"Hey, Luke!" Calvin yelled so as to be heard over the roar of Luke's X-34 antigravity landspeeder.

"What?!" Luke yelled back.

"Did you find R2 yet?"

"Like I already said," Luke answered, annoyed. "When he appears on the scanners, I'll tell you!"

Calvin hmphed, and crossed his arms. He was getting tired of sitting in this cramped vehicle, squashed by Hobbes on his left side, and having C-3po's robotic elbow bump into his chest every few minutes.

They had now been traveling for 30 minutes so far, according to Calvin's wrist watch, and that stupid astromech still hadn't appeared on the speeder's scanners.

"I thought R2 only had a maximum speed of 5 miles!" Hobbes yelled. "How did he get so far in one night?!"

Luke groaned. "I don't know! He should have been on our scanners by now!"

"Maybe we went the wrong way?" Hobbes asked.

"Nah," Calvin disagreed. "The tracks went this way! I saw 'em!"

"Back at the house!" Hobbes agreed. "But we're going too fast to know if we're still following them!"

"Oh yeah?" Calvin shouted. "Well, I-"

"Master Luke, sir!" 3po cut in.

"What!?" Luke, Calvin and Hobbes all yelled, turning to stare at the droid.

3po, oblivious, began talking. "Something is dead ahead on the scanners! It might be R2!"

And suddenly, the tension between the four was dropped.

"3po, hit the accelerator!" Luke prompted, excited. "Let's catch up to him before we get into the heart of Sandpeople territory!"

The roar of the speeder increased tenfold as it raced into a rocky canyon, the occupants unaware that two masked, humanlike beings were watching them from the top.

The landspeeder stopped at the floor of the massive canyon, and everyone scrambled to get out, with Luke slinging his blaster rifle over his shoulder. In front of them was a dusty, blue droid, just as Luke had described him to Calvin.

The droid was small, standing only 3 and a half feet tall. He rolled along on three wheeled legs, two of which were propelling him and the other one keeping him from falling over. His top was a dome, and he had several blue access panels and camera-like eyes all along his upper half, just under it.

They walked over to the steadfast, small, domed blue droid (who was still going further into the canyon), and blocked his path.

"Hey, whoa! Just where do you think you're going?" Luke chided, holding out his hands to prevent R2 from going further.

"That's right! You are in big trouble now, Bluey!" Calvin added in.

Then 3po started talking, scolding R2 for running off. "Master Luke here is your rightful owner! We'll have no more of this Obi Wan Kenobi gibberish…"

In response, R2 started arguing back, using mechanical clicks, chirps, and angry whistles that neither Calvin or Hobbes could understand.

As 3po continued to berate the poor droid, Luke sighed and looked over at Calvin and Hobbes.

"Well, we found him," he said, and tossed out his arms in a sarcastic manner. "Let's put him in the speeder and bring him back."

Hobbes nodded, but his brow creased in perplexment.

"Hey Luke? Why did R2 come all the way out here?" he asked. "What was his goal?"

Luke blinked a couple of times, then turned to the droid in question.

"R2, why did you come out here?" he asked.

The droid chirped and whistled a few times, and Calvin looked over at 3po, waiting for him to translate.

"Master Luke," 3po began, "R2 says that he is looking for his rightful owner, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Luke sighed. "R2, Obi Wan is gone by now. You're not going to find him."

In response, R2 defiantly beeped a string of angry whirrs.

"Jeez," Calvin chuckled. "Fiesty little sucker, isn't he? What's his full name? R2 seems like only half the picture," he commented.

"His last two characters are D2," Luke answered. "He's the 'Second Generation Robotic Droid Series 2'; that's what the Initials mean."

"R2-D2, eh?" Calvin seemed deep in thought, his chin resting on his hand. He then said, "Nah. I think I'm just gonna call him Bluey, or Bluester, or Big-."

Suddenly, R2 erupted in a flurry of whistles and screams. "What's wrong with him now?" Luke demanded.

