Chapter 7:

They manoeuvred easily around the battle droids. Most of the droids avoided even looking in their general direction in fact. A fact that had made Ben laugh, when Obi-Wan had addressed it.

"They KNOW that I am not very... fond of droids," the Sith had huffed, "They are stupid, slow and can be programmed to kill you. There is no loyalty, no respect and they are everything else than entertaining. I prefer real men."

Obi-Wan should have paid more attention to the last part of this sentence, but he didn't, which could very well have been because Asajj Ventress chose exactly this moment to make an appearance.

"Why hello there Ombro," she cooed and invaded Ben's personal space. The male Sith did not react in any way, except looking at the smaller female. "Why so silent?" she asked, but Ben did not answer this time either.

It was then that her eyes fell on Obi-Wan, who had watched the one-sided exchange with a mixture of interest and disgust. It was obvious that Ventress acted this way, because she wanted something. It was not clear for the Jedi WHAT she wanted however. Maybe she simply wanted the 'mysterious' Sith Lord or something more... objective.

"Kenobi," her voice had lost all the previous sweetness. How she said his name reminded the ginger haired Jedi of an infuriated snake. Two blood red lightsabers activated at once and Obi-Wan had his hand already on his own blue one, when Ben stepped between the two beings.

"He is with me," was everything the Sith said. His voice betrayed nothing of his emotions or thoughts. It was neutral, but held an air of authority nevertheless.

"Oh," she still held onto her lightsabers when she sighed dramatically, "Maybe nobody has told you during that isolation of yours, but usually you take the weapons of your prisoner."

"He is not our prisoner, but our guest," again there was not even the hint of an emotion in his voice.

The female's eyes widened in surprise, "Apparently that isolation has not helped the state of your mind." She continued when her collocutor did not reply, "You are completely insane," she stated boldly.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps every living being is insane in his or her own way. Maybe insanity is the real normal and normal, as you define it, is an abnormality in the Force. This therefore means that I would be normal, at least from the point of view of the Force, and YOU would be abnormal."

The female Sith blinked a few times at those words and Obi-Wan barely kept himself from chuckling. That statement sounded like something Qui-Gon would have said. Or in other words, it was completely irritating and could probably only be understood by the speaker himself. Even though Obi-Wan had the suspicion that sometimes not even Qui-Gon knew what he was talking about.

"What?" Ventress eventually managed to spit out. She had long since deactivated her lightsabers. Probably unconsciously, Obi-Wan presumed.

"Ponder about it, meditate, I do not care," from the way the Force spiked around his brother for the briefest of moments, Obi-Wan knew his eyes must have flashed golden, "But do not do it, whatever 'it' is, anywhere near me."

She bald woman recoiled from the sudden coldness in the taller male's voice. She seemed to ponder about her next step, but apparently she deemed it saver to step aside and to let the two Kenobis pass.

"Well, then have fun... and should you grow bored, my dear Obi-Wan, you know where to find me."

"Of course, my darling," the ginger haired Jedi could not help himself, but to reply like this. He quietly wondered what his brother, who had showed not even the slightest interest in Ventress' company, must think. The Council member immediately banished that thought. He was not dependant of Ben, hadn't been for over thirty years, so why did he start now? Could this be the bond the Sith had mentioned earlier? Obi-Wan HAD opened the bond for one little second, before immediately closing it again. Nothing has really went through, on neither side, but it would be a plausible explanation.

"Be careful brother," Ben spoke up again, when they were far out of Ventress or anybody else's earshot.

"Pardon me?" he had only listened with half an ear.

"Ventress is a hunter and you are seen as pray. If she gets you in her hands, she will play with you, no doubt, but afterwards..." he shrugged, "Afterwards she will cast you aside as if you are worth nothing."

Obi-Wan exhaled, not even realising that he had held his breathe in the first place, "Do not worry brother, such relationships are not befitting for a Jedi."

"So you are a virgin?"

The younger male choked on his own saliva, "I am certainly not," he eventually managed to spit out. "I just..." he was not able to finish this sentence.

"Just an experiment then... or you are denying what you feel... interesting." Obi-Wan silently decided that he did not like the smirk he heard in his brother's voice, nor did he like the way the older male's eyes sparkled.

The Jedi cleared his throat and quickly changed the topic. "You have not told me where exactly we are heading." Absentmindedly the younger male looked around the impressive Sith camp. Generators, battle droids, ships with container and other technical devises wherever you looked. A large tent stood in the middle of the camp and it was obvious that it was for the higher ranked Separatists, like Ventress, Grievous or Ben. A large container stood at the end of it and this is where Ben was pointing too.

"My troops have their quarters over there. Don't worry, they will be training right now, but they have a transmitter which you can use."

The Council member nodded. Not another word was spoken while they quickly walked through the camp. Obi-Wan should have used the time to ponder and analyse the words Ben had spoken, but he inspected his surroundings instead. It was not like he didn't trust Ben, he did a little bit, but it was always better to have a way to escape should the need ever arise. Unfortunately for him, he found absolutely nothing of use.

"After you," the older male held the door open and after a sceptic look, the ginger haired Jedi entered.

I hope you liked this chapter. I would really appreciate you leaving a comment and some feedback!^^