Day 2: Stolen
Summary: The Republic has fallen. The Empire has risen. Obi-Wan is on the run, but Vader is closing in.
Obi-Wan gripped his lightsaber tighter as he looked over his shoulder. The thin alleyway was empty, and he glanced up along the sides of the buildings. Nothing stirred except for a slight breeze. He turned and ran on. He couldn't waste too much time, and though he didn't see anything he could still feel it in the Force. The wrongness. The inky coldness. The Dark Side.
He ran on making his way through a maze of alleyways and sidestreets of the metropolis on some mid-rim world. If he paused for a moment he would be able to easily and quickly recall its name, but right now he couldn't afford to lose his focus even for a second . . .
A streak red sliced down at him. He barely managed to jump out of the way of the lightsaber and could feel the heat against the body. Smell the slight singe as the beam caught a few threads and hairs.
"Obi-Wan," hissed a voice. An all too familiar voice.
A million replies went through Obi-Wan's mind, but he said none of them. He only gritted his teeth, lit his lightsaber, and shifted into a defensive stance.
The other figure had been hunched over, but now straightened up. The red glow of the lightsaber illuminating the features. Darth Vader didn't look that different from Anakin Skywalker. They had the same face. The same scar next to the right eye. The same long hair. The differences were that Darth Vader wore all black robes and his eyes, a shiver ran Obi-Wan looking at them, his eyes were a sickly yellow rimmed in a bleeding red.
Vader slowly raised his lightsaber and pointed it at Ob-Wan. "Where are they?" Vader growled.
"Far away from here. From you."
"Liar."
"I am not lying, Darth."
Obi-Wan wasn't lying as the ship had already taken off and gone into hyperspace.
"You can't hide them forever. I will find them, Obi-Wan. One way or another I will find my children. They will be by my side!"
"They are not your children, Darth Vader. You lost your claim to them when you raised your hand to their moth-"
"Do not speak of her!" Vader shouted. "You turned her away from me! You stole my children!"
"I have stolen nothing."
Obi-Wan spun his lightsaber and pulled it over of his head as he moved into his ready stance. Vader let out an angry scream as he dashed forward. Their sabers hissed as that struck against each other. Sparks scattered across the alley as their sabers dug into the ground and walls. The two pressed on. Blows were knocked aside. Slashes were avoided. Punches and kicks were blocked. Until . . . until . . .
Obi-Wan slipped. It had been a split-second of his foot landing poorly, but it had drawn his attention away from Ana- Vader, who of course noticed it and attacked. The red blade slid through Obi-Wan's right arm. The arm, still clutching the ignited blue lightsaber, fell to the alley floor. Obi-Wan gripped the stump of his arm as he stared at it.
Vader smiled as he lazily spun his blade. "Now we match," he joked. With a flick of his fingers and the Force, Obi-Wan's lightsaber flew into Vader's free hand. "Tell me where my children are."
"Never."
Vader's eyes narrowed. He raised the blue blade and pointed it Obi-Wan's left arm.
"You have plenty of limbs left," Vader said. "How many will you loose until you tell me the truth?"
Obi-Wan glared up at him. At the Sith lord known as Darth Vader, who used to be Anakin Skywalker. The boy Obi-Wan had taken in and trained and raised. The boy he loved like a brother. But that dear boy was gone. Yoda was right. Anakin was dead and consumed by the Dark Side, and Obi-Wan would not allow the twins to share their father's fate.
"You can cut off my head, Darth," Obi-Wan spat the last word. "I will never tell you."
There was a slight pause. A barely-there flinch in Vader's features. "Very well," he said. He sounded tired. Sad? Whatever it was, it was gone when he next spoke up. "Let's see if that's true."