Title: At What Price (1/?)
Author: Eryce
Email: yien@yahoo.com
Category: Angst, Drama, Adventure, Obi-torture
Rating: PG 13
Archive: Jedi Apprentice, Early Years, OKEB, others please ask
Spoilers: JA
Disclaimer: George Lucas owns all Star Wars characters. The rest belong to
me. Not getting paid for this either so I guess I'll borrow them and return
them relatively intact.
Feedback: Please don't hold back:)
Time Frame: 10 years before TMP. Obi-Wan is 15
Summary: Obi-wan is kidnapped.
* denotes italic
// denotes Obi-wan talking to himself
***********************************
Consciousness returned slowly as Obi-Wan emerged from the darkness that
surrounded him. There were two things that he noticed almost immediately.
He was being carried and that his body was telling him almost pointedly that
he was hurting, from the tips of his eyelashes to his toes. And hurting bad.
His head felt like it has been used for voosball practice and his body just
went through the digestive system of a C’tha cat. He made a half-hearted
attempt to open his eyes and... shut them almost immediately as pain shot
from his eyes to his brain. Fighting down the nausea, he willed the
crescendo in his head to stop, succeeding to a certain extant. Enough to
continue thinking coherently anyway.
// What happened? Why do I feel like.. bantha poo?
Ignoring the pack of banthas that were still practicing their dancing routine in his head, he tried to recall the last thing he remembered.
** Mission to Y’dra. Trial to prosecute the most powerful ruler on the planet. Ambassador finally agrees to testify before the Senate. Pursued by fighter planes but managed to escape. Landed in Coruscant. Jedi Temple deemed too predictable a place to house the witness. Escorted the witness to safe house. Only five people know the location. Returned to the temple. Escaped to the gardens for much needed meditation. Walking down corridor. Felt a disturbance in the force a fraction of a second before something crashed against his head. Something pricked his skin. Tried calling out to Qui-Gon. Darkness.**
Ah. He was drugged. That would explain why he felt so sluggish. And his head. Ouch. Taking a deep breath, he tried to gather the Force to help purge the drug from his bloodstream…. And failed miserably. That constant presence in his life was there, surrounding him as always. He just couldn’t tap into it. Cursing inwardly, he made another try and again, it was like trying to hold water with his hands, slipping away just when he thought he succeeded. He concentrated on the bond, trying to reach his Master but all he got was static.
//The drug. Some sort of Force inhibitor?
“Chain him there and give him more of the drug. I don’t want him using that voodoo magic of his to get away.”
“He’s just a boy, V’nak. We’re two grown men. I’m sure we can take care of one defenseless boy.” The sarcasm there was almost biting.
// Defenseless little boy? Me? Why you…
“Shut up, you fool!” V’nak again. “No names. We can’t have anyone finding out our names. Do you know what the Jedi do to people who kidnap their own?”
// And I’ll make sure you get a demonstration. Wait till my Master gets here…
Obi-Wan felt himself being propped up against a wall, and chains snapped into place, binding his wrists and ankles. Immediately, he sagged, his weakened legs unable to support his weight. Only the chains prevented him from crashing onto the ground. He kept his eyes closed, knowing that his kidnappers would talk more freely if they thought he was still out. A few slaps on his face told him that the kidnappers were making sure he was still out like a light. Obi-Wan had to fight the urge to bite the hand away.
// Patience, Padawan. You can’t do anything in your condition. Don’t fight battles you cannot win.
“I’m not afraid of anybody, Jedi or no Jedi. Look how easy it was to take this one away.”
“You’ve never fought one have you?” The voice shook a little and there were sounds of cloth rustling as his kidnapper sank into a chair. “Their reputations are enough to scare you into surrendering. We were lucky that no one was around when we took the boy. Our mole must have known that and I for one, am thankful.”
// Mole? Someone in the Jedi Temple works for the other side.. sith! I’ve got to warn them.
“Hurry up with the drug. I need him nice and quiet when the boss gets here so that he can ask all the questions he wants and we can get out of this stinking planet. I’m quite sure the boy’s Master is tearing Coruscant apart looking for the whelp and I’d want to be far far away before he can find us.”
“What does T’dar want with the young one?” Obi-Wan felt a slight prick in his arm and had to stifle a gasp as he felt the Force withdraw even further. The situation just got worse. Just a while ago, he could at least feel the Force even though he couldn’t use it. Now, it was draining away from him, leaving him cold and empty inside. Terror curled its cold tentacles around his heart. Desperately, he sent another cry for help over the bond.
// No! Master, help me!
“Something to do with the trial, I think. When you’re in a profession like mine, you learn not to ask too many questions if you value your life. But they must want something really bad from him, I heard T’dar’s bringing a Mindseaker with him.”
