The Hunted (JA fic by Cassia and Sio)

Uh oh!! Poor Obi is in major trouble now! I hope Qui finds him soon.

 

Another good story to bookmark! Whoo-hoo! Keep it up, I am LOVING this!! Bring on the Obi-torture... mwaahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

 

Upperoo!

Sarah >^,,^<

 

Another post today? Please??? Love this story BTW!

 

Sorry once again I was not able to get in to my mail... so there was a delay... sorry -_-;
Here is part 5 and I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.

Part Five:


Obi-Wan's knees still felt weak and his muscles incredibly fatigued,
but the paralysis was gone. He had been given something to speed up
the negation of the paralysis bolts' effects when it became clear
that the overdose was threatening to paralyze the seventeen-year-
old's heart along with his other muscles. Apparently his captors
didn't want him dead, at least, not yet. They still had lessons they
wanted to teach him.

Several guards dragged Obi-Wan rapidly down a hallway. The tiny,
barred windows to the outside that they passed contained only
darkness. Night had fallen two hours ago.

The guards had just retrieved the apprentice from the infirmary where
his little misadventure had put him. The guards refused to tell Obi-
Wan where he was being taken, but only stated ominously that he was
going to learn what Gehenna was all about.

There was a large room on one end of the prison barracks with a
raised platform against the far wall. The chamber's sole purpose was
the public flogging of disobedient inmates and it was used with
frightening regularity.

A set of binders held the unlucky prisoner on their knees, forcing
them to face the assembled crowd while the guard who was to
administer their punishment stood behind them.

It was to this ill-reputed room that Obi-Wan was dragged. The
instant he saw the place, with Kalric on the dais, whip in hand, and
a horde of other inmates assembled before him, the apprentice knew
what was going to happen and just what he was expected to learn here.

The young Jedi tried to resist, but his weakened body did not support
his efforts and the guards easily manhandled him into the room.
Pulled up onto the platform, Obi-Wan was stripped to the waist and
then transferred from the set of chains that he wore, to the ones
affixed to the dais. He was ordered to kneel, but the guards just
kicked his legs out from under him when he did not respond fast
enough to suit them.

Obi-Wan took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. He was going
to need to be strong. For a moment, there was silence, broken only
by the clank of the other prisoners' chains as the large group
stirred impatiently. Then Kalric spoke and his voice nearly made Obi-
Wan jump.

The apprentice berated himself for being so easily unnerved and tried
to pull himself into better focus.

"Now you're new here boy, so I'll go over the rules first," Kalric
said once Obi-Wan was secured on his knees upon the low platform.

"You will be expected to follow these now and at any future time
punishment or reprimand is handed out, so you better listen and
listen good." The man's voice was hard and tinged with scorn.

"Number one," the head guard shook the kinks out of the cruel, multi-
pronged scourge in his hand. "No struggling at any time. You'll
accept your punishment and take it without argument or complaint.
Number two: you count out the beating when you're told to and you
don't stop no matter how bad it hurts. Got it?"

When Obi-Wan did not answer, Kalric gave him a sharp cut with the
whip that made the Padawan jerk.

"Number three: when I speak to you, you answer and you call me Sir,
you got that kid?" the man barked.

Obi-Wan knew it was stupid to provoke this man, especially in his
current position, but the apprentice's stubborn pride momentarily
reared up and kept his mouth tightly closed.

As expected, that earned him another sharp blow from the guard's lash.

"That's gonna cost you extra boy," the Ephriphan ground out between
his teeth. "I wouldn't keep adding to your beating if I were you
kid, it's gonna be more then you can handle as it is," Kalric
promised darkly. "You've already earned yourself ten extra strokes,
now unless you want me to triple that you better answer me!"

"Yes, sir," Obi-Wan whispered quietly. It w

 

Yes! Obi Torture!

Uh wait. . . Poor Obi

Ha Ha!

Great Post! Keep it up!

Can't wait to find out what those other nasty prisoners are going to do to our poor Obi.

 

Poor Obi!!!!!! Tortured again, with more coming!! Qui, you'ld better hurry up and find him!!

 

*Siri's eyes flare* THHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAT DOES IT! I'M GOING TO TAKE THOSE LITTLE PATHETIC KNOW IT ALL JERKS AND I'M GOING TO TURN THEM INTO HAMBURGER!!! *Siri stomps towards the prision compound* THEN I'LL KICK UM AROUND AND I'LL FEED THEM MY HOMEMADE RICE PUDDING! AND IF THAT DOESN'T KILL UM I'LL SMASH THEM WITH A HAMMER! I AM SOOOOOOOOO MAD!

Can't you tell?