"It was probably Calvin's nickname ideas," Hobbes chuckled.

It probably wasn't possible for a droid to look pale, but 3po pulled it off.

"Oh, my…" 3po gasped. "He says that there are several creatures approaching from the southeast!"

Luke swung his rifle into position, alert, and addressed the group. "Sandpeople, or worse!" he declared. Hobbes gulped.

"Let's go have a look," Luke said, and began to walk up to the top of the canyon. "Come on!"

Hobbes felt his tail grow bushy. He turned to Calvin.

"Y'know what? I'm gonna stay here and guard the speeder, if it's all the same to you…" he mumbled nervously.

Calvin rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Fraidycat," he mocked.

As Calvin and Hobbes neared the top of the ridge, Luke was already crouched down, using his thermal binoculars.

"There are two banthas down there but I don't…" Luke adjusted his binoculars. "...hold on. Yep, they're Sandpeople alright. I can see one of them now." Luke commented.

"Really? Let me see!" Calvin whispered, grabbing for the binoculars. Hobbes was the only one to notice the sudden shadow rising from behind a rock.

"Watch out!" he yelled, but it was too late.

Out of nowhere, a masked figure rose up in front of them and let out a terrifying shriek, using a staff to knock Luke's rifle right out of his hands. 3po stumbled backwards in surprise, right off the ledge. And Calvin and Hobbes? They screamed, and tripped over themselves, trying to flee.

The Tuskan Raider ignored them, and brought his blunt but spiky staff down on Luke, who narrowly avoided it.

Even as Hobbes got back up, he saw Luke evade another swing from a metal staff.

"C'mon! We gotta help Luke!" he shouted, rushing on all fours over to the farm boy.

As Calvin and the tiger rushed to Luke's aid, the staff hit him in the head, and he crumpled.

"NOOO!" Hobbes roared, leaping, and slammed into the raider, bringing them both crashing down the cliff with a savage, rage-filled snarl.

As Calvin witnessed what had just happened, he sped to Luke to see if he was okay. Only the shuffling of robes alerted him to his mistake, and he whirled to see another staff connect with his temple. Everything suddenly hurt, Calvin cried out, and he saw black.

Hobbes' life flashed before his eyes as he fell off of the cliff, his claws digging into the shrieking raider for dear life. Paralyzed, he felt time slow down as the bottom neared. He couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe.

Then, as if a switch had been flicked, Hobbes went from freeze to fight mode. His instincts took over, and he twisted himself in midair, just ten yards from the ground, so that the raider was beneath him.

They both slammed into the ground, and Hobbes felt a sudden, blunt pain. For a few moments, he lay still, not moving.

Slowly, the tiger got up, checking to see if anything was broken. "Nrrgh…" he groaned, his head pounding from the impact.

Once the headache was gone, Hobbes looked back up at the cliff that he had just plummeted down.

Heh. Cats always do land on their feet, he thought.

After a few seconds of silence, Hobbes heard several triumphant hooting noises coming from the top.

"Calvin!" he whispered worriedly. The boy stood no chance against several of those ghouls. Was he dead?

Then, with his finely tuned ears, Hobbes heard shuffling noises from somewhere close to the top of the path he had taken to get up. The raiders were coming down!

I'll find Calvin later, he told himself. I just have to hide first.

And with that in mind, he ran back to the speeder.

As the sandpeople came nearer, Hobbes' breathing became more rapid, despite having concealed himself well in a rocky crevice. He cast a glance over at R2, who had likewise found shelter in the crack.

After a few more seconds, the first of the sandpeople appeared.

Hobbes now saw the same image as he had seen on the other raider, who was now dead, his bones broken and his skull split.

It appeared that all of them were masked in some sort of fabric similar to linen, with metal spikes weaved in around the top, metal viewports protruding from where the eyes were, and a mouthpiece that looked as if it were a frozen scream. With heat resistant robes covering the rest of the body, and gloves on, it was easily apparent that these guys were perfectly suited to survive on this barren rock.

