Where Ice Is Cold

Step. Duck. Spin. Parry. Twirl. Shift. Flip.

Obi-Wan was deep in the Force, letting it guide his every move. He had become quite the adept at Soresu, preferring the defensive style because he never wanted to die in his Padawan's arms as Qui-Gon had in his. Though very modest, Obi-Wan knew he was good at it. He had confidence in his ability with a lightsaber.

But his prowess had been shattered when Dooku, his own master's master had trounced him so easily. Obi-Wan had worked hard since then. He still doubted he was a match for Dooku, but at least he'd last longer. Long enough for help to arrive. The Clone Wars seemed to add to his effort with his saber skills. After all, battles and skirmishes and fights kept him well in shape and honed his senses well beyond what he'd thought his limit was.

War had made him a better fighter. A more efficient killer.

Block. Twist. Dodge. Slide. Turn. Divert. Deflect.

Yet despite all that, despite long weeks of training, months on the front lines, hours upon hours sparring with Anakin and anyone available, Obi-Wan was struggling again. And this time, it wasn't against Dooku.

It was against a cybernetic monster named Grievous, programmed with Dooku's knowledge of the lightsaber.

Was it really a wonder that Obi-Wan was failing?

At least he wasn't alone. Fellow Knight Chokt picked up where Obi-Wan stumbled.

It was supposed to be a simple mission. A small break from the front lines for him and his Padawan. Or at least, the only type of break the Council could offer when overwhelmed with war and did not have enough Jedi.

Originally, they had been given a month off. Anakin had, naturally, been thrilled. It was greatly tempered, however, when Obi-Wan told Anakin he could only sneak out of the Temple twice a week to visit his wife, else others might get suspicious. (And how strange it was, for Obi-Wan to be discussing secrecy and sneaking out of the Temple with his headstrong Padawan...)

Anakin complied.

Unfortunately, it didn't last. A week into their month off the Council had apologetically called for them and sent them off to aide Knight Chokt, whose ship had malfunctioned and crashed on the snowy planet of Norscan.

Anakin had groaned quite pitiably across the bond when Obi-Wan accepted. He'd tried to assure his Padawan it was simply a pick-up on a remote planet, but Anakin could not be deterred from the disappointment at more time being snatched away from his wife. And, given how rarely they were home, Obi-Wan understood the sentiment.

Flip. Duck. Push. Divert. Distract. Parry. Twist.

Knight Chokt apparently found a Separatist base in the snow and communication had been cut off just as the chilling view of Grievous entering the holo drew a lightsaber.

So Obi-Wan and Anakin had realized that they were landing into a nightmare. Communications were already being jammed and instead of picking up a fellow Jedi, they were rescuing him. Anakin had gone off to restore communications and Obi-Wan had headed towards the presence of Chokt.

Grievous was nowhere to be seen when Obi-Wan finally found Chokt, who was being escorted to a detention area by a squad of droids. Freeing the Jedi had been simple, as no droid could stand one-on-one against even an unarmed Jedi. The problem with droids was sheer numbers. And, as the only one with a lightsaber, Obi-Wan and Chokt had attempted to sneak out of the facility to avoid complications.

But it was not to be. They had been discovered and Grievous had arrived. Chokt was able to pull his own lightsaber back from the collection that Grievous seemed to be creating and the battle had swirled from there.

Block. Twirl. Pull. Grab. Deflect. Dodge. Shift.

This was why Obi-Wan buried himself in the Force, because Grievous was an untested adversary who had been created by Dooku. Obi-Wan could not do this on his skill alone. He needed the Force to just stay alive. Though fighting Grievous, in many ways, was easier than fighting Dooku had been, Obi-Wan would not be taken down again. Not when he had a Padawan who still had so much to learn.

So he let the Force guide him.

His defense with Soresu was impenetrable, and Chokt attacked forcefully with Niman, yet Grievous seemed insurmountable as each of his four arms wielded a lightsaber in a different form. The higher arms melded Soresu and Shi-Cho for defense and the lower mixed Djem-So and Makashi for offense. To say nothing of mere moments before when all four arms charged forward in Juyo after Grievous had flipped around in Ataru moves.