Great post...EVEN THOUGH I WANT TO KILL A CERTAIN GUARD!!!!! more please?

 

LOL Siri! Could we have more pleeeeease? Great post, yay! U gave us Obi-torture!

 

Boy Siri... I'm at a loss to top that.

That was REAL Obi-Torture! That 'And all before the sun's up' line would have been very funny if you didn't feel so bad for the poor kid.

MMMMOOOORRRREEE!!!!!

Sarah >^,,^<

 

Uppers

 

I want another post! More Obi-torture? Pleeeease?

 

I will try my best to post the parts as soon as the authors send it out.... Sorry, I have been busy lately....(though it is unexcuseable) please feedback often to the authors directly or on JC. Who knows? they might post earlier (atleast that is my wishful thinking)

 

LOL, Siri! I will gladly donate some of my own cooking for the cause.

Great post! Obi is really getting tortured here!! I hope Qui finds him. Can't wait to read more.

 

Feedback: Yes please! You can send to either cassia_a@h...
or siobhancl2@h..., either way it will be seen by both
authors. Thank you!
17.

Notes: Everything between // is Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon talking through
their bond.
Things bracketed by * * are italics.




Part Six:


Obi-Wan tried to gather as much of the Force around him as he could,
but his head spun and he barely had enough control to battle the
maelstrom of fear and darker emotions that were trying to suck him
down. Anything more than that was beyond his reach right now.

The teenage Jedi's breath came in short, spasmodic gasps. Darkness
was pressing on him, not just the darkness of the night, but also a
darkness so much deeper then that.

Deep, biting rage was trying to build in the pit of his stomach; rage
against the people and their laws that had sent him here, against the
guards who made it a living hell and against the other prisoners who
had just gotten through with him.

A burning voice was telling him that he wanted to hate them all,
simply because at least if he let hate fill him then it hurt less.
And right now the pain, in his heart and his body, felt like it was
going to break the apprentice. At least rage left no room for
despair...

//NO!// Obi-Wan screamed silently. He could be surrounded by
darkness, but he wouldn't *be* dark. That was the one thing that
would destroy him and the Padawan knew it.

That was what had happened to all these other men here, Obi-Wan
realized. With so much darkness around them, they had given into
hate and anger because it was easier than pain. They hurt because
they had been hurt, by the guards, by the other prisoners...

Obi-Wan buried his face on his arms. Both were mottled with bruises
and painful, but the apprentice Jedi was becoming used to the
constant presence of pain. Instead of pulling back because it hurt,
Obi-Wan pressed his face down harder, preferring the physical pain to
the one that was ripping his heart out.

Desperately, Obi-Wan battled to stay silent, to keep it all inside.
He knew they *wanted* him to cry. They had delighted in making him
do so.

The majority of men here were adults between 20 & 60 and a smaller,
hurting teenager like Obi-Wan was seen as easy prey. Under normal
circumstances they would have quickly learned how wrong that
assumption was. However, already weak from the guard's flogging and
continued abuse, Obi-Wan could not fight all of them.

When work detail was over and the prisoners were at last returned to
their bunkhouses, the twenty men who shared Obi-Wan's community cell
had made good their threat to initiate the young inmate into the
tough pecking order of the Gahanna cell block. They held the
struggling teenager down and beat him until he couldn't fight them
anymore. In Obi-Wan's condition that didn't take long.

The apprentice took as much of it as he could in silence, because he
knew they wanted a reaction out of him and hated giving them that
satisfaction. Screaming did no good anyway because Obi-Wan knew the
guards would not help him. Strict in everything that concerned them,
the guards cared little about what the prisoners did to one another,
so long as they did it on their own time and not when they were
supposed to be working. Prisoner on prisoner brutality was actually
encouraged to a certain extent.

The convicts needed little spurring. Under the harsh helplessness
that Gehenna imposed upon it's inmates it seemed that the only outlet
the prisoners had, the only power they were allowed to wield, was
that to hurt one another. With all the pent up anger and rage in
this place, the results were not too hard to imagine.

Tonight had been their way of informing the new kid, or "puck" as
they called the new initiates, that they were all under the guards,
but Obi-Wan was under them as well.

They had their own rules, only not as well defined as the guards'.
Their only clear rule seemed to be that he did whatever

 

Beautiful post guys!! Post again soon please!!

 

Awww... that was sad! Mace is a loser right now! He has no compassion what-so-ever! I know that it could be bad if Qui goes to save Obi now, but couldn't Mace just find some other way???? Sheeesh... Post more soon please!

 

*simmers in the corner* Poor kid! It's not fair!

Anyways! Great post gals! You're both great writers!

