Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish!
Thanks for everyone's wonderful kind words about the last chapter. It was my first attempt, and you have all been so kind to this slash virgin. And I must say, AniObi is even more poignant after watching RoTS on DVD.
Things start to get violent now. Time to call in the calvary!
Down the Wrong Path, Chapter 7
I'll save you, again...
Years of practice had told her how to keep her innermost thoughts and feelings from her father, the most powerful reader in her family. Years of lashings, both verbal and physical, if she so much as slipped him a nasty comeback without actually saying it. Eyuria did not love her father. That was never asked of her. Just her obedience and servitude, to him and their people. As the first daughter, and a powerful controller, she had been trained to use her powers to help her people. It was never a question of what she wanted.
Her sisters were not as strong as she was, did not have as much telan blood in their veins as she did. Her mother had been strong with the power. Adding her father's powers to the mix meant Eyuria had a tremendous legacy to carry on. So it was her privilege to be the first to have this new telan. Their child would be a powerful leader.
Her privilege. She continued to chant along with the shaman's apprentice as the shaman poured chopak into her sister's bowl. Tamolok stood back, observing the scene. She knew others were watching from the darkness that was beginning to lift. The sun would soon rise, and the hut would glow. And inside the hut, her telan would meet her sisters, one by one.
Her privilege indeed, not to have seconds. Now she just had to watch as her sisters manipulated Obi-Wan. So that Obi-Wan would touch them the way he had touched her. Say the same things to them as he had done to her. Hold them as gently, yet possessively, as he had held her. She could still feel his beard, tickling her shoulder.
She saw Tamolok narrow his gaze in her direction. Years of practice to shield her innermost thoughts from his knowing, but never before had there been a challenge like this. Obi-Wan was her telan.
The shaman finished pouring in the chopak. Now was her job.
Eyuria moved around before her sister to stare deep into the younger one's eyes. There was fear in those eyes. For a brief moment, seeing this made Eyuria smile. Interpreting the smile wholly wrong, her sister relaxed and smiled back. Nodding, Eyuria closed her eyes, and her sister obediently followed. She suddenly gripped her sister's head, squeezing it. Her sister showed no sign of pain. She only stiffened when Eyuria sent into her head the images she had seen in Obi-Wan's mind. Everything about Anakin, everything about the time she had spent with Obi-Wan. Every image, sound, smell, sensation, no part of the experience was not relayed from the princess to her sister. No detail could be omitted if her sister was to be able to effectively control the telan. Even with Obi-Wan's mind broken from reality, one slip could mean her sister's death, possibly even her own. And not necessarily by the telan's hand.
The last sensation, of how it felt to have Obi-Wan enter her, made her sister gasp, severing the link as her sister's eyes popped open. That was enough for her. Eyuria felt no need to share that memory. She opened her eyes and released her sister's head. Tamolok glared but said nothing. There was no reason she had to share that experience. Her sister would find out soon enough on her own.
Again she peered deep into her sister's eyes. Now there was fear there, but her sister kept a calm face and nodded. She had her duty to perform, and now she had an idea of what to expect. Quelling the envy, Eyuria stepped back, allowing the shaman to give her sister a different potion. Eyuria bowed graciously before Tamolok as her sister gulped down the potion to increase her ability to control the telan. Inwardly, Eyuria glowed. She had needed no such aid. Obi-Wan had been hers by her own intrigues, one hundred percent hers. But now was not the time for such gloating. Especially in such close range to Tamolok.
"My lord, my sister is ready."
Tamolok did not acknowledge her presence as he watched the shaman chant over his next daughter.
"You have done well, daughter. Return to your home."
Eyuria stiffened, but fixed her gaze on his feet. This was not normal procedure.
"My lord, should I not remain to help my other sisters?"
"You are no longer needed, Eyuria. Return to your home."
Years of practice. "Yes, my lord, thank you."
She did not straighten up as she left. She didn't think it wise. Her father knew. And he was not very happy at all.
As she walked away, she wondered how much he knew. And what he would do if he did.
He never let it out of his sight. The STAP was fast, skillfully weaving through the forest. But Anakin matched it move for move. Juking left when it did. Dodging a tree to the right. Ducking under a low branch. Hurdling a fallen tree. He was its shadow, moving without thought, aping the droid's desperate route of escape. He knew where it wanted to go. All droids did the same thing when alone and in danger. Return home, to their company, for reinforcements. Droids weren't very smart that way.
As he just knew this, he didn't have to think about it. His mind was blank, thoroughly focused on the task at hand. At finding Dooku. If Dooku was on this planet, then this droid's home could be where Dooku was. Even if not directly, then perhaps close enough. Where there were droids, there were Separatists. And if the rumors were true, then maybe even the Sithspawn leader of the Separatists.