The cold didn't help either. Grievous and his cybernetics seemed unaffected by the frigid temperatures that were continually lowering as night fell. Chokt did not have proper cold-weather garments, though his fur provided some insulation and Obi-Wan, who did have proper protection for the weather, didn't have as much freedom of movement because of it.

It was just a horrible situation.

Obi-Wan could only hope that Anakin had gotten communications working again and had sent a call for help to the Republic.

"Die, Jedi scum!"

Chokt was knocked away, slamming into the wall with enough force to make his head bounce off the wall.

Obi-Wan didn't even have time to check if he was all right. He brought up his blue blade as four lightsabers hissed his way.

Grievous growled, pushing down. Obi-Wan dropped to a knee, struggling before dipping his lightsaber and letting all four slide harmlessly to the side with the force of Grievous's push. The Jedi flipped over, turning in mid-air, ready to strike when-

COLD!

A wave of cold seemed to emanate from deep inside him, spreading to all his limbs, making them heavy and numb. His body started to instantly tremble, goosebumps running from his toes up unto his hair. His strike faltered, missing completely and once Obi-Wan landed, his feet were so numb they couldn't support him and he rolled backward ungracefully.

Already, he was reaching for the warmth of the Force, trying to let it heat the parts of him that were suddenly so overwhelmingly cold. Instinct had him up on his feet and running to get some distance between himself and the cybernetic general that was already hot on his heels. Chokt was slowly getting up, but clearly disoriented. Likely a concussion.

Spin. Twirl. Divert. Divert. Dodge. Slide. Flip.

Keeping Grievous from killing him took up almost all of his attention. Even letting a small part of himself try and focus on what had just happened was a great risk as the smell of ozone got far too close to his face covering. Movements hampered by bulky protection from the elements, Obi-Wan leapt backward, hoping to find a small hallway or something to give him some advantage and make Grievous trip over his many limbs, let Obi-Wan's smaller size provide greater mobility.

Deep in the Force as Obi-Wan was, once he let a part of himself start working on the puzzle of where all that cold came from, it didn't take long for an answer to present itself. The cold had not actually come from himself. It was being funneled into him.

Ducking and spinning, Obi-Wan let two blades slide off his as he slid around the cybernetic general.

But from where? Who had penetrated his shielding without his knowledge and what purpose did they have in simply making him feel like he was naked on Hoth? Because if anyone was good enough with the Force to slip into his mind like that, why not just kill him? Why make him desperately yearn for a hot bath, a cup of tea, and a warm blanket by a fire?

The Force provided the answer before the thought had even formed: Anakin.

Obi-Wan was going to have to go over shielding with the boy again. Chosen One or not, Anakin knew to shield his thoughts, especially in battle, as a moment's distraction could be disastrous.

A flip over the general, a Force push down the hall, and Obi-Wan took off running, seeking to check on Chokt while he had the time.

Reaching along his bond with Anakin, Obi-Wan sought to strengthen his shields. Really, how had Anakin gotten through without his noticing?

A violent shiver made him stumble, but he pressed forward.

Obi-Wan was surprised to see his shields were still in place. But the cold coming from Anakin's side of the bond was melding with the shields and passing through with barely a hesitation. His Padawan's ability to be inventive had yet again redefined how the Force could work. Really, Obi-Wan' shouldn't be so surprised. Since the shielding along the bond wasn't doing any good against the cold, Obi-Wan dropped it and devoted a part of himself to sending warmth to his apparently freezing Padawan.

Chokt was up and steady on his feet again. He ran a hand through his fur, turned to Obi-Wan, and nodded. Grievous burst through a wall and the fight was back on again.

Anakin was turning into an Anakin-cicle. This oh-so-simple pick-up mission had turned into a disaster. Grievous was there, droids were there, super battle droids were there, really the Padawan was expecting Dooku to show up and slice off his other hand. It was freezing cold, and Anakin did not like the cold, not one stinking bit. And while his master was off doing the fighting, Anakin was supposed to stop whatever was blocking the communications. Which was fine, he understood that he was more mechanically inclined than Obi-Wan, but Anakin always preferred a straight-up fight than sneaking into a place to destroy/steal/observe something and sneaking out.

