Prophecies And Destinies Part 2
Sharp, acrid smoke curled from small cracks and vents of the unstable ground. Anakin had led him to this volcanic world after a month of star-hopping. Though his apprentice had been away from him for almost a year now, the master-padewan bond was still there…weakening, but present enough for small nudges. It was this way that Obi Wan had let Anakin know that he wished to see him. And it was this way that Anakin had let him know where. He wasn't without his games though. From the beginning, Anakin had been one to try and trick and deceive his Master. As a child, it had merely been a mischievous boy's game. As he grew older, it had not ceased and had become one of the first causes of concern Obi Wan had held for his padewan. As Anakin grew, with age and power, Obi Wan now wondered who he had spent more time with: Anakin in training or Master Yoda with concerns about the boy. And so the game continued, padewan sending his master to Tatooine, the beginning, Naboo, the start of it all, Coruscant, Altair VI, Paladinia…all the places that had been benchmarks for the two together, places that had "influenced" the young man's life. And here they were, at a new planet…it's own violent growing pains a sick reflection of the metamorphosis Anakin was undergoing. Standing at the ramp of the small Malistarian passenger craft he had borrowed, Obi Wan found himself quite reluctant to proceed to the caverns directly in his line of sight. Closer now, he could feel both Anakin's presence there and the mocking encouragement his padewan was sending him…almost daring his master to come and confront him. Obi Wan was sure that Anakin could feel his uncertainty…his sincere wish NOT to have this confrontation, but he had promised Padme. He remembered that day…that terrible day. It seemed as if the entire galaxy had been sucked inside a black hole that Obi Wan's world was the centromere of. It was all so vivid to him…so clear… Obi Wan gasped, blinking. Anakin…Anakin had been sending those all too real images…memories. He saw again the anguished look on Padme's face as Anakin purposefully removed the pendant from around his neck, the pendant of the royal house of Naboo, and placed it in her hands. He remembered again the hour that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had dissolved the democracy and terminated the Republic, declaring a Galactic Empire with himself as Emperor…and he remember the betrayal at watching Anakin leave his side in the Senate chamber, a sneer on his face, moving beside the newly anointed Emperor. He felt again the despair at fighting his pupil, being unable to clear his thoughts to focus on the battle…and losing, Qui Gon's saber destroyed by the boy's new crimson blade as surely as Qui Gon himself had been destroyed by another. That would not happen this time. Obi Wan centered himself, banishing the images from his mind. He rested his hand lightly on his new saber, it's blade the color of the one he lost so long ago, but it's handle a bit different, shaped for hands that were a little larger from callouses and labor. "Peace is the way of the Jedi," he reflected interiorly, "and I am peace." He let his apprehension, his fears, and doubts flow through him, acknowledging each in turn, and then ridding himself of them, giving no leverage for the Dark Side to grasp. The Dark Side would be strong in this battle, and close at hand…easy to reach out for should desperation overtake him. He couldn't let that happen. As prepared as he would ever be, Obi Wan strode toward the caverns. * * * * * The steam inside created a wall in the air that seemed to smack Obi Wan in the face as he strode inside the tunnel. Anakin was leading him deeper and deeper into the cavern, around twists and turns. Yes, Anakin knew how to play games all right. Use your brain first. Out think your opponent; outsmart them. Try to put the confrontation to your advantage before you ever lay eyes on your enemy. Choose your battleground. Choose the time. Use surprise. Know your enemy. Anakin had ever been the faithful student in the arts of combat…and he had learned his lessons well. Anakin may have chosen the battleground and the time, but Obi Wan knew his enemy as intimately as his enemy knew him. There would be no surprises. Anakin was exactly 50 yards ahead and about 5….no 6 degrees to his right, standing quietly behind an outcropping of rock, trying to meld into the shadows. Obi Wan drew a bit closer before speaking, "Anakin, come on out," he said calmly. The game was over. Anakin stepped from behind the outcropping, his face bearing that smug, confident smile that he had oft adopted the last year of their training together. When he bore it, Obi Wan got the impression that Anakin thought himself the master, listening to yet another wild idea concocted by a over-imaginative padewan. "You wanted to see me?" Anakin cut straight to the point, his gentle voice a stark contrast to the menacing countenance he maintained. Obi Wan was surprised at this straightforwardness. Finesse was yet another strength of his extraordinary padewan. Obi Wan had often thought Anakin would become one of the best diplomats the Jedi had seen. "I did," Obi Wan nodded, sidestepping to face Anakin directly. He then realized that Anakin had not stood behind an outcropping, but a sharp bend leading to a side tunnel. A huge lava pit