A moment's silence passed between them, and Obi-Wan felt a sudden chill run down his spine, he sensed something, an eerie feeling that reminded him of something he'd felt once before, somethig he'd felt nearly ten years ago. A feeling that was 'Something elsewhere, elusive...' He gave an involuntary shudder and took a step closer to his Padawan.
"Do you see them?" His voice dropped a notch, and lowered to a whisper. Anakin shook his head.
"No, but they're close"
"How many?" Anakin closed his eyes briefly.
"I'm not sure." Obi-Wan noticed that Anakin was standing to direct attention, his eyes darting about the cavern in search of something, or someone, making himself look very suspicious. Obi-Wan jabbed him in the arm.
"Act casual." Anakin jumped and mumbled an unexpressive 'yes master,' he quickly busied himself at fumbling with his pack, not as casual as Obi-Wan would have hoped forbut enough for now. His lightsabre was in his hand before he'd even sensed the warning, and Anakin's a split second behind him. The long, silver pointed object, which the Jedi master could only assume was an arrow, was abruptly deflected and pounded off against the side wall before splashing down onto the pool's surface, and slowly slipping under. Another shot lashed forward, in the same direction as the last, only this time meeting Anakin's ready and upheld lightsabre, it struck the wall and with a crack, splitting in two. Both men now waited, Lightsabers held before them, legs bent and shoulders forward, ready to defend themselves should the situation require them to do so once more. No more arrows followed, and the tremor in the force subsided,
Anakin glanced at his master, who nodded in apparant agreement, both weapons disengaged simultaniously. For several minutes,
no sound resided within in the walls of the grand chamber, not even the breathing of the two Jedi was audiable, Obi-Wan scanned the cavern with his eyes, following the route in which the arrows had come from, distantly, he could make out a small crevice in the opposing wall, barely enough to fit a small child in it, but there was nowhere else, the rock face was all but smooth, someone must have been in there, someone roughly the size of an ewok, but someone. He nudged Anakin out of his Force attuned daze, and pointed towards the crevice.
"There." Gone were the days when Obi-Wan had to explain every little detail of this thought proscesses to his padawan,
they knew each other well enough to know what the other meant without any explanation. Anakin nodded.
"Do we check it out?" Obi-Wan mused momantarily, his firm gaze never leaving the small crevice in the rock wall.
"I think," He stated matter-of-factly. "That we have officially worn out our welcome." He turned to face Anakin and flashed him a humourous grin.
"I think we take our leave?" He asked, indicating the vines, covering the enterance. Anakin waved his arm towards it.
"After you." Obi-Wan nodded his thanks and pushed aside the sweet-smelling vines, crouching a little, to make his way through the lowly arched enterance. He stood at the opposite side rubbing his back gingerly waiting for Anakin to emerge.
Anakin pulled himself through with a little more finesse, and smoothed over the vines behind him.
"Shouldn't we at least find out why someone wants us dead master?" Obi-Wan eyed his padawan carefully.
"Ethically, we should, but in this case I think not, we are not meant to be here Padawan, and whoever it is who inhabits this grossly forsaken planet will not be too happy to find us wandering within its midst, the less we are seen, or heard, the better"
"But we're stranded master, they might be able to help us!" Obi-Wan shrugged.
"The fact that they were using bows and arrows is a sure sign that they probably could not, if all else fails,
then we will attempt to explain ourselves to them, but for now-" He was cut off when something whipped over his shoulder,
missing his flesh by about a centimetre, instictivly, his lightsaber sprung to his hand, with a call of the force, and Anakin's did the same, no more followed, and the pair were plunged into an eerie silence, Obi-Wan took the moment to glance over his shoulder to see what it was that had so nearly struck him, he wasn't surprised to see that it was the long, silver arrow that had been used to attack them not five minutes ago. He turned and pulled it out of the wall, where it had attatched itself, and regarded it carefully, Anakin spoke quietly, his back to Obi-Wan and his lightsaber held at the ready.
"Poisonous?" Obi-Wan quickly sniffed the arrow's point, and was met with nothing but the familiar metallic stench of rust.