Slicing into the mainframe had been a snap, but the communications relay was on a separate server that Anakin had had to find in order to disable. And where did it turn out to be? A heavily armed tower. This was fine with Anakin, as it had given him an excuse to storm the place. While Obi-Wan and Chokt were elsewhere in the facility (hopefully kicking Grievous's cape), he had made his way through a legion of droids up to the tower.

It had been easy. He'd sent off a message to Cody without any hassle and just taken a moment to bask in his success. Anakin even had thoughts of making it back to Coruscant and maybe finishing his month of leave from active battle by spiriting Padme away to some quiet retreat and spending some proper time with his wife. He hadn't been sure whether it would be a good idea or not to bring Obi-Wan along, since his master could use a break, but he might put a cramp on Anakin's style. It had been a nice little fantasy that was blown, quite literally, when some idiot droid thought it had been a good idea to blow up the tower with him in it in order to stop him.

The tower toppling all around him, Anakin had been trapped as it had collapsed down from the cliff to the frozen lake below... and then through the ice into the frigid water that he was currently swimming through while turning into an Anakin-cicle.

Had it been mentioned that Anakin did not like the cold? Because he didn't and it was not working for him. His thick parka and protective clothing (a.k.a. the stuff that was supposed to prevent the cold from reaching him) were now even more cumbersome as the weight of it, once drenched, was slowing his movements. Swimming through ice water was difficult to begin with. The added bulk needed to go and Anakin was left taking off the protective clothes just so that he could become more maneuverable.

Thankfully, as a Jedi, he could hold his breath. For a long, long, time, as Obi-Wan's good friend Bant had made him learn during those long swimming lessons she'd given.

Once free, Anakin was swimming down collapsed corridors, and dilapidated doorways to try and find a way out of this icy nightmare. Granted, the Force could keep him warm but that didn't change the danger of being in his current situation for any extended period of time. He was already missing one hand, he'd rather not lose the other to frostbite. Or a foot. Really, Anakin might like mechanics, that didn't mean he wanted more cybernetic implants. It was already beyond strange when he was tinkering on his own arm.

Frustrated at every collapsed ceiling and debris-choked hall, Anakin decided the only thing he could do was to use his lightsaber to start cutting his way out of his darkening prison.

Too bad lightsabers didn't really like to work underwater.

Grrrrr!

It was at this point that Anakin started to utilize his vast and extensive list of less-than-polite vocabulary.

Grabbing a light from a pouch on his belt, he went back to searching for an exit that wasn't completely blocked off. All the while, the cold was penetrating him, despite his best efforts. He was long past goosebumps and well into sluggish movements, and if he didn't focus on moving his toes and flesh fingers, he was certain they'd start going numb. He shielded the bond; Force only knew that Obi-Wan didn't need to be stumbling due to feeling his Padawan in trouble. Granted, he'd been shielding the bond since they'd separated, but he reinforced it.

Another blocked stairwell and Anakin rolled his eyes. He reached for the Force, primarily for its warmth, but also some level of guidance on just where he was supposed to find an exit.

To his surprise, he felt a steady stream of warmth coming from both the Force and somewhere else.

Seeing as he had nothing better to do at the moment, Anakin closed his eyes and looked inward to see where that blessed heat was coming from.

He gave a mental gasp and dropped his shielding along the bond, letting the heat of a bonfire wash over him and bringing feeling to limbs that were slowly freezing. Master?

Busy! Coming! was all Obi-Wan was able to send back, intense concentration filtering across.

Anakin silently huffed. There was no way he was going to need his master to rescue him. Similarly, there was no way he'd make Obi-Wan dive into this frozen pit of hell. He'd get out on his own thank you.

Anakin opened his eyes and turned to the debris blocking his path. He may not have a lightsaber, but he did have the Force. All he needed to do was push.

