Disclaimer: I own only the original characters. Everything else belongs to George Lucas or James Patterson.
Prologue: School on Coruscant
She ran and ran through hallway after hallway searching for a way out. Warning sirens blared in her ears and strobe-lights threatened to blind her at every turn. As she ran she wondered where her friends were and if they were all going to escape, or if it would just be her, or if she would be the only one who didn't make it out. She shook her head and kept running; she couldn't worry about what was happening with her friends or about what might happen, she had to think about the here and now.
She took a left, a right, another left, never pausing when she reached a crossroads. Instead, she let her instincts guide her, and so far they hadn't gotten her killed.
Left, right, right again, straight ahead, then past a few turns and left she ran. She heard Erasers coming after her from one of the hallways she had passed. Looking back briefly she saw about five of them already morphed into big, hulking wolf-men.
She looked ahead again and poured on the speed determined to lose the Erasers and escape. Just then three more Erasers rounded the corner in front of her.
"Stop right there!" one of them yelled. She did the worst thing possible at that moment. She froze in panic eyes darting too and fro looking for a way around.
Her only advantage against the Erasers was that she was small and fast which meant she was more maneuverable, but that was when she was running. Now that she had stopped, her only advantage was lost. She had trusted her instincts and her nerve to get her out of this, and her nerve had failed. If she was caught now, it would be her own fault.
Her eyes continued to flit around, but they were not looking for an exit anymore, they were looking for something, anything she could use as a weapon
"Aww, little piggy's got nowhere to go," one of the Erasers crooned with mock sympathy.
"Little Piggy looks scared," another Eraser purred and reached out to caress her neck with one of its claws. It took all of her will not to cringe away.
"Does little piggy want to-AARGH!" the first Eraser started and then doubled over in pain clutching his gut. She smiled mirthlessly and brought her hands together on one of the other Erasers' ears causing him to howl in pain and fall to his knees clutching his head.
She was just starting to relax and think that all would be well and she would get out of this when one of the Erasers that had been behind her lashed out with his claws and slashed the back of her shoulders. She went with the momentum spinning around aand punching the Eraser in the muzzle as hard as she could. His head snapped to the side and he spat out a gobbet of blood and saliva before turning back to her and grinning in feral delight.
"Little piggy's a fighter," he purred before hauling off and smacking her across the face with his claws fully extended. She managed to turn her head away enough to avoid getting her eyes gouged out, but still, the cuts hurt badly. Almost immediately blood welled up in her wounds and began spilling into her eyes, her nose, her mouth. She spat the blood out and faced her opponents once more.
The fight progressed from there with each side getting in some good blows but with neither side gaining an advantage. She sustained many cuts and bruises. Some were more serious than others. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity later but was probably only a few minutes, she saw her chance to escape.
She threw one last punch to make sure that the foremost of the Erasers would be occupied for a few vital seconds, ducked her head down and ran for all she was worth for the gap.
She heard shouts behind her, but she kept running through the long, sterile hallway. One of the Erasers managed to catch up to her, though she had no idea how it had done it.
"Stop!" he yelled and swiped at her. She never slowed down she wasn't about to make that mistake again. The Eraser swiped at her; his claws only grazed her upper arm. It would've caught her chest or even her throat if she had hesitated for even a moment. The cut hurt but not as badly as her other injuries; she didn't stop to examine it. She figured that it was better to keep running than to stop and get caught again.
Left, right, straight, left, left again, right, and then a door made of glass. She resisted the urge to punch the air in victory. Lynx had told her that once she reached the glass door she would be safe. Only a few more yards and she would be safe. She closed the distance in a matter of seconds and rocketed between the doors into a plush room decorated in red purple and gold, but she barely took in the richness of the colors or the opulence of the room
Her head whipped from side to side scanning the room for Lynx. Just as the panic was setting in, Lynx appeared wearing her long white coat and holding a midnight blue something in her arms.
The white coat sparked the usual feeling of alarm, fear and loathing that it usually did, but after a second or two those feelings were washed away by relief and affection for Lynx.
"Hello, Dawn," Lynx said in her rich alto voice.
"Hello, Lynx, where are others?"
