Chapter 4
Anakin POV
Prince Humperdinck was coming. They could hear distant mutters and the whinnying of horses.
"There is a swamp. Let's head into it before Humperdinck gets here," Obi-Wan said grimly, yanking Anakin as they ran towards the trees.
"Don't you want to go with him?" Anakin asked, looking away.
Obi-Wan gaped at him.
"No!"
Anakin looked up, startled at his Master's vehemence.
"I thought you had an arrangement with him. You weren't a prisoner, I thought?" Anakin half-asked.
They stopped running when Obi-Wan tripped and almost fell. Obi-Wan let out a shuddering sigh and pulled at his collar.
"I was a prisoner of a sort. I refused to help him conquer the other kingdoms and he didn't take it well. The count wanted to torture me, but Humperdinck… He didn't want me to be damaged. So, he punished me by taking me as…"
Obi-Wan shivered and hugged himself.
"We don't have time for this," he said quickly, "We have to get deep enough into the swamp so that the horses can't follow."
They ran, and Anakin finally noticed the gauzy material that peeked out from the edge of the too-small robe Obi-Wan was wearing. His boots were too large as well, making him stumble.
"Oh," Anakin said softly, taking Obi-Wan's arm to help him regain his balance and ignoring the slight flinch at his touch.
A slave then, and the worst kind. Anakin's stomach lurched as he remembered his harsh words from earlier. His resentment that his Master had not come for him, when all this time his Master had been…
Anakin pushed down the wave of anger that rose up, saving it for later. Humperdinck would get what was coming to him. Anakin would see to that.
The swamp was a fetid, claustrophobic thing.
"It's not that bad," Obi-Wan said after a few minutes, to break the silence.
Anakin gave him a dry look.
"Well, I'm not saying I'd like to build a home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."
Anakin sighed and rolled his eyes, a small smile tweaking his lips. He'd missed this.
The constant popping sounds followed by flashes of light made both of them nervous. Anakin pulled out his sword and gave Obi-Wan Vizzini's knife.
A popping sound started nearly at their feet and both of the men jumped back.
Obi-Wan wasn't quite fast enough, his borrowed boots weighing him down.
A loud, final, pop and a burst of flame came up from the ground.
Anakin swore and yanked Obi-Wan back. They both batted at the singed edges of Obi-Wan's coat, making sure the flames were out.
"Well," Obi-Wan said, "Now we know what those sounds are."
"They even give you a warning before they burst into flame. A lot nicer than our usual," Anakin said.
"A fire swamp. Joy," Obi-Wan sighed and they continued on, pausing to give a wide berth to any popping noises.
"We just have to get to Robert's ship Revenge. It is banked at the far end. And, as you know, I am Roberts."
"But how's that possible, since he's been marauding 20 years and you were captured only 3 years ago?"
"What I told you about me fighting back was true. They managed to get this collar on me," Anakin said, pulling away the excessively florid scarf around his neck, "and took my lightsaber. I was furious and kept fighting, of course."
Anakin frowned and fisted his hands.
"I'll never be a slave again."
Obi-Wan put his hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"No, never again," he said encouragingly.
Anakin took a deep breath, relaxed, and kept explaining.
"They were going to sell me, but Roberts liked me for some reason, even if I was a Jedi. Finally, Roberts decided something. He said, 'Alright Skywalker, I've never had a Jedi on my crew. We'll try it and see how it goes. I'm most likely to sell you in the morning.' For years said that. 'Good night, Skywalker, good work, sleep well, I'll most likely sell you in the morning.' It was hard for me to toe the line," his Master smirked when Anakin said that, "But I was learning to fence, fight without the Force, anything anyone would teach me. I was planning on taking over the ship, but without the Force it took longer than I thought to get a workable plan."
"You didn't just blow them up?" Obi-Wan snarked.
"And me with them? No thank you, Master," Anakin said with a laugh.
Obi-Wan quirked a smile, looking pleased that this horrid time had at least had the benefit of teaching his Padawan to plan ahead and control his impulses.
"Anyway, Roberts and I eventually became friendly. And then it happened."
"What? Go on," Obi-Wan said, curious.
"Well, Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts,' he said 'my name is Ryar. I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either - his name was Cuffert. The real Roberts had been retired 15 years and was living like a king in Patago.'"
Obi-Wan gaped at him.
"Then he explained the name was the important for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Anakin. So, we docked, took on an entirely new crew, and he stayed aboard for a while as my second, all the time calling me Roberts. Once the crew believed, he left the ship and I have been Roberts ever since. Except now that we are together again, I'll give up my pirate ways and hand the name over to someone else. I suppose being a Jedi is a better deal. Maybe," Anakin said with a laugh.
Obi-Wan shook his head and chuckled.
"Why do you think the Jedi never came for us?" Anakin asked after they had pushed their way through the tangled undergrowth for a while.
Obi-Wan frowned.
"I'm not quite sure. Even if we were reported killed, they should at least have sent someone to retrieve or bodies. Maybe…"
Obi-Wan's suppositions were cut off as he suddenly plunged into the ground.
"Master!" Anakin cried, looking down at the seemingly undisturbed soil.
Anakin's heart pounded. A sarlacc? Here?!
It didn't matter what it was, Anakin thought, pushing aside his instinctive fear. He cut a nearby vine, testing to see if it would hold and hoping it was long enough, and then stepped forward, disappearing under the sandy soil.