One Day Remains
By Rhi
Chapter 3 – Broken Wings
Thanks for everyone who has left feedback, and even thanks to the lurkers (cause I'm a chronic lurker myself). Oh, and sorry about the evil cliffhanger in the last chapter, I've made this chapter cliffie-free to make up for it.
Fun Fact: I got the idea for this story after watching Matilda on Disney channel one boring Saturday arvo.
Enjoy!
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Knowing that this was why he was led here, Obi-Wan took off in the direction of the scream. He continued running, dodging thick tree trunks, until he was quite a way into the woods. What he saw made him more mad and more scared than he'd ever been in his short life.
Three well-known bullies were standing over Laini, who was huddled in a foetal position on the ground, whimpering quietly. They were taking turns to kick her. Obi-Wan recognised the boys. He'd had a few run-ins with them before. He had also seen Owen hanging around them a lot, probably trying to make a reputation for himself by hanging out with older boys who were well-known bullies.
"Hey!" Obi-Wan yelled, getting the boys' attention. "Leave her alone!"
The three boys all stopped what they were doing and looked at Obi-Wan. The tallest boy, Tion, stepped forward, flanked by Laco and Rint.
"Well, well. If it isn't Owen's little brother. Tell me, why should we stop?" Tion said menacingly.
"Because if you don't, you'll have to deal with me." Obi-Wan said, trying to make himself look bigger and more fierce.
Tion laughed, the other two echoing him. "Do you like pain? I would've thought you had enough last time we beat you up. You don't even fight back."
"Just let her go." Obi-Wan growled, lowering his voice as much as his 5-year-old voice would allow.
Tion paused for a second, pretending to think. "All right. She can go." He said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.
Obi-Wan pushed between Tion and Laco to where Laini was lying on the ground. A quick check didn't turn up any major injuries, apart from cuts and bruises.
"Are you ok?" Obi-Wan asked, helping the red-haired girl up.
"I…I think so." Laini said, her voice hitching mid sentence. Her face was smeared with dirt, and she had tear trails streaked down her cheeks.
"Come on, let's go." Obi-Wan said, helping her back out of the bush.
"Hey." Tion said, stepping in the way of the two. "I said she could go. Not you."
Laini and Obi-Wan looked at each other.
"No." Laini breathed.
"I'll be fine." Obi-Wan stated, even though he didn't truly believe that. "Go." He said, repeating it more firmly when Laini didn't move. "Go."
Laini took off running, glancing back at Obi-Wan before disappearing behind a cluster of trees. A twisting feeling wound its way into Obi-Wan's stomach as his imagination provided him with an apt picture of what was coming next.
Obi-Wan sensed the first punch coming and ducked just in time for the fist to sail over his head. Tion grunted in annoyance and aimed again. Obi-Wan managed to dodge the punches for a short while, until Laco and Rint decided that they wanted to join in.
Obi-Wan was brought down to the ground with a well-placed kick to the back of his knees, causing them to buckle. Once Obi-Wan was on the ground, he found it difficult to get back up, as the bullies were kicking him relentlessly, delighting in his pain.
This carried on for quite a while, until Obi-Wan decided that if he was going to survive this fight, he needed to do something. Trusting his instincts, Obi-Wan grabbed the next foot that kicked him, gripping it firmly. He tugged on the foot, bringing Rint off balance. Another tug brought the bully to the ground, momentarily blocking Obi-Wan from the attacks. Obi-Wan rolled away and leapt to his feet, fisted hands in the ready position, preparing to defend himself.
The bullies laughed. "Oh look, he's going to fight back." Tion mocked. "Let's see how the baby fights. Get him, boys."
Laco and Rint advanced on Obi-Wan, Rint throwing the first punch. Obi-Wan ducked and returned the punch with one of his own, catching Rint in the abdomen, because of their height difference.
Rint gasped for breath and clutched his stomach. "The brat winded me!" he wheezed, disbelieving.
At that, Tion and Laco advanced on the boy, attacking him simultaneously. Obi-Wan tried his hardest to defend himself, throwing the occasional punch when there was an opening, but he was tiring quickly. He didn't want to think of what would happen if he couldn't fight back.
Obi-Wan's muscles burned and his body screamed in pain as punches rained all over his body. He could feel his body about to give up. Black spots were starting to form at the edges of his vision when he heard the voice of a newcomer.
