Chapter Twelve: The Courage of a Child

As the eight weeks crawled by, Obi-Wan began thinking more and more about what he would do if he couldn't rake up enough Wupiupi to free Legolas. He didn't know what he could do. If he attempted to smuggle Legolas off world, then Thoorn could, and probably would, detonate Legolas's slave chip. He could place a bet in a pod race, like Qui-Gon had done with Anakin, perhaps, but who could he bet on?

"You already had ninety-five wupiupi when you got your job, so that helped a bit, I suppose," Arella told him the night before the auction.

"That makes 4,575 wupiupi," Obi-Wan said. "I have a feeling that it isn't going to be enough,"

"It probably won't," Arella remarked. Obi-wan ignored the comment. Arella could be brutally honest most times, something he did not need at the time. "But you never know with Toroo Thoorn. Have faith, Obi-Wan," But Obi-Wan did not have faith. He was too worried to have faith.

-0-0-

The slave market was hot and crowded. Children screamed as they were separated from their mothers, slaves were handed off to new masters, people wailed, bartered back and forth, and money changed hands more times than Obi-Wan really cared to count. Tatooine, he decided, was an awful place. One may never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Obi-Wan pushed through the crowd, searching for Legolas with his own eyes and through the Force. He finally found him about three minutes in to his search and hurried over to his friend.

"How much?" He asked Legolas.

"No one's come," Legolas replied. "I think master is a little disappointed," Obi-Wan smiled slightly.

"He probably is, considering that he was never very enthusiastic about taking you in the first place," He said.

"Well, that should make your job so much easier," Legolas remarked, a slight smile on his face.

"Let's hope so," Obi-Wan replied. He then walked over to Toroo, who looked almost as if he'd been expecting the young jedi.

"What's your offer?" Toroo asked.

"Name your price," Obi-Wan replied as he took the pouch of money off his belt. Toroo thought for a moment.

"Nothing higher than ten thousand," He said. Obi-Wan smiled. That wasn't going to be hard.

"I have 4,575 wupiupi. Is that enough?" He asked. Toroo raised an eyebrow. Legolas watched the exchange, hoping that the amount Obi-Wan had offered would be enough. "You said it yourself. He doesn't look like he's worked a day in his life, so he can't be worth much,"

"I'll keep that in mind," Toroo said. "Especially while I'm enjoying my ten thousand," Obi-Wan frowned. He hadn't offered ten thousand. What was Toroo...?

And then it dawned on him. Someone else had already made a deal with Toroo, perhaps before the auction. His plan had, most likely, been doomed to fail from the beginning. Toroo smirked.

"I'm not fond of her, but she did offer a handsome price for him, and one very good reason to get him off my hands," The slaver said. He looked over Obi-Wan's shoulder and nodded slightly. Obi-Wan turned and swore his heart stopped mid-beat. The prostitute he had run in to a few days before was standing behind him. She was smiling seductively at Legolas.

And all Obi-Wan could think of was a few choice words in huttese that were not polite enough to be spoken, although they may seem polite enough in a slave market. He was completely numb as he watched the two slavers exchange money. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

"Obi-Wan," Obi-Wan looked over at Legolas. "It's okay. I'm brave," Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Legolas nodded in silent reassurance. His expression was calm though his blue eyes shone with fear and he did not flinch as Toroo deactivated the chip in his arm, did not shudder when she gently took his arm and re-activated the chip with her own code.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Toroo," She said before looking at Obi-Wan. "I'll take exceptionally good care of him. You needn't worry," Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'm sure you will," His voice was low, almost dangerous. Legolas had no doubt that Obi-Wan would be back for him soon with far more than a pouch of wupiupi. Obi-Wan was a jedi, he had the Force. He could not use it here, now, out in the open where there were dozens of witnesses. He could use it later in a private confrontation.

Though, if Legolas had his way, there would be no private confrontation, only a silent escape that no one would really ever see coming.

-0-0-

Her name was Teirza. He had learned that on the way to her shop. Every one of her slaves had their own private room. He'd learned that upon his arrival. She visited at least five of them a night. The nature of those visits was more than obvious to Legolas and he feared he would be her first victim as soon as the suns set. As he had learned, it was not uncommon for new slaves to be the first in a night. Not uncommon at all.

As he sat on his bed contemplated this, the door opened. Legolas went rigid and looked up, then relaxed when he saw it was only one of the other slaves. He was carrying a tray of food.

"Mistress Teirza likes to keep us well fed," The boy explained. Legolas thought he couldn't be any younger than thirteen. "I'm Cato,"

"Legolas," Legolas replied.

"How old are you, Legolas?" Cato asked.

"Ten," Legolas replied. "How about you?"

