Chapter 26

Tama helped Nuri along as they scrambled through the ruins, following the Zabrak's vague directions regarding the locations of the other children who had taken up firing positions around the courtyard. The unfortunate rancor continued to stalk about the courtyard, evident by the few glimpses they caught down narrow alleys that opened along their sides, as well as the din that perforated the air as it bellowed and shrieked in pain. Tama had to close herself off from the Force as much as her exhausted and scrambled mind would allow, so as not to feel the pain of her temporary companion, the pain she had inflicted upon the rancor for the benefits of those she wished to protect, as well as herself. She could not blame the creature for being angry with her, for he was sentient enough to recognize that the suffering that had been inflicted upon him had been her fault, even if he did not understand the methods by which it had been caused. Tama felt if their positions had been reversed, she probably would have wanted to tear the meddling little Twi'lek apart with her claws as well.

Tama and Nuri continued running as quickly as they could through the alleys and passages, scrambling over piles of detritus and cracked slabs of permacrete. The exertion making their limbs leaden and drawing heavy, ragged breaths from their lungs was not entirely physical, for a fog had settled on their minds in the wake of the primal shriek of mental rage and agony that had nearly struck them both dead. It was for this reason that Tama continued to press forward, for she feared what the mental onslaught of their captor's ire had done to the other prisoners. For with that scream of denial, pain, and rage had been confirmed her worst fears regarding the identity and abilities of their captor. If she did not feel a sense of responsibility toward the other prisoners who had risked so much on her insane, half-baked plan, she would have fled into the jungles several minutes ago, putting as much distance between herself and her captor as possible, not caring for whatever monsters or obstacles she might meet out there.

Tama's bewildering and languid thoughts were pierced by the Zabrak's voice, as Nuri gasped out, "In here...I think." The two girls turned into a dark doorway ensconced in a low, ruined building lined by broken windows and filled with decaying furniture, to find the Twi'lek boy, Otar, learning against the edge of the window he had taken as his firing position. Tama breathed a sigh of relief seeing the boy still in one piece, but the words of motivation she was about to speak to gain his attention died in her throat as her eyes adjusted to the gloom, and she saw that Otar was not moving. The only reason he was still slumped upright was because his form was braced by the wall and a stack of broken furniture propped against the same. His stolen E-5 Blaster Rifle lay across his lap, the barrel of the weapon still cooling, his cold fingers still locked around it. His eyes were opened wide, frozen in a stare of terror and pain, gazing off into oblivion; blood dripped weakly in tiny, drying streams from the corners of those eyes, nostrils, and ears, pooling about the collar of his ragged tunic. She could no longer feel his presence in the Force, which meant he was long dead.

Nuri mashed the palm of her hand into her eyes in anguish. "Blast. He was alive only a couple moments ago! Did he take a stray blaster bolt?"

Tama did not have to examine the body to know what had killed him. She squatted down and carefully extricated the blaster from the Twi'lek's stiff fingers, then reached forward and pushed the lids of his eyes closed as gently as her quivering fingers would allow. "'The Savior' did this."

Nuri suddenly had her A280 in hand, swinging the barrel about the room as though their captor was waiting in the dark recesses, obscured by shadow and spores. "He's here?"

Tama shook her head and hefted Otar's stolen blaster, striding toward the door through which they had entered. "No...he never touched Otar. He didn't have to. That scream we heard? That was...him. We didn't just hear him through telepathy, but through the Force."

Nuri's expression paled as she met Tama's grim gaze. "He's...like you? He can use the Force...to kill us without even touching us?" Her voice dropped even lower, and despite the bravado she had displayed thus far, her tone quavered with fear. "Can...you do that?"

Tama shrugged as she moved back toward the doorway again, the Zabrak following her so that they could continue on their quest to reunite with their fellow prisoners. "I've never tried...I, and others of my order, don't use the Force for such means. It's a perversion of its intent, and an abuse of its power. But I have heard of Force-sensitives who see the Force, and their connection to it, as merely a weapon, a tool to be wielded for their own selfish desires." She cast one last glance at Otar's still form, feeling sorrow despite the fact that she had known the Twi'lek boy for only a few days. "But...that scream we heard and felt through the Force was unfocused; it was an outburst, like a tantrum rather than an attack. And Otar was just caught in the fallout..."

Nuri also looked back at the boy's body, and hurried to catch up to Tama as they entered the alleyway's and claustrophobic paths again. "We need to make sure everyone else is okay."

"And then we need to get the hell out of here," Tama agreed.

