They warily turned through a maze of trees and bushes. Anakin was shaken and distracted. It took him time to notice anything amiss. He was clearly shaken and distracted. "Hmm." Anakin's eyes were studying the vegetation, wary.
Luke remarked "This looks a little too well knit for a natural maze. It almost looks woven together." Suddenly something whizzed and thumped at their feet. An arrow quivered there.
"Halt. Identify yourselves."
"My name is Luke Skywalker. I'm looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's my friend and mentor." Luke reached into the force, hoping to sense the old jedi nearby.
"And what about the other guy?"
Anakin was suddenly confronted with an identity crisis. Giving his name was going to give him immediate attention and raise questions he was in no hurry to answer. Giving his title as Darth Vader would just get him shot. He decided to stall. "You haven't given your name yet either."
"I'm holding the weapons here."
"Therefore you can afford to be generous." Anakin suggested.
"I don't think so."
"I have a lightsaber. You have a bow and arrow." Luke fired back,abruptly recognizing his father's dilemma.
"We have blasters, we just save them for Imperials. Convince me you aren't one."
"A blaster against a lightsaber…" Luke started to point out hesitantly.
Anakin suddenly realized they were being surrounded, probably by their assailant's backup. "Anakin. My name is Anakin. And any demonstrations of blasters and lightsabers might just attract those Imperials you are anxious to avoid."
A moment of silence. "Just wait there."
For a few moments, they waited. Suddenly people swarmed out of the trees. Most were human. There was a rodian and a torgrutan, however, along with a wookiee. They quickly took Luke's lightsaber and searched the backpacks. Anakin was unarmed and he did his best to look unthreatening.
"This way." The togrutan took point. The wookiee fell in right behind and the rest spread out to either side.
Luke and Anakin exchanged a glance. They moved through the woods silently, so silent that when Luke started to speak they hushed him. They were not taking a direct route. When he stepped on a twig, he got a glare. He was no amateur at these things but these people took the silent scouting to a whole new level. Anakin had apparently shifted into silent mode and Luke found himself watching admiringly. Apparently it was one of those Jedi techniques he hadn't learned yet. He felt a flicker of worry that maybe it was a Sith one. But no, there was no aura of darkness. If anything it was the shimmer of light.
Suddenly a distant shot rang out. Birds took off and the distant sound of thundering panicked animals crying out in fright. Their escorts looked disgusted. "Target practice. Imperial patrol."
"We need to hurry."
They came into a tight knit area with a small overhanging cliff. Their escort split then. "We need to ride the rest of the way." The leader announced.
The animals they led out were unfamiliar. Quadrupeds with neat, dished faces and a central horn with two tiny ones on either side of it. They had long slim legs and cloven hooves, with a long rope like tail with tassles of silken hair dangling from it. They had long streaked manes and were the colors of the forest, grays, browns and tans.
"You four, go back and keep an eye on that patrol." The leader motioned to his recon team.
"You two know how to ride a riocornus?"
"Never heard of it." Anakin said less than enthusiastically. "I've ridden suubatars."
"I've ridden tauntauns." Luke said slowly.
"Well, mount up. Be careful they're skittish."
"What about Artoo?"
"One of the scouts shook her head. "You'll have to leave the droid with those of us staying here, unless you can get it on one of them."
Luke frowned at this, not happy at the idea of leaving his droid alone here.
No question about it, the creatures were dancing nervously as if the ground was red hot. The occasional distant scream clearly upset them.
Luke managed to mount up on the jumpy creature. He looked at his father. In spite of his doubts, his father had one hand out lightly near the larger animal's head. Luke's eyes widened. Carefully Anakin held the beast still, gently motioning to Artoo. Artoo fired thrusters.
"Cut them, Artoo." The droid gave a low doubful whistle.
"One of us will hold onto you, believe me. We won't let you fall."
Luke reached out with the Force, catching the droid as his father did. The droid lowered into the saddle and Anakin strapped him in place. The animal started to back up but Anakin held him tight. The creature's head dipped to look at him. The animal seemed fascinated, as if mesmerized. Luke reached into the Force, trying to sense what his father was doing.
Mouth hanging open one of the scouts gaped at him in surprise. "You can ride the other one then." She stared. "Jedi. You're jedi!"
Anakin gave a short nod to her first comment and ignored the second. He mounted quickly. Blinking rapidly Luke came alongside. "I'm impressed. How did you do that? Calm it down I mean?"
"I just calmed it with the force." He murmured as the leader impatiently grabbed both their reins.
"We do the steering." The leader said firmly, passing the reins of Luke's mount to another. Luke's brows rose.
Anakin shrugged and crossed his arms. Artoo's mount surged alongside and he reached out and lightly rubbed the droid's dome. "You'll be fine Artoo." The droid was whistling uneasily.
It took a long time, and both were highly aware that they were not taking a straight line to the Jedi master. Either they were going this way to avoid a patrol or they were being led on a wild route to prevent them from retracing their steps if they weren't who and what they claimed.
They came into an area where the trees suddenly seemed to skyrocket, leading to an enormous cave entrance. Looking around, they noticed that from this area the tree canopy appeared to be almost strapped together with vines.
"Do you think…?" Luke murmured.
"Yes." His breath sounded faint. "Camouflage."
"Do you need your medicine?" Luke asked as they slowed to a halt. There was activity near the cave entrance. People were approaching.
Anakin just shook his head. His issue wasn't so much physical. He took a moment to recenter himself and do some relaxation exercises. He felt the force calm, felt the life around him, the unfamiliar and the familiar. And the very familiar. His eyes shot open.
"Obi-Wan!" Luke cried out in relief.
Anakin looked up and for the first time in twenty odd years, saw his old master with his own eyes.