Chapter Text
Night found Obi-Wan pacing the Jundland Wastes restlessly in search of something he’d lost, something he once had but could not find. He looked to the horizon wistfully, just as the boy he’d brought to Tatooine five years ago would do about a decade and a half later. Even the reasons for the emotion were pretty similar. It would seem Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Luke could all agree on wishing to be elsewhere. And all three did not have the means or much hope of getting that wish. But that never stopped anyone from wanting.
Obi-Wan came upon a boulder and sat on it, carefully fingering the lightsaber hidden under his robe. It was a reassuring weight in his hand, something familiar and comfortable and loyal. And yet, Obi-Wan was uneasy. He sensed danger of some kind, but was too out of sorts to identify it clearly. That is, until the Force shoved him to the hard ground so fast he hadn’t consciously registered the intent. His lightsaber rolled away at the same time a gaffi stick hit the boulder he’d been on and it split in two. Partially stunned, Obi-Wan registered the multipurpose staff was of good quality, so probably the weapon of one of the Tusken champions. Some of the Tuskens looked at the lightsaber uneasily, but a few had the presence of mind to watch Obi-Wan, who got to his feet and called his weapon to his hand. The Tuskens who were already uneasy fled with their banthas. From what Obi-Wan could tell, it looked to be a small party of about twenty in all, now down to about five stalwart individuals. Four were mounted and the apparent leader stood on the ground a few feet in front of Obi-Wan, one hand on his mount and the other tapping his weapon against the earth. One Tusken growled to him, indicating the lightsaber and Obi-Wan’s robe. The other Tuskens seemed to agree, but backed their mounts up a bit. Obi-Wan noted this and held his weapon at the ready, rather than down at his side as before. It helped to have the Force and be able to sense the hostility and distrust emanating from all of them, though he himself had a neutral opinion of them. He knew they had no love for humans, of course, but they had never personally hurt him.
The leader growled something at Obi-Wan and swung the bladed end of his weapon toward his midsection. Obi-Wan leapt back and ignited his saber. The Tusken guards watching the proceedings growled ominously at the leader, but he was determined to test this human. He swung the club end of his weapon up toward Obi-Wan’s head, but the Knight ducked and rolled close enough to swing his saber at one of his opponent’s legs. It was a near thing. It was almost severed but for the Tusken’s good instincts, though Obi-Wan did cut a piece of the robe away. Obi-Wan was up again and the Tusken’s weapon came slashing at him yet again, this time parried by his saber. Both blades clashed a few more times before Obi-Wan took a swing at one of his opponent’s arms. The Tusken dodged expertly and tried to hack at Obi-Wan’s weapon arm, but Obi-Wan jumped over the weapon and kicked the Tusken in the shoulder, eliciting a grunt. The Tusken swung his staff and managed to graze Obi-Wan’s shoulder with the blade, drawing blood and making Obi-Wan hiss. The spectators grumbled in approval, but could tell this human was no stranger to combat and was a worthy warrior, if nothing else. He was certainly proficient with his weapon, which won their wary respect. Obi-Wan had long since learned to minimize the sting of such superficial wounds, and managed to land a similar wound to one of his opponent’s forearms. The spectators gasped as they saw the burn left behind. The leader looked at the wound and froze. Obi-Wan kicked him to the ground and took the weapon from his opponent’s suddenly lax grip. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and hid it under his robe again, holding the bladed end of the staff close to the Tusken’s throat and kneeling at his shoulder.
The downed Tusken was gritting his teeth in agony. Obi-Wan felt the pain in the Force and something of his distraction must have shown through because a Tusken spectator crept up behind Obi-Wan and tried to club him. But Obi-Wan had sensed him and turned the weapon aside with the one he held, and the Tusken staggered back from the force of the collision. At the same time, the leader was broadcasting images of dead Tuskens with lightsaber burns - males, females, and children. The leader had stopped by a family that he seemed to know personally, because he knelt down by each body, bowed his head, and uttered some sort of ritual phrase over each one before closing the eyes. The images appeared to be of a settlement or camp, and Obi-Wan remembered that Anakin told him his mother had been abducted and tortured to death by Sand People. Obi-Wan’s eyes widened in dawning horror, as images of dead Jedi began surfacing in his own memory. The Tusken that had tried to kill him earlier was now looking intently at him as the leader recovered, took back his weapon, and swung the bladed end toward Obi-Wan’s throat. But the second Tusken grabbed the weapon and barked a sharp command, and the leader looked closely at Obi-Wan, still kneeling at the leader’s feet.