These assertions, and the roaring and wailing of the rancor in the courtyard provided speed to their movements as they sprinted through the alleys, passing several edifices in disrepair before they found the next position that had been taken by one of the other children. Nuri led the way through another darkened doorway into a dim room filled with spores and debris, before clambering up a rickety set of stairs to the upper floor, where they found Cyran lying on the floor amongst the mold and shards of furniture she had arranged into a miniature fort from which she could fire down upon the courtyard glimpsed through the nearest shattered window. Tama immediately reached out into the Force, and felt the Duros' own breaths whispering through her ears, and nearly gasped in strangled relief to find Cyran still alive, though the weak and fluttering light of her presence in the Force denoted her tenuous state of being. Nuri vaulted the tiny fortifications and crouched by Cyran's side, helping her to a sitting position as the girl's lurid, scarlet eyes attempted to refocus on the pair who had come to her aid. Tama leaned against the detritus that formed Cyran's fortifications and asked, "Are you okay, Cyran?"

The girl bobbed her head both vertically and horizontally, and answered in an adamant string of lilting Durese. Tama looked quizzically to Nuri, who unfortunately seemed just as puzzled. In answer to the Twi'lek's silent question, Nuri shrugged. "I can only make a little of it out, but none of it makes any sense. It's just gibberish, as far as I know."

Tama exhaled sharply, praying to whatever higher power was listening that the girl was only momentarily discombobulated, and not permanently lobotomized by the psychic assault they had all just suffered. Together, Tama and Nuri helped Cyran to her feet, then guided her back down the stairs and out of the ruined building, hobbling along their way, supporting each other so closely and completely, they were like some bizarre amalgamation of grimy limbs and somber, weary faces. Nuri provided the direction for their group, whereupon they found an alley choked with debris, providing excellent places of cover which had attracted the attention and usage of the Rodian boy, Farr. As per usual, he was paranoid and reckless, and nearly fired a burst of deadly lasers from his blaster rifle upon their approach, only stopping himself at the last possible microsecond from cutting them all down with blasterfire.

"Are you alright?" Tama asked as Nuri unleashed a string of vindictive that would make a Hutt blush due to the fright Farr had just given them.

Farr, quite indignant with the scare he had received, clutched his awkwardly lengthy fingers to his chest and proclaimed, "Could've shot you all dead!"

"He's fine," Nuri replied for him. "Unfortunately," she grumbled as an aside as she adjusted the weight of Cyran's arm around her shoulders.

"Let's get moving," Tama prompted, ignoring the squabble that would inevitably follow if she let the two of them continue to bicker. "We need to meet up with Fenn and get out of the city before that mudcrutch finds a way to reactivate the ray shields and trap us in here again."

As they left the alley, Farr drew to their side, moving quickly despite his own exhaustion, not bothering to help the girls with Cyran, instead taking the position of point guard as they moved around the courtyard's perimeters. "Where Otar?" he asked as they hurried.

"Dead," came Nuri's hollow response.

Farr's multifaceted eyes darkened, and he looked truly crestfallen. "Droids shoot him? Rancor eat him?" Upon finishing that thought, he gave Tama a glare, as though every misfortune they had suffered upon this day were her fault and hers alone.

"Apparently, when 'the Savior' has a fit, people die," Nuri growled in response, though she was not truly angry at the Rodian boy.

"What?!"

"He's like me," Tama explained over Cyran's head. "He can use the Force too, but he uses it as a weapon to harm those he hates."

"What chances we have?" Farr asked, little more than despair in his reedy wheeze.

"Alot, if we can get away from here while we're still able."

Cyran said something in her alien language, and the widening of Nuri's eyes told the Twi'lek that the Duros girl had finally said something intelligible. "Cyran says we should focus on finding a ship to get us out of this hellhole, or Otar's sacrifice will have been for nothing."

"Jungle first, ship later," Tama replied. She and Nuri barely had to help her along anymore, and Tama breathed a silent prayer of gratitude at the apparent continuing sanity of the Duros girl. Their captor had already ruined enough lives, and seeing so many of her companions continue in their determination to survive only bolstered her will to persevere in fighting for her own survival.

Their group eventually rounded another stretch of labyrinthine corridors and alleyways and found Fenn holed up in the remains of two landspeeders that were so covered in fungi, mold, and carbon scoring that Tama was unable to identify the models, or how old the vessels were. They had been overturned and mashed together due to their entwined and twisted repulsors, forming a triangular structure rising above an area of broken, pitted permacrete. Fenn had crouched within the crater's recesses, overshadowed by the canopy of vehicles above his head, which did not necessarily provide complete cover, but made it incredibly difficult to see anyone within the deep shadows cast by the buildings towering above, reaching for the sun that struggled to shine through the choking haze of spores that suffused the atmosphere. When the group of children approached the crater, Fenn was crawling out of the crater, messily regurgitating what little remained in his stomach as he gripped the edge and pulled himself up. Despite his difficulties and bewilderment, he had maintained his grip on his commandeered DL-44, and he weakly aimed it in their direction until he realized the group moving toward him was comprised of allies rather than enemies. He opened his mouth to offer greeting, only to retch and heave again, the fur along his face and throat rippling rapidly in momentary agony.