As Hobbes looked on, more of them appeared, all wearing the same clothing. Two. Three. Four. All of them either carried those dangerous staffs, or a projectile based rifle and, going off of the scopes on their tops, had a long range.

Did they see us coming? He wondered.

They started crowding the landspeeder, rummaging through the contents in a frenzy. Then the fifth raider appeared, and Hobbes recoiled in shock.

Both Calvin and Luke were being carelessly dragged across the floor of the canyon. They both had head wounds, the blood already drying from the intense dual-sun heat. But Hobbes could see that they were both alive, their chests rising and falling, albeit rather shallowly.

Hobbes' relief quickly turned to anger; angry at seeing Calvin and Luke hurt, angry at the fact that these sandpeople were going through Luke's stuff, and angry at the idea that he might lose his best friend. Before he could stop himself, Hobbes growled.

"Grrrrrrrrrr…"

It was a low, small growl that Hobbes became aware of immediately. Unfortunately, these raiders also had good ears. And when Hobbes growled, two of them snapped their heads in his direction.

Hobbes ducked out of sight deeper in the crevice, and hoped that R2 did the same. He heard footsteps and the shuffling of robes coming closer, and steeled himself. He would go down fighting. He extracted his claws, and bared his teeth, ready to kill.

But fate seemed to have other plans.

Just as Hobbes went to pounce out of the crevice, a deafening roar vibrated eerily off of the canyon walls that made Hobbes shudder. That sounded like a big, big thing, Hobbes thought.

He peeked out of cover, and was surprised to see all of the sandpeople running for dear life as if a dragon was chasing them. In a few, short seconds, it was as if they had never been there at all.

Which was bad news. If those experienced desert raiders were frightened by whatever that roar was, then Hobbes figured that he should be, too. He gulped and looked over at R2, who was shivering and cowering at the back of his hiding place. He risked a peek.

At first there was nothing. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he sighted a shadow, becoming bigger as it moved closer. Instantly, he turned to R2.

"C'mon, R2!" he whispered, "We gotta get everyone into the speeder, now!"

R2 beeped back, and Hobbes leapt out of the crevice. He bolted over to an unconscious Calvin and Hobbes, and picked them up.

After depositing them in the speeder, he gave a quick glance at the shadow, which was now ten feet tall. He raced back to R2, and helped him up into 3po's seat.

3po! Hobbes forgot all about him. He looked back at the shadow.

"No time! We gotta get outta here!" he blurted, and jumped into the driver's seat, despite R2's protests.

"Where's the accelerator?!"

Hobbes frantically looked at all of the buttons and pedals in front of him, and turned back at the shadow. It grew bigger, and bigger.

Then, to Hobbes's surprise and relief, the shadow disappeared, and a figure only as tall as Calvin's dad walked out of between two rock formations. Hobbes placed a hand to his chest and sighed, happy to be out of danger.

The man who had just appeared was covered in robes, and for a moment Hobbes was worried that he might be in cahoots with the sandpeople, but this notion was quickly discarded due to the fact that this person was probably the one to scare them off in the first place.

The old man's friendly smile and his weathered face also helped to calm him down.

As the old man (probably in his 50's or 60's) approached, he held out his hands as a gesture of peace.

"Hello there," the man greeted the tiger and the droid. "Don't fret! No need to be wary of me."

R2 didn't seem to have a problem with that. He beeped and whistled in tones of joy.

Hobbes wanted to ask for help with Calvin and Luke, but something was nagging at him, and he needed to resolve it.

"Was it you who created that roar just now?" he asked.

The man's smile grew. "Why, yes I did! Impressive, wasn't it?" he asked, and winked.

Hobbes was amazed. "I never thought a human being could do that," he whispered quietly to himself.

"Can you help me with my friends?" Hobbes asked, gesturing to the two prone forms nearby.

"Why, of course!" the old man said, and knelt down to examine the wounds of both Calvin, and Luke, although Hobbes did notice that the man appeared more concerned with the farmboy.

"Check for a medical kit in that landspeeder of yours," the man said. Hobbes obliged, and quickly located a case that looked as if it was the kit. He rushed over and deposited it by the… man.

"Hey, who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Hobbes asked.

For a brief second, the man hesitated, his smile shrinking. But it quickly returned.

"I'm an old hermit who lives in the desert," he explained. "I don't have much for civilization anymore, so I keep to myself," he explained. "As for what my name is… you may call me Ben," he said, and turned to disinfect Luke's head wound. 'Ben' quickly finished and looked at Hobbes.

"Can you bandage this young man's skull for me?" he asked. "I'll help your other friend over here."

Hobbes nodded, and began to wrap up Luke's cleaned injury. After Ben was done with Calvin, Hobbes did the same with his head wound.

Ben then stepped back and looked at the two with satisfaction. "Don't worry," he assured Hobbes, "They will be fine now. Give them a few minutes."

He was correct. After several minutes, Luke groaned and sat up, opening his eyes and looking around in a daze. He tried to get up.

"Rest easy, son, you've just had a busy day. You're lucky to be in one piece!" Ben told him, guiding him over to a rock where Luke could rest his back. A few seconds later, Hobbes turned at the sound of Calvin's groan.

"Calvin!" Hobbes exclaimed, and knelt beside his best friend. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I will be," he mumbled in response, grinning at Hobbes. "Thanks for saving me."

"Oh," Hobbes murmured sheepishly. "Um, thank Ben over there. He scared the sandpeople away and helped clean your wound."

Before Calvin could reply, Luke's eyes widened.

"Ben Kenobi! Boy, am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed, ecstatic.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hobbes noticed Calvin's mouth form an o in shock.

Kenobi chuckled. "The Jundland wastes are not to be traveled lightly," he said. "Tell me young Luke, what brings you and your companions out this far?"

Luke gestured to R2-D2, who had stayed silent so far.

"This little droid!" he explained. "I think he's searching for his former master... I've never seen such devotion- or stubbornness- in a droid before... there seems to be no stopping him."

Luke paused for a moment, then continued.

"He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he's talking about?"

"Calvin?" Hobbes asked, perplexed by the boy's shock at hearing Ben's name. "Do you know this guy?" Calvin snapped out of his trance. "Yeah," he answered in a whisper, "Luke talked about him, but he's supposed to be dead!"

Both of them turned their attention back to Ben, who was scratching his chin in thought.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi... Obi-Wan? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time…" Ben looked up. "A long time."

"Hold up," Calvin broke in. "Luke's uncle said that you were dead!"

Ben turned to Calvin. "Oh, he's not dead," he corrected. "Not… not yet."

"You know him!" Both Calvin and Luke said at the same time.

Ben laughed; a laugh of mirth. "Well of course! Of course I know him. He's me!"

Shock and surprise was apparent on all three life forms listening. Not caring, 'Obi-Wan' continued.

I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since oh, a few years after you were born, Luke."

Luke was in a daze. "So then the droid does belong to you."

Obi-Wan's brow furrowed in curiosity.

"I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid before… very interesting," he noted. Unexpectedly, R2 bleeped and chirped in alarm.

Obi-Wan suddenly looked up at the walls of the canyon and frowned.

"I think we better get indoors," he advised. "The Sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers."

"Yeah," Hobbes nodded. "I don't want to tangle with those guys ever again."

Everyone agreed, and started making their way to the landspeeder. But as Calvin climbed in, he remembered something.

"Hey, guys? Where's Goldilocks?"

Ah, yes. Another few weeks, another chapter.

I know that Luke's landspeeder can only hold two people, but somehow Luke, Obi-Wan, 3po, and R2 were able to fit in the original movies, so I have no qualms about putting six in there.

As always, point out any mistakes that I have made, and I will fix them. Peace out!