 

Uh oh, I have a feeling that Obi will be in pain for a *very* long time, especially with the speed at which the Republic functions.

That was a great post! Please put more up soon

 

Well... as much as Qui-Gon and I dislike the situation, I feel we must both cut Mace a little slack. The whole 'rope to hang you with' bit showed some common sense which Qui was wise not to ignore.

Besides, it opens up oportunities for more Obi-Torture!

Bits I liked: Qui feeling proud of Obi for his willingness to sacrifice himself. The fact that, ultimately, Qui listened to Mace. The 'what else is new' line. Qui's lovely emotional problems with leaving Obi behind. (aren't I so bad?)

Bits I liked and disliked: Qui pulling the static trick on whatshisface.

Sarah >^,,^<

 

I am feeling sorry for OBi

 

More, more I need more! This is wonderful. I almost cried when Qui-Gon took off. You did an extraordinary job expressed Qui-Gon's torment. And I loved the conversation with Mace. I understand where he is coming from, but like Qui-Gon, I hate it.

Post lots and often!

 

Part Seven:


Mace glanced sidelong at the other Jedi Master who walked stiffly
beside him. Qui-Gon's aura was tight, disturbed and frustrated.
Mace didn't really blame him. The meeting with the department heads
of Intergalactic Affairs had not gone well. There had been many
reassuring words but very little promise of immediate action. This
had been their fourth meeting of the past two weeks and the well-worn
lines of assurance were beginning to wear thin.

Qui-Gon thought that if one more person told him that he had to be
patient because these things took time, he was going to explode and
do something decidedly un-Jedi like.

"They're not doing anything!" Qui-Gon's frustrated voice broke the
silence. It had been thirteen days, eight hours and forty-five very
trying minutes since he had had to leave Obi-Wan in Gehenna. Since
he had abandoned him... Qui-Gon's throat constricted. No, thinking
along that line did no good at all.

Mace had to agree with him. "Things have not gone as we hoped."

"I don't see what the problem is," Qui-Gon bristled in irritation.
How hard could the extradition process be? "I want Obi-Wan out of
there Mace." His voice was hard, determined.

"So do I," Mace sighed. "But we've got to be patient, these things
take-"

"DON'T say it Mace!" Qui-Gon rounded on his companion, his eyes
flashing. "Don't you dare say it."

Mace was a typically unflappable Jedi, but he did blink slightly at
Qui-Gon's sudden outburst. This whole situation was wearing on his
friend very badly.

"We'll go a step higher," Mace pressed on, choosing to ignore his
friend's outburst. "The Council is putting considerable pressure on
some choice people who could help us. If this department doesn't
start showing us some results soon, we'll go over their heads."

"And if that doesn't work?" Qui-Gon played devil's advocate. He had
a bad feeling about this whole thing that was only growing worse.

"Then we'll go over *their* heads," Mace said with a touch of
exasperation. "We'll talk to the Board of Intergalactic Treaty
Regulations and see if they can find us a loop hole through Ephriphan
sovereignty, we'll talk to the head of Intergalactic Prison
Regulators, We'll talk to the Chancellor himself if we have to."

"And when we reach the top?" Qui-Gon was definitely in a bad mood.

"What exactly do you want me to say?" Mace queried, breaking out of
the useless cycle.

Qui-Gon sighed. Guilt was running rampant inside him and he wasn't
doing anyone any good like this. "I'm sorry Mace," he ran his hand
through his hair as if that could better sort out his tangled
thoughts.

Mace laid a hand lightly on Qui-Gon's arm. "Tearing yourself up
inside won't get Obi-Wan back Qui-Gon," he said softly.

Qui-Gon shook his head slowly. "No. But what will?"

The question hung between them. Neither knew how to answer it.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I should never have left him," he said
quietly, pain flickering behind his eyes. The pain of knowing that
that realization came much too late. Turning, Qui-Gon walked away.

Swearing silently under his breath, Mace pulled out his
comlink. "Hello? Get me the Board of Intergalactic Treaty
Regulations please."


**********


Forty-five days. One and a half months. An eternity in hell.

Hopelessness was beginning to settle in on Obi-Wan. Didn't anyone
know what was going on? He had felt his Master's presence... had he
been too weak? Had his cry gone unheard and Qui-Gon missed him? To
have been so close and still have been overlooked was a spirit-
crushing idea, so Obi-Wan refused to let himself go there. Qui-Gon
knew where he was. He had to. He was just working on a way to get
him out.

Yet as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months
with no change, Obi-Wan could not help but wonder. Did everyone
think he was dead? Was he totally forgotten here? Or worse, did
they somehow believe the charges against him? Obi-Wan couldn't