When he had managed to compose himself, Tama studied him, and nearly shouted for joy to find that he was none the worse for wear, save for a few new scrapes, as well as spores and mud smeared in his fur. "It's good that we found you," she gasped. "We need to get moving while the shields are still down?"

Fenn coughed, then peered into the courtyard. "Those ray shields aren't coming back up anytime soon. Your rancor did a number on those generators; unless battle droids suddenly became engineers, we won't have to worry about ray shields anymore."

"Unless 'the Savior' has backup generators he just hasn't turned on yet, or is trying to turn on right now."

Fenn's ears went vertical in surprise. "Good point. I'm ready to move, if you are." His eyes searched those in the group as Nuri began to lead the way from the alleys to the city proper, and confusion darkened his gaze. "Where's Otar?"

"Dead," Farr answered dejectedly. "Savior can use Braintails' Force. Killed him. With scream in mind."

"Blast," Fenn uttered, his voice coming out in a strangled tone. "Wait. The same Force you used to train that rancor?"

"Gain more of a trusting partnership with, actually," Tama replied. Her next sentence she intimated in a gloomy tone, as though she were wracked with regret. "One I broke, which is why he's so mad now, and why we should avoid him at all costs."

As if to punctuate her assertions, the rancor let out a keening, tortured cry, one born of pain, hatred, and frustration. Tama ducked her head upon hearing it, and followed Nuri meekly, too tired, too fearful, and too hurt to trust herself enough to guide anyone forward.

Their procession alternated between a hobble and a jog as they moved through the streets of the city, running between shadows and different areas of cover in order to stay out of the open. The aging day went through periods of true radiance and dim, grainy light as the sun slipped between brewing thunderheads and the general, atmospheric malaise of spores and shimmering humidity. The shifting levels of illumination made the children feel a marginal level of safety, for the changing conditions produced shadows that were as numerous as they were deep. Every fiber within Tama's being was urging her to sprint as quickly as her aching legs would allow through the ruins, bisecting them in her attempt to reach the quickest possible path through the eerie, crumbling buildings and into the jungle beyond. But her fellow prisoners followed a more laborious and stealthy approach, suggested by both Nuri and Fenn, practically jumping at every corner and shadow they passed. The city still echoed with the sounds of monsters prowling its depths, some of which sounded even more ravenous and exhilarated. Tama opened herself to the Force and felt her body quiver with the shivering sensations of abject excitement that flowed through the invisible energy field, permeating much of the city around her. The sensations of primal stimulation and predatory furor were so palpable, Tama subconsciously stretched out with a hand, believing she could gain tangible contact with the emotions wafting through the air. Many of the creatures their captor had set upon them had been trapped within the ruins' confines by the ray shields for lengthy periods of time. Being predators used to ranging over large areas of territory without competition in such claustrophobic proximity, discovering the invisible walls of their prison gone was cause for great joy, even in their nonsentient consciousnesses.

The group of prisoners paused within a wide doorway that had led into a hangar complex for both land-based repulsorcraft and airspeeders. Before them was the remains of a wide avenue that had likely been a major thoroughfare for pre-Clone Wars traffic in and out of the city. For the thoroughfare proceeded before them, traveling between two large municipal administrative buildings and through the remains of what appeared to have been a security fence and a military checkpoint. Beyond these ruined structures, the haphazard colonies of mold that carved their way through the decaying permacrete completely disguised the roadway as it carved its way into the jungle, where it disappeared amongst the tangled morass of fungi and gargantuan mushrooms beyond. Nuri gripped Tama's shoulder, and the Zabrak's enthusiasm tangled with the other external emotions the Twi'lek was experiencing at that moment. "The way out!" she whispered tentatively, as though by saying it aloud, she might somehow ruin their chances of escape.

"What waiting for?" came Farr's sharp reply, pushing forward, but stopping himself from running across the open ground of the avenue.

Nuri ignored him, continuing to speak to Tama. "Are there any monsters or droids nearby that'll see us if we run across there?"

Tama shook her head, her temples screaming with the motion, for her exhaustion, the mental and spiritual anguish of her ordeals, and the unusual reliance she had placed on the Force in such a short period of time were combining to form a haze over her enhanced senses. "I don't...think so. It's so hard to sense anything in particular..."

"I'm not hearing anything nearby," Fenn supplied, his ears twitching as they attempted to gain a better position to pick up any nearby threats.

