"Can anyone sense him yet?" You asked for the upteenth time, trekking along ahead of everyone.
You had to crane your head back to see Obi-Wan and Ahsoka shake their heads, focused on reaching out with the force to feel for Anakin. So far, there was no sign of him.
There was nothing but ashy, barren moonrock for miles and miles— you had been stepping over craters and kicking up dust for the past few hours, legs growing sore and feet throbbing with pain. A violent wind blew back your hair every so often, intensifying the already frigid atmosphere of the moon. Even the stars in the dark sky above seemed to blink back at you blankly.
"Anakin," you tried the com again. "Anakin, please come in."
Nothing.
"We're trying to find you, Anakin."
The thought of him all crumpled up, bleeding out in the shell of his ship urged you onward with a newfound strength.
This is not how the Chosen One would die-- you would make sure of it.
"Wait," Ahsoka called out. Your head snapped to her. "I can sense something up ahead."
You didn't wait for anymore before you were taking off, thighs burning with the effort it took to scale the mound of moonrock that hid whatever Ahsoka felt from view.
"Wait, Y/n!" Obi-Wan called out. You knew he would tell you it could be dangerous, but your pounding heart could not wait. If there was any possibility it was Anakin...
You skid to a stop on top of the mound, stomach tanking at the sight.
First there was the ship, a beaten, broken hunk of metal similar to the back half of your own. Just like you had said, the whole right wing had been torn off of his beloved interceptor, somewhere lost in space or burnt to a crisp right now.
The engine was no longer smoking, but bits and pieces of metal from the bottom were scattered in every direction for miles, no doubt evidence of the crash landing. The ground beneath it had been dug into a deep pit, pebbles of moonrock falling into the hull.
Then there was the blood.
It was dark and thick, dried in a large puddle as it reached out into the cracks of the chalky ground. Streaks of it dragged out and away, as far as you could see.
Your lungs lost all of their air, and you skid down steep embankment, scraping your bottom on the rocks as you took off into a dead sprint for the ship.
"Anakin!" you called, already knowing it would be met with silence. That blood was most definitely his, and as you got closer, you could see something you had missed before--
Footsteps.
A lot of them, if you had to guess, by the way the long, curved patterns crowded around the splatters of blood. You dropped to the ground by the biggest one, studying the outline of moondust on one of the steps. It mixed with blood, turning it a greyish-pink.
You looked up at the other three as they approached you solemnly. Ahsoka was still supporting Padmé's weight, and Obi-Wan was clutching at his arm.
"They took him," you deduced, gaze following the footsteps and the blood. It disappeared into the horizon.
Suddenly, there was a small whirring sound. Like a confused little chortle, and then a beep of surprise. All three of your heads whipped around at the sound, delighted to see a blue astromech flying out of the remains of the ship.
He whistled happily, landing upright on his legs, and then raced over to you.
"Artoo!" Ahsoka exclaimed, patting him on the head. ""How are you, buddy? Everything okay? Wire's all intact?"
He beeped brightly, coasting back and forth a bit in place to prove he was fine.
"Artoo... your status display shows that something's off. What's wrong?"
The astromech whirred his head around on the rotation ring as if shaking his head, dismissing her worry. Instead, a utility arm shot out and pointed to the blood patterns on the rock, cooing softly.
"It's Anakin's right?" you asked him gently. "Did you see what happened to him?"
He hesitated, then pointed at the path more insistently.
"So it's bad."
Another quiet whine.
"We have to find him then, quick," you stood up, dusting the moondust off of your pants. Artoo scaled in front of you, and you nodded his head in agreement. "If it's as bad as it looks, he might not have a lot of time left."
"All of this blood... is his?" Padmé asked, clearly startled by the sheer amount of it on the ground. You remembered a time when you couldn't believe a human could bleed so much and still live, too.
"Most definitely," Obi-Wan answered. He'd seen Anakin injured and bleeding enough to be able to tell straight away. Plus, his force signature was all over it.
"No time to waste then," Ahsoka tugged Padmé forward, catching up with you and Artoo. Thus began another few hours of walking, but this time you had a purpose and a direction. The blood trail kept up for a good while, growing brighter and wetter the further you went on.
After an hour, you squinted your eyes into the distance, noticing a few unnatural curves on the horizon. "Is that a village?" you asked, and Ahsoka hummed in confirmation.
"It must be where the Night Crawlers live. I would say we should avoid it, but..." the trail led directly to it. They definitely took him.
It was then that you wished you had listened to what Rex said earlier. His advice to keep a blaster with you at all times would have been real useful right now if you had actually listened. All you could do was rely on Ahsoka and Obi-Wan's lightsabers, but even Obi-Wan wouldn't be as effective with his broken arm.
Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing, though, and you surged toward the village as a unit. Artoo ran up ahead of you, scanning for life forms in case anyone decided to jump you.
You doubted that would happen, though. Everything was so quiet out here except for the howling of the wind. It was almost like you were in lost in space, never to be found again. You would definitely hear it if someone were to sneak up on you, especially Ahsoka and Obi-Wan with their special senses.
