Part three of the Year on the Run mini-story featuring Obi-Wan and Satine. The storm has arrived and Obi-Wan and Satine are forced to take shelter. Yet it seems like they are not the only ones hiding from the storm...

Day 9: The Very Noisy Night

Prompts: Caught in a storm – Tossing and Turning

Satine still felt weak, and slightly dizzy, but her leg had held up better than she thought, thanks to the pressure bandage Obi-Wan had applied. The weather had taken a nasty turn. Obi-Wan had been right, there was a storm coming, it was raging around them. Thankfully they had found a cave, an opening in the sheer cliff face. And they had a fire, Satine had been able to salvage the embers of their fire in a tree fungus she'd found before the rain had started.

Their cloaks were laid out on the floor of the cave, near the fire, in the hope that they would dry enough to provide warmth. Obi-Wan had gone to gather what firewood he could, though since he'd been gone, the wind and rain had picked up significantly. The constant howl of the storm and the occasional wind gust that roared through the cave had her on edge even as she warmed herself by the fire.

Just as she was beginning to think she should go and search for Obi-Wan, that something may have happened to him, she nearly jumped out of her skin as a stack of wood was thrown unceremoniously into the entrance of the cave. Obi-Wan was still at the entrance, the water streaming off the cloak around him as he spoke into the commlink in his hand. Even though he seemed to be shouting over the storm to be heard, she could barely make out what he was saying.

He ended the call, removing the soaked cloak, and trying to rid it of the extra water. His clothing under the cloak was soaked through and he looked absolutely miserable.

It took him a few minutes before he joined her at the fire. He'd laid out the cloak and sorted through the wood he'd found, laying it close to the fire, in hopes that it would dry enough to be usable.

"Master Qui-Gon got caught in the storm as well. He's found shelter and we've agreed to wait it out and meet back at the ship in the morning."

Satine nodded, "It's not the most comfortable here, but at least it's dry." He was still staring at the flames as he warmed his hands, his shoulders stiff.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked.

"He saw a ship land earlier, further away, but we might not be as alone on this planet as we thought."

Satine felt a chill go through her. "Perhaps it's just a coincidence." She didn't believe her own words, and neither did he, but he nodded nonetheless.

"We should probably eat and get some rest…" She saw him get to his feet and move over to the pack he'd been carrying earlier. After a moment he returned with a couple of canteens and to her surprise, meal packs. The thought of a warm meal improved her mood greatly, she'd been expecting ration bars or fruit. Sure enough, there were two pieces of fruit he handed her with the meal pack and she nearly made a face. She was so sick of the seemingly never-ending supply of Corellian apples. There had been times when the fruit had been all they'd had for days at a time. If she never saw another one as long as she lived, it'd be soon enough. She'd eat them though because she'd learned that one never knew where the next meal was coming from.

She heated the meal pack, looking at the label. Nerf stew.

They heated their food and Satine took an expectant bite. It was warm and hardy, yet incredibly bland.

"What do you have?" She asked Obi-Wan curiously as he tore open his own meal pack and took a bite. "Some sort of fish," He said with a shrug, smiling as she made a face. "I knew you wouldn't eat it. How's the stew?"

"Bland. I'm just closing my eyes and imagining it's tiingilar."

"What's that?" Obi-Wan asked her around a mouthful of his own food.

Satine's eyes closed dreamily as she described the spicy Mandalorian stew and went on to discuss all of her favorite foods she couldn't wait to eat again, a sad smile crossing her face. "Not that there's much of a Mandalore to return to." She said softly, setting aside her food pack and taking a long drink from the canteen. Her eyes seemed suddenly haunted as she blinked. "Sundari…it was in flames as we left." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

She felt Obi-Wan move closer to her as she buried her face against her updrawn knees. She hadn't cried yet, and she refused to do so now. She hadn't cried as she'd found out that her family had been murdered, or that her sister had disappeared, only to find out she'd joined the opposition. She hadn't cried as one city after another fell, or as she was escorted away from her planet for her own safety. She felt a hand rub her back gently, offering support and she let herself curl against him, leaning into his shoulder. She blinked back the burn of tears and watched the flames.

"If anyone can rebuild Mandalore Satine, it's you. You'll build it up stronger than ever."

She nodded, believing his words. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. "And you? What will you do? When I am rebuilding my world?"

She was genuinely curious.

His eyes searched her face for a moment before he too looked at the flames. "Finish my studies, become a Knight, serve the Jedi and the Republic." His answer seemed somehow…hollow as if he were trying to convince himself of his path. She could see the all too familiar furrow between his brows that he often got when he was troubled or overthinking.

She reached a hand and smoothed the crease, her hand lingering on his cheek. "You are destined for great things," She told him, "Regardless of what you do or where your path takes you." His eyes seemed so troubled, more turbulent with unsaid emotion than the storm outside. There truly was something bothering him, even if he didn't say the words. She smiled at him, her thumb caressing his cheek. "Besides, you are already my knight."

His eyes closed as he leaned into her touch. "Satine…"

She drew his face to hers and kissed him, nearly startling as she leaned into him. She'd forgotten he was still completely drenched and his wet clothes were cold against her skin.

