Land and Sky: Places Brothers Go Chapter 13--The Race
Title: Places Brothers Go
Chapter Title: The Trust
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: The thirteenth in a series of *cough* short memory snippets from the early life of Obi-Wan's brother Owen, beginning on the day he learns of his brother's impending arrival. Approximately 26 years pre-TPM.
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Pairings/Characters: The Kenobis, Ierei Avardi
A/N: Mission_Insane Geography Table: Cave; 100colors Prompt #58 Blue Violet; 100colous Prompt #80 Indigo.
The Race
Trust the river, but do not forget to keep your head above water
-The Collected Wisdom of the Ka’andesi Peoples, as told to Inalia Kenobi, Chronicler of the Ch’llier
I felt as if I had been caught in a river during flood season. I was aware of the wind and the sound of the speeder; my mother’s heavy breathing and her stifled cries as each contraction came, but I could do nothing to help her. I could barely keep my own head above water. I had no idea where this raging current of events was pulling us, although I did at some point realize that we were not headed for Nor Galis.
I was intimately familiar with the landscape of the plains, but the only times I travelled through them in a speeder was when the family went to the spaceport or when I was conscripted to help Aunt Bee with her Weaver’s duties. Everything passed by me in a blur. The moons cast an eerie light on familiar landmarks, and I barely had time to register them before they were gone. The world was more indigo than black in the double moonlight, and everything had a strange quality to it that one never really became accustomed to. To make things worse, I was still adjusting to the mask I wore. I lost my sense of direction entirely, and I could only wait for us to stop, hoping that once we did, I would be able to get my bearings again.
I clenched and unclenched my fists as we drove, trying to look in every direction at once. As far as I could tell, there was nothing following us, but my throat was tight with fear, and I couldn’t shake the sense of impending doom. I kept expecting the speeder to swerve and go out of control, or pirates to start strafing us from the air. I wanted to claw the thoughts out of my brain, and with each passing minute I felt more and more useless.
“Ua, can I do anything to help you?” I asked.
The back seats of the speeder reclined, and she was half-prone with her eyes closed. Both of her hands were positioned over her stomach in a kind of meditation pose I’d seen her and Aunt Bee use in their work. She was concentrating on a routine of breathing exercises, but after a slight pause, she looked at me and smiled.
“We’re fine for the moment, son. Just try to relax. I’m going to need plenty of help from you when we get there,” she said.
Get where? I wanted to yell. I have no idea what’s happening, and if I could relax, I wouldn’t be asking for something to do, now would I?
I clamped my jaw on the outburst, knowing that it would serve no real purpose. It would probably upset her, too, and I didn’t want to add to her distress at a time like this. Sighing, I redoubled my efforts to determine whether the pirates were following us. That, at least, would serve a purpose if they did show up. Even a few seconds’ warning could be the difference between life and death for my whole family.
By the time we stopped, no one had caught up with us, but it turned out that stopping didn’t help my confusion very much. We had crossed from the plains onto the savannah by then. We weren’t anywhere near Ierei’s den, and that was the only place I knew out here. The speeder crested a small hill and then glided down the other side, coming to a halt in front of what looked like two massive slabs of rock. I climbed over the side and helped my mother out while Mrs. Deccol took our bags out.
“I should stay with you, Sajani,” she said in a troubled tone.
“No,” Mom shook her head. “No one can know you’re gone, and I’m going to need a Healer now that Bee isn’t…with us.”
“And what if something happens in the meanwhile?” she argued.
“The contractions are still almost twenty minutes apart. This baby isn’t coming for a while yet, but the longer we stand here and debate about what to do, the more likely he is to show up before qualified help does,” Mom replied in an unnervingly calm tone.
“All right,” Mrs. Deccol agreed grudgingly. “How are you going to carry all this?”
“I can!” I said quickly, glad to at least have something to do.
Even though I couldn’t see her face, her stance and body language easily told me that she had her doubts. I bristled. I may not have been farm-bred, but I was a far sight more acquainted with heavy lifting than a soft city-dweller. Without speaking, I took the satchels from her and settled one on each shoulder.
“I’m strong enough,” I told her, though the effort of holding both of them made my teeth clench. “But, um, where exactly are we going?”
Mom’s hand drifted down to cup the back of my head. “This way,” she directed, leading me toward the rocks.
When we were almost on top of them, I saw a shadow-a deepening of darkness that had to indicate cave or tunnel of some kind-but it was barely wide enough for an adult to walk through sideways. She was going to have to hunch over to make it inside, and there was no way she could do it without having to force her stomach past the stone.
“Ua, you’re going to hurt yourself,” I said, grabbing her arm.
“It’ll hurt a lot less than getting caught if Tellenda’s men track us from the house,” she said.
“But what about the baby?” I asked worriedly.
“He’s already on his way out. This will just help him feel motivated,” she told me.
“I thought we didn’t want him to come faster!” I objected.
“There’s no choice, Owen,” she said. “You’re going to have to help me.”
“Okay…” I said doubtfully.
“I’ll send them as fast as I can,” Mrs. Deccol promised, giving my mother a light hug before she climbed back into the speeder.
