Chapter 2 - Failed Escape

Author's Note: Warning for Obi-Wan bullying Anakin quite literally, but I think it's maybe slightly excusable? Well not really but he has no reason to be nice. O.O

~ Tirana Sorki

Maul hasn't moved to get up again, and – and –

Anakin twists around, trying in vain to free himself; stomping on the man's foot doesn't seem to help much (maybe it's because Anakin is so light for his age, everyone tells him) so he twists around, finally sinking his teeth into his arm.

The Sith jolts his arm back, muttering something under his breath, then roughly shoves him into one of the rooms on the ship, nearly hard enough to knock him to the floor.

"You're only making this more unpleasant for yourself," he warns – why does his voice sound so familiar? It's not as if Anakin's heard it before – as he pulls him over to a chair, tying him in place to it.

There's no way he'll be getting out of this when the Sith is still here; he'll have to wait for a better chance. Anakin wriggles around in the ropes anyway, the moment his back is turned. He hates this. He hates being this vulnerable and unable to run. He knows that feeling far too well, and –

All he can do now is try to stay hidden and be invisible until he finds his chance. The Sith could do anything to him, and he can't stop him. He's well used to that feeling but that doesn't make him any less terrified.

Especially not when he remembers what the Sith said.

"I came to retrieve that which is the Sith's."

What do they want with him?! What are they going to do to him?

The door clicks shut, indicating that it's locked, and moments later, he can feel the ship in motion.

He needs to get off before it makes the jump to hyperspace. Somehow. Anakin can't even move in the ropes – the helpless of it is crawling under his skin, making it hard to breathe– but he has the Force. He's a Jedi. He can still free himself. Closing his eyes, he tries to find a center of calm like Maul always teaches him.

He hasn't done this much, but he finds the knots on the ropes, slowly nudging them around a little, yanking at it until he starts getting them loose, so he can move again. Using his hands from there is easy enough, and far too long later, he finally shakes the ropes off, scrambling to his feet, heart hammering.

Now he needs to get out and find somewhere to hide until he can get off. Anakin darts over to the door, reaching out with the Force to try unlocking it.

Except trying to feel through the parts' mechanisms and figure out which one to push here and there is not nearly as easy. He tries nudging it hard, but nothing happens,and then, the next thing he knows, he can't feel the locking mechanism at all.

What?

Cautiously, he tries pushing on the door, but it doesn't budge. What...

The lock just seems gone and... Whatever happened, maybe he can try to run when the Sith comes back. Except he'll have to find a way to get past him, and –

On second thought, maybe he already has that.

**w**

The mission was simpler than Obi-Wan anticipated. He expected Jinn's former padawan to be at least a little more difficult to handle this time around. His lack of improvement is most unimpressive, but then again, these are Jedi.

Tracking their ship was easy enough, and when he'd landed, pirates had been all over him. Figuring out what they were really after was simple enough, and so he'd made a deal to help them. Not that he had any real intention of fulfilling it, but they just needed to think so.

The boy is more of a fighter than he'd expected, though, if the stinging on his arm from that bite is anything to go by.

What does his master want with him anyway? He made a point of how dangerous the Chosen One would be to their plans, and that means... Obi-Wan highly doubts he's planning on keeping him alive.

He can feel how strong the boy is with the Force, and personally, he thinks just killing him is nothing but wasted potential.

Not as if he's asking to be replaced, but still.

Obi-Wan shakes the thought from mind, standing and heading for the back of the ship. He needs to make sure the boy – Anakin, he thinks the name was – is secure. Except the door doesn't open when he tries to open it, and when he reaches for the lock with the Force, it seems like it was... melted together?

What?

He has absolutely no idea how that could have happened, unless... A huff of irritation escapes him. It's the boy again, isn't it? He's stubborn, to be sure.