Cyran babbled something, and Nuri shrugged in response. "Cyran says we might as well go for it. We've come this far, we don't have much else to lose if we take a chance now."

Farr made a wet, nasally sound that Tama assumed was his version of a snort of derision or incredulity. "Only our lives to lose. Nothing important."

Nuri gave him a black look. "Farr, that sarlacc you have for a mouth is really starting to piss me off. Why don't you take yourself and that sarcasm across that road, and you can let us know if there are any droids or monsters lying in wait for us."

Tama slashed a hand in the air between the two. "That's enough. We've already denied 'the Savior' so far, we are not fighting amongst ourselves now."

Cyran suddenly reached forward and grabbed Tama's shoulder, using her free hand to point past the Twi'lek and into the avenue beyond. Tama turned, not waiting for an explanation or translation from Nuri, and caught her breath when she looked into the avenue they had been about to cross. For shuffling over the half-collapsed remnants of prefab residential housing was a large creature covered in armored scales, its widely-splayed legs seemingly dragging its immense and powerful body over the debris and the permacrete of the avenue beyond, its wicked claws scraping with eerie shrieks against the ground before it. The squat, ponderous monstrosity traveled across the permacrete with deceptively liquid movements, its four legs ending in a trio of razor-sharp claws. The creature had a large, triangular head narrowing to an angular snout filled with jagged teeth that protruded from its lipless jaws. Its immense, swaying spine was lined with three rows of crimson spikes jutting out from the armored scales of gray and black that covered its fearsome form. Yellow, slitted eyes peered out from beneath heavy brows as its humongous head swung back and forth, its mouth occasionally opening, as if tasting the air for information and the location of prey. The creature lumbered over the pile of detritus, walked out into the middle of the avenue, and then began moving slowly toward the apparent exit from the city, moving back and forth as it tested the limits of a boundary that was no longer there. It seemed determined to travel on into the jungle beyond, but remembered there had once been an unseen barrier present that prevented it from doing so. The children watched, holding their breaths in near-panic as the creature, only a few meters from them now, paused in the center of the avenue, its regard focused solely on the forests beyond. It seemed to be waiting for something; maybe it did not trust the revelation of the ray shields' absence. Perhaps it expected those ray shields to materialize to block its path once again. Why it chose to wait and see if such an event occurred instead of simply escaping into the jungle as it intended was unknown.

"What's it?" Farr hissed, his voice thickened with fear.

"Blast!" Fenn responded in an even lower whisper. "That's a Kell Dragon; damn big one, too. We're not getting past that thing."

Nuri looked to her Twi'lek friend with hope in her frightened eyes. "Could you...make friends with this one, too?"

Tama began shaking her head before Nuri finished the question. She was so tired, even simple speech was a monumental effort, and with the Dark Side continuing to press down upon her and only add to her weariness, there was no way she could attempt bonding with the creature blocking their path. Nuri's expression was crestfallen, but she seemed understanding of the fact that Tama required rest if she were to call upon the Force in such a direct and strenuous way again.

Farr, however, did not. "But you make rancor listen. Rancor is bigger than kell dragon!"

Tama brought a hand to her strained and tired eyes. "The size doesn't matter...it's not an ability I can call upon whenever I want. Hell, yesterday, I didn't even know I had it, and even without that, I can't call on the Force constantly without consequences."

"Then we'll try something more conventional," Fenn remarked, shoving his DL-44 in his belt and scooping up a palm-sized shard of permacrete. Before anyone could stop him, he stood and hurled the debris as far as his short, weakened arms would allow. Judging by the arc of the piece, the Bothan had meant to throw it right over top the kell dragon and into the underbrush of the jungles beyond. But instead, the shard of permacrete hit the avenue just behind the kell dragon and skittered across the ground, bouncing and rolling as it was lost amongst the same pile of debris the creature had just slithered over. Upon hearing the sharp clatter of the shard on the ground, the kell dragon spun around with alarming speed, its eerie, narrow eyes searching the ruins around it to determine from where the stone had come. It turned toward the debris from which it had emerged, and began taking great gasps of the air, smelling and tasting the atmosphere in an attempt to locate new prey.

Tama could feel her danger sense growing, like a discordant strain of music that pounded relentlessly through her skull. She bit back a curse, then turned to Farr, whispering, "Throw again. Away from us, preferably."