"Fourteen," Cato said as he set the tray down on the nightstand. "I've been here four years," Legolas nodded. "It's... after a while it's not so bad,"

"She does all kinds of things to you and it's not so bad?" Legolas asked incredulously. Cato shrugged. Legolas looked down at his knees, not noticing for the first time that the material of his black pants was ridiculously thin.

"Legolas," Legolas looked up at Cato, who leaned closer. "Don't drink the water. It is almost certainly drugged," Legolas nodded.

"Thank you," He whispered gratefully.

"No one helped me when I first got here," Cato remarked softly. "I wish someone had been kind enough to,"

"Well, thank you," Legolas said. Cato smiled, then turned and left the room. Once the door slid shut behind Cato, Legolas looked at the tray and decided that, while the food looked incredibly tempting, he wasn't going to eat any of eat, and he certainly wasn't going to drink the water.

The young elfling spent a few moments staring into space before getting off the bed and taking the butter knife sitting oh so innocently on the tray. He took a deep breath to calm himself and tried to force his body to stop its shaking. Shaking was not an option right now. He needed a steady hand. A very steady hand.

Back at the ship, Obi-Wan gasped when he sensed Legolas's intention and, shortly afterwards, his pain.

"Oh, Force," He breathed. Obi-Wan got off of the bed and quickly pulled his boots on and retrieved his lightsaber before hurrying to the landing ramp. "Hang on, Legolas. I'm coming,"

-0-0-

Legolas leaned back against the rough wall, gasping softly, the small silver tracker in one hand and the bloody knife in the other. He smiled slightly before tossing both objects to the side and ripping part of his pant leg off so he could use it as a bandage. With about as much care as a healer, he tied the makeshift bandage around his arm and stood. He took the knife, hurried to the door, and opened it...

... and jumped back with a yelp of surprise when he found himself face to face with Teirza. She frowned, then gasped when she saw the bloody knife and the makeshift bandage wrapped around his arm.

"What have you done to yourself, sweetheart?" She inquired soothingly as she knelt down infront of him.

"I'm sorry," Legolas said before plunging the knife into the slaver's heart. Her eyes went wide with shock. "But what you're doing is wrong, and I can't let you hurt anyone else," He then hurried past her and did not look back. He could not look back.

He ran as fast as he possibly could, stuck to the shadows, and arrived at the exit without being caught. And then he hesitated at the door. What about Cato? She couldn't detonate Cato's tracker, she was dead, but... someone else might detonate it, and he couldn't kill Cato. Cato had been nice to him, had warned him against drinking the water and effectively kept him from being drugged. He had to leave him so he wouldn't get blown up.

But could he honestly do that? Legolas shook his head and turned back. He had saved Arella and he would save Cato, too.

Obi-Wan ran as fast as he possibly could and did not stop until he reached Teirza's shop. When he arrived, he leaned against the door frame for a short while to catch his breath before hurrying inside. He sensed that Legolas had been there, at the door, then turned back. A frown marred the jedi's features. Why would he have gone back when Teirza would most likely catch up with him? Confusion building up inside of him, Obi-Wan rounded a corner. A few hallways and one staircase later he found the body. A shiver ran up his spine.

So, this was why Legolas had felt safe enough to turn back. He had cut the tracker out of his arm and then, while escaping, he had run into Teirza and had been forced to kill her. But why in the name of the Force would he turn back in the first place? He hadn't been there long enough to make friends, so why had he turned back?

Legolas tried just about every door in the place before he finally found Cato, lying on his bed.

"We have to go," He whispered loudly. Cato frowned at him. "Teirza is dead. We have to go. I came to bring you with me, but first we have to get your tracker deactivated,"

"Dead?" Cato asked as he sat up. Legolas nodded. "How?" Cato looked crestfallen, almost heartbroken.

"I had to," Legolas replied. "Look, I'm... I'm really sorry Cato, but I couldn't let her hurt anyone else. Too many have suffered because of her, because of what she's done. I had to put an end to that," Cato got off the bed so quickly that Legolas instinctively took a step back.

"Why?" Cato demanded angrily. "She was a good person!"

"No she wasn't," Legolas argued. "She was evil. She hurt innocent children, including you,"

"No, she loved me!" Cato screamed. Legolas swore his heart stopped for a moment, realizing now that going back for Cato had not been a very good idea. Legolas turned, preparing to run, but Cato was quick. He was on Legolas before the elfling even reached the door and soon Cato had him on the ground and his hands around Legolas's neck. Legolas's eyes went wide.

Obi-Wan! He screamed mentally.

Cato's eyes blazed with fury as Legolas clawed at the older boy's face, but the fury soon switched to shock when he flew backwards and slammed into the wall.

"Legolas!" Legolas allowed Obi-Wan to pull him into a hug as he gasped for air. "That's what you went back for? Him?"

"I thought... I wanted to save him. He was nice to me. I just wanted to save him," Legolas gasped. Obi-Wan had no answer to that as he stared at Cato's unconscious form.