The Knight lay his weapon on the ground and bent his head in a submissive pose. Then he got up and began to walk away, but the leader caught his arm and kicked the lightsaber so it landed at Obi-Wan’s feet. The Tusken indicated that Obi-Wan should pick it up, but he shook his head. All the Tuskens growled in displeasure and the leader prodded Obi-Wan in the ribs painfully with the club end of his stick. Obi-Wan growled in return, lips pulling back in a snarl, and yanked his arm away, trying to leave again. The leader’s friend picked up the lightsaber, grabbed Obi-Wan’s wrist, and closed the Jedi’s hand over the weapon. He barked something at Obi-Wan. With the help of the Force, Obi-Wan interpreted the gist as something like, "Show your strength, warrior. You killed defenseless friends of ours. Answer for your crimes." Obi-Wan blinked. They thought he’d killed them? But of course they would. They never saw who did and Obi-Wan carried a lightsaber. But he found he did not wish to fight, much less kill. He was sorry for these people. He understood their desire for vengeance, for justice. He did not wish to perpetuate more bloodshed should he be forced to kill, and given he’d trained Anakin so poorly, he deserved to pay with his life. But there was no way to get the Tuskens to understand, and when the leader prodded him again on his other side, his grief turned to annoyance and frustration and he ignited his saber and jabbed at the staff. The staff’s blade came stabbing at him, but he twisted aside awkwardly. Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and shook his head, viciously shoving his grief and compassion away. If they wanted a fight, fine. Yes, Anakin was his fault, but the innocent Tusken lives were not, and he reminded himself it was unjust to die for blood that was not on his hands. Obi-Wan stabbed at the Tusken’s chest, but he jumped aside and lashed out toward Obi-Wan’s wounded shoulder. Obi-Wan took the hit in the chest as he desperately reined back his wrath. That would not help him. He must be focused. He had no deaths to answer for, so nothing to be angry about, and he could not blame the Tuskens for their misguided grudge. He fought defensively, which frustrated the Tuskens, and eventually, the leader made a mistake that cost him. He swung a bit too zealously and lost his balance, and Obi-Wan had the leader at his feet and his saber hovering near his throat once again.
"I’m within my rights to kill you, but that would bring me no joy," Obi-Wan growled aggressively, deactivating his weapon and standing over his fallen opponent’s prone body. "Maybe I should torture you, as your people tortured my brother’s mother. That might be satisfying on some level." He kicked the leader in the ribs sharply. The leader’s jaw tensed at the blow, but relaxed again. "Perhaps I should take your weapon as a trophy. This, too, would be satisfying." With the Force, he tugged the weapon from the leader’s grip and held the club above the leader’s skull, putting a booted foot on the leader’s chest. Obi-Wan noted the leader did not beg or show fear. If anything, Obi-Wan was sensing genuine respect from the Tuskens. "But I did not wrong your people, so there’s no point starting now." He stepped back and released the leader, who climbed to his feet, radiating confusion. Obi-Wan extended the gaffi stick to him, but the leader shook his head, growling something about not being worthy of it anymore. Obi-Wan tried again, and the leader looked at the weapon for a long moment, and then into Obi-Wan’s eyes. After another moment, he reached out and took the weapon, bowing to the Jedi, who returned the gesture.
"He does not hate us," growled the leader to the other Tuskens.
"It would seem not," replied the leader’s second. "He tried to surrender to us, and his face when I tried to kill him…He should have killed you while you were defenseless. Maybe…Maybe it wasn’t him."
The other Tuskens dismounted and, along with the leader’s second, bowed to Obi-Wan, eyes toward the ground. The leader lay his weapon solemnly at Obi-Wan’s feet and vaulted onto his bantha. The others followed suit and streaked away without a backward glance. Obi-Wan picked the stick up carefully, tracking the party in the Force. There was no way he could catch them on foot, but he paid close attention to the leader and his second’s signatures. He did not know if returning the staff would be deemed a dishonor, but no one should be without protection, and he did not feel he had the right to carry a Tusken’s weapon when he was not one. But he’d worry about it later. He had a wound to tend to.