Fenn, who looked both sheepish and frightened, scooped up another shard of permacrete and put all his might behind his next throw, aiming it for the ruins from which the kell dragon had first emerged. The shard sailed through the air at the same time Tama raised her hand, focusing her Force-enhanced senses on the destination she wished the stone to reach, instead of the stone itself. A low, thunderous hum permeated the air as the Force seized the stone for an instant, adding a sudden burst of acceleration that caused it to sail farther through the air than Fenn could have hurled it. The stone flew past the kell dragon, overtop the pile of rubble, and deep into the prefab structure, where it struck something metallic with a resounding clang. The kell dragon gave a predatory growl and slithered over the rubble, disappearing back into the prefab structure with frightening speed. Tama released her grip on the Force with a gasp, and Nuri sprang to her feet, gesturing forward with her A280 Blaster Rifle. "Alright, move it while it's distracted!"

The children scrambled from the doorway and pounded across the avenue, Tama lagging behind and practically being dragged along by Nuri and Cyran. Fenn and Farr inevitably drew ahead, keeping their blasters in hand and sweeping the open area with their aim, their eyes flicking back to the ruins in which the kell dragon had disappeared, drawn by the infrequent snuffles and snarls the predator made within. They crossed the avenue in moments, their pattering feet not loud enough to alert the kell dragon, and had just drawn within the shadows of the old security checkpoint when they cried out in unison and fell to the ground as agony lanced through their minds and robbed them of control of their limbs. Their captor, "the Savior", was back, and the scream of frustration and anguish they had heard before had not prepared them for the boiling rage that sheared through their skulls. With that emotion came words, speech barely intelligible and cutting like vibroblades in their minds, scattering their thoughts and severing their emotions as their captor's powerful mental presence dominated their attention through telepathy and his power in the Force. For Tama, with those words came a surging of the Dark Side, the thousand clamoring voices always gibbering at the edges of her awareness suddenly becoming a chorus of screams as the voice called upon the Dark Side that sustained him and tortured him simultaneously. Tama thought she was audibly screaming along with the voices, but she could not even hear herself think, much less her own voice as their captor's screams raged through her.

Pretenders! Hypocrites! Clawdites of Darkness! No no no no not again, please, not again, it's been so long and so happy, the darkness watching from its hidden places. The darkness will not remain hidden! Your sins are scarred into your flesh, behind your eyes! They dance upon the cells of your brain. They beg and plead and call and cry from the depths of your thoughts! You are soaked in the blood of the unbalanced Universe, and you must repent, you must leave off the suckling of your darkness and the gluttony of your iniquities. Oh, again we find it, haunting and laughing from the shadows. Why does it hurt? Why does it sustain? Why is the Universe gifting us with the sins of the born evils? We don't want it, we need it need it need need need. You will not leave! The forest is darkness, the forest is sin! It will take your black hearts from your chests and cradle them close. We can't save you out there, only in here, where the Universe will have its due, where sins can be taken and rewritten, where evil dies with the deaths of the bloody born.

The voice continued to shriek and rage its insanity through their minds, leaving the children rolling about in the mud and mildew in agony and insensate anguish. But whereas before "the Savior" had held unknown and unchecked power over his prisoners, and his abilities could only be guessed at, they had all experienced some measure of his strength in the Force, and though daunting, the enigma of deadly intent and insane ramblings had been shattered. And though his telepathic message carried the weight of the Force behind it, his words were motivated by desperation and fear, rather than the calm and superior facade he had displayed before. He was vulnerable, and by attempting to stop their escape at this moment, he had miscalculated by displaying that vulnerability.

So Tama, more on instinct than any direct attempt, found herself tapping into the Force, confidence born of the part of her mind that remained coherent realizing a weakness in her enemy she might exploit. Despite the poor state of her mind and body and the mental barrage she was presently under, she found herself rising through the screams, through the oily darkness writhing across her flesh, through the vibrations of power and dark intent shivering through her teeth, and achieving enough cognizance to respond. And respond she did, with all her strength, drawing upon her feelings of violation, exhaustion, and righteous anger to sharpen her focus, to reach out with her telepathic capabilities that she had yet to develop to any great accomplishment. But her emotions bolstered her power to retaliate. Like a blade, she thrust her own mental assault back at the voice that invaded her head, and felt dark satisfaction when "the Savior's" oppressive presence recoiled in surprise and a tremble of fear, for if he was aware of her sensitivity to the Force, he was still unprepared for her to fight back, to resist him. She got the impression from the brief mental contact between them that he was not accustomed to competing with other Force-users on mental battlefields, and was momentarily at a loss as to how to maintain the power he held over his escaping prisoners.

Tama, fully focused on the battle of wills being waged in the Force, had little awareness of her external environment, but still had the presence of mind to realize she was subconsciously grinning. She drew deeply of her own pain, her memories of the indignities and injustices she had suffered, even the feelings of hopelessness and simmering rage, and felt the Force sharpen around her. She pressed her assault, targeting their captor's desperation and insecurities and scrambling his own focus. She could feel the power of the Force surging within her, the voices of the Dark Side quieting from screams to smooth, encouraging songs as she drew upon the unique and ailing connection to the Living Force that Felucia possessed. In that moment, she found the Dark Side no longer scared her; she contemplated it as an ally to help her defeat this so-called Savior once and for all, to grind him into pulp for all the deaths he was responsible. For the pain and tribulations he had inflicted upon her. It was past time he pay for his own sins, and she found she was more than willing to be the executor of his punishment.

