Brink
By: Syntyche
Fifteen: Eyes Cast Down
The world didn't seem quite right.
Blurred and shadowy at the edges, too warm as heat crawled up his neck to flush his sweat-soaked forehead bright red, Anakin felt sick and dizzy as he slouched back against the cold metal of his high-backed dining chair. He'd been ill before, but it was nothing compared to this, nothing like this feeling of overheated dryness that no amount of cold water drained from the glass in front of him seemed to help in the slightest.
The coolness of the glass as he pressed it against his skin didn't help either with the burning swath of fever staking its claim, but right now Anakin would take anything, anything at all that would stop the heat overwhelming him. The Padawan brought a shaking hand up to swipe at his damp hair, swallowing hard against the nausea that surged at the back of his throat.
"Are you well, my young friend?"
The innocent question was spoken in a voice smooth and low and humming; although Anakin had earlier found its bright praising pleasing and welcoming to his eager ears, now he was unsure why he had felt that way. All he could think about was the churning of his stomach, the bitter taste in his mouth, the thick drops of sweat jumping out on his overly-sensitive skin. The worst sunburn he'd ever gotten at home was nothing compared to how hot he felt now, and the cool shade of the inside of Watto's shop seemed like a faraway dream.
"I … "
He couldn't seem to make his heavy tongue wrap around the words his brain meant to say. He was weighted and sluggish, and the fork resting in his curled palm seemed to keep him in place as effectively as the heaviest of chains.
"I … " Anakin tried again, shaking his head a little. The movement did nothing to clear his mind and instead set off a clatter in his brain like Jar Jar tripping over his old toolbox and strewing its contents across the floor. "I don't feel well," he finally said, hoping the words sounded more grown-up than he felt. "I want Qui-Gon," the padawan added slowly, knowing that his master would make sense of all this.
From the other end of the long, shining table, Nagash leaned forward, his bone-white pallor gleaming under the stark lights of the dining hall, his leather armor creaking and twisting around his gnarled, exposed bones. "I hope it is not the food?" he questioned in concern, mellifluous, anxious. "Perhaps it is too rich for your simple Jedi diet to easily adapt to?"
Anakin nodded thickly; sure, that could make sense, he guessed. "I need … " He blinked, rubbed a hand weakly over his sweating forehead, wiped his palms across his breeches. He felt so gross. "I need to … Is Qui-Gon coming soon? You said Qui-Gon was invited … "
"Perhaps we should take you to see Master Obi-Wan?" was the next gentle suggestion put forth by his host, and though it pained Anakin to do so he nodded begrudgingly. The jealous whisper in his head that flared to life when Obi-Wan was around snapped angrily that of course Obi-Wan would be glad to see him in this condition! The Chosen One weak and tired - but still Qui-Gon's favorite! - but the boyish child that was often buried beneath layers of bitter anger and newly enforced Jedi decorum reminded Anakin gently that he was being unfair, that Obi-Wan would never treat him that way.
His churlish surliness only made him feel worse and the padawan slid off his velvet-backed chair onto wobbly legs. Suddenly, he very much wanted Obi-Wan's familiar presence; in Qui-Gon's continued absence, Obi-Wan was the next best thing.
A heavy, gauntleted hand on his shoulder grounded him and Anakin drew a few deep breaths of stale air as he fought to steady himself. He hadn't realized how much he'd come to rely on the Force to help him to calm his emotions, and now that it was lacking in the warpstone-entrenched lair of Nagashizzar, its absence was keenly felt. He noticed, only now it seemed, the stench of decay that permeated the air surrounding his host and it choked against his lungs, but the boy was too warmed by the familiarity of the gesture that when Nagash's skeletal fingers gripped his tunic lightly over his shoulder he allowed himself to be propelled forward obediently. They moved deeper into dark halls and Anakin found that unexpected pity flooded his suddenly quaking heart as he realized Obi-Wan had been in this horrible place for days.
Suddenly, he very much wanted to see Obi-Wan, wondered why he hadn't done more to stop Nagash from almost killing the Knight right in front of him. But he had been angry, so angry, at Obi-Wan's dismissive words, at his suggestion that Nagash was simply pandering to Anakin's ego to get what he wanted. The memory of Obi-Wan's black, sightless eyes staring into nothingness chewed at him and he quickened his pace.
