Return: Chapter 12
At the topmost branch of the boras that he climbed, which was several meters from the ground below him, Tam managed to reach out and pick the green piece of fruit that he knew would sate him for the next three hours or so. But just as he was looking up it with a mixed sense of triumph and anticipation of consuming it, he heard footsteps nearby. He snapped out of his reverie and looked in the direction of the footsteps below and ahead of him, looking past the body of the tree that was in his line of sight. None of the approaching figures saw him up at the branch he was standing on.
But when Tam saw who the figures were, he immediately ducked behind the tree and flattened himself back against the tree to hide himself.
Bothans! he thought. How'd they get out of their village? There were half a dozen of those guys, and Tam knew that they would no doubt try to head to one of the Yuuzhan Vong villages, most likely La'okio, in order to kill as many of the Vong as they could. And while he didn't particularly care for the Yuuzhan Vong, Tam knew that he still had to stop these Bothans, because they would be going after a species that had long ago foregone war... though he was curious as to why Sekot wouldn't take care of the escaped Bothans. And there was still the question as to how they managed to escape in the first place...
Tam thought no more on the matter as the branch beneath his feet began creaking. His eyes widened in terror when he saw that it was going to snap. He reached out frantically for another branch, but it was too late. The branch he stood on broke off from the main body of the tree, and less than a second later, he joined it in its several-meter descent to the ground.
He landed feetfirst hard against the ground, the rest of his body collapsing with it and the fruit that he held rolling out of his hand. A few seconds later, he began pushing himself up to his feet, his entire body aching from the crash he just experienced, when he heard a rough and gruff voice come some distance away from the other side of the tree call, "Over there! Get him!"
As soon as Tam heard those words and the subsequent running footsteps heading for his direction, he felt a sudden bout of adrenaline run through his painful form as he used one hand to grab the branch that fell with him and the other to push him the rest of the way up to his feet. He then wielded the branch like a bat and swung out all the way to his left, knocking three Bothans away and sending them flying back a few meters. They were unconscious before they hit the ground.
Tam then swung out in the opposite direction. The incoming Bothan ducked beneath the swing, but his fellow behind him didn't have time to react as the branch struck him across the torso. He flew off to the side and landed unconscious against the ground.
Meanwhile, though, the Bothan that Tam missed managed to tackle the human against the ground. But the latter managed to swing the branch that was still in his hands down upon the head of the Bothan who attacked him, immediately knocking him unconscious. He then threw the branch towards the remaining conscious Bothan before he began shoving the one he knocked out off of him.
The remaining Bothan stumbled back as he caught the branch, and by the time he recovered, Tam managed to get the penultimate Bothan off of him. Tam's final opponent decided to do what the human did and throw the branch back at him. But Tam managed to kick out both feet and send the branch flying back against the wolf-like humanoid, catching him offguard this time as it struck him full-on in the torso and knocking him unconscious as he hit the ground.
With all six Bothans unconscious, Tam leisurely picked himself up and then watched as the form of Danni manifested herself before him. Obviously, Sekot had something to say to him.
"I must say, I am impressed with how you were able to dispatch these Bothans, Tam," Sekot commented. "Unfortunately, your exile will have to continue its course."
"What do you mean?" Tam asked, confused by Sekot's statement.
Sekot didn't answer. Instead, the unconscious Bothans were lifted into the air-most likely by Sekot's Force powers-and the form of Danni began to disappear.
And suddenly, it clicked in with Tam. "Was this a test?" he asked.
By then, though, the form of Danni had completely disappeared. Two seconds later, the Bothans were floated away back to the direction of the village that they escaped. Tam was then left with the thought that perhaps Sekot deliberately allowed for the Bothans to escape so that when he confronted them and stopped them from reaching La'okio or some other Yuuzhan Vong village, how he handled the situation was what determined whether or not Tam was worthy to return to Danni.
That was the only thought that came to his mind regarding Sekot's motives.
Regardless, Tam just shrugged in acceptance of his failure and moved to grab the fruit that he dropped.