But their captor's Force presence rounded on her, and she found herself writhing on the cracked, scummy permacrete as his terrible regard fell upon her alone. His voice thundered through her brain, and she could not help but cower from power he was able to wield. Tama. Lost Tama. Pretty Tama. Your darkness is here at last, barely peering over the surface of your soul. No, it's not dark, it's young and old all at once. It doesn't know what it does; the planet does, yes yes yes. The Universe? No, the Universe demands her sin. We eat it and make it gone, make the Universe a place where beauty no longer hides lies, where youth is not darkness. This is your Crucible, Tama, as we said, oh yes we did we did we did. Let it break you. Let it shape you. Let the darkness out. Give your sins voice and name and song. Try to destroy me with your sin and the sins of this world, the sins of all your kind. You will see. You will be saved. Let us save you save you save you from yourself, from your shadow, the demons that lurk and grin and lick behind your eyes. Bring the darkness to us. Use it against me. I can take it. We need it. No we don't. Yes we do. Bring your darkness Tama. Lay it upon our sacrificial altar, and be cleansed, be free of the Universe's righteous vengeance. Be free. Let me save you. Please please please don't leave stay there until the darkness comes. Let me save you.

With great effort, Tama pulled herself free of the internal mire "the Savior" seemed determined to keep her in. She retreated within herself, doing her best to keep his Force presence from her inner thoughts, to protect herself even as she fled the sudden power born of her negative emotions and the weapon those promised in the Force, from the exultant whispers of the Dark Side. For a moment, she realized that she had actively embraced the Dark Side at the expense of herself, not for the preservation of herself or the other children somewhere beside her, but in order to gain a sensation of revenge against their captor. Foyi would have been disappointed in her. Her parents would have been dismayed. But she was motivated less by these revelations, and more by the fact that "the Savior" had recognized her temporary call upon the Dark Side's power. He had rallied in his moment of triumph, as she gave into her "inner darkness" and "inherent sin", and no matter what tools or weapons the Dark Side could have offered her, she refused to play into their captor's machinations, to give "the Savior" justification for his heinous actions and the insane game he played with his victims.

She could feel his overpowering presence worming its way through her mind, attempting to suppress her thoughts, trying to burrow past those on the surface, to reach the darker, regretable intentions, the parts of her mind that still urged her to use whatever tool or weapon was available to her to combat the evil violating her mind, no matter the consequences. She struggled to keep him out, to strengthen her mental defenses and provide an impenetrable wall against him. She drew upon the Force again, trying to ignore the dark whispers, reaching within herself for the serene center of emotionless detachment that Foyi had taught her in their practice sessions together. Even here, even under such a withering assault, she reached for that center, that nexus of power buried deep in her essence, and made contact with it, drawing upon it for the strength it provided. For the oneness with the Force and the galaxy around her.

Tama's eyes snapped open, her vision blurring as she regained focus, though she saw nothing beyond her. The Force swirled and contorted around her, shaking the ground and uprooting clouds of spores and clusters of fungi within close proximity as she called upon the unlimited energy within and beyond her. The leering, searching voice was shoved back as the pure connection to the origin of her being and the Force extricated "the Savior's" consciousness from her own, as though prying his dark claws from her brain. And as she did so, she gave a final shove, a telepathic burst of power that shivered out from her toward their unseen captor. She heard a scream both pained and frustrated, an outpouring of rage as he lost his mental hold upon her, as his constant reliance upon telepathy and the Force finally wearied him enough he was no longer able to combat Tama's weak but precise and calm measure of retaliation. And as the scream died away in her mind and those still lying in the middle of the avenue, Tama knew that she had bought them all a respite from "the Savior's" predations. Her awareness of her body grew, as well as the forms of her companions beside her. And she was surprised to feel that the majority of the pain and exhaustion she had experienced before hand had lessened greatly, a byproduct of her balanced, collected utilization of the Force. Compared to the brief but repulsive contact she had had with the Dark Side, she felt a spiritual sense of peace and certainty, as though she had discovered the single right means by which sentient beings could touch the Force. She returned to full consciousness, finding herself lying on her back, and with little effort, she rolled over on her side, preparing to push off the slimy duracrete and return to a standing position.

Tama turned her face and was greeted to the enormous, foreboding, and jagged regard of the Kell Dragon.

