6
"The renewed," he said softly. "So sad."
"So," Paxxi agreed.
His eyes opened, slowly, painfully. Everything hurt. Why was there so much pain? He first only focused on the pain and wondered why, why did everything hurt so much? His hands tingled and they were shaking. His head was pounding ferociously and every time he moved some new lance of pain would shoot through his body. He mewled pitifully and wished for it to stop. He heard a sound and immediately he concentrated on it. What was it? Something was approaching nearer and he didn't trust it. It was probably the thing that put him in so much pain. It was then that he looked at his surroundings. He was trapped! He couldn't get out! He couldn't escape! He grabbed the bars of his prison and tried to force them apart. They wouldn't budge. Why was he trapped? He wanted to run away, but couldn't. His heart beat faster and as the sounds got louder he became terrified. He shook like a leaf and huddled into the smallest ball he could.
The sounds stopped and he peeked above his arms to see a face leering at him. The face smiled and he cowered further. There was another sound that came from its mouth. It was laughing.
"What's your name?" It asked harshly.
Name? What? Was that everything needed to know to be set free? If so he would tell it and it would go away and leave him alone! Why did they do this to him? He searched for his name. Surely he had a name, but it wasn't there. Where was his name? Did they take his name? How can you take a name? He had a name! He was sure of it. What did they do with his name? Why were they asking if they already took it? He searched frantically, but all he met was a void.
"Your name!" It bellowed again.
He didn't know! Didn't it understand? He didn't know! Why did it take his name and then ask for it? Why why why? He wanted his name back. It was his. He started to panic when he realized that he didn't know anything about himself. Who was he? What was he? And the most insistent was why? He was dizzy and he was scared.
There was the weird laughing sound again and he further retreated into the farthest corner of his cage.
"This one is cooked." It said.
It was then when he realized that there was more than one of them. There were many. He counted on his fingers and there were three. He looked at his three fingers and was proud of himself. At least he knew that. There was a squeaking and clanking sound and then one of the walls that surrounded him was gone. He crawled towards it, but that made him dizzy and he fell down with a cry. His vision reeled.
"Took long enough." One of them grumbled.
The others grunted agreement.
"It should make the bet more interesting though." One commented.
"I'll say four days at the most."
"Four? Are you stupid? He's only a boy. I say he won't last a day. Look at him. He's literally shaking himself to death."
They all looked at the boy who was indeed quivering.
"What do you think he's thinking?" One asked.
The other two made a scornful face and rolled their eyes.
"He's not thinking nothing. He can't."
"Well, it looks like he's thinking of something."
"That's just your imagination."
"Well, I say he'll last a week on Gala. He's smart."
"Not anymore!" The two others said and all three of them laughed.
The boy wanted out! He didn't know who he was or where he was or WHY he was, but he knew he didn't want to be with them. They were cruel! They put him here! It was all their fault. He wanted out so desperately that he forced his agonized body out of the cell that imprisoned him. He squirmed a few feet out of the cell and then a wave of dizziness assaulted his senses. He slumped forward and lost consciousness, and the black void of his mind was further thrown into the deep darkness of oblivion.
"He'll sleep now." A guard commented.
"He won't dream." The second added.
The three guards then began casting lots and wagering their dirty money on how long a lost boy would live in a galaxy where it was easier to look away than to help. The lost boy who was once Obi-Wan Kenobi did not dream.
Qui-Gon's eyes opened slowly and they noted the small shaft of sunlight that came through the hastily boarded window. He rose to a sitting position and his thoughts started racing through his head. Today he would rescue Obi-Wan. Nothing would stop him. Even if it went against common sense he would still try. He owed that much to his new padawan. Qui-Gon briefly tried to reach out to Obi-Wan through the newly formed Master-Padawan bond. He knew the bond was there, but it was too new to really help him. He didn't sense anything. There hadn't been enough time since Bandomeer.
Qui-Gon took a deep breath and collected himself. The Derida brothers were already up and about and had scrounged together something for breakfast.
"So Jedi-Gon finally awakes." Paxxi said.
"We were afraid you would sleep all day and we would have to rescue Obawan by ourselves." Guerra said.
"Not so brother! You lie."
"It is not so. I knew you would wake up."
Qui-Gon smiled lightly at their banter. They were trying to keep the mood as light as possible despite the circumstances. They were good people. He felt a new wave of wonderment in the Living Force that guided him to these two beings. He only wished that there were many more people like Guerra and Paxxi in the universe. They may be criminals, but they were loyal and they generally knew what the right thing was.
They took another bite of whatever it was they were eating and offered Qui-Gon a smile.
"Would you like some of our delicious breakfast Jedi-Gon?"
Qui-Gon could see that the food they clutched in their hands was anything but delicious, but he needed his strength if he was going to rescue Obi-Wan. He still hadn't figured out just how he was going to liberate his padawan from the Syndicat. He had a strange image of himself running into Syndicat Headquarters yelling like a madman. His would hold his ignited lightsaber in one hand and wave it around erratically to scare people. He had to add the frazzled hair and red eyes to complete the picture. Amidst all of his doubt and guilt Qui-Gon laughed. Was that how some people picture the Jedi?
