The Jedi and the Duchess

Chapter 5 pt. 2

Hello there! This story will include both canon plots (actual events from the Clone Wars/Star Wars) and stories I have come up with myself. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: These characters are the creations of George Lucas, Lucasfilm, and Disney. I do NOT own them!

A light fog covered the forest floor and the only sound was the hum of Obi-Wan's lightsaber. "I don't think Qui-Gon went in here. There are no footsteps on the dirt or any signs of recent activity," he informed. He did not like the danger he entertained by allowing the duchess to enter such eerie woods.

"You're probably right," she admitted. "Maybe we should check if he went to the ship?" she suggested.

"Good idea," he agreed. They both simultaneously turned around towards the way they came in, but no longer saw a clearing.

" What direction did we come from?" Satine asked frantically. She was the one who suggested they went looking for Qui-Gon in these woods, and she didn't want to be responsible for them getting lost.

"Satine I—" she looked at him with panic in her eyes. "I think we are lost," he finished. Obi-Wan had no idea where they had walked to, and the fog was too thick to retrace their steps back to the camp.

"So we're stuck here?" she exclaimed. She felt like everything was collapsing around her. First, her home was bombed, then she was forced to leave her home planet, and now she was lost in a forest. At least she had a Jedi with her.

"Let's remain calm. I'm sure Qui-Gon will come and find us," he breathed. "We should find some sort of covering for now. If there are indeed any creatures lurking, we should be isolated."

"Maybe that cave could work?" She pointed to a large black rock-looking figure a few feet away from them.

"That should suffice," Obi-Wan complimented. "For a duchess, you sure are observative," he joked.

"For a Jedi, you sure are bold," she retorted. They both laughed and began walking through the bushes and to the cave.

The two of them entered the cave and were immediately slammed by heat and humidity. It was an incredibly uncomfortable environment to be in, but at least it would protect them from the dangers of the forest. "I guess this is our home for now," Satine muttered as she fanned herself with her hands.

"It's better than nothing," Obi-Wan responded, waving his lightsaber around to check if the area was clear. "There doesn't seem to be anything in here except for us," he concluded. "I'll go outside and look for firewood."

"So you're just going to leave me here?" Satine asked baffled.

"If I lose track of where the cave is, I'll need you to yell so that I can find my way back here. Also, I need you to stay safe, and this," he waved to their surroundings, "is as safe as it can get when one is stranded in the woods."

"Just don't be gone too long. I'll get worried," she scowled. She did not want to be left alone, and she did not want Obi-Wan to get harmed outside.

"I'll be fine. We'll both be fine," he reassured, patting her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Despite her efforts to keep her feelings towards him professional, she cared for the young Jedi and didn't want anything happening to him.

"We will be fine," he repeated. "Here," he took her hand and pressed something metal into it.

"Obi-Wan, your lightsaber. I can't," she stammered. This weapon was his life, she couldn't let him give it to her.

"Please, Satine. It's darker in here than out there," he smiled as he closed her fingers around his most prized possession. She looked up at him and smiled in thanks, but her eyes were still filled with uncertainty. He understood Satine's worry all too well, he had been concerned for her safety ever since the bombing of her palace. He didn't like the idea of leaving her alone, but he had to get a fire started before nightfall. Obi-Wan then began walking out of the cave and took one last look at the young duchess before leaving her in the dark.

Satine sat down on the floor as she waited for the Jedi to return. She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her head in her arms. She didn't want Obi-Wan to see her cry again, and now that he was gone, she was finally able to release her sadness. She cried for Mandalore and her people that were now under the protection of her Prime Minister. She cried about this forest and the fact that she was lost and all alone. And lastly, she cried because she couldn't help but long for Obi-Wan's company and to feel his arms around her again. This whole situation was too much to handle, and sometimes she wondered if she was even meant to be a duchess when she constantly needed to run away or have other people protect her.

As if things couldn't get worse, Satine heard something rustling around her. It started off very faint but began multiplying by the minute. It sounded like there was something crawling around her. She quickly grabbed the lightsaber on the floor next to her and finally ignited it after a few attempts to turn it on. Satine almost went sick when she beheld the scene in front of her. Covering the cave walls and floor around her were hundreds of large insects crawling around each other.

She jumped to her feet and wove the lightsaber around to fully take in the scene. The purple and red shells of the creatures automatically revealed that they were venom-mites. And they seemed to be multiplying by the second. As one layer of the mites crawled down to the floor, another hidden layer of them would follow. The insects didn't seem to slow down as they slowly approached the duchess.

