It's been a very very busy week for me but managed to get this all wrapped up for today :) Going to check up on some of the other characters in this chapter hope you all enjoy!
YumikoWantsCake - Yes I've always found Dooku to be an interesting character, his motives are never that cut and dry! Thank you for your contiued support and I hope you enjoy this chapter! P.s. Ani gets a segment here just to catch up with things, your wish is my command :D
Annie Walker - Yes very similar, you'll have to wait and found out I'm afraid ;) And no it wont be a case of 'oh you don't want to, well I'll just kill you'. Dooku's gone to far too much trouble for that to be the case, well for now anyway :D As for your other queries they will all be addressed in the next few chapters! Glad you're liking the story :D enjoy!
Guest - Apologies for not being able to update sooner, been a very hectic week! hope you enjoy anyway :)
Anakin shivered slightly wanting nothing more than to wrap his arms round his chattering body to try and increase his core temperature, that annoyingly was not possible as the electro cuffs trapping his small wrists were still snapped in place. With that idea out the window Anakin sought solace in the endless currents of the force seeking for reassurance with the aim to lower his ever so racing heart rate.
He had been left alone for what must have been hours now and as the more time dragged on, the higher his anxiety levels rose, where was Obi-Wan? What could they possibly be doing to him for this long? Shaking himself on his misgivings Anakin tried to center himself again releasing all pent up emotions bit by bit. His master would expect Anakin to continue on with these exercise's whether Obi-Wan was here or not, he had always warned him over the years of training that he wouldn't always be around to act as an anchor and guide Anakin through everything. Anakin just hadn't envisioned this time coming so soon in their apprenticeship, striving forwards with new conviction Anakin focused on his master's teachings and endeavoured in his task ahead.
The matter was made considerably worse however as the force surrounding Anakin was tainted with darkness, he assumed it was because of being in such close to vicinity to a dark force user and chided himself when he went to ask his master who obviously was not sharing the prison with Anakin. The darkness ebbed in all of his surroundings calling out to his angry emotions beckoning, urging him to hold onto them to strengthen himself. He ignored all of the goading whisperings and remained in the light working earnestly to lower his anxiety and worry over Obi-Wan, fear leads to the dark side…
Anakin actually succeeded in letting go many of his troublesome feelings before a new force presence made itself known in his surroundings. Dooku. The longer Anakin examined the new presence however the more his theory was abolished, not Dooku then but then who else could have this much darkness rolling off of them?
Abruptly Anakin realised the new figure was now standing outside of his cell, he could feel their eyes boring into his form as he meditated, scanning for weakness and chuckling slightly at the Jedi apprentice's attempts of indifference.
"You can stop that, little Jedi, I know you sense my presence here." That was a surprise, the tone was that of a female dripping with malice and danger.
Anakin grudgingly cracked his eyes open, on the outside maintaining the perfect mask of calmness but inside his heart rate shot up a few paces. The newcomer sensed his inner turmoil and grinned manically throwing her head backwards whilst sniggering at the revelation.
"Yes I can feel your fear young one." Her voice was slow and precise, drawling even, laced with untamed fire.
Anakin steeled himself at the once again spot on observation, this dark force user was reading him just like an open book. He tried desperately to build shields round parts of his mind just as Obi-Wan had started to show him. His efforts were noticed immediately as the stranger's face broke out into a full blown smirk, gleefully happy with ruffling the young Jedi's feathers.
"Where's my master?" Anakin growled back as the figure slipped out of his limited view of the door soon after his sight adjusted to the change in light, she was quick.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about him, he's being taken care of nicely." The antagonising words floated through the empty air between them before a beeping sound replaced them.
Before Anakin could offer any sort of angry retort a chiming sound rang out and he swiftly leapt to his feet as the force field penning him in fizzled out of existence, then the figure stalked in heading straight for his slightly shaking form.
The figure was very skinny and athletic, Anakin could imagine her leaping around in a duel with no problems. Hanging at the stranger's hips were two curved saber hilts, perfectly defined and beautiful. She was clad head to toe in dark clothes, every piece giving off the impression that the wearer was a warrior. It was the new arrival's face that had Anakin's breathing hitch swiftly, cold dead set eyes bore down on his position, even with Anakin standing the figure easily towered over him.
