Chapter 6 - Arrival at Dawn
DISCLAIMER: We do not own Star Wars or any of the characters in it, though we wish we did. xD
Author's Note: In which Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka spend more time bonding, whether they mean to or not. xD
I know that there's been a lot of action thus far and everything is fast-paced, but that's going to change after the first ten or so chapters. :)
In response to the guest review: We can't only write emotions or nothing will be happening. Balancing emotions with actions is crucial to getting a good story, at least for us. There will be more emotional content coming up. :)
~ Amina Gila
Anakin and Obi-Wan's existences are getting on Ahsoka's nerves right now. Or maybe it's simply the situation. She far more worried than she'll ever admit that the Republic is going to show up before the Separatists do. And who knows what will happen then. Sith or not, she couldn't very well fight off an entire army and escape on their ship. And if the situation really went that far, she doesn't particularly feel like running around in hiding all alone on the planet until the Separatists find her. Or if.
On the bright side, the pair aren't intentionally antagonizing her anymore. If they weren't on opposite sides, she imagines they'd get along fairly well... provided they weren't still being this annoying towards her.
The sun is slowly beginning to creep above the horizon as Ahsoka can finally make out something in the distance between the tall grass. It looks like small huts.
"Looks like we're finally here," Anakin remarks as they continue walking.
"Indeed, we are," replies Obi-Wan.
They stop at the top of the slope that leads directly down into the village, taking in the scene. Judging from the size of the huts, Ahsoka is pretty sure that whatever creatures live here must be very small. As they walk a little closer, she catches sight of several small beings moving about, going in and out of the huts. They're brown and walk on two legs with two-arms, though they are very furry and make Ahsoka think more of an animal than a sentient being.
They look up suspiciously as the three approach, and one of them moves forwards to greet them, assumedly the leader.
"Hello," Obi-Wan greets him.
"What have you come here for?" the being who appears to be the leader, demands.
"We are peacekeepers. We are Jedi from the Galactic Republic," Obi-Wan informs. Really? Some peacekeepers they are. Ahsoka refrains from commenting. It probably wouldn't go over very well if she said that she a Sith assassin from the Separatists. Whoever these people are, they might be even less willing to accept her.
"Our ship crashed several miles away from here, and we have no way of getting off the planet," Anakin explains.
"Violence breeds violence," the leader retorts, looking very unimpressed, "Jedi are no peacekeepers."
"We are fighting for freedom," argues Obi-Wan.
"Really," Ahsoka mutters under her breath behind them, promptly receiving an icy glare from Anakin.
"And freedom and peace require fear and death?" counters the leader, "We colonized this system to find solace from your wretched war. We came here to find peace. You must leave. You will only destroy what small amount of peace is left in the galaxy. You will only bring the destruction to us."
"Regardless of what part we have in the Clone Wars, we still need your help," asserts Obi-Wan.
"I'm afraid I must do what's best for my people," he responds, turning away, "We cannot help you." This is going nowhere. They need to try something else.
"Do you have any way to get off the planet?" Ahsoka demands, stepping forwards, "We're going to be stranded here otherwise."
"We have no method of off-planet transport or contact," he replies, "We do not want the war brought here." He turns on his heal, walking off in between the huts. Sparing the trio a few more curious glances, the other creatures get back to work.
"Maybe we should leave?" Anakin suggests finally, clearly not pleased with the suggestion, but seeing as just standing here isn't helping anything.
"Yes," agrees Obi-Wan.
"I guess we only have three options now," Ahsoka remarks.
"Three?" Anakin asks skeptically, "What are they?"
"We continue to wait around starving like we have been doing or we kill each other to put ourselves out of our misery."
"What's the third?"
She smirks. "There isn't one. I was trying to give you false hope."
Anakin scowls at her. "I hate you."
"That's good! Maybe you'll meet me at the Dark Side someday."
"Well, I actually have a third option," Obi-Wan cuts in, "We leave before they throw us out and go find food."
"At last some sense," Anakin mutters.
"Look who's talking?" Ahsoka retaliates.
