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Sure enough as Ekho rounded the side of the large house her cousins, Deacon and Kad were standing only a few feet apart from each other clad in their own custom armor and poised with their blasters pointed at two targets. Normally Ekho wouldn't have thought this training any different from the others. It was just the same old target practicing, which she could say smugly, she could out shoot both boys, but Ekho noticed something very different about this practice.
"What the?" She mumbled to herself. Kad and Deacon's eyes were completely blindfolded and her uncle Bardan was talking to them. She couldn't hear what and tiptoed closer to hear.
"You may not have your HUD all the time," his rich Coruscanti accent drifted through the air, "and in the darkest of nights, through the thickets of smoke you will have to rely on your instincts. Trust them, boys. Go ahead, shoot." The sound of two blasters going off made Ekho jump, but left her mouth gaping as the beams hit the targets very close to the bulls' eye. "Kandosii boys!" Bardan praised as Deacon and Kad took of the blindfolds and smiled at their uncle.
Hey not fair. Why wasn't I shown this? Pursing her lips together, Ekho crept out from her hiding stop and even before Bardan had a chance to warn them; Ekho tackled Kad to the ground. An audible "umph" could be heard as the wind was knocked from Kad's chest.
"Lesson number three from Uncle Kom'rk," Ekho said arrogantly as she rested her weight on his back, "Always watch your back and be aware of your surroundings. I just saved your life Kad. An enemy could have blown your head off. You owe me one."
Kad lifted his dark head from the ground, his chin spotting a green stain from the grass and eyed his younger cousin evilly. "Lesson number six from Uncle Mereel, make sure your opponent is neutralized so they can't fight back," Kad completely tensed his body and threw all his weight to one side, throwing Ekho off kilter and slamming her to the ground on to her back. Kad effectively had her pinned by her hands and waist.
"No fair, you're bigger and fatter than me," she pouted.
"Not fatter Ekho, just stealthier." Kad grinned and then released the girl. Deacon was laughing so hard that he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"It's not funny," Ekho scowled as she brushed the grass off of her head and clothes.
A large hand was held out to her, Ekho didn't have to look up to know it was Bardan's. Sighing, she put her much smaller one in it and he hauled her to her feet. "Thank you," she mumbled.
"Little ad'ika," the smile could be heard in Bardan's voice, "You saw them fire blindfolded? What did you think?"
"I guess for a couple of boys they were alright," Ekho shrugged, when in fact she was really impressed and hoped to be as good if not better someday. Not that she would ever let them know that.
"Alright? Did you even see what we did Ekho?" Deacon exclaimed. "We had blindfolds on and almost hit the bulls' eye. That's way better than you ever did."
"I can shoot anything, anywhere at any size. Blindfolded or not," Ekho narrowed her eyes at Deacon and began to reach for her holdout blaster.
"Yeah okay Ekho, you're really good." Kad had always been able to bring peace between the youngsters. Though only being two years older than his two cousins, Kad had always been mature for his age and took the responsibility for looking out for Deacon and Ekho. Deacon looked up to his older cousin as if he were an older brother; Kad tried to sympathize with Ekho being the only girl around. She wouldn't hear of it and kept up with the boys as best as she could.
"Easy young one," The soothing voice of Bardan made Ekho swivel around and look up at him. She didn't know what happened before she was born, no one would tell her, but there was always a sadness in his bright blue eyes that he constantly fought to control. Especially when her Aunt Thea visited, she noticed it the most. Though not a Jedi, much to her parent's and all of her family's relief; Ekho seemed extremely tuned into her family's emotions.
"Well it's true Uncle Bardan. I'm just as good as Deacon and Kad."
"I know Ekho, I have another lesson for you and only you, but I have a feeling you came out here for another reason. Deacon, Kad, we'll continue later. Well done lads." With that, Bardan gave Ekho's shoulder a squeeze and retreated to find Kal Skirata.
Turning back to Deacon and Kad, Ekho watched as both boys readied themselves to shoot at the targets. Rolling her eyes she said, "Guys, let's go. Come on."
Deacon cocked his head over his raised arm and looked curiously at his cousin. "Where?"
"The woods," Ekho answered quickly.
Kad lowered his blaster and frowned at Ekho. "We aren't supposed to go back into the woods. My buir, your buir and babuir forbids it."
"That was a while ago and now we know about the swamp. We'll just stay away from it. What are you, a hut'uun?" Ekho taunted. She knew better, she really did, but she craved the excitement and the danger of the woods. What was it that her parents didn't want her to see? What was out there that she shouldn't know? Besides she had her blaster and a really loud scream if needed.
"I'm not a hut'uun. I'm in," Deacon holstered his blaster and stepped next to Ekho. They both looked expectantly at their oldest cousin.
"Well?" Echo raised an indigo brow.
With a heavy sigh, Kad pocketed his blaster as well, "Okay."
"Yes, alright," both Deacon and Ekho cheered.
"But!" Kad put a restraining hand on both the younger kids' chest. "If I say it's getting to hairy or dangerous you have to listen to me and we turn back. Otherwise I'm going inside right now and letting the elders know what you two are up to."
"You're the boss, boss," Ekho mocked saluted him. As they began their trek through the field toward the outskirts of the forest, Ekho turned to Deacon, "Why do elder's think they can intimidate us kids?" Deacon just shrugged his shoulders and both took off in a jog laughing and pushing each other.
With another sigh, Kad shook his shaggy dark head, hoping that being grounded for life didn't sound as bad as he imagined it would be.
Ekho wasn't afraid, alert would be a better term, but not afraid. The woods were dark, only slim beams of sun light peaked their way through the enormously tall trees. The squawks of the native birds and the occasional melancholy howl of a lone strill filled the hauntingly quiet forest.
