Looking back, Obi-Wan couldn’t really remember much of it. There was just a blur of pain, along with this vague notion that he had to keep getting back up, no matter what happened.
There was so much at stake, after all, and Obi-Wan couldn’t afford to stop—not even for a moment. Each breath rattled deep in his lungs, his legs trembled and burned with every step, with every attempt to get his feet back under him.
In this case, when Anakin’s life was at stake, Obi-Wan could not afford to fail.
Staggering forward, keeping his weight almost entirely on his right leg, Obi-Wan pressed a trembling hand to a bleeding wound on his left side, gritting his teeth. The Prime Minister’s ambush had caught him completely off-guard, and although Obi-Wan managed to lose his pursuers for the time being, there were consequences.
It hardly mattered, though, because Anakin was depending on him. He needed to find him, before it was too late, before—
Obi-Wan’s knees buckled, and he crashed back onto the floor with a gasp, clutching at his head with his free hand. Around him, the corridor blurred into a mass of grey.
The Force trembled.
Get up, it whispered, sending a shiver down his spine. Get up.
“Get up,” he rasped, echoing the Force’s words.
Gritting his teeth, Obi-Wan crawled over to the nearby wall, ignoring the nauseating waves of pain that passed through him with each movement. With a groan, he slid his free hand up along the wall, grasping desperately at anything he could hold onto.
Obi-Wan paused, taking a moment to focus on his breathing.
Then, he staggered up to his feet, immediately collapsing sideways against the wall.
Breathe, the Force whispered.
Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan breathed.
There was little time to waste. Anakin was in trouble, and Obi-Wan needed to find him. Anakin was his padawan, his responsibility, after all.
tw: major character injury tw: brain injury tw: blood tw: implication of being mute
Day Five: Collapses / Keeps Getting Back Up
The debris came out of nowhere. Even now, Anakin doesn’t know how he missed it. He had been leading the line, shouting orders over the blasterfire. And he’d even heard the tank blow up on his left. When the durasteel made impact with the side of his head, he saw stars. The world darkened around him and he crashed to the ground. Dimly, he heard the concerned voices of his men, and the lighter sound of Ahsoka asking if he was alright. He had to get up. The battle was still continuing around him. Ahsoka had stepped in front of him and was blocking the blasterfire to keep him from getting hit. He could hear her sabers blocking the bolts. He needed to get to his feet. But he couldn’t see past the floaters. He couldn’t stop the world from spinning. He needed to get up. Taking a breath, he started to get to his feet. The world tilted before his eyes and he was suddenly back on the ground. He’d apparently fallen back down hard enough that Ahsoka heard him collapse.
Curio shrugged and slowly got to his feet. His head felt like it was going to explode, but did not let any of it show. Shaun would most likely just force him to quite.
He did not want to. Not after the incident where they were caught and they tortured him. He couldn’t remember what really happened after Kade broke them out. There was some flashes every now and then. Things like being in a car, shadows moving through him and then that floating feeling of being teleported.
“This is not a good idea, Cure” Shaun said, sitting back in his seat, arms crossed.
“I don’t care” Curio said “I’m going to do this. Even if they keep on knocking me down, I’ll get back up”
Roland groaned. “You are just as thick headed as always” he said, tilting his head back as he looked up at his friend “You do realize that you are going up against one of the most powerful graduate students, right? That guy out there is the most powerful water and ice user in the school”
“I know that”
“And how do you plan on beating him?” Roland asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t know”
“Wow, your strategies are just mind blowing”
“Shut you asshole”
“Stop it you two” Shaun said “Cure, don’t do anything stupid out there”
Curio nodded. “I’ll do my best, but I cannot promise anything” he said “As Row said, that one of the strongest graduates out there...”
“Not as strong as Kade” Roland said smugly.
Curio smirked. “Not as strong as Kade” he said and turned towards the arena “I’ll see you two later”
“We’ll wait in the infirmary” Shaun said dryly.
Roland snorted, giving Curio a sarcastic wave. “Don’t get killed” he said “I’d hate to tell Fiona you messed up”
“Screw you, Row” Curio said as he started walking.
Roland just started laughing. “I’m serious, Cure” he called after his friend “Don’t get killed”
***
Curio barely had time to react before he slammed into the wall behind him. He could feel something in his chest snapping. A bolt of pain ripped through him and he crumbled to the ground.
His body did not want to move.
The pounding in his head, had turned into a blinding, mind-numbing pain. The light around him was to sharp, the sounds to loud and colours to bright.
“Just give it up already, LightningSpeed” Crush said as he slowly made his way over to where Curio lay “You never should have taken me on, third year”
“Screw you” Curio groaned slowly pushing himself to his feet again.
For a moment the world turned and he fell back against the wall. It felt like the only steady thing in the world. He needed to pull himself together if he wanted to prove to Shaun that he’s fine fighting.
“Well then, little LightningSpeed, why don’t we continue this little beating of yours?” Crush asked, grinning as ice formed beneath his feet, and the temperature around them dropped blow freezing.
Curio clenched his jaw. There was one thing that he could use against this asshole, but he didn’t want to let everyone know that he could do it.
On the one hand, Shaun would kill him if he did anything stupid and he wasn’t sure that his body would be able to take it as the moment. On the other, he really did not want to lose to this egotistical bastard.
He pushed himself away from wall, flicking his wrists. Lightning crackled around him.
“Bring it on, pretty boy” he said, spitting out some blood.