Her deathly pale skin was scoured with deep markings, almost like tattoos. Some stemmed from behind her ear travelling up the skull where there should be hair but there was none. The top of the being's head glinted shinily, utterly and completely bald. More markings peppered her forehead and the areas surrounding her eyes, making them appear even more piercing. At either side of her mouth were further markings, a slightly tainted red colour which contrasted against the skin and made it look all the more deathly. The overall appearance projected power and domination, intending on throwing her opponents off before they even began, this was almost definitely working on Anakin right now but he strove to not let her witness the affect she was having on him.
Anakin had thought Dooku's aura was dark but the figure standing in front of him now not only reeked of evil but emitted it. The force was in complete turmoil, stuck between the vast contrast between the two opponents, Anakin had never felt anything quite like it and once again wished for his master's presence so he could answer all these worrying queries.
Anakin stilled when a hand shot out towards his face, expecting a strike he was once again astounded as the taloned hand caressed his cheek finger nail pressing slightly as it went. If anything he would have preferred the strike this was, well, this was extremely disturbing. There was a possessive glint in the eyes of his opponent as she pronounced slowly her next heart stopping remark.
"Yes I can feel how strong the force is within you, so much potential." The remark was laced with glee as her eyes manically darted over his form which made Anakin's skin crawl.
Anakin proceeded to try and rip himself from this mad woman's hold eyes glaring dangerously, only to have her strong grip grab his jaw in a vice like hold whilst chuckling deliberately, other hand naturally shifting to hover over one of her curved saber hilts.
"Such fire…"
Without another breath Anakin's jaw was released and the figure traipsed out of the cell, flicking the force field back in place and leaving Anakin in stunned silence all in a matter of moments. The fleeting image of the dark witch was engrained in his mind which caused his whole body to start trembling, lowering himself to the ground before his legs gave way he abruptly slammed his eyes shut trying to rid himself of the last encounter.
As much as he hated to admit it the unknown person had rattled him immensely, fear and anxiety levels at an all-time high with no questions answered about his master's condition or even his whereabouts. He proceeded to harness the forces soothing currents with earnest and set about trying to ascertain the location and condition of Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan lazily scanned and memorised the route he, Count Dooku and their personal security traversed along, he was exceptionally gifted at coercing the speaker into thinking that he was listening intently to what they were saying whilst his mind was actually straying to another query. This time was no different, Dooku was prattling on about the naivety of the Jedi order and the corruptness of the republic as if Obi-Wan gave the slightest damn to what this depraved lunatic was rambling on about.
He kept part of his mind monitoring the Count's speech in case something came up that he would be expected to answer or if frankly, it actually turned interesting. The majority of Obi-Wan's mind however had another task on the forefront of his mind, fracturing the manacles that held his wrists into tiny smithereens. It was taking all of his concentration to keep mental shields tightly blockading his inner motives and ever increasing access to the force, giddily he could actually feel the mechanisms start to pull loose at the hinges now.
Abruptly he had to avert his attention back to the conversation as Dooku waved off the guards and motioned forwards so that he and Obi-Wan were now travelling side by side along the corridor. Obi-Wan's heart rate had increased dramatically as panic overtook him, he had thought for one horrifying moment that Dooku had found out exactly what he was doing, to his utter bewilderment however the Count seemed completely oblivious and continued to pace forward this time however engaging in an actual conversation that Obi-Wan was expected to participate. Well so be it if he wants another lashing then he can have one.
"Is it true Qui-Gon openly requested to take on Skywalker as a padawan even though you were still his apprentice?" Vicious assault on an unprepared opponent, almost crashing through all defences at once. Continuing to play dirty then.
Obi-Wan's breathing stilled and he slowed his pace dangerously, unwanted emotions stirring in his chest which threatened to break the surface of his calm posture. The gleam from Dooku's gaze and slight smirk pulling at the older man's lips told everything Obi-Wan needed to know, Dooku already knew the answer to that question and was trying to provoke a response. He would not let Dooku anger him.
Dooku raised his eyebrows slightly humoured at Obi-Wan's attempts of indifference, he could see that he found a weak point in his opponents defence and he intended to capitalise on it.
"Yes, Qui was always fond of his little projects. All those 'pathetic life forms'. It's a shame he never seemed to finish what he started however…' Stinging attack antagonising, looking to be met he was not disappointed.
"Shut up! How dare you say his name? Traitor." Aggressive defence whirling the attack back onto his opponent with a vicious slash crashing against his enemies formidable defence.
He had stopped clean in his tracks as he dished out the latest onslaught, snarling into Dooku's face the entire time.
Dooku just glanced down at his captive eyebrows raised gaze filled with triumph, Obi-Wan didn't think his fury could rise any more, that was until Dooku started to laugh.
