Obi-Wan awoke to the searing pain of a knife slicing open the skin of his forearm. He held perfectly still, not daring to give any indication that he was awake. Gloved hands roughly grabbed the arm and pressed some sort of ceramic bowl to it, so that his blood washed into the bowl.
Why could they want his blood? Obi-Wan could not reason through it. And then, an echo of a warning arose in the back of his mind. A name, a name long forgotten. And with that name came a shiver that ran down his spine.
Obi-Wan was on his feet without even knowing how he had done it. His lightsabre was of course missing; he vaguely remembered having dropped it in the garden. Nevertheless, he knew that a Jedi is never without weapon. He spun and kicked his assailant square in the jaw.
He thought for a moment he had broken his ankle. As he stumbled backwards, howling in unexpected pain, he was able to get a glimpse of who - no, what - he had attacked.
The being was scarcely recognizable as sentient. It was simply a mass of tough, armored shell, some of which was cruelly spiked. And, though Obi-Wan could see no mouth, no eyes, nothing that would normally express emotion, the Jedi could tell by its heavy movements that it was angry.
Obi-Wan slowly backed away, looking desperately around for something with which to fend off this colossus. He seemed to be in some sort of storage area; at any rate, it was littered with crates and assorted equipment that appeared to be junk.
Obi-Wan snatched up what appeared to be an electrified pike of sorts and was delighted to find that it was. He thrust at the monster, wedging the pike's tip between two of its scaly shells. The creature squealed in what the Jedi Knight took to be pain and turned to flee snapping the pike in half as it did.
Obi-Wan's first concern was for the bowl of blood, but the creature appeared to have taken it with it; at any rate, he could not seem to find it. He then looked frantically around for the tiny princess, but she was not there.
He realized that he had to vacate the area quickly or more of the creatures would likely return. A quick inspection revealed the way the creature had left as the only exit from the room. He ran to it and out into the corridor.
As he noticed the corridor wall, he stopped in shock. It was made of some leathery substance, and seemed to be throbbing in rhythm. It was alive!
The wise Jedi realized, however, that he could not afford to study it for long if he intended to live. He picked a direction at random and ran his hardest.
The air grew colder as he ran, and the organic walls were eventually replaced with metal ones. It was perhaps fifty meters after the beginning of the metal corridor that, for the first time, a corridor crossed his. He pressed himself against the wall, using the shadows as much as the Force to hide him. Cautiously, he peered around the corner.
In his whole life, he had never seen any creature more beautiful than the one that was slowly walking toward him up the hall. It was slender and elegant, its body similar to that of an animal suited for riding. It walked on four legs, the front two of which had seven knobby digits each. Its head protruded from its body on a very long and very thin neck which looked dangerously fragile. It skin was barely reflective and pure white.
The creature turned and began to walk in his direction. Obi-Wan drew in his breath and plastered himself to the wall again. It passed by his corridor and continued to walk. He leaned precariously out to watch it go.
The creature paused before a door set into the wall and rubbed its forehead against it. The door opened with a whoosh. Though he craned his neck, Obi-Wan could not see what was behind the door.
The creature entered the room and emerged a moment later with something balanced on its back. When Obi-Wan at last realized what it was, he gasped in surprise. The princess sighed softly and, still asleep, grasped the creature's skin more tightly.
Obi-Wan began to run after them, but before he reached them, they were gone, though the Jedi could not see where.
