Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own any of these characters.
A/N: Again thanks for all the reviews! I'm not a big Qui-Gon Jinn fan, so if he starts to seem out of character, that's why. As for Xanatos not being out right cruel, I always pictured him more of torturing people with mind games than actually weapons. Now, this chapter contains a little bit of blood and gore. Just warning you! As for our main character, Obi-Wan…hehehe, you'll have to read the chapter.
Chapter 4
Tired of WaitingObi-Wan exited the elevator to gaze upon the familiar sight of trudging miners. The boy summoned up his best neutral mask and confidently made his way down the tunnel. He felt the stares, heard the sneers, and smelled the spit that now coated some of his clothes. The boy never knew why most of the miners hated him, maybe it was because he was treated differently or maybe they knew he was a force wielder. Whatever the reason, Obi-Wan made sure to stay away from the miners and to be thankful for his solitary. Except now it was no longer an empty existence in the mines for him. Xanatos made sure two guards followed him everywhere. What was his reasoning, oh yes "I don't want my investment to be damaged." Obi-Wan coughed up a laugh. So, if he was an investment then why did he feel more like a piece of trash instead of some royal prince? Next time, he would meet the Dark Jedi; Obi-Wan would make sure to let him know that little distinction. Of course, Xanatos went back to mainland to take care of some business and wouldn't be here for the next three days. Obi-Wan covered his face as he picked up the shovel to hide the smile from the guards. The perfect time to sort of his mind and get a grip on reality before the Dark Side came once again to torture him into submission.
"WATER! WATER!"
A miner, a little further down than Obi-Wan,screamed at the top of lungs as he ran towards the elevator to escape the impending doom. Obi-Wan just turned and watched in horror as hundreds of miners pushed and shoved each other out of the way. The weaker miners fell without any resistance and the miners who gave up on life just sat to the side and allowed themselves to get trampled to death.
"What in blazes is going on here?" yelled on his "bodyguards" to his companion, as they slide into a position to keep the miners under control.
"Water. If there is water in the mine, it means a leak and leaks are bad." Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. When did he sound so cold and calculated? When did this madness seem to no longer bother him? Was it the dream? Just then a rumble echoed through the tunnel signaling the collapse of the tunnel. The screams of drowning men and rushing water increased the mad chaos. The two guards could no longer hold back the miners and fell to the ground. Obi-Wan hugged the wall and stared down at the guards slowly dying from the trampling feet. Somehow the miners paid no attention to him and ran past the boy as if he were invisible. In fact, not one miner even touched the boy. What the heck?
One of the guards grabbed Obi-Wan's ankle and with his last ounce of strength pushed him down the tunnel towards the elevator. Thirty seconds later a blast door shot up from the ground to prevent the water from flooding the entire chamber and the mining tunnels below. A couple of miners fell to the ground, bleeding from where the door had sliced at their bodies. And all Obi-Wan did was just stare at the wall, his mind numb. Vacant blue eyes played out a similar scene in the boy's head.
He was once again standing near the lake, staring at his reflection, waiting for the final blow to end his life. Around him, his fellow warriors laid strewn about the shore. Some of his people where still alive and calling out to the Force to forgive their murders of this sinful act. Obi-Wan raised a blood and dirt streaked hand to touch his cheek. The person in the reflection was not him, not the 12-year-old boy. No, the man in the lake was older at least 21 years old. His hair was a long dark brown color and brushed above his shoulders. Bangs hung over his even darker brown eyes, covering the tiny scars that stood out on his forehead. But the short, jagged scar that from the edge of right eye to his cheek stood out against the deeply tanned skin. Whiskers outlined the chiseled jaw and the fully formed goatee moved upwards as a smile formed on his lips.