Tama froze for a microsecond, though it felt like an eternity as her battered mind attempted to comprehend this most horrendous turn of events. The kell dragon appeared to be studying her with as much interest as she was regarding it with shock. Its jaws gaped, letting out a rush of fetid air and a low growl that thrummed with reedy vibrations from its chest, radiating outward through the cracked permacrete below them, so that Tama felt the vociferations in her chest. They seemed to stop her heart for the briefest of moments. Dimly, Tama wondered if she might use this moment of inactivity and shock to reach out to the kell dragon in the Force, to attempt a mental and spiritual connection with the great beast akin to the one she had briefly shared with the rancor. But the very fiber of her being recoiled at the idea of attempting another battle of wills almost immediately after surviving the second one this day, one that had completely drained her of the last of her strength. Besides, the kell dragon seemed even less receptive to such a link as the rancor had; the emotions she was dimly registering from the creature mere centimeters from her face suggested a singular desire to scoop her into its mouth and rend her to bloody ribbons with its fangs. There would be no negotiating with this one, not in her current state.

So Tama forced herself to snap free of her reverie and act on instinct alone, trusting in the serenity she had found in the Force. She rolled to the side, drawing closer to the kell dragon, which made the creature's head shift back in surprise for a moment, but then dart forward again. Thinking she must be attempting a desperate attack or means of escaping, the monstrosity's jaws cracked wide, its yellowed fangs gaping as it lunged to meet Tama's advance. But Tama had rolled to bring her trailing arm back for a swift assault, the Force wreathing her fist as it collided with the tip of the kell dragon's snout. There was a resounding crack as the Force-enhanced punch shattered something beneath the creature's plated scales, and the kell dragon's lunge was halted abruptly, its snarl becoming a wail of pain as it hopped back. Tama, for her part, barely felt the blow, though the vibrations of it did crawl painfully up her arm and rattle the socket of her shoulder.

Granted a few moments of breathing room as the kell dragon pawed hopelessly at its injured muzzle, Tama levered herself to her feet, and turned to see her companions struggling upright themselves, in various states of pain and delirium. Cyran was the first to gain her equilibrium again, scooping her blaster up and pausing a moment in abject fear upon seeing the wheezing, snarling kell dragon shaking its head and patting its nose with its claws. The creature's continued shrieks of pain were edged in primal rage as blood began leaking from its nostrils. Its yellow eyes, filled with hatred and hunger, turned to regard the children, and it let out an undulating roar.

Despite the bewilderment the children continued to feel and the extreme difficulty with which they were finding their footing, Tama's companions came back to awareness quickly at the sound of the kell dragon's pain and wrath, splitting the air with its call less than a meter from them. Tama, never keeping her eyes off the kell dragon, began to backpedal as quickly as she could, bringing her E-5 Blaster Rifle to bear. "Go! Head for the jungle!"

Cyran helped Fenn and Farr both to their feet, while Nuri and Tama practically supported each other as they ran, trying to keep at least one of the pair facing the kell dragon as they retreated. The beast gave a roar, bloody spittle and mucus flung from its tossing head, and began to bound after them, springing forward to close the several meters of distance separating it from its intended prey. Nuri unwound her arm from Tama's waist and shouldered her A280, triggering a brief, crimson fusillade of laserfire directly into the kell dragon's face. The air was split with the sounds of the creature's pained screams, their nostrils assaulted by the acrid stench of ozone and molten flesh. Nuri fired again through the smoke and the splashes of blood, and the kell dragon's face thrust through the haze, its scarred and carbon scored scales bleeding profusely. The beast gave another air-shattering roar that trailed off into a squeal, and it began to rub its head and face roughly against the ground, as though sliding its wounded skin against an abrasive surface would somehow scrub the pain of its injuries away. Nuri seized Tama's shoulder again lest she fall over from her unreliable balance, and the two girls turned and ran as quickly as their tired legs and addled minds would allow them. They soon caught up with Cyran, Fenn, and Farr, and the group of prisoners finally liberated themselves as they passed the ruins of the checkpoint and the security fences. They immediately turned for the thickest, most snarled tangle of fungal growth they could find, counting on the jungle to shield them from pursuit. They could hear the kell dragon's loping, bounding pursuit, its claws scrabbling for purchase on the ruined avenue and the thick, slushy mud, its breath coming in ragged wheezes.

