Times of the Past

Masks

      When Obi-Wan woke again, the first thing he noticed was that his hands were tied firmly behind his back to the wall beside him, and his feet were tied as well.

     The second thing he noticed, after an alarm bell went off in his head, was that Satine was safely seated right across from him, although safe probably wasn't the term he should have used.

     The third thing he noticed was how strange he felt, and how much his head hurt.

     Must be the dehydration... some part of him thought as he also realized how thirsty he was.

     "Water..." he faintly called out. "Please... water."

      He heard some shuffling to his left, but he soon found he didn't even have the energy to turn to look to see who it was.

     Seconds later, he noticed a being in a mask was crouched before him, tipping  a cup towards his lips.

     That was the last thing he remembered before he passed out again.

*****

     Satine woke with a dreadful headache and an extremely dry mouth. Her throat hurt in a way that she had never experienced before, but the next thing she knew, cool water was being poured into her mouth.

     As she forced her eyes to focus, she was aware of a black and blue face staring back at her, with carved features like some sort of spirit she had seen in holofilms as a child. She couldn't bring herself to pull away despite her fear, though some part of her quickly registered that the face was just a mask. 

     With a great deal of effort, Satine forced herself to swallow some water, and she felt the need to gulp down the entire cup's worth of liquid immediately, but the cup was pulled away from her lips after two swallows.

      She couldn't stop the whine that escaped her lips. "Please..."

     The masked being shook it's head and said nothing, but sat back on it's heels a step or two away from her. 

     Satine tried to rack her brain, remembering what she had been doing and why she was so thirsty, and only one thing came to mind: Obi-Wan.

    With a panic, her eyes widened, and she woke out of her stupor, only feeling her heart settle when her eyes landed on his resting form just a few feet across from her. Yet she missed the confused expression hidden behind their third wheel's vizard.

     Though it took her brain some effort, she recalled running, Obi-Wan carrying her, and finally, climbing the rope. 

     Her eyes flicked back towards the mask, her captor, and right now, her only source of water.

     "Please..." she requested.

     This time, he obliged, leaning forward and bringing the cup of water to her lips once more. This time, she only got one swallow in before he took it away again.

     She could feel herself frowning in protest, and she tried to focus more closely on who the being was.

     He seemed human, whoever he was, but as she took in the dark, fitted clothing and the curved features of the mask, she suddenly understood that this was a woman, not a man.

    The woman's eyes, skin, and overall appearance were hidden from view though, so Satine had no real way to tell who this was, but she had the strangest feeling that this person had not intended to harm her, even though they had chased her down, knocked her out, and captured her.

      While vowing to keep an eye on this woman, Satine turned to nudge Obi-Wan with her boot, as her movements were restricted.

     "Obi-Wan," Satine said quietly, tapping his leg.

     No movement.

     "Obi-Wan, wake up."

     Nothing.

     "Obi?" she asked, a little desperately, kicking him this time.

     After a brief moment, he shifted, and Satine felt herself sigh in relief. With a groan, he put a hand to his head, and the masked being moved to bring him water.

     Obi-Wan eagerly took a sip, but to his disappointment, it was taken away quickly from him as well.

     "Where... where are we?" he asked, eyes still closed.

    "I don't know, and she hasn't--" Satine paused to cough and felt her throat burn, though the masked woman brought the cup to her again.

     "She hasn't said anything," she finished once the cup was gone again.

     For a few minutes, there was silence as the cup was brought from one of them to the other.

     Obi-Wan finally took the time to get a good bearing on his surroundings and this new person. Something about her seemed very odd, albeit familiar, and he couldn't shake the feeling that this person was not a bounty hunter. However, he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out what she truly was.

     "She wasn't the one after us this whole time," Obi-Wan stated aloud, though the woman was listening.

     "I know she wasn't, but I don't think we can say she saved us if we're tied up like this," Satine said in response.

     "Well, at least she's giving us something to drink. She knows we're dehydrated."

     "I'd like more water though. I can hardly get a swallow in before it's gone," she said a bit indignantly, staring at the mask, though the intimidating effect was lost as her voice cracked.

     "Well, if she were to give us too much, it'd probably just make us sick. I suppose she doesn't want us to make a mess in here."

     "Oh. Well, that still seems quite selfish to me--" Satine began, but laughter cut her off.

     The masked woman stood beside them, softly chuckling, but when she noticed that they had both turned to gaze at her, she abruptly stopped and made her way toward the cockpit. The door to the area slid open, revealing two others flying the ship, but neither Obi-Wan nor Satine could get a good look at them before the woman blocked their view by closing the door once more.

     "What was that all about?" Satine asked, frowning at Obi-Wan when the woman was gone.

     Obi-Wan's eyes still rested where the woman had been standing. "I... don't know."

*****

     Hello readers,

     I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of action, but it introduces us to a new element of mystery. Who do you think this masked woman really is? Feel free to comment with your guesses or thoughts.

     I wanted to focus on the feelings and actions each person has in this particular scene, which is why I decided to devote a chapter solely on Obi-Wan and Satine instead of incorporating Qui-Gon's whereabouts as well. In the next chapter, we should hear a little more about Qui-Gon though.

     We still have some other questions to be answered in the chapters coming up too, like who were the other bounty hunters and beings after them before they got picked up by this new character, what really happened at Martzo's, and what is Draboon... Anyone remember the one mentioning of Draboon in The Clone Wars?

     Wishing you all well and hoping you stay healthy with the virus around! 

-zap427