ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 1}

【 THREE 】

     ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴡᴇ ꜰɪɴᴀʟʟʏ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ Qᴜɪ-ɢᴏɴ, we had just rounded a corner that miraculously still had trees standing. Surprisingly, this area had much less devastation than the place Obi-Wan and I had come from. Qui-Gon had seemingly found a safe place for now, far from the reckless destruction of the battle tanks sent down from the Trade Federation. At least for now, this area of the forest seemed untouched, still wild and beautiful like it was meant to be.

As Obi-Wan and I approached the Jedi Knight, a couple of battle droids on cruisers nearby spotted us and began to charge in our direction.

"Wonderful," I murmured. "The last thing we needed was more battle droids."

"Come on," Obi-Wan insisted, grabbing my hand and starting to run. His hand was drenched in sweat from the heat and humidity of the forest, but at the moment, that was the least of my concerns--I held on tight and ran.

As we charged toward Qui-Gon to take cover, the battle droids on their speeders rounded the corner, taking a couple of shots in our direction. Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber immediately, deflecting the shots back at the droids and exploding their speeders in one fluid motion. Obi-Wan and I stumbled to a stop next to Qui-Gon, realized we were still holding hands, and let go immediately. I wiped the sweat from my hand onto my Jedi robe, taking a step away from Obi-Wan, sincerely hoping that the beating in my chest was coming from the adrenaline of the situation and not from anything else.

Just then, a creature popped up from the ground, nearly scaring Obi-Wan and I half to death. It took me a moment to recognize what the creature was--a Gungan, a native of Naboo that lived in the lakes of the planet. I'd never seen one face-to-face, only in pictures, but this one seemed particularly more annoying than what I'd imagined.

"You saved my again!" It clamored in a high-pitched voice, staring at Qui-Gon with wide eyes.

Obi-Wan frowned, glancing from me to Qui-Gon in confusion. "What's this?" He asked in incredulity as the Gungan turned to face Obi-Wan and I with a grin.

"A local," Qui-Gon replied.

"Gungan," I amended. "They live in the lakes around here, right?" I turned to the creature for support, making sure I was getting my facts right.

"Yousa right, yousa..." the creature's voice faded off in shock as he really looked at me for the first time. "Yousa the queen's sister!"

I nodded once, holding back a retort of annoyance. I hated being pegged for who my family was. "That's right. Now, let's discuss this later and get out of here before more droids show up."

"More?" The Gungan cried in incredulity as the three of us began to head off. "'More' did you spake?"

I shook my head. The three of us began to jog off, leaving the creature behind, but to my dismay, he only followed. I could hear the sound of his heavy feet hitting the dirt as he scrambled after us, struggling to keep pace. "Ex-squeeze me, but de mostest safest place would be da Gunga City," he called. "Is where I grew up. 'Tis a hidden city."

I stopped running at once, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon following my example. I stared at the Gungan in realization. They lived in the lakes. The droids would never dare venture down there with their machinery--they'd short-circuit in seconds. An underwater city would be the best place to lie low for a while so we could regroup and figure out a plan on how to get into the Naboo capital. It was clear now that with all of these droids tulling around it would be a lot harder to make contact with my sister than we'd originally imagined--we needed this time to formulate a more serious and intricate plan.

"A city?" I asked, throwing my brown hair over my shoulder to expose my neck to the slight breeze, keeping myself cool.

"Uh-huh!" The Gungan cried, grinning at the three of us.

"Can you take us there?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Uh, on second thought, no. Not really, no," the Gungan admitted, shaking its hands.

I put a hand to my forehead, trying not to let my frustration front. "No?" I asked softly.

The Gungan swallowed hard. "'Tis embarrassing, but, uh, my afraid my've been banished. My forgotten. Da bosses would do terrible tings to me. Terrible tings to me if me goen back dare."

Just then, there was a rumble off in the distance... the rumble of several more battle cruisers getting closer and closer to our location. Off in the distance, I saw several trees on the horizon fall to the grounds, loud cracking noises accompanying them. I exchanged wary glances with Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon turned back to the Gungan, putting his hands on his hips in intimidation. "You hear that, Jar Jar?" He asked, pointing off into the distance. I was momentarily confused before realizing that Jar Jar must be the Gungan's name. Now, I didn't have much experience with Gungans, but I couldn't help but wonder if they were all named like that. Qui-Gon went on, giving me little time to revel in the strange customs of the creatures I wasn't used to. "That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way."

Obi-Wan, getting the idea, rounded on Jar Jar and stalked closer to the creature, his blue eyes sparkling with intimidation. "If they find us, they will crush us, grind us into tiny pieces and blast us into oblivion." He accentuated the word 'blast' so that Jar Jar recoiled in shock, eyes widened.

I moved forward as well, crossing my arms. "You don't want that, do you?"

Jar Jar swallowed hard, staring between the three of us. "Ah. Yousa point is well seen. This way. Hurry!"

He charged off, leaving us to race after him. I glanced at Obi-Wan in triumph, and he grinned in return. Nice one, he mouthed silently to me.

I smiled. You, too.

I sure did have mixed feelings about Obi-Wan, but on the bright side, he could be a decent human being when he wanted to.

Darkness had fallen by the time we'd arrived at our destination. Jar Jar led us to the bank of a small lake, the stars and the moon from above glittering in the glistening waters. Far away from the rest of the turmoil from the Trade Federation, this place seemed peaceful... serene, almost. I could almost believe the planet wasn't under attack from a ruthless federation.

"How much further?" Qui-Gon wondered. His long hair was plastered to the back of his neck with sweat. It was starting to cool down now that the sun had gone down, but for the majority of our day, we'd been running through the blistering heat and dampening humidity. I myself had sweat beading down every surface of my face, and especially under the weight of my robes, I was starting to get a little overheated. I was almost thankful we were about to head into the water.

Almost as if confirming my thoughts, Jar Jar pointed at the lake. "Wesa goin underwater, okieday? Ah, me warning you--Gungans no liken outsiders, so don't spect a warm welcome."

"Oh, don't worry," Qui-Gon replied as Obi-Wan and I brought underwater breathing devices out of our pockets. "This hasn't been a day for warm welcomes."

I snorted. "That's not even half of it."

Jar Jar keenly ignored me and proceeded to jump into the lake--springing into the air like he was jumping off a diving board and flying professionally into the lake with a double flip and a twist. With a whoop, he hit the water and dove down into its depths, leaving us to follow.

Qui-Gon attached his mask to his mouth and glanced back at Obi-Wan and I. "Ready?" He asked.

Obi-Wan and I looked at each other. Anything was better than being out here with the droids, mosquitos, and the humidity. "Always, Master," we chorused, and followed him into the lake.

✧✧✧

Well everyone, welcome Jar Jar to the game (Let me know in the comments if you like Jar Jar as a movie character or not!) If you enjoyed this chapter, please feel free to leave a comment or vote! Every action means a lot to me! Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter!

~ ᴋᴀᴛᴇʟʏɴ ~