deercountry | ( open ) if you have something to say

Entry tags:

( open ) if you have something to say

Who: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (

facultative) and you!
What: November catchall
When: Throughout November
Where: Various

Content Warnings: violence
i. no fighting
[By this point Anakin is looking like a textbook example of what advanced corruption looks like. Fanged teeth, fever and glassy, bloodshot eyes and an unwillingness to seek treatment has most of the locals giving him a wide berth. He's already drawn his lightsaber against quite a few people who had tried to assist him.

Perhaps your character is minding their own business or perhaps they’re keeping a wary eye on a clearly volatile young man. Regardless Anakin will notice them for whatever reason.]

What are you looking at?

ii. potential for violence
[The next person that tries to convince him to seek help hangs suspended in the air as they try to grapple with the invisible force holding them by the throat.]

Do I look like I need help?

[Slowly Anakin increases the pressure and their eyes bulge before they catch another character’s eyes, one hand leaving their neck to frantically gesture for help.

Otherwise use i. or make up your own prompt! This is mostly so I know who doesn't mind things escalating.]

iii. obi-wan
[Anakin had been hard to locate last month with his bloodtype allowing him to seemingly vanish into thin air, but the new month had removed that advantage and it was only a matter of time before he ran into his old master.]

You look tired.

[He looks worse, but he feels better than he has in a long time. Releasing the weight of his previous indecision having a greater impact than the effects of corruption. He draws his lightsaber, revealing the red blade as he points it against Obi-Wan.]

Last chance to walk away.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ walk away. oh, how tempting that sounds. to put it all aside, to never confront the growing darkness in his padawan's eyes. add it to your list of failures, anakin's voice rings in his mind. failure. good but never good enough. never enough to stop the tide. never enough to save the ones he loved. and perhaps that is the destiny the force has chosen for him.

his boy, his boy.

so obi-wan must meet it, with blade in hand. he cannot look away. he will not. if this is to be their end, at least — at least this time, they'll meet it together. at least he won't let it end in the dark. ]

No.

[ the steel is in his voice. the light in his heart. ]

I will not.

[Once he'd been convinced of the love Obi-Wan claimed to have for him. Seeing him now like this convinces Anakin that was all a lie. If he loved him, he'd walk away and refuse this fight. If he loved him, he'd join him. He is never enough, he has to grab for what he wants or he'd lose it.

You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.

So this is what it comes to. What it was always meant to come to.]

Then so be it. I knew it was a lie.

[He doesn't give any sort of signal before he dashes forward, swinging the blade down with all his might.]

[ oh. how could anakin think that? how could he say that? but obi-wan can't let himself dwell on it. he must let those doubts go otherwise this battle is already lost. his light saber flares as he takes his position, blocking the blow with ease. but there's no easygoing looks or remarks in this battle.

there's nothing more that can be said. ]

[There's no hesitation or restraint in any of Anakin's moves. He fights to kill, he wants to see that agony as Obi-Wan's life fades from his eyes. Every swing is accompanied by the full force of his strength and every movement only considers his next attack. His defence is non-existent.

They know each other too well. Years spent fighting side by side has given them a unique understanding of each others fighting styles. He has to hit harder and figure out a way to break through his defences.]

[ violence crackles in the air. it is as if the force itself is on the edge, teetering between the light and the dark. blade meets blade in a vicious blow. obi-wan has specialized in the ultimate defense ever since qui-gon passed. he didn't allow for weaknesses.

but that won't work with anakin. anakin is his weakness. so he pushes back. ]

[Anakin isn't prepared for Obi-Wan to push back so soon. He's capable of doing better, but he's blinded by his anger and his parries are sloppy, but crucially the openings he leaves aren't small like a nick here or something that might end with him disarmed, but the kind that ends with a lightsaber through the chest if Obi-Wan so chose to exploit it. He doesn't want to die, but he wants Obi-Wan dead more than he cares about his own safety.

He can feel himself losing control of the rhythms of this fight and decides to introduce something he's far exceeded most others in, the Force. Even at his most unbalanced it's always heeded him. The next time he goes on the offensive he pushes down hard in an attempt to keep him in place.]

[ the force has always answered anakin's call and it hollers at obi-wan like a banshee shriek. obi-wan grits his teeth, his senses battered as he stills, trying to throw off the immense pressure. it presses all around him like a vice, stilling his incredible speed for a moment. ]

[He only needs that one moment. Gripping the saber in both hands he moves to jump over Obi-Wan's head and cut him down from behind.]

