DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Obi-Wan slowly drifted back to consciousness, a burning slash slowly oozing blood from his neck. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, smelling water—a LOT of water—and salt,and sea mist. And stone, wet stone.
Rain was still pouring down right outside the door. Obi-Wan glanced around the cabin. The royal Rubossian couple was also unconscious, for which he was profoundly grateful. Tr'rok was curled up into a bejeweled bundle on the floor, and Myla had a death grip on the table, her red eyes round with terror.
Obi-Wan tensed, and his hand automatically unhooked his lightsaber from his belt as a large dark figure dashed across the bridge. "Obi-Wan," the figure gasped.
Obi-Wan relaxed as Qui-Gon stepped inside, gasping and wiping water from his eyes. The solid sheet of rain had plastered his clothes to him like a second skin. "We need to leave the boat NOW," he said, taking Myla by the arm and pulling her to her feet. She looked up at him adoringly as he continued obliviously to Obi-Wan. "The water level is rising, and this boat was never meant to actually be IN the water. It's sinking."
He stepped away from Myla and began pulling collecting food capsules, frowning down at the Rubossians. "What happened to them?" he threw over his shoulder.
"Either they hit their heads simultaneously or they both fainted," Obi-Wan sighed, tucking his lightsaber under his shirt and praying that it didn't get too wet.
He glanced at the scantily-clad Twi'lek woman, who was poking Tr'rok with a cautious finger. He thought over it, then pulled off his cloak and held it out. "Here. It's cold out there," he said awkwardly, feeling his face turn red.
Myla looked at him in surprise, then took the robe and wrapped herself in it.
Qui-Gon glanced back at his apprentice with an expression of pleased surprise. "Wake them up," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the unconscious Rubossians. "Myla, pick up Tr'rok."
"Where are we going?" Obi-Wan asked as Myla picked up the petrified Tr'rok. "I thought we were stranded on a rock?"
"An island," Qui-Gon corrected. "And there are caves."
Five shrouded figures slowly stumbled through the rain, up dozens of meters of slippery rock.
Obi-Wan felt like he was drowning. He couldn't inhale without choking on the raindrops that pelted him relentlessly, couldn't hear anything but the roar of the turbulent ocean, couldn't see anything but water and stone, and Qui-Gon's bowed figure just a few feet ahead of him.
As they neared the dark cave, Obi-Wan recoiled. For one insane moment, it looked exactly like a monstrous mouth threatening to swallow the shipwrecked refugees...
Then Qui-Gon shouted from inside the mouth, and Obi-Wan bit down on his fear and followed.
The caves were small, at the end of a long passage, and Obi-Wan could see dozens of smaller passages leading deeper into the rock. The steady trickle of water could be heard deep underground.
Caspo and Chumba lumbered into a corner as Qui-Gon knelt down in the center of the cave, looking around at the ceiling with eyes that seemed to see everything. "Obi-Wan," he said, pulling his lightsaber from his belt. "Get me those mosses over you..."
Obi-Wan glanced up, and almost buried his face in a mound of gray-green moss. Obi-Wan sneezed as he pulled the moss from its roots on the cave walls, the disturbance sending out a spray of tiny spores.
Qui-Gon took the moss, studied it for a moment, then began to carefully arrange it as Myla and Glusher slid in, Myla still holding Tr'rok. Glusher uttered a watery snort as Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber, filling the cavern with a green glow. "What you doing?" he demanded.
Qui-Gon ignored the pilot and swung his lightsaber, glancing it over the moss. There was a faint burning smell, and a tiny flame licked at it. Obi-Wan felt an exhausted smile cross his face, as he dropped and warmed his hands by it.
As if on cue, Tr'rok uncurled like a giant snake in Myla's hands. She dropped him and scurried to the fire, ignoring the odd clacking noise the giant insect was making.
"Glusher," Qui-Gon said, as he pulled the food capsules from his belt and frowned thoughtfully at them. "How long until we can expect to be rescued?"
"Not til morning, Jedi," Glusher growled. "Hurricane must die down first. Even then..."
Obi-Wan tried to ignore the fact that Myla was now clinging to Qui-Gon's arm and leaning her head on his shoulder. The Twi'lek's look was openly inviting, and it was making Obi-Wan nervous. Qui-Gon didn't seem to notice her at all. He was still frowning at the capsules.
"If we ration carefully," he said softly, "we can last two days, maybe three."
"If we go back to the boat," Obi-Wan added, "perhaps there are more supplies we could use. Glusher?"