"How can you serve the very abomination that killed your own apprentice did he really mean nothing to you!" Stunning set of attacking parries aiming at his opponents substantial defence but still managing to land at least one blow leaving Dooku reeling for a few moments.
Obi-Wan's airway was abruptly cut off as Dooku had him pinned against the unforgiving wall jarring his old wounds, arm pressing against his windpipe all in matter of microseconds, faster than Obi-Wan could blink, murder in his fiery eyes.
Obi-Wan had been outmanoeuvred physically at least, verbally he had quashed Dooku in the previous spat, antagonising and striking at the weakness the count had until he had struck a victorious blow.
"Careful, Kenobi, I blame the Jedi solely for Qui-Gon's death. If the council had listened to me from the start none of this would have happened!" Despite letting an attack past his defence his counterstrike was powerful and full of venom, he was far more dangerous when angered.
The choking arm pressed dangerously against his larynx causing Obi-Wan to squirm slightly trying to find purchase to propel the count away, which was not easy in his currently restrained position. Painstaking seconds later Obi-Wan was released from the hold and hungrily gulped air back into his empty lungs, Dooku's posture remained offensive ready to take any action for more insolence or insulting words.
"I warned them about the senate and the republic's corruption, the galaxy is falling about around them and all the mighty council will do is sit and talk. They are not worthy of the name Jedi they are all no more than babbling fools, you are all failing the galaxy in the name of what? You actually think it's peace!" He unrelentingly continued his deadly barrage of strikes, blows and parries throwing Obi-Wan off guard and forcing him to go on the retreat.
"What and you think the separatists have the answer for the galaxy? You are more delusional than I first thought, you're deranged Dooku!" Obi-Wan barely held his opponents savage onslaught at bay, counter striking where he could but never breaking past Dooku's once again impenetrable armour.
Obi-Wan's voice came out rasping at first but the end of his accusation was essentially yelled in the face of his opponent. Dooku's reaction, if possible, increased the rage he was feeling as ferocity welled up dangerously inside his form. He was actually grinning! Stepping closer to his opponent breathing heavily as the storm inside him threatened to break over the surface.
"Can you feel it, Kenboi? Your anger and hatred fuel your strength, they empower you!" An inspiring killing blow, heading straight for his opponents insecurities and more dangerously so, the truth.
"No! The dark side is weak, giving into your emotions only makes you uncontrolled!" A weak back footed defence parry, struggling immensely under the strain of his opponents relentless driving attacks on his weakness.
Obi-Wan could worryingly feel his rage grow unchecked and strove to release his emotions, which was made impossible with the count's continuing assault on him, forcing Obi-Wan to retreat. He stalked away from the count trying to escape the taunts being thrown at him mercilessly. The hatred and outrage did however prove quite useful with harnessing the force to weaken the restraints clamping his hands, the fact alone alarmed Obi-Wan as realisation dawned on him, he was losing control.
"Ha! The narrow minded view of the Jedi and that is why they will never defeat the Sith Lord, the true power arises from harnessing the force from both sides. You are just too afraid to touch the darkness Obi-Wan, its strength and potential terrify you." A steadier set of strikes, swiftly blocked expertly by his opponent, last strike, risky and overzealous but nevertheless hitting its mark all the same.
"The dark side only leads to misery, I am not afraid of the dark side of the force. I've seen it and conquered it." Another weak set of defence blocks, unable to counterstrike constantly on the back foot trying to gain ground, desperation seeping into the duel.
Obi-Wan continued to storm off slightly ahead of Dooku who was having no trouble keeping up with his prisoner, not letting him have any reprieve, any chance of escape from their duel.
"Oh my dear Obi-Wan, you haven't even begun to understand the true capability of the dark side. Tell me you cannot have light without dark so why should you restrict yourself, you could be all-powerful if you harnessed the true potential of the force!" Mercifully slowing pace of attacks, circling opponent, sizing up new weakness's after assault followed by a blinding thrust pushing for a response!
"Jedi do not want for personal gain, we serve the galaxy!" Strong defence, sure footed fuelled by conviction and belief.
"Parroted like a prized student, I thought you would have picked up on more of your master's traits. He certainly was an unwanted maverick now wasn't he?" No more reprieve, a near deadly strike to his opponents defensive block barely stopped, followed by another more personal thrust grazing his opponents undefended side. Always his weakness…
Obi-Wan stopped abruptly spinning round to face the smirking face of Dooku wanting nothing more than to rip his stupid smug smile right off his face. The more Obi-Wan tried to release his anger the harder Dooku pushed, antagonising the young Jedi already knowing his greatest weakness the perfect place to strike.
