Hello, everyone! I'm back with a new chapter!

School is almost out for me, seeing that I only have two-three weeks left, and it's mostly exams stuff. Bad news is that I'll have to study more, seeing that these exams are SUPER important, as I'm sure that most of you guys already know. My grades have also been slipping a bit - not too much, of course, but they're definitely not as high as I'd like them to be. Then again, I've got the strange feeling that it's only because I'm human and I'm tired of studying my butt off. Seriously. School needs to end NOW.

However, thank you for sticking with me! It means so much to know that you guys are reading this! :)

Now, with that said, read on and enjoy!

In a land of myth and the Force, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man. His name?

Chapter Two. True Bravery

Part one of chapter two

Cad Bane was a strange, dangerous man and there were many traits he had that told everyone that.

For one, he didn't look like everyone else – his skin had an unhealthy, blue tinge to it from a damn Force using child who thought that it would be funny to get him into an accident, which resulted in serious drug overdoses and leaving the bluish tinge permanently on his skin. He had odd, dark eyes that almost looked like a rusty, red color, even though they were really just a simple, dark brown.

However, Bane didn't mind – he personally liked the idea of having red eyes. It made him much more intimidating, after all.

Not that he couldn't get any more intimidating – he was a royal knight to one of the kingdoms in this land. People often got out of his way when he told them too, already.

No, the appearance was just a bonus.

So, Bane was grateful that people automatically made their way away from him when he walked into the dimly lit tavern near Coruscant. He was to participate in a tournament which would have a cash award for the winner. Though Bane was a knight, he needed the money – he planned to get out of the royal court and pave his own path with it.

And, though he was a good fighter and handy with a sword, Bane didn't think that it'd hurt to have a bit of…ah, protection.

Bane made his way through the crowded tavern and pushed open a door, which led to a deserted hall. There, one, lonesome man stood in the dimly lit hallway, carrying a rather odd-shaped bundle.

"I believe you have a shield for me," he murmured, stopping in front of the man.

The man gave Bane a smile, revealing several mossy teeth. He unwrapped the bundle, revealing a polished, green and yellow shield with snakes emblazoned on the metal.

"With your sword craft and this shield, I'll guarantee you win," the man whispered.

Bane watched the shield, his face betraying no emotion. "Show me how it works," he simply replied.

"Certainly." The man nodded and he turned to the shield, holding out a hand. Bane watched with widened eyes as he waved his hand in front of the snakes, murmuring a few words with encouragement. It was somewhat incredible to watch – the man's words seemed to have an odd effect, almost as though a strange, powerful force was vibrating around the air.

Suddenly, the sound of hissing brought Bane back to reality and he flinched as he saw snakes protruding from the shield. Real snakes, this time, not the painted ones.

"When you're competing in the tournament," the man whispered, adjusting the shield in his hands, "you'll have to pin your opponent under the shield. One of the snakes will strike and your opponent will be paralyzed."

With that being said, the man slowly handed the shield over to Bane. He murmured a few more words and whispered, "The snakes are now under your command. They will do anything you tell them to do."

"Anything?" Bane whispered, a greedy glint in his eyes.

The man leaned in and replied, "Just say the word."

Bane smiled to himself as he stared down at his new shield. He turned back to the man, who was smiling widely, obviously pleased.

Pity, Bane thought to himself. I could use him in the future…

However, Bane wasn't stupid – he couldn't leave his partners alive.

"Kill him." Bane said coldly and the man's eyes widened as the snakes lunged forward, all of their jaws opened.

When the tavern owner walked into the hallway to find the dead man, Bane was already miles and miles away, riding for Camelot.

In the morning, Bane had reached the city's gates. He had his shield and sword at his side when he strode up to the small, wooden stand that welcomed the tournament participates. Bane threw down his own registration letter, along with a small pin that his lord had given to him.

"Knight Cad Bane of the Western Isles," he growled. "I'm here to compete for the tournament."

"Welcome to Coruscant," was the simple reply.

Cad Bane nodded and turned around to examine the city. Welcome, indeed, he thought to himself.

•◊•

Obi-wan Kenobi was exhausted. He hated being Anakin's manservant, even though he was repeatedly told that it was supposed to be a great honor.

At first, Obi-wan had thought that it'd be simple – being a manservant couldn't be that hard, yes? He had figured that it'd just be simple things, like cleaning out Anakin's clothes and making his bed and such.