Obi-Wan withdraws his lightsaber, plunging it into the door and cutting a hole – seriously, now he'll have to get the door repaired; this is ridiculous – knocking the piece inside to see nothing but a pile of ropes in the middle of the floor, and he ducks through the hole, stopping when something rams into his side.

The boy tosses the chair he's holding to the floor, ducking past him and climbing out the opening. Or trying to, because Obi-Wan hastily spins around, lifting him off his feet to stop him from running.

Anakin's eyes widen, and he can feel his fear radiating into the Force. Perhaps wisely realizing that his antics are not appreciated. (Even if he'll admit it's still impressive. If Obi-Wan weren't a Sith, Anakin would have succeeded already. And his master is going to totally waste this... potential. He'd prefer to never know what fate may await him.)

"How did you melt the lock on the door?" Obi-Wan demands, setting Anakin on the floor in front of him again with a huff.

"Where are you taking me?" Anakin asks instead, taking a step away from him. He sounds defiant, but maybe a little scared, too.

Which hardly answers the question, but it's not as if he needs an answer to that anyway. Obi-Wan doesn't have a way of keeping him contained anymore, which means he'll have to keep an eye on him. But first, he needs to call his master.

He debates answering or ignoring the question just to... No reason, really. He doesn't have a reason not to answer, though. "To my master."

Anakin's expression shifts slightly, his eyes widening, though he doesn't reply.

"Come with me," Obi-Wan orders, turning away. Anakin follows, his nervousness obvious even if he's keeping it otherwise hidden.

Obi-Wan doesn't want him in the cockpit when he's talking to his master, though. "Wait here," he orders, stepping a little closer just for the sake of making a point, "And do not touch anything."

"Yes sir," the boy offers quietly.

"Good." Obi-Wan turns away, striding back into the cockpit. Time to get this over with. He never does enjoy talking to his master.

**w**

Anakin watches the door the Sith disappeared through before he dares to breathe again. That... could have gone much worse. He was sure he was going to hurt him, to beat him, or – something worse, but he didn't. It's surprising, but he isn't going to risk pushing any further again.

Still, he needs to find a way out of here, and maybe getting a better feel for the ship would help.

The Sith told him to wait here, though. Going to look around when he's under orders to do otherwise would be bad if he was caught.

"I have found him, my master," he hears the Sith's hears the voice filter in from the cockpit and he creeps a little closer, so he can hear better.

Why is he calling this man 'master'? Anakin knows it has other meanings than it does on Tatooine, but he also knows the Jedi say the Sith are bad, so... He doesn't know what kind of meaning that word has for them.

Is he...?

"Good. Bring him here," another voice orders – it's deep and sinister, and it sends a shiver through him. That darkness he feels now must be from the other Sith, whoever it is. "Do the Jedi have any leads on you? Is there any risk they are tracking you?"

"No."

"Good. There can be no mistakes, Darth Iiglu."

"There won't be," the Sith – Iiglu, apparently – assures.

What if he was able to figure out who both the Sith are and their identities and get that information to the Jedi?!

The Sith's return is all everyone talks about at the Temple, and Anakin doesn't really understand it. They have different beliefs than the Jedi, but he doesn't see why that's so bad. Why have they been fighting for thousands of years about ways to best use the Force?

But still, there's a lot he doesn't understand about being a Jedi.

The door to the cockpit opens suddenly, and the Sith steps out. "Impressive," he says, dryly, "I would have thought you'd disappear by now." He gestures for him to follow, and Anakin warily steps into the cockpit after him.

"Since you can't behave unsupervised, you'll stay here," he adds, motioning to the copilot's seat. Anakin moves towards it uncertainly, slowly climbing into it. This is not what he wanted at all. He has no chance at escaping if he's under the Sith's watchful eye and being anywhere near him is already uncomfortable.

(Is the Sith also a slave?)

Anakin turns his attention to the controls after a few moments, trying to think about anything other than the eyes on him – well, he doesn't know if Iiglu is looking at him, and he doesn't want to look up. The controls, at least, are interesting, though he can't focus on anything except his situation right now.

