Chapter IV

"Naboo?" Anakin asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Luke replied, grinning at his own cleverness. "It's way out of the way. And I've read a lot of cool things about it. Let's go there."

"One problem, son," Anakin replied. "It's the Emperor's homeworld. He has a huge palace there and everything."

"Exactly!"

Anakin's brow furrowed. "Okay, now you've got me confused, son…"

"Vader and the Emperor are gonna expect us to go someplace far away from the Empire. So they're gonna keep searching Tatooine and planets like that, but we'll be laughing at him from right under his nose."

Anakin smiled. "Pretty smart." He shoveled sand over the ashes of their fire. "Naboo it is, then. Let's go while it's still cool."

Luke followed his father out of the cave and through scattered patches of scrub. Funny, he'd always pictured his father as clever and confident. This guy wasn't exactly stupid, but he wasn't that sharp either. And he seemed scared out of his pants of Vader. Wasn't he supposed to be a Jedi or something? He had the laser sword, didn't he? Luke had always thought of the Jedi as unafraid of anything.

"Dad, wait up!" he shouted, jogging to catch up. He'd give his dad one thing, he could move fast when he wanted to.

Anakin scaled a sand dune and vanished over the other side. Luke struggled up after him, the sand shifting and sliding under him and hampering his progress. By the time he hauled himself over the rise, he was exhausted.

"Luke, come here," Anakin ordered. "I found something."

Anakin was standing beside two dewbacks, each fully saddled and loaded with supplies – canteens, blankets, weapons, bags of food, everything they would need for a trip through the desert.

"Wow," Luke breathed, awed. Maybe his dad wasn't as dumb as he'd thought. "You had those waiting for us the whole time?"

"No, but they're a lucky find."

He hesitated. "They must belong to someone, then…"

"They do." Anakin pointed to a nearby sand dune. Two Imperial sandtroopers were scanning the horizon, backs to the Skywalkers.

Luke frowned. "If we take their dewbacks, they'll have no way to get out of the desert. They might die of thirst or get attacked by Tuskens…"

"Luke, they're Imperials," Anakin replied shortly, mounting a dewback. "The galaxy would be better off if the Imperial Army were short two troopers. Let's go before they spot us."

Luke didn't like what they were doing, but he went up to the second dewback anyway. Aunt Beru had taught him that stealing was wrong, and even if he didn't like the Empire, that was no reason to leave these two soldiers to die in the desert. They were still human, with feelings and all. And wasn't knowingly leaving people in a situation where they would perish the same as murder?

He struggled to pull himself onto the lizard's back, but the beast was too tall. After falling on his rear a third time, Anakin gave a gusty sigh of annoyance and began to dismount.

"Dad, I'm sorry," Luke said, frustrated. Why did his dad expect him to be able to do everything by himself?

But the dewback seemed to read his thoughts, and it knelt obediently. Luke patted its wrinkled neck in thanks and climbed into the saddle.

"Finally," huffed Anakin, and he kicked his mount sharply with his heels. "Get!"

With a wounded rumble the lizard shuffled off.

Luke patted his dewback's shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he assured him – or her, or it, or whatever. "Just do what I tell you and we can be friends. I'll even give you a name – how about Sandy?" When no complaint was forthcoming, he flicked his reins. "Go, girl."

The beast obeyed instantly. Luke wasn't sure whether it was male or female, but at the moment "girl" seemed appropriate.

There was a startled shout, and he turned to see the stormtroopers running after them. Anakin kicked his mount to urge it along. Luke shouted for Sandy to run, and she obliged with something as close to a gallop as a lizard can get.

Luke reached into one of the packs and dug around. He found what looked like a comm unit, and he flicked it on and threw it just behind them, making sure it landed in their tracks. Hopefully the soldiers would find it and use it to summon help. Feeling much better that at least those two men wouldn't be stranded in the middle of nowhere, he bent low over Sandy's saddle.

Once they had left the troopers in the distance, Anakin slowed their pace to a walk. Luke leaned over to scratch the other dewback's head, laughing a little.

"Have you given him a name yet?" he asked.

Anakin gave him a slightly disdainful look. "He's a pack animal, Luke. Not a pet."

"I guess that means no."

"Luke, don't get attached to these creatures. We can't take them with us."

"They saved our lives. They deserve to be treated nice." He gave the animal a final pat before straightening in the saddle. "All right then, I'll name him Rocky. Rocky and Sandy."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Look, I'll get you a pet once we get to Naboo and get settled down, okay? As long as we can leave Rocky and Sandy behind."