Her little lekku ever slightly shook with uneasiness, the only thing betraying her nervousness as she, Deacon and Kad made their way deeper into the darken woods, but she would not let her fear over ride her. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea Ekho," Deacon mumbled nervously.
"K'atini!" Ekho reprimanded. "We've already come this far. Are you afraid of the dark and some animal noises or something?"
"No!" Deacon said indigently. "But can you imagine how much trouble we're going to be in once our buirs find out we're missing and put two and two together?"
Again, Ekho rolled her eyes and then stopped. "Fine Deacon, go back. Be a chicken."
"I'm not a chicken!"
While the two younger kids argued Kad tried to tune them out, but something caught his eye. "Hush!" He commanded. Ekho and Deacon didn't seem to hear him. "I said be quiet you two!" He said a bit louder.
"What Kad?" Ekho asked.
"Listen," instantly all three of them were on alert. A snap of a branch and crushing of leaves made each pull out their hand blasters and stand back to back.
"There!" Deacon shouted and pointed with his blaster. A brown blur darted from behind a tree and into one of the beams of light. Looking at all three kids was a big male shatual. Ekho, Deacon and Kad all lowered their blasters and gazed in awe at the buck.
Bigger than their prey, the shatual was a deer-like animal with two very large velvety antlers. Each ends had pointed edges to gouge its predator, its long neck strong and muscular to hold its heavy head and four powerful legs to spring at moment's notice. Ekho remembered her grandfather telling her the meat from one of these animals was like a delicacy. Looking at this majestic animal right now: his big black, bold eyes bore into her as if reading her soul, Ekho knew she could never hunt one.
Its ears moved back and forth and nose twitched nervously as he kept his eyes on the kids. "I've never seen one in person," Kad whispered. "Look at those antlers."
"Aren't you glad we came then?" Ekho smiled. Something from the distance finally spooked the shatual and it bounced away into the darkness of the forest. "Let's keep going."
It was cool in the woods and Ekho wished she had brought something heavier to wear, not that she was going to complain to the boys. It would just give them fuel to turn around and go back home.
"Do you feel like we're being followed?" Deacon asked.
"Who would be following us? There aren't any Imperials out here," Ekho scoffed. "Mom and Dad just say that to scare us."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that. Why would they lie to us about something that severe?" Kad jumped down from a wet rock, almost losing his footing and falling to his knees.
"Exactly my point Kad, to scare us and even if they were close, don't you think our uncles and parents would chase them away first?" Ekho stopped to pick some of the flowers that were along their trail. She didn't know the species, but they were pretty. Pinks, yellows, oranges and reds, she thought her mother would like them when she returned.
"Isn't the point of being this far out was for all of us to stay hidden though? What good would it do them if we get caught?" Deacon countered.
"I'll tell you, if I ever spotted an Imp I'd shoot him right between the eyes!" Kad fisted both his hands together and made a mock gun out of his fingers. No one in the Skirata clan had told Kad that his father was now a part of the Empire, not by choice but by sacrifice. Darman had stayed behind to make sure his brother, Niner, wouldn't be reconditioned after breaking his back in their attempt to leave Coruscant. It was also the night Kad had lost his mother. Perhaps, Kad reasoned to himself that's when he begun to see the world as a sobering and somber place. Even as a baby he needed to be older and make sure what happened to him didn't happened to his cousins.
"Me too! Phew! Phew!" Deacon shot at Kad and then rolled away as Kad attempted to "shoot" at Deacon. Ekho shook her head, her small lekku swaying back and forth with the motion and continued to pick the flowers. A small little squeak caught Ekho's attention and parted the flowers to see a small, fluffy rodent-type creature staring back at her.
"Hello there," Ekho grinned at the rodent. It twitched its little nose, its long whiskers testing the air and sensing if she were a friend or foe. "You're a vhe'viin; Levet and Yayax squad like to shoot your friends when they see you in the crop bins. But don't worry I won't shoot you. You're awfully cute and fluffy." The mouse like creature actually took a step closer to Ekho and sniffed her finger. "Sorry little fellow, I don't have anything to eat." She turned her hand so that her palm was facing up right and the vhe'viin stepped inside of it. "You're sure a brave critter."
The little mouse squeaked again and its whiskers tickled against Ekho's skin, causing her to laugh. It jumped from her hand and looked frightened, but curious at the noise emitting from the giant.
"Don't be afraid," Ekho giggled. "Come on," the vhe'viin hesitantly crawled back into her hand and she brought it up closer to her face. "You're a very strange little mouse aren't you?" It sniffed the air and with its black beady eyes, looked at Ekho. "Do you want to come home with me? I don't know if Mom and Dad will approve of me bringing a pet home, especially since I'll be in trouble after this, but what they don't know won't hurt them."
"Hey Ekho! What's that?" Deacon and Kad had finished with their rough housing and had noticed their cousin holding something strange. The vhe'viin queaked as loud as it could and jumped into Ekho's pocket. Its little nose poked out as Deacon and Kad approached.
"You can't bring that home with you Ekho," Kad warned. "It's a pest and it'll bring more with it. You know Levet and Yayax, if they see it; it'll be good as dead."
"Not if I keep it a secret," Ekho lightly stroked the little mouse's head.
"If she wants to get into trouble let her," Deacon waved the issue away.
"Thanks Deacon," Ekho muttered. As if sensing it was now part of the group, the vhe'viin stuck its head out of her pocket and looked at the strangers. "Don't worry little mouse, you're one of us now." Ekho gave it a little pet on the head again. Deacon and Kad just looked wearily at the vermin.
Picking up her bouquet of flowers the three kids plus one mouse started up their trek and headed deeper into the forest.