"No." Another 'whoosh' zipped out from the trees that plunged the majority of the jungle floor into darkness, Anakin ducked and Obi-Wan threw himself bacwards. The arrow hit the wall just where Obi-Wan's head had been, he swallowed, but not before another arrow shot out from the darkness, followed by another and another.
"Run"
Obi-Wan and Anakin fled from the cave enterance, and didn't stop until they were well out of sight of the cavern walls.
Anakin leant back against the cool bark of a tree, resting his hands on his knees, his lightsaber now deactivated and clipped onto his belt, he gasped for breath, the heat was getting to him. In between gasps, he tried to speak.
"What...happened...back...master...I couldn't sense aything." Obi-Wan pulled off his cloak and rammed it into his pack,
the intense heat making his eyes swim. he nodded to his Padawan.
"It wasn't just you," He zipped up his bag, then placed it down by his feet. He rested his hands on his hips and tilted his head back to get a glimpse of the jungle canopy, and swallowed, the branches seemed to stretch to over a hundred feet high, the sun only seeping through tiny cracks in between the leaves, making tiny golden lines on the ground, in small patterns the beams almost dancing in the foliage. He looked back down and felt sympathy for his padawan's obvious discomfort, the younger man was pulling at his sweat soaked tunic, sweat was running down his face and hair "I thought you spent nine years of you life on Tatooine, surely heat would be no problem for you padawan." Anakin laughed.
"Hot, dry, desert heat is fine, I lived with that, but this," He motioned the air around him. "This humid, sticky, heat I really can't stand." Obi-Wan laughed quietly.
"I've never met anyone who can Padawan." Anakin slid down the bark of the tree until he was sittling on the damp, mossy ground, he eased off his pack, and placed it on the ground next to Obi-Wan's.
"Why coudln't we sense them coming? I felt the force, I could feel...something, but it was as if it was too far away,
I was reaching to grab hold of something but it kept slipping away." Obi-Wan sank down beside his apprentice. and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I know what you mean, maybe it's this planet, the atmosphere, maybe it's the heat," He said, giving Anakin a sideways grin.
"Maybe we're just tired, you can't expect to have a firm grip on everything all of the time." Anakin nodded, still obviously frustrated.
"But you, master, and I, at the same time, same place." Obi-Wan nodded and shrugged.
"We'll have to be extra careful that's one thing I'm certain of"
"Practice what you preach though eh Jedi." Obi-Wan froze, and his gaze met Anakin's, his hand went to his lightsaber until a sharp point in his back stopped him. The gruff voice behind them sounded again.
"Try it and see what happens Jedi." More murmers and footsteps sounded behind them, Obi-Wan slowly looked over his shoulder. A tall burly man stood over himself and Anakin, a long pointed spear just centimeters away from Obi-Wan's spine, behind him, stood up to thirty others, some men, some women, all dressed in the same, primitive, animal fur garments, and all holding the same spear-like weapons, though some held blasters aswell.
'So not that primitive then.' Obi-Wan thought bitterly.
"On your feet Jedi." Anakin looked to his master, by the look in his padawan's eyes, he could see that Anakin wasn't happy to be treated like this, he never settled for defeat. The boy's hand went for his lightsaber. With all his might Obi-Wan tried to reach Anakin through the force, he didn't want to have to reprimand his apprentice in front of their would-be captors out loud.
'No Anakin!' Anakin shot his master a questioning look, and was met with a short shake of a head, he let his hand drop.
"I said on your feet!" The man behind them shouted,his spear jabbed painfully into Anakin's back, Anakin spun to face the man, but Obi-Wan took a firm hold of his arm, eventually, Anakin calmed down. Slowly, Obi-Wan stood and about faced. He gave a frindly smile to the man he stood before, who happened to be nearly two feet taller than himself.
"Surely we can sort things out like the civilized bunch we are?" He asked good humourdley, the man snorted in response.
"You're in no postition to make suggestons little Jedi." He turned to two of his followers.
"You, and you, take their weapons, and search them for anything of value"
The two tribals, a decent amount shorter than their leader aproached the two Jedi with next to know caution. Anakin stiffened and pulled away when one reached for his belt, Obi-Wan remained perfectly calm, looking almost amused.
