Title: Rocky expedition
author: earlybird-obi-wan
Timeframe: Anakin is 15
Disclaimer: Star Wars = George Lucas.
Characters: Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ry-Gaul, Tru Veld
Genre: action
Keyword: climbing
Summary: a rock climbing training turns to disaster.
On a virgin planet in the vicinity of Coruscant a granite cliff could be seen. Two specs were moving along its face.
"Alright, put your right hand on that rock right above your head. When you have a secure hold, move you left foot up on the next ridge." Obi-Wan called up to Anakin, who hangs on the steep cliff wall. The rope that was secured to a safetyharness around the young padawans torso and legs sneaked up the cliff, preventing him from falling down. The end of the rope was wound around the thick trunk of a tree, and Ry-Gaul, who stood at the top of the hill made sure that it did not fray on the sharp rocks.
Anakin did as Obi-Wan told him and inched slowly up the cliff. He was wearing his gloves to protect his hands from the stones. Some of the older padawans had told him that this part of the training was the worst, but he had not believed them. What could be so difficult with climbing up a cliff? Well, he believed them now, and only wished for this nightmare climb to end. The bad things was, that the stupid cliff was huge. And he still had a long way to go before he reached the top.
"Now put your right foot on that rock outcropping to your right, and find a hold for your left hand after that. Careful now, Anakin." Obi-Wan called from his position under Anakin. He, too, was hanging in the cliff wall, similarly secured as Anakin was. But his rope was not under the attention of Ry-Gaul; another padawan, Tru Veld, had an eye on his security rope.
Anakin put his right foot on the outcropping and pulled his body up another half metre. The rope became lax and then tightened again when Ry-Gaul pulled at it from above. He could hear Obi-Wan climb up the cliff, and in the corner of his eye he could see Obi-Wan’s rope become lax before it, too, tightened again.
Obi-Wan secured his position on the cliff wall and looked up at Anakin. So far, his padawan had done well and proven to be a good climber. But that did not mean that he was not making mistakes. Sighing, Obi-Wan shook his head slightly and counted silently.
One, two, three, four, and there he goes.
Obi-Wan concentrated on his climb for the next few minutes, with one eye always on Anakin. He knew that Ry-Gaul had a secure hold on the boy. A slight warning from the Force made him cry out "Anakin! How many times do I have to tell you that you never, ever, put your weight on a stone without testing its strength before?"
Frustrated and tired, Anakin called back. "But it held!"
A myriad of emotions flickered through Anakin’s eyes and Obi-Wan could have kicked himself for being so stern. In that moment, Anakin must feel more like a child than he had in years.
Sighing once more and scolding himself for doing it at the same time, Obi-Wan tilted his head and peered at the sky. The dark clouds that had been mere shadows in the early afternoon, now loomed threateningly above them. They should not linger.
"Anakin, have you fallen asleep up there? Move!" His sharp voice ripped Anakin from his thoughts, and with an obvious grimace he pulled his body up the cliff. Inside his head, Anakin repeated his motto over and over. Find a handhold, test it, grab it, pull up. Find a foothold, test it, grab it, pull up. Find a handhold, test it, grab it, pull up. Find a foothold, test it, grab it, pull up…
For some more minutes they climbed up the steep wall. Anakin did as best he could, feeling Obi-Wan’s stern gaze burning into his back. So immersed in his task was he, that he did not notice the storm clouds that marched across the sky, or that the wind picked up steadily, until it hissed along the cliff. Only when fine droplets of rain began to splatter down on him and make the stones slippery, did he notice the storm that was about to break lose.
Panicked, he looked up the wall.
"Anakin! Do not look up! Concentrate on what you are doing, boy!"
Really, how many times did he have to tell Anakin this piece of information before it actually registered in the boy’s head? It was crucial to hold one’s balance while climbing.
Anakin snapped his head back down. Unseen by Obi-Wan, hot tears stung his eyes, and he closed them tightly. "Boy". His master, the man that he adored, had called him a mere boy. He was fifteen. He was no boy any longer!
