Taken and Alone
Taken and Alone.
OK. Here is the third part of my four-part story. This chapter is the first that comes with a TISSUE Warning. This will stand for the last chapter as well.
Thank you to my latest reviewer Geri K. Thank you for your kind words. Just so you know I don't think that there will be Obi-Wan's POV in this story, but there is a sequel in the works, so who knows what the future holds.
And with that, ON WITH THE STORY!!
Chapter 3-The Search
It seemed like an eternity, but finally all of the preparations were made and they were finally ready to leave. Qui-Gon was waiting at the landing platform waiting for Mace's ship to touch ground. When the Koran Master finally stepped off of the ship, Qui-Gon had to implore all of his Jedi training to not run up to him, grab him by the arm and run for Gargednian territory.
"Qui-Gon. It is good to see you. I am only sorry that it is not under better circumstances."
"Thank you, Mace. But can we save the pleasantries. I want to start the search immediately," Qui-Gon replied in a very clipped tone, showing his impatience over finding Obi-Wan.
"Of course. Although you do know that we will be entering over a cover of darkness and that could make it more dangerous…"
"I don't care! Obi-Wan is out there all by himself and I am not wasting one more minute that I could be searching for him. I am leaving this minute and you and come with me or stay here." And with that, Qui-Gon turned on his heel and started moving toward the forest.
Mace followed his peer, staying silent, knowing that the Master needed a few moments to truly compose for what lay ahead. The two started moving through the forest, moving with a great amount of speed and purpose. After a few hours, Mace felt that Qui-Gon had settled down enough to tell him more about Obi-Wan's capture. When he asked him about it, Qui-Gon told him the whole story in a clipped, monotone voice. Mace could tell that his Qui-Gon was barely holding it all together. He wondered how a man, who had a Padawan for all of five weeks, could be so broken-hearted. But then in the six weeks that Qui-Gon knew the child, he had completely changed. He was a hard man, bitter, who often shunned human contact. But now he had become a very caring individual. The majority of this affection was only focused on one being, but it was a start. His calling the Council for help was a big step. Mace could see the impact that this child had in his life in such a short amount of time. It was no wonder he was so impatient to get him back. Mace only hoped that the child did not suffer too much. If he died, Force only knows what Qui-Gon would become. Young Kenobi would have much to endure. He was already such a small child and without the Force there was a question as to whether or not he would be able to survive. On his way to Larbec, Mace had looked up the Gargednios, at Tahl's urgings. They were the most violent group of people on the planet. They were hunters and used harsh, and often cruel, methods for killing their prey. If they were torturing Obi-Wan, it would be brutal. F course, Mace did not tell any of this to Qui-Gon. The Master was barely holding it together with the knowledge that someone had taken his Padawan. He would lose it if he knew that the people who took him were probably hurting him. And doing a good job at it too. So he kept quiet, hoping that the Force would not take this precious gift from his Master.
The two Masters arrived at the territory within a few hours of their departure from the capital. The two crossed the boarder over the cover of darkness and started to search the entire area for any sign of Obi-Wan.
The next day and a half went without much change. The two continued their search, never stopping for more than five minutes. Both Masters were starting to show signs of fatigue, but it seemed like Mace was the only one thinking about it. But he was afraid to even mention the possibly of sleep. Qui-Gon was getting more and more panicked with every passing moment. Mace knew that his counterpart would not rest until his Padawan was found. And he knew that it was up to him to help Qui-Gon hold it together until that happened. The two had not spoken more than a few words to each other in over a day, but Mace knew that Qui-Gon was feeding off of his own calm.
As the two were walking through yet another set of vines, Qui-Gon stopped. Mace stopped directly ahead of him, fear starting to invade his mind. He and Qui-Gon had been in danger since they set foot in this territory. What they were doing was illegal on this planet. It was one that they could be severely punished for. The two had already had to change their paths twice to avoid a hunting party. However, before Mace had been the one to sense them. Qui-Gon had been too focused on his lost Padawan. The fact that Qui-Gon had been the one to sense something meant that it was probably either very good or very bad. While Mace hoped for the first, he braced himself for the worst.
"Mace. I felt him. I felt Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon still sounded as if he was in shock. But at least now they might be able to get a direction of where he might be. If they kept searching like this, searching every cave and gully in the forest it could be months before he would be found.
But before Qui-Gon said anything more he sunk to the ground, with his hands covering his face. Mace suddenly, got very worried. This was the best thing that could have happened. The drug was wearing off and Obi-Wan was regaining his Force connection. Most likely it would be very weak for a few days, probably even unable to feel anything sent to him through the bond, but Qui-Gon could use the bond that they had to establish where they were keeping him. Why was Qui-Gon suddenly the picture of misery?