[ in that moment, the spell is broken and obi-wan's saber flashes to scrape anakin across his kneecaps. ]

[There's the sharp flash of pain before he tumbles to the ground. He needs at least a moment to gather himself and attempt to get back up which is time he likely doesn't have. So instead of mounting a defence while on the ground he holds a hand out and pushes back hard with the Force.]

Why won't you die already?

[ this time, obi-wan is ready, his own palm splayed forward. he doesn't answer anakin's question. he can't. the fact that anakin said it at all rends at his heart, the pain visceral in his heart.

but he cannot falter. he cannot. ]

[The Force is in discord, pushed into a situation that should never have happened. Neither of them have the upper hand in this.

And then gritting his teeth, Anakin pulls himself to his feet. His injuries burn, his movements slowed even as he takes that pain and suffering and channels it into the Force. There's a part of him that knows it's over already, but he can't change his course. He refuses to look for another option.

He takes one step forward and then another. Shoving everything he's feeling and letting that sustain him and his offence. His lightsaber gripped in his right hand while his left remain extended, he just needed to get close enough to strike.]

[ in the end, it's just pain and anger and fear. and while those emotions can grant power, the power it gives flickers like a candle in the wind. because obi-wan is done holding back. he curls his fingers inward, his saber drawn above his head. soresu. ]

It's over, Anakin.

You don't get it. The only way you can stop this is if you kill me.

[And he knows Obi-Wan won't give him that. He wouldn't be freed from his destiny, he will go on to cause untold misery to the galaxy and this moment will be the start of it.

So if he won't spare Anakin his future then he has no choice but to continue. He raises his lightsaber over his head, he has one chance for this. To fail here is to condemn himself forever, he had to move past the weaknesses of Anakin Skywalker.

Everything stills and then he rushes in to make his swing.]

[ your fear has now come true. it wants to skitter across his soul, burrow its tendrils deep. it wants him to quit, to spare himself the pain. oh, how he wants. but he's not a cynic on the run. and he is not just obi-wan kenobi, he is a jedi. like his master before him. it takes strength to resist the dark. and there's strength in him still.

the frontal stroke is a dangerous one when it comes fast and hard, but in obi-wan's soresu form, he is prepared. he is ready. do or do not. his fingers whirl, shifting his grip from one hand to the next and he neatly cuts a swathe over anakin's hands, knocking the saber away. ]

[The second time he loses a hand is a lot easier than the first. No pain as the lightsaber slides through metal and wiring, only outrage as he refuses to accept defeat. He still had one hand, he could still fight.

And then Anakin seizes and collapses. A very grumpy droid is revealed behind him and retracts his electro-shock prod now that his job is done. Artoo is deeply unhappy with the both of them right now. One of them has been acting like an idiot and the other thought he could deal with it all by himself when Artoo was right here. The droid stares at Obi-Wan and then beeps at him to hurry up before wheeling away.]

[ obi-wan nearly sags in relief, pushed to the limit. he wipes his brow, trying not to let his eyes skitter over anakin in worry. he had . . . a lot to process later. ]

Thank you, R2. As always, your timing is impeccable.

[ now to get anakin to maul. and hope . . . hope there is a chance. ]

[He'd been waiting for this. He figured either Obi-Wan would find a way to subdue his wayward apprentice or Anakin would kill his master, in which case they were all kinds of fucked, as Maul knew he might die if he went up against the man now calling himself Darth Vader.

When Obi-Wan hauls Anakin over to Maul's home, he looks from his longtime foe to the supposed Sith now missing his robotic hand and just shakes his head. He circles Anakin's prone form, prodding him with a claw or toe now and again as if assessing what he's got to work with here.]

You're no Sith. [He says contemptuously to the unconscious body.] You're a child throwing a temper tantrum.

[He looks back towards Obi-Wan.]

I must warn you I've never done this before.

[But they really don't have a lot of other options here. So Maul sits down near Anakin's head and focuses. In a way, summoning the magic this place here has given him is like connecting with the Force. He just needs to reach out and feel it, to mold it into the purpose he needs it for. He closes his eyes, hands hovering there, and when he feels like it's right there where he can touch it, he reaches forward.