A gasp of astonishment came from the other man and that was the last thing he heard before darkness consumed him again.
*************
V'nak has been called many things in life, most of them uncomplimentary. He had no illusions about himself, knowing there was no way in all the hells he could even be remotely called "nice". Any innocence he once possessed has been replaced by cynicism brought about walking the path of the shadowy underworld of Coruscant. It wasn't something he regretted, having known no other life. He was a hard man with a nervous twitch that enabled him to keep on breathing. His first and only priority has been to himself alone. Thus, compassion has never been a problem with him, having seen many things that would leave most people with nightmares. And yet… why did he feel this twist in his heart everytime the boy screamed?
The cries were coming on louder now. V'nak flinched as yet another fist connected with the boy's midsection, the crunching of bones audible in the deadly silence punctuated only by the helpless cries coming from young one. He didn't make a sound at first, when the beatings started. The boss had arrived with two of his goons in tow. Without the Mind Seaker. That'll come later, V'nak was assured, they might not even need its services. V'nak did not like the sound of that. His fears were realized when T'dar immediately woke the helpless figure chained to the wall by splashing a pail of cold water on his face. Grabbing a fistful of hair, T'dar had demanded the barely conscious boy surrender the location of the witness. Or be prepared to suffer. V'nak snarled inwardly at the memory, T'dar irritated even him.
Arrogance and cruelty personified, T'dar was confident that the young one would submit without a fight. Confidence that was quickly replaced by anger when the young Jedi spit in his face, stating without words what he thought of the prospect of sufferring. That was when the beatings started. At first, the boy refused to grant his torturers the satisfaction of hearing him in pain. Dignity and pride personified. No sound passed through his lips, even when he was repeated punched, slapped, and prodded with an electro-jabber. He gave no answers to the question that would have at least ended his misery. Oh, V'nak knew T'dar would kill the boy after getting the information he needed but at least he wouldn't be suffering. And the ******* was enjoying this. Despite the delay, T'dar was enjoying all the pain and blood with every fiber of his sadistic dark soul. The sicko.
Tightening his grip on the back of the chair he was sitting on, V'nak held on for dear life as the screams tinged with sobs of pain signaled yet another round of pain. The young one was brave. V'nak didn't even know how much courage it took to withstand this much pain. Pain was something he knew well enough to know it was something he feared deeply, loathed and would avoid with every means possible. A coward's way perhaps, but that was what he was. A sniveling coward when compared to the child who was bearing pain he could only imagine. Was that what the Jedi taught the children? How to withstand torture?
V'nak flinched as the Jedi let slip yet another moan of pain. Glancing at the limp figure dangling from the chains, he noted distantly that blood was beginning to trickle from those bruised lips. The short blond spiky hair was already matted with blood and sweat, the pale sweaty face, the blue eyes dilated and glazed with pain. Bruises covering every inch of the thin body, streaked with crimson. The gasps of his labored breathing filled V'nak's ears, as did the echoes of pain that reverberated in his mind, long after the actual sound had faded, only to be replaced by fresh screams. Stuffing his ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound, he wanted to run from the room, to leave this scene of torture. He couldn't take much more of this. He needed to be away from the scent of metallic blood and the neverending cries of pain. But T'dar had given him a chilling smile, pointed to the chair and ordered him to stay. Fear and his own cowardice made him obey.
The boy. The boy was everything he was not. The child would never give in. He could see that. The stubbornness he saw in those eyes told him as much. But however much courage one had cannot ease the agony, the pain he knew must be streaking through the still figure. The stand of silence ended let out a moan of pain for the first time in a half hour as the boy's last defenses against the pain crumbled. His torturers laughed, finding pleasure that they've finally broken through his stoic defense. Then another moan escaped. The laughter did not abate and the beatings intensified. The boy started screaming. More laughter. The vicious cycle continued, the screams and laughter mingled until V'nak could no longer distinguish the difference between them. Stop it, V'nak wanted to scream, He's only a child! But he said nothing. Fear kept him quiet. And the screams went on and on until the boy passed out, his body no longer able to take the punishment. T'dar only smiled and forced him back to consciousness. Demanded the information. No reply. Beatings. Screams. Laughter. It just went on and on.
Give in, please. V'nak begged the young one silently. Just give in. Why do you have to be so brave? Tell them what he wants to know. He'll kill you but death is better than this.
For the first time since he kidnapped the boy, he wondered how old the boy was. Thirteen? Fourteen? The Jedi looked so young, much too young to be in such pain. Much too young to go through so much. He didn't deserve such pain. No one deserved such pain.
TBC
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