The group heads back into the grass a distance from the village. As annoyed as Ahsoka is over how uncooperative they were being, it's better than them being in support of the Republic. She would rather not think about what would have happened then. She might have ended up being brought right to Coruscant... and she'd rather not think about what Sidious might do.
"Well, any idea as to where we could start finding food?" Ahsoka asks, looking around. She doesn't see anything except grass, and she doesn't think humans eat grass any more than Togrutas do.
"Maybe," Anakin points towards a towering tree nearby. "There might be some fruit there. We'd have to see."
"I agree," Obi-Wan says. Not long later, the trio arrive at the foot of the tree. "Well, there is something up there," the Jedi Master notices, "But that doesn't mean it's anything edible."
"Race you to the top," Anakin challenges with a grin.
"After you," Ahsoka smirks. She's far faster at climbing things than any other humans she knows of. After all, Togrutas are extremely agile.
"Your loss," Anakin retorts, and they scramble up the side of the tree, heading to the top. Well, one thing is for certain. The last thing Ahsoka expected to be doing on this mission was goofing around with Jedi. Hopefully Dooku will never hear a word of it. He would be far less than impressed, to say the least.
Below them, Obi-Wan looks like he's trying not to facepalm. Ahsoka pulls herself up the side of the tree, reaching the top branch on her side of the tree first. "I won," she announces haughtily.
"My side was higher," Anakin argues as he pulls himself onto the top branch on his side a moment later.
"Hardly," she shoots back, reaching over to the smaller branches to collect fruit to eat.
"Are you two done playing yet?" Obi-Wan calls from down below. She scowls down at him, maybe not entirely accidentally nudging a nearby large fruit out of the tree right above his head. He promptly catches it. "I guess not."
Ahsoka glares at him but takes a few more and scrambles back down. They should have plenty of fruits for now.
Not long later, they've finished eating. The sun is straight overhead now. The days here must be much shorter than on most planets, Ahsoka realizes, but she's almost beginning to consider suggesting they take a nap even though the sun's still up. She's still rather tired.
"Why do you dislike the Jedi?" asks Obi-Wan suddenly.
That certainly wasn't a question she was expecting, and she's not certain getting into it would be the best idea, but he asked. "They're utter failures," she deadpans. There, straight to the point.
Anakin looks annoyed, but Obi-Wan stops him before he can yell something he may or may not regret. "How so?" the Jedi Master asks. Why does he care? Just curiosity maybe, she guesses. Well, at least he might listen to what she has to say without interrupting.
"Well, tell me this. Should the Jedi really be leading a war? They're supposed to be peacekeepers. Negotiators."
"So, you're blaming the Jedi for the war?" Anakin asks heatedly. "You know it was the Sith who started it."
"Maybe," Ahsoka replies, undeterred. There's no way to justify what the Jedi have done. "But that's beside the point. The Jedi aren't looking for the good of the people anymore, just what the Senate wants them to do. The Senate, which is corrupted, by the way." She looks away, out across the prairie. "That's why Dooku left in the first place."
"And then became a Sith, and initiated the start of a galactic civil war," Anakin continues. "I think that's more than corrupt."
Well, she can't argue that, but it wasn't his fault. It's Sidious who wants the war, not Dooku. Ahsoka gives him an icy glare but doesn't respond. She can hardly go defaming Sidious to the Jedi and have them run straight back to Coruscant to repeat every word she said right to him.
"Did you used to know Master Plo?" Anakin asks suddenly, seeming to get uncomfortable with the current topic. What? How do they know? That... it's not a time in her past she likes thinking about. But then again, none of her past before Dooku is.
For a moment, she contemplates ignoring the question or giving a rude or vague response, but what's there to hide? "Yes, I did," she confirms. "A long time ago." She struggles to force the memory out of mind. She doesn't want to dwell on it. She was so young and naïve then, it's hard to imagine herself being that way. Far too trusting. But still, she can't help but wonder. What if she had stayed a Jedi? Not that she particularly wants to have been part of a corrupt Order. Still, she can't help but wonder what it would have been like to grow up with these two instead of trying to treat them as enemies. Which they're not, at least not right now.
"I wonder if there are any other people on this planet who'd be a little more friendly," remarks Anakin, eyeing the tops of the huts still visible in the distance.