He pulled away, misinterpreting her reaction, or perhaps using it as an excuse. "Satine, we—"

"You should get out of your wet clothes before you catch your death." She told him, sighing. "Did Master Jinn give you a lecture? Is that what this is about? Why you have hardly looked at me?"

He seemed startled, almost as if she'd smacked him.

"What we are doing isn't anything against your code, we are just two people enjoying each other's company, and waiting out a storm. Or has something changed?" She asked pointedly.

She tried not to put too much thought into it. Of course, things had changed between them as much as she tried to deny it. She denied daily that the way he looked at her didn't affect her in some way, that her heart nearly broke when she thought of the day they would part ways, and that she wouldn't be able to share her accomplishments with him. They both had their paths and duties to follow, but that didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy the time they had right?

She watched the internal conflict in him and for a moment, she truly thought that addressing it had ruined everything.

"You're right. We are just waiting out the storm." He agreed, drawing her to him, and kissing her. There was something desperate in his kiss, something he couldn't put into words. His wet clothes were soon forgotten discarded somewhere next to the fire as the two of them wrapped themselves in his cloak, the only thing between them and the cold stone of the cave, all thoughts of reality or the future forgotten.

###

Obi-Wan's eyes fluttered open, blinking in the darkness. The fire had died down to embers. He needed to take care of the fire but found that he didn't want to move. Satine lay against his shoulder, her soft breaths warm against his neck, her body curled against him. The stone beneath him was hard and uncomfortable but he felt contentment in watching her sleep that he couldn't explain, a warmth that filled him, that made the discomfort of the cold and harsh conditions disappear.

Something in his senses alerted him all was not as it seemed, seconds before he heard a scuffle of something against the stone floor of the cave. He glanced around in the dim light and there beyond the flames he saw something that made his blood turn to ice in his veins. Four eyes glowing in the darkness.

He shook Satine lightly, trying to wake her even as he sat up, reaching for his lightsaber, scrambling to find it in his discarded clothing.

His hand closed over the hilt as the eyes moved closer, and he could make out the lithe form of the creature the eyes belonged to, hear its rumbling breaths, almost between the sound of a purr and an engine.

A nexu. They were certainly not native to Draboon, and he had no idea why there was one in the cave. Perhaps settlers had brought it along and abandoned it. Whatever the reason, it was thin and probably starving, which made it dangerous.

He tried reaching out with the Force, sending soothing emotions. "Easy…we aren't going to hurt you…"

Satine had awoken and gasped, moving back as her eyes adjusted enough to see the threat just a meter or so away.

Its eyes focused on Satine, alerted to the noise, and it coiled, springing through the air.

Obi-Wan managed to move, to get between the creature and Satine and ignited his lightsaber, but not before he felt the white-hot pain of its claws tear down his outstretched arm. He sent the nexu flying with a force push and brandished the saber as the feline bounced off the wall of the cave. It shook itself, looked as if it was contemplating going after them again, and thought better of it, its eyes squinting at the blue glow of the lightsaber. It turned, prowling out the entrance of the cave and into the howling storm beyond.

Obi-Wan let out a breath he was holding and disengaged the lightsaber.

Satine was scrambling for her clothes, tossing him his shirt. His clothing was still damp. "Was that a nexu? On Draboon?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, and it probably won't give up, we need to move before it comes back…"

They packed their supplies and Satine moved behind Obi-Wan as they cautiously made their way to the entrance. There was nothing that they could see, just pouring rain and darkness. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head as Satine did the same and they began moving through the storm.

The driving rain and wind made it difficult to walk upright. The ground beneath them was so saturated with water it was like a stream beneath their feet.

After a while, Obi-Wan found a thicket of trees. It was far from dry but provided some shelter from the wind and driving rain.

"We'll rest here for a bit, the sky is already starting to lighten."

"What about the nexu?" Satine asked worried, as she sat down next to him.

"I'll keep watch. You get some rest," He offered.

"Are you sure?" She asked. He nodded.

She pulled her cloak around herself tighter and laid down on his lap, curling against him as he covered her in his cloak, offering her some additional protection from the rain.

"How's your leg?" He asked.

"The bandage is holding and the bacta seems to have worked." He nodded, at least there was that.

Satine settled against him, and despite the terrible conditions, she fell asleep fairly quickly.

Moving cautiously, so as to not disturb her, he went through their supplies, bandaging the claw marks on his arm. The last thing he needed was for them to get infected.

The rest of the night was far from comfortable. It was cold and wet. Obi-Wan felt his feet starting to go numb. Satine slept restlessly against him, tossing and turning.

The nexu never reappeared, though he thought he heard it a time or two. Perhaps he was imagining it.

He was never so relieved to see a sunrise in his life.

Notes:

Nothing steamy in this chapter, sorry folks. Didn't want to detract from the action too much. I do have something nice for Obitine fans coming up for the end of Whumptober, so stick around ;)

Also, there will be two more chapters in the future to wrap up this arc.

Leave a comment and let me know what you guys thought.