Anakin realized they were heading for a large set of double doors and he pushed forward, uncaring that Nagash's hand had slipped off his shoulder. He should have been concerned about Obi-Wan from the onset but he'd been too curious, too enraptured by the attention and reverence to see how sick and injured Obi-Wan himself had been, too warmed by the praise he deserved finally being delivered, and now guilt crashed heavily upon him that he may have failed his almost-friend and fellow Jedi. Qui-Gon would most certainly not be pleased.
"Obi-Wan?!" he demanded as he shoved inside the room. Anakin blinked furiously against the sudden onslaught of light after the dark halls, and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. Once his vision cleared he realized that the library was empty, though there were a few rusty smudges on the rug and a pale book lying open, tattered spine up.
"This is most unfortunate," Nagash rumbled, his startled tone an affectation that finally worked its way into Anakin's brain as suspicious. "As I'm sure you saw, Jedi Kenobi is not himself … at times he wanders the halls looking for whatever apparitions his brain has conjured up and often gets turned around and frightened. We must find him at once for his own safety."
Torn by the prospect of staying at the no-longer entrancing necromancer's side or searching the fortresses' black halls alone, Anakin wavered in indecision: both options were, frankly, pretty scary. "He needs help," Anakin whispered quietly, the Knight's pale, black-veined face bleeding back into his memory. There was only the slightest hesitation in his voice as he admitted aloud, "He needs Qui-Gon or Master Yoda."
"I do not know if the powers of even the Jedi can save your friend," was the answer Anakin's sinking heart received - to think, he had been ruthlessly overjoyed to have Obi-Wan out of their lives and taken away by the natives. "But let us find him and we shall see," Nagash announced plaintively, emerald flames in his eyes burning brightly as he smiled in what was perhaps supposed to be encouraging, and might have been to the padawan if the spell of entrancing hadn't worn away.
"I'll check this way." Reluctantly Anakin struck out on his own, wondering if he'd get lost in the winding darkness of the endless lair hallways while already knowing he wouldn't; he had always been inordinately good at finding his way, a trait that had helped him become one of the best pod racers in the galaxy, the ability to pick out the best route after only one lap around the track.
And somehow, amazingly - or through unknown direction at his host's hand - Anakin quickly found Obi-Wan: pale, shaking, and clinging with his good hand to the wall, the jagged edges of his torn fingernails grasping the shining rock desperately. Anakin let out a sharp gasp at the Jedi's appearance: Obi-Wan's ashen flesh remained veined in thick snaking tendrils of black, winding beneath his skin and mottling his flesh in dark and white.
"Obi-Wan?" he asked tentatively, reaching out a hand that almost touched the Knight but just barely grazed Obi-Wan's marbled forearm. At his voice Obi-Wan's dark eyes snapped toward him disbelievingly.
"Anakin?" he demanded, hopeful yet suspicious. He blinked fiercely in the dim light but his irises were still shrouded in black and he peered at the padawan, trying to satisfy the rising hope he long knew better than to nourish.
"It's me," Anakin said slowly, somehow not afraid of Obi-Wan while simultaneously terrified by him. "I … I don't feel so great," he admitted, ashamed of his weakness especially when in the presence of one far more battered than he. He remembered how Obi-Wan had disappeared under the mob of angry villagers after Qui-Gon had chosen Anakin to save and he flinched, chastising himself for not being stronger. Qui-Gon was depending on him to get back … and the thought that the hero he would be in Qui-Gon's eyes if he managed to return the lost Knight was not one that he wanted to fade away.
Obi-Wan huffed a laugh, breathless but there was strength in his wan voice. "And I imagine I don't look so great," he offered wryly, earning a small smile from the child. "We need to get out of here if we can," he added seriously. "Can you walk?"
Bolstered by the Knight's determination, Anakin straightened his thin shoulders. "I can lead the way," he assured confidently, grabbing the cold skin of Obi-Wan's proffered hand, slightly hoping whatever the Knight had wasn't passed on by touch. Together they moved silently through passages lined with flickering torches. Obi-Wan lagged pitifully and Anakin pulled him along gently, snatches of confused pity suffusing him before falling away when he focused ahead. He tried to keep himself thinking about praise from Qui-Gon and not worry about whether or not Obi-Wan would make it - of course the Knight would.