"You are the first one, but I am afraid you cannot wait," Lynx said in a rushed whisper. "Someone has learned of our operation and is trying to penetrate this room as we speak. Put this on, quickly!"
Lynx unfolded the something she had been holding and dropped it over Dawn's head. It was a midnight blue robe that was loose enough to hide her wings and long enough to touch the ground. The sleeves were so long that they covered everything except her fingers. It had a deep hood that obscured Dawn's face in shadow.
Next, Lynx gave Dawn a pair of sturdy cloth shoos with rubber bottoms that would be good for running if running was required. There were also bandages for the injuries of hers that were in need of them.
When they were done, Lynx lead Dawn over to a section of the wall covered in a thick, embroidered tapestry. Lynx pulled the tapestry back to reveal a wall that looked like every other part of wall. Lynx pushed a button and the wall slid open to reveal a door that was almost invisible if one was not looking for it.
"Keep moving," Lynx said, "Trust your instincts, and don't talk to anyone."
"Will I see you ever?" Dawn asked her young eyes were wide with fear and hope.
"I hope so, my dear, but it may not be possible. Now, go and may the Force be with you." Lynx pushed Dawn through the door which shut behind her leaving her in almost total darkness.
Dawn looked back at the wall where she knew there was a door and let out a choked sob before running into the unknown.
Before long she reached a stretch of corridor that was not as dark as the rest. She ran toward it and came to another glass door. She pushed it open eagerly anxious to get her first look at the sun and sky which she had dreamed about every night sense she could remember. Instead, she came out onto a bustling city with more life forms than she even knew existed.
Dawn would have stayed where she was gawking out at the city if it wasn't for Lynx's last words to her. She put her head down and descended into the city. She didn't know where she was going except that she was going away from the School forever.
She paused and looked back up at the building which had been her home for her entire life, but she couldn't distinguish it from the buildings surrounding it. She put her head back down and kept moving.
Dawn kept moving and trying to look like she knew where she was going like all the other people she saw around her. Some of the people were on foot like her, but most of them were on vehicles that flew through the air or skimmed over the ground. Dawn didn't know what these vehicles were and she didn't really want to find out.
The one thing all the people had in common was that they might b Erasers who hadn't morphed yet. As she walked, Dawn couldn't help looking at every human face and wondering if the seemingly harmless individual was really one of her wolfish enemies in disguise.
After a while, the people and buildings began to blur and distort and seemingly fuse together into a haze of lights and strange sounds and colors. Still she kept moving.
Even in this confused haze of colors and sounds, Dawn began noticing that the colors and sounds were becoming more like she had thought they would be. They were the more muted greens and browns of plant life. Soon, Dawn registered that the ground beneath her feet was more loosely packed. Dirt she realized; it was dirt! Honest to goodness dirt!
She hazarded a look up and couldn't help but stare for the sight before her eyes was nothing short of amazing.
She was coming up on a set of buildings that were different from the towering grey structures she had been seeing sense she had entered this strange place. They were beautifully formed with gracefully curved walls and pillars. The colors were so artistically chosen so that they didn't detract but add to the natural beauty of the landscape.
Dawn was too far away to make anything more out. She returned her attention back to the ground in front of her, but it was already too late. Just as her eyes were focusing on the path in front of her she tripped over something. With a cry of shock and pain, she fell face first onto the hard, unforgiving ground.
She tried to get to her feet only to find that her strength had deserted her. She flopped back onto the ground and stared at an exquisitely beautiful yellow flower to the side of her face. That flower was the last thing she saw before her vision turned gray.
A few minutes, or seconds, or hours later, she was not exactly sure how long it had really been, she dimly heard voices above her head and a second or so later, she felt the sensation of flight. Dawn had always wondered what it would feel like to use her wings, she had imagined thousands of scenarios, but this was different. She knew she wasn't using her wings; she didn't have the strength, and even if she had, she knew the thick robe she wore prevented her from using them. This all flashed through her mind in an instant before it was gone, snatched up by the ever-growing blackness in her mind.
Dimly, she wondered if she was dying or if the people from the School had caught up to her. Either way, she was too tired to care anymore. These were her last thoughts before everything went black.
A/N: Well, tell me what you think. I'd be happy to hear it.