Brula Hugger
This was written as a part of Summer of Whump 2022 prompts, for 01.06.22, with the prompt "Once I begin, I won't be able to stop."
I don't own Star Wars.
"She won't get lucky this time," murmured Obi-Wan. Days and days of tracking and chasing were finally at an end. They'd been chasing an especially tricky Drall thief named Lunyu for… how many systems now? Ten?
"There is no such thing as luck. Only the Force." reminded Qui-Gon.
"Yes, Master." replied Obi-Wan, a little embarrassed for his folly. He turned to grab his bag instead, so that his flushing face wouldn't be visible to the Jedi Master. As he reached for it, though, he was stopped.
"This shouldn't take long," Qui-Gon said, with lightness in his voice. "since Velabri have a unique distaste for criminals… Just take your lightsaber. We wouldn't want you slowing down with that extra weight, would we?" he teased.
The bag in question was a large sack Obi-Wan carried everywhere, containing everything that a Jedi might need on a field mission from medic-kits to emergency rations. It was a habit he picked up at Melida/Daan; to always expect an ambush… He dropped the bag hesitantly.
He knew Qui-Gon was just teasing in good humour, but…
It was his fault the thief was able to get away so many times anyways. Had he been more vigilant, more careful, just quicker… Nevertheless, dwelling on his failures would be futile, he reasoned, especially because he had so many of them now.
Upon getting off from the spacecraft, they were greeted by a pair of marble-like pure white eyes that bored through one's soul, and a raspy voice. "I'm Officer Qor. Welcome to Velabri, Jedi." Then she bowed a little, her otherwise spiky silver hair fell over her forehead. "Please share your identities and reasons for your presence."
Qui-Gon cleared his throat. "I'm Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. We're looking for a Drall called Lanyu, wanted for theft. We've been pursuing her since Mon Gazza, until she made a forced landing on Velabri. We understand that esteemed Velabri do not tolerate criminals… We request your cooperation at her capture."
Officer Qor looked at Obi-Wan, and back to Qui-Gon, as if to calculate something. "Follow me," she said, likely leading the pair to her superiors.
With nothing particularly interesting to look at in the hangar, Obi-Wan's mind drifted off to the particulars of the mission. Dangerous questions begun filling his head, questions he'd never dare to ask Qui-Gon, questions like "Have I been messing up too badly? Has Qui-Gon really forgiven me?"
The nature of the mission hadn't helped his prone-to-worrying state of mind, with the Drall inventing another clever trick every time she was cornered. Not to mention the "bad feeling" he'd been getting since the beginning… Qui-Gon had told him to focus on "here and now", and to let go of his anxieties, but as they got closer to catching the Drall, the bad feeling had only intensified. What was she thinking, even? The Drall couldn't use or sell the artefact: The artefact she stole was a wooden family heirloom belonging to the monarch family ruling the planet Tyryh. People of Tyryh had the belief that this wooden artefact was some kind of a "divine proof" of the royal family's right to rule, so the heirloom was practically worthless anywhere else. Obi-Wan was sure that if the planet hadn't been in the brink of a Civil War because of it, the Republic wouldn't send two Jedi after this surprisingly industrious Drall.
When he came to his senses, Obi-Wan realised they were no longer at the hangar and were in some kind of a waiting lounge. Officer Qor pointed a giant, ornamented door.
"You'll meet the Judge inside, Jedi Master Jinn. He will hear your case. You will wait here, Jedi Kenobi."
"Why can't I come?"
"Unless your presence is absolutely necessary, the tradition demands you not be in the Judgement Room, out of respect to Judges…"
He did as he told, and waited. Then Qui-Gon came out, and they waited together. Then they waited some more. And some more… As an initiate, Obi-Wan had dreamt of long missions just like this, missions where he could perseveringly chase the bad guy for a long, long time, only to find out that these missions were terribly tedious, repetitive, boring… He'd rather have a negotiation mission than this one. Deciding he was bored enough, Obi-Wan directed his attention to only other present object in the boring lounge, ironically enough, to a plant. Even looking at this thorny pathetic life form, it seemed, was better than sitting there, and getting bored some more.