"Unlikely," Obi-Wan replies, "They picked this planet because it was believed to be uninhabited so the war wouldn't come here."
"Can't your droid do anything... like send out a transmission to get attention?" asks Ahsoka, eyeing Artoo.
"Don't you think I would have done that already if I could?" Anakin points out.
She shrugs. "Yes, well, probably... but we need to do something." She certainly doesn't mind the break from constant fighting, but she doesn't really want to be stranded on a planet all alone for the indefinite future, with only two Jedi for company. Even if the said Jedi aren't as annoying and stupid as most of them.
"All we can do now is keep waiting," Obi-Wan sighs, "We don't have a way off-planet contact, and at least here we'll have a source of food for the time being. Someone is bound to show up eventually." True, and hopefully that 'someone' will be someone who Ahsoka actually wants to deal with.
"We should probably rest for now," decides Anakin, "With our luck, we might end up getting hunted down by more of those creatures after dark, so sleeping during the day would probably be a good idea."
The other two murmur their agreement.
Ahsoka stretches out on the grass, staring up at the sky. The sun has past midday by now, slowly making its way towards the opposite horizon. It will be several hours before nightfall.
She glances over at Anakin and Obi-Wan, lying next to each other a short distance away, Artoo positioned nearby. Something about watching them... it makes her feel strangely lonely and maybe even a tad jealous. The two of them are obviously very close and whatever happens, they're going to stick together to get through it.
No one's ever been there for her like that, and she doubts that'll ever change. She may be friendly with some of Dooku's other acolytes, such as Asajj Ventress, but still, they're nothing more than just 'friendly'. Not practically siblings or anything, and she certainly wouldn't trust Asajj or anyone else she knows to always be with her. She's always so... alone.
With a sigh, she rolls over, facing her back to them as she closes her eyes, allowing herself to drift off into a restless sleep.
Ahsoka darts down the hall into a room at the end of it, instantly slamming to a stop. Dead end. Stupid. What was she even thinking? Why did she even run in the first place? She slumps back against the wall, shaking, struggling to hold back the tears. This... it's only going to make what she knows is coming worse.
"Get back here you little skug!" shouts the familiar voice of her Zygerrian master. The irate woman storms into the room, grabbing the Togruta by her wrist, yanking her away from the wall.
"You would dare to try and defy me like this?" she snarls, the electro-whip activating in her hand.
Ahsoka's eyes widen in horror. "No – please – " she protests desperately, trying to pull free, "It wasn't my fault – "
"Shut up," hisses the woman, the whip hissing through the air, cracking down across her. The pain and force of blow sends her stumbling to her knees on the floor. "I've had enough of your excuses."
It lashes across her again and again, until she falls to the floor, curling in on herself, crying out. She needs it to stop, she just wants everything to stop –
"Ahsoka, wake up!" a half-panicked voice calls. Not thinking, Ahsoka lashes out instantly, a Force-wave exploding out of one of her hands. She jolts up, heart pounding. It was so real... She can't shake the images out of her mind, she can't stop remembering it... and, where is she? She's not back there, is she?
She shouldn't be scared; she's supposed to be a Sith, but she can't stop shaking. How many times did things like that happened? At first, she'd been the strong one, the one who tried to help out everyone else. It didn't last long. She shouldn't cry, but she can't seem to help it. There's the sound of someone walking towards her, making her flinch.
"Ahsoka. It's okay. We won't hurt you." ...Anakin? She raises her gaze as much as she dares, seeing him crouching next to her, Obi-Wan on the other side. She shouldn't feel safer knowing they're there, but she does.
She pushes herself into a sitting position glancing around the dark prairie again, as if to make sure she's actually still on whatever this planet is, not back on Zygerria. Obi-Wan's presence brushes against hers, and she finds herself finding more comfort in it than she should.
"It's okay. You're safe here," Anakin adds, lightly resting a hand on her shoulder for a moment.
Ahsoka lowers her head in an attempt to hide her tears that won't seem to stop coming. She hates that she suddenly finds herself missing what she used to have years ago. Years ago, when she could still consider herself a hero, before she was... nothing. When she still had a family. No, Ahsoka reminds herself firmly. These are Jedi. They're not her family. Not anymore.
