It all happened so quickly. Too quickly in fact.

Anakin and Obi-Wan were assigned a mission to retrieve an important artifact from some small planet on the edge of wild space, which was uninhabited and lacked any signs of civilization apart from the abandoned temple-like structure the artifact was supposed to be hidden in.

Though just because it's vacant of sentient life due to a geothermal event that turned its atmosphere unbreathable to most species, it doesn't mean the planet is dead. In fact, it's teeming with life. 

Nature is thriving on this planet. Without outside influences messing with the natural order, evolution inevitably found its way and produced species that could thrive in the new atmosphere.

When they landed close to the temple and stepped off their ship with their breath masks on, they were promptly met with a swell in the force. Curiosity, apprehension. It was clear their not so subtle landing raised the attention of everything in a ten click radius. They decided not to dwell on it for too long, and complete the mission as fast as possible, in order to not disturb the environment any more than they already did. 

“I told you we were coming in too fast,” Obi-Wan argues as they walk through the tall grass, his breath fogging up the inside of his mask. “We're lucky you didn't break anything important. We don't even have comm-reach this far out.” 

Anakin puffs petulantly as the blue-green stalks hit his face from where they reemerge from under Obi-Wan's feet.

“Well we wouldn't have gotten into that situation if you didn't insist on staying in hyperspace until the last second. I told you it was reckless even for me to navigate unmapped regions like that.”

Obi-Wan knows Anakin is right. He was being impatient. He'd much rather be back at the temple, browsing the archives. He was doing exactly that when he was interrupted by a call from the council requesting his and Anakin's presence. He got annoyed then, wondering what kind of nonsense his former Padawan had gotten up to again to warrant a lecture before the high council. Instead, he was surprised when Windu told them they were going away on a mission

Another swell in the force, this time much closer, more concentrated. But it doesn't come from the direction of the temple. It's behind them. Moving.

Once they emerge from the grass field, Obi-Wan stops in his tracks, and so does Anakin.

“I somehow cannot shake the feeling that something is…-” 

“-following us.” Anakin ends his sentence, and their suspicion is confirmed when the grass behind them rustles a bit. Anakin immediately goes to grab his lightsaber from his belt as they both turn around, but Obi-Wan stops him, his hand on Anakin's wrist.

They were being followed. But the being that carefully steps out from the grass is far from something that requires defensive measures.

A young, feline creature, small and quiet, though more elegant and timid than a tooka cat looks up at them with its big, bright eyes. Its black but shimmering purple fur looks smooth and covers the entire slender body, and its soft face is adorned with longer than average whiskers.

Anakin melts a bit when the little creature sits down and observes them curiously, its long tail curling high above it and its sharp ears following the noises of the environment. 

“Obi-Wan…look…” he says and slowly gets down to one knee before stretching out his left hand, trying to lure it closer. 

Normally, Obi-Wan would have objected, telling Anakin to get up and leave it alone. But he didn't have the heart to do so when Anakin looked so enraptured, so… calm. His usually tense expression and heavy set brows softened, soothed by the innocent presence of life in the force. He looked like a child again.

So he stays quiet. Despite his own impatience, he lets Anakin have this moment of peace. 

The cat initially ignores Anakin's attempts at contact, opting to groom its soft paws instead. But seemingly out of nowhere, it stops and gets up to actually walk over to Anakin. It carefully sniffs his hand first, before rubbing its face against his palm and letting him scratch it. 

Obi-Wan can make out Anakin's bright smile from behind him, and he has no choice but to smile in return. 

“Lovely little creature.” he admits quietly, and apparently, that jinxed the entire thing, because right afterwards Anakin yelps and pulls his hand away as the cat sprints off into the grass again.

“It bit me!” he laments, shaking his hand and regretting presenting his healthy one as he adjusts his breath mask.

