10
"I-I'm not a hill person," Obi-Wan said. Then he realized that without memory he wouldn't know if he were a hill person. He pretended to look suddenly confused.
The boy was terrified and didn't know what the man was pulling out of his belt. He knew that it could cause him pain and so he started shaking violently. The man still had a firm grip on the boy and had slowly brought his vibro-shiv out of the sheath on his belt. It made a sickening noise and the blade was very long. The boy didn't know why he should be afraid of what the man was holding, but he was. The object had not hurt him yet, but as the boy was quickly learning most objects had the capacity to cause pain.
"Spy!" He hissed.
The probot hovered closer and zoomed in on the large pale man. The man, however, was far more interested in the boy.
"What your people won't sink to! Send a little boy to spy on us!"
The boy's heart was racing and he couldn't stop shaking. What was he supposed to do? What was a spy and why did this man call him one? Hill person spy. He knew what a hill was and what a person was. He was a person and he was standing on a hill. Did that make him a Hill person? Did that also make the large pale man a Hill person as well?
"There is no end to your barbaric traits!" He hissed.
The Galacian wielded his vibro-shiv with deadly finesse and the tip of the blade touched the boy's neck. The man's eyes looked at the boy's face with intensity, looking for something.
"I told myself this morning that I would slit the throat of the first hill person I saw." He stated.
The probot whirred and circled the two. The man took another sidelong glance at the droid. The boy wondered if the little boy trapped within it was a Hill Person too. Would he cause that boy pain too? The boy felt his shaking turn into silent tremors and there was an odd sensation in the back of his throat. It didn't quite hurt, but it was different. His eyes started to sting and he didn't know why.
The large pale man watched the boy's reactions and a strange feeling came over him. He felt tired, extremely tired, but it wasn't the fatigue of a long day's worth of hard work. He felt weary within his soul. The Hill people sent this boy who was scared out of his mind. What was the probot doing here? The Hill people didn't usually use them. They were too barbaric for something like that. As he watched the quivering boy he became even more confused. He felt a great sadness come over him and he didn't know where it came from.
The boy began to cry and the pale man couldn't take it anymore. He put away his vibro-shiv. He wasn't a spy, he was just some scared kid. He released his grip on the boy and looked away in shame. What had he come to? Had he gone so low as to accost young boys now? What would his wife and children think of him? The boy looked wretched and confused. He would touch his wet face and look at his now wet fingers.
"I'm sorry kid. I just got carried away."
The boy didn't say anything, but continued to touch his face and his eyes. The probot swiveled around both their heads in a smooth circle. The man's lip curled. The boy may not be a spy, but that droid certainly had no business around him. He took out his vibro-shiv again and threw it at the droid. The probot didn't anticipate this and was hit. It went down with a noisy crash. It sparked and made a sickening whirring sound, but then shorted out. The boy looked over at the probot and gasped in horror. The man calmly grabbed his blade from the remains of the droid and put it back in his sheath. The boy scrambled over to the tortured piece of black metal. He mewled something unintelligible and looked at the destroyed lens.
The man looked one last time at the boy and began to walk off. He still heard the boy crying softly. The large man flinched as he felt the same sadness overcome him. His pace slowed and he looked behind him again. The boy was obviously distraught over the destruction of the probot. Why? The boy acted as if his best friend had been killed. The man watched and realized how alone the boy really was. Where were his parents? What was he doing here? The Hill people may be barbaric but no mother or father in their right mind would send their child off alone into Galu. The more the man looked at the boy the more he knew that the boy couldn't be a Hill person. He definitely wasn't a Galacian. The man's heart wrenched in pity.
Before he knew what he was doing the man had walked back to the boy. The boy looked up from the destroyed probot at the man. The man took a step back in horror. He looked at the boy's face and he saw… nothing. It was tear stained and he was still quivering in fear, but the boy's eyes held nothing.
"Hey kid," The man said. "Where are your parents?"
The boy said nothing. His blue eyes fastened on to the Galacian's and the Galacian began to feel uncomfortable.
"Are you lost?" The man asked and again the boy didn't answer.
The man might as well been talking to a rock. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. He knew he couldn't leave the boy here, but what was he supposed to do? The boy obviously wasn't talking and it was probably his fault. He must have scared the boy. He muttered a curse. He heaved a great sigh and finally came to a decision. He held out his hand to the boy.
"Come on kid. I'll take you to my home until we can find your parents."
The boy looked at the hand in bewilderment. What was he supposed to do? The boy was beyond confused now. The man that had hurt him stopped and he didn't know why. He looked once more at the probot and could not see the boy trapped inside. Why? Why? He looked at the man's hand again. It was the same hand that was hurting him before. Was it going to hurt him again? He was so puzzled, but then a strange smile covered his face. He took the man's hand because he felt it was right. It was a good thing to do. The right thing to do. He didn't need another reason. The man hoisted the boy to his feet.
The boy's smaller hand fit well in the larger man's hand. The man looked down at the young boy and the sadness was gone. He couldn't explain it. He knew his wife was going to be surprised in a not so pleasant way, but she had a kind heart. She would help the boy as much as she could. His two sons and daughter would view him as a friend, he hoped. The Galacian looked down at the lost boy and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry. We'll find your parents eventually," The large Galacian said. "I 'm sure they're beside themselves with worry about now."
The two continued to walk and the boy's lazy smile grew broader. He looked up at the man's face and then looked at the rest of the world. The sky was infinite. Everything was so impossibly large and numerous. The only difference now was that it didn't seem so frightening anymore. The hand that had hurt him was not anymore and the boy became aware of a new concept; change.
