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

【 TWENTY-FOUR 】

     ᴋᴇʀᴀ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ɪᴛ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ʜᴇʀꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴛᴏ ʀᴜꜱʜ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀꜰᴇᴛʏ... leaving Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and I behind to finish what we'd started back on Tatooine. I could sense how much she wanted to stay and help, but I knew she knew that this was our unfinished business... and ours alone.

The second everyone was out of sight was the second all three of us dropped our heavy, brown cloaks, preparing for battle. I watched the Sith Lord do the same, pulling down his hood to reveal a red and black faced Dathomirian, horns protruding from his forehead and all. I'd studied all different kinds of nonhuman species with Kera when I was younger and new to Coruscant, and Dathomirians had been one of the species we'd studied. I had yet to meet one in person until now, and the menacing red-yellow eyes and double-bladed red lightsaber was not doing any wonders for their reputation in my mind.

I didn't look at Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, knowing I had to keep my eyes on the Sith if it meant I'd survive this encounter, but I didn't need to look at them to sense their surprise. They were just as shocked as me about the double-bladed saber... the Sith hadn't revealed it last time we'd encountered him. Besides, it was pretty uncommon to find double-bladed users--I hadn't met too many in the time I'd worked under the Jedi Order. The whole thing was slightly shocking, but I didn't let that deter me or sway my concentration. I pulled my lightsaber off my belt and ignited it, the bright blue illuminating my determined face.

I could see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan do the same out of the corner of my eye, but I forced myself not to worry about them. As much as I didn't want them to get hurt, I knew they could handle themselves, and I didn't want to worry about them at the sacrifice of my own life. I had to concentrate on myself and myself only... and I wasn't letting my feelings for either one of them get in the way.

As the Sith lord twirled his lightsaber menacingly, the three of us jumped into action. I noticed Obi-Wan do a flip over the Sith, engaging him on the other side, while Qui-Gon and I stayed directly in front of him, focusing on the side the Sith was more focused on.

I had to admit... he had been trained well. Even with all three of us attacking him from every angle, he was able to deflect each and every one of our blows, and even land some of his own. Within an embarrassingly little amount of time, I found myself sweating profusely and breathing heavily--and the fact that I still had an open wound on my left shoulder wasn't doing any wonders for my form.

The Sith Lord had almost immediately singled me out as the weakest. Most of his attacks were aimed in my direction, which was unfortunate, because I was in fact the weakest out of all three of us, especially with my hurt arm. Several times, he came close to hitting me, and Qui-Gon had to take over and deflect the blow for me, which I appreciated, but also made me feel very frustrated. With my stupid arm, I was dragging the whole team down. There was no way we could go on like this, with Qui-Gon sacrificing his own attack blows to defend me.

My thoughts were almost immediately confirmed when the Sith lashed out at me again, and Qui-Gon moved to parry his blow. The Sith Lord saw it coming and kicked hig leg up, hitting Qui-Gon square in the chest and sending him flying backwards. Qui-Gon fell to the floor, momentarily stunned, and I let out a quick, sharp exhale. Especially with Qui-Gon defending me, the Sith was starting to learn our moves, which was bad news for all of us.

As our sabers continually clashed with either side of the Sith's, Obi-Wan and I glanced at each other meaningfully--a short but understanding glance. We had to kick things up a notch if we were going to win. Obi-Wan edged backward a little, and before the Sith could try to land another blow on me, I attacked him with a few moves of my own, gaining ground on him. Qui-Gon was soon back in the game as well, breathing hard from his fall but energized nonetheless.