Anger replaced his momentary shame on his face, and Anakin clenched his teeth. He would show his master that he was no boy any longer, and that he was very well capable of climbing this cursed cliff. Even in a storm! A bolt of lightning, closely followed by a loud roaring thundered across the sky, causing Anakin to flinch horribly.
With the wind picking up and the rain falling thickly and strongly by now, Obi-Wan had increasing problems to find hand and footholds, and he knew that Anakin did not fare better. Doing his best, he climbed on. How he wished to just climb up this stupid cliff as fast as he could, but his duty to help Anakin prevented him from doing just that.
Suddenly, he heard Ry-Gaul’s voice call down to them, blown away a bit by the raging storm. "Obi-Wan, the storm is getting too strong. We should interrupt this and begin anew tomorrow. Tru and I can pull up you much quicker than you could climb."
Obi-Wan tilted his head back and called up loudly.
"Aye, you are right, Ry-Gaul. Pull Anakin up first, he is nearer to the edge."
A moment later, the rope around Anakin’s body tightened, and he let go of his tight hold on the wall and let Ry-Gaul and Tru pull him up. Inch for inch he snailed up the wall, while the storm around him became stronger. Soon, the wind was howling around the wall, and the rain had become so strong that Anakin could not have made out the edge of the wall had he dared to look up.
Beneath him, Obi-Wan resumed his climbing. Although the storm was already strong, he had seen enough storms to know that this one had not reached its peak yet, and this it would soon turn even more fierce. It would take Ry-Gaul and Tru some minutes to pull Anakin up the wall, and every metre that he could climb by himself, would spare Ry-Gaul and Tru the time and strength to pull him up.
Another strong pull brought Anakin up the cliff, and then a bright bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and illuminated the scene. This time, Anakin could not withstand the temptation to look up at the ledge, regardless of what Obi-Wan had told him so many times.
Obi-Wan saw him look up at the edge of the cliff and breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that he was almost up. Only a few more metres. A few strong pulls. Shaking his head, Obi-Wan decided to let it go this time. There was time for reprimands later. What was important now was they made it up this cliff before the storm became too strong.
With wet hands, Anakin tried to help with his ascend as best he could. The wind ripped at his clothing and made him sway strongly. He felt as if he was on the deck of a starshipflying through a meteorshower, and not hanging on a cliff wall.
"And pull!" Ry-Gaul’s voice shouted from above and a pull went through his rope. A moment later, Anakin’s hands reached for the edge of the cliff wall, and soon strong arms grabbed his shoulders and his belt and pulled him onto the muddy ledge.
Anakin had barely recovered from his climb, when his eyes saw something had made his blood freeze in his veins. There, next to his sprawled body, was Obi-Wan’s rope. The rope hung over the edge of the cliff and vanished in the depth of the cliff, but that was not what was making Anakin’s eyes become as wide as saucers.
The rope was swaying from left to right, and every time the rope scraped over the stones, it frayed a bit more. The protective cloth that should have been sitting under the rope was missing, perhaps blown away by the strong wind. Obviously, Ry-Gaul and Tru had been too occupied with pulling himself up, to keep a close eye on Obi-Wan’s safety line.
Pushing himself to his knees, Anakin pointed frantically at the fraying rope. "The rope! Its snapping!"
In an instant, Ry-Gaul had let go of Anakin’s rope and was on his knees at Obi-Wan’s, struggling out of his coat to provide at least some form of support for the rope before he and Tru would pull Obi-Wan up. But, it was already too late.
Out of the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan saw a tall shadow rush along the edge of the cliff. For a moment he wondered what was going on, and if something had happened to Anakin, but then he felt the rope that held him shudder and tremble.
Not good…
With a sickening crack the last few strands snapped, and the whole rope swayed for a moment like whip, before it vanished down the cliff wall.
"Obi-Wan, your rope snapped!" Ry-Gaul yelled frantically and threw himself down on his stomach to peer over the ledge, trying to use the Force to anchor Obi-Wan to the cliff..
Uh, yes. Thank you very much for this very obvious statement.
Obi-Wan reached out using the Force, trying to hold on to the rocks, the stones, anything that would stop him from falling down this cursed cliff. For a moment he could hold on to a rock, but then the stone moved under his hands and with a shout he felt himself fall.
