Obi-Wan's hand hugged to the side of his head as he ran. Pain from the wounds scattered across his body slowed his speed, but the gritting of his teeth absorbed much of it.
It had been simple to break free of the healing ward. Apparently, his fellow Jedi weren't expecting violent reactions from someone known for his placid demeanor.
Especially the young orderly who, wide eyed, could only watch behind her desk as the half-naked, bruised and bloodied Knight tore through the front area. The girl yelped when the vibrations of uninhibited Force knocked frames from the walls and rattled the glass tumbler in her hands.
He laughed inwardly, the grinding beat in his mind nearly drowning the faint humor he found in her surprise.
Faces lined his periphery as he passed through. Any familiarity was lost in the torrent of anger and single-minded determination.
They stared at him, these quasi strangers, as if their bodies had been miraculously turned to stone by the sheer power, the sharp intensity, of his thunderous strides.
A few voices called to him, but they were smothered at once by the snide chants echoing in his head.
No. Can't stop now. Not for THEM. THEY are the bad. Why do you think you're in this mess big bad mess who is the reason for all of this mess you know who. THEY are the bad. Bad. Bad…
"Bad." Obi-Wan agreed softly, aloud.
He traveled the Temple in a human equivalent to auto pilot, winding through the slender, stainless paths without truly registering a step.
He entered a lift. Master Kit Fisto was standing in the corner of the small perimeter. His lime hands were folded, crisply green head tails settled around his shoulders.
Deeply black eyes, with large pupils that appeared to be in constant dilation and vanished amid the dark rims, flickered over Kenobi. He offered a generous smile, though the Force surrounding the Knight was bordering on frightening.
The doors sealed.
Obi-Wan pushed a button for a lower level, then, with a cruel, frustrated grimace, cancelled Fisto's ordered floor.
The alien Master frowned. "Knight Kenobi, what are y--"
"SHUT UP!" Obi-Wan screamed, clapping his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes.
Fisto was jolted by the volume, but recovered quickly, grasping the man by the arms. He stared into the flushed countenance, and almost choked on his shock. Kenobi had been Bant Eerin's dearest friend since they were both toddling in the creche…years before Fisto had accepted the slight Mon Calamarian girl as his apprentice, at the pinnacle of her despair, when her first teacher was murdered.
He was acquainted with the rather famous former Padawan to Qui-Gon Jinn, but had seen little of him since he became a Master in his own right.
Despite this, the Obi-Wan he knew was thoughtful, quiet…polite. And with a natural respect he bestowed on all deserving life forms.
This man strikingly resembled that tender student, with his hair mowed down to regulation Padawan style, and his cheeks closely shaved.
"Do you need some help?" He asked the younger Jedi, unsure of how to approach the odd situation. His hands were tight on Obi-Wan, supportive yet stern.
Obi-Wan's eye twitched. He pulled roughly away. "The bad. Every last one of you." He rasped. The lift plunged to its destination.
Kit Fisto stood still, his hands out in front of him. "The bad? Obi-Wan---"
The elevator's doors opened. The Knight looked at him for a moment, a peculiar, fevered glaze in his sky-kissed eyes. His lips quivered uncontrollably.
"Obi-Wan, why don't you come back in here?" Fisto urged kindly, shielding his inner concerns. "We can talk. I haven't talked to you in awhile."
Conflict seemed to cloud the watered gaze. Obi-Wan pulled at an uneven tuft of hair with almost child-like whimpers.
Kit's heart lurched. "Obi-Wan, what's wrong?"
And Kenobi's hand thrust outward, sending the Master flying back under the strain of rippling waves.
Obi-Wan spared a beat to grab his head while fierce aches attacked. Good. Another down…Another that would keep you away from him…Like they've been doing since…it happened.
The lights of the hall nearly blinded him, but he sprinted forward, tears trickling from his eyes.
When the massive, ornate doors finally came into view, he wanted to weep in relief.
The Room of a Thousand Fountains.
Obi-Wan grinned feebly. I'm here, Master. I know I've found you.
Anakin went to a jogging stop, eyes darting sharply, searching for remnants of his Master's aura in the Temple hall.
Bant took a breath. While her pale rose tinted face remained untaxed, inside she was frantic.
Seeing Obi-Wan Kenobi, the most powerful, gentle Knight in the Order, her lifelong friend with the bright laughter in his eyes and pure light in his soul, speaking words that…dripped in malevolence…was painfully surreal.
It was like Master Yoda striding down the street, six feet tall.
It simply wasn't plausible.
And the fact that this was happening shook her, and every belief she had held true, to her core.
She looked over at Anakin, his tanned face intense.
Bant wondered what this was doing to him.
But it had to be a fleeting worry, because the boy took off running again.
"He's been through here." Anakin explained. "He's been blocking really well, but Master can't close me off one hundred percent."
Bant nodded. Her short hair was whipped behind her by the wind of their haste.
Their feet pounded against the slick floor, reverberating within the walls of the passageways. Anakin, if he had been allowed the idle thought, would have been shook by how closely the remote halls resembled him.
He felt incredibly empty at this moment, the only reprieve from the gnawing silence the beat of his heart.
Master…
"Master!" Bant gasped, skidding to a halt before she could collide with a wide-eyed and breathless Kit Fisto.
The alien Jedi put a hand on his head gingerly. "Padawan," The name ran as an old endearment, her knighthood confirmed six years earlier, "I--"
"You've seen Obi-Wan." She guessed, glancing over at the towering apprentice to gauge his reaction.
Anakin swallowed shakily. "Where?!"
"He walked into the lift I was on." Fisto told him, liquid black eyes grim. "I could tell something was seriously wrong with him, but I didn't want to risk him hurting himself by startling him. I tried to talk calmly with him, but he wasn't having any of it."
"He hurt you?" Anakin questioned, although he didn't doubt it.
Master Fisto nodded. "He Force-pushed me. I was dazed--I didn't see where he went. And I don't know him well enough to sense--"
"It's alright, Master." Bant squeezed his hand briefly.
Anakin stared at the halls lain out before them. With a deliberate slowness, his eyelids lowered, his creased forehead smoothing and hands dropping. The crazy whirlwind around him, the voices of the fellow Jedi, faded away, leaving only the concern and deep, bottomless love for his Master throbbing in the Force.
Bant's eyes met those of her former teacher's, and they were glinting with unshed tears. For all the seemingly undying tension between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, the rivalry the boy created in his mind between them-thinking no one else knew--they were as close as any two could be.
Jedi or otherwise.
"It's up to them." She said in a hitching voice, the fear for Obi-Wan constricting her throat. "I can sedate him…And treat his wounds. But I can't--" Bant swallowed, dashing away the invading moisture from her cheek. "I can't help him the way his Padawan can. Force, I can't even diagnose him.
"Anakin's the only one."
And at that moment, the topic of their conversation's eyes flew open.
"The fountains!" He yelled to them, already sprinting in a blur down the corridor.
"And he knows he's the only one." The green-skinned Master observed, touching her shoulder.
Bant's face was grave, dampness on her skin shining in the half-light. "Then he's going to save him." She said, her words devoid of doubt. "Anakin 's devotion is rare, but when its given, its given completely.
"I just have to be there to help them once its over."
Kit nodded.
She rested her hand on his forearm. "Go to the healer's, Master. Tell them to be prepared for him."
"I will, Padawan."
"And then get your head bandaged. That lump starting there is huge." Sad humor twinkled in her gaze. Then she headed in the direction of Anakin.
Even with the knowledge of the apprentice's dedication, the roil in her belly couldn't dissipate.
More soon…Thanks for the replies, as always! -LuvEwan