The lightning started flickering faster and faster around him. It almost felt like it was recharging him, giving him more energy.
Ice formed on the ground.
Crush grinned and then shot forward. Curio jumped back, lightning struck the ground behind Crush. As soon as Curio’s feet touched the ground, ice reached up to meet him.
He jumped back, disappearing into the lightning again. Every single time he stepped out, ice was waiting for him.
They kept this up for a few minutes before a blast of water slammed into Curio’s chest, throwing him down again. Crush were on him before he even realized what happened.
The other guy threw him through the air and Curio crashed into the ground again.
Curio struggled back onto his feet, one arm hanging limply at his side.
“LightningSpeed, of LightningSpeed” Crush sang “Just how many time to I have to knock you down before you stay down?”
“Until there’s nothing left of me” Curio growled.
“You are a mess, third year” Crush said “There’s no way that you can fight back against me anymore”
Curio took a step forward, only a lightning bolt of pain to shoot up from his ankle and his leg gave in under him. He lay on the ground gasping. There was only one of two options left.
Mimicry or the ice lightning.
Not that he was sure he’d be able to manage the ice lightning again. Shaun would give him an earful if he used mimicry again. Last time had him out cold for almost two days.
Crush knelt next to Curio, with a patronizing smile. “Stay down, Curio” he whispered.
Without thinking, Curio slammed the heal of his hand into Crush’s chest, releasing a burst of lightning. The other guy flew back and Curio struggled back onto his feet.
He managed to catch Crush of guard this time. It was not going to happen again.
Taking a deep breath, Curio reached for his mimicry. For a moment he could feel the power surging through him. Then it disappeared. The cold around him, sucking away all and every bit of static for his lightning.
“JUST STAY DOWN!” Crush screamed as ice grew from the ground, encasing Curio in it.
***
“CURIO!” Shaun and Roland called out as Curio disappeared into the ice.
As they watched, Crush walked over to the ice encased Curio, hands folded behind his head.
“You should have stayed down, little LightningSpeed” he said.
“That bastard” Roland growled getting to his feet, ready to jump into the arena.
“Roland” Shaun snapped, grabbing Roland’s arm, pulling him back “Idiot, take a look”
Roland paused, looking at where Curio was trapped inside the ice. It took him a moment before he noticed the flashing lights inside the ice. As he watched, the lights became brighter and brighter, appearing faster and faster.
A loud crack sounded through the arena.
Crush paused and slowly turned his attention back to the ice, frowning. “What the hell...?” he started just as the ice exploded.
Blue lighting flashed through the air in a storm of ice and light and electricity.
A figure stepped out of ice.
Blond hair slowly turning white, skin pale and storm blue eyes turned the colour of ice. The sound of shattering ice followed as white lightning flashed around him.
He tilted his head slightly towards Crush and lifted one hand, snapping his fingers.
Lighting hit the frozen ground around Crush, a silence fell over the arena at the sounds of thunder.
Curio dropped his hand and lifted the other one slightly. The ground beneath Crush crackled with static electricity, slowly breaking apart. Dark storm clouds started forming above Crush. The white lightning snapping around Curio as he slowly walked up to the graduate, expression blank.
“You shouldn’t have kept on knocking me down” he said, his voice as cold as the ice around them “I don’t do well with bullies”
Crush hissed something, but Curio couldn’t make anything out above the whistling in his ears. His headache was gone, but now he just did not feel anything, not even any of his injuries. At this moment he’d be able to keep on fighting for hours.
A slight smirk formed on his face and just as he lifted his hand to attack again, someone jumped down between him and Crush.
He could see the person speaking, but couldn’t make out the words. They just drifted in the air like the cold. Hidden in the whistling in his ears. The figure walked up to him like it was nothing, ignoring the overwhelming amount of static electricity in the air.
“...”
Curio flinched.
“...”
He blinked a few times and frowned.
“...enough...”
The word startled him,
“...Curio... alright...”
Curio breathed out and he felt the power slowly draining from his body. It took him a moment before he recognized Shaun standing in front of him. He blinked again and shook his head slightly.
“Curio” Shaun’s voice said, echoing slightly in the ice covered arena “It’s alright, you can calm down now. It’s alright”
“Shaw...” he said.
Shaun nodded. “Let’s go. You won. It’s over”
“Okay...” Curio said, looking over at Crush.
He wasn’t sure what he expected, but the other student looked shaken. When Shaun took his arm, it barely registered with him.
Only when Roland caught his shoulders and shook him, did he realize what just happened. “What happened?” he asked, groaning slightly.
“You flipped out and used ice lightning on Crush” Shaun said, slightly annoyed.
Curio blinked a few times and nodded. “Okay...” he whispered before he just pitched forward, collapsing to the ground in a boneless heap.
The last thing he heard was Shaun yelling something.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Whumpay Day 5
Summary: Written for Whumpay Day 5. Set in my Httyd Zombie AU. Losing his leg is one of the hardest things Hiccup has ever been through, it’s an experience he’ll never forget. Walking again comes with just as many troubles.
Warning: /
Rating: General/Teen and Up
Characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid
Pairing: /
Words: 740
Fandom: How To Train Your Dragon
Prompt: “Collapse" + "Keeps getting back up"
Whumpee: Hiccup
Author’s Notes: A daily whump prompt writing challenge? Of course, I had to write a little something for my Httyd Zombie AU as well!
