The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Raiders of the Sand: Liberate

The Tusken chieftain roared happily at Kenobi and Shan as they and Ender stood at the base of this throne. As they spoke, the Empire was scuttling back to their base like the bugs they were. This had been a victory for the Sandpeople. A big one.

"The chieftain thanks you for your assistance. You have done his people a great service." the translator droid said from his place beside the chief. His vocabulator sounded the best Kenobi had ever heard it.

"He says that it brings warmth to his heart to know that not all off worlders are as savage as the ones they have encountered in the past." Shan and Kenobi bowed to him respectfully.

"We are glad we were able to be of help." Kenobi replied as he straightened. "And that we could return a little faith in off worlders for you." Shan added. The chief dug his staff into the sand as he roared a long string of Tuskenese at the two Force users.

"He says he will keep his end of the bargain. Raids on the settlements will stop, but he can not speak for the other tribes." The chief raised an arm and nodded his masked face. Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief. He was ready to get out of the desert and head back to his home.

"Is there any other reward you seek?" the droid asked. Kenobi shook his head. They had finished their work here. They had come to help the Sandpeople and that was now complete. They had given them the ability to protect themselves more efficiently from the Empire and pirates. They now had a fighting chance against them.

"We want nothing in return. Peace is all we ask for." He told the chieftain, raising his hands. He turned his head as movement caught his eye. Sahrea had stepped forward, her hands fold neatly across her stomach.

"Actually," she stated, "I have one last question for you."

---

Kenobi hopped off the back of the Bantha, his boots landing cleanly in the cool sand. His dark shadow immediately stretched down the dune, sliding over the shifting slopes. He turned around and reached his hand out to Sahrea.

Her hair was painted white under the descending moons, her face hidden in shadow. She took it and began to slide off the saddle. Kenobi slipped an arm around her waist and caught the Gray easily, not letting go even after her feet were on the ground.

"Thank you." he told the Tusken who rode them here. The rider urrred back to them before turning his animal around. He headed back towards the camp in the rising light of the not yet visible suns. Kenobi adjusted his gaze downwards to the woman in his arms. He brushed Shan's unbound hair back behind her ear, illuminating the left side of her face.

Half of it was bright and soft in the gentle light. The other half was cast in darkness. Her left iris was filled with light, reflecting out a pure grey. Her expression was pensive; brows drawn slightly together, her eyelids low, mouth tensed. His heart betrayed him once again by doing that same uneven beat. Obi-Wan took a silent breath through his nose to right it again.

She looked up to him and gave him a small smile. She ran her fingers through his beard before her eyes left his. They focused on something over his shoulder. Kenobi turned, an arm still around the Gray's back, and faced the cave they were standing before.

"This is it?" he asked, staring at the large gaping hole. It was like pitch in there. The skeleton of a creature long dead was snaking out from the mouth, casting a net of crisscrossing shadows on the sand opposite the light. He figured the skeleton must be one of a Krayt Dragon. Although the legendary species had been eradicated thousands of years ago, they still lived on in the stories told by the locals and the bones they left behind. Shan stepped forward.

"This is it." she said, marching past a large skull the was even taller than her. It had rows of long pointed teeth. The bone itself, however, was uneven from millennia of erosion. There were many chips from where pieces had broken off long before their arrival. From the skull, a long bumpy spine trailed into the blackness of the cave.