Qui-Gon took a piece of stale bread and managed to choke it down. Strangely enough he didn't feel like eating anymore.
"It's good! Not so! Not so!" Paxxi exclaimed.
Qui-Gon managed to keep a serene face and took another bite of the stale and moldy tasting bread. It was absolutely disgusting. His heart was much lighter though.
"We signaled Duenna. She will meet us in the market in an hour. She'll know what happened to Obawan." Guerra said.
Qui-Gon nodded, but did not say anything. There wasn't much to say anyways. They all knew the direness of the situation and the danger Obi-Wan was in, but they had hope. He knew it was a small hope, but it was still there. Obi-Wan would be all right. He was a Jedi. Jedi knew how to take care of themselves. Even if he was a padawan Qui-Gon had seen strength in Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan would survive to help others.
Paxxi handed Qui-Gon a round black object that looked suspiciously like a piece of fruit. Qui-Gon nearly lost his mask of serenity upon looking at it. It was the size of a fist and it looked very old and revolting.
"What is it?" Qui-Gon asked.
The Jedi Master was slightly afraid that he would have to eat that black thing that he now held in his hands.
"It's edible!" The Derida brothers chorused. "That's all you need to know."
"Not so brother!" Guerra said. "That's all he wants to know."
The brothers laughed and Qui-Gon took a bite of the black thing. Turns out, it was a fruit. It was a very bitter, nasty, unpleasant, malodorous, sticky, weird textured piece of rotten fruit. It wasn't that bad… Qui-Gon munched it and hid a triumphant smile as he noticed the Derida brother's faces fall. Obviously they had wanted to see the great Jedi Master spit out the food.
"It's not bad." Qui-Gon said.
The two brothers gave him a disgusted look that to Qui-Gon was quite humorous. They then smiled and started clapping Qui-Gon's back.
"Not so Jedi-Gon! You lie!" They chorused.
"What are you talking about?" Qui-Gon asked innocently.
The two brothers began to laugh. Qui-Gon gave them an innocent and ignorant expression.
"What?" He asked and they laughed harder.
Soon they were both rolling around on the floor laughing and Qui-Gon felt the living Force flow through him. It comforted him and he began to feel optimistic. The Force was with him. It pulsed around everything. It was everywhere and everything and he could call upon it whenever he wished. He would rescue his padawan and their Force bond would become stronger for it.
Qui-Gon smiled lightly and knew everything would be all right. The Force was with him and the Force was with Obi-Wan. The will of the Force brought them together and it would not keep them apart.
The boy woke up extremely disoriented. The floor buzzed beneath him and he heard a light humming sound. His eyes hurt and he still did not know where he was. He wasn't in the cage. He slightly panicked. His whole world was that cage and now it was gone! Where was he? He remembered wanting out of the cage, but now he wanted back in. It was too big. TOO BIG! He backed up against the nearest wall. His breathing became rapid and his heart was racing. He put his hands over his eyes. When he couldn't see anything he started to calm down. His world was reduced to the darkness and the memory of the cage and those things that talked to him.
Slowly he began to calm down and the questions came back. Where was he? What was his name? Why did someone take his name? How could someone take a name? Why didn't he know his name? He knew he should be able to. He knew he must have one… But there was nothing. Why was he here? Why? WHY? WHY? The boy uncovered his eyes and saw his larger world appear again. His heart began to pound again, but he wasn't as terrified as before. Slowly he began to accept this larger world.
He tried to stand up, but he began to feel nauseous and so sat back down. His head started to hurt and he placed his hand on his forehead to see if anything was there that was causing this pain. There was nothing that he could feel. The boy was mystified. Surely something was there. He felt his forehead again and still could not find the culprit to his pain. Naturally he assumed that there must be something inside that he couldn't get to. This slightly scared him and he took his hand away from his pounding forehead.
He leaned back against the bulkhead and his eyes changed from slightly terror stricken to a dull and blank gaze. He didn't want to think about whatever might be living inside of his head so he choose to not think at all. It wasn't hard. He didn't have many thoughts to sort through. As far as he was concerned he hadn't even existed before today. Today he was, but yesterday he wasn't. He accepted it.
The gentle humming of the floor eventually lulled the boy back to a dreamless sleep. His chest fell up and down rhythmically and he was completely still. He looked serene, but that was only because his face didn't make an expression. He almost looked dead save for the rising and falling of his chest. But even the dead had expressions on their faces, even if they were minute. There was no expression on the sleeping boy's face. There was no joy, no anger, and no fear. There was nothing
He couldn't be sad for what once was or angry for what was done to him. Remorse and anger belonged to someone who did not exist anymore. They belonged to a Jedi padawan named Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he's gone now. There's no use worrying about him
A/N: Quotes are taken directly from the JA books and integrated. Yes, you all know this… You guys are spoiled now. It hasn't even been a month since I last updated.