Thoughts in italics

'The force speaking'

The next morning Obi-Wan woke up feeling very warm and comfortable, and for a moment he forgot where he was. He lay snuggled in the fur blanket, and abruptly his memories of the night before filled his consciousness. He sat up realising he was in the arms of the wookie, who had taken the collar off him. He remembered who he was now and what had happened to him, he shivered when he thought about Xanatos, and he started to cry. Krag patted his back and started humming something.

Eventually Obi-Wan stopped crying, and sat up looking at Krag “My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Master Jinn’s Padawan threw me off the cliff. He was very mean and he did not like me at all, and when I woke up I was in the river, and I fell down a hole, it was very dark in the hole and I was scared. I came out of the hole near the pond, and I don’t know where the Masters are. I called out to them but no one could hear me. I didn’t want to go with Xanatos, and I told Master Jinn I didn’t want to go. But they didn’t listen to me, and I was scared. Do you know where they are?” He asked Krag.

Even though Krag understood what Obi-Wan was saying he could not speak to Obi-wan. His throat had been severely injured and he could not form words. However, he soon helped Obi-Wan understand his sign language, which was a series of grunts and growls, and hand gestures. As the weeks flew by Obi-Wan learnt to understand him, and Obi-Wan told him all about the temple and that he was training to be a Jedi Knight.

Krag told Obi-Wan that he and some of his friends had been captured, and enslaved by the pilot of the ship that crashed. The pilot was a cruel man and killed most of Krag's friends, and when the ship crashed Krag could not help him self; he was so angry at the pilot that he killed him for causing him so much pain. Both Obi-Wan and Krag had been hurt and now they had found each other, and one day soon they hoped that some one would come and rescue them.

As the months wore on, Krag realised that no one would be coming any time soon, and he decided to teach Obi-Wan how to defend him self. Krag had seen some Jedi in his travels and they practiced and trained constantly, and he wanted to teach Obi-Wan how to hunt and survive just in case something happened to him.

They had explored every inch of their home and the only way out of the valley, was to climb the mountain. Obi-Wan said he had come from the other side of the mountain but did not know how to get back there. Therefore, Krag explained to Obi-Wan that when he was stronger and older and could use his force abilities properly he would be able to climb out of the valley and get help for them both. Obi-Wan did not like the idea of leaving Krag here while he went for help and he told Krag he wouldn’t go without him. Krag showed Obi-Wan his crippled hand, and badly deformed leg and he explained that he would not be able to climb, and that it would be up to Obi-Wan to go for help.

Krag knew the boy was afraid and would not venture off on his own for quite sometime, and so he set about teaching Obi-Wan how to gather food, and store it for the winter months. Obi-Wan moved into the lower cave with Krag and so began their friendship. Over the next two years Krag taught Obi as much as he could about survival, and he made Obi-Wan practice using the force. He learnt many things and he learnt how to pick up rocks with the force, and to jump very high. Krag had not had much schooling when he was young, so it was hard to teach Obi-Wan properly. He wasn’t sure if Obi-Wan was using the force correctly or not. However, Obi grew stronger and stronger every day. But even two years later, Obi-Wan was quite adamant that he would not leave Krag to find help.

Krag started to feel sick just another year later, and he felt his time was running out. He felt so guilty knowing he would die and leave Obi-Wan alone, and yet he did not want to frighten the boy by telling him that he was very sick. All he could do was to teach Obi-Wan how to look after him self. He spent every waking hour trying to build Obi-Wan’s confidence up, and prepare him for a time, when he would be alone again.

He managed to keep well enough for another year, and he thought Obi-Wan would be about nine now. He knew nine was no age to be all alone, nevertheless, there did not seem to be any hope of them being rescued. There had not been any space craft in the sky, and no signs of life anywhere other than the small animals near their home. His heart was breaking with thoughts of Obi being left alone again. He tried to hang on to life, but he was just too weak to continue. Krag was not one to pray, but he believed with all his heart that he had been sent here to help this child for a reason, and he wouldn’t believe otherwise. Therefore, he prayed to the skies each night to hear his pleas to save Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan did not know how sick his friend was, and yet he seemed to hover around him more than ever. Krag wondered if Obi could sense his condition through the force, as the boy never left his side except to get food and water. One night Krag wasn’t feeling at all well, he had been really sick for a couple of days, and he was burning up with a fever. Obi-Wan noticed there was no water in the container so he went to the pond to get some. While he was there he gathered some food, hoping that some food would make his friend better. By the time he arrived back to the cave it was so quiet. Obi couldn’t sense his friend in the force, and he rushed to where Krag was laying and put his hand on his heart.

Nothing…. Obi hitched a breath and called out Krag’s name….nothing….