Maybe I should take you to more pursuit missions, if that'll teach you to tolerate pathetic life forms, came Qui-Gon's amused thought from the bond.
Choosing not to reply, Obi-Wan extended a curious finger towards the plant, but not quite touched it.
"That plant is called Brula," Qui-Gon said, relishing his apprentice's sudden interest in botany. "It's a fruit bearing species native to Dathomir, and is toxic for practically anyone who isn't a Zabrak. I have learned this the hard way when I've had the foolishness of tasting one. Side effects include nausea, fever, hallucinations… You better not touch it, Padawan."
With the suggestion, he immediately retreated his hand back.
"Almost correct, Jedi. What you see here isn't just any Brula plant; it's Brula Hugger." said Officer Qor giving a proud smile. "It's a special crossbreed we've exclusively brought from Dathomir. Instead of passing to the bloodstream upon ingestion of the fruit, this beauty hugs onto the skin directly. Very painful. We have… many uses for it."
Obi-Wan didn't like the implications. "That doesn't sound ominous at all." he deadpanned.
"As long as you don't break any laws, you won't need to know…"
Force knows after how long, another officer in a different kind of uniform came to inform them. He addressed Qui-Gon directly. "The local militia has caught the Drall you've been chasing. We will deliver her and the stolen artefacts to you, but we have conditions. Mostly regarding punishment."
"She needs to be punished according to the Republic laws." said Qui-Gon.
"Not until we're done with her first. She will set a good example. Entire galaxy must know no crimes or criminals are tolerated here." Officer Qor joined the conversation.
Qui-Gon tried again. "She's an especially tricky one. Delivering her to our custody is the best move to ensure her confinement."
"Oh, that won't be a problem. After we're done with her, she won't have the… means to escape, not for some time." Officer Qor's delight in delivering these sentences raised all the hairs on Obi-Wan's neck.
"Thank you for your assistance, Officer Qor. Though, may I ask what you plan to do with her?"
"If she's chosen this planet to taint with his presence, she will face the consequences. She will receive punishment according to our laws. She will wear the Gauntlet on the hand that stole."
"I must remind you that the Republic doesn't condone use of certain methods of punishment. It'd still be in your best interests to hand her over."
"We aren't a part of the Republic, Jedi." Qor gritted her teeth. "We pay our debts in blood."
"Well well, aren't you two persistent…" Obi-Wan wasn't worried about the drall, who turned out to be much younger than they expected. He was rather worried about the fact that the drall didn't seem too worried about getting captured… But at least, she was grumpy, which hopefully meant that they had scored one up on her. How long that would last, Obi-Wan didn't know… Officer Qor was much more optimistic about her estimations.
"Your thievery ends here, Drall."
"I'll be having that." Qui-Gon took the artefact into his hands. Then he gave his disappointed look at the young drall, probably to convince her to change her ways. "You're an intelligent one… so much potential to do good. And you've almost caused a civil war instead. For what, an artefact you can't even profit off of?"
Obi-Wan felt his lips thin. How painful it had been to endure that look once? Twice?... How much he would've given to not be the receiver of that look again... But perhaps that was the problem; Obi-Wan didn't have anything worthy in him to give that would be enough to make his Master proud. His best attempts had been only successful at making everything worse.
The drall snorted. "'Civil war'? No no, I've been aiming for a righteous rebellion, liberation of Tyryh from those rotten monarchs taxing the people 'till their underwear," she said with passion. "They're the real thieves, you see…" Her passionately enthusiastic tone shifted into a passionately accusatory one. "The Jedi were revered for protecting the defenceless, bringing hope and justice to the galaxy… What a shame to see once protectors leashed by the rich and the powerful. Instead of lecturing me, you should be thanking me for doing your job. But it seems there are no real Jedi anymore."
Not a real Jedi…
"That's enough, thief. No one breaks any laws here." the other officer made a move towards her.