"Okay with me."

The two of them were silent as they continued their journey. Luke was beginning to like his father less and less. He'd always held a picture of his father in his head, a picture of a noble, kind, courageous, intelligent hero who would do anything to help Luke. But instead, his father was a somewhat-dim fugitive who treated Luke – and everyone and everything else – far too casually for his comfort.

/Be careful what you wish for/ he remembered Beru telling him some time ago. /Because you just might get it./

A pang of regret filled him. He already missed his aunt and uncle. They hadn't ever treated him badly, had they? They'd loved him and would have done anything for him. And he'd repaid them by abandoning them for a total stranger – his father, yes, but still a total stranger.

"Dad," he said slowly, "can we at least send a message to Uncle Owen? He's probably worried sick about me right now."

Anakin shook his head. "It's too risky, son. It'll have to wait until we're aboard the transport."

Luke stared at Sandy's shoulders sullenly.

"Hey," Anakin told him, "I still love you, son."

Luke didn't look up. Somehow those words had sounded rather forced…

A terrible bellow halted Sandy and Rocky in their tracks. Anakin froze, going white. Luke looked up and almost screamed in horror.

A line of Tusken Raiders was charging across the dusty plain to meet them, their shaggy banthas galloping at a speed Luke would have thought impossible for such huge creatures. Gaffi sticks gleamed wickedly in the double suns, and weird battle cries rang through the white-hot air.

"Luke, get behind me," Anakin ordered, drawing his lightsaber, the acid-green blade thrumming.

Sandy pranced nervously in place.

"C'mon, girl!" Luke urged, hauling on the reins. "Move over!"

Reluctantly she backed behind Rocky. But that did little good, for the Sandpeople moved behind them to surround them, brandishing their weapons and hooting maliciously.

Anakin struck like a sand viper, leaping from Rocky's back and landing behind the leader. Luke squeezed his eyes shut as his weapon gave a sickening sizzle and the Tusken cried out in his death agonies.

A gloved hand clamped around his arm, and a Tusken snatched him off Sandy's back. Luke kicked and punched, but the Sandperson only laughed and held him in a tight embrace.

"Dad!" Luke managed to get out before a rough hand gagged him.

"Coming, son!" Anakin shouted, ramming his saber through a bantha's side. The beast went down with a howl, crushing his rider beneath him.

His captor barked something to his mount, and the bantha galloped away from the deadly melee. Luke shuddered in terror. Farmers and homesteaders had been abducted by Tuskens before, but no one knew what happened to them – though the worst was feared, for none had ever returned. He closed his eyes, fighting back tears, and willed his father to hurry and rescue him.

/Help me, Dad. Please/

But it was Sandy who came to his rescue. Rearing on her hind legs, she gave a thunderous bellow. Then she fell to all fours and charged the bantha. The Tusken urged his steed on, but the dewback rammed it in the side and toppled it, sending both the Tusken and Luke to the sands. Luke's head struck a rock, and he blacked out.

The dewback and bantha writhed in a deadly battle, Sandy's claws raking and the bantha's heavy feet lashing out in an attempt to break its foe's bones. Minutes later, a massive hairy body landed less than a meter from Luke. The Tusken followed suit, its neck broken from a strike of a scaly tail.

Then Sandy limped over to her boy and lay down beside him, shielding him with her body like a hatchling.

Break…

Vader listened attentively to the two sandtroopers, feeling somewhat thankful that they were soldiers and not officers. His subordinate officers were notorious bootlickers, always trying to sweeten the facts in order to please their superior. But these men were only troopers, and though they respected Vader as a leader, they had little to gain from playing kiss-up to him. They would deliver the honest truth to him, not sugar-coated half-facts.

"There were two of them," the first explained. "A boy, about yea tall, with blond hair and wearing off-white farmer clothes." He held a hand up to indicate the child's height. "The other guy was about my height, blond, and wore robes. Kind of a scruffy-looking character, actually. By the time we caught sight of them, they'd appropriated our dewbacks. They were gone before we could stop them."

"One of them dropped an activated comm," the other added, holding said item up. "We used it to contact you."

Vader nodded. "We will apprehend the thieves as soon as possible. Remain here. A speeder is on its way to pick you up."

"Many thanks, sir," the second trooper said, sounding much relieved.

Vader went back to his speeder bike, restarted the engine, and roared away. This false Skywalker was definitely getting bolder. Though he was remarkably stupid if he thought he could get away with robbing Imperial stormtroopers.