The pull of Dooku led him through the forest. He had no regard for where he was. He was only vaguely aware that night was receding to the break of dawn. He gave no awareness to the scratches the forest afflicted him as he pushed through it, or to the drone of his insect swarm that sought the glow of his and Obi-Wan's lightsabers. Nothing could stop or stay his metal hand from grasping the neck of the man that took his flesh one.
oh, Anakin, by stars, yes
"What the - "
Anakin's concentration was shattered. His foot caught on the tree he was hurdling and he flew face forward. He reflexively shut off the sabers and brought his hands to his face mere breaths before he crashed into bushes. Bereft of their light, the insects did not follow. Or perhaps they were just smarter than the young Jedi Knight, who ruefully untangled himself from the underbrush.
"What in the name of the Jedi was that!" he cursed, swatting away twigs and leaves.
It had been so raw. So heated, and passionate. The feeling had shot into his body like a turbolaser bolt, and was still humming as it slowly dissipated. His heart was beating faster than it should be given the run that had just ended. And he ached. Ached in a way he'd only ever really experienced around Padme, especially on those rare times they could be alone, and he and she were able to fully explore each other and their feelings.
But this had not been Padme. Even those times when they were able to fully realize each other and revel in each other's bodies, he'd never heard her in his head. They just didn't have that kind of connection through the Force. He could always sense her, knew her Force signature even better than he knew his own. But he never heard her. The only person he'd ever heard in his head was -
Anakin's hand froze mid-pluck, his fingers squeezing a twig, holding onto it for dear life as the realization struck him.
The only person he ever heard in his head, the only person he had that kind of bond with, was Obi-Wan.
He suddenly felt very dizzy and shuffled backwards to lean against the tree that had mere moments before been his downfall.
It couldn't have been Obi-Wan. Forget for the moment that Anakin and he were both, well, Jedi, and by that vow celibate. Well, at least he was quite certain Obi-Wan was. His student may have a weaker self-control whenever he was around Padme, but Obi-Wan had never as long as Anakin had known him showed any interest in anyone. Let alone Anakin. Not that I would want that.
No, that wasn't fair. Anakin believed in being honest above all else, and that included honesty with himself. There had been a time, it seemed so long ago, when he was with Obi-Wan for so long, that he did have dreams. They had started out innocent enough, but then they turned into something far more intimate. But then he was reunited with Padme, and they could be together to explore and quench the passion that threatened to burn him in those dreams. Had he not been reunited with Padme, had it continued to just be he and Obi-Wan -
But again, Obi-Wan had never shown that kind of interest in Anakin. Had it continued to just be the two of them, without having Padme in secret to go to, then the fire might've consumed him.
So why now? Why all of a sudden, in the middle of a nowhere planet, separated by who knows what and how far, did this come through as bright and hot as the sun rising?
He heard the STAP's whine. Damn thing was circling back. Probably looking for the chance to become predator instead of prey. He had no time for this. His head hurt, and his body was still aching from the fever of, yes, it had to be Obi-Wan. Somewhere something was happening to his master, to his brother-in-arms, to one of the few people in this war torn galaxy he could count on and love. Good or bad, he had to know, and he had to help. In whatever capacity he could provide.
He somersaulted backwards off the log as the STAP burst from around a tree, strafing the log he'd just been leaning against. The sabers snap-hissed to life, pulling him back into the Force and the battle. Their heat felt like an extension of his own, of the heat he'd just felt from Obi-Wan. All as one, his blades danced around him, deflecting the bolts easily - even frying some of the damn pesky insects in the process. Two banthas, one damn big rock.
The STAP spun around him, never ceasing in it's strafing, as it drew in ever closer circles.
Anakin grinned. Typical maneuver. He let it get closer, confident in his dancing blades to shield him from the bolts. The air hummed with energy as the sun's light flickered through the canopy.
When it was within meters of him, he leapt high into the air. The STAP couldn't counter quick enough, continued to circle in closer. So when Anakin came down, with his lightsabers pointed directly beneath him, he came down on top of the droid.
And he went right through it.
Because it had vanished.
"Sithspawn!" Again cursing, the sabers were snapped to his sides as he landed on his feet and was instantly up and looking around. There had been no explosion. His sabers hadn't made contact with anything. One second he was looking down at the droid as it looked up at the sabers poised to slice through it. Then the next second, the STAP and droid were gone and his sabers had instead sliced through thin air.
He whirled around, lightsabers humming in standby, thinking perhaps the Separatists had developed a new form of teleportation. Perhaps it had simply blinked itself to a new location and was regrouping to come around for another pass. But the forest was quiet. Even the insects had left, dispersed as the sunlight broke into the woods. He reached out with the Force, but sensed nothing. The STAP had simply vanished.
Growling low in his throat, he cut through the log that had tripped him. What was going on! First Obi-Wan disappears, then those damn insects, then Obi-Wan somewhere is thinking and feeling and maybe even acting on fucking lusty thoughts about him and he's stuck in the middle of nowhere chasing an STAP that was supposed to take him to Dooku but which apparently doesn't even exist! The fire, the ache, the cold of his ghost hand, everything was humming, burning. He was getting sick and tired of this stupid planet!
ishtu telan
Anakin spun around. It had been through the Force, faint but he heard it. Not Obi-Wan, but someone else. Someone alien to him. Someone hostile.