His hands go transparent and physically go inside Anakin's mind, a sickly green glow now surrounding the two of them like the same hue Dathomirian Nightsister witches used when they performed magic. He can feel things inside Anakin, dark ugly things that he can only assume is the corruption in this place. He's started to suffer a little from it himself. He grasps the bits of it and starts pulling them out. They appear as clouds of black smoke which begin to dissipate as soon as Maul fully gets them out of the Jedi's head.]

[ he's too tired to manage a scathing remark about that, simply nodding his head and taking his place at anakin's side. his posture is stooped and the burn of his muscles is replaced by an ache that can't quite be banished. anakin — anakin wanted to kill him. would have kill him. if obi-wan had faltered by an inch, it would have been over.

the depths of such a feeling. ]

[Maul continues his work until he's sure he has gotten as much of the muck out of Anakin's head as he possibly can. Since this is his first attempt, he's not sure if he did this right or even if it will be effective, but since when have things ever been anything but desperate for him or Obi-Wan?

Finally, the last handful of black smoke dissipates into nothingness, and Maul opens his eyes. He feels drained in a way that doesn't happen when he uses the Force, like he's overstrained a muscle that has barely been used and exercised it far too hard.

He glances at Obi-Wan. That damn troll post has given him much to think about. Now is neither the time nor the place to address it with the Jedi Master but it's made Maul question his motivations for doing this in the first place. Had he done it merely because he wanted to balance things out with Obi-Wan, give him back something after Maul had taken so much away from him? Or was it something more that involved the way his feelings towards Obi-Wan had shifted from pure hatred towards something...something else? An emotion the Zabrak Sith Lord was loathe to give a name to. But at his core, Maul knows it wasn't pure altruism that had motivated him here today.]

That's all I can do. [He says softly.] We'll have to see if it worked when he wakes up.

[ with great patience, obi-wan reaches out to take anakin's hand, seared by obi-wan's own lightsaber. he could heal it a little. usagi had been teaching him, bit by bit. but anakin may not want to. anakin may not want anything to do with him. obi-wan presses a quiet kiss to anakin's knuckles before letting them rest upon his forehead.

then

he lets go.

obi-wan settles anakin's hand back down, crossing his own. hoarse, stretched, he responds. ]

Thank you.

[The intimate gesture, the same that Obi-Wan had done with Satine's corpse on the river of blood, makes Maul look away briefly and down at the ground. He didn't feel any guilt this time, he hadn't caused Anakin's downfall, but there is something that stirs in the back of his mind. It's a reminder that Obi-Wan has always had so much sorrow in his own life even when Maul himself wasn't causing it.

He finally catches Obi-Wan's eyes and holds his gaze there, unblinking yellow ones meeting the Jedi's steady blue gaze.]

I know you'll blame yourself for what he did because you think you are responsible for him. [Because that's what good people always did when they were the heroic type. They shouldered the responsibility for everyone around them even when they held no power to change what could or did end up happening.] But don't. He made his own decisions and you couldn't have turned him from this path.

[ tiredly. ]

I am aware of that. But to separate myself from the reality is — needs time.

[ there is no such thing as a perfect jedi. every one of them need time to process. to accept. and right now, obi-wan can't quite find it in his heart to do so. ]

[Maul nods. This has been one hell of a day for Obi-Wan, or really, more like one hell of a year considering all that has happened to him ever since he arrived here in Deerington and had to start dealing with Maul again.

Maul stands up, the motion fluid thanks to his mechanical legs. He takes a step or two towards Obi-Wan and places a hand briefly onto his shoulder. Maul's never been one much for the role of comforting someone but the Jedi is clearly in pain, shouldering a burden he should never have been made to deal with. He keeps it there long enough to show the gesture is meant benevolently and squeezes gently before he drops his hand again. Wordlessly, he steps back. His job here is done, Obi-Wan can deal with whatever state Anakin is in when he wakes up.]

[Anakin comes to slowly almost as if he's already aware of what awaits him. He's stiff and sore and he moves to throw a hand over his head except there's nothing there.

And then it all comes back to him.

There was no coming back from this. The knowledge that their worlds would wait for them had once been of comfort and was now a noose around his neck. There was no changing this. Not when he wasn't content enough to let it loom in his future, but to try and bring it about here and now.

He was no Jedi. Never had been.

He curls up into a ball in a futile attempt to block everything out. All the while one word echoes ceaselessly in his head.

Vader.]

( iii. mustafar intensifies )

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