"Qui-Gon. What's wrong? This is wonderful. We can use the bond that the two of you have to find him."
Qui-Gon just looked up, tears glistening in his eyes. "He is pain, Mace. Terrible, horrible pain. They are torturing him. They have been ever since they took him. That is over 36 hours. And it is all my fault!"
"No. This is not your fault. There was no way that you could have known that this would happen. We still don't even know why this faction took him in the first place. It would have been cruel to make an exhausted child sit through two extra hours of negotiation. OK. This is NOT your fault. Now we will find Obi-Wan and we will get him the help that he needs, but you need to focus. The Rignin is starting to wear off. That is why you can sense him. You need to focus on the bond that the two of you have so that we can track him down using his signature. I know that it hurts, but we can't help Obi-wan if we do not know where he is."
"You're right, Mace. I know that you are right. I'm sorry. I just… Why would anyone want to hurt him?"
"I don't know. But we can't think of that now. Which way is he?"
Without another word, Qui-Gon stood up and walked to the right. His pace had greatly increased, on the verge of running. Mace had to admit that he was shocked at the small emotional outburst that Qui-Gon had showed, but was impressed at how fast he had worked through it. Mace had had a Padawan. He knew how hard it could be to feel your partner's pain through the bond and not being able to do anything about it. And it must have been so much worse for Qui-Gon, whose partner was a child who had done nothing wrong. It was also hard to see pain and suffering in this galaxy, but the pain of a child was always so much worse. He silently moved beside his peer as the two worked at a furious pace to find Qui-Gon's Padawan.
After about two hours of moving to the northeast, Qui-Gon stopped again. Mace waited until Qui-Gon could pull himself together enough to speak. The past two hours had been very hard on Qui-Gon, feeling the agony that his ward was in, but not being able to do anything about it. Obi-Wan's connection to the Force was so weak that he would not feel anything through the bond that he shared with his Master. The two Masters were almost lucky that Qui-Gon was able to feel the boy at all. Without a word, Qui-Gon moved to the edge of the cliff that was about a hundred paces to the left. It overlooked a beautiful valley that contained all different types of trees that seemed to be reaching for the sky. The scene was one that person could stare at for hours, but now was most certainly not the time. Mace followed Qui-Gon to the edge of the cliff, as Qui-Gon was pulling out his cable launcher. Anchoring it to the soft, marshy ground, he motioned for Mace to do the same. When he had, Qui-Gon pointed down over the edge of the cliff. Mace looked over and saw a two-mile drop to the floor. However, there was a small outcropping. It was small, one that the two would have overlooked, if they did not know how to track Obi-Wan. It was small though, barely big enough for the two of them to land on. He wondered how they had hidden there. Shooting Qui-Gon a questioning glance, Qui-Gon mouthed back 'cave.' Knowing that the opening most certainly opened up, the two Jedi prepared to repel down to the outcropping, ready for whatever lay within.
Landing on the small slab of rock, Qui-Gon and Mace quickly moved through the dark cave, using lightsabers for illumination. The two had no idea what they would find, but they would meet whatever it was. Silently, the two walked down the length of the cave. The walls were damp and the whole thing smelled of stale water. This only furthered Qui-Gon's need to find his lost Padawan. They walked about a mile, before they heard it. It was soft and any one without Force-enhanced senses probably would not have heard it. But as soft as it was it ripped through Qui-Gon's heart like nothing else could. It was crying. Not the crying of someone mourning a death or a scared child after a nightmare, but cry of someone who was in pain. A lot of pain. Qui-Gon knew that it was his Padawan and the knowledge made his heart stop. Mace must have sensed his distress, because he put a comforting hand on his shoulder. After a moment, the two moved forward. Soon the two saw light coming from behind a stone door. It was faint, but it was there. The Masters did not see any lever or knob to open the door, so they dug their lightsabers into the stone, preparing to face the enemies that no doubt lay beyond the door. Melting a hole in the door, Qui-Gon was the first to jump through, Mace hot on his heels. However, the attack that they were expecting never came. They found themselves in a cold, but brightly lit stone room. It looked to be storage for hunting equipment, more specifically flying creatures by the looks of it.
