Saga The Slayer of Dreams: An Anakin Skywalker Halloween Vignette

This award-winning story was posted last year in response to a Halloween challenge. Enjoy.

---

[b]The Slayer of Dreams[/b]

They had gone. Foolishly gone. The outsider was dangerous. The dwellings of a hermit were no place for children, and yet they had blindly stolen a speeder to uncover the mysteries of the loner.

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi shook his head as he made preparations to go after his young apprentice. ?Curiosity will kill Anakin one of these days.?

?I hope it will be sated with your apprentice before it turns on mine,? Bothan Jedi Master Subja So told Obi-Wan, his black fur rippling to indicate his displeasure as he climbed into the passenger side of the speeder the two Jedi would use to find their apprentices. ?You?ll be surprise at what it takes to teach a rodian a lesson.?

Obi-Wan snorted. ?They left enough clues as to where they were going. We?ll find them soon enough,? he assured the other Jedi before slipping the speeder into gear and into the crowded lower-level streets of Coruscant.

*****

Meanwhile, in a district nearly 400 kilometers from the Jedi Temple, Jedi Padawans Anakin Skywalker and Foracto Nacto pulled their ?borrowed? speeder into a dark alley. ?This is the place,? Anakin announced, putting the speeder into park and hoping out of it with all the vigor of a fifteen year-old. ?That old man is suppose to live in one of the apartment buildings right here.?

Foracto?s snout sampled the air as he climbed out of the speeder much slower than Anakin, even though he was only a youthful eleven years-old. In the distance, a construction hammer could be heard pounding away. ?Smells like nobody has been here for years,? he said, kicking at the dirt and dust gathered in the alley. ?Are you sure this is safe??

?Hey, I passed on a sparing session with Knight Secura to come here,? Anakin announced. ?So it better [i]not[/i] be safe.?

Foracto rolled his multifaceted eyes. ?Your sacrifice is duly noted.?

Anakin nodded and waved his friend forward. ?Good, now come on. Let?s see if we can find this Slayer of Dreams, as he?s called in the archives.?

Foracto followed.

*****

?Do you see anything??

Subia shook his head at Obi-Wan?s question. ?No, I don?t see them anywhere,? he said as he scanned his side of the street for the two padawans.

?Neither do I,? Obi-Wan said, frustrated. The usually strong bond between a Jedi Master and his padawan became weaker when more life-forms got in the way. With a crowd as big as the one on this street it was hard to filter through them to find their padawans. ?Do you think they went straight to his home??

?I?m afraid that?s a possibility,? Subia nodded. ?Although I had hoped they?d go to that shop they highlighted in the brochure instead.?

?There it is,? Obi-Wan announced, pointing to a sign that said Grave of Dreams. ?But I don?t sense Anakin anywhere near here.?

?I don?t sense Foracto, either, but let?s stop and ask around,? Subia suggested.

Obi-Wan agreed. He was about to park their speeder in an alley when he noticed the other speeder. ?That?s the speeder our padawans took.?

Subia bounded out of the craft and rushed up to the rediscovered speeder to read the identification numbers on the side. ?This is it,? he announced.

?And that?s the building Ghosto lives in,? Obi-Wan said, pointing to the building at the alley?s far side. ?I can barely sense Anakin nearby.?

The two Jedi shared a glance before moving.

*****

?Excuse me, but do you know if a man by the name of?.? The man Anakin was trying to address just shuffled by him like a zombie, lost in his own world, ignoring the padawans completely. ?Thanks,? Anakin said with a disheartened sigh.

?You know, Anakin,? Foracto said, brushing rock spider-string out if his spine crests. ?There?s a reason why he?s called a loner. He wants to be alone.?

?Then why does he live on the most populous planet in the galaxy?? Anakin replied a little too harshly than he meant to. He was frustrated. They had searched nearly half the twenty story building and not

 

AHHHH! So creepy! It was really good, though! Especially the part with Anakin's face in the thing...AHHHHHH!

 

GAH! *runs to Mom and hides behind her legs* Very creepy. Perfect for Halloween.

 

Creepiness x 2! Everybody run and hide, grab your teddy bear (or favorite Jedi)!

 

Creepy, scary! Loved it! Perfect Halloween vignette!

 

SCAAAAARY!!!!!!

 

Laura Anu - So creepy! It was really good, though! Especially the part with Anakin's face in the thing...

Thanks! I think that was the part that won people over to it last year. It gave me chills writing it, too.

VadersMistress - If it scared you so much, your mother shouldn't have let you read it!

DreamOfKenobi - Don't squeeze your Jedi too hard.

Odd-Thomas - Loved it! Perfect Halloween vignette!

Thank you!

Jedi Bant - Scary? That was the idea!

 

Spooky, I really loved this bit:

Anakin raised his chin. ?I will do what I must to fulfill my destiny,? he said stubbornly.

Ghosto parted the hairy veil to reveal his face, a mirror image of Anakin?s. ?And you will walk as an undead machine for the rest of your days.?

Great insight and wording, I really loved it. Well done.

 

Loves this and the foreshadowing. Very creepy and excellent. The part where Anakin stares into his face, after he's lifted the veil was so powerful. Anakin doesn't really have any idea what he's getting hismelf into...