"Easy now Anakin, you wouldn't want our hosts to think us uncooprotive now would you." He shot Anakin a familiar look,
which spoke almost as loudly as if it had been said.
'We'll have them back soon enough'
Anakin begrudgedly let his searcher do as he wished, taking his electrobinoculars, lightsabre, and his pack. A sudden jab in his ribs with the blunt end of a spear sent him down to his knees, his master shortly behind him with a stifled cry. Their arms were pulled back, and their hands were roughly tied behind their backs, Anakin gasped, his shoulders strained, and his muscles burned with the pressure, he was hauled upright, and pushed in front of the, what Anakin assumed was the group's leader. His master was shoved beside him.
"So this is the strength of the fabled Jedi." The man spoke with disdain, he snorted.
"Take them to the village"
Anakin stumbled as he was almost thrown off his feet, hands grabbed the bindings on his wrists pulling him back upright again, yanking his already aching shoulders back further, he winced with the pain but kept walking at a fast pace,
the guard behind him with a sharp spear to remind him if he was going too slow. He turned to regard his master, who seemed to be havig an easier time of it than he. But then again,
that's what Jedi masters were supposed to do.
"Have any bright ideas Master?" He was met with an anxious glance.
"I...did." Anakin shook his head, this wasn't the most simple of situations, no matter how much he tried to persuade himself that he could,
he knew he didn't have the strength to fight his guard off, as well as all the reinforcements, without his lightsabre.
He was too tired, hot, and disorientated, his grasp of the force was diminishing within every passing moment, and it scared him, terrified him,
even before he'd been aware of it, he'd always had the gift of the force, it had always been there, but now, for a reason well beyond him,
he could feel it slipping, and he was met with a cold, dark, and terrifiying feeling, of complete aloness, almost vulnerability.
He let his eyes close, and tried to compose himself, 'The force, always with you it is, never leave you, it will.' How many times had he heard Master Yoda say that, he hoped it would return, that he wouldn't feel like this for long, but as he saw the tribal village growing ever closer in sight, it's high walls dotted with heavily armed gurads, Anakin could only feel his doubts increase, and his heart fall.
"Do you see them?" His voice dropped a notch, and lowered to a whisper. Anakin shook his head.
"No, but they're close"
"How many?" Anakin closed his eyes briefly.
"I'm not sure." Obi-Wan noticed that Anakin was standing to direct attention, his eyes darting about the cavern in search of something, or someone, making himself look very suspicious. Obi-Wan jabbed him in the arm.
"Act casual." Anakin jumped and mumbled an unexpressive 'yes master,' he quickly busied himself at fumbling with his pack, not as casual as Obi-Wan would have hoped forbut enough for now. His lightsabre was in his hand before he'd even sensed the warning, and Anakin's a split second behind him. The long, silver pointed object, which the Jedi master could only assume was an arrow, was abruptly deflected and pounded off against the side wall before splashing down onto the pool's surface, and slowly slipping under. Another shot lashed forward, in the same direction as the last, only this time meeting Anakin's ready and upheld lightsabre, it struck the wall and with a crack, splitting in two. Both men now waited, Lightsabers held before them, legs bent and shoulders forward, ready to defend themselves should the situation require them to do so once more. No more arrows followed, and the tremor in the force subsided,
Anakin glanced at his master, who nodded in apparant agreement, both weapons disengaged simultaniously. For several minutes,
no sound resided within in the walls of the grand chamber, not even the breathing of the two Jedi was audiable, Obi-Wan scanned the cavern with his eyes, following the route in which the arrows had come from, distantly, he could make out a small crevice in the opposing wall, barely enough to fit a small child in it, but there was nowhere else, the rock face was all but smooth, someone must have been in there, someone roughly the size of an ewok, but someone. He nudged Anakin out of his Force attuned daze, and pointed towards the crevice.
"There." Gone were the days when Obi-Wan had to explain every little detail of this thought proscesses to his padawan,
they knew each other well enough to know what the other meant without any explanation. Anakin nodded.