Obi-Wan's presence brushes hers again, sending a wave of calm through the Force.
Ahsoka wipes her face off on her sleeve, taking a few deep breaths. It's all in the past, she reminds herself. It doesn't matter anymore. "Why are you helping me?" she asks finally.
"Why shouldn't we?" Anakin replies.
"You're Jedi. I'm a Sith." She shoots him a slightly confused look. Is he playing at something? He must be. Jedi don't do that.
"Not everything is as black and white as it may seem," Obi-Wan objects. She's not sure what to say in response to that, so she simply opts to say nothing. Anakin finally breaks the awkward silence that falls over them.
"Maybe tomorrow we can go back to the ships," he suggests suddenly, "There might be a way to repair some of the damage. Otherwise, we'll be stuck here forever." Now that's a comforting thought.
"Yes," agrees Obi-Wan, "But for now, we should go back to sleep now."
Ahsoka lays back down, finally managing to fall into a more peaceful sleep, only to be reawaked upon hearing Anakin's voice again.
"Snips, I think your clanker buddies have arrived."
**w**
Anakin climbs down from the tree where he was watching the ship land, hurrying over to the others. Of course, trouble had to come looking for them.
"What?" Ahsoka asks sleepily, getting up. She seems recovered from whatever it was she was having a nightmare about last night.
"A Separatist ship just landed a distance away from the village," Anakin answers, watching her closely. She's probably going to try to take off and leave them here. Or maybe take them with her, which would be far less desirable. He does not want to think about what would happen if they got captured by the Separatists. It's likely their forces will be too strong for them to fight their way through.
"Perhaps we should go take a closer look," suggests Obi-Wan, "See if we can figure out why they're here."
"That would be risky for you," Ahsoka replies, "But sure."
The three move closer to the village, but remain careful to stay out of sight. They don't need to be spotted. Anakin can hear the sounds of droids walking around, but not much beyond that. Several thumps echo from the distance as they march around, overturning things and knocking them over.
He wants to go out there, to do something, but there's nothing they can do. Not without revealing themselves, but of course, the Togruta has other ideas. Ahsoka suddenly makes as if to take off running, but Anakin grabs her. "No, we're not going out there!" he snaps.
"You aren't," she retorts heatedly, "But I am!"
"We're all staying out here," Anakin replies flatly. "Once we figure out what they want, we can talk about it then."
She glares at him, and he returns the gesture.
Obi-Wan steps forwards. "Patience, both of you. This is neutral space. They shouldn't be here unless they found us, or if they want something with the planet."
"All the more reason we should go out there and find out!" Ahsoka argues.
"You just want to run off and leave us here, don't you?" Anakin demands, crossing his arms. After last night, he would have thought she might have some second thoughts about that. Apparently, he was wrong.
"I..." she glares at them for another moment before stomping off into the grass, heading down along the winding path they had spotted on the way to the village.
"We better go back to the grass to stay out of sight for now," Obi-Wan decides, and they follow her.
By the time Anakin reaches Ahsoka, she's sitting in a small clearing, annoyance clear on her face. "Well," she snaps, still clearly frustrated, "If it was the Republic that had come, you'd just take me with you."
"Better than being stranded here alone forever," Anakin shoots back. He had been starting to get afraid that the ships were completely destroyed and there was no way out. The very thought is already making him miss Padme and the 501st. At least now there might be a way off planet. They could sneak onto the ship and send a transmission, maybe. It will be risky, but it's better than staying here.
"Really?" she scoffs, jumping up. Anakin half expects her to try leaving again, but she doesn't. instead, she starts pacing back and forth.
"Stay down," Anakin snaps, exasperated. "You're going to get the droids' attention at this rate."
"That might be nice." He can feel the irritation pouring off her steadily growing.
"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan sighs wearily. "The Separatists will likely recognize us, even if you do try to claim otherwise. That would put the villagers at risk. Better for their homes to be somewhat destroyed than to all be killed."
Ahsoka stops her pacing, and Anakin senses a flicker of concern. Suddenly, she twitches and spins around. "Well," she says, pointing. "It looks like they just did find us."
