Obi-Wan's brows pinched at the absurd thought. The villagers had seen them come together, had seen Obi-Wan fight beside Cody and defend Grassy. Wasn't Cody's struggles testament enough that Obi-Wan was safe?
"Let… me… go!" Cody shouted.
With one last thrash, Cody went limp, panting heavily. His helmet had fallen off in his fighting, and Obi-Wan ached for the exhaustion in his flushed, filthy face.
Elder growled and Obi-Wan met his glare. Elder advanced again, but Obi-Wan refused to back down this time. He was prepared now for Elder's blows, and he'd fend off the whole village if he needed to get his men freed.
Elder stomped a paw and growled at Obi-Wan, who felt his frustration wan as the minutes stretched on. If Elder truly wanted to hurt Obi-Wan, he'd have acted by now.
On impulse borne of weariness and worry for his men, Obi-Wan strode forward. His theory was proven correct when Elder made no move to stop him. The Bouresh behind parted for Obi-Wan, allowing him to go to Cody.
"Put him down, please," Obi-Wan requested of Mother.
Mother's growl was one of concern. Concern that Obi-Wan shared when she carefully put Cody on his feet and he nearly fell. Obi-Wan caught one of Cody's arms and Mother still held the other, supporting Cody while he regained his balance.
"General," Cody said, his breathing slowly calming into a normal cadence. "You can let me go now."
"Absolutely not," Obi-Wan said.
A startled exclamation kept Cody from responding. Obi-Wan and Cody looked toward the other men, who were now unrestrained and staring with varying levels of confusion and shock.
Following their gazes, Obi-Wan found the two black-furred pups had risen to stand upright. Or, no, not pups, Obi-Wan saw as fur hoods were pushed back, but-
"You're clones!" Grassy said.
The clone on the left offered them a lopsided grin. His shaggy hair hung about his eyes, a shock of white in his bangs standing out starkly against the black.
The clone on the right regarded them with a more guarded expression. His hair was pulled back from his scarred, darkly tanned face in a ponytail. Like his companion, he wore a long, fitted cloak of black fur, with no sign of armor or weapons.
Perhaps most surprising, though, was when the left clone growled something in Elder's direction and Elder growled back.
"Was that Bourish?" asked Grassy, taken with the mysterious clones.
The left clone blinked at Grassy. His expression made it clear that he didn't have a clue as to what Grassy had said.
"What squad are you from?" Cody, wavering with exhaustion, missed the clue. "How did you come to be here?"
His question was met with a blank stare from the left clone. The right one hadn't taken his eyes from Obi-Wan, intensity in his gaze.
"Questions for later," Obi-Wan gently told Cody.
Catching Obi-Wan's tone, Cody gave him a miffed scowl. He promptly extracted himself from Obi-Wan and Mother's grasps, likely only standing on pure determination.
"Yes, later," Cody said. He turned away from Obi-Wan. "Now, if the issue with the Bouresh has been resolved, we should go. We still have a few hours of daylight left, we'll make good time-"
"You won't make it so far as the end of the street," Boil cut in, his expression and voice drier than Tatooine. "You're half dead on your feet, and the other half's asleep."
"Shut it, Boil," Cody said.
"He's right," Obi-Wan said. He glanced at Elder. "We can't march today."
"We're wasting time," Cody insisted.
Skipper rose from where he'd been kneeling beside Tangle, "Tangle isn't going anywhere, either, sir. His knee is a mess."
"My knee is fine." Tangle twitched his leg, then winced. "...but it won't be fine if we go marching anywhere."
Elder growled. Obi-Wan flinched around, but Elder was only gesturing to a few of the villagers. They bobbed their heads and left. Elder looked at Obi-Wan and growled.
"We'll go," Obi-Wan said, disappointed. "Just give us a few minutes to collect ourselves…"
Elder growled and shook his head. He waved a big paw, encompassing the village, then pointed outward with a growl.
"You'll go with us?" Obi-Wan clarified.
Elder nodded. Obi-Wan glanced at his men, then the fur-clad clones. He was admittedly wary of traveling with the Bouresh, as he still didn't understand why they sought to protect his men from him, but it would be better to travel in a larger group. Besides, Obi-Wan couldn't guarantee that another Separatist unit wouldn't come to wipe out the village for good.
"Very well," Obi-Wan said with a nod. "Men, rest while you can. When the Bouresh are ready to leave, we will as well."
Obi-Wan turned to Cody, prepared to force him into sitting down if necessary, and found him staring at the fur-clad clones with extreme confusion. Obi-Wan's amusement was marred by concern; how far had Cody gone beyond his limits?
One of the fur-clad clones, the cautious one, huffed and grumbled to the other. He turned and strode away without ceremony. The friendly one left the pups, growling eagerly.
"General," Cody said slowly while Grassy and Trapper joined the trooper, "He isn't one of ours… is he?"
"No."
Obi-Wan didn't, unfortunately, know every one of his men by name, but he did know the older clones. He'd definitely recognize the shock of white hair and even the old scars on the other clone's face. Plus, it would take longer than a week to become fully fluent in Bourish; longer still to apparently forget Basic altogether.
Wit joined Grassy and Trapper. He spoke to the fur-clad clone, pointing to himself and each of his brothers.
The fur-clad clone watched him, then his smile spread and he raised a hand to the sky. He dropped his hand toward the ground, wriggling his fingers the whole way. He did this twice before Wit nodded and said something else. The clone bobbed his head, then crouched to pick up a rock from the path and point after his companion.
Wit laughed, then trotted to Obi-Wan and Cody. "General, Commander, I guess that's Rain, and his grumpy friend is Rock."
"What?" Cody said slowly.
Obi-Wan side-eyed his commander. "Cody, you should really sit down."
"Not until we're on our way."
"And how do you intend to do that?"
Cody blinked, then scowled at Obi-Wan. "I'll sit down when we're off this planet."
Cody lurched downward. Obi-Wan and Wit both reached for him, but Cody only scooped up his fallen helmet. He clapped it back on his head, as if doing so would end the conversation.
It didn't, but Rock returning did. He held two small buckets of water, one of which he placed in front of the cluster of troopers. He pulled a woven rag from the water, mimed wiping his face, then dropped the rag back into the bucket and moved over to Wit.
"Rock," Obi-Wan greeted carefully.
Rock side-eyed Obi-Wan with the same amount of caution. He seemed to mull over something, then set down the second bucket and saluted Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan's brows raised. "At ease, Rock."
Rock, at least, understood and relaxed. Obi-Wan's curiosity only grew. Rock gestured to Cody, then the bucket, then back to where the other men were cleaning up.
"I'm fine," Cody said.
Obi-Wan, Wit, and Rock simultaneously gave Cody exasperated looks. Even Boil joined in from behind, though Obi-Wan couldn't be sure if he'd heard the statement or could guess what was being said.
"Clean up," Obi-Wan said neutrally.
Cody's helmet tilted in a way that told Obi-Wan he was about to be stubborn, but Wit cut in.
"Come on, Commander, not even you can handle all the muck we've been building under our buckets. You're liable to pass out from the smell."
A short snicker, clamped back almost immediately, came from Rock. He turned and walked away, leaving Cody in Obi-Wan and Wit's hands.
And Mother's. Once she realized what Obi-Wan and Wit wanted to do, she laid down and lazily curled her paws around Cody.
Once Cody was done sputtering, he took off his helmet and accepted the wet cloth. He didn't say a word while he cleaned up, and his expression only changed with a slight wince when he touched his swollen cheek.
Once he was sure Cody was being taken care of, Obi-Wan turned his attention to the rest of his men. Cody was by far the worst off of them all -Obi-Wan silently wished Cody wouldn't take the longest night watches and spend his time off of watches trying to keep inventory of where all the squads might be- but he wasn't the only one ready to drop. Tangle could barely stand with Skipper's help. Grassy, still new, slumped against the building once the distracting newness of Rain and Rock wore off. Boil and Trapper, while maintaining themselves better than Cody, had been on the march for just as long and as fast. Tof and Reach both had impressive stamina and were skilled in dropping to sleep during a few minutes' rest. Skipper and Wit's squads had been flown out further from the main base, and had had a bit of time to recover.
Obi-Wan shook his head. Even the semi-rested of his men couldn't make the march in the three days Cody had estimated. Add that they didn't even know what they'd be crossing back into…
Obi-Wan's musings were interrupted by rattling. He looked up as Bouresh led a group of their banthas into the center, each one pulling a high-sided wagon.
Elder growled to the villagers, who burst into action. Pups -including two infants carried from the main building- were loaded into one wagon, while tools, furs, food, and woven baskets of personal items were loaded into the others.
Mother stood and picked up a now-clean Cody. Cody yelped -prompting woofish laughter from the villagers- as he was carried to an empty wagon. Mother placed him inside and Cody briefly dropped from sight when he lost his balance. He popped back up, glowering as he attempted to clamber back over the waist-high walls of the wagon. Mother growled and pushed him back in.
While Cody and Mother fought back and forth, Elder went to Obi-Wan. He growled that they were leaving, then pointed to Obi-Wan's men and Obi-Wan, then the wagon. Obi-Wan smiled in realization and relief.
"Yes, thank you." Obi-Wan turned to Cody. "Cody, don't be rude. They're offering us a ride."
Cody, one leg slung over the edge of the wagon, hesitated. Mother pushed him back inside with a clatter of plastoid and muffled curses.
The rest of the men went more quietly, gratefully accepting the Bouresh's help in getting into the wagon. One of the grizzled Bouricks who'd growled at Obi-Wan earlier gave Obi-Wan a lift into the wagon with an apologetic growl.
Once inside, Obi-Wan quickly counted his men. Tangle laid in the far back corner, his face tight with pain. Skipper hovered over him with his nearly empty medkit. The rest of the clones stood to watch the Bouresh.
Rain was lifted into the wagon full of pups, where he seemed to be in charge of keeping pups from climbing out of the wagon. Rock perched on the edge of the front wagon, within arm's reach of Elder.
Obi-Wan watched the villagers collect the last of their supplies. They then moved out, the adult Bouresh walking alongside the wagons in clusters. They rounded the village to the northwest side, where the ridge had been smoothed down to allow the wagons to be pulled onto the plain.
There, the caravan hesitated. Rock and Elder stared to the northwest for a few seconds, then Elder growled and led the way west.
For a time, Obi-Wan and his men remained alert. Blasters were kept near at hand and all directions were watched keenly.
It wasn't long, though, before Obi-Wan realized it was pointless for them. A few Bouresh were posted along the front, back, and sides of the caravan, eyes and ears on the horizon. The rest moved with ease across the plain, the pups yelping in their wagon and the walkers often stopping to playfully wrestle.
Obi-Wan looked at Cody, who'd hidden his face under his helmet once again. There wasn't any hiding his tight hold on the wagon sides, though, or the way he wobbled with each of the frequent bumps. Every now and then, his head would droop before snapping back up.
"Cody-" Obi-Wan started.
Cody flinched, his head jerking up with an automatic-sounding, "I'm fine."
"You are not," Obi-Wan said, letting his exasperation bleed into his voice. "Sit down."
"I'm comfortable right here, General."
"That's an order, Cody," Obi-Wan said firmly.
Cody remained upright for a few seconds more, then stiffly lowered himself to sit cross-legged and facing the wall. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
Boil took a very obvious step to the side, then turned and plopped down, kicking his legs out so they hit Cody's side. He didn't say anything to Cody, but kept his feet against Cody's side while he dragged Grassy down beside him.
Cody rolled his head in Boil's direction. Boil, having successfully gotten Grassy to sit down, took off his helmet to raise an eyebrow at Cody.
"Yes, Commander?" Boil said, lightly kicking Cody's side.
While Boil nagged Cody into turning around, Obi-Wan looked at the rest of his men, then extended the order to rest to the entire wagon. Most of them sat down stiffly, not wanting to give up keeping watch any more than Cody had.
Except for Tangle. Head tilted against the corner of the wagon, he didn't react to anyone and his helmet hid his expression. It wasn't until Wit noticed Tangle's silence and reached over to carefully remove his brother's helmet that Obi-Wan understood.
Tangle was sound asleep.
Skipper reached over like he wanted to wake Tangle, but Trapper reached past Wit to stop him. Skipper's helmet turned uncertainly toward him.
"Tangle's got the right idea." It was Boil who spoke. He had Grassy drooping against his side. "You don't see Cody stopping him, do you?"
Cody, for his part, didn't appear to be aware of the conversation happening less than a meter away. His arms were crossed, but his helmet was turned in Obi-Wan's direction.
Skipper hesitated for a moment more, then sat back and let his helmet hit the wagon side with a dull thunk. In seconds, his grip on his blaster loosened and his shoulders drooped.
Obi-Wan smiled slightly, then looked at the others. Tof and Reach, both their helmets on their laps, had both passed out during the brief exchange. Trapper and Wit comfortably stretched their legs out while Boil turned his attention to Grassy.
Cody twitched, drawing Obi-Wan's attention back. Obi-Wan was torn between concern and exasperation as Cody visibly shook himself awake. Cody waved a clumsy hand at Obi-Wan.
"Don' want your dumb Jedi mind tricks," Cody mumbled.
"I never touched you," Obi-Wan said with a smile. "Also, you still have your helmet on."
"Sneaky," Cody mumbled. He slumped slightly, then jerked back upright.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. He was tempted to take off Cody's helmet and put him to sleep with a slight Force suggestion, but doing so would only rile Cody up and he'd fight it too much.
Half an hour, Obi-Wan silently decided, crossing his arms. If Cody wasn't asleep in half an hour, he'd have to resort to making him sleep.
Less than five minutes later, the wagon hit a bump that made Cody tilt sideways. Obi-Wan started to laugh when Cody slumped against his shoulder, but he bit off the laughter. He barely dared to breathe as he peeked down.
Obi-Wan wished he could have gotten Cody to remove his helmet, but it was clear in Cody's loose posture and even breathing that he'd finally, finally given into sleep. There was a fair bit of discontented grumbling under Obi-Wan's ear, but it was nonsense as far as Obi-Wan could tell.
Boil opened one eye at the scuff of Cody falling. He smirked, tucked a sleeping Grassy more comfortably against his side, then closed his eye again.
Obi-Wan considered doing the same to Cody to keep him from falling forward, but didn't dare move. Instead, he tilted his own head back and meditated.
Obi-Wan's senses wandered in the Force. He didn't focus on any one thing, preferring to drift with the ebb and flow of Bour. He'd done it many times during the campaign -giving him a sense of refreshment when sleep wouldn't come in the night- so it was easy to fall back.
Movement grabbed Obi-Wan's wandering senses. He could feel each of the Bouresh in the caravan, plodding steadily onward, the banthas lowing, the pups and his men sleeping… and two presences leaving the caravan.
Obi-Wan blinked his eyes open to a night sky and Cody still on his shoulder. Cody was deeply asleep, but still shifted fitfully when Obi-Wan tried to pull away.
"General?" Tof mumbled.
Obi-Wan put a finger to his lips. "Come here."
Tof was closest besides Boil, so it was easy for him to drag himself over. Obi-Wan gently maneuvered the half-asleep trooper into his spot. Cody stilled once his head was on Tof's shoulder.
"I will be right back," Obi-Wan whispered.
Tof nodded, yawned, then closed his eyes and let his head rest on Cody's.
Obi-Wan rose. Bouresh glanced at him, a few offering low growls of greeting. Obi-Wan's gaze swung to the front of the caravan, then to the north.
Elder, Rock on his back, was hurrying away from the caravan. There was a sense of urgency from them, but not alarm.
Obi-Wan hopped to the ground. After a few experimental steps to ensure nobody would stop him, Obi-Wan ran after the pair.
Nearly an hour passed. Even on the empty plain, the caravan had long disappeared from sight behind steadily rolling hills. Elder ran onward, obviously with a goal in mind. Obi-Wan at first tried to keep him in sight, but eventually gave up and tracked the pair in the Force.
As Obi-Wan trudged up when felt like the hundredth hill, he wondered if he should give up and go back. Then he reached the top and backpedaled, only partially due to the steep drop. His mouth fell open.
The ground before him fell away into a massive valley of rocks and low brush. Nestled in the bottom, half covered with creeping vines and moss, was a Republic cruiser!
When Obi-Wan's shock faded, he began to climb down, cautiously picking his path in the moonlight. The valley wasn't entirely natural, he saw. It ended at the cruiser's nose, where rock and dirt had been shoved high into the air.
This is from where Rock and Rain had come. Obi-Wan paused to gaze at the cruiser, his mind going back to the mission report he'd scanned before heading to Bour.
A mission intended to reclaim Bour. They'd been hit by Separatists. Frantic calls for backup. They were outgunned. The ship had sustained severe damage. Escape pods compromised. Entering the atmosphere.
Silence.
Three years ago.
Obi-Wan dropped onto a wrecked gunship. His boot immediately punched through the rusted shell, and Obi-Wan went to one knee. He carefully extracted his foot, inspected the torn boot to ensure his leg hadn't been cut, then slid to the ground.
There were a few other gunships, mostly twisted into unrecognizable chunks of mangled metal. Obi-Wan was careful to stay off of them. He rounded what had once been the cruiser's bridge -now stuffed full of leaves with a half-dozen pairs of shining eyes peering out- and again froze in shock.
He'd reached the bottom of the valley, where a graveyard stretched before him. Even rows of sticks rose feebly into the air, half of them still with weather-worn helmets tied to them.
Obi-Wan briefly bowed his head, then moved on, giving the graveyard a wide berth. He scanned the helmets, a few bearing traces of purple paint. He didn't see any sort of sign of the burial ground of Jedi Knight Vin Tah, the General of the lost 502nd Battalion.
Reports had declared the entire battalion lost. No signs of outward communications. Probes found nothing before being shot from the sky. Attempts at rescue had dwindled quickly in the face of such opposition.
Obi-Wan pulled his mind back to the present as he walked around the far side of the cruiser. He could sense Rock and Elder were close, and he was proven correct when they emerged from the cruiser's side.
Obi-Wan stepped silently back. He hadn't intended to spy, but he was curious on what had drawn Rock back to the fallen cruiser. He waited until they vanished into another section, then hurried to the space they'd left.
It was one of the cruiser's landing bays, divided into a smaller section by collapsed ceilings. Flickering light bars lit up the space, even after three years. Crates and the tattered remains of two cots filled the space, a makeshift living quarters. Piles of old rations sat on crates, as did two sets of armor.
Obi-Wan curiously wandered closer. The first set of armor was mangled almost beyond recognition and was unpainted. The second had prominent markings in purple paint, dashing lines that narrowed to points. The helmet boasted two bold purple swoops over the cheeks and ears, and comically large eyes painted over the visor.
Vin Tah had been a Sullustan, Obi-Wan knew. Musingly, he picked up the helmet and was surprised by a thin metal cylinder that fell out. He reached for it, then paused.
It was a lightsaber. Vin Tah's lightsaber. Proof that the Jedi Knight was dead.
Obi-Wan shook his head, then looked back to the helmet in his hand. After a moment, he spoke aloud to the silent presence at the entrance. "This is yours, isn't it?"
Obi-Wan was answered with a question, spoken in low, gravelly Basic.
"You're not like other Jedi, are you?" Rock asked.
A/N: He speaks! :D