But there was only one person in the room and it was dirty, bleeding boy chained to a wall. Qui-Gon immediately ran over to his Padawan. All four of his limbs were chained to big metal rings attached to the wall. Qui-Gon had a feeling that it would not be long before his capturers returned, so they had to move quickly. Obi-Wan looked to be unconscious, but tears tracks were fresh on his face. This did not surprise the Master, after taking a look at his Padawan. The child was injured and he would need immediate medical attention. Taking a moment to touch the child's face, he ran a probe on the child's body. The injuries were bad, but he would live as long as he got help soon. At the gentle touch, Obi-Wan awoke. He immediately started to thrash in his bonds, trying to get away from the unknown person in front of him. Qui-Gon noticed this with alarm. The child did not know who he was. Qui-Gon put his hands on the boy to stop him from thrashing and to try and get him to realize that he was going to be fine.
Obi-Wan soon stopped moving, probably more out of exhaustion than anything. But he still refused to open his eyes. Qui-Gon wanted nothing more than to see those big bluish-greenish eyes once more, so he tried simply calling him. "Padawan."
At that, Obi-Wan's eyelids started to move, opening just a crack. But after seeing who was crouched down in front of him, his eyes opened all the way. "M..Mas..Master?"
His voice sounded so helpless and yet so hopeful that tears came to Qui-Gon's eyes. "Yes, my little one, it is me. What do you say we get you out of here?"
"I didn't… think that y.. you would f..f..find me."
"I will always find you. Now I am going to cut you down, Ok?" At the small boy's nod, he reduced the power on his lightsaber, efficiently cutting the bonds that held the boy. But when he got to the chain that held his left leg, Obi-Wan screamed in pain. A more in-depth scan showed that his tibia had been broken in at least six places. Some of which were complete breaks, where the bones no longer connected. It would probably take surgery to repair it, not that Qui-Gon was especially worried about that now. Motioning to Mace, who was keeping watch he told him to find a brace for Obi-Wan's leg, while he finished cutting him down. Mace did as he was told and then went back to keeping watch.
Qui-Gon gently laid his newly free Padawan on the floor so that he could splint his leg with the metal stripes that Mace had found. Obi-Wan shivered in his damp clothes and Qui-Gon knew that lying on the stone floor was not helping that. The Master shed his own robe and draped it across the shivering child. That done, he turned his focus back on Obi-Wan's leg. While he was finishing up the splint, Obi-Wan started to talk again. "Don't leave…'kay."
That small voice stopped Qui-Gon's actions. "Never, little one. I am so, so sorry. This never should have happened." Obi-Wan seemed to stop listening after his Master promised not to leave. He reached out from under his Master's cloak and took his Master's closest arm in the strongest grip he could muster. His other hand was just as tightly clenched in the cloak now wrapped around him. Qui-Gon's heart thought it was going to break. This child that he had left to get captured had forgiven him so willingly, treating him like the only lifeline he had. Just as he was finished splinting Obi-Wan's leg, Mace motioned to him. Reaching out to the Force, Qui-Gon sensed what Mace had. The people who had taken his Padawan were returning. Quickly, Qui-Gon picked his Padawan off the floor and balanced him on one hip, repositioning the robe around Obi-Wan's thin shoulders and back. At Obi-Wan's soft cry of protest, Qui-Gon realized how much pain the child must be in. Reaching into his survival pack, he got out a hypo and injected the powerful painkillers into his Padawan, who immediately fell asleep. Making sure that his numerous injuries were not being aggravated, Qui-Gon activated his lightsaber and walked toward Mace. Together the two quickly moved back to the cave opening.
They were about halfway there when the first arrow was fired. It was a weapon that was commonly used for hunting. Mace quickly deflected the arrows with his lightsaber, as Qui-Gon moved Obi-Wan closer to safety. The shots were soon coming continuously, but Mace and Qui-Gon were able to prevent them from hitting their target. The three Jedi had reached the mouth of the cave by the time their attackers were close enough to see. They were definitely Gargednio, wearing the same tattoos and robes as their Elder wore in the negotiations. Qui-Gon quickly attached the cable launcher to his back of his belt, preparing to go up the cliff backwards, in order to protect the small Jedi laying on his chest, from accidentally hitting the rocks. He activated his launcher and climbed over the edge of cliff, once again on safe ground. Mace was soon to follow.
"Come on, Qui-Gon. We need to leave. They know that we are in their territory. It will not be as safe to get out, if we do not leave right now." Qui-Gon agreed with Mace and rose to start the long trip back to the capital. It would be a six-hour walk, if they did not have to stop for anything, but it was possible that they would need to with an injured Jedi. Together the two Masters started their long trip.