The children ran as fast as they were able, proceeding in no particular direction, save for that which was opposite of the kell dragon's ire and pursuit. They gasped and groaned as they maneuvered around the gargantuan trunks of mushrooms dripping with slime and showering spores from their caps, like localized clouds laden with precipitation. They kept each other running, no longer concerned for their personal survival, but with the cohesion of the entire group. When one of them would stumble over a cluster of fungi, or an aching limb would buckle beneath them, the others would be quick to haul them back to their feet, to support them until they could run again. Occasionally, the kell dragon would draw within mere meters, and would spot them across infrequent clearings, only for its leaping bounds to be frustrated once more by blasterfire from any of the group that could bring their weapon to bear at that moment. Most of their shots went wild, or seemed ultimately ineffectual, but the few that did serious damage to the kell dragon began to mount up, until the creature was no longer capable of such fearsome leaps. Indeed, despite its wrath, the kell dragon began to allow a greater distance between it and its prey, as its speed began to lessen due to the debilitating number of blaster burns and bleeding lacerations it had suffered. Tama was certain hours of dogged pursuit passed before the kell dragon finally dropped back out of hearing and her Force senses, leaving them alone. Considering their physical conditions though, it was likely only minutes, no more than half an hour at most, had passed since they had entered the jungle and the kell dragon finally gave up the chase.

By that time, the weary group of escaped prisoners were barely able to keep moving forward, their spines hunched in exhaustion, their legs shuffling through mold and mud, their weapons drooping by their sides. Nuri suggested calling a halt, and they did so once they found themselves in a small clearing, miniscule slants of light from the hidden sun breaking through the cloud layer, the spores, and the haphazard canopy spreading above them. Each one of them allowed themselves to collapse on the ground wherever they happened to be standing, the undergrowth of lichens, moss, and smaller mushrooms feeling like the most divine and indulgent of beds in the galaxy. Tama let herself fall upon her back in a thick cluster of mushrooms, and ached to answer the desire to let herself slip into deep slumber, to forget her troubles and the anguish of the last few weeks in the oblivion of blissful sleep.

Nuri sat beside her, laying her blaster rifle across her knees and heaving a sigh. Tama could feel her exhaustion through the Force, could feel it entangle with her own, and marveled that the girl could actually remain seated. The Zabrak stared off into the forest's depths, and a grin, half-mad with both glee and trepidation, emerged across her lips. "Well, I'll be farkled. We actually made it out of the city. Out of that deathtrap."

Tama breathed a heavy exhalation, though she let her mouth curve downward into a grimace. "I just hope we haven't run headlong into another deathtrap."

Farr suddenly let out a wail of fright, causing everyone to spring back to their feet and turn toward the new threat emerging from the depths of the jungle. Farr was pointing his blaster at the edge of the clearing, where a trio of large creatures wriggled their way from beneath the shadows cast by towering mushrooms, seemingly unconcerned with the threat upon their lives. The creatures were large, oblong tubes of slimy, phosphorescent flesh, mottled with lumpy skin and patches of illumination along their backs and just behind their heads. These heads were little more than thick protrusions of similar flesh, decorated by a pair of eyes that was arranged vertically down their mostly featureless faces; their mouths gaping maws ringed by fleshy mandibles. Two sets of stubby legs that were little more than pseudopods propelled them across the ground in hypnotic, undulating motions, sticking to any surface they chose to traverse as though they were coated in adhesive. The creatures reminded Tama of giant spice grubs, and she found herself tensing as the creatures approached, but they ultimately seemed uninterested in the group of children in the clearing. They spread out about the perimeters of the small depression they had taken refuge, their wide mouths dipping to the ground, their twitching mandibles scooping up shovelfuls of lichens and fungi.

Farr, his grip on the blaster quivering, began to squeeze the trigger, but Tama halted him with a determined tone. "Farr. No."

The Rodian looked back to her, wrestling with himself as to whether he should listen to her or his own fears. He looked back at the massive larval creatures as they shuffled past, and took a reflexive step backward as one of them drew within less than a meter of where he stood. And yet, the creature took no notice of him as it busily set about feeding itself, cutting a path through the undergrowth with its incessant mastication.

The other children, most of whom had pulled their blasters, slowly lowered their weapons as the creatures rounded the clearing, decimating swaths of fungi and lichens with their impressive hungers. The children relaxed somewhat, though none of them allowed themselves to lie down on the ground again. Save for Tama, who slumped back onto her chosen carpet of mold and moss and let herself drift with the Force, feeling the presences of the creatures, relishing their simplicity and serenity. Here, in this place rife with the Dark Side, choked with ravenous predators, and haunted by the horrors of the twisted sociopath they had just escaped, she found a moment's respite. A period of blissful limbo between fright and flight, a moment where she could simply exist and leave her worries behind her in the past.

Cyran levered herself off the ground and tentatively approached the gray, green, and blue flank of one of the large, shuffling creatures. She reached a long-fingered hand to the lumpy, moist flesh, and carefully stroked the creature's side. The beast took notice but did not seem to care, eliciting a thrumming noