And we continue directly on...
As the arrows had been only a few seconds away from impacting both of them, Obi-Wan hadn't given much thought to what their journey would be like when he shoved his master and himself down the hill. It was not pleasant to say the least. He tumbled faster and faster downwards, or what he assumed was downward, Obi-Wan had long since lost the sense of which way was up anymore. The nauseating feeling in his stomach increased as he literally flipped down the incline, yelling out and grunting every time his ribs smashed into a surface that was not as soft as the mud.
The mud was the worst though, thick and slippery every time he tried to find purchase and halt his plummeting did the vines, he had grabbed onto, rip from the roots covering him with even more of the dreadful substance. It was in his hair, masked his face and completely adjourned his once pristine white Jedi tunics. Surely there must be an end to this hill at some point?
As if on answer his tumbling seemed to decrease in speed and he felt the slope start to level out, a few moments later he was sprawled on his back dizzily gazing up at the stars, wondering why they were all moving so much until he realised it was not them that were spinning. It was his head.
"Obi-Wan, are you alright?" The worried voice of his master drifted down to his ears, shaking his head again he then noticed the concerned look of Qui-Gon gazing down at him.
"Urghhh…" Was all Obi-Wan could manage, his head felt like it was splitting open, and his body throbbed with hundreds of new bruises.
Qui-Gon actually grinned at that, satisfied that no serious injuries had been sustained from the fall only to glance upwards and change his features to urgency.
"Come we must get to the ship before they catch up," He muttered before grabbing Obi-Wan's arm and hauling him to his feet.
Obi-Wan replied by vomiting violently all over the ground in front of them, the blow to the head followed by that eventful trip down the slope to being pulled up so quickly had him finally lose the battle.
"Easy, Padawan, I think you have concussion," Qui-Gon murmured rubbing Obi-Wan's back before wrapping an arm round his small frame, steering him towards the ship which was mercifully close now.
"Blast it…" Obi-Wan replied before heaving again, his head was quite simply screaming at this point. Everything was fuzzy, so he tried in vain to shake away the haze.
Eventually they reached the edge of the ship and Qui-Gon opened the hatch, this was the point that Obi-Wan actually took notice of his and his mentor's appearance. They were both caked head to toe and dripping with thick mud, face's covered hair matted and their previously white clothes nowhere to be seen.
"So uncivilised…" Obi-Wan declared before allowing Qui-Gon to usher him up onto the ship.
"Agreed." Qui-Gon chuckled, following his padawan up the ramp before taking off with more haste than usual.
One thing was for sure, Obi-Wan would not miss this planet or its people.
A few hours later both Jedi were sitting miserably in the cockpit of the ship, heaters whacked up to an oppressive heat in an attempt to stop the shivering and dry their skin. It wasn't until they were in orbit did Obi-Wan point out a snag in their escape plan, well two snags really. One, there was no shower on board, only a fresher, and two, their spare clothes were back in the camp. So with those deadly deductions both Jedi sat in silence miserable while still being in their mud crusted clothes. They had at least been able to wipe their face's down with some water they had found, but it didn't do much to lessen their bitter moods.
Qui-Gon had also set about cleaning the wound on his padawan's face, declaring the nose to be likely broken. That would mean a trip to the med bay when they touch down on Coruscant which filled Obi-Wan with even more joy…
Obi-Wan fingered his mud crusted learner's braid and scowled, the mud had gotten absolutely everywhere! At least their injuries were not more severe, that was quite some fall, not to mention the arrows intent on impaling them. Other than a concussion and broken nose the only other injuries were bruises, skin and pride.
"Patience, we will be home soon, Obi-Wan, where we can spend a long time scrubbing this awful stuff away." Qui-Gon glanced over at his fidgeting apprentice, glad that at least his concussion seemed to be getting better.
"But, Master… We'll have to walk through the temple like this!" Obi-Wan exclaimed whilst pointing at their filthy appearance.
"It cannot be helped, Obi-Wan, hopefully there won't be that many people we come across between the landing pad and our apartment."
Obi-Wan responded by huffing and crossing his arms angrily, the thought not sitting well with him at all.
"The question I want to know the answer to is how a 15 year old girl managed to take a Jedi off guard?" Qui-Gon teased, drawing the attention back to a raw subject.
"What was I supposed to do, Master? Toss her over my body and dislocate her shoulder?" Obi-Wan exclaimed heatedly, face turning an alarming shade of crimson.
Qui-Gon chuckled, "Perhaps not so extreme measures, your actions were honourable Obi-Wan. Maybe a little slow perhaps…" He teasingly added.
"Hmmm…" Obi-Wan turned away, indicating the end of his involvement with the conversation. It was of no matter as Qui-Gon changed the subject anyway.
"The real tragedy of this mission is the lack of tea on board this ship, I left it behind in the camp not realising we would be making such a hasty retreat," Qui-Gon mused, longing in his eyes for a steaming mug of tea at this moment.
"I think that's the least of our worries, Master," Obi-Wan chided, an incredulous look sprawling across his face. Bewildered that his master was worried over such a trivial matter.
"Well it all depends on one's point of view, padawan mine." Qui-Gon chuckled, tugging his learner's braid before wiping the mess onto of the seats in the shuttle.
Obi-Wan scoffed at the action, but Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows welcoming a challenge. It wasn't as if the seats weren't already mud covered. Obi-Wan stayed silent on the matter, the cabin remained that way for a few more moments before a heart stopping message played in the small cockpit.
"Back earlier than expected, you will be." Master Yoda's voice filtered through the air.
"Yes, Master, we ran into some… complications." Qui-Gon finished after finding the correct word to end with.
"Hmmppph, meet you at landing I will. Interesting story this sounds," Master Yoda happily replied.
Qui-Gon glanced worriedly at his padawan who had gone white as a sheet, they had both picked up on the little troll's tone. He must have sensed what had happened and wanted to see the pair of them like this.
"Yes, Master," Qui-Gon ground out with gritted teeth before shutting off the comm channel.
Obi-Wan glanced down at their current coordinates, they would be back on Coruscant within the hour. Well that was just fantastic…
"Blast it…" Obi-Wan muttered as the image of being greeted by a sniggering Yoda traversed across their bond.
"Indeed," Qui-Gon grimly agreed, staring straight ahead into the void of space, not looking forward to getting home anymore in the slightest.
So the little troll will be awaiting the pair!