Anakin spins around, scrambling to his feet. There's a probe droid hovering right in the entrance to the clearing between the grass. Artoo whistles apprehensively. Upon realizing it's been spotted, the hovering droid turns and zips away through the grass.
Anakin activates his lightsaber and runs after, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka close behind. The droid zips along between the grass, managing to stay a short distance ahead of him. Artoo starts flying after also, but the droid is moving much too quickly.
Anakin keeps following the probe droid until reaching a fork in the path. This isn't working. They're getting far too close to the droids now. If the droids catch sight of them or the probe droid is able to report its sightings, everything will all be over for the village. Who knows what weapons the Separatists have here? More than likely, he and Obi-Wan would never be able to fight them off while defending the village at the same time. Coming to a stop, he raises a hand, grabbing the probe droid with the Force. It beeps in frustration, struggling against his grip at full power. He runs over to it, cutting it in half.
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka skid to a stop behind him, Artoo landing nearby. "Well, that was close," Anakin remarks, glancing around. "I think we should go back to that tree and keep watch. I get the feeling the Separatists want something here, and I want to find out what before we do anything."
"Finally, an intelligent suggestion," Ahsoka quips. He ignores the comment.
"Come on," Obi-Wan urges. The three of them hurry back to the tree, climbing up to one of the top branches where they can get a good lookout at the surrounding area.
Anakin and Obi-Wan take out their macrobinoculars, scanning the horizon. Ahsoka crosses her arms, watching with a hint of impatience. She doesn't have any herself, courtesy of her blown up ship probably.
"Found them?" she asks finally.
"That shuttle's our ticket off this rock," Anakin decides. It's going to be their only chance. The only question is how they'd deal with Ahsoka under these circumstances. They can't leave her here, and somehow, he doesn't think she'd take it well if they decided to take her with them.
"There doesn't seem to be any flaws in their security line," Obi-Wan observes, "But we'll figure something out."
Down the ramp of the shuttle rolls a large strange-looking tank. "Apparently, the Separatists have a new toy," Anakin concludes as he watches it. But what are they doing unloading a tank here? What are they planning to do?
"Do you know anything about this?" Obi-Wan asks, handing his macrobinoculars to Ahsoka and letting her take a look at it.
"Never seen anything like it," she admits with a frown. Although her shielding is good, from what he can feel and how she's reacting, Anakin is pretty sure that she's telling the truth. The Force isn't ringing with a lie.
"Well, for being an assassin, you hardly seem to know anything about what they do," he remarks.
She casts him a sidelong glance. "Not like Dooku tells me everything he does."
The tank rolls to a short distance away from the shuttle. The battle droids are standing in a group in front of it, and after a pause, all of them leave except for two. Suddenly, the tank fires.
The entire surrounding area bursts into flames, burning furiously for the next couple minutes. The flames move closer and closer to our direction until they're only within a short distance of their tree before the flames begin to die it. The fire completely destroying everything... except the two battle droids. They're completely untouched.
"That's some toy," Obi-Wan remarks, as he takes his macrobinoculars back from the Togruta, "It took out every living thing."
The Separatist ship flies into the air again, heading back in the direction of the village. This is not good.
"Where are they heading?" Ahsoka asks.
"The Lurmen village," Anakin replies grimly, lowering the macrobinoculars. "There's nothing else that direction. The villagers won't stand a chance."
"What?!" Ahsoka exclaims, standing up. "They wouldn't actually try testing it there!"
"We don't know about that," Anakin objects. Because honestly, it sounds exactly like something they would do.
"More than likely, that's exactly what they're doing," Obi-Wan replies, "The Separatists usually don't worry about civilians much." Ahsoka doesn't seem to appreciate the comment, but at least she doesn't argue for once.
"Maybe..." Anakin says hesitantly, considering the situation, "You should go ask them yourselves what they're planning to do. Without telling them we're here, of course. And on the condition you come back and tell us."
There is a momentary pause before Ahsoka answers with a nod. "I'll be back."
"You must hurry," Obi-Wan warns, "If that's really what they're planning, we may be almost out of time."
Ahsoka jumps down from the tree and takes off running across the prairie. Anakin watches from above, silently hoping this was really the right decision.