"Stop immediately." A strong male voice commanded. Obi-Wan could feel the power and authority in the voice, and evidently the bullies could too, because they stopped beating Obi-Wan and stared at the newcomer.
Obi-Wan's rescuer was older than the 10-year-old bullies. Obi-Wan guessed he was about 18 standard years. He had short, spiky black hair, and was wearing tan-coloured robes, folded intricately across his body. He had a protective hand on Laini's head, as she tried to make herself invisible by hiding behind his legs, too scared to face her attackers again.
"I suggest you leave now and not bother these two again." The dark-haired youth said.
The bullies looked at each other and decided that they really didn't want to deal with this right now. What was a fun beating up session had now turned nasty, so they ran off in search of some more defenseless kids.
Meanwhile, the black spots were threatening to take over Obi-Wan's vision and the small 5-year-old swayed on the spot, trying to stay conscious.
The youth noticed this and scooped Obi-Wan into his arms, just as Obi-Wan lost the battle to stay upright.
"My name's Remy." The youth said. "I'm a Jedi and I'm going to take you somewhere safe so we can fix you up."
Obi-Wan nodded, before he finally lost consciousness, the word 'Jedi' echoing through his mind.
Although Remy had been expecting the boy to lose consciousness, it still worried him. He quickly checked the boy's health through the Force and was surprised to find a strong Force signature.
Why didn't I notice that before? He wondered, figuring that it was because he was too intent on the incident at hand to notice a Force-sensitive kid. Something Master Tahl would want me to work on, I suppose.
After searching for Ris Threm, the escaped prisoner, all morning and most of the afternoon, Tahl and Remy had finally retired to a hotel room CorSec had booked for them. Tahl had wished to continue researching Ris Threm, to try and get an idea of where he would run to, but she had insisted that her Padawan go outside and enjoy the large park, a treat that he did not get so often. Because Remy was strong in the Living Force, he preferred meditating around living things. However nice the Temple's gardens were, they were no match for the real thing.
Remy had decided that he would meditate in the park, finding a secluded spot far away from the entrance. He had just settled down to meditate and was entering the first stages when he felt a little prod from the Force. He broke out of meditation and the first thing he saw was a panicked girl running straight towards him.
He remained kneeling, so not to intimidate her, and waited for her to reach him. She stopped in front of him and gasped for breath. It was then that Remy noticed her grubby, tear-streaked face, and the beginnings of bruises forming on her arms. Her bright red hair was knotted and bits of branches and leaves lodged in the tangles.
"What's wrong, young one?" Remy asked, lowering his voice so it would sound soothing to the distraught child.
"Tion…he's beating Obi-Wan. It's…really bad." Laini said, in between gasps for breath.
Remy rose to his feet. "Show me where." He said.
Laini grabbed his hand and ran back in the direction that she'd just come from, leading him to where Obi-Wan was.
A couple of minutes later, Remy was standing outside the door of the hotel room he and Tahl were staying in. Laini had pressed the door chime for him and they were waiting for Tahl to open the door.
When she did, she surveyed the scene with bright green and gold eyes, and quickly ushered the three into the room.
Remy strode across the room and gently lay Obi-Wan down on the sleep couch. Obi-Wan let out a small moan, but did not come to.
Tahl checked over the young boy, seeing how bad his injuries were. She looked up at her Padawan with a grim look on her face. "He's going to need a bacta tank." She said. "His injuries are too serious for me to deal with, and I suspect there's some internal bleeding and maybe broken bones."
Remy nodded. "I'll comm the front desk and see if they can direct us to the nearest hospital." He strode off to the comm unit.
Tahl was watching Obi-Wan when she felt a small tug on her hand. She looked down to find the scruffy, red-haired girl looking up at her, unshed tears shimmering in her green eyes.
"Is Obi-Wan going to be ok?" she asked quietly.
Tahl knelt down so she was level with the girl. "What's your name?" she asked gently.
"Laini."
"Well, Laini. Obi-Wan is badly hurt, but we're going to get him to the hospital where they will make him all better again." She said, trying to find words to put it in so that she would not scare the girl.
"Obi-Wan rescued me." Laini said. "Tion was beating me up first and Obi-Wan rescued me. But he got hurt."