His faint, surprised yell reached up the cliff, and Ry-Gaul shouted frantically "Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan!!!!"
Then, the only thing that could be heard was the howling of the storm.
* * * * *
Ry-Gaul hastened along the edge of the cliff as fast as he could. There was an ascendable part a hundred meters to the south, and that was where Ry-Gaul was headed now so frantically. He had seen Obi-Wan reach for a handhold, but then his fingers must have slipped, for the next thing that Ry-Gaul had seen was Obi-Wan falling down the cliff and vanishing in the rain. And with the darkness that the storm had created, Ry-Gaul had not been able to see Obi-Wan hit the bottom of the cliff. But he knew that the fall had been high, and Ry-Gaul hoped that Obi-Wan was not dieing. His padawan would be devastated.
His feet slipped on the muddy ground, and Ry-Gaul spread his arms out wide to recover his balance. Along he hastened, until he finally reached the down sloping part of the cliff and descended it as quickly as he could. He had to lean his body back to prevent himself from tumbling down the hill, and when his feet hit the ground, he was out of breath. Still, Ry-Gaul raced on as fast as he could, back to where they had started this climbing lesson this very morning.
Rain hit his face and his hair was in disarray as Ry-Gaul reached the place where Obi-Wan must have landed. Panting, he stopped in his tracks and turned around in a circle, his eyes searching the ground. "Obi-Wan! Can you hear me? Obi-Wan?"
There was no answer but the raging of the storm and the feeling of a strong Force signature. A moment later, Anakin and Tru came to a muddy stop next to him. They let their eyes roam across the ground, but they, too, could not see Obi-Wan. "Where is he?" Tru asked breathlessly.
Ry-Gaul did not answer, but instead lifted his head and looked up the cliff. When Obi-Wan was not lying at the bottom of the cliff, then Obi-Wan must have stopped his fall somehow.
Without further thought, Ry-Gaul gestured at the ground, "You two stay here. I will go up there."
Panting, Ry-Gaul hasted up the cliff as fast as he could. Down here, the cliff was not as steep as it was further up, and he had climbed this particular cliff so many times in the past that he had not even to search for suitable handholds.
Hope sprouted in his chest and he climbed higher and higher without any sign of Obi-Wan. It could only mean that Obi-Wan had not fallen the whole way down, but had been able to stop his fall.
Another gale of strong wind clutched at his clothing, but Ry-Gaul climbed on. He looked up the cliff, steadying himself with his hands and feet, and that was when he saw it. The sight made his stomach lurch painfully, and his fingers dug into the crack in the cliff wall.
There, dangling over a wide rock outcropping, was an arm. Blood was mixing with the rainwater, running down the fingers and slowly dripping down to the ground. Lightning illuminated the sky, and it served to rip Ry-Gaul out of his paralysis. With a frightened yell on his lips he climbed as fast as he could.
Only a few minutes later he pulled his body over the edge of the outcropping and sank to his knees next to Obi-Wan’s unconscious form. "Oh, Obi-Wan. Please." Ry-Gaul said softly, before he let his eyes roam across his friend’s body.
Obi-Wan had landed on his stomach, his left arm dangling over the edge. It was obviously broken, and the blood that Ry-Gaul had seen came from the deep cut in the forearm, where the bone had pierced the skin. It shone sickeningly white in the lightning.
There was more blood on Obi-Wan’s clothing and on the rough stone, but Ry-Gaul could not tell precisely where it was coming from, or how seriously Obi-Wan was injured. The rainwater made it impossible to judge the amount of blood correctly. But what Ry-Gaul could tell, was that Obi-Wan had hit his head rather badly. A large amount of blood was clotting his hair, and the whole right side of his face was bloody.
"Obi-Wan?" reaching out, Ry-Gaul rolled his friend onto his back. There was a large gash on his forehead. With a slightly shaking hand, Ry-Gaul reached out and placed his fingers at Obi-Wan’s neck. He waited with his breath held, but then he sighed in relief. A strong pulse was pounding under his fingers and his Force signature was as bright as ever. Obi-Wan was alive.
"Obi-Wan? Can you hear me?" Ry-Gaul probed Obi-Wan’s face, but he got no reaction. Long years of being a Jedi and, even more importantly, Obi-Wan’s friend, had trained him in staying calm when others would perhaps lose their nerve.
With a detached calmness he got his medical pouch. Out came some bandages. One he wound around the gash in Obi-Wan’s head, the other around the break in his arm, and the third he wound around chest, to support the ribs that were surely broken. No one could fall this far down a cliff wall and suffer no broken ribs.
Leaning over the edge, he made out the forms of the two younger Jedi. "Tru! Anakin!" When both looked up to him, he continued, shouting against the howling of the storm, "He lives! But I need your help getting him down. One of you has to climb up here with a rope. I will climb down with him, while one of you holds the rope up here and the other stays down to help me when we reach the bottom."
Tru and Anakin exchanged a look of relief, that changed quickly into working modus. "Anakin, you will climb up and I will…"
But Anakin cut him off, "No, you will climb up and I will wait here."
Tru gave him a searching look, but then he shrugged, grabbed a rope out of his pack and hastened up the cliff wall. Anakin stayed behind, following Tru’s climb with his eyes. He was not entirely sure why he had refused to climb the cliff, but somehow he had not wanted to.
With tension rippling through his body Ry-Gaul watched how Tru climbed the cliff wall, reached the outcropping and swung over the edge. The Jedi gasped at the sight of the unconscious and bloody form of his friends master, but Ry-Gaul gave him no time to lose his nerve.
"Here, help me to get him into the securing rope." He said matter of factly, and together Ry-Gaul and Tru managed to get Obi-Wan secured in the sling of the rope.
Only a few minutes later Ry-Gaul’s tall form climbed down, followed shortly by the unconscious form of Obi-Wan. Tru was slowly letting the master down, while Ry-Gaul steadied him as best he could. It was a slow descend, and when Ry-Gaul finally put his feet on the ground, he needed a few moments to catch his breath.
In the meanwhile, Anakin had taken Obi-Wan into his arms and placed him on the ground. As soon as the rope was removed, Tru began to climb down, too. Together with Ry-Gaul, Anakin carried the unconscious Obi-Wan a bit further away from the cliff wall, to a place where they had prepared their climb. There was a small cave here, actually only a little more than an overhang, but it would provide them with at least some sort of shelter from the rain and wind.
Ry-Gaul began to speak with his friend, while he removed first the security-harness, the tunics and then the bloody shirt. More scratches and bruises were uncovered, and Ry-Gaul flinched in sympathy when he saw the big black bruise on the left side of Obi-Wan’s chest.
"This has to hurt, Obi-Wan. Why don’t you wake up and tell me where it hurts precisely?" But Obi-Wan did not wake, did not even move, and so Ry-Gaul checked for broken and bruised ribs. He was not very surprised when his searching fingers uncovered not only bruised, but some very definitely broken ribs.
"Seems as if you were not very lucky, Obi-Wan. But, it could have been much worse." Again, there was no reaction from Obi-Wan, and with a frustrated sigh Ry-Gaul began to inspect Obi-Wan’s legs and arms. Obi-Wan’s left arm was badly broken, with the bone piercing the skin. The bandage that Ry-Gaul had wound around the open fracture had at least already stopped the bleeding. The right arms was bruised, but it was not broken.
There were tears in Obi-Wan’s pants and blood encrusted the knees, but Ry-Gaul was sure that Obi-Wan’s legs were not broken.
Ry-Gaul removed the bloody bandage from around Obi-Wan’s head.
"How is he?" Tru asked, wiping the wet hair out of his face and huddling closer to the wall of the small cave to get out of the biting wind.
"He could be worse. And better." Ry-Gaul said, already applying pressure to the gash on Obi-Wan’s forehead to stop the bleeding. "His arm is broken, as well many of his ribs. And it would be a miracle if he has no concussion. We must contact the training-outpost at once"
Ry-Gaul grabbed his comlink and explaining the situation was relieved that help should arrive in two hours time. Two imensely relieved faces looked at him. They would be home in a few hours time. He looked up at the two Jedi. "I have done what I could. He will be fine for the moment, at least till he wakes. But we need to dry and warm him."
