The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Shadows of the Ancient Sith: Nightmares and Daydreams

Kenobi was sitting in his kitchen as he caught up on the latest Imperial news. It wasn't anything overly interesting and Obi-Wan was very skeptical about the authenticity of most of these stories.

For example, he very much doubted Kamino's complete economic collapse in three short months was solely based on the end of the war. Yes, the shutting down of the cloning facilities did probably hurt them severely, but the Republic paid them so much for the Clone Army that they would have been fine for a long while. More likely, the Empire was suffocating them to death through taxes and tariffs. Why would they do such a thing? Simple. The cloners knew a little too much about the Emperor's agenda.

He took a long sip of his Serronian coffee and moved onto other articles. He found one about the uprisings on Kashyyyk by the "savage and primitive" Wookiees. How the "brainless animals" were resisting Imperial occupation by any means necessary. He shook his head dismissively.

Here was an article on the Tusken Raider attacks. They were horribly inaccurate once again. Kenobi wondered where the differences in this specific story had come from: the troopers here on Tatooine embellishing their recollections to their superiors or the press altering the the take to praise the Empire. It was likely a mix of both.

He busied himself by looking at the stock market. It actually hadn't changed much since the Imperial takeover. Some businesses skyrocketed, some dropped, some still fluctuated. It would level out soon enough.

Kenobi's head snapped away from the charts as a thump from the other room caught his attention. He dropped his drink onto the tabletop.

"Sahrea?" he asked the door. More rustling. He could sense something was very wrong. Her fear was so strong, it even ramped up his own anxiety.

He darted into the bedroom. Shan was thrashing about in her sleep, almost as if she were being attacked. Obi-Wan knelt down by her side.

"Sahrea!" he said, shaking her shoulder lightly. She opened her eyes instantly, as if she hadn't been sleeping at all. The Gray was sweating and breathing heavily.

"Obi-Wan?" she murmured, grabbing his arm frantically. Her brows were drawn together. Her eyes were glassy, her mouth parted.

"Shh, it's alright." he responded, brushing hair off her forehead.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, putting a hand to her cool cheek. Shan swallowed.

"Nothing. Bad dream." she muttered. She was lying again. Using some mental steel, he did not confront her about it. He would later though. Instead he sighed and dropped his hand. That was when he noticed some fresh blood on her shirt.

"Has your wound reopened?" he asked, dropping the sleeve of her blouse to check the the bandage. It was clean. There wasn't a speck of red.

"It's fine. I am a bit hungry though." she answered immediately, trying to change the subject. He let her. Shan sat forward and Obi-Wan helped her to her feet.

"Are you feeling up to going into Anchorhead? I'm afraid to leave you alone, but I do need to go back into town for some more medical supplies." he asked her. His small cache in the bathroom would not be sufficient enough to fully treat her wounds. He would need more. She gave him a weak smile.

"You know me. I'm always up for an adventure." Kenobi chuckled.

"I wouldn't exactly call shopping for bacta gel an adventure." Shan held her injured arm close. Ender rolled up and beeped worriedly to her. He had previously been in standby mode in the corner.

"Hi little buddy. I'm fine." she told him. Kenobi went to his top drawer and pulled out one of his clean tunics.

"Put this on. We'll get the blood out of your shirt later." he said, handing her the tan tunic. She took it and he left the room. A few moments later, Shan came out, trying to tie up her hair with one hand. The shirt was big on her, but there was something satisfying about knowing she was wearing something that belonged to him.