Obi let out a wail; he knew his friend had passed into the force, and he lay down next to him and held him. Telling him how much he loved him. The next morning Obi-Wan said goodbye to his friend and left the cave. Obi decided to climb up to his cave above the pond, as he had left it to live with Krag down near the pond. He sat in the opening of his home, and tears dripped down his face; he was alone again.

The warm days of summer made Obi-Wan feel a bit better, yet he remembered what Krag had taught him. That after summer came winter, and he should store plenty of roots and fruit and nuts in his cave. So he set about gathering food. Obi-Wan did not like winter, it was very cold, and in the coldest months he would huddle under the dry grass. Another year past although Obi-Wan did not really understand what a year meant. As far as he was concerned it was a long time by him self.

When he was lonely he would think about Krag and the fun they had together, and when he was sad he would practice the lessons Krag had shown him. During the day when the sun beat down across his little place in the galaxy, he would play in the pond and share his food with the tiny animals he had made friends with. Obi-Wan wondered why he sometimes knew exactly what the little animals were thinking or going to do, it was weird. However, he didn’t wonder too long because he was happy that they were his friends. He played with them, and helped them store food for the winter months, and when winter came several of the animals spent the cold winter nights in Obi’s cave, and they kept him company when he was alone and afraid.

Each day when the sun rose, so did Obi-Wan, and he continued to use the force every day, and he would show his little animal friends the new tricks he had learnt. He knew he had been there for a long time, and sometimes he would wake up from a bad dream remembering when he was thrown off the mountain. He wondered why everyone hated him, and why they left him here all by him self.

At night he would sit and stare at the stars imagining they were people, and he gave them names and called them his friend. He would whisper to them, and he would tell them what he did all day and he would ask them questions. Like… “Why doesn’t anyone like me, why am I here by my self, why did my friend die?” Obi asked the stars why all this happened. “Did I do something really bad and I’m being punished?” He would ask the stars “Will I be alone forever?”

Every night he felt drawn to his place below the stars, and he would sit for hours watching them. After awhile he felt happy watching the stars and they seemed to chase away his fears. One night he asked the stars if any one ever thought of him. “Does anyone remember me?”

Obi-Wan felt surprised when in his head the word ‘yes’ popped up, and Obi-Wan looked around thinking there was some one behind him. It was a very clear night and the moon was very bright; Obi-Wan could see no one and he could not sense anyone either, and yet he distinctly heard a ‘yes’ he looked back up at the stars and asked. “Did you say that?” he waited but no more words popped into his head.

The next night, he was anxious to go to his place and sit by the stars he did not know why, and when he got there he felt empty. There were a thin layer of clouds covering the stars, and it seemed to make him sad. He waited for a long time until the clouds moved on, and then he asked the stars if anyone was there. A warm gentle breeze ruffled his hair, and it made him feel safe. He decided to speak to the breeze. “Where do you come from, do you have a home?”

As he watched the breeze picked up some leaves off the ground, and swirled them around until they formed a tunnel, and the tunnel lifted the leaves into the air and then they floated down to the ground. Many of the leaves fell on Obi-Wans head and it made him smile. They tickled as they settled on his knees, and he felt happy that the breeze was here.

A week flew by and each night Obi-Wan, tried to see past the star he was looking at, and he would stare until he focused on another star farther away than the first. “Hello little star, can you hear me?” He waited for an answer, and when he did not get one, he would ask again. “I can see you, why wont you talk to me?”

He sighed and bowed his head, because his neck was sore from looking up all the time, and that is when he heard it; a voice in his head.

‘You are not alone; never alone the force will guide you’

Obi-Wan felt a strange sensation; he wondered why he did not feel scared. “Who is speaking to me, where are you?”

‘Within you, and all around you; stretch out with your feelings’

Obi-Wan stood up and stretched his arms as far as they could go, yet nothing happened.

“I don’t see you, are you in the stars; are you one of the stars talking to me?”

He sometimes wished he knew more about the force so he could talk to somebody, like the Masters did with their Padawan’s, with that bond thing He thought. “Do I have a bond with you?” he asked.

‘The force is with you, speak and you shall be heard’

After that night he talked to the stars constantly, telling them of his fears and of his dreams, asking the stars to send someone to talk to him. He told the stars who he was and what had happened to him, and he begged them to help him. The stars never seemed to change, and yet sometimes he did stretch out way past the farthest star, and he thought he felt some one stretch out and ask him who he was, but the feeling scared him and he would stop stretching out. A few days later he felt his courage come back and he stretched out again, and this time he told the voice in his head who he was. The stars twinkled, and he thought if he stretched far enough he could touch them, and sometimes he would picture them moving.

Abruptly, one started to glow and it grew bigger. It seemed to be getting closer and closer, and he stared at it, and wondered why it was making a noise. He didn’t think stars made a noise, nevertheless, as this one got closer it did. Then he realised it wasn’t a star at all, it was too big and it made lots of noise. He nervously watched the large object as it landed at the other end of the field.

tbc...