Pinksaber here! This is a oneshot I wrote the other day, set during the season finale.
Dathomir, 21 BBY:
"Obi-Wan-run!" Anakin cried, dodging one of Darth Maul's swipes.
"No, I can't-" Obi-Wan cut himself off as he continued to fend off the attacks of Savage Oppress, leading the assassin quickly away from his former padawan.
"I've got you now!" Maul grunted, pushing his double-bladed, red lightsaber even harder against Anakin's blue one. His yellow eyes gleamed with hate.
"Master!" Ahsoka Tano cried, suddenly running out of the murky red mists of Dathomir. She activated her own green lightsabers with a flourish as she parried Maul's sudden swipe at her.
"Ahsoka, what are you doing here, I told you to stay at the Temple!" Anakin cried, blocking again.
"When has that ever stopped me?" Ahsoka sent him a pointed look as she flipped out of the way, Maul's blade barely missing her left head-tail.
Anakin didn't even blink at the joke. The battle seemed to have drained his sense of humor. "That's not funny," he panted, "do you now see why I-"
"No, not rea- argh!" Ahsoka cried as Maul suddenly grabbed her in a choke hold, squeezing tightly. She coughed and hacked, clawing at his hands furiously. Maul rolled his eyes, tossing her away. She hit a large rock wall head first with a crack, passing out.
"Ahsoka!" Anakin cried, reaching a hand out to his Padawan.
"Your apprentice is weak, if she were a Sith, she would have been dead long ago…" Maul said, baring teeth so rotten they would have driven any dentist over the edge.
"She's one of the strongest people I know, and at least she's not insane!" Anakin growled as he felt anger overcome him.
Maul laughed, "I can feel your anger, give in to it; I dare you."
"Never," Anakin hissed, parrying the Sith lord.
Maul laughed again as he Force pushed Anakin to the ground, raising his saber, "Then you shall die."
Obi-Wan quickly blocked Savage's furious strikes, "Why are you doing this?" He noticed he was being backed into a corner.
"To avenge my brother; you have no idea what he went through… but the darkside preserved him," Savage hissed, grabbing Obi-Wan and tossing him away.
The Jedi master stumbled to his feet, "Maybe his body, but not his mind! You may be aligned with the darkside, but you are sound. See through your brother's illusions!" he reactivated his lightsaber.
"It is the Jedi who are disillusioned to the power of the darkside…" Savage laughed darkly, Force pushing Obi-Wan away. "And that is why you shall all perish…"
Just as Maul brought his blood red blade down over Anakin, two brilliant emerald ones stopped him. Ahsoka stood in from of him, battered, but standing.
"Don't," she warned, her determined face scratched as she gritted her teeth.
"Foolish youngling, do you really think you can stop me?" Maul sneered, swiping at the padawan.
"I'm not so young, anymore- and I don't think, I know," Ahsoka snapped, bringing up her sabers and furiously blocking Maul's attacks. There was a confident smile on her face at first, but after a while her moves began to become slow and sluggish, barely able to block her opponent's advances.
Anakin, who had been slightly dazed, suddenly came to. Just as Ahsoka dropped her sabers, falling to her knees from exhaustion, he reached out his hand, pulling her and her weapons away from Maul with the Force.
"Do you believe me now?" he smirked, helping his padawan to her feet.
"Yes, master- I'm sorry," Ahsoka breathed, a shadow crossing her face momentarily as she stood. Anakin could tell a lot more than his padawan's body was damaged. Her pride was too.
"It's okay… come on, let's ditch this nut, find Obi-Wan and get out of here," Anakin paused, "I hate to say it, but this is one battle we can't win." He activated his lightsaber. 3, 2, 1… Now! He called to Ahsoka through their bond. Nodding, they both put on a burst of Force Dash, running away as fast as they could.
"Come back here, cowards!" Maul cried angrily, sending a sudden burst of Force lightening their way. It just barely nipped at Anakin and Ahsoka's heels.
"Agh!" Ahsoka stumbled as all feeling left her lower legs.
"I know it hurts, Snips… but we have to keep moving!" Anakin growled, in pain himself.
Obi-Wan glanced their way as they entered his clearing. He quickly retreated over to them. "The ship is only a little ways off- when I say run, run," he muttered just as Maul ran into the clearing.
"There you are," he sneered, moving to stand next to his brother. "Prepare to die!" Maul and Savage both charged at the Jedi, their lightsabers raised.
"Now!" Obi-Wan cried. He, Ahsoka and Anakin scattered around the clearing before rushing away. Within a few minutes of running, their ship was in sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, they rushed up the ramp.
Anakin powered up the ship and it lifted off. Suddenly, he cursed. "They're trying to get in through the ramp!"
"I'll take them," Ahsoka said, rushing off.
"Ahsoka, no-" Anakin started.
"Anakin, she knows what she's doing. I can tell she isn't taking this lightly," Obi-Wan rested a hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"Fine…" Anakin bit his lip. "I hope you're right." On a small screen nearby, he watched as Ahsoka darted onto the precariously slanted landing ramp, which Maul and Savage were just barely balanced on.
"Oh, there you are, you little witch," Maul hissed at her. "I'll make sure to give you a painful death." Ahsoka didn't reply, simply closing her eyes.
Just as Maul and Savage lunged at her, she sent a powerful Force push at them. "Master, let down the ramp all the way," she yelled.
Anakin froze. Ahsoka seemed to know that. "Do it!"
Anakin closed his eyes. "I can't-" He stopped himself midsentence, suddenly slamming his hand down on the button. The entire ramp extended and Maul and Savage, with cries of rage, tumbled to the ground.
Anakin ran out onto the ramp, the wind whipping his hair. Ahsoka was barely holding onto the edge of the ramp, her grip slipping. Anakin took out his liquid cable launcher and wrapped it firmly around the mechanisms of the ramp. He tested it, keeping a firm grip.
He walked all the way down to his padawan, bending down. "Ahsoka, let go," he yelled over the wind.
Ahsoka hesitated. "Bu-"
"Do you trust me?" Anakin extended his hand.
"Yes…" Ahsoka bit her lip, closing her eyes as she let go. Just as she regretted her choice, Anakin caught her hand.
"Wow, you're heavier than you look…" Anakin muttered, yanking his padawan back up.
"Very funny…" Ahsoka said sarcastically, grabbing Anakin's cable and getting in front of him. "I'm ready…"
Anakin nodded. Using the rope, he and Ahsoka yanked themselves back up into the ship.
"We have failed to extinguish Savage Oppress, but we have learned something- he has teamed up with his brother, Darth Maul," Obi-Wan said to the Jedi Council. He, Anakin and Ahsoka had been summoned before them.
"The same Maul you killed on Naboo over ten years ago?" Mace Windu looked shocked.
"Yes…" Anakin nodded. "I saw him myself. But there's something… different about him." He glanced at his padawan, who just nodded tiredly.
Yoda looked disturbed, "Dismissed, you all are. Discuss this, the council will." Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Anakin traded looks, but nodded, leaving the council in peace.
The End.
I almost hope something like this happens during the finale next week! It's going to be interesting, and that line where Savage says that the Jedi are disillusioned to the power of the darkside is really just more than the usual Sith bunk- they Jedi really are blind to the power the darkside holds in their galaxy.