How did he let himself get captured? He should have been better than this. Faster. He's supposed to be a Jedi. He thought he was ready to go with Maul on missions, and instead, he ruined everything. They probably failed their mission too, and now, his master will be wasting time trying to find him, and –

"You're late for becoming a padawan," the Sith comments, eyeing him.

Anakin looks up, warily. Why is he bringing that up?

"I can't imagine they've been very... accepting of you."

Anakin stubbornly keeps himself from reacting, fighting the urge to tense. As if he needs the reminder of how much everyone at the Temple sees him as this... freak. And why is Iiglu mentioning this? What is he aiming for? Especially when the only reason Anakin is being trained at all was because of Qui-Gon, and this is the Sith who killed him.

"They would only have wasted your potential," Iiglu continues. Is that what the Sith want with him? To turn him? He still doesn't really understand why the Dark Side is so dangerous, but he would never disappoint his master by using it – everyone is already telling him he's too dark and... "Though I doubt my master will be different in that regard."

What?

Why is he saying the word 'master' with such loathing? Are his... suspicions right?

Anakin swallows hard. "What does he want?"

The Sith is quiet for a strangely long moment. "I never asked."

Fear clenches tightly in him. Is the Sith's master planning to kill him? Or something worse? Or... All he wants to do is get out of here, but he doesn't think he's going to have that chance.

Well, he might have one chance, but he doesn't know if it'll work. "You call him master..." Anakin begins quietly.

The Sith gives him an odd look. "I'm his apprentice."

But Anakin still can't be sure that doesn't mean slave. "But you have to do as he says?" Not that Anakin doesn't with Maul, but he can't outright ask if Iiglu is a slave. It's not... nice.

"What concern is it of yours?" Iiglu asks, shortly.

"You can be... free. The Jedi will help."

He scoffs. "The Jedi don't help anyone."

It only leaves Anakin no more certain than before whether or not he's a slave. He hoped for years that the Jedi would come free him, and when Qui-Gon finally came, it wasn't for that. He still freed him, though. Obviously, no one's tried helping Iiglu, even if he's not actually a slave.

Lights flash suddenly on the control panel, instantly catching Anakin's attention. "Don't touch anything," the Sith warns, turning back to the controls, right as the ship jolts out of hyperspace.

Only for the ship to lurch violently from a sudden barrage of laser shots.

What?!

Why are they being attacked?

For a moment, Anakin dares to hope that it's because Maul figured out where they were going, but he knows it's nothing but a dream. He doesn't sense his master anywhere, and there's no realistic way he could've found him.

The Sith mutters a swear – or something anyway – under his breath, pushing buttons on the controls.

"Why are they attacking us?" Anakin asks, in spite of himself. There's something about Iiglu that's... He doesn't know, but he's not as scary as Anakin thought he would be. Even if he's trying to be.

"Pirates," he replies, tone clipped.

More laser shots strike the sides of the ship, and from the lights flashing on the controls, Anakin can tell that the shields are starting to fail. This is bad; they could be shot down, or blowm up in space, and he'll never see his mother or Maul again then.

He should be doing something. He can help, he can –

He doesn't want to help his kidnapper, but they'll both die if this happens, and... (He still doesn't know if this Sith is actually a slave.)

"I can help," Anakin offers, hesitantly.

"This isn't a time for games," the Sith snaps, spinning the ship to the side to avoid the next barrage of laser shots.

"I know how to fly," he protests.

"Then make yourself useful," he replies shortly, "Can you shoot?"

He did it once before, though the thought of actually shooting at someone who's alive is – a little different than when he blew up the Trade Federation ship. Those were just droids.

The Sith is already reaching for the guns, though, so Anakin reaches for the controls of the ship instead. And that he can do. Now that he can consciously feel the Force, it feels as though it's nudging him in certain directions, and he spins out of the way of the next barrage of fire.