Chapter Title: The Trust
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: The thirteenth in a series of *cough* short memory snippets from the early life of Obi-Wan's brother Owen, beginning on the day he learns of his brother's impending arrival. Approximately 26 years pre-TPM.
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Pairings/Characters: The Kenobis, Ierei Avardi
A/N: Mission_Insane Geography Table: Cave; 100colors Prompt #58 Blue Violet; 100colous Prompt #80 Indigo.
The Race
Trust the river, but do not forget to keep your head above water
-The Collected Wisdom of the Ka’andesi Peoples, as told to Inalia Kenobi, Chronicler of the Ch’llier
I felt as if I had been caught in a river during flood season. I was aware of the wind and the sound of the speeder; my mother’s heavy breathing and her stifled cries as each contraction came, but I could do nothing to help her. I could barely keep my own head above water. I had no idea where this raging current of events was pulling us, although I did at some point realize that we were not headed for Nor Galis.
I was intimately familiar with the landscape of the plains, but the only times I travelled through them in a speeder was when the family went to the spaceport or when I was conscripted to help Aunt Bee with her Weaver’s duties. Everything passed by me in a blur. The moons cast an eerie light on familiar landmarks, and I barely had time to register them before they were gone. The world was more indigo than black in the double moonlight, and everything had a strange quality to it that one never really became accustomed to. To make things worse, I was still adjusting to the mask I wore. I lost my sense of direction entirely, and I could only wait for us to stop, hoping that once we did, I would be able to get my bearings again.
I clenched and unclenched my fists as we drove, trying to look in every direction at once. As far as I could tell, there was nothing following us, but my throat was tight with fear, and I couldn’t shake the sense of impending doom. I kept expecting the speeder to swerve and go out of control, or pirates to start strafing us from the air. I wanted to claw the thoughts out of my brain, and with each passing minute I felt more and more useless.
“Ua, can I do anything to help you?” I asked.
The back seats of the speeder reclined, and she was half-prone with her eyes closed. Both of her hands were positioned over her stomach in a kind of meditation pose I’d seen her and Aunt Bee use in their work. She was concentrating on a routine of breathing exercises, but after a slight pause, she looked at me and smiled.
“We’re fine for the moment, son. Just try to relax. I’m going to need plenty of help from you when we get there,” she said.
Get where? I wanted to yell. I have no idea what’s happening, and if I could relax, I wouldn’t be asking for something to do, now would I?
I clamped my jaw on the outburst, knowing that it would serve no real purpose. It would probably upset her, too, and I didn’t want to add to her distress at a time like this. Sighing, I redoubled my efforts to determine whether the pirates were following us. That, at least, would serve a purpose if they did show up. Even a few seconds’ warning could be the difference between life and death for my whole family.
By the time we stopped, no one had caught up with us, but it turned out that stopping didn’t help my confusion very much. We had crossed from the plains onto the savannah by then. We weren’t anywhere near Ierei’s den, and that was the only place I knew out here. The speeder crested a small hill and then glided down the other side, coming to a halt in front of what looked like two massive slabs of rock. I climbed over the side and helped my mother out while Mrs. Deccol took our bags out.
“I should stay with you, Sajani,” she said in a troubled tone.
“No,” Mom shook her head. “No one can know you’re gone, and I’m going to need a Healer now that Bee isn’t…with us.”
“And what if something happens in the meanwhile?” she argued.
“The contractions are still almost twenty minutes apart. This baby isn’t coming for a while yet, but the longer we stand here and debate about what to do, the more likely he is to show up before qualified help does,” Mom replied in an unnervingly calm tone.
“All right,” Mrs. Deccol agreed grudgingly. “How are you going to carry all this?”
“I can!” I said quickly, glad to at least have something to do.
Even though I couldn’t see her face, her stance and body language easily told me that she had her doubts. I bristled. I may not have been farm-bred, but I was a far sight more acquainted with heavy lifting than a soft city-dweller. Without speaking, I took the satchels from her and settled one on each shoulder.
“I’m strong enough,” I told her, though the effort of holding both of them made my teeth clench. “But, um, where exactly are we going?”
Mom’s hand drifted down to cup the back of my head. “This way,” she directed, leading me toward the rocks.
When we were almost on top of them, I saw a shadow-a deepening of darkness that had to indicate cave or tunnel of some kind-but it was barely wide enough for an adult to walk through sideways. She was going to have to hunch over to make it inside, and there was no way she could do it without having to force her stomach past the stone.
“Ua, you’re going to hurt yourself,” I said, grabbing her arm.
“It’ll hurt a lot less than getting caught if Tellenda’s men track us from the house,” she said.
“But what about the baby?” I asked worriedly.
“He’s already on his way out. This will just help him feel motivated,” she told me.
“I thought we didn’t want him to come faster!” I objected.
“There’s no choice, Owen,” she said. “You’re going to have to help me.”
“Okay…” I said doubtfully.
“I’ll send them as fast as I can,” Mrs. Deccol promised, giving my mother a light hug before she climbed back into the speeder.