Disclaimer: Lucas and Disney all the way. Just borrowing their magic a bit :)

~The Other Side~

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"That...could've gone better."

Obi-wan tried in a small way to sit up again, but he only succeeded as far as his elbows before the searing of his belly reminded him it was a bad idea and he gave in to its painful demand and lowered himself again. He let out a sigh and laced his fingers across his chest, gaze panning the canopy above.

Beside him Cody gave a soft snort, eyes closed. He shifted as Obi-wan settled back down, the back of his armor scraping the bark of the tree they leaned against as he tried to find a position that would offer them both a little more room and which was somewhat easing of pain. Finally he settled with an arm across his uninjured knee, stretching the other leg out in front and head tilting back.

Even with the shifting, his leg and shoulder were against Obi-wan's and the jedi could feel the jagged edges of the commander's thigh plate against his own leg and winced in sympathy. They were both in a bad way and had spent much of themselves simply getting as far away from the wreckage of the escape pod as possible.

When the small craft had met the earth it had blazed a shrieking path and the topsoil and hull had clawed one from the other like the peel from a fruit. Inside the restraining belts had snapped on impact and they had both been flung around the cockpit, their bodies colliding with various components of the interior as it folded and buckled around them in a mess of shredded alloy, hot wire snaps and scattered shards of the console's neon text.

And then it had been dark and quiet, and pain. Trying to extricate themselves and get as far away as possible.

From where they were now they could no longer see the glow of the internal chamber which spat sparks or the embers and smoke of the burned and dented hull. Their distance from it wasn't great, but it had been a struggle to get even this far. They were marginally safer where they now lay. The pod may have offered some protection from the elements, but the smoke was strings to the wind, a lit, scented beacon to their enemies. And they weren't keen on being found. Not just then, when standing of itself was a struggle and the location of their whereabouts eluded them and calling for aid was impossible.

A drop of something landed on Obi-wan's head and he looked again to the canopy . The boughs of the trees spidered above them in arches and the leaves between them were a greenish-grey gauze that whispered like hands slipping across silk when the wind blew. The ground beneath them was moss and peat, spongy and damp and strong earth-scent that settled in the nose and clung. The local creatures sang loud and frequent in their calls and the whisper of running water was somewhere not too distant beyond them.

They had bedded down between two large roots of the tree they placed their backs and heads against, sheltered from behind and to their sides and tucked in with local flora. Cody had drawn and lain a few cut fronds across them to aid in temporary concealment while they rested before they began the trek again.

With the pod rendered useless they could do nothing else, and there was nothing within it of use to retrieve. They had been quick but still thorough in their departure from it. The navigation had been damaged even before it made impact planetside, and they had neither the materials nor the ability to fix it. The only thing they could do was to get as far away from it as possible and strive to tempt luck in their favor.

If there was any help to be found, which Obi-wan was rather doubtful of, they had to both seek and somehow acquire it through minimal force and defense. They had been in Separatist space when they had lost navigation, and though he didn't know which planet they had crashed on, he was assured that the inhabitants, if there were any, would likely not be friendly to their presence or cause.

But no one on their side knew where to look for them, let alone that they were lost at all, so no help could be counted on there.

Their only hope lay in finding someone with a means of communication or a way off the planet. And finding someone who would not only not shoot them on sight, but who also might attend their injuries was also a wish, albeit far-fetched.

Cody's breath beside him had become deep and slow and Obi-wan was hopeful he'd found a state of rest at last. Due to the severity of his own injuries, Obi-wan was unable to walk without assistance, and had had to lean heavily on the commander to even stand. In the crash he had been caught between the console and a seat which had dealt decent damage to his abdomen and lower back which prevented him much liberty of movement. Walking was a struggle that was both painful and exhausting and he wasn't looking forward to doing it again in spite of its necessity.

And he knew Cody wasn't much better off. His left arm hung lip at his side and the armor of his leg on that side was cracked and split heaily from having been flung against the hull. Although he'd tried to deny the severity of his wounds, Obi-wan had still heard the occassional hiss of pain as they walked and when he'd lowered him to the ground between the roots. And he had twitched and pulled in a breath at any shift in the contact of their legs against eachother as they sat.

They'd done what patching they could of each other and Obi-wan had been able to provide some small relief to them both through the force, but their injuries were beyond either of their fixing in a permanent way and their supplies were limited. Staying in one spot might provide less aggravation of their wounds, but in the long run it was a useless and likely fatal choice.

Around them the creatures continued to speak to eachother in the tongue of beasts and through minute movements and rustling of the undergrowth. The liquid from the trees fell in intermittent patters against the moss and small insects and birds gathered as near around them as they dared to collect or drink it. They all turned curious eyes to the men who rested among the roots, but none pursued further inquiry after they had reached the assurance that neither meant harm. The chitters of the small furry creatures and the clicking of insects seen and unseen caught Obi-wan's attention, and he used their commotion as a distracion from his pain until he drifted off.

When he awoke it was still light, and Cody was rising beside him. He pressed off the ground gingerly, favoring his uninjured arm and leg, stumbling a bit to find a balance of it. Once he'd righted himself he turned and bent slightly to retrieve the blaster that lay propped against the root beside him. A pained breath passed his lips and he grimaced, but covered it quickly when he realized Obi-wan was watching him and once he'd tucked the blaster in the crook of his arm he shot the jedi a grin.

"Never been a morning person," he joked and Obi-wan chuckled though it brought fire to his chest. He braced his stomach with an arm and shook his head as he looked up at the other man.

"You and me both. Back with caf?"

Cody smiled faintly, but it faded as he let his eyes pan the forest, gaze flicking between the various calls and eyeing the shrubbery with knitted brows. Perhaps picking the most optimal direction to head out in. If there was such a thing. After a minute he swiveled to look over his shoulder at Obi-wan as best he could.

"I'm going to do a small sweep, General. Get a feel for food and water sources. See if there's signs of anything, or anyone...helpful or otherwise."

Obi-wan nodded, looked around then heaved a sigh. "I suppose I'll stay here."

"Call if there's trouble?"

"Oh, there always is."

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