"More supplies, yes," Glusher replied morosely.
Qui-Gon straightened a little, staring at the huddled Callinon in surprise. "Why didn't you mention this before?"
"Never asked," Glusher said, curling up tighter.
"This is unacceptable!" Caspo shouted angrily. He slowly swayed to his feet and began to walk briskly into one of the small tunnels leading downward, with a scowling Chumba only a few steps behind. Obi-Wan started to rise to follow them, but Qui-Gon glanced at him sternly. Let them go, his gaze said.
Obi-Wan sighed, feeling uneasy. The Rubossians had shown themselves to be stubborn and haughty, but it didn't feel right to let them wander off by themselves. It grated against his training, but he knew what Qui-Gon was thinking. If they spent some time away from the group, perhaps Caspo and Chumba would calm down.
Qui-Gon slowly unhooked his lightsaber and set it down, close by the fire, a few wisps of steam fluttering off the casing at exposure to the heat. Obi-Wan pulled his own lightsaber off, and frowned a little at the feeling of... being incomplete.
"Come on, Padawan," Qui-Gon said, walking into the passage. Obi-Wan picked up his robe from where Myla had set it down, wrapped the damp garment around himself, and grimly followed his master out into the storm.
The evening passed without further interaction, except an ominous clacking from Tr'rok, growls from Glusher, and the occasional whispered word in Qui-Gon's ear from Myla. Obi-Wan spent most of his time trying to wring water from his sodden garments, and not succeeding. The storm was dying down, but Obi-Wan doubted that any rescue craft would reach them before morning.
He slowly got to his feet, feeling his legs twinge painfully, and plucked a small amount of moss from the wall. As he dropped it into the fire, he saw Qui-Gon glaring into it, with Myla comfortably draped over his shoulder.
In a single, smooth movement, the Jedi Master was on his feet. "They've been gone far too long," he said in a low voice. He swept into the passage where the Rubossians had gone, his cloak flaring behind him.
Obi-Wan stumbled around a stalagmite and ran after Qui-Gon, keeping focused on his master as the tall man wound through the dark passages.
The caves were dark, almost as wet as the shoreline, covered in moss that was sopping as wet rags. Several times, Obi-Wan slipped on it, grasping slippery outcroppings to keep his balance. He briefly wondered how Qui-Gon managed to keep upright at the pace he was going, then stopped as he heard a sound.
A low growl. Coming from under him.
Obi-Wan jumped to the side, but the growl was not under his feet, but rather under the slab of stone on which he was standing. A chill ran down his spine, tingling along his neck, as the growl slowly dissolved into an ominous gurgle. He had no desire to know what was down there.
"Obi-Wan!" came a faint shout.
Obi-Wan snapped back to the present and slowly slipped down the passage, bruising his shoulder as he slammed into a wall. Finally, he stumbled into a huge stone grotto, floor covered with sand., faint sunlight spiralling from the clouds into a huge open space. Qui-Gon was kneeling on a strip of sand, by a small pond. "Padawan, come here and look," he said, waving Obi-Wan over but not turning from the water.
Obi-Wan jogged to Qui-Gon's side. "It must collect here when it rains," he said, glancing up at the hole in the ceiling.
"No..." Qui-Gon frowned, dipped his forefinger into the water, and tasted it. He made a faint sound of disgust. "Salt water, not fresh. This must lead to the ocean."
Obi-Wan glanced back nervously the way he had come. Several other passageways adjoined it. "Master..."
"Every passageway leads to this grotto," Qui-Gon said musingly, slowly rising to his feet. "So this is the only way Caspo and Chumba could have come..."
Obi-Wan glanced back at the passageways... and paused when he heard a yell. "Obi-Wan!"
He spun, and saw only a flash of slimy, slick skin as something... something HUGE erupted from the water and seized Qui-Gon in powerful jaws. In the near darkness, Obi-Wan only got a flash of a reddish eye as his master was dragged under, hands clawing at the rock face. "Master!" Obi-Wan shouted, starting for the water.
Obi-Wan slapped his belt, and realized that his lightsaber was gone... still up in the chamber, drying by the fire. He pushed it from his mind as he slogged through the deep water, towards a frantic volcano of bubbles that was the only marker of where Qui-Gon was....
And then the bubbles stopped.
The turbulence ceased, and the water grew calmer. A dark, creeping horror grew within Obi-Wan as he flailed in the chest-high, muddied waters. "Master?" he shouted, turning and looking around. His voice echoed eerily through the grotto. "Master? MASTER!"