Obi-Wan actually has to suppress a laugh. “It's a wild animal, Anakin. That's to be expected. I'm surprised it even let you touch it in the first place.” he says amusedly, but Anakin's crestfallen expression almost immediately wipes his smirk from his face.

“Are you hurt?” he then asks genuinely, and Anakin looks at his hand, observing the little dots of injured skin that start to leak droplets of blood. 

“I'm fine…” he says, still pouting as he wraps a piece of cloth around his palm. He's had worse injuries. Much worse. The stump of his right arm seizes uncomfortably at the thought. 

Obi-Wan apparently accepts his reply.

“Come on, let's get going then.” 

Anakin trails behind him while they walk through the abandoned temple, the only light source now the blue hue of their lightsabers.

Their mission directive had a clear description of where they are supposed to find the artifact, where it had been hidden a long time ago. And to both of their relief, it's exactly in the described spot. 

Perched on top of a column was a prism shaped…box? 

“Is this it?” Anakin asks, stepping closer as Obi-Wan checks his datapad. 

“Apparently it's supposed to be a…sphere.” Obi-Wan says, confusion clear in his voice. He looks down at his datapad again, immersing himself into the descriptive text. 

“Then it should be inside, right?” 

“Probably, yes…” Obi-Wan replies absently, trying to focus on the directive, but his datapad seems to malfunction. He taps it, frowning when it freezes up and glitches.

Anakin, being Anakin, doesn't want to wait for Obi-Wan's instructions and takes the approach he always does. The most efficient one. He grabs one edge of the prism, and pries it open, revealing a dimly glowing sphere on the inside.

“Hah, see? Easy peasy.” he says triumphantly. 

Obi-Wan didn't really notice what Anakin was doing until he heard part of the prism clatter to the ground, and now Anakin was reaching for the artifact with his bare hand. 

“Wait- Anakin don't-!” He tries to warn, but it's already too late. 

~~

When Obi-Wan wakes again, he's on the ground. On the cold, hard floor of the abandoned temple, in fact. Memories of what just happened come rushing back, and he sits up rapidly, observing his surroundings. There seems to have been some kind of…blast. The rocks that have laid strewn around the room before, were now shoved over to the edges, tracks of their movement in the dust. 

It must have been triggered by whatever it was Anakin touched. 

Anakin

He remembers then, and alerted by the utter silence in the room, turns around to where Anakin is. Or where he was. 

His blood runs cold when instead of his moody former Padawan, all he sees is a pile of clothes on the floor. Anakin's clothes. Along with his lightsaber, lying uselessly on the ornamental tile.

He can feel anger and disbelief rising up in himself, clenching his throat and threatening to make his eyes burn with tears. He desperately tries to release those feelings into the force as he gets up and calls out for his friend. His brother. His partner. 

He rubs his beard in a self-soothing manner when he gets no reply, and he really tries hard not to panic. 

What would he tell the council? That he lost the Chosen One because he randomly evaporated after stupidly touching some artifact?

He pulls at his own hair while scanning the walls, hoping the boy just wanted to play a trick on him and was hiding somewhere. Tears have just started running down his face when he hears some muffled noises coming from the pile of robes and tabards. 

He turns around again to look, and frowns when he sees the pile move. Or more like, something inside the pile is moving. He crouches down to disentangle the vast layers of cloth, and his heart threatens to jump out of his chest from how fast it's beating. 

Looking up at him now, scared and ears laid flat feebly, was one of the cat-creatures from earlier. 

His mind is going a mile a minute, and he refuses to believe the conclusion it comes to about Anakin's whereabouts. 

Unlike the one they met earlier, this one has tan colored fur, golden almost, blonde, with dark areas around its snout, ears and paws. Its eyes are a striking blue, a blue he has come to know oh so well.

Despite his mind not wanting to comprehend it, his lips speak before he can stop himself. 

“Anakin?” he asks, his voice shaky. 

The cat responds with a quiet chirp, and Obi-Wan feels like he might faint.