Obi-Wan was restless in his void. He was used to being active and the unending monotony of doing nothing was eating at the core of his being. Plus, although the voice that had called to him was silent, there was a feeling that surrounded him that filled him with unease. It was a nameless malice and inside his cocoon he could not fight it as he wished to.
The meaning of the word 'padawan' was still just beyond his reach of knowing when a jolt of terrible pain shocked him. The pain was not his own and yet he had felt it as if it were happening to him. He was confused, his mind churning…until he thought of the word 'padawan' again…
And suddenly it all came back to him. The fight in the cantina. The man with the scar. Representative Lamkptu crying out in fear as he fell into this deep, dark place within his own mind. And, above all, his urgency in trying to reach his master, Qui-Gon Jinn through their Master/Padawan link.
Through that link now he felt Qui-Gon's agony as he was being whipped against the wall of his chamber of stone. In perfect clarity now he knew who he was and that he had to do something to help his master. Knowing that what he was about to do would bring him back into touch with the physical part of him that was still throbbing in pain, he opened his mind before he had a chance to second guess himself.
Burning, running pain blurred his vision as he came to full consciousness in a dimly lit cell with a dirt floor. He tried to sit up but gentle hands insistently pushed him back down in accompaniment with a renewal of the intense pain.
A soft, musical voice urgently requested that he lie still and try not to move.
"Qui-Gon…" he gasped out through a dry, parched throat. A dull pain made itself known at the hollow of his throat as soon as he tried to talk and he could say no more.
"I do not know where the Master Jedi is, young one," the voice said. "And I only knew where you were because our captor sent me to wake you just this morning. We have been here for two days now, I believe. I have been most anxious about you. You would not wake."
Obi-Wan wiggled his fingers as his eyesight tried to focus but everything remained extremely blurry to him. His head ached from the stun blast still and he would bet his lightsaber that his eyesight was not normal because of it as well. At least he had not lost it completely; just enough to be annoying.
A lavender blur leaned over him with big round blue spots where the eyes would be. "Young Kenobi," the voice said again, but Obi-Wan could not see well enough to tell if it was the alien speaking. He knew it was, though, because he recognized Representative Lamkptu. She continued, "We must find our way from here if we are to live. I see blood and I wonder how badly are you hurt?"
Obi-Wan groaned. "I can't see so well, Representative Lamkptu, and I feel like I'm been in a wrecked landspeeder that rolled with me in it. What did he do to me?" Determined now, he slowly started to sit up off the very flat stone table he had been lying on, ignoring his protesting and aching body.
Lamkptu, once she saw that he was going to move whether she willed him to or not, moved to help him ease into a sitting position. "The man with the scar played you for his own carving roost, young Kenobi. I have used my tears to heal but some of the cuts will leave scars if not taken care of with bacta. You must take care."
Obi-Wan was not really listening to her reply as he focused inward, trying to locate his Master. All he could sense was dormant pain and a blankness of mind that indicated his Master was unconscious.
"We've got to get out of here," he muttered. But what could an injured apprentice who could barely see do for an unconscious Jedi Master and a delicate alien who did not appear to know how to defend herself?
An injured apprentice, Obi-Wan discovered as he placed his feet on the floor, that was barefoot. At this moment, he was having a hard time keeping himself from using the words that his old rival, Bruck, used to love to toss around whenever Obi-Wan beat him in something.
Steadying himself against the stone slab that he had been lying on, he tried to make sense of the dark blurred images that he saw around him. A distant memory came to him of seeing perfectly from above his body a stone chamber so that must be where he was. He channeled his frustration at not being able to see clearly into his hands, where he squeezed them tightly.
"Young Kenobi?" Representative Lamkptu's musical tones rose in pitch sharply at his tense shoulders and white-knuckled grip on the slab of stone.
"I can't see," he muttered. "Or, at least, my sight would be better off if I couldn't see." Blindly, he reached out toward a wall, his barefeet shuffling in the loosely packed dirt. Under the dirt he could feel a stronger substance which led him to believe that the dirt was simply placed over a regular floor.
When it happened, it happened in threes. Suddenly, as Obi-Wan's fingers brushed the protruding stone of the wall he brought his exposed foot down on a very sharp and jagged object that sliced clean into the meat of his foot. Not able to help himself from yelling from the sharp pain, he also sensed Qui-Gon wake and reach for him.
Master! He thought, trying not to whimper in pain in his mind. Gingerly, leaning on the wall, he brought his foot up to the level of his knee and blindly tried to let his fingers find the protruding object that was buried halfway into the flesh of his foot.
Qui-Gon's thoughts were tired and filled of surpressed pain. Padawan, it's good to have you back. Is everything all right with you?
Obi-Wan shut his useless eyes, trying to control his breathing. My sight is blurred so badly, Master, that it is better if they are shut. And I feel like a children's punching toy. Focusing in his mind, he sent to his master the image he had seen of himself when Scarface had been trying to rouse him out of his safe place in his mind and he had been above his physical body. Some of those cuts are healed and some are not. Also, our 'friend' has left me a surprise in the dirt of my cell. Walking will be painful and running almost out of the question. Be careful, Master, if you walk around.
I can't, came the grim answer. I'm in chains. Scarface has had a fun time of using a whip on me since I can't get away. Do you—
Suddenly, Obi-Wan received a staggeringly painful burst of white-hot something that ran behind his eyes into his temples. Letting out a cry, he soon found himself curled in a ball on the floor, receiving more slices from other hidden sharp glass shards in the dirt.
Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan, answer me!
"Young Kenobi? Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Eventually, the pain subsided and Obi-Wan focused on Qui-Gon's mental voice instead of the representative's nearer one.
Padawan, are you okay?
Obi-Wan panted for a moment, recovering. When he felt like the room had stopped spinning, he responded, Yes, Master. Standing up slowly, he reached out to feel for a support of any kind and instead felt the soft skin of the representative.
"Hold on to me, Young Kenobi, and let me guide you. Where do you want to go?" The Representative instructed.
Master, where are you? He asked, a little desperately.
The reply was rueful. If I knew that, I could devise a way of escape. Focus on my presence, Padawan, and you will find me. Hurry. We do not know when our 'friend' will return.
"Representative Lamkptu," Obi-Wan said, keeping his offending eyes shut. "Could you please see if our door is locked?"
The touch of her soothing skin left his fingers for a moment and the sound of a heavy door being opened made it to Obi-Wan's ears. There was silence and Obi-Wan began to fear that the representative had decided to escape on her own and leave the Jedi to their own devices. Soon, though, Obi-Wan felt the reassuring pressure of her webbed fingertips on his arm.
"It was open," she whispered. "It seems as though our captor highly values his own skill."
"Then let's find Master Qui-Gon before he returns," Obi-Wan returned.
The musical voice was puzzled. "But how will we find him, Young Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan smiled grimly. "Leave that to me."