Obi-Wan flipped back again, reorienting himself with the direction of his lost Padawan. The bond was no longer shielded at either end (and how had Anakin still manage to funnel cold through both of their shields without his own knowledge?) and he needed to ignore the constant swearing and colorful commentary of Anakin trying to get out of his frozen underwater prison.

Knight Chokt was by his side, still woozy, but still fighting fiercely, if more defensively. He was following Obi-Wan's lead and Obi-Wan didn't dare share his plan with Grievous bearing down on them, blades twirling.

Duck. Twist. Parry. Block. Push.

For now, the best that Obi-Wan could do was lead Grievous on a merry chase in the vague direction of his Padawan. Chokt kept up, sensing a plan in Obi-Wan's push-and-run strategy. It was amazing that they hadn't run across more droids, but any they came across seemed to be rushing toward some other objective that neither Obi-Wan, nor Chokt, minded stopping by slicing them into pieces.

"Give up, Jedi slime!" Grievous roared.

"Not likely," Chokt shot back, ducking a swipe that singed his fur and darting back behind Obi-Wan's impenetrable Soresu swings.

And so they continued. Obi-Wan continuing to draw the cybernetic general along, keeping Chokt and himself safe from precise swings and swift thrusts.

At last, they reached an outer wall. Now was the tricky part, to make Grievous think it all accidental.

Two lightsabers bore down and Obi-Wan blocked them, letting them slide to the outer wall and guiding their cuts. With a flip of his own blade, looking like he was pushing Grievious's blades aside, there was finally a hole in the wall where even more cold air blasted through. Chokt seemed to get the idea and did likewise with the blades he was facing, making the hole even larger.

And, just as Grievous was distracted with Knight Chokt, Obi-Wan pushed through the Force.

The general howled out his anger at this as he plummeted to the icy lake below.

Waiting just a moment for there to be enough distance, Obi-Wan dove after him, hoping that the cold water would send Grievous packing to repair damaged circuits. But if that didn't occur, it was best to keep the cybernetic general busy while Anakin found his way to the surface.

Chokt joined him, his fur turning into tangles in the frigid wind.

Anakin held on to the bonfire coming from Obi-Wan and guided it to his extremities, trying to hold onto the heat as the cold kept trying to beat him down. This freezing underwater thing was long past old and well into ancient territory. Seriously, was it really so difficult to find or make a way out? Any time he used the Force enough to clear a path, there was another blockage beyond, and even using the Force to move things meant he couldn't use it to keep warm.

It was a frustrating cycle of getting nowhere or freezing.

Some choice.

And to make matters worse, the cliplight he'd been using from his belt was also starting to freeze, the battery draining unbelievably fast. By now, it was undoubtedly full night, meaning no light in his freezing prison, meaning it was only going to get colder.

If Anakin wasn't so busy trying to stay warm with the Force, he'd be using his extensive vocabulary to state exactly what he thought of the situation.

Swimming down another hallway, he finally same a spark of hope. In the distance, his cliplight caught a cracked window and the flash of scales from some type of fish beyond.

Good. A way out. It was about time.

Too bad Anakin forgot his master's many, many lessons on patience.

Halfway down the hall, the weakened structure above his head finally gave way; burying him and knocking what little breath he had in his lungs out.

Obi-Wan rolled onto the ice, letting himself slide. He also noted, to his irritation, that the giant hole had no doubt marked Anakin's entrance was already refreezing. That was not good. Chokt was nearby, but Obi-Wan couldn't tell where. Grievous was nowhere in sight, but then, that was no surprise given that it was full on nighttime now.

Reaching out to the Force, Obi-Wan could sense Anakin well below him (no surprise there) and Chokt off to his right, struggling to stand with his concussion. Grievous was near, but Obi-Wan couldn't get a clear direction. He moved closer to Chokt, helping him up.

"Can you sense him in this darkness, Kenobi?" the Jedi whispered.

"No, Chokt. Just his overpowering anger and frustration," he replied.

"Hehe. We are harder for him to kill than those before us. He shall not succeed. We will take him in."