"Help!" she yelled as she felt something land on her shoulder and began crawling down her body. If one of these venom-mites bit her, she would surely die. They were one of the most lethal insects in the system. "Please!" she screamed again when she felt them crawling up to her ankles. Their sharp legs pinched as they crawled farther up on her. "Obi-Wan!" she cried right before she felt something jab into her knee and all feeling in her body slowly leaving her.

Obi-Wan made sure not to stray too far from the cave so that he wouldn't get lost again, leaving Satine alone for longer. It had only been a few minutes since he left her, and he had found a nice pile of firewood to light up the cave. As he was about to reach for one last twig, he heard a faint yell coming from behind him.

Obi-Wan immediately dropped the wood and ran towards the cave. He was frantic when he heard the screams getting louder and more frequent. Satine was in trouble and he had to save her.

"Help me!" he heard her whimper one last time as everything went silent. Obi-Wan's heart dropped. He felt fear, terror, uncertainty, and loss slam into him all at once. Everything the Jedi had ever taught him about never using his emotions to fight completely vanished as he ran into the cave, used the force to grab his lightsaber, and began cutting his way through the swarm of mites to get to Satine.

Finally, he was able to grab her from the floor and brush all the insects off of her. She looked up at him with thanks in her eyes, but it quickly vanished as they heard the buzzing of wings coming from the remaining venom-mites. They both looked at each other, and Obi-Wan scooped her into his arms as they ran from the swarm chasing after them.

He sprinted from the fast and now angry creatures with Satine holding on to him tightly. The insects didn't seem to slow down, and Obi-Wan desperately wanted to set the duchess down and make sure she wasn't injured. Suddenly, he heard the hum of the venom-mites' wings halt and retreat as he ran towards a clearing in the canopy of trees. It seemed that the mites weren't fond of brightness.

Obi-Wan continued running towards the patch of sunlight but felt something coil around his ankle. He had no choice but to drop Satine in order to catch himself. Once he got up, he went to check on the duchess, who was sitting up and dusting herself off.

"I'm so sorry, Satine!" he exclaimed, rushing to her side.

"It's alright," she replied as she reached down to her knee. "I felt something sharp stick into my knee earlier, and I thought I had gotten bit by one of those awful insects," she informed.

"Are their bights harmful?" Obi-Wan asked. He didn't know what he could do to help Satine if she was poisoned by the bite. He didn't recognize any medicinal plants in this forest to help her.

"Oh yes, they're deadly." Obi-Wan's eyes widened with fear. Deadly? He began panicking again.

"I must have gotten stung by their tail instead or else I'd be dead by now. Their stings only temporarily numb people's limbs," she stated, easing his fears immensely. He was thankful that she knew about the creatures in her system or else they wouldn't know if her sting was benign or not.

"Thank the force," he muttered in relief. He got closer to Satine in order to make sure she was perfectly clear of any other injuries and gasped when he saw her right arm. A long scratch went across the outside of her arm, and blood was trickling down to her elbow.

"What is it?" Satine asked curiously. The Jedi beside her was staring at her arm with concern. She turned her head to check out what he was staring at and beheld her wound. "Now I'm glad that I got bit by that mite," she joked. "If my limbs weren't numbed, my arm would be in a lot of pain right now," she finished.

"I need to cover it. You're bleeding significantly." With that, Obi-Wan reached for his lightsaber and cut a piece of fabric off of his cloak. He carefully wrapped it around her delicate arm twice and tied the remaining fabric into a tight knot. "That'll have to do," he concluded.

"Thank you." She nodded her head in thanks. He put his arm around her carefully, making sure not to grab onto her injury. He then lifted her wrist to put it around his neck and carry her over to the clearing, but Satine stopped him abruptly. She placed her arm on his shoulder and looked up at him shyly. Before he could say anything, she leaned closer to him, lovingly ran her hand down his cheek, and kissed him.

Obi-Wan didn't even protest as he let himself release the emotions he had been holding back for so long. He'd deal with the consequences later. Right now he just wanted to forget all of his responsibilities as a Jedi and focus on the fact that the girl he cared for, cared for him too.

Author's Note

I hope you liked this chapter! I think this is my favorite one. Anyway, I hope you're staying safe and not going too crazy in quarantine. See you next week!