"Don't you dare desecrate his memory, you are not worthy to even speak his name!" Barely holding the attacks back, loathing seeping into his defence making it sloppy. Effective counter attacks no longer an option.
"Face it, Kenobi, it's the reason he forsook your training to take on Anakin. He could actually see some potential there…" The last blinding assault attempt, worming its way past all of Obi-Wan's defences to claim victory disarming his opponent in a particularly vicious blow.
Only in reality they had both been disarmed as Obi-Wan's next actions pushed their spoken duel into a very deadly physical one.
That was it, the final straw of his rationale. Obi-Wan shattered the remains of the restraints with a burst of force energy so raw and full of power that he had to think twice if he was still being affected by the force inhibitor. In less than a second Dooku was sprawled at the other end of the corridor, caught unprepared by his captives daring challenge and being struck head on by the wave of power Obi-Wan put behind the attack. In the next moment Obi-Wan's own light saber was in his grip, stolen from Dooku's belt, and he was standing in a stance ready for battle. It wasn't his usual stance however, this time unchecked fury radiated from Obi-Wan's form and he stormed forward in an attack lunge at his fallen foe.
The sizzling crimson light shot from his opponent's weapon as it came up to block Obi-Wan's overhead strike with such force it sent shockwaves up Obi-Wan's arms all the way to his shoulders. Before Obi-Wan could lunge again at his adversary he was suddenly sailing through the air at alarming speed, shoved with an immense force so large it stole his air immediately, before crashing unceremoniously into a bulkhead and sliding agonisingly towards the floor.
Glancing upwards he noted Dooku lower his arm and start to dust himself off before smirking slightly and holding out a hand inviting Obi-Wan to attack. He did not disappoint and leapt off the floor bounding across the narrow space faster than a speeding blaster bolt, blue clashed against red at an alarming rate in a blur of motion, both attackers fuelled by anger and hatred empowering their blows.
Obi-Wan slashed right to the shoulder, spun behind his opponent, sprang over a low sweeping arc from his antagonist then lunged towards Dooku's midsection before being thrown away again with a flick of the count's wrist. All these actions happened in less than a second, blue and red light almost melding when clashing. Obi-Wan leapt to his feet once again and switched to a defensive stance, he would let Dooku come to him after all his advantage was in his defence.
Both opponents breathed heavily eyeing the other up looking for a weakness, a way past each other's unbreakable defence's, circling the other very languidly eyeing up any flicker of movement. The tension in the atmosphere was palpable.
At Obi-Wan's signal to 'bring it on', Dooku answered with a faint snicker before launching a dizzying set of assaults switching from one side of his opponent to the other without skipping a beat, forcing Obi-Wan to pivot and twist to meet the red blade at each strike and parry. When Dooku lunged for his midsection Obi-Wan responded by back flipping off of the wall behind him sailing cleanly over Dooku's head striking out at the counts neck which was blocked expertly, shortly after he was forced to duck again as the crimson blade arced where his own neck was but a moment ago.
Left thrust, right block, slash to the knee, jump over low blow, twist to opponents unprotected side and slash downwards, locked saber's as red met blue in a spark of dancing lights.
Both opponents pulled away from the locked struggle at precisely the same moment, stepping back a few steps and taking in large handfuls of air greedily. They were very evenly matched and neither of them had been able to land or even remotely nearly land a blow.
The corridor was eerily silent, well except for the thrumming of the two saber's of course and the racing heartbeats of the two fighters. It wasn't long before Dooku started a new tactic.
"I wonder how it must have felt, standing in front of the entire Jedi council and being thrown out like yesterday's garbage!" The taunt was snarled with as much conviction and insult that the count could muster.
His jibe was rewarded with a particularly vicious set of thrusts and strikes all aiming at separating limbs or burning through Dooku's heart. The force of each blow made each fighter's arms tremble, sparks burning and singeing each man's clothing as they scintillated off of the colliding saber's.
"Don't lie to yourself, Obi-Wan, I can feel your hatred, your anger it gives you power, it makes you stronger!"
"This is isn't you, Obi-Wan, don't lose yourself…"
The words stopped Obi-Wan in his tracks horrifying realisation sprawled over his face as realisation caught up to reality, he had given in to his fury and let it control his actions. No wonder why he couldn't get past Dooku's defences, with emotions controlling his attacks he hadn't been thinking clearly so his onslaught and defence had been severely diminished, just as it had been on Naboo before he centered himself. The warning just after hadn't been projected by Dooku it must have been Obi-Wan trying to remind himself that what he was doing was no better than what he used to do when he was an initiate!