fizzed and bubbled just at his padewan's back. Distracters…surprises. He truly had learned his lessons well. Obi Wan could only hope it hadn't been too well. "Padme wanted me to speak with you." "It must be a very important message for you to have chased me all this way," Anakin sneered, "Is your holonet broken?" He leaned against the stone wall, his lightsaber at easy reach on his belt. Obi Wan kept his hand rested on the hilt of his. "Padewan…" "I'm not your padewan any longer," he snapped. "Very well…Anakin," Obi Wan cut him off, holding a hand up, "Anakin, don't you realize what you're doing? What Palpatine has you roped into?" "And this is what Padme wanted you to tell me?" "No, this is what I want to tell you. Anakin," Obi Wan shook his head, "you were so good. You had such goodness in your heart. How can you be a part of all of this? How can you side with Palpatine?" "You should refer to him as Emperor Palpatine," he corrected, moving away from the wall. Freeing his position to draw his weapon, Obi Wan noted. "Anakin…" should he? "Padme wanted me to tell you that she loves you. She misses you Anakin." "I gave her the option of coming with me. She refused," Anakin shrugged as if that settled the matter entirely. "Anakin, what happened? Where did I go wrong?" "You were wrong from the beginning," Anakin mocked. "Everything you ever taught me to believed in…it's all wrong. Peace, calm, these are the ways of the Jedi. Anger, fear, aggression: these are the Dark Side…the path to destruction. Lies. I am more powerful now than I ever would have been with the Jedi way." "Is that really what you believe? Is that what you want to teach your son? You want him to hate and feel anger, and…" "Son?" Anakin's voice cut through the air. So there was his mistake, Obi Wan winced inwardly. Part of his own lesson. Every confrontation, you will have at least one mistake. Make it a minor one. Well, his had been major. "I have a son?" Anakin demanded. Obi Wan would not double his mistake, "Yes, Anakin." "Is he…" "Yes, he is strong in the Force." "The count….what is his count?" Obi Wan felt his throat begin to tighten. A Sith trick. A gleam shone in Anakin's eyes. "Average," Obi Wan gasped, bringing the Force to open his airway. "I think you're lying my master," Anakin crushed his hand in the air. Another crushing wave grasped Obi Wan's throat. Bringing more of the Force to bear, Obi Wan cleared his throat, "20,000" Anakin dropped his hand and Obi Wan drew a great breath, glad to be able to breath without using the Force. He watched as his padewan stared into nothingness. The time was fast approaching. He began to harness his strength. "Where is he?" Anakin broke the silence. "I won't allow you to destroy that boy's life before he's even begun," Obi Wan said firmly. He felt the current before the action. Both sabers ignited at the same time, blue and crimson blades casting strange hues with the constant orange glow of the bubbling lava. The sound of energy striking energy filled the confined space with a deafening crash as the two lightsabers danced. "Where IS he?" Anakin demanded again, emphasizing himself with a swift, strong thrust of his blade. Obi Wan parried and twisted, exchanging positions. Belatedly, Obi Wan realized another reason Anakin had chosen this place for their confrontation. The low ceiling prohibited him from using the aerial tactics that he so preferred in combat. Anakin had always favored footwork and strength while his Master leaned towards speed and agility. Yes, another mistake, not realizing this before. Mentally, he cursed himself for his inattention. Qui Gon would have realized all these things the first moment, maybe even before he entered and ensured that confrontation, when and if it came, did not take place where there was such distinct disadvantage. But what was done was done. Obi Wan parried another jab and slid along the stone wall, away from the corner he was being backed into. "You can't possibly hope to win here," Anakin taunted, "I'll kill you and find the boy anyway. If he's that strong, I would only have to follow the Force." Had it not been for years of experience, the next blow would have knocked the saber from Obi Wan's hands. The two warriors circled, each sizing the other up: strength, height, and reach on one side; experience, agility, speed, and skill on the other. Qui Gon had been known as the greatest duelist in the recent history of the Jedi. He had taken Obi Wan's natural skill and honed it so that many said Obi Wan exceeded Qui Gon's own talent before his twentieth birthday. Looking at the massive, hate-filled friend before him, the Jedi wondered if it would be enough. He easily parried the next thrust…just a test thrust, he knew. Circle again. Drops of sweat beaded on Obi Wan's forehead and began to drip. The thick, steamy air and the heat from the lava pit were enough to keep part of his attention so that he wouldn't inadvertently fall in. No doubt, Anakin had paced and memorized the entire chamber as he waited for his former master to show. An idea formed in Obi Wan's mind, get them into a different chamber and put them on a bit more even footing. In the meantime… "Why Anakin? What does Palpatine offer you that makes all this worth betraying every one you know?" A flurry of strikes, each fended off, was the immediate response, "Who betrayed who?" Anakin countered. "I never betrayed you Anakin," Obi Wan panted. The thick air was hard to breathe, but his movements were successfully leading them both to the next chamber…different ground. "Everyone betrayed me," he took a swipe at his master's head. Obi Wan ducked deftly and thrust up at the blade as it passed. If Anakin had not been so strong, he would have been disarmed. "You betrayed me every day. You were always jealous of me," he struck again only to have the strike turned back on him with a quick hook maneuver, a move Kenobi had invented himself. Anakin was lucky not to lose his head, "You were jealous that Qui Gon wanted to train me instead of you. You hated me because he would have dropped you for me if only the Council had allowed it. You were overjoyed when he was cut down and he asked you to train me. That way you could slow me down. Not let me advance as I should. If you had trained me right, master," he sneered, "I would lead the Council now rather than destroying it." Each word bit deep, but Obi Wan recognized that Anakin was trying to get him to unleash his hate and anger. Doing so would lead to a defeat greater than being cut down himself. He would become like his pupil…and so he said nothing, keeping his center and continuing to edge towards the next chamber. They were almost there. "As if I would want to lead the weak Council anyway. The Jedi themselves have betrayed…not only me, but the galaxy they 'claim' to protect." "That's Palpatine talking," Obi Wan said over the clash of lightsabers that accompanied the words, "Are you a winged repeater now? Only knowing and believing what you are told? Unable to think for yourself and see the truth?" They were there. This chamber had a higher ceiling, with enough room for Obi Wan to flip and jump as he chose….however, there were more lava pits to be wary of, and they were placed closer together. "I see the truth now. Even Padme betrayed me. She vowed to stay by my side forever, no matter what. I see now that that too was a lie. Before, all anyone told me was lies. Palpatine tells the truth. He's going to bring order back to the galaxy, and I'm going to ensure that he succeeds." Anakin had backed him up to the edge of one of the pits. Gathering the Force, Obi Wan vaulted into the air, flipping backwards and landing on the other side. With a roar of rage, Anakin leapt after him, his black cape billowing after him, giving the image of an ethereal specter. His feet landed hard on the edge of the pit…too hard. The dirt beneath his feet fell away, and Anakin began to fall too. "Anakin!" Obi Wan dove, heedless of anything but saving his friend. One hand…he grabbed one hand. Anakin's massive weight drug Obi Wan to the edge of the pit, both of them ready to tumble end over end into the lava below. Obi Wan desperately kicked a leg back and caught his foot behind a rock. The sudden jolting stop wrenched his shoulder where he held onto Anakin. "Anakin, pull yourself up," he grunted. Anakin's weight shifted, and he thought that his friend was indeed climbing up…until he heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber being ignited….Anakin's lightsaber. "You kill me, you'll die too," Obi Wan stated the obvious. "Then I'll die knowing that I took you with me," he snarled, ready to swing. Had either of them bothered to keep part of their senses on the environment around them, it probably wouldn't have happened…but they didn't, and it did. The gas pocket that had been building at the bottom of the pit for quite some time now exploded. The force of it threw both Anakin and Obi Wan away from the pit edge and into the nearest wall. The last thing Obi Wan saw as unconsciousness claimed him was his old friend unmoving ten feet away…in flames. * * * * * When consciousness returned to Obi Wan, the first thing he noticed was that Anakin was gone. The second was the excruciating pain running across has back, down his side, and into his arm. He sat up slowly, lest he once again lose consciousness. Anakin was no where to be seen. A trail of blood marked the way to the exit. Quickly assessing his injuries, Obi Wan diagnosed minor second degree burns, fractured ribs, and a sprained wrist, but nothing dramatic. By the amount of blood, Anakin appeared to have fared much worse…if he was still alive. Tentatively, he began to pick himself up with the aid of the chamber wall. Realizing he could walk without much difficulty, Obi Wan began making his way out of the caverns, lightsaber in his uninjured hand. He made it to the mouth of the foremost cavern unhindered. Once there, he saw that the small fighter Anakin has arrived in was gone. So that was it, Obi Wan thought, tenderly making his way to his own craft, hoping that Anakin had left it spaceworthy and had not decided to simply strand his former master on this world bent on tearing itself apart. It would be just like Anakin to try something like that. He found his ship unmolested, however, and pulled himself into the cockpit. The systems powered up without protest and he soon found himself breaking atmosphere and looking at the stars. Obi Wan entered a course for Alderaan, then quickly encoded a message to Master Yoda, telling him the barest outline of the events that had taken place in the past…had it only been 3 hours? He transmitted the message, then gratefully slipped into the peace of a healing trance.
Journal Of The Whills
