Chapter Text
“Do you hear this?” Obi-Wan asked the troopers walking at his side.
The two shinies, Soup and Woe, looked at each other questioningly. The commander had warned them that the Jedi had special abilities and could feel danger coming, even an invisible one. They heard stories during training, they saw General Shaak Ti use the Force on Kamino, but seeing the Jedi in action during a battle was something else. They practically were mystical beings, and it was always strange to see Jedi observing or hearing something that was completely invisible to the clones.
Unsure of the protocol, the two men looked at the field, checking for the presence of commander Cody, but weren't able to spot him. Too bad, they would have preferred to have the Jedi Master address their commander about Force's stuff or whatever it was. Cody seemed to understand that matter better than any other clone in the battalion. Certainly thanks to his experience alongside Kenobi.
Unfortunately for them, there was only one big rule in the 212th's book: never let the General go and get trouble on his own.
Thus, before the man could disappear from their line of sight, they followed him into a particularly dark cave, far from the battlefield where the droids' carcasses were still smoking from blasterfire. The smell of burned metal was soon dissipated, as they got away from the plain.
It was very dark. The only sources of light were the blue bright blade of the Jedi's lightsaber and the troopers' headlamps, incorporated in their helmet.
They were all walking quietly, when the General suddenly froze.
"Sir?" Woe asked after several minutes of silence and stillness.
The jedi raised a hand in their direction.
"Hush!" He said, without looking at them. "I'm trying to understand the song."
Woe's eyes widened and he casted a worried glance à his comrade.
"Sir? There is no song…" Soup finally decided to speak, in a soft voice, as he would talk to a scared animal.
"He means we don't hear anything." Woe added, looking disapprovingly at Soup. They were new, they shouldn't upset their commanding officer with bad semantics.
But the General didn't seem to acknowledge their words.
"It's beautiful." He said, before moving forward. The Jedi only stopped when they reached what seemed to be a huge pit. Seconds passed and Woe thought that, since they could no longer go deeper into the cave, they would finally turn back. This place made him really uncomfortable, and he had only one desire: to take the loose. Unfortunately, that was not in their General's plans. Kenobi suddenly threw himself forward and jumped the distance which separated him from the other side of the abyss, leaving the two clones behind.
"Sir, where are you going? Wait for us !" Woe cried out.
"Please!" Soup almost immediately added.
But, the agile silhouette of the jedi soon disappeared.
"Oh no". Soup commented. "That can't be happening, the commander will kill us if we are not decommissioned first!"
"Don't be fatalistic, I'm sure the General will be fine."
"You're one to talk ! Should I remind you how you got your name ?"
"Hey! I'm not as pessimistic as everybody seems to think."
Suddenly, a shout and a groan, followed by an earthquake, cut through the quietness of the cave.
The troopers struggled to stay up. Fortunately, no rocks fell on them.
"You know what ? I take back what I said. I'm pessimistic and we are certainly going to die."
SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW
The song was magnificent. It was like a sweet candy to the ear. It made Obi-Wan remember his childhood in the Crèche, when the Crèche Master sang lullabies to the youngest members of the Order.
If he had any reluctances to follow this nice sound, they all disappeared really fast. He was barely aware that two troopers were following him, but he couldn't get his attention off of the song ringing in the Force. The sweet octaves and drums filled him with drunkenness. The cave was very dark but, thanks to the light of his saber, he could see clearly enough. Anyway, all of his senses were focused-- even absorbed- only on the sound, far from really caring about what surrounded him. He knew it wasn't befitting of a Jedi, and that he acted like a youngling. He knew it could be a trap, but he couldn't refrain himself from looking for the source of this beautiful symphony. He struggled against this strong desire, but the Jedi Master had no chance to win this battle. He had the impression that if he did not find the origin of this sound, he was going to die in excruciating pain.
He didn't even notice the depth of the pit he jumped without any thought or fear. He walked through the underground galleries until he found a strong light at the end of a tunnel. At first, he wasn’t able to look at it, the light far too powerful compared to the darkness that had accompanied him thus far. Finally, he deactivated his weapon and, hands outstretched to shield his eyes, walked in the direction of the strange phenomenon.
Mesmerized, he approached the spot and made out an object, conical or triangular in shape; he couldn't be entirely sure, in the midst of the flood of light. The latter was now orangish, and the Jedi’s eyes had acclimated to its brightness.
