How to Take an Empire

Chapter Thirty-Six: Reasons

Despite his assurance to Ahsoka that he would be fine without his mask, Vader hadn't even been sure he could make the trek to the hollow tree trunk that he'd found for their shelter. He'd been gaining back his respiratory endurance without the suit slowly but surely, but that was in controlled environments with a ventilator and his med droid nearby. Indeed, he'd had no intention of ever testing his stamina on a mission any time soon. But his current predicament necessitated that unless he wanted to spend all night running from predators.

Vader was pleasantly surprised that he was able to endure better than he expected, and he probably would have endured better were it not for the painfully, stinging gash in his side. Halfway to their hiding spot, it began to zap away at his endurance, and he'd channeled the pain into the dark side to give him strength and stay the need for him to rest. The temperature dropping and the humidity drastically lessening along the way helped.

When they finally found the hollow trunk, Ahsoka helped him look for something that would be large enough to block the opening. By the time he used the Force to shift a large fallen tree in front of the opening, he all but collapsed in the corner from the exertion.

"You're not okay," Ahsoka stated.

"I'm fine," Vader grumbled in response, hating that she was keen enough to notice his weakness despite trying to hide it.

"You're not."

"I'm—"

"For just right now, can we stop pretending that you didn't use to be Anakin Skywalker and that I didn't see you in worse conditions than this at some point during the Clone Wars," Ahsoka asked bluntly. "I didn't think you were weak then, and I don't think you're weak now."

Vader gave her what he hoped was a dark look, but that probably look pretty pathetic given his weakness right now. The unimpressed look Ahsoka gave him in return told him that he was probably right. Either that or she knew he wouldn't do anything to her despite it, even if he could find the strength to.

"Whatever," he finally grumbled as he sagged more against the barked walls.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and shook her head as she began to strip off the wet layers of her disguise until she was wearing only the tank top and shorts she'd worn beneath it. Then she took off the utility belt with her lightsabers on it and knelt down in front of the pile of stones she'd collected earlier. She then cleverly used one of her sabers to heat them up and then put them in a pile in a hollow she'd dug up to heat up the small space.

"Now that we won't freeze to death, get out that suit and take off your tunic so I can look at that cut."

It wasn't that cold, but Ahsoka always was more sensitive to colder temperatures.

He did as she suggested without protest. Once he was done, he angled himself so she could inspect the gash in his side.

"It's not long, but that's pretty deep," she said as she dug into one of the waterproof pouches on her belt for first aid supplies. "I'm going to have to stitch it up."

"You can see well enough for that?" Vader asked. It wasn't totally dark, not with the light of two of Eriadu's three moons streaming through small openings in the hollow, but it was dark enough.

"My species can see in the dark better than yours can," Ahsoka said as she cleaned the site of the gash.

Right.

She worked in silence after that, using some kind of paste to numb the area some before she sewed his skin back together. He leaned back against the wall to rest his eyes but didn't let himself fall asleep even though he was exhausted. There was no telling what other predators were in these damn wildlands, and the extra seconds it would take for him to wake could be the difference between fleeing and being something's dinner.