[Junior Jedi Knights] - 03(14)

Soon the Jawas and the Jedi candidates were headed for the craggy mountains in the distance. And the smell that had tightened their stomachs no longer made Anakin and Tahiri feel sick. Now it was the smell of new friends. Anakin stared out the window plate of the sandcrawler. The Jundland Wastes loomed before him, its jagged rocks and canyons signaling that too soon the ride would be over and they would once again be traveling by foot.

Beyond those canyons, Anakin thought, is Tahiri’s tribe. And we have five more days to find them. His thoughts wandered as the twin suns of Tatooine set over the desert, transforming its glittering golden sands into darkness.



The sandcrawler reached the scattered rocks that signaled the beginning of the Jundland Wastes on their third morning in the desert. The Jawas drove the battered sandcrawler until they could no longer navigate the rocks, then ground to a halt.

“Thank you,” Anakin said to the Jawas as he and Tahiri prepared to leave the sandcrawler. One of the Jawas grabbed his arm.

“What is it, little guy?” Anakin asked. “Don’t you want us to leave?” Anakin sensed that the Jawa wanted to tell him something. Maybe he smelled Anakin’s and Tahiri’s confusion and fear. Maybe he smelled danger in the distance.

Unfortunately, Anakin couldn’t understand the Jawa’s speech. And neither could Tahiri. Finally, the Jawa filled two rough cloth packs with food and water and handed them to the Jedi candidates. Once again, Anakin and Tahiri thanked their new friends. Then they climbed out of the sandcrawler and into the beginning of the Jundland Wastes. One of the Jawa. s called out after them, and they caught two gaderffii sticks that were tossed through the air. The Jawas must have recognized the smell of bantha and Raiders on Anakin’s and Tahiri’s clothes and skin.

Tahiri and Anakin hoisted the makeshift packs onto their backs. They used the gaderffii sticks to help them walk along the rocks. And, although he didn’t ask, Anakin sensed that these were weapons they might need.

“Tahiri, I need to stop for a minute,” Anakin gasped several hours later. The travel was strenuous, and it was taking its toll. Tahiri was used to the heat, the sun, the dry climate. For Anakin, who’d lived his whole life in the city of Coruscant,

Tatooine was a harsh planet. Tahiri handed Anakin a jug of water, and he drank sparingly. Both Jedi candidates ate some of the brownish lumps of food. Then they began traveling again, bathed in the glare of the sun. A high-pitched scream filled the air.

“Tahiri,” Anakin whispered behind his friend, amazed that she hadn’t stopped at the horrific cry. “What was that?”

“That was the scream of a womp rat,” Tahiri said quietly. “But it wasn’t about to attack us. That was the cry of a wounded rat. I know the sound-I’ve fought a lot of rodents over the years.”

Anakin and Tahiri wound their way along the canyons of the Jundland Wastes, the desert beyond now in sight and within their grasp. But Anakin sensed a growing fear in Tahiri. And he again had the disturbing feeling that they were not alone. Several high-pitched screams filled the air, so bloodcurdling and drawn-out that Anakin and Tahiri both dropped to the ground behind a large rock.

“More womp rats,” Tahiri whispered.

This time the screams had shaken her. Anakin started to rise. He’d fight the rodents with his gaderffii stick if they were going to attack.

“Those were death cries,” Tahiri said, sensing Anakin’s intentions. “Something killed them.”

“Another rat?” Anakin asked hopefully.

“I don’t think so,” Tahiri replied. “They rarely attack each other.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Anakin said, grabbing Tahiri’s arm and pulling her up. “Whatever’s out there, we don’t want to wait for it to find us.”

“It’s a krayt dragon,” Tahiri said, her voice dripping with dread. “I’ve sensed something following us for the last hour.”

Krayt dragons were large carnivorous reptiles that lived in the mountains surrounding Tatooine’s Jundland Wastes. Some thought that the dragons no longer existed, that they’d become extinct when settlers came to Tatooine, exposing them to various infections as well as hunting them for food and trophies.

“I thought krayt dragons were! pretty rare,” Anakin said to Tahiri.

“Tell that to the one stalking us right now,” Tahiri replied with fear.



All thoughts were wiped out of Anakin’s mind as a rock-crushing roar filled the air. And this time, it was not the sound of a womp rat. This time it was full of the venom of a different creature. A creature that towered over the Jedi candidates, its massive jaws spread open to reveal a red forked tongue and rows of black teeth that glistened with the greenish ooze of womp rat blood.