"Do you have a name kid?" The Galacian asked.
He should have a name. He knew he should have one, but why was this being asking him like a name was conditional? Did some of these people not have a name as well? His name was taken from him. If there was one thing the lost boy wanted it was his name back. Why couldn't he remember his own name? Who was he? What was he?
"Do you even speak?" The man asked with some sort of humor in his voice.
The boy didn't say anything. The man shook his head, but a thin smile appeared on his face.
"At least I don't have to worry about you screaming and yelling about my house like my other children. Three kryat dragons are enough for me, thank you very much."
The boy was confused, but accepted the fact. He didn't exactly move on, but he didn't dwell on what eluded him either. He found that trying to understand took a lot of effort and he rarely got an answer.
"Well, they're not that bad." The Galacian continued. "My oldest son Tiku is voting age now. He thinks it is his only cause in life to find out everything about the upcoming election. You should see him. He puts on this strange "impartial" face whenever someone brings up one of the candidates. He will then go on for stars know how long about the…"
The Galacian stopped mid-sentence as he observed the utter blank look on the boy's face. He chuckled and shook his head.
"Yah, I agree with you there. It gets really boring after awhile. I keep on telling him to just choose a candidate already, but he has to be all responsible."
The Galacian's words were full of love and the boy liked them. They were softer and less harsh than when the man had first spoken to him. They were kinder than the three beings he knew. Their voices were hard and forceful. He came to the conclusion that if he had to choose between the first three beings he knew with the long arms and this tall pale man he would choose the tall pale man.
"My daughter Keta couldn't care less about politics and whenever Tiku mentions them she gets the same look on her face that you have. She's more of a dreamer I think. She probably dreams of getting away and doing something more important. I don't know where she got that from. I certainly didn't teach her to want a different life. It was probably that damn tutor. Him and his big ideals!"
The boy still heard the love in the man's voice, but there was also some sadness. The boy couldn't place it. It was like the pale man was afraid, but what was he afraid of?
"The one you really have to look out for is Shiko. He's a couple years younger than you are, but he has the energy output of the sun. He'll run you to the ground chasing you or being chased by you. Of course his endless energy completely disappears when there are chores to be done…"
The boy smiled again. There was the kind voice again. There was no sadness when he spoke of Shiko. The boy wanted to hear more.
"I think he'll like you." The Galacian commented. "Besides, we can always use another hand around. If you can distract him for a little bit it'll be a great blessing."
The pale man laughed and the boy liked that sound to. It was the same type of sound as the other three beings with long arms made, but it was quite different. The man's pace was easy going and almost carefree. He was a large man and most people avoided him. They usually got out of his way before he even got near them.
"You're not from around here are you kid?"
The boy at least knew that. He definitely didn't recognize this place. He didn't know where he was from. He remembered the cage and then the larger room where he had felt safe, but nothing further.
"No." The boy answered quietly.
"So you do speak," The Galacian said, but the boy said nothing in reply. "Where are you from then?"
The boy was silent for a long time and his face remained blank. It masked the inner struggle he was going through. He didn't know. He only answered the other question because he knew the answer. Did he have to answer the questions that he didn't know? Did he have to respond?
"It's all right kid. I won't hurt you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
The boy again felt comforted by the man's voice. The pale man said he wouldn't hurt him, and the boy now believed this. He didn't know why. He didn't know a lot of whys, but he did believe this man. He decided to answer the question if only to hear the comforting voice again.
"I don't remember." He said.
The man stopped walking and looked straight into the boy's strangely blank eyes.
"You don't remember?" The man asked in shock. "What about your parents? Do you remember them?"
"No."
"And your name?"
"I don't know… if I have one." The boy's voice was starting to break.
"Do you remember anything?" The man asked aghast.
The boy squinted and his brow furrowed.
"Nothing before." He stated.
"Before what?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing before nothing?"
"There was nothing and then I was there." The boy tried to explain, but he didn't understand himself.
"There has to be something." The pale man protested.
"Nothing. I am only when everything hurt and I was trapped…"
"When was that?"
The boy didn't really understand the concept of 'when' or time for that matter.
"I don't know 'when'." The boy said.
"How long has it been since you couldn't remember?"
"Since I was."
"Was what?"
"Was." The boy simply said as it explained everything.
The boy didn't know anything beyond when he first awoke in the cage to the three faces. He was then and before that he was not. He didn't exist before. He knew nothing about before. The pale man sighed deeply and took the boy's hand again. He would take the boy to his home as he originally planned. Hopefully the boy's parents would be looking for him or the boy would remember something. The man sighed again.
"Don't worry about it kid. We'll sort all of this out."
The two walked in silence the rest of the way and the large Galacian was deep in thought. Finally he came upon several large fields growing with golden stalks that swayed in the wind. The man held out his free hand and brushed the stalks as he walked by. A soft smile grew on his face.
"Ah, home." He said softly.
The boy looked at the field of gold and the various beings who were working in and around the field. The man put his large hand on the boy's shoulder, but it did not hurt as it did before. Now it was comforting to the boy
"Home." The boy repeated and even though he didn't know the meaning he smiled because he knew that 'home' was a good thing.
A/N: Wow, I can update within a week. I am so proud of myself. Tiamath: As always you are very perceptive and have guessed more of my meanings. Though Obi-Wan isn't completely a walking Force receptor he is still very subconscious of it. It is directing his actions and helping him along. SirNotAppearingInThisFilm: That certainly was an interesting review… Well, at least you're keeping me entertained. Scholar: The rock is going to play a very important role later on… very, very, very, very, very, very later on.
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