"I still have a thermal heater in my pack, it should have stayed dry during the storm." Tru said helpfully, and immediately began to search through his pack for it.
Half an hour later, the small cave was lit in an orange light, and the fire was crackling merrily. From now and then a gust of wind would bring rain into the cave, and the fire would smoke and sputter, but it burned. Slowly, the worst of the storm passed and night settled over the lands.
*
Obi-Wan groaned inwardly. Why was his head hurting as if a wampa had taken his club and repeatedly smashed it against his skull? Right after sitting on his arm, of course. Oh, and his ribs. Was the wampa perhaps still sitting on his chest, with one hand tearing his arm to pieces and with the other banging his head against the ground? Well, that would certainly explain the pain.
Just when Obi-Wan had accepted that there was really a wampa sitting on his chest, the other, more rational part of his brain told him that the possibility of a wampa sitting on his chest was very slim. Not impossible given his luck with such things, but unlikely.
Annoyed, Obi-Wan tried to block the voice out that told him repeatedly to just open his eyes and see for himself why his chest and arm were hurting so much, not to mention his head. No, he really did not want to. The fact that he as in pain although he was not even truly awake could only mean that he would be in even more pain once he woke up completely.
And did he want that? No. End of story.
But, well, what if something serious had happened? Wracking his brain, Obi-Wan tried to remember what he had been doing before the wampa had come for a visit, and slowly very slowly a few snatches and pieces began to fill his otherwise blank mind.
A wood, a cliff, rain, wind…and then he had been falling. Falling…down that cliff he had climbed. Obi-Wan frowned in his mind, wondering why he had thrown himself down a cliff, and why he had been climbing said cliff in the first place. After a few seconds he came to the conclusion that he would not throw himself down a cliff, not for a good reason, anyway. So, he had been falling because something unforeseen had happened.
And then, out of nowhere, the face of Anakin appeared in his mind, closely followed by all his other memories of the day, causing Obi-Wan to moan in frustration. No, he really did not want to wake up.
But, the next thing he felt was a cold hand on his forehead and another on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Ry-Gaul’s voice reached his ears, telling him to wake up. Obi-Wan gave himself a mental slap. He had obviously groaned aloud, and now his friend was trying to wake him up to face the pain. Obi-Wan began to wonder whether Ry-Gaul was really his friend; a real friend would let him fall back into blessed unconsciousness.
"Obi-Wan, wake up. Come on, my friend, open your eyes."
And to Obi-Wan own surprise, his eyelids followed that order and opened slowly, sluggishly. Traitors, he thought grumpily. When the first stab of orange firelight peeked in under his lids and reached his brain, his eyelids seemed to suddenly feel the same way, and he clenched them shut tightly. Another groan escaped his mouth, and Obi-Wan turned his head away from the fire.
Which was a very bad idea, given the fact that suddenly the wampa on his chest hopped up and down in excitement, took his club and began to hammer away happily.
The hand on his forehead vanished, but the one on his shoulder didn’t. It began to shake him harder, and Obi-Wan knew that Ry-Gaul would not stop this before he had not opened his eyes and talked to him. Deciding that the wampa would probably leave him alone once he had opened his eyes again, too, Obi-Wan tried once again to open his eyes, but this time he immediately locked them on the rather blurry image of Ry-Gaul instead of the torturing brightness of the fire. He blinked a few times, and when Ry-Gaul got no sharper, he simply gazed up at him.
"Obi-Wan, can you hear me? Are you awake?"
This is really a stupid question, Obi-Wan thought, but he swallowed and answered obediently. The sooner he spoke with Ry-Gaul, the sooner he could go back to sleep. Really, his whole body hurt.
"Hmmmm."
"I take that as a yes, then. Welcome back, Obi-Wan." Ry-Gaul’s voice was definitely too loud. Obi-Wan blinked again a few times, and this time the shapes around him became objects. A pack, a pair of boots, no, his boots, another pack, wood and there in the back, looking as if they were about to be eaten by a pack of hungry gundarks, were Anakin and Tru.