Tahl was about to say something, but was cut off by Remy. "Front desk said that there's a hospital down the street a bit further. They said that there's a speeder we can use if we wish."
Tahl nodded. "Let's go then."
Remy gathered Obi-Wan into his arms again and he and Laini followed Tahl down to the reception area, where they were directed to the speeder they could use. Remy then lay Obi-Wan in the back seat of the speeder with Laini to watch over him, while he piloted the speeder down the road to the hospital.
At the hospital, they left the speeder in a loading zone, and burst through the front doors, Tahl leading the way, striding over the spacious reception area to the front desk. The nurse attending the desk looked shocked to see the state that Obi-Wan was in.
"We need to see a doctor right away." Tahl said firmly.
"Yes, certainly." The nurse said. She indicated down a long corridor to her right. "Go down there, in the fourth door on your right. A doctor will be in shortly."
Tahl nodded, walking briskly down the corridor to the room that the nurse had indicated. Remy followed two steps behind her, still carrying Obi-Wan, and Laini ran after him, her short legs not able to keep up the pace that Tahl and Remy were walking at.
Once in the room, Remy lay Obi-Wan on the bed, quickly checking the boy's health through the Force. The Force signature that was quite prominent before had now dimmed, indicating that his body was weakening.
"Master, if they don't do something soon, I think we're going to lose him." Remy said quietly, so Laini would not hear.
Tahl nodded, a grim look on her face.
Just then, the doors to the room opened and a serious-looking man stepped into the room.
"My name's Dr. Garm Peri." He introduced himself. "What's the problem?"
Tahl introduced herself and Remy. "We came across this boy, Obi-Wan, who had been beaten up by a couple of local bullies. I suspect his injuries are extensive, and may possibly require some time in a bacta tank." Tahl explained.
The doctor nodded, stepping towards the bed that Obi-Wan was lying on. He did a quick examination of the 5-year-old, confirming Tahl's suspicions.
"How long has he been unconscious?" Dr. Peri asked.
"About 20 minutes." Remy answered.
Dr. Peri nodded. He pulled a communicator out of his pocket and spoke into it. "Bacta tank to room A14 please."
About half a minute later, a portable bacta tank was rolled through the doors and positioned beside the bed that Obi-Wan was lying on. Dr. Peri began preparing the boy for the healing solution, injecting a sleeping drug into his bloodstream so he would stay asleep while in the tank, then strapping him to all kinds of machines that measured his heartbeat, regulated his oxygen and many other things vital to his health. He then picked the boy up and deposited him carefully in the tank, setting a timer after he did so.
"I think three hours should be sufficient to get the internal bleeding under control." The doctor explained. "He will need further treatment with a bone knitter after the bacta tank, as I suspect he may have a couple of broken ribs and a fractured arm. I have also put him on a VitaDrip, as he appears to be undernourished."
Tahl thanked the doctor. "Laini also had a run in with the bullies. Could you do a quick examination of her to make sure she doesn't have any major injuries?"
"Certainly." The doctor said. He turned to the red-haired girl. "I'll take you into the next room, where we'll get a nurse to patch you up, ok?"
Laini nodded shyly, and followed the doctor out of the room, leaving Tahl and Remy alone with Obi-Wan.
"Master, did you notice the boy's Force signature?" Remy questioned. "It seemed quite prominent."
"Yes, Padawan, I did. I'm surprised that he has not been discovered yet, especially on a planet such as this, unless of course, his parents didn't want to give him up."
"What if he hasn't been discovered, would we take him back to the Temple?" Remy asked.
"I don't know. I'd have to ask the Council and they would decide." Tahl replied.
Remy looked thoughtful for a second.
"Padawan, you aren't getting any grand ideas, are you? You know you can't help everyone." Tahl said, knowing her Padawan's compassion for other beings in trouble.
"I know, it's just I feel bad for him. He's obviously not got a very great life. The doctor said he's undernourished, so that either means he lives on the street or in a poor family and he gets terrorised by the local bullies. It's hard not to want to do something about it."
"I know, Padawan. I know exactly what you mean." Tahl said, nodding thoughtfully as Yoda's statement from the previous day came to her once again. Help I sense you will need. From unusual places it will come. Maybe Yoda was talking about the boy. Maybe he would find a way to help them out in something. Something to meditate on. Tahl thought.
...Rhi