"I'd rather just get away." Obi-Wan reached out further, trying to find Grievous, but to no avail. The anger was too overwhelming. "My Padawan is in trouble and you are not well."

"I'm fine."

Obi-Wan allowed himself to roll his eyes in the darkness.

There was a set of distinctive snap-hisses, and both Jedi turned their eyes immediately to three lightsabers glowing in the distance, illuminating the now very-frosty form of the cybernetic general.

"Jedi scum!" Grievous bellowed, racing towards them. Obi-Wan noted that he was not as fast as he had been in their battle to this point. Hopefully that meant that the cold was affecting him.

Both Chokt and Obi-Wan split up, letting the darkness conceal their movements. Force allowing, they'd be able to sneak up on the cybernetic general, not igniting their lightsabers till the last moment.

Grievous howled in frustration as he slashed at where the Jedi's voices where, only to find nothing.

"Cowards! Face me you slime!"

Not likely. Obi-Wan didn't care for subterfuge, but he understood its purpose and utilized it when necessary.

He used the Force to edge his way around the freezing hole in the ice. Anakin was a determined pulse below him, a stream of curses flowing when not using the Force for something. Obi-Wan still devoted a corner of his mind to sending the warmth of the Force to his freezing Padawan, which Anakin soaked up almost greedily.

Grievous held up two of his three sabers, trying to use their soft glow to see anything in the dark night, not realizing that Chokt was already sneaking up behind him. Obi-Wan kept edging around the hole, determined to take down Grievous swiftly so as to help Anakin. Keeping his steps light and silent, Obi-Wan was now in front of Grievous. So, with a silent nod to Chokt, he ignited his blade, drawing Grievous's attention, giving his fellow Jedi the chance to strike.

But Grievous was too good.

The one hand that did not have a lightsaber reached behind him, grabbing Chokt around the neck and squeezing. Obi-Wan surged forward, fiercely attacking, trying to distract the general enough for Chokt to escape.

But fighting three lightsabers did nothing. Grievous's cybernetic enhancements included the ability to be able to multitask with his many arms, and he easily kept Obi-Wan at bay as Chokt's life slowly drained from him.

There was a snap as Chokt choked, his life finally drifting back to the Force. Obi-Wan leapt backward, turning off his lightsaber and moving into the darkness once more. The green of Chokt's saber joined Grievous's arsenal and Obi-Wan allowed himself a brief moment to mourn before refocusing.

Attacking Grievous thus far had proved futile. Obi-Wan needed more training, and the cold and his bulky protective clothing were proving too much of a hindrance. So Obi-Wan did the only think he could think of.

He reached out with the Force and sent a wave if icy water at the cybernetic general.

Grievous did not like this. He did not like it one bit as his growl of indignation echoed across the frozen lake. Faintly, underneath the growling, Obi-Wan heard the grinding of gears and smiled to himself. He sent another wave of water, soaking him from head to toe, watching as the lightsabers flickered and died. Even this had Obi-Wan sighing in relief and grateful that Bant had shown him how to build a lightsaber that withstood being underwater. A third wave of water and Grievous started to retreat.

Thankfully, the retreat was hurried along as the spotlight of a Republic cruiser that was coming down from orbit. Good. That meant Anakin's distress call had worked.

"General?" Cody's voice came over his communicator.

"Cody, your timing is impeccable."

"Thank you, sir."

"Send down a squad to try and get Grievous and make sure you send a medical squad to my current location."

"Sir?"

"Yes, prepped for hypothermia, frostbite-"

There was a sharp snap of pain along the bond as something struck Anakin, knocking the wind out of him.

Obi-Wan grunted. "-and possible asphyxia."

"Sir, are you alright?"

"I'm afraid my Padawan has put himself in quite the bind."

Anakin shivered despite the fact that his heart was speeding up rapidly. His mental processes were slowing and he was well aware that hypothermia was starting to set in. Yet Obi-Wan's bonfire continued to warm his mind and the Force that Anakin could reach in his muddled state helped. It was why he'd been able to survive so long thus far.