He wondered just what Pavan intended to do with Luke. Perhaps he had some fantasy of training the boy. Vader snarled. No one would train Luke except him. Pavan would pay dearly for daring to pass himself off as the boy's father…

Terror flooded his thoughts, divorced from his own emotions but no less powerful. A pleading voice filled his heart, gripped his thoughts.

/Help me, Dad. Please/

He set the bike to full throttle, shooting across the dry plains at top speed. If Pavan had hurt his son in any way, he would find himself on the wrong end of a father's wrath.

/Hold on, Luke/ he urged the boy. /I'm coming./

Break…

His dreams were a maelstrom of images, flashing past too quickly to make sense. A dewback roaring in fury, her claws rending through hair and hide. A green saber slashing across his field of vision, searing, bringing agony. A woman's face hanging over him, her deep brown eyes filled with an incredible sadness. His aunt and uncle roaring across the Jundland wastes in a speeder, Obi-wan Kenobi sitting in back with an expression of concern. A black-robed old man with a face from a nightmare, scowling in fury. An indistinct black shape swooping across the desert. All the while his ears roared, his head throbbed, and stars of pain danced across every image.

A voice washed over him, soothing his fears, erasing his pain, putting an end to the jumble of his thoughts. He sank into the warm comfort the deep tones offered, letting the words surround and embrace him.

/Hold on, Luke. I'm coming./

/Dad… Dad…/

/Be strong, my son. I will protect you./

A cool hand steadied his chin, and a cup was placed to his lips. Obediently he drank, the water trickling down his throat and soothing the parched tissues. He opened his eyes.

"You okay, Luke?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah," Luke moaned, reaching up to touch his head, which strangely felt twice its normal size. A thick bandage had been wrapped around his forehead.

Sandy's muzzle filled his vision, snuffling him anxiously.

"Get away," Anakin growled, putting a hand up to push her away.

"It's okay," Luke replied, reaching up to hug the squarish head. "She saved me. She's just worried about me."

Anakin scowled. "I saved you, Luke. I fought the Sandpeople for you, and I killed them all before they could hurt us."

He tried to shake his head, but that only brought on daggers of pain. "Not all. One of them grabbed me, and Sandy came after him and fought him."

"That animal," Anakin huffed. "Wouldn't let me near you. Took a stun blast to the rear end to get her away from you."

Luke patted Sandy's nose a final time, then gently pushed her away. "Go on, Sandy. I'm okay now, my dad's here." When she had finally gone, he looked around. Vast stone walls surrounded them, the color of dried blood in the faint moonlight. "Where are we?"

"Beggar's Canyon," Anakin replied. "Seemed the safest place to go. We'll stay here 'til morning, then we'll go find that transport to Naboo." He reclined against a rock and gave Luke a studious stare. "How's the head?"

He felt around his skull for a bump, but if there was one the bandage hid it. "Been worse."

"Good. You should be up to the trip in the morning…"

Anakin's gaze rested on something behind Luke, and his mouth froze open. Luke tried to sit up to get a look at the intruder but only got a throbbing headache for his trouble, and he flopped back down again with a groan of pain.

"You thought you could run from me, Skywalker?" came the electronic base of Darth Vader, sending an icy finger tracing down Luke's spine.

Anakin scrambled to his feet, a hand on his saber.

Vader stepped into Luke's line of sight, locking eyes with him. Luke attempted to sit up again to crawl away, but Vader gestured for him to hold still. Scared of what would happen to him if he disobeyed, he stayed put.

"The boy," Vader said in a slightly less menacing tone. "He is injured. What happened?"

"What business is it of yours?" Anakin snarled. "He's my son and my apprentice. And you'll have to kill me before you get your paws on him." His voice trembled, making his seemingly brave statement sound pretty silly.

"Apprentice?" Vader repeated. "Then you have begun training the boy?"

"Not yet," Anakin replied. "But he'll be a great Jedi someday. Greater than you."

Was that a laugh he heard out of Vader's mask? "You are greatly mistaken, Skywalker," he said amusedly, placing a great deal of mocking emphasis on the man's last name. "He will be trained in the ways of the Sith. It is his destiny."

"No one will train the boy."

That third voice was harsh as a chain dragging over gravel, cold and black with evil intent. Luke shivered as it entered his ears, feeling as if he'd just stepped into a pool thick with pond scum.

Both Vader and Anakin stared as a cowled, pale-faced form emerged from the shadows, a gloating smile on his lips.