Artoo stopped suddenly, turning around and shrieking in alarm just a second too late.
The Night Crawlers were on you in a second, first going for Ahsoka and Obi-Wan and shoving them into the rock. They hit the ground hard with a yelp and a groan, hands pinned behind their backs from the surprise. Padmé startled away from them, only to bump into another Nightcrawler that held her captive with a huge, claw-like arm to her neck.
You were restrained, too, forced to your knees with your wrists locked together with some sort of metal device, similar to what was now being put on everyone.
This felt all too familiar.
Artoo was your last hope, but even he was no match for the ginormous albino creatures. He zapped one of them, but it picked him up and fit him under its arm like a football. He whirred and thrust his jetpack in defiance, but he truly had lied about not having any loose wires. The pack sputtered and spat a cloud of smoke, and then nothing more.
Ahsoka and Obi-Wan fought against the restraints, but gave up quickly. They were too weak from the crash, their lightsabers were now being confiscated, and if anything... these creatures would lead them straight to Anakin. They would figure out what to do when they got to him.
"I was really hoping they'd be-- erg-- nice," you grit as the Night Crawler behind you wrenched you to your feet, shoving you forward.
"Maybe they had a bad day," Obi-Wan offered sarcastically.
"Or maybe they just don't like outsiders. And they plan to kill us and eat us."
"We can speak your language," one of the creatures answered Ahsoka, unamused. It's voice was low and warbled, like how noise sounds underwater. You shivered involuntarily.
The Night Crawler handling Obi-Wan was holding onto his broken wrist to keep him up, and you cringed at the way it bent into the handcuffs. How he wasn't screaming in pain was beyond you, but he definitely didn't look like he was enjoying it either. In fact, his face was pale and crumpled and he was sweating a little.
Your hands clenched into fists in your own cuffs. The stupid buggers-- you'd rip each one limb from limb if it meant saving your friends.
They marched you straight into the village, some crawling on four legs ahead of you, while others walked on two legs and kept you in line. You glared at the villagers around you as they paraded you through the square, and then into some large, metal building down the alleyway.
It took you a moment for your eyes to adjust to the complete darkness as they shoved you inside. The lights flicked on with a loud bang from the fusebox, and you reeled back in horror.
Anakin was hanging suspended in some purple forcefield, beaten up and bloodied down to the last hair on his head. His clothes were torn and burned, face soaked with blood, completely unconscious.
Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were being forced into similar holding pods, punched and kicked when they resisted, and it continued on even when they stopped. You squeezed your eyes closed, unable to watch as you saw them take it, over and over again. The gut, the face, the legs-- nothing was spared.
"Stop!" You couldn't take it anymore. The thuds of hard, white claws against their bodies, the broken gasps and cries of pain. You lunged forward as if to help them, met with a backhand to your own face.
"Stay in line and you won't receive the same punishment," the creature that hit you said.
"Punishment? For what!"
"The Jedi have destroyed our sacred moon. They must pay."
You looked at it incredulously as it nudged you forward into your own purple holding pod. Your muscles immediately locked up, frozen and helpless from your neck down.
"I was in the ship too!" you argued. "So was Padmé. We all destroyed your planet."
"Not the ships," it warbled, coming closer. "Years ago. The red man killed our brothers and sisters."
"The red man?"
"Maul," Ahsoka coughed weakly. Her head hung limp, breathing hard as she recovered from the attack. Obi-Wan was out cold.
"He landed here and destroyed entire villages because we could not tell him where a certain Jedi was, and refused to house him."
"So you're taking it out on them?"
"The Jedi must pay."
You wanted to lash out again, enraged by the unfairness of it all. Maul was a Sith-- a psychotic one at that-- no wonder he reacted so harshly to their lack of knowledge and hospitality. But the Sith and Jedi were complete opposites. They had to know that.
"That man was evil," you tried again. "These Jedi are not. Please, let us go and we promise not to hurt anyone."
"What did I say about staying in line?" The creature stalked over to Ahsoka, and landed another blow to her stomach. She gasped and whimpered softly. "Each time you open your mouth, this one gets a punishment."
You pressed your lips together, defeated. This was looking worse and worse as time went on. What were they planning to do with you? How would you get out of this?
You wouldn't give up that easily, though. Shifting your eyes to Padmé who had remained quiet this whole time, you pleaded with her to say something.
Fear flashed across her eyes, but she blinked a few times and took a deep breath, knowing what was on the line. She leveled her gaze at the creatures, speaking from deep in her chest.
"I am Senator Amidala, former Queen, of Naboo," she spoke, voice echoing high and strong throughout the room. It surprised you, how quick she could mask her fear with strength. "I demand you set us free, or the entire Republic will demand compensation for your treatment of us."
The creatures scuttling around the room seemed to pause. You watched them look at each other, then back to Padmé. "A Senator? And why should we believe you?"
"I have no proof other than myself. If you want to take the chance on not believing me, it is you who will pay for your mistake."
