iii. don't poke the wasp nest, kids

"Them."

Ahsoka slowly lifted her head in the direction her master was pointing. Sure enough, an array of large nests hung above her. A few lazy bugs flitted in and outside of the nest, but the distant humming told Ahsoka it wouldn't be long before the rest of the hive would fully wake. One bug crawled in and out of the holes of a nest, carrying with it something large and still squirming. Ahsoka cringed.

"I hate this planet," she muttered, forcing her eyes away.

"Could be worse," Anakin replied, though Ahsoka noticed he, too, kept his hand on his light saber hilt. "We could have walked into a gundark cave."

Ahsoka snorted. "You mean like how you and Master Kenobi did?"

"That doesn't count," came Anakin's quick response.

"Sure," Ahsoka said, casting another look up at the nests above her. A few more bugs flew out, probably ready for the day's forage or hunt or whatever it was these critters did. Ahsoka cringed again at the memory of one of the bugs carrying some still-living creature. 'Critters' did not feel like the appropriate word to describe whatever the hell those things were.

"How much farther do we need to go again?" Ahsoka couldn't keep the question in, not as a bug swept over her head.

"Just a few more kilometers," Anakin replied, his voice just as hushed as Ahsoka's. She couldn't even hear his footsteps behind her. "Hopefully, there won't be any nests in this direction."

Ahsoka tilted her head up again, swallowing hard. The deeper into this planet they walked, the more nasty things seemed to come their way. If anything, Ahsoka was pretty sure there were more nests than there were before. "I hate this planet," she repeated, trying to keep her gaze on the path in front of her. Winding vines, gnarled roots, jagged rocks cropped up almost every other step, and Ahsoka had to keep herself from falling multiple times so she wouldn't cut herself open anywhere.

"Could be worse," Anakin repeated, but he didn't offer any alternatives. This time, Ahsoka heard a branch snap under his boots.

"Careful," Ahsoka whispered. "You don't want to wake any more of them."

"They're already going to wake up," Anakin replied, but Ahsoka didn't hear any more snapping twigs after that. "There won't be any nests in this direction."

"You said 'hopefully' before."

"What?"

Ahsoka turned around to her master. Sweat dripped down the side of his slightly reddened face. Although Anakin had been quiet, Ahsoka knew her master hated the dim, humid jungle of a planet just as much as she did. A bug lazily circled the space above Anakin's head, causing Ahsoka's hand to instinctively crawl towards her light saber hilts. "You said there 'hopefully' won't be any nests," Ahsoka said, trying to keep her voice level as more bugs circled around the top of her master's head.

"Oh." Anakin paused. "Well, I'm trying for optimism."

"That's new," Ahsoka said, flicking her eyes above Anakin's head.

Her master caught on. "Is there something else that's…new?" he asked, starting to tilt his head upwards, but Ahsoka lifted a hand.

"Don't," she hissed, gripping her light saber hilt with the other hand.

"How many?" Anakin asked instead, lowering his head.

"A few. Maybe four now?" Ahsoka whispered, her heart dropping as another bug joined the crowd. "Maybe five."

Anakin slowly unhooked his light saber from his belt. "Up?" he asked.

Ahsoka nodded, eyes widening as her master rotated the saber hilt around his wrist. "Do you think that's a—"

"We don't know how these creatures are going to act," Anakin interrupted. "Just be ready to run." Ahsoka pressed her lips together and gave a tight nod.

"And…" Anakin locked his eyes on Ahsoka's for the briefest of moments before shouting, "Now!"

Ahsoka darted around just as she heard her master's saber slice through something—several somethings—and then, she heard something large drop to the ground. The jungle suddenly came to life with loud, angry humming and buzzing, and Ahsoka looked back just in time to see her master being enveloped by a crowd of angry bugs. Ahsoka could only just barely make out her master's blue saber cutting across the swarm, but Ahsoka knew it couldn't have been enough—not with that swarm, not with that amount of bugs which just launched itself out of the now-empty nest rocking on the ground.

And then, slowly, the swarm grew too thick until even Anakin's blue saber flickered out of Ahsoka's eyes.

Why did he do that? Ahsoka thought exasperatedly and activated both of her sabers. Without a second thought, she dove into the mess. Almost instantly, she felt stings peppering her back, her shoulders as the bugs came across a new enemy. But Ahsoka didn't stop moving her arms, didn't stop moving her sabers until her feet brought her into the heart of the bug storm. Right to her master.

"Ahsoka?"

Anakin looked horrible. Half his face was swollen and red, the back of his neck not faring much better. Judging by the pain racing through Ahsoka's veins, she doubted she looked that much better. She couldn't say anything out of fear that a bug might actually fly into her mouth, but she only grabbed her master and with one saber still activated, started to cut through the swarm.

The angry buzzing filled the air, and Ahsoka felt another sharp sting at her back, but she needed to get both her master and herself out of there—out, out, out, away from the bugs and their stinging and the nests.

Ahsoka heard the familiar buzz of her master's light saber behind her, and relief flooded her system. Good, Anakin still had the sense to fight off the bugs from behind. Ahsoka narrowed her eyes through the swarm, and for a second, she thought she saw a light, or some small parting in the otherwise thick mass of bugs.

Her grip on Anakin's wrist started to slacken, and alarm shooting through Ahsoka's chest, she realized the stinging was finally starting to get to her. The sudden quiet from Anakin's end told her that the stinging had probably finally started to overpower her master, too.

Ahsoka gritted her teeth, using the last bit of her strength to strengthen her grip on both saber and master. There—her eyes hadn't been lying to her. There was a small chink in the armor of the otherwise seemingly relentless swarm of bugs and wings and stingers.

Ahsoka jerked Anakin's arm, hoping he knew what that small signal meant. She couldn't even look back to see if Anakin was actually awake enough to follow her, so she only hoped he was. Eyes narrowed in concentration, teeth gnawing down at the inside of her cheek, muscles taut, Ahsoka dove forward.

She heard a sharp cry of surprise behind her—Anakin—and then Ahsoka felt one last sting on her arm before she hit the dirt.

And then, blessed silence.

No more buzzing. No more stinging.

Just a soft, low groan from Ahsoka's side.

"Next time, Master," Ahsoka managed to say as she rolled over on her back, "don't poke the bugs' nest."

Anakin's half-hearted grunt in agreement was all Ahsoka needed.

A/N: As always, comments/constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! I have this fic cross-posted on Archive of Our Own ('cause ya girl had to jump on the train), and since I have more interaction there, I might just continue updating the story only on that site should I get the sense not a lot of people of here are as invested in the story. But if you would like to keep seeing it here, please let me know via comments!