turned to avoid getting hit.
The Jedi had three of the droids down when suddenly he was thrown to the ground. The air was full of fire for a moment, rock splinters the next. The destroyer droid had fired one of its missiles.
Padme strained her eyes, trying to see what had happened. As the dust started to clear she could see that the Jedi was climbing to his feet, still trying to deflect droid fire.
Just as he got to his feet there was another explosion. This time it threw the young Jedi off balance.
Padme's breath caught in her throat as she watched the Jedi fall. He landed hard on a half submerged rock. He gripped to the side as the waist-high water threatened to pull him in. The side he had landed on hurt terribly.
The ground next to Padme suddenly exploded and she was thrown to the rocky riverbank. She managed to catch herself in time not to be seriously injured. The destroyer droid had spotted her.
The Jedi let go of the rock, letting the water take him downstream, towards the handmaiden. He was able to latch on to another boulder by the bank. Padme crawled over as another explosion sent rock flying.
"We have to get out of here! Come on!" the Jedi stuck out his hand. Padme didn't hesitate and leapt into the cold, rushing water, grabbing his arm.
"We'll let the river take us! We have to stay together! Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand!" She rapidly nodded; already trying to stay above water was becoming difficult.
She took a breath as the Jedi did and he let go of the rock, the force of the water throwing them downstream.
TBC