But no, Anakin insisted that Obi-wan was to be his opponent in every single combat practice he had. It didn't matter what the practice was really about – it could range from hand to hand combat, (Obi-wan's least favorite,) to jousting. (Obi-wan liked horses. He did not like carrying a lance pole. He still had bruises from the last time he practiced jousting with Anakin!)

So now, the young man was struggling to hold a sword upright, covered from head to toe in flimsy armor and trying to hold up his shield in his other hand in the process. (Needless to say, he was failing.)

Obi-wan heard Anakin sighing impatiently.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Would it make any difference if I said no?" Obi-wan asked, jamming on his helmet and dropping both shield and sword in the process. Anakin sighed and turned around, swinging his sword around in impressive, wide strokes.

"Not really," the prince replied casually and Obi-wan grabbed his sword and shield.

Suddenly, Anakin turned around and started swiping at Obi-wan with his sword, calling out warnings every few seconds.

"Body," he yelled and Obi-wan was forced to quickly use the sword to defend his body and so forth.

"Shield, body, shield!" Anakin continued to shout, still swinging at Obi-wan. The manservant was beginning to feel utterly confused – the orders were coming in a bit too fast for his own taste.

"Shield," Obi-wan said quickly, just in time to protect himself from Anakin's sword. Though the prince had promised that he wouldn't impale him, Obi-wan couldn't be too sure, especially since the two young men were less-than-enthusiastic with their arrangement.

"Head!" Anakin suddenly yelled and Obi-wan blinked, pausing.

"Head?" He asked, confused, and the flat end of Anakin's sword came crashing down on Obi-wan's skull. He winced and muttered a small, "Ow!"

"Oh, come on, Obi-wan, you're not even trying!" Anakin said impatiently, swinging his sword and then hitting Obi-wan at the back of his legs with the flatter end.

"Agh, I am!" Obi-wan protested, adjusting his helmet and turning back around to face the prince. Anakin grinned and launched himself at him, sword at the ready.

"To the left, right – and left – head!" Anakin yelled and there was another loud, sudden blow to Obi-wan's skull. The young man winced and protested with another, "ow!"

"Come on, Obi-wan!" Anakin yelled loudly, swinging his sword around his wrist. "I've got a tournament to win!"

Obi-wan could still hear a dull, ringing sound in his ears and stumbled forwards. "Can we stop now, please?" He asked pleadingly.

Anakin didn't reply. Instead, he continued to attack Obi-wan, giving the same orders.

"Shield, body, body, shield," he called out and gave yet another blow to Obi-wan's head.

This time, it was enough. Obi-wan saw a great amount of bright, strange spots dance in front of his eyes. He felt himself sinking and fell to the ground, his helmet coming off in the process.

Obi-wan managed to take a couple of breaths of fresh air before seeing Anakin looming over him with a large, arrogant smirk on his face.

"You're braver than you look," the prince commented. "Most servants collapse after the first blow."

Obi-wan made a small groaning sound and lifted his head off the ground by a centimeter. "Is it over now?" He asked tiredly.

"Just a warm-up," Anakin replied with a casual shrug. He held up a small mace and swung it around his head. Obi-wan couldn't help but to inwardly groan – of course.

"How's your mace work coming along?" Anakin asked cheerfully.

Obi-wan could only sigh and groan in response.

•◊•

It was a wonder that Obi-wan was able to get to Qui-Gon's chambers without collapsing. His entire body hurt, no thanks to Anakin.

He decided that training with Anakin was his least favorite time of the day.

Qui-Gon looked up from his workbench and grinned at the younger man. "So…how was your first day as Anakin's manservant?" He asked humorously.

Obi-wan winced and rubbed his temples tiredly. "Do you hear clanging?" He asked.

Qui-Gon smiled, shaking his head. "Sit down," he said, pointing at a chair. "And take off the armor."

The younger man smiled gratefully and did as he was told. It took him several minutes to undo the armor, but soon enough, the metal was on the ground and temporarily forgotten about.

Obi-wan sat down in the chair and the physician walked over to him, still smiling. Qui-Gon firmly stretched out Obi-wan's arms as the younger man groaned, "It was horrible. And I've still got to learn about tournament etiquette by the morning."

Obi-wan looked across the table, where a small book of the tournament information sat. He smiled to himself and outstretched a single hand, calling on the Force to bring the book towards him. Qui-Gon promptly replied in a sharp, annoyed voice, "What have I told you about using the Force like this?"

The younger man sighed. "If I could actually feel my arms, I would pick up the book myself," he protested.

"Never mind your arms," Qui-Gon said, "what would I do if you get caught?"