Lanyu smirked. "We will see about that." The artefact in Qui-Gon's hand spurred some kind of tear gas, while the drall made its escape from her captors. Sensing her position within the Force, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon lost no moments to go after her. Until the militia recovered from the unpleasant surprise, the Jedi pair was able to follow her into an open field.
Lanyu was relentless. She kept using one trick after the other; flash grenades, more tear-gas canisters, some tiny spider-like droids… Not to mention, the plants on the field were slowing Obi-Wan down more compared to Lanyu, due to her smaller form. But Obi-Wan was at least short; due to his gigantic body, Qui-Gun was struggling even worse…
"You keep chasing her, I'll cut her off." said Qui-Gon, rushing out of the field to get a more distinctive advantage. Obi-Wan dutifully kept chasing Lanyu through the rapidly changing plantations.
As they closed the distance, Lanyu used one more type of distraction they haven't seen from her before; a grappling-hook-like contraption which captured, bent, and released the plants right back on Obi-Wan's face. Obi-Wan reflexively reached for his lightsaber with one hand, and parried the bushy branches with his other, only to realise, one of the plants was the special variant of that Brula… The branches tangled around his harm, and its thorns crossed into his skin like a tick. Despite the incredible pain, he cut through the extension of the branch to prevent it from tangling further, and attempted to run back at the Drall.
At that moment, Qui-Gon succeeded to catch the Drall, knocking her out with a well-aimed Force push, and reinforcements arrived within moments.
Obi-Wan yelped, and collapsed in pain.
"Padawan!" reached the concerned voice of his Master, demanding to know. "What happened?!"
"It seems he wore the Gauntlet…" said the officer.
Like a criminal. Maybe I deserved it?
"Will he be alright?"
"I'm alright." Obi-Wan attempted to get up, only to collapse back with pain much worse than before. As the burning sensation spread to his arm, as the dead thorns bit a little harder, Obi-Wan panicked.
"Sit down! It's toxic, remember? You better lay down and rest until we take care of it."
"There are two treatment methods." the officer began to explain. "We often take it out gradually, as it's less painful… The patient rests and feels well in usually around a week… Or as a more time-efficient method, we can take it out all at once, but-"
"Take it out now." Obi-Wan interrupted. He didn't want a Gauntlet, he wasn't a criminal, he wasn't. Despite his shortcomings… He didn't want anything on him to slow him down either, heavy or not. Even if Qui-Gon never fully accepted him back, or thought he was worthy, or he was a true Jedi… He still had to do his best. If the pain could remind-
"It will hurt, badly."
"I don't care. Take it out!" he demanded, almost frantically.
"Once I begin, I won't be able to stop. It will really hurt." officer said grimly, upset for even suggesting the second option.
"Obi-Wan," a warning, or maybe a promise… You don't have to go through this.
"Take it out… Please." he pleaded. I must, Master… Please.
That was the only kind of penance he could think of.
Never wanting to be a burden again, he screamed as the officer tore the attached branches out. Somehow, no voice came… He screamed until his throat dried, his eyes almost left their sockets, until he finally passed out, and yet, no voice came out.
Perhaps it still wasn't enough…
Padawan? Qui-Gon sent through the bond, only to receive silence.
Why do you push so hard? What is it you fear that this pain you endure is preferable?
Something whispered to the Jedi Master that it was him, but Qui-Gon was too stubborn to listen.
Additional notes:
Brula fruit plant was actually canon with Jedi: Fallen Order, and they really are the native to Dathomir, but this variant is my imagination. (You know, for the whump.)
Velabri are the people of the planet with the same name from the Legends. I chose it because it was on the edge of the galactic map, so it makes sense if you're a thief running away from Jedi. Wookieepedia describes Velabri people as a humanoid warrior-like race with characteristic pure-white eyes, silver spiky hair, and a clear distaste for crime (also a strict code for honour).
Tyryh was completely made up by me.
This is actually my first completed fic, as well as a oneshot, so all reviews are appreciated.
