Chapter Text
36 BBY
“I don’t see any pods.”
“Patience, Cobb. They’ll come.”
“But the suns are setting,” Cobb complained, pulling the collar of his red poncho higher up so it was keeping the lower half of his face warm. He shifted to huddle for warmth against his father, Jakobb. Peering down the cliff, they overlooked a stretch of Beggar’s Canyon that was part of the Boonta Eve podrace’s circuit.
Jakobb smiled and ran a hand through Cobb’s silver hair. “Some of these kids tend to come out late. More cover from the Tuskens. But don’t ever stay out in the Dune Sea alone at night, that ain’t ever a good idea.”
“Got it.” Cobb nodded, squinting into the distance as the quiet drone of engines slowly approached them. He inched closer to the edge of the cliff to get a better look, and Jakobb gripped the back of his poncho for safety. “I think I see ‘em.”
“That’s it.”
Jakobb moved to lie on his stomach next to Cobb and the two watched as one pod and two speeders moved through the cliffs, skidding to a stop almost directly under Cobb and Jakobb. There were two boys and one girl, and it looked as though one of the boys was having trouble with his pod.
“Ani! Come on, aren’t you supposed to beat Sebulba this year?” The girl whined loudly as she walked back to the blonde boy’s pod. His engine had smoke trailing out of it almost mockingly slow. “You gonna stop in the middle of the race?”
“Give him a break,” the dark-haired boy said, his quiet voice still echoing through the cliffs to reach Cobb and Jakobb’s ears. “It’s Watto’s pod so it’s old. Bet if Ani made one himself, it’d be way better.”
Anakin looked up at the other boy from the smoking engine. “Really? You think I could make a pod that would beat Sebulba?”
“You’re good with your hands,” the girl pondered. “Haven’t you been working on that protocol droid?”
“His name’s C-3PO,” Anakin said proudly, then a little less pridefully: “He’s just a head right now, though.”
“Maybe there are some wrecked pods lying around somewhere you can scrap for parts,” the girl suggested, already looking around.
“Maybe, but it’s too dark to see.”
The boy circled around Anakin’s pod, poking the engine curiously. “Is your pod okay or should we go home and come back for it in the morning? You can ride with me on my speeder.”
The girl pushed his friend. “What if Jawas steal it? You know he can’t leave it here, Watto would sell him!”
“Slaves,” Jakobb mumbled, a hint of sorrow in his voice for them. Cobb watched with keen attention as the sky grew ever darker as the suns descended.
The boy turned to look at Anakin from his speeder, the blonde poking at the controls of his pod. “Ani, come on! I don’t wanna run into sand people. We can run the course again tomorrow.”
“Fine. Let’s go, Kit.”
The three kids below them got back on their vehicles and Jakobb sat up, saying, “We should get home. I got an early day tomorrow at the moisture farm.”
“I think I wanna be a podracer when I grow up,” Cobb said, grabbing his father’s hand to get up.
“A podracer? Really?” Jakobb raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I ain’t never heard you mention that when we went to last year’s race.”
Cobb shrugged, letting Jakobb begin leading them back to their homestead. “It looks fun. Fast. Freeing.”
“Lotta F words.”
“Dank f—”
“Don’t push your luck, kid,” Jakobb grinned, tugging on Cobb’s hand. On a more serious note, he added, “Pods are expensive, though. I’d rather keep the credits to get you to a good Republic school when you’re older.”
Cobb thought it over and suggested, “Mos Eisley has a junkyard… If you take me there, maybe I can find parts. Build one myself.”
“Maybe focus on learning how to read first,” Jakobb teased.
“I can read!” Cobb insisted, pouting.
“Yeah, two words.” Jakobb’s smile slowly melted off into a look of concern as he stared ahead into the distance. “Sorry, Cobb. Can we talk about this later?” Cobb followed his father’s line of sight to see several silhouettes near their base.
“Papa?” Cobb whispered, moving closer to Jakobb’s legs. “Who’s that?”
“We should turn around.” Jakobb urged Cobb to follow him and, still hand in hand, they started putting distance between themselves and the moisture farm. “I might have enough credits on me for one night at an inn in Eisley…”
Cobb kept up the pace with Jakobb, casting a quick look behind them. “What’s going on?”
“Dunno, but it ain’t anything good.” Jakobb tugged on Cobb’s hand. “Faster, Cobb.”
The two tried to sneak off, but one of the strangers at the farm spotted them anyway. Cobb took another peek and panicked when he saw the men coming their way. “Papa, they saw us.”
“Kriff,” Jakobb cursed under his breath. “Run, Cobb.”
The two of them broke into a run, hearing angry yells following them. Cobb tried to spot where his father had gone, but couldn’t find him with the sky so dark. He continued to run anyway, heading for Mos Espa. Already, he felt like he needed a breather, his little legs getting worn out from running so fast.
Run.
“Papa!” Cobb shouted, trying to keep up his speed. He heard someone coming closer to him but he didn’t dare turn to see who it was.
Something hit him in the back and Cobb felt a wave of electricity course through him. He let out a yelp in shock and fell to the sand, finding it harder to move by the second as his body twitched. A bulky silhouette stopped in front of him and Cobb tried to get a better look, but his vision had gone blurry.
“Cobb!” Cobb heard, the voice muffled to his ears, Jakobb shouting at him. It sounded almost like Jakobb’s face was shoved into the sand. “Don’t be afraid. It’ll be okay.”
“Quite the runner, this one,” the man said. Cobb could hear the mockery in his voice. The man bent down to pick Cobb up with one arm, throwing him over his shoulder. “Think we can sell him for much?”
“I got a contact in Espa lookin’ for an engineering type. Gotta see if this kid’s good in a workshop, though.”
“Who cares? They can be trained.”
Slavers.
Cobb wanted to kick at the man, wrestle his way out of his grip, but his body had gone limp. He tried to call out for his father once again, but his consciousness slipped away.
“Cobb! Stay on Tatooine! I’ll find my way back!”