scattereddaydreaming - thank you so much. This reunion is going to be complicated, so Xanatos might try to put any interaction off a little bit longer. He has a lot on his mind right now.
Chapter 34
Obi-Wan awoke with a start. Something was wrong. The Force was sounding out an urgent warning, a resounding claxon that had drawn him from his drug-induced unconsciousness. His mind was still muddled which meant that he had not slept for long. Shivering against the persistent chill of the room, he rolled to a sitting position.
"Die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi …"
The constant chant and hum of Darkness were ever-present and it was with some amount of despair he felt that it would be with him until he died in this place. No … that was the Darkside speaking. It wanted him to give up. Xanatos and Crion were searching for him. His task was to survive. He wished that the drug had allowed him to sleep longer. He still felt spent and frayed.
Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and filtered through the Darkness in the room in an attempt to examine the warning from the Force. He wasn't the one in danger. Crion! The Jedi Master was on his feet in an instant, already pacing the room. Reaching for the connection he now seemed to share with his apprentice's father, he ran into fractured shields that were leaking a potent mixture of fear, frustration, and growing anger. Xanatos was drowning in emotion.
/ "I told you that you needed sleep!"/
" The Force woke me - Crion is in danger."
The thoughts projected contained some very inappropriate language and unflattering sentiment regarding his training of Crion.
/ "I didn't tell you before because you needed to focus, but Crion ran off in his desperation to find you and is making some very unwise choices at the moment."/
The response did little to set Obi-Wan at ease. "Where is he?" the Jedi master asked.
/ "He is on Kyatn IV …"/
"I told you to keep him away."
The only response was a large surge in the Force, and then Xanatos' anger grew like gathering storm clouds. Crion was nearby and safe for the moment, but Obi-Wan sensed the attack before it began, helpless to do anything but sit and wait as the billowing fury of Xanatos' rage bit at him through the expanding fractures in the former Jedi's shields. Through Xanatos ' eyes, he could practically see the moment where he drew back his saber to end a man's life. The Dark side whispered and urged him to give in to his rage, the potency even stirring the Darkness in the room where Obi-Wan stood.
"Stop!" Obi-Wan commanded with as much strength as he could muster.
/"Why shouldn't I?"/ came the angry response. /"If our places were reversed, Crion and I would be dead at his feet."/
"If you do this, you will lose Crion like you lost her," Obi-Wan countered softly.
In the end, it seemed to be Crion who broke through his father's rage, his voice lifting through the shadow of the Dark side. Obi-Wan began to relax only to feel a sharp echo of pain.
"What happened?"
The minutes that followed dragged on with no response from Xanatos. All Obi-Wan could sense was desperation. He had often said that he loved Crion as though he were his son, but the emotions he sensed rolling off his apprentice's father were powerful and overwhelming, nothing like he had ever felt before toward the adolescent he had taken under his wing years ago.
/ "Crion is safe and unharmed."/
The relief echoed in those words was palpable, but pain still leaked through the shields.
"And you?" Obi-Wan asked.
/ "Wounded … not as bad as it could have been thanks to Crion."/
Obi-Wan sat back down on the floor, relieved that both were safe. Absorbed and reveling in the moment, he missed the approaching presence shrouded in the Darkness that had become his constant companion. The door slid open filling him with dread. He was still hazy from the drug and emotionally exhausted from communicating with Xanatos.
/ "What's wrong?"/
"He returned," Obi-Wan replied, not needing to explain who "he" was.
The Jedi stood and backed across the room, glad that he was no longer bound and could keep his distance.
"An apprentice kneels before his master," the Sith issued in warning.
"I am not your apprentice," Obi-Wan replied, trying to infuse his words with strength he did not feel. "I will never kneel before you."
The Dark side surged powerfully around him, dragging him forward and throwing him face-down at the Sith's feet. Sidious laughed as he pressed a booted foot on the Jedi's head.
"In time, you will kneel before me and call me, Master," the Sith replied. "I have foreseen it."
Obi-Wan raised his head as much as he could. "I would rather die."
"That would be a failure." The Sith chuckled again, something patronizing in his tone of voice. A silver cylinder fell into Obi-Wan's view, gliding gently to the floor through the aid of the Force. It wasn't his lightsaber, but the desire to have a weapon in his hand, a means to defend himself was strong. The Darkside surrounding him fed off that desperation, clawing at him, demanding he take up the weapon and lash out. "If you fail me, Apprentice, I will have no choice but to visit that failure upon your apprentice … he too would be a worthy prize… young but easy to mold …"
Obi-Wan kept his gaze fixed on the saber. Drawing in deep breaths, he attempted to release the helplessness, fear, anger - Darkness - he felt into the Force. It was a futile attempt to bail water from a sinking boat.
Suddenly, a surge of strong emotion - anger, betrayal, pain - surged through Xanatos' shields.
/ "Unfortunate timing."/ Obi-Wan could almost audibly hear the mental sigh. / "I am standing face to face with our old master."/
Suddenly, lightning rained down on him, unyielding even when he cried out. Reaching out, Obi-Wan drew on the Force around him, like taking a large gulp of toxic, murky water. A large push of the Force tossed the Sith away from him as the saber made contact with his hand. He ignited the weapon, nearly dropping it in shock as a crimson blade sprang to life. He wasn't sure why he had expected a different color, but he had little time to think about it as the Sith lunged forward with his own weapon, jolting Obi-Wan's arms in his weakened state. The Jedi knew he would not last long without the Force. The only problem was the Force around him was tainted.