Thankfully, his little sister was nowhere to be seen and hopefully had listened to him to stay hidden at the temple. These Jedi would think that she would be the last of their noble family, but they were not aware of a secret practice that the nobles performed for the past five years, ever since the elders had foreshadowed this genocide. The first sons of each household and the first sons of the poorest family would marry a woman from outside their planet. Usually, such an act that leads to the birth of hybrids was forbidden, but everyone wanted to ensure the continuation of their people. Besides, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan, or the man whom he was inside, straightened up his back and lifted his chin. He would die a noble death and his blood would carry into the future. Lina Ibonek and the rest of the outside women and their hybrid children were already off planet and settling across the galaxy. Opening his eyes to the closing dusk, Obi-Wan found himself standing before the man.
As if seeing him, the man smiled warmly and his gaze looked up Obi-Wan, like a father does to his child when the two must part ways. In a rich, deep voice, the man spoke his finally words before the silver lightsaber swung towards his neck, "Remember and do not be afraid."
Obi-Wan gasped and took a step backwards, running into the back of a screaming miner. The boy looked around for the first time and took in the despairing scene as fear began to rise in him. The elevator was leaning to its side, the coil broken from having too many miners try to board it. Some miners were jumping up and down to grab hold of the dangling coil in order to climb up, but it's was hopeless. Other miners were screaming and cursing up the tunnel for help. More than half the miners were injured and held onto their broken arms or ribs in order to relieve the pain. But some of the miners, as did Obi-Wan, knew that more likely the only way to get rescued would be in a ten hours, when the next shift would come down. There was no rush to save the miners because there was no value in their lives, and Off-World Corporation could always kidnap some more unsuspected citizens and send them here, if labor was needed.
"But can we even survive here for ten hours without food and water? And with the injured here, how long will it take till the more violent miners start to fight over possessions?" thought Obi-Wan as the miner he had backed into snarled at the boy and then returned his focus to the crisis at hand.
"Well, I might as well do something useful," muttered Obi-Wan as he made his way to his first patient, a miner whose broken collar bone was jutting out. "Besides, I need to focus my mind. Why the heck did I just dream that? Was seeing death this close triggered it? And who was that man? I felt a connection, like we were related or something. And the girl from my last dream, she must be his sister! I mean, I woke up on the same lake shore…"
Obi-Wan sighed as he ignored the miner's snarls to get away and set the collarbone. The two dreams were connected now, so Obi-Wan felt certain that this was no unconscious manifestation. No, it was definitely a vision…and it had to do something with the Jedi. Nodding to himself and determination lit in his eyes, Obi-Wan continued to make his way slowly to tend to the injured. He had about enough of this torture and it was time to take matter into his own hands. "Remember and do not be afraid." The man's voice echoed in the young boy's mind as a hidden strength started to flicker inside him. A smile graced Obi-Wan's face; he couldn't wait to see the look on Xanatos' face when he received the news that his investment has escaped and was now out of his grasp forever.
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Qui-Gon Jinn stood before the tiny holographic image of Master Yoda. Finally, the rescue team had arrived and was now taking the injured Jedi Team back to the Temple. But first they would drop off Qui-Gon Jinn on Badamoor. Every nerve in the Jedi Master was humming, similar to the same thrill that he felt before entering a battle. The ancient Jedi Master's ears drooped and the cane shifted slightly in the three-fingered claws.
"Felt it also Master Windu and I did. Only three of us so far have talked about this disturbance. Fear I did, for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hoped I did for you take him as your Padawan. Promising student, he was," talked Yoda his voice full of sorrow.
"Master, you're talking like Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead," Qui-Gon didn't like where this was going. Obi-Wan might have been a little stubborn and had a knack for getting into trouble, but he was boy full of life. He had so much to give to the galaxy. If his life had ended abruptly…a thought crossed the Jedi's mind. If Obi-Wan did die, then why did he feel it? The two did not bond on the short journey that had thrown them together.
"The Dark Side calls to him. Dead Obi-Wan is not yet, but if correct you are about Xanatos' interest-" Yoda let the sentence hang, allowing Qui-Gon to draw the conclusion.
"He'll try to turn the boy," Qui-Gon hissed in anger.