He held on to the Force almost desperately. He wanted to be able to see Padme again. He wanted to meditate with Obi-Wan again, even if it was the meditation about what he'd done to the Tuskens. He wanted to survive, so he held on.

Turning, he used his dimming cliplight to study the collapse that had him pinned, but he couldn't see enough to try and move it with the Force, and he couldn't concentrate enough to even use the Force to sense things.

Despite the fact that he was freezing and underwater, Anakin could feel his body producing tears of frustration. Dammit, this wasn't how it was supposed to be. This was war. He'd fought and bled and lost and won. He was stronger than this. He had been working to get the power to keep his loved ones safe without even realizing that he needed power to keep himself safe enough to protect them. And why was he thinking about power? That was how he'd thought after he'd found his mother and she'd died in his arms. He'd been meditating to wash away that darkness. A Jedi did not seek power. It would simply be there when needed, not something to be grasped and held on to. Just trusted.

But Anakin had so much trouble with trusting. It took a great deal of time for him to warm up to someone enough to trust them. And despite all his time learning the Force, he still didn't trust it. Because anyone he did trust, he was at least equal with or better than. He could always force an issue if he had to, logic someone to his viewpoint or just ignore them and do what he thought was necessary. But he couldn't do that to the Force. One could never force the Force. It simply was there or it wasn't. And that made Anakin uncertain, so he did not trust.

He'd only just realized that in a meditation with Obi-Wan just last week. It had lead to a long and interesting discussion about how much will the Force had and whether the Force was sentient enough to think about what was best to do or whether the Force was simply instinct.

Come on, you idiot, focus! Anakin chided himself. Once more he reached out for Obi-Wan's warmth and the Force. He'd find a way out of this so that his master wouldn't have to come swimming down this frozen nightmare to rescue him.

Anakin flashed his light around again, looking for anything that might help or even provide leverage for him to move what was around him while he could still somewhat feel his fingers.

He shivered again.

Anakin!

Looking up (when had he put his head down?) Anakin saw the gentle blue glow of his master's lightsaber.

He smiled. Master!

Hold on, I've got you. His master, who hadn't been stuck freezing as long as him, waved a hand with ease, shifting the collapse and freeing Anakin. The frozen Padawan immediately started swimming forward, but was surprised to find his limbs stiff and jerky. Grrrr. Master, this is why I hate the cold.

Obi-Wan chuckled, swimming forward and wrapping an arm around Anakin's waist.

Come on. Cody is standing by to warm us up.

Eww. Master, I only want Padme to warm me up.

... Padawan!

Anakin laughed softly. Sorry, Obi-Wan. Hard to focus.

The arm around his waist squeezed him. And though Obi-Wan didn't say anything, Anakin could hear the concern and exhaustion running around in his master's mind.

Sorry to make you worry, he mumbled as Obi-Wan swam them to the surface.

No need to apologize Anakin. Not unless you've gotten a hold of my datapads again.

Anakin didn't respond and just snuggled into his master as best as he could.

Rest, my weary Padawan. You'll be just fine. We're almost there.

Author's Notes: Just another look at how strong their bond is getting. Anakin did a nice little wandering into why he wants power and how he's working on not wanting it that we didn't quite expect, but does show Palpatine's influence is still there, despite the fact that Obi-Wan and Anakin are working (unknowingly) to obliterate it. ^_^ Living in New England we have all ranges of weather, from hot and humid/uncomfortable in the summer to pleasant and gorgeous in the spring/autumn, to frigid and cold in the winter. Given how many times Anakin and Obi-Wan have ended up on hot/steamy planets like Tatooine, Geonosis, etc, we thought somewhere cold would be a nice change of pace. Also, by the end of the Clone Wars, Anakin is teasing Obi-Wan about how many times he's rescued him and we rather liked the idea of reversing that and having Obi-Wan saving Anakin for a change. ^_^

There are also a few unintentional, but nice call backs to earlier drabbles, such as Anakin crying out LOST instead of COLD, along with others we'll leave you to ponder. ^_^

Next week: Mace and Anakin have to work together. Somehow, one doubts that this will be easy. Or work.