"What is it that the Republic would do, exactly?"
You almost smiled-- they were scared.
"Seeing as how you've got three of their strongest warriors locked up and injured like this, they'll send for you with armies. They'll come for us, whether we're dead or alive, and treat you like an enemy of war. They'll mow you down," she clarified. "And not a single one of you will be spared. And that's not even to say what the Naboo Guard will do once they hear of my capture. You'll have an entire planet after you, storming in to burn what the Republic left behind. You have captured important people, and you won't get away with it."
You shivered at Padmé's words. It wasn't entirely true, what she threatened. The Senate would never approve to send the army to a slaughter like this, and Naboo would not do it either.
Her words were working, though.
"We are not a part of the war. We don't deserve to be a target."
"You will be if you kill us. Whether you like it or not-- they'll believe you're working for the Separatists."
"We do not understand your conflicts," the head Night Crawler hissed, crawling up to her face. She flinched back a fraction of an inch, blinking at the creature in defiance. "Who is this Maul you speak of? Who are these Separatists? We don't know! We don't know!"
"You know what the Jedi are," you grumbled, deciding it was safe now to speak. "How could you not know anything else?"
"The Jedi are well-known far and wide across the galaxy. They are supposed to be peacekeepers. Why are they fighting a war?"
"We're fighting for peace," Ahsoka grit, voice still weak and raspy. "And you're about to destroy your own."
The Night Crawlers converged in the middle of the room then, whispering to each other. They snuck glances all around, rubbing their wings together, nervously chatting away. When the head one pulled back, they had seemed to come to a decision.
"We will set you free."
"And you'll give us a ship out of here," Padmé added. You had to give it to her-- she was really saving your asses right now.
"We have limited--"
"You'll do as I say, or you'll perish."
It hung it's head, and then nodded. "Okay. We'll give you a ship out of here... On one condition."
You raised an eyebrow. "Did you not just hear, 'Or you'll perish?'"
They all ignored you.
"To make sure that we will remain untouched by the Republic or your planet, we need a token of your faith," it said, scuttling on over to Anakin. A few of them began to reach their claws into his pockets, hands all over him, searching for something useful.
They did the same to Obi-Wan, then Ahsoka, and you growled violently before they could reach you. "Do not touch me."
"Hands. Off." Padmé declared. Her voice echoed again, almost making you flinch. It was hard and steely, threatening even. It didn't even sound like her.
They all shrunk away from everyone, and you relaxed your tensed muscles, scouring your body for anything that you could hand over to get you out of this mess.
All you had on you was your medic suit, the com, and your badge.
"I have nothing to give," you spoke, directing this to Padmé worriedly. "Unless... my badge..."
"It is not useful to us. We need something of importance to you personally, so that we know you mean your words."
To be fair, the badge was of importance to you. But if they didn't want it..."
"I have something."
Padmé's voice softened just a little bit. She looked like she regretted even speaking as multiple of them approached her.
"Tell us."
"It's around my neck. You can take it off of me."
You watched, curious as a Night Crawler reached behind her and snapped the string of something in half with it's claw. It fell off of her neck and into its hold, a tiny japor snippet necklace with an intricate swirling pattern carved into it.
Her eyes were trained on the necklace, studying it for the last time. She still looked determined to get free, but the tiny wobble of her lip gave her away. That was something very, very important to her.
"What is it?" the crawler asked. She swallowed hard and blinked back her emotion.
"A necklace from someone I love. It's supposed to bring good fortune."
"Ah. Interesting."
You understood immediately what that was-- her last piece of Anakin. You had seen the necklace before because she always wore it under her clothes, hidden from view, but she never mentioned where it had come from. You always just assumed it was something her family had given her from Naboo to remind her of home, but now you knew differently.
"Okay, wait, give it back," you couldn't bear the look on Padmé's face now. She looked so crestfallen. "You can have anything else-- take my hair or whatever."
"No. This will do."
"Wait but--"
Your knees hit hard metal, cutting you off. They stung with the impact, your muscles throbbing as mobility returned to you again. You winced in pain, but ignored it as you shot your head up to see that Obi-Wan and Anakin were passed out face-down on their own respective pedestals.
Pushing past the crowd of walkers in your way, you crossed the room in quick strides and hovered your hands over Anakin's back.
How could you even move him?
He must be injured somewhere really bad, from where the blood came from. And although his face was bloody, you had seen it was because the gash on it had opened back up.
No-- the blood had mostly likely come from his back or torso somewhere, and you had to be really careful you touched him in case anything was broken on the inside. One wrong move, and it could pierce an organ and end his life.
"We need a stretcher of some sort," you ordered the closest crawler to you. Then you glanced at Obi-Wan. "Make that two."
It dropped to four legs and crawled away, and you returned your attention back to Anakin.
Carefully pressing a hand between his shoulder blades to let him know you were there, you counted the rising and falling of his back to make sure he was breathing still.
"We're here now, Anakin," you told him softly. "You're going to be okay."