"Do we check it out?" Obi-Wan mused momantarily, his firm gaze never leaving the small crevice in the rock wall.
"I think," He stated matter-of-factly. "That we have officially worn out our welcome." He turned to face Anakin and flashed him a humourous grin.
"I think we take our leave?" He asked, indicating the vines, covering the enterance. Anakin waved his arm towards it.
"After you." Obi-Wan nodded his thanks and pushed aside the sweet-smelling vines, crouching a little, to make his way through the lowly arched enterance. He stood at the opposite side rubbing his back gingerly waiting for Anakin to emerge.
Anakin pulled himself through with a little more finesse, and smoothed over the vines behind him.
"Shouldn't we at least find out why someone wants us dead master?" Obi-Wan eyed his padawan carefully.
"Ethically, we should, but in this case I think not, we are not meant to be here Padawan, and whoever it is who inhabits this grossly forsaken planet will not be too happy to find us wandering within its midst, the less we are seen, or heard, the better"
"But we're stranded master, they might be able to help us!" Obi-Wan shrugged.
"The fact that they were using bows and arrows is a sure sign that they probably could not, if all else fails,
then we will attempt to explain ourselves to them, but for now-" He was cut off when something whipped over his shoulder,
missing his flesh by about a centimetre, instictivly, his lightsaber sprung to his hand, with a call of the force, and Anakin's did the same, no more followed, and the pair were plunged into an eerie silence, Obi-Wan took the moment to glance over his shoulder to see what it was that had so nearly struck him, he wasn't surprised to see that it was the long, silver arrow that had been used to attack them not five minutes ago. He turned and pulled it out of the wall, where it had attatched itself, and regarded it carefully, Anakin spoke quietly, his back to Obi-Wan and his lightsaber held at the ready.
"Poisonous?" Obi-Wan quickly sniffed the arrow's point, and was met with nothing but the familiar metallic stench of rust.
"No." Another 'whoosh' zipped out from the trees that plunged the majority of the jungle floor into darkness, Anakin ducked and Obi-Wan threw himself bacwards. The arrow hit the wall just where Obi-Wan's head had been, he swallowed, but not before another arrow shot out from the darkness, followed by another and another.
"Run"
Obi-Wan and Anakin fled from the cave enterance, and didn't stop until they were well out of sight of the cavern walls.
Anakin leant back against the cool bark of a tree, resting his hands on his knees, his lightsaber now deactivated and clipped onto his belt, he gasped for breath, the heat was getting to him. In between gasps, he tried to speak.
"What...happened...back...master...I couldn't sense aything." Obi-Wan pulled off his cloak and rammed it into his pack,
the intense heat making his eyes swim. he nodded to his Padawan.
"It wasn't just you," He zipped up his bag, then placed it down by his feet. He rested his hands on his hips and tilted his head back to get a glimpse of the jungle canopy, and swallowed, the branches seemed to stretch to over a hundred feet high, the sun only seeping through tiny cracks in between the leaves, making tiny golden lines on the ground, in small patterns the beams almost dancing in the foliage. He looked back down and felt sympathy for his padawan's obvious discomfort, the younger man was pulling at his sweat soaked tunic, sweat was running down his face and hair "I thought you spent nine years of you life on Tatooine, surely heat would be no problem for you padawan." Anakin laughed.
"Hot, dry, desert heat is fine, I lived with that, but this," He motioned the air around him. "This humid, sticky, heat I really can't stand." Obi-Wan laughed quietly.
"I've never met anyone who can Padawan." Anakin slid down the bark of the tree until he was sittling on the damp, mossy ground, he eased off his pack, and placed it on the ground next to Obi-Wan's.
"Why coudln't we sense them coming? I felt the force, I could feel...something, but it was as if it was too far away,
I was reaching to grab hold of something but it kept slipping away." Obi-Wan sank down beside his apprentice. and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I know what you mean, maybe it's this planet, the atmosphere, maybe it's the heat," He said, giving Anakin a sideways grin.
"Maybe we're just tired, you can't expect to have a firm grip on everything all of the time." Anakin nodded, still obviously frustrated.