So immersed was he in his surroundings, that he almost missed Ry-Gaul’s next words.
"How is your head, Obi-Wan? Are you dizzy? Nauseous?"
Uhm, no, not until you mentioned it, thank you very much. Obi-Wan grimaced, but shook his head minutely in answer to the question. He could see Ry-Gaul give him a broad smile, before his friend leaned closer and peered intently into his eyes.
"Of course not, stupid question really. I apologise, Obi-Wan. Of course you have no concussion after tumbling down the cliff and banging your head on every single rock on the way down."
To Obi-Wan, this sounded slightly sarcastic, but the pounding in his head and the pain shooting through the rest of his body prevented him from uttering the words that ran through his mind. He blinked once more, before letting his heavy eyelids slid shut. Sleep was all he wanted right now.
"Hmmmm." He muttered, telling his friend with this inarticulate sound that he had indeed no concussion although he knew he had, before he fell asleep.
Ry-Gaul tucked the cloak tighter around his shoulders, before he sank back and sighed in relief. Obi-Wan would be fine. Grumpy for the next few days, but fine.
The rescuecraft arrived within the next ten minutes. A Jedihealer took care of Obi-Wan and stabilised him for transport to the temple. The three Jedi joined their injured friend in the transport.
A week later Anakin was running for the umpteenth time down the halls of the Jeditemple to the medward. Ry-Gaul and Tru were also visiting. In fact Tru and Anakin had been doing this since Obi-Wan was out of surgery for the entire week “entertaining” Obi-Wan endlessly with stories about Ry-Gauls teaching of climbing, saberfighting and asking Obi-Wan the same question every time.
“Master, Obi-Wan”
Sighing inwardly, Obi-Wan blinked his eyes open. "Mhmmm?"
"When are we going to praktice sabertraining."
"In a few days, tomorrow I will be released from this place." Obi-Wan said calmly. Anakin nodded, then turned back and made his way over to Tru.
Obi-Wan followed Anakin’s retreating back, but when he eyes fell on Ry-Gaul, he narrowed them menacingly. Ry-Gaul was vainly trying to suppress the smirk that threatened to escape, and when Obi-Wan lifted a frustrated eyebrow, he could not suppress it any longer and laughed heartily. The two padawans gave him strange stares, but Ry-Gaul ignored them and made his way over to Obi-Wan.
Sitting down next to him, he gave him a broad grin. "Nice padawan, he is, is he not. Always so impatient, Obi-Wan."
"Ry-Gaul, friend or not, I am going to kill you. Slowly. Painfully." Obi-Wan ground out, causing Ry-Gaul to laugh out loud once more.
"Oh come now, Obi-Wan. I only meant to make your days with those two rascals as funny as possible."
"You will understand if I forget to thank you for that, won’t you?" Obi-Wan yawned, and Ry-Gaul patted him on his leg.
"You should sleep a bit, Obi-Wan. I promise to keep the boys entertained for some time more. Promise."
"Mhmmm." Obi-Wan made, but then he managed a smile. "Thank you for helping with Anakins training and for coming this day. Now I have you to keep me entertained."
"You’re welcome, Obi-Wan." Ry-Gaul got to his feet. "And well, I could not leave you alone with them for so long."
"Why not?" Obi-Wan asked, looking up at his friend.
Sighing deeply in mock suffering, Ry-Gaul tilted his head to the side. "To keep you company when you are injured is no light feat, Obi-Wan. You can be quite grumpy, you know. It needs a real hero to do that."
And with that, Ry-Gaul made his way over to the two young padawans, while Obi-Wan muttered an ‘I am not grumpy’ under his breath. He watched how Ry-Gaul gave Anakin and Tru a hearty slap on the shoulder, and heard his unnecessary loud words float back to him.
"That was quite a feat! A task worthy for a real hero!"
Groaning, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep. But before he finally fell asleep, he vowed to not only apologize to Anakin and Tru, but also find a holopad to pin down all the numerous ways to get his revenge on Ry-Gaul he was able to think of.
Grumpy, he was never grumpy. He would be released from the medward and "After all, tomorrow is another day."
The End.
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