Chapter Text
“Open your eyes.”
Those were the first words that he heard. Someone asking him to open his eyes. Their voice was soft, calm, comforting.
“Open your eyes,” they asked again, and Anakin opened his eyes.
At first, he saw nothing, but his other senses were slowly starting to come to life. He could smell things, earthy scents, the humidity in the air, the salt as well. He took a deep breath, blinking and then trying again.
He opened his eyes.
The room he was in was dark, and the shapes were going in and out of focus. Around him, were lights- a dim blue, that stood out in contrast to the statues in the room that were carved out of a dark stone. Crystals lined the walls, and the floor, emitting a soft and warm glow- and felt as if they were singing to him.
Slowly, he sat up, and Anakin watched as a light blanket pooled around his waist as he did so. He looked down at himself, holding his hands out and looking at what he was wearing.
Beige robes, several layers in fact, that appeared as though they had been carefully folded over and not moved for a long time. They felt soft against his skin, light but also warm.
He looked down at his hands, placing the left one in his lap and holding the right one up in the air- up by his eyes as he watched the prosthetic fingers move and curl at his command. The gold joints sparkled, reflecting the light that was in the cave, making the black metal that made up the palm and the forearm appear even darker.
His eyes were now open, but Anakin didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking for.
He swung his legs out from underneath the blanket, feeling the cool, salty breeze on his feet, his legs also clad in beige pants that flowed slightly in the wind.
His feet were bare, and tentatively, Anakin placed one foot on the floor and then the other, leaning some of his weight on the bed still. Testing out how well his body could stay upright.
His legs felt shaky, but not so much that it was going to stop him. He pushed off of the edge of the bed and stood tall, his joints cracking after not being moved for so long.
But for how long, he didn’t know.
Anakin wiggled his toes- the ground was slightly wet underneath his feet, and he took another deep breath in of damp and salty air. He turned around, looking at the room he was in. There wasn’t anything else that was avaible to him aside from a cloak, that had been neatly folded and placed on the end of the bed.
He grabbed it and ran the fabric through his fingers. It was made out of a rougher material than the robes that he wore, but still soft, and clearly warm. He held it in his arms- the room he was currently in wasn’t cold enough for an extra layer. On the floor, next to where the cloak had been laying, was a pair of socks and a pair of shoes.
He put them on, wiggling his toes again once they were inside the socks. Like the other things he had, the socks were warm but light, and clearly comfortable although plain. Next came the boots- made out of some kind of leather. He slid them on, and to his surprise, they fit just right.
Almost as if they had been made for him.
Ahead, beyond the bed, he saw a path, lined with the same crystals that seemed to line the bed that he had been laying in. With nowhere else to go, and no desire to sleep again, Anakin began to walk forward.
In the distance, there was a light at the end of a staircase, and Anakin began to climb it. As he ascended, he was grateful for the boots that he had put on, as some of the steps were quite smooth and still damp, making them easy to slip on. A breeze blew in from where the light was coming from, colder than the air that was inside of where he was coming from. He unfolded the cloak that was in his arms, and put it on, keeping the hood pushed back so that he could see better.
The sleeves of the cloak were baggier than the sleeves of the robes that he was wearing, but after putting it on, Anakin found that it blocked out most of the chill from the air that was being blown in.
As he continued to ascend the steps, he felt his heartrate increase, adrenaline rush through his veins. He couldn’t explain why- aside the fact that everything seemed so new.
But that’s because to him, it was.
His footsteps echoed off of the walls, lined with glowing crystals as Anakin’s pace increased, the desire to see what lays beyond growing stronger and stronger. His legs were starting to get tired with the effort of climbing so many stairs, but the light- which he was now realizing was actually an entranceway, seemed to be growing closer and closer.
It was calling to him. The breeze was taunting him.
And then finally, he reached the top.
He gasped, the fresh, cold, salty air filling his lungs and sending a chill down his spine. Around him, green grass rippled like the water in the wind, and he could hear birds chirping in the distance. The breeze blew his cloak around, picked up the curls off of his face and caused them to sway in the wind.
He took a step forward, off of the black stone and onto the soft grass below, listening to how it crunched softly under his feet.
The air filled his lungs, making him feel alive, and he took in another deep breath, blue eyes bright, matching the sea that sparkled and moved beyond where the grass ended.
Anakin took several more steps forward, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head as he stood at the edge of a cliff, where the soft green grass gave way to a drop off, the currents of the ocean swirling below.
There was a constant roaring sound, a thudding sound, as the waves from the ocean hit the rocks that lay below the cliff. The white sea foam stood out in a bright contrast to the dark blue of the ocean, and the black of the rocks. The rocks at the bottom were rounded, from years of erosion, the waves washing over them over and over.
The water was a deep, deep blue, and although the drop seemed very far down, the depth of the water did not. Anakin could see through it, see the rocks that were below it, and see the way that waves caused the seaweed to ripple.
A strong gust of wind blew his hood back, blowing sea spray up into his face, and he reached up to touch his cheek.
It was wet and cold.
He wasn’t sure how long he had stood there for, marveling the beauty of the nature that surrounded him, but eventually, Anakin turned around, looking out towards the horizon in the opposite direction, watching as a single plume of smoke rose up from in the distance and into the sky.
He looked up, following the trail, and watching as the smoke seemed to blend in with the puffy clouds after a while, everything all blurring together.
But then, he looked back down, focused on what was in front of him.
The smoke plume in the distance.
He decided to head towards it.