AN 1: Hello, fanfiction community. Over the past semester, I've been taking a fanfiction class at college. I never thought of myself as someone who would appreciate fanfiction, but in taking this class, I've really grown to understand the love and positivity associated with fan communities. Writing something like this is really out of my comfort zone, but I hope anyone that reads it can take something out of it. Thanks so much!
AN 2: While I'm not the biggest fan of the prequel trilogy, I think some of the characters and moments had some potential. In this FanFiction, I'm taking a scene from Episode II in which Obi-Wan and Anakin are in an elevator en route to see Senator Padme Amidala. Obi-Wan mentions a previous adventure of his and Anakin's, and I'm writing imagining that adventure from both Obi-Wan's perspective – as it appears he does not agree on how exactly those events took place.
Obi-Wan entered the elevator following Anakin. Right away, he could sense that Anakin was nervous – for some reason…
The elevator doors closed behind them, and they shot up towards the top floor of the building to where Senator Amidala would be housed for her protection. Obi-Wan found it odd that they were holding the Senator in such a vulnerable location: a wide-open penthouse with giant windows. But that question was not his to ask; Obi-Wan was there to follow the orders he has been given.
After fifteen seconds, the tension became too great:
"You seem a little on edge," Obi-Wan said. He looked over at Anakin, who was standing to his left.
Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan, and quickly looked away, avoiding his master's gaze. "Not at all," he replied.
"I haven't felt you this tense since we fell into that nest of gundarks," Obi-Wan quickly responded.
Anakin smiled, scoffed, and looked at Obi-Wan, "You fell into that nightmare, Master, and I rescued you. Remember?" he retorted.
"Oh… yes." Obi-Wan laughed, thinking to himself. He did not exactly remember it the same way as Anakin...
Obi-Wan and Anakin had searched all over the galaxy for any sign of Count Dooku. He was responsible for countless deaths in the Clone Wars and was rumored to be involved in an attempt to assassinate Senator Amidala.
After failed searching on Coruscant, Obi-Wan and Anakin received word from the Jedi Council that Dooku had been sighted in the Vanqorian system.
"Go there immediately," Mace Windu ordered, "we don't know how long Dooku will stay still."
"Yes, Master Windu," Obi-Wan and Anakin responded in sync.
Obi-Wan wondered aloud, staring off into the vast space ahead of him, "Why would Dooku go all the way to the outer rim? Something feels strange about all of this."
Anakin replied urgently, "No time to worry about that, Master, we need to go now if we want any hope at catching Dooku."
So the pair flew off towards the outer rim and the planet Vanqor.
Upon their arrival, the planet was mostly a wasteland; they had to fly around the planet at low altitude hoping to spot some village or sign of Dooku. After nearly an hour of this, they spotted a village on the horizon. It was getting late and the Vanqor's suns shone a deep red, illuminating the village. They landed their ships and walked into an inn in the town.
"Hello." the innkeeper said this as if it were a question.
"Good evening," Obi-Wan replied. "We would like a room to stay for the night."
The innkeeper was clearly nervous, Obi-Wan and Anakin stuck out like sore thumbs on a planet as impoverished as this.
Obi-Wan was tired, he wanted so badly to complete his mission and find Count Dooku, but he knew he had to have patience. Obi-Wan drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Obi-Wan and Anakin went into town searching for any clues of Dooku's whereabouts. Obi-Wan remembered the strained interaction with the innkeeper the night before. "Anakin," he said "remember how strange that innkeeper looked at us last night? If Count Dooku has been around here, surely he would've been noticed by the locals! Let's talk to them and see what we can find out."
They walked away toward a local cantina. Obi-Wan glanced around a mostly empty room. There was music playing softly on the other side of the bar, and a few folks were gathered around to watch. Other than that, Obi-Wan saw folks mostly keeping to themselves around the edges of the room.
"Hello, sir! how can I help you?" the bartender was excited to have such clearly wealthy people at his establishment.
"We're doing alright," Obi-Wan replied, sitting down at the bar.
As Obi-Wan was ready to continue his pleasantries with the bartender, Anakin jumped in, forcefully asking, "Have you seen anyone by the name of Dooku roaming around this village."
The bartender immediately looked away from the Jedi, and Obi-Wan sensed he was hiding something. "Hmm… Nothing rings a bell," the bartender said. He was repeatedly looking over towards the music and the band.