"But you, master, and I, at the same time, same place." Obi-Wan nodded and shrugged.
"We'll have to be extra careful that's one thing I'm certain of"
"Practice what you preach though eh Jedi." Obi-Wan froze, and his gaze met Anakin's, his hand went to his lightsaber until a sharp point in his back stopped him. The gruff voice behind them sounded again.
"Try it and see what happens Jedi." More murmers and footsteps sounded behind them, Obi-Wan slowly looked over his shoulder. A tall burly man stood over himself and Anakin, a long pointed spear just centimeters away from Obi-Wan's spine, behind him, stood up to thirty others, some men, some women, all dressed in the same, primitive, animal fur garments, and all holding the same spear-like weapons, though some held blasters aswell.
'So not that primitive then.' Obi-Wan thought bitterly.
"On your feet Jedi." Anakin looked to his master, by the look in his padawan's eyes, he could see that Anakin wasn't happy to be treated like this, he never settled for defeat. The boy's hand went for his lightsaber. With all his might Obi-Wan tried to reach Anakin through the force, he didn't want to have to reprimand his apprentice in front of their would-be captors out loud.
'No Anakin!' Anakin shot his master a questioning look, and was met with a short shake of a head, he let his hand drop.
"I said on your feet!" The man behind them shouted,his spear jabbed painfully into Anakin's back, Anakin spun to face the man, but Obi-Wan took a firm hold of his arm, eventually, Anakin calmed down. Slowly, Obi-Wan stood and about faced. He gave a frindly smile to the man he stood before, who happened to be nearly two feet taller than himself.
"Surely we can sort things out like the civilized bunch we are?" He asked good humourdley, the man snorted in response.
"You're in no postition to make suggestons little Jedi." He turned to two of his followers.
"You, and you, take their weapons, and search them for anything of value"
The two tribals, a decent amount shorter than their leader aproached the two Jedi with next to know caution. Anakin stiffened and pulled away when one reached for his belt, Obi-Wan remained perfectly calm, looking almost amused.
"Easy now Anakin, you wouldn't want our hosts to think us uncooprotive now would you." He shot Anakin a familiar look,
which spoke almost as loudly as if it had been said.
'We'll have them back soon enough'
Anakin begrudgedly let his searcher do as he wished, taking his electrobinoculars, lightsabre, and his pack. A sudden jab in his ribs with the blunt end of a spear sent him down to his knees, his master shortly behind him with a stifled cry. Their arms were pulled back, and their hands were roughly tied behind their backs, Anakin gasped, his shoulders strained, and his muscles burned with the pressure, he was hauled upright, and pushed in front of the, what Anakin assumed was the group's leader. His master was shoved beside him.
"So this is the strength of the fabled Jedi." The man spoke with disdain, he snorted.
"Take them to the village"
Anakin stumbled as he was almost thrown off his feet, hands grabbed the bindings on his wrists pulling him back upright again, yanking his already aching shoulders back further, he winced with the pain but kept walking at a fast pace,
the guard behind him with a sharp spear to remind him if he was going too slow. He turned to regard his master, who seemed to be havig an easier time of it than he. But then again,
that's what Jedi masters were supposed to do.
"Have any bright ideas Master?" He was met with an anxious glance.
"I...did." Anakin shook his head, this wasn't the most simple of situations, no matter how much he tried to persuade himself that he could,
he knew he didn't have the strength to fight his guard off, as well as all the reinforcements, without his lightsabre.
He was too tired, hot, and disorientated, his grasp of the force was diminishing within every passing moment, and it scared him, terrified him,
even before he'd been aware of it, he'd always had the gift of the force, it had always been there, but now, for a reason well beyond him,
he could feel it slipping, and he was met with a cold, dark, and terrifiying feeling, of complete aloness, almost vulnerability.
He let his eyes close, and tried to compose himself, 'The force, always with you it is, never leave you, it will.' How many times had he heard Master Yoda say that, he hoped it would return, that he wouldn't feel like this for long, but as he saw the tribal village growing ever closer in sight, it's high walls dotted with heavily armed gurads, Anakin could only feel his doubts increase, and his heart fall.