Iiglu shoots down the first of the pirates' ships far more easily now, but the shields are still flashing dangerously, indicating they're about to give out. Anakin doesn't know why they're being attacked, but it doesn't matter. All they can do is fight, and Anakin keeps all his focus on spinning the ship out of the way of the shots, but it's not enough with so many pirates.

They take down a couple more ships, except then, a shot catches their ship in the wing, and it starts spiraling out of control. Iiglu quickly joins Anakin in trying to control the ship, as they plunge down through the atmosphere of the nearby planet.

But he can still see the ships following them on the scanners.

"Why are they chasing us?" Anakin asks.

The man spares him a momentary glance. "Cargo ships come through here. They think we have something."

Oh.

Pirates can be slavers too, and that's bad. If they're captured –

The ship hits the ground hard, nearly throwing Anakin from his seat. The controls are sparking now, and Anakin pushes some buttons to try and get them to turn back on, but it only flickers and dies.

"I'll deal with the pirates. You wait here," Iiglu orders, standing with a slight grimace – he must have been slightly injured in the crash somehow.

Anakin's gaze follows him as heads out, and within a minute he can see him circling around to stand a short distance away from the front of the ship with his lightsaber out. The first pirate ship circles down, unleashing a barrage of laser blasts on him.

It might be a good chance to run, Anakin realizes with a jolt, even if he has no idea where he's going. Heart suddenly pounding, he scrambles to his feet, darting out of the cockpit for the back of the ship. He pauses halfway through the hold again, just to listen – making sure there's still the constant sound of shooting outside. The door to the Sith's private quarters is open now, with some of his things – presumably – strewn about on the floor, probably from the crash. He would have just sprinted past, if not for the light suddenly glinting on something in the corner.

Anakin hesitates for a just a moment, creeping a little closer to see what looks like armor.

Mandalorian armor, if he's guessing right.

Why does Iiglu have Mandalorian armor here? Is he from Mandalore?! Anakin's heard stories of them before, of how they're warriors, so it might make sense if one of them is also a Sith.

It gives him little information, though, and he just needs to get out of here. Anakin turns away, racing for the exit ramp.

A gust of freezing cold air greets him as he steps out, and he shivers – boots crunching in the strange white substance on the ground. It's not rock or sand or it wouldn't crunch like this or be so cold. He leans down in spite himself, lightly running his fingers through it. It's freezing.

Realistically, he doesn't know how far he'll make it in these temperatures, but he can't stay either. It's right that moment that something on the pirate's ship explodes when it's right above the ground, and it comes spiraling down straight towards them. Anakin sprints back to their ship, crouching against the side as the other one slams into the ground only meters away from them, sending debris and that strange, white substance flying everywhere. It's smoking heavily, and the fire could easily spread.

The other pirate ships are flying back up into the sky, hopefully breaking off their attacks. Anakin ducks out of hiding the moment he knows he won't be hit, and takes off again, pausing momentarily to look back to make sure it's safe. Except he catches sight of the of the Sith lying on the ground. It stops him cold – quite literally – because... he looks injured. He's hurt, and the pirates could come back to kill him, or kidnap him, and Anakin knows what bad things can happen when that happens.

Especially when Iiglu may already be a slave.

Anakin doesn't have anywhere to go anyway, so maybe he could try talking to him again, about... not going back to his master. Maybe.

He doesn't know what to do but just running away feels wrong.

Slowly, he turns around, and runs back, dropping onto the cold substance on the ground next to Iiglu. He looks a little dazed, but he's starting to stir. It looks like a piece of debris badly cut his arm, though.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asks, trying not to shiver. Really, he could have run to hide in the leafless trees here, but he wouldn't have anywhere to go without freezing.

