So far, the jedi had not followed Aria. Heart pounding, she continued tearing through the forest, leaping over fallen trees and trickling streams with ease. Her time in the ruins on Taris had taught her the value of a quick getaway—the promise of a grim ending at the clawed grip of a rhakghoul had been more than enough to inspire her to be light no her feet. The memories of rhakghouls and the death of her parents still hovered in the darkest corners of her mind, threatening to overwhelm her at a moment's notice. As it was, tears began to blur the edges of Aria's vision. Blinking them away accomplished nothing—they only returned with more force as she continued making her way through the trees. Her vision finally blurred completely as she let out a small, choked gasp. Her foot struck a tree root a second later, propelling Aria forward violently. Without even enough time to throw her arms up and shield her face, Aria hit the ground. Her head struck another tree root, and the world suddenly blinked out of existence…
The sun was high in the sky when Aria finally came to. Her head ached, and for a moment she forgot what had caused her flight through the trees. She remembered a second later when she heard a faint rustling noise to her left. Fearing that the jedi had come to take her away, Aria quickly rolled under the tangled roots of the nearest tree. Peeking through the jumbled mass, Aria tried in vain to see what had caused the noise. After a few moments, she had almost decided that she had become too paranoid when a dark figure stepped into her view. The figure stepped in front of the mass of roots that Aria was hiding under, and for a slightly panicked minute, Aria thought she had been spotted. The figure turned to walk away a moment later, and Aria had only a second to relax before she saw what had attracted the figure's attention. Though seemingly impossible for the beast's size, a flesh raider had managed to sneak up on Aria's hiding place. Aria realized that it had been the stranger's movements that had frightened her.
Before she had time to consider this any further, Aria heard the distinct sound of a lightsaber being activated. The stranger deftly brandished the glowing blade—almost as though they meant to challenge the flesh raider. The beast paid no heed to the stranger's weapon as it drew a knife and lunged forward, roaring it's defiance. Aria squeezed her eyes shut and tucked herself further back under the tree's roots, hoping that neither the beast nor the jedi—the stranger had a lightsaber, which automatically made him a jedi to Aria—would see her.
The fight was over relatively quickly. With its primitive blade, the flesh raider was hardly a match for the jedi. Aria heard the saber sweep through the air and then strike something solid. The flesh raider cried out in pain only once before Aria heard the saber move again. The clearing was silent for a second before Aria heard a thump. Opening her eyes, she saw the flesh raider lying on the ground across the clearing, a large hole through its gut. The stranger stood over the body for a moment before deactivating his lightsaber. When the stranger turned around, Aria realized that he was a man about Tabrett's age, maybe a little older. Under the hood of his robe, dark, sunken eyes peered out, studying Aria. Before Aria could thank the stranger, he turned and knelt in the middle of the clearing. He scratched something in the mud before straightening and hurrying away from the clearing.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Aria rolled out from under the tree and ran to see what the stranger had drawn. A small arrow, followed by the word "temple" greeted her. Aria frowned, kicking at the mud and gouging the arrow from the ground. Why did everyone insist on getting her to the temple? She heard a distant rumble and several familiar grunts from behind her. Realizing that the flesh raider probably had friends nearby made Aria's decision considerably simpler: run to the temple, or be made into lunch by vicious beasts. She took off in the direction the arrow had been pointing in. hoping to whatever gods there were that Tabrett would forgive her for running away earlier.
She ran for what seemed like hours before the temple was in sight. By then her sides were burning and her lungs were screaming for air. Still, she ran, propelled by the thought of being made into the first course of a flesh raider or manka cat's midday meal. She flew up the steps of the temple, and was nearly inside before she slammed into another small figure.
AN: Sorry for the sporadic updates, guys! My school schedule has been wonky, with various tours and workshops that I have been participating in. I'm hoping to update my writing every Sunday, either by uploading new chapters to this story or expanding other stories in the SWTOR universe. If you haven't guessed it already, Tabrett is my Consular character, and Aria is my Smuggler character. While they are technically following the same timeline inside the game, for story-related reasons I have placed Tabrett's storyline about 15ish years before Aria's main storyline. Tabrett is 30 here, and Aria is 9.
Also, I'm vaguely considering either editing this chapter to include some notes about Aria's childhood, or creating a seperate oneshot with Aria flashing back to her life on Taris while she's been knocked out. Thoughts?
Thanks for following/favoriting- this is my first attempt at fanfiction, and the fact that at least a few of you have stuck around means the world :) COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!