"Then dead will be the boy we knew. Prevent this you must. May the Force be with you," with that Yoda closed the connection.
Qui-Gon felt anger rise in him and quickly released it into the Force. He needs to have a clear mind, if Qui-Gon was going to go up against Xanatos. How typical of his ex-apprentice to go after a vulnerable child. Xanatos had grown sick and so darkly twisted in the Dark Side, that Qui-Gon no longer saw the boy he used to know but a monster in sheep's clothing. Looking out the window panel, Qui-Gon heard the captain say that they would be arriving at Badamoor in two hours. Qui-Gon just nodded.
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Far away, inside a dark chamber inside the Jedi Temple, Master Yoda closed his eyes. Timing was crucial now in determining the future of the galaxy. What would happen today would echo and haunt the Jedi for years to come. He had hoped, no begged the Force, that maybe the last pure Saterin would not show any signs of his ancestor's powers. He thought that raising the child in the ways of the Jedi and having Qui-Gon train the boy would keep his secret powersdormant. But no, the Force had other plans. And to find out that a Dark Jedi was now interested in the boy, Yoda couldn't help but pray that the child would die. He knew it was wrong, but for the sake of the Order, it would be better for Obi-Wan Kenobi to die young than turn to the Dark Side and let the darkness have such a powerful weapon at their disposal.
"Let us hope that Qui-Gon gets there in time." Mace Windu's voice crept out of the shadows, his worry evident in his tone. "We should have never accepted him or let him leave this temple. If Qui-Gon wasn't so dang-"
"Change the past, we cannot. Much light Obi-Wan has in him. Take a large effort for him to turn it will."
"But Xanatos, remember he's also a Saterin. Not a pure breed, but still some of their DNA exists in him. He'll use that to his advantage," countered Mace Windu.
Yoda nodded, acknowledging the small bloodline between Xanatos and Obi-Wan. It was crucial when Xanatos was a Jedi to keep the two apart, in fear that their interaction would awaken the power in both boys, especially Obi-Wan. And now, their worst fears had come true. Xanatos' close presence with an adolescent Obi-Wan Kenobi who was rejected and forced to leave the Jedi was enough to trigger this powerful awakening that even light-years away, Yoda could feel it. Who knew Obi-Wan Kenobi was so strong? But then again it was one of the Saterin's special traits. They had learned how to disguise their powers. That's what made them powerful enemies, centuries ago.
"Master Yoda?"
Yoda locked eyes with Mace, "Wait and see we shall. The will of the Force it is on what will happen."
Mace Windu frowned, bowed and left the little green master alone in the dark. Shoulders sagging, Yoda allowed his eyes to narrow at a certain spot on the floor, where several floor below laid a secret chamber that only he knew of its' existence.
"Happy are you, now, Austral? That things are going the way you saw them, hm."
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A/N: Another nice length of a chapter! We got to see some questions answered and more questions sprung forth. Who are the Saterin and this Austral person? And why does Master Yoda fear Obi-Wan and this awakening? What is Obi-Wan planning for his escape? Mwhahaa! But I'll be nice and give you this little preview of coming attractions.
The short, muscular captain of the guards kicked at the unmoving body of a small human boy. "Remove his collar and toss his body into the sea. This kid is dead." Another guard yelled at his captain as two new recruits picked up the boy and carried his dead body out of the tunnel. "What is it?" yelled the Captain. "Sir, there are two of the Boss' guards here." "Well, what do you know, the Boss' little pet was down here? Do any of you remember what he looks like?" Murmurs of no's ran through the small squad. The captain just shrugged, "Oh, well. It's not like we meant to poison the tunnel with gas." With a harsh laugh, the captain turned around and left the cemetery tunnel. "I want this tunnel cleaned up and put back into operation before the Boss comes back tomorrow!" With that the elevator clattered upwards, carrying a humming captain and two shaking guards who held a dead boy withhair covered in mud and hints of ginger color peeking through.