Si Treemba looked ill. The healthy greenish tone of his skin was fading to gray and his small scales where beginning to flake off.
Obi Wan looked at Leila.
She had drifted into sleep or either gone unconscious about an hour after Qui Gon had left.
In the dank cave, Obi Wan studied Si Treemba with a worried frown. The Hutts had taken the only lights into a larger cavern, so only reflected light had worked its way in.
The Arconans had settled into the back of the farthest cave and even in the dank shadows, the eyes of the Arconans glowed faintly.
Si Treemba was humming in Arconan. Others nearby did the same thing.
Obi Wan leaned forward to hear. Leila's head was in his lap so he didn't move too much. "What are you humming?" he asked softly.
"We sing a song of thanksgiving," said Si Treemba. He translated for Obi Wan.
"The sun is finally hidden,
and here our world is black.
In this cave we have the stones,
And our brothers at our back.
Outside the storms may threaten
But here the day is calm.
We'll cleave to earth like flesh to bone.
With our brothers we belong."
Obi Wan sat and listened as they continued singing. It seemed a sad song to him. But then again, he wasn't an Arconan and he wasn't used to living in caves. Perhaps to Si Treemba, the song sounded joyous.
It sounded as if they were resigned to their death. Obi Wan didn't understand such resignation. The urge to act, to fight was becoming stronger by the minute. Hadn't he been warned about his impatience again and again? This was his test. He must live by the Jedi Code, even while his friends faded. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done. But he trusted Qui Gon.
"Promise me something," Obi Wan said quietly to Si Treemba, "That you won't let yourself die here."
"We won't let ourselves die," Si Treemba promised.
"Do you mean it? You'll hold on until Qui Gon comes back?" Obi Wan asked urgently.
"We will try to live, obi Wan," Si Treemba promised. "But the dactyl must come soon."
Obi Wan sat back against the cave wall. He looked down at Leila. He touched her forehead. It was unbelievably hot. "Yes. It must come soon."
Cautiously, Qui Gon inched up a ledge that was definitely not made for a human to climb. In the pouring rain, he felt carefully for small crevices to hold on to. He knew that he had to hurry. He had taken precious time in circling the mountain. But at last he had come to a point where he had risk exposure and from there, his path had gone straight up.
At the moment, he was more concerned about the draigons than the Hutts. The creatures where active now. Many had landed on the crags above him, as if to wait out the storm. He remained in the shadows, moving beneath the rocks, constantly afraid he would be spotted. Sometimes, he had to wait painful minuets until some draigon would turn its scaly silver head.
Patience, he told himself over and over again. We must have patience. That was an unwritten part of the Jedi Code. Yet it was hard to be patient when every time he closed his eyes, Leila's pale face swan before him.
His fingers where chafed and bleeding. Nearby, lightening spilt the sky. He felt terribly exposed. He was a big man, a big target for the draigons. He stopped for a long moment. Rain poured down on him, making his clothes feel heavy. He was half frozen and still half weak from the wounds the pirate had dealt him. He glanced up and saw the draigons above him.
Perhaps they didn't care for human flesh. Perhaps they had never seen animals on land and did not think to hunt them.
Qui Gon glanced past them. up above him, he could see a faint mist vented from a crevice blowing wildly in the wind. It would take the sharp eye of someone who knew what they were looking for, but the mist was definitely tainted yellow.
The dactyl had to be there.
The travel was hard. There were no trails. Not a rock on this planet had veer been crushed underfoot. If he stepped on a rock, it was likely to twist beneath him. the only planets he found were small gray lichens that crusted over everything.
Suddenly there was a flash just above his head. Splinters of rock stung his cheek.
For half a moment, he thought that a lightening bolt had nearly pierced him. but then he realized it was too small.
A blaster bolt. Someone had shot at him!
Qui Gon craned his neck and tried to look down. He spitted them immediately. On the rocks below. It was nearly impossible for a Hutt to hide. It was Grelb, Jemba's errand boy. He slithered along, flanked by several Whiphids. They raised heavy blaster rifles and fired again. The Hutt laughed merrily.
Blaster bolts exploded all around Qui Gon.
His lightsaber was useless. There was no where to hide and no way to fight.
He continued on his way up.