"Listen, sir," Obi-Wan gently suggested. "We are not looking for any trouble; there's no cause for alarm, but if you know something about Count Dooku, you must tell us. He is an evil man wanted by the Galatic Senate."
The bartender nervously looked away again. "I know who you're talking about." His voice was barely louder than a whisper. "He is hiding up in a cave on the East side of the mountains. I do not know why he is there, but he came to our planet and is forcing our sons to work for him."
"The mountains," Anakin said excitedly. "Let's go now, Master, hurry!"
"Wait!" the bartender said. "You must beware the gundarks," His face was colorless, and his eyes revealed the grave seriousness of his warning. "Many years ago, the gundarks came and attacked our village, and they destroyed nearly everything here. They took everything from us. They are ruthless creatures – running and destroying with reckless abandon and no thought at all. Please, I beg of you, be safe."
"Thank you for this information," Obi-Wan said. And they rushed towards the mountains to find Dooku. As they circled around to the East side of the ridge, they spotted Dooku's ship. "There it is," Anakin gasped, "Dooku's ship!"
"Let's be careful now, Anakin. We want to make sure he does not know we are coming." They flew around until they found a safe place to land, and they made their way to the opening of the cave. The cave was pitch black, so they used their lightsabers to illuminate it. They heard the deep growl of the gundarks in the recesses of the cave as they stepped further inside.
Suddenly, Obi-Wan felt a presence behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Dooku standing at the entrance of the cave.
"Count Dooku!" Obi-Wan cried, prompting Anakin to turn around.
"Jedi," Dooku replied, menacingly.
Anakin charged toward Dooku, and Dooku with the flick of his wrist used the force to move a massive rock and knock Anakin out of the way. By the time Obi-Wan caught up Dooku was already running toward his ship. As he was leaving, Dooku slammed massive piles of rocks in front of the entrance, blocking the Jedi inside.
Obi-Wan finally reached Anakin and lifted the boulders off of him. "Anakin, are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked, grunting as he pulled another rock off of him.
"I'm fine master," Anakin responded.
Dooku had escaped, but the Jedi weren't out of danger yet.
"There must be another way out of here," Obi-Wan mused. So they searched and searched, finding nothing for what seemed like hours. Until suddenly, they rounded a corner and saw a bit of natural light.
As they rushed around the corner, they saw a long corridor with another exit at the end. But just as they began to celebrate. They were about three-quarters of the way down the corridor when they heard a loud threatening grumble the froze them in their track. And then another. And then another. And out of the darkness of the sides of the corridor came three massive creatures. They were about seven feet tall each with twelve menacingly deadly claws. Obi-Wan knew that these were those massive gundarks the locals had warned them about.
Obi-Wan and Anakin looked at each other. Obi-Wan could sense the trepidation rising inside Anakin. Fear was never a good emotion for the Jedi because fear could make you act irrationally. But Anakin's fear overtook him; he began to tremble and shake.
"Stay calm Anakin, and let's slowly back away these creatures are dangerous," Obi-Wan said – or at least that's what he wanted to say.
Anakin had rushed off back into the cave and the gundarks were following close behind. All Obi-Wan could do is cry out, "ANAKIN!"
Obi-Wan jumped into action and pursued Anakin and the gundarks looking for any way that he could save his padawan. He realized that he had to do something quickly; Anakin was encircled by the gundarks and they were closing in quickly. Just then, he had an idea. Outside of the cave, he remembered, was a giant, deep pit outside of the cave from which nothing could escape. He remembered back to his conversation with the local bartender and he instantly concocted a plan.
"Over here!" Obi-Wan shouted. He threw a small rock trying to draw the gundarks' attention away from Anakin. They quickly started to charge towards him. Obi-Wan led them out of the cave racing towards the pit.
"Master! No!" Anakin shouted.
But Obi-Wan knew what he was doing. With precision timing, just as the gundarks approached the pit, he flipped back into the hole. The move sent the gundarks flying past him down into the depths of the pit. Obi-Wan had grabbed a small ledge and held himself along the edge as the gundarks fell down past him. Just as he was about to leap back to higher ground, Anakin arrived at the edge of the hole distraught. Obi-Wan realized what Anakin must've thought.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin cried. Anakin got down on his stomach and reached down to help Obi-Wan get out. Despite not needing the assistance, Obi-Wan accepted it and found himself met by the embrace of his padawan.
"Master, please never do anything that crazy ever again. You make me worried sick," Anakin said.