Dooku decided to capitalise on Obi-Wan's brief pause slashing overhead blows with such strength that Obi-Wan nearly lost his grip on his saber. Pivoting, averting and leaping out of the way just before he was sliced down the arm Obi-Wan reeled backwards going on the defensive whilst he tried desperately to center himself back in the force which was still being slightly elusive. Releasing his anger piece by piece he struggled to keep up with Dooku's relentless barrage of strikes and thrusts succumbing slightly to exhaustion, the more Obi-Wan went on the defensive the harder Dooku tried to antagonise him, his own parries becoming somewhat sloppy.
There on his right. Obi-Wan saw his opening and took it fervently, pivoting to the count's sloppy side he bore down on the older man with anew strength and calmness. All previous signs of disorganisation and exhaustion dissipating before his eyes as he drew more and more on the endless reserves of the force. A sweat broke out on Dooku's face as his eyes seemed to go wild and panicked before quickly recomposing himself and defending Obi-Wan's carefully measured and controlled parries.
Obi-Wan was gaining ground and was slowly pushing the count backwards into the bulkhead, not giving him any escape or any chance to move Obi-Wan continued to press down on Dooku landing blow after blow. It was Dooku's arms now that trembled struggling to hold each strike and thrust from his opponent at bay. The panicked look in his eyes started to lessen the longer the attack continued, something was nagging at the back of Obi-Wan's mind but he pushed it back not wanting to take his concentration off of the battle, he could feel the count weakening and knew he couldn't hold out much longer himself.
The corridor was alight in a dance of red and blue flashes as the saber's continued to twirl, clash and seek for any route they could take which would not be met with the others weapon. It was almost futile for both of them, that was however until Obi-Wan saw an opening and took it. He leapt up over his opponents head, ducked and rolled to avoid the arcing swing of the crimson blade before pivoting to come up unexpectedly on his opponents right side slashing at Dooku's shoulder faster than the man could bring his saber up to block entirely.
That being said Dooku was still extremely quick and Obi-Wan only managed to sear a small wound onto his opponents arm, a superficial wound, painful however and very agonising no matter how small the searing. The count's eyes narrowed dangerously into slits and he gasped out with pain as Obi-Wan's saber seared into his skin slightly, Obi-Wan could tell he was completely livid, all mirth that had glittered his eyes when they started this duel was gone, replaced with fiery yellow eyes swimming with power and darkness. Obi-Wan was unprepared for the force shove so it hit him square in the chest sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor again. In less than a heartbeat he was back up on his feet ready to engage Dooku again.
Abruptly the mood changed and Dooku actually smirked, Obi-Wan sensed around him nervously trying to ascertain the nature or location of the danger the force was now screaming at him. Without any words Dooku charged back into the assault, each blow more forceful than the last being fueled entirely by his rage and the dark side. Obi-Wan almost shivered under the power, it was definitely immense and darkness radiated off of his opponent in waves. Dooku had been right he had never truly faced the dark side, Maul had been nothing compared to this and if Dooku was telling the truth about the Sith lord then force help them all.
With one final pressing warning in the force Obi-Wan felt his and Anakin's bond flare to life with pain, he couldn't help but be distracted by the urgency and the sheer amount of panic pummeling him across their bond and lost his footing enough for Dooku to once again gain the upper hand pushing him backwards with alarming speed. The bond went silent and Obi-Wan tired desperately to reach out to Anakin, worry building inside him when there was no response. It threw him off entirely and Dooku continued to press his advantage forcing Obi-Wan to really scamper out the way fast when unforeseen blows came careering towards his head.
The longer Obi-Wan couldn't communicate with Anakin the worst his defence got, he had felt the pure agony traversing across their bond and now realised why Dooku had looked so smug a few moments ago. He must have ordered someone to hurt Anakin to throw him off balance, the coward! But Obi-Wan hadn't seen the count communicate to anyone not physically anyway. So the only way he would be able to communicate with somebody would be if they were force sensitive as well!
With that deadly deduction Obi-Wan proceeded in vain to hold back the counts attacks feeling the remains of his strength fade with every strike. Matters were about to get a whole lot worse he felt as his suspicions about another force user were confirmed as a stinking dark presence in the force neared on their position, dragging along a very irate padawan…
I had some real fun writing this one :) Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing!
As always the next chapter is under development and will be out ASAP :)
Until next time...
