Obi-Wan sidestepped a beggar on the roads. He wasn't greedy, he just didn't have anything to give, as Jedi did not get money. The beggar's cries still reached his ears even after turning a corner, but still the Jedi knew he could do nothing. So, instead he kept walking, though he did quicken his pace. He kept his senses alert, checking for anything way out of the ordinary.

He learned to not like this place already. There was just far too much pain and suffering here. They overloaded his senses, making him feel almost the same as the people he could sense. He wanted to shut of his senses, shut it all off, but he couldn't. He shook his head. Would this place bother a normal person this much? Or was it only the Force-sensitive that were bothered?

He rubbed his temples. Something was giving him a splitting headache and he couldn't figure out what. Perhaps it was all that he was sensing, or something in the air. He couldn't tell. But he desperately wanted it to stop.

He stepped around a corner, still rubbing his temples. He almost rammed straight into a guy's back, but his instincts helped him stop dead in his tracks, inches from the man. The man turned around and saw Obi-Wan, who had already started to back up and walk away. Before Obi-Wan could do anything, the man had snatched him up by his neck, where he hung, inches from the ground.

The man laughed as Obi-Wan vainly tried to loosen his grip. "Ha!" he said, tightening his fist around the Jedi's neck. "Gotcha, didn't I, little thief?"

"No!" Obi-Wan tried to say, but it only came out as a gasp.

"Tula," a voice said behind the big man. The man turned to look at the speaker. A woman with long black hair stepped forward and peered at the struggling boy, who was now beginning to see spots. "Down, Tula," she commanded.

The man smiled and released Obi-Wan. He fell to the ground, where he struggled for breath. Still breathing heavily, he looked up at the woman, who was walking circles around him.

"Do you know what the penalty is for theft here on Domili?" she asked with a purr in her voice.

"I'm not a thief. I was just walking and I almost ran into this man," Obi-Wan tried to explain, indicating Tula.

"Likely story, boy." She shook her head as she peered at him. "From the low levels, I suppose. Trying to take whatever he can to feed his spice habit, most likely."

"I don't have a-" Obi-Wan began.

"Silence!" Tula shouted at him, whacking him in the temple with his fist. Obi-Wan fell over, groaning in pain.

The woman kicked the bottom of his boot. "He looks healthy enough, don't you think?" Tula nodded. "Yes, very healthy. A little underfed, but I think that applies to most of us.

Obi-Wan looked up at her from where he lay on the ground. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Tula replied by reaching down and picking him up again, this time by the back of his tunic. "How much?" he asked the woman.

She smiled. "Oh, I don't know. Let me see him. Hold him, though." Tula nodded and lowered Obi-Wan to her level, but not releasing him. She proceeded to look over Obi-Wan, checking his eyes, ears, hair, and even his teeth. Only the knowledge that that Tula character would pound him if he resisted kept Obi-Wan from fighting back. "How old are you?" the woman asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at her, but sighed in resignation when Tula gave him a violent shake. "Twenty."

"Hmm...A little old for proper training, but he is one of the healthiest rats I've seen in a while. I'd say he's worth about fifteen."

Tula smiled. "Fifteen? That's more than we got for those four kids."

"Yeah," she said, poking Obi-Wan's muscle, "this one is more capable of work."

The truth of what these people were finally dawned on Obi-Wan. "Wait! You can't -" He was silenced when Tula threw him down onto the ground. He scrambled to his feet and faced them. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am-"

"Not anymore," the woman said, leveling her blaster at him.