Iiglu slowly pushes himself up with a scowl, looking around, the slightest flicker of surprise on his face. "What are you doing?" he asks, sounding decidedly cranky.

Anakin pulls back, uncertainly. "You were hurt."

"I'm fine," he grouses, pulling himself to his feet, looking around, "We need to get the ship repaired."

Anakin wraps his arms around himself, trying to keep how cold he is invisible, but he's only used to it being too hot. Never this.

"We might be able to salvage something from the other ship to fix ours," the Sith muses, putting a hand on Anakin's shoulder momentarily – so suddenly that he nearly jumps – before motioning for him to head back to their ship.

He's more than grateful to go inside, but it's already cold in here anyway with no power and the ramp open. Iiglu pauses near the door to his room, calling a black cape lying on the floor to his hand with the Force, before dropping it into Anakin's arms.

What?

Anakin blinks up at him in confusion.

"I can't have you freezing on the way there," he replies shortly, stepping further into the room, pulling out a medpack in the corner and applying bacta to the injury on his arm.

Anakin hesitantly slips the dark-colored robe around his shoulders, pulling it close to him. It certainly helps, even if it feels weird to... be doing this, taking something like this from his kidnappers. It feels of Iiglu's presence, something cold and icy and dark, but it's not... dirty the way people on Tatooine often felt.

His gaze darts to the armor in the corner again, and he wonders. Does it belong to Iiglu? He can't imagine someone being able to kill a Mandalorian, but he never thought someone could kill a Jedi either.

Iiglu steps out of his room a few minutes later, and they head to the cockpit together, assessing the damage.

"You need new wires to fix this," Anakin observes, as they try – and fail – to get the controls running again.

"The other ship might have something," Iiglu muses, looking out the cockpit window. Part of the ship is still smoldering, though it's mostly intact. Approaching should be alright, at least if the Sith think so. Anakin doubts he'd intentionally put himself in danger. "Come."

"What... is this?" Anakin can't help but ask, kicking the white substance at his feet as they step outside again.

Iiglu gives him a dubious look. "You don't know what snow is?"

Oh. Oh –

He's heardof it obviously, but he's never seen it before. "I've never seen it before," he offers hesitantly.

The Sith makes a noncommittal noise, turning his attention back to the other ship. They head inside, making their way through the damage to the cockpit. The person in the pilot seat is dead, slumped over the controls, and... Anakin's seen death plenty of times before so it doesn't bother him, but it's still disturbing seeing as it was Iiglu who killed him.

Iiglu flicks a hand, throwing the body to the floor out of their way – Anakin tries not to remember how much it reminds him of how bodies were usually treated on Tatooine – before they start looking over the controls here, for the parts they need.

"You know a lot about ships for not being a padawan long," he comments.

"I learned... before," Anakin replies, ducking his head.

"You always lived on Tatooine?"

It's hardly a surprise he knows, seeing as he nearly drove over him back when Anakin was first leaving with Qui-Gon. It sends a sharp pang through him, remembering him and his mother.

And he's standing next to Qui-Gon's killer now.

"I was on Nal Hutta before. My... Watto won me in a bet."

"You were a slave?" he asks, in slight surprise.

Indignation rises in him instantly, at the way that word is always used. Except he won't contradict the point to... (someone who could well be his new slaver.)

He only nods instead.

Iiglu eyes him, as though considering saying something before changing his mind. "We need to be fast. We'll be late," he says, turning his focus back to the ship.

Late for what?

Anakin almost wishes he'd run now as they finish the repairs on their ship. Fixing the wing is a little more difficult, but they have enough that they can get it into flying condition. It's freezing working out there, though. He probably would have frozen to death if he had run, but now, he's stuck here and the Sith is still going to take him to his master. The fate that awaits him is probably worse.

He has no idea what they want with him, but... he implied they aren't planning to turn him, and if they were going to kill him, they would have done that already, right?

So, what are they planning to do to him?

He really doesn't want the answer to that.

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