Someone to blame.
"Show yourselves!" he growled, trying to focus through the Force on a direction to face. Now that he sensed the one, he could sense others, all the same in hostility, but lesser in strength than the first. He was surrounded. That really did not sit well with him right now. One thing to be tricked by a vanishing droid. Another thing to be surrounded by living people he was supposed to be able to sense through the Force. "Who are you? What have you done to Obi-Wan?"
There was no response. But now he could sense them. They couldn't hide from him now.
He didn't need to hear the whirring blade streaking for his head. The Force moved his blade up to slice it in two. Two more, and they easily met the first's fate. Then they came out, all ten of them.
They were humanoid, slender and shorter than he was. Each carried a staff that ended in curved blades, and a few of them were gaily twirling them as they sidled forward. Their skin was dark tan, and glistened in the sun - scales or sweat, he couldn't really tell. They were hairless except for bushy sprigs over their dark, narrow eyes, under their flat, broad noses, and running on a ridge from between their eyes all the way to the back of their heads. Leather armor covered their bodies, put together with no apparent pattern, yet all seemed highly mobile and bristling with weapons. And just as random as their armor were the metal studs protruding from exposed skin.
Anakin smirked. "You look tough, but I've killed uglier."
The leader, or at least the one with the most metal studs, pointed his weapon at Anakin while thumping his chest.
"Netsku-est krejack, telan," he burbled, twirling his staff with his free hand. "Oi-che nust Uchalok."
"If you say so," Anakin replied, shrugging. He opened to the Force and relaxed into a slight crouch. "Am I right in guessing you guys are the ones behind everything, including taking Obi-Wan?"
The leader motioned the others forward. "Wechan i telan!"
"I'll take that as an affirmative."
All nine warriors rushed him en masse. Undulating, twirling their staffs until they blurred, the warriors converged. They never paused in their rush. But Anakin knew the fight wouldn't last long. Wood and metal were no match for a pair of expertly wielded lightsabers.
Curved blades soared into the woods, cleaved from their poles. Anakin continued swinging, gracefully carving patterns into the armor. He didn't want to kill them. They weren't droids, they couldn't be replaced. But they also did not stop. You'd've thought losing their main weapons and having their armor carved up would deter them. Whoever they were, they were not so easily frightened.
They pulled out more weapons. Those flying blades were also able melee weapons, and the warriors were far more agile with the blades in their hands, managing to evade his blades far better than before. He never stopped his blades, but his moves quickly became simply to shield himself from their attempts at slicing him open. Unless he was going to press at them and actually kill...
Flashes of mud huts, brown robes, masks, women, children - he shook his head. No. He couldn't, not again.
Then a blade got through his shield and sliced his back. There was a momentary flash of pain through his head before he grit his teeth and retaliated.
That warrior lost his hand, and the bloody blade with it. When he leapt in to attack with a kick, his life followed his hand.
Still his brethren were not deterred. Force be with him, there was now no option.
The battle was quickly resolved. Flesh and leather stood even a lesser chance than metal and wood.
Panting slightly, his dirty blonde hair slicked to his face, he slowly turned to the leader, the bodies of the warriors in pieces around him.
"Sorry, I'm not much of a negotiator when people won't stop killing me," he lowered his voice. Nothing he said to the guy would matter. He just felt liked growling. The leader was still twirling his staff. Smug bastard. So much life and time wasted, and he was actually grinning!
Anakin snatched the staff away from the bastard's hand, Force-slamming into the nearest tree. That got a reaction out of him. His eyes narrowed, and he reached for his flying blades. But Anakin had easily predicted that, even without being a Jedi Knight. He sent both sabers flying to the warrior's head. They stopped mere millimeters from his throat and held there in a crisscross. One thought from Anakin, and his head would say goodbye to his body forever.
Now the leader really understood. His hands fell to his sides, dropping the blades. His eyes narrowed to mere slits. As Anakin walked closer, he could hear the warrior growling. Anakin knew the feeling. His back throbbed to remind him.
"Now, friend, you are going to take me to Obi-Wan - "
"Telan yshtak-"
Anakin squinted, and the blades edged closer. The warrior clapped his mouth shut.
"No interrupting. You don't understand what I say, and I don't understand what you say, but you know what this means," he gestured to the blades for emphasis. "Take me to Obi-Wan, or join your friends back there." He nodded back to the piles of flesh that were already attracting the attention of local insects. "Do we understand one another?"
Either he closed his eyes, or this person was able to see through the narrowest of slits. He burbled something in the back of his throat, or it could've just been another growl. Either way, he slowly turned and walked away. Anakin kept the blades carefully in place and followed closely behind.
Finally. Now he was getting somewhere.
Hold on, Master, I'll save you.
Again.