Obi-wan frowned. "What would you do?" He asked, turning around to face the older man.

Qui-Gon paused and sighed. "Well, you just make sure it doesn't happen for both our sakes." He took Obi-wan's other arm and stretched it.

Obi-wan winced, taking hold of his own shoulder and muttered, "I save Anakin from getting killed and I end up as a servant—how is that fair?"

"Not sure if fairness comes into it. Who knows, it might be fun," Qui-Gon replied lightly.

Obi-wan snorted incredulously. "You think mucking out Anakin's horses will be fun?" He asked, shaking his head. "You should hear my list of duties."

"We all have duties, including Anakin," was Qui-Gon's only response.

Obi-wan sighed. "Must be tough for him," he said sarcastically. "With all the girls, the glory."

"He is the future king. People expect much from him." Qui-Gon said quietly. "He's under a lot of pressure." At that very moment, the physician chose the unfortunate time to pop Obi-wan's shoulder back into place.

Obi-wan winced. "That makes for two of us!" He muttered under his breath.

•◊•

"So, you've got voiders on the arms," Padmé said patiently, circling Obi-wan. She had agreed to teach him the proper parts of armor, seeing that Obi-wan was absolutely hopeless with these sorts of things.

"The hauberk goes over your chest," the young woman added, pointing at the large, hunk of metal that was placed over Obi-wan's chest. She walked over to a small workbench and said, "I guess you know what to do with the helmet."

Obi-wan looked at the helmet in Padmé's hands and smiled sheepishly. "That was the only bit I've figured out," he said, taking the helmet from her. He placed it over his head and sighed. "How come you're so much better at this than me?"

"I'm the blacksmith's daughter," Padmé pointed out, stretching out her hands. "I know pretty much everything there is to know about armor, which is actually kind of sad."

"No, it's brilliant," Obi-wan said earnestly with a grin.

The young woman only gave Obi-wan an embarrassed smile and looked down at the floor in response.

•◊•

"You do know that the tournament starts today," Anakin muttered under his breath as Obi-wan placed the voiders over the prince's arms.

Of course, Obi-wan knew that the tournament was today—it was hard to miss the signs. A long, wooden rack stood before the two with swords and spears in each and every stall. Colorful tents were placed around the perimeter of a large, open area where the tournament's participators would fight. And, of course, the noise of the crowd waiting for the action to begin was also a large tip-off.

"Yes, sire," Obi-wan managed to reply with a forced smile. He straightened himself and began to fix the straps of the hauberk on Anakin's shoulders. "You nervous?" He asked.

"I don't get nervous." Anakin muttered, his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Really? I thought everyone did," Obi-wan replied humorously.

Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say, for in the next moment, Anakin was shouting, "Will you just shut up?!"

Obi-wan resisted the urge to give a retort to the prince but instead turned around to grab Anakin's cloak. He fixed the clasp over Anakin's neck and handed him the helmet.

He stood back, crossing his arms. "Great. I think you're all set," he commented.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Anakin asked incredulously.

Obi-wan blinked, confused.

"My sword?" Anakin pointed out, shaking his head.

Obi-wan winced and felt heat creep up to his face. "Right, sorry," he muttered under his breath, turning around to the rack. He reached over and plucked out a sword, handing it over to Anakin. "Guess you'll be needing that."

Anakin took the sword and gave Obi-wan an annoyed glare before storming off to the tournament arena.

"That went well," Obi-wan muttered to no one in particular, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

A/N: Again, Obi-wan's pretty young in this story...and I'm taking time with his character development. I mean, you can't seriously expect that he was automatically a really, really patient and wise guy ever since he was a kid, right?

Anakin: Actually, I always thought that -

Me: *facepalms* Anakin, I don't think ANYONE was like that since they were little. Except for some kids.

Anakin: ...good point.

Me: Uh-huh. Anyways, I would also like to point out that I now have 113 followers and 119 favorites! I have no idea if that's a big number on FanFiction dot net, but I seriously can't tell you guys how thankful I am. :')

Ahsoka: *sarcasm* Yaaay, now we get to hear you blubber over this stuff...

Me: Don't be mean - you guys are all awesome and brilliant and I just want to say thank you for sticking around even when I act really, really annoying...and I'm amazed at how you guys still read my stories even when I'm a bit crazy in the head. Thank you, thank you, thank you. :')

Anakin: *sighs* And, just for that, I'll do the review notice. Please review, give constructive criticism if you have any, and no flames.

Me: Yup! :') Thanks again, you guys! See ya'll later!