Obi-Wan squinted his eyes to understand what he was seeing. Was it a holocron? The artifact was red, with gilding on the sides.
“Interesting…” he whispered before taking a few more steps. No sooner had he advanced than a horrible growl filled the cave, replacing the sweet and pleasant melody by a much more aggressive one.
Coming out of the torpor that had seized him until then, Obi-Wan finally realized the situation.
“I have a bad feeling about this!” He said, as the earth began to shake. He slowly backed away, stepping away from what now looked like a danger.
Heat was emanating from the object, and it was getting redder and redder. And as the Jedi was about to leave, the artifact exploded, with a startling bang. It might be small, but the explosion was such that it threw Obi-Wan violently against the rock walls.
The Jedi fell back to the ground with a deafening crash. His body trembled with pain as he tried to open his eyes. His ears were ringing, he felt dizzy, and he couldn’t get back to his feet. The world was dark and silent. After trying and failing multiple times to get up, he gave up. Lying on the dirt, he quickly realized that he no longer felt his hands nor his legs. As time passed, his breathing became more and more difficult, and soon, he gasped for air. Was it his destiny? To die alone in this cave, after being lured away like a youngling looking for candies? Would someone find his body there? His last thoughts were of Anakin and Ahsoka, and, while a single tear rolled down his cheek, his mind rejoined the Force.
SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW
“No way we find him in this maze…” Woe said, sighing.
They tried to contact their commander, but it seemed that the comlinks didn’t work in this cave.
It’s been almost thirty minutes since they’ve been separated from the General and it took them almost half that time to figure out how to cross the precipice.
“General!” Soup shouted, hoping to hear Kenobi’s voice. But all was silent, except for the echo of their own footsteps.
“Look! Here!” Woe suddenly exclaimed. Soup pointed his headlamp to the same direction as his fellow trooper. A body was lying there, completely motionless. The clones approached it steadily.
“I think that’s him!” Soup said.
“Is he… he’s dead?” Woe asked, before looking around, in case of a potential hidden enemy.
“Don’t be stupid…” Soup answered, rolling his eyes. He leaned over and put a hand against the Jedi’s neck.
“Wait…” He added, checking for a pulse. “He’s not breathing!”
“So he’s dead!” Woe repeated. “I knew it! I have no luck in my poor life!”
“Shh..” His friend replied. “Maybe that’s normal for a Jedi? Maybe they don’t need to breathe?”
“What the kriff are you talking about? He’s human, he’s not breathing, he’s dead! What are we going to do now?”
“I think we should take him and get out…” Soup said, trying again, in vain, to use his comlink and send a message.
As the two clones discussed the available options, they suddenly heard a great inhalation coming from the dead man.
The two troopers turned their heads in his direction and Obi-Wan stood up slowly, moaning in pain.
“You see, idiot! I was right! They don’t breathe!” Soup said, indicating the Jedi with his hand.
“But he just took a breath!” Woe contradicted him.
Soup lowered his hand. “Well, yes, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean he needs it.” He answered, crossing his arms against his chest.
“What.. What happened?” The question was said in a clear voice with a Coruscanti accent. The general was now standing, his fingers pressed against his temples.
SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW
What happened? Obi-Wan felt as if he was coming back from the dead. Wasn’t he dead? Was it a dream? He really felt nauseous.
“We should ask that to you, General! You got away from us, and we missed the action!”
There were two troopers standing at his side. Who were they? Ah yes! Two shinies… He didn’t remember their names yet. Did they already have names?
“I.. I don’t remember…” The Jedi Master concluded, scratching his beard. “I think I was… attacked… by a…by a Gundark.”
He didn’t know why, but he remembered a creature. That was all he could think of. And the impression to be one with the Force… What was he doing in this gloomy cave? He must have heard something… Yes, that's it. He wanted to see something… But that wasn’t important anymore.
“I should be more careful.“ he chuckled. “Please, not a word of this adventure to General Skywalker!” He added, winking, before looking around. “I don’t know where we are, but let’s get out of here!”
The troopers shrugged, before following him.
“Can you remind me of your names, gentlemen?” He then asked, and as the discussion proceeded, his “resurrection” was quickly forgotten.