"Die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi … die Jedi …"
Obi-Wan drew on it once again to shove his adversary backward, once again giving him needed distance. The Sith shot lightning at him, and Obi-Wan intercepted it with the saber. Sidious then lunged forward and began to pummel the young Jedi with quick strikes. Obi-Wan met each expertly as he allowed his enemy to back him across the room, relying on skill alone. Suddenly, his feet left the floor as the Sith pushed him into a wall. Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet, only to be tossed into a wall at the other end of the room.
"You have the ability and all the power you need in this room to defend yourself. You must embrace it."
The Sith approached and Obi-Wan tried to get to his feet again only to feel his airway close off. He clawed at his neck, logic telling him that nothing tangible was choking him, but unable to stop the reflex. Black crept in at the edges of his vision as his body cried out for air.
"Such a disappointment," the Sith spat out. "I will give your apprentice my regards."
"No," Obi-Wan breathed out, frantically looking around the room. Reaching out once again to draw in the putrid darkness surrounding him, he used the Force to rip the frame that had once bound him and send it crashing into the Sith. The exertion consumed his remaining energy and he finally passed out.
Sidious got to his feet, cautiously approaching his prize. The Jedi was depleted and wounded, but not damaged beyond repair.
"Well done, My Apprentice."
The Force truly despised him. That was the only conclusion Xanatos decided as he boarded his ship, Qui-Gon Jinn trailing on his heels. His former master stayed blessedly silent. That was a good thing. Xanatos felt weary. He was in pain and exhausted, shouldering Kenobi's struggles as well as his own. Right now, it seemed that his son's master was fighting for his life against the Sith. Xanatos hoped he survived for Crion's sake.
"Soren," he called over the intercom once on the ship. "Please bring your medkit to my quarters."
The former Jedi kept his back turned to Qui-Gon, not ready to look him in the eyes as he pressed his palm to the door of his quarters. "I am going to quickly clean up and then we can discuss a plan of action."
"Let me help," Qui-Gon began. "You won't be able to adequately treat that wound alone."
"Soren is an accomplished sawbones."
Soren arrived, bearing his medkit, raising an eyebrow at Xanatos' ruined cloak and sleeve. He then leveled a stern gaze toward Qui-Gon. Soren remembered him; he had been there with Xanatos even then during the Telosian civil war and knew that Jinn was the Jedi master that had killed Crion Marojni. Xanatos sensed the outrage almost immediately as Soren's gaze slid back to the wounded shoulder and up to look Xanatos in the eyes.
"Not him," Xanatos murmured. "Most of Naid Gaden's men are dead or wounded - shouldn't give us any problems," he continued as they went into his room, leaving Jinn, his apprentice, and Crion to wait.
Once the door had safely shut behind them, Xanatos let out a sob and sank to sit on his bed. Kenobi was suffocating, struggling to not panic. Having used the Force in such a manner before, Xanatos knew the Sith was choking him. He waited, vaguely aware that Soren was pulling at his cloak and ripping his sleeve open to inspect his wound. Xanatos said nothing, wondering if the newly developed bond would be brutally severed in moments. How would he tell Crion? His son would sense it - would be devastated - would be outraged that Xanatos had never told him he could communicate with the Jedi master. Then, Kenobi slipped into unconsciousness. Xanatos let out a sigh of relief.
"You with me?" Soren asked, releasing a hypospray into Xanatos' neck.
"Yes," Xanatos replied finally, unbuttoning his shirt so that he could give Soren easier access to the wound.
"Why is Jinn here?"
"Searching for Kenobi … same as us."
The painkiller took the edge off of the pain, but he grimaced as Soren poked around in the wound, cleaning it.
"I can give you something stronger …"
"No," Xanatos bit back quickly. "The last thing I need right now is a fuzzy mind."
"You need to have an actual medic look at this one - it's deep … and you need to rest before you head back out there. You are going to get yourself killed."
"Patch it up as best as you can. I will get it properly treated after we leave," Xanatos sighed, feeling the weight of his exhaustion. "Rest is a luxury I don't have time for right now. I have pushed on before in worse condition than this."
"Where are you going to start? Soren asked as he placed bacta patches over the freshly cleaned wound, silently conceding that he had lost the argument.
"Naya usually knows what is going on here."
"So, I should keep the medkit handy?"
"I can handle Naya," Xanatos replied as he stood, taking a moment to make sure he had his balance before grabbing a new shirt from the small closet in his quarters then a spare cloak.
Xanatos exited into the lounge area once dressed and composed. Qui-Gon was kneeling on the floor meditating. Crion was sitting next to Jinn's apprentice, eyes slid shut as he attempted to follow the Jedi master's lead, but nowhere near centered. Jinn's apprentice seemed antsy for a padawan, eyes darting around as though he wanted to get up and explore the ship. All eyes shifted to Xanatos as he made his way into the lounge.
"I think we should …."
Xanatos cut Qui-Gon off almost immediately.
"You have no authority over me or my son, Master Jinn. You are welcome to accompany us, but you would do well to remember that I don't answer to you … not anymore. I would hope that you are willing to yield to my greater experience with the situation here on Kyatn IV and follow my lead for a change. There are a lot of people outside this ship who would rejoice over a dead Jedi and wouldn't mind sending me to an early grave either."
The former master and apprentice locked gazes for a moment before Jinn seemed to concede with a nod.
"Now, if you will follow me. There is really only one place to get reliable information here."
"Will the reception be as friendly as your last contact?" Crion shot back sarcastically.
"Be ready for anything," Xanatos said as they exited the ship. "Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned."
"What did you do to her?" Crion asked.
"I never thought we had anything serious. Apparently, she did. She was quite angry with me when I ended things with her after I met your mother," Xanatos replied, moving further ahead of Crion before he was presented with any more questions. Crion, thankfully, seemed to take the hint and trailed behind him in silence.