He cleared his throat: a small sound in the cavernous yet suffocating darkness. "Come on, Obi-Wan," he said quietly, and Obi-Wan lifted his tawny head, a tired grin crossing his face.
"Are we there yet?" he asked humorously and Anakin laughed, for one moment transported back to the start of their trip before all this madness had begun … when being jealous had seemed so much more innocent, when they were all together … when he didn't have to repeatedly try to convince himself that Obi-Wan was going to be okay.
It was, of course, folly to think they could escape Nagashizzar unseen; had Anakin been a little less naïve and Obi-Wan a little less ill, the realization would have immediately occurred to the Jedi, but as it was, they drew up short and swift in surprise when a tall shadow detached itself from the wall to block their staggering escape.
Nagash said nothing, just waited, and the pair of Jedi eyed him warily.
Finally, gripping Anakin's hand, Obi-Wan brushed past the necromancer and Nagash let him pass. The Knight shivered when he heard the whispered, "You will never leave Nagashizzar unless I will it to be, little Jedi," but he pressed on. They were almost out. He didn't allow hope, wouldn't, not even when the black doors came in sight and Anakin's short stride quickened.
"We're almost there, Obi-Wan," the boy urged, tugging the Knight with him. "Come on!"
Anakin found the heavy chain and yanked on it hard and the door swung open, grinding and screeching, and, blinking, stumbling, panting darkness from their lungs, the two Jedi staggered into the weak sunlight - pale and sickly and slow, but the cold filtered light that barely touched the mountainside was enough to lift their spirits and hasten their stride.
They had taken two steps beyond the threshold of Nagashizzar when black fog rolled from the open doorway, coating their ankles in sinuous murk that pulled at their feet and twined around Anakin's boots. A long, drawn out screech heard overhead that drained the blood from their faces followed, harsh and eager.
A quick look was shared, and Anakin was pained to see how pronounced the ebony veins scoring Obi-Wan's face and neck were in the weak sunlight; blinking his black eyes rapidly in the sunshine, Obi-Wan shouted "Go!" and they began to run.
Noise like a hurricane rose behind them as giant wings unfurled, shaking to full length. Obi-Wan knew their owner, had seen the beast flying around the mountain at night. It was not a creature he wished to see up close, and he prayed desperately to the Force that fought to be felt beneath the warpstone's grasp for a burst of strength or an unexpected mercy that they would somehow survive this flight. "Anakin, go!" Obi-Wan shouted desperately. "Run! Run run run!"
Anakin's feet moved sluggishly on the unsteady gravel coating the slope and Obi-Wan scooped him up in the arm that wasn't trapped against his chest. The Knight's breathing was harsh against Anakin's ear but Obi-Wan's steps were steady and determined. Anakin looked over Obi-Wan's shoulder as he clutched the Knight tightly, ashamed to be carried yet desperately safe in the other Jedi's grasp. A huge creature with enormous wings rose from the wall of Nagashizzar, wind furiously beating the earth as its wings flapped and its glittering teeth snapped hungrily.
The sharp black pebbles cut into the soles of Obi-Wan's feet as they ran, focused on getting down the mountain, and Obi-Wan gave a cry as his foot turned on a slice of rock and warm blood spilled over the warpstone. Hastily he put Anakin down and gave him a shove. "Run! We're almost at the wood's edge!" He grasped Anakin's hand again and they ran, but now more dark shapes bled from the mountain, pursing the Jedi relentlessly.
"We're almost there!" Anakin cried, feeling as though, if they could somehow reach the woods and less inhibited use of the Force, they would still escape. Obi-Wan's hand slid out of his and Anakin realized that some kind of projectiles were being hurled at them and the Knight had moved to put himself behind the padawan as a fleshy yet frail barrier.
"Come on!" Anakin reached a hand back to grab Obi-Wan's hand - sling - anything to help haul the Jedi along, but something struck at rocks at their feet, kicking up a shower of black shards that sprayed outward and dug into exposed flesh. Obi-Wan stumbled and tripped, and did not rise.
"NO!" Anakin screamed in frustration. They were so close! Another screech rolled through the air and the outpouring of creatures chasing them down grew closer and closer, sending terror through the boy's heart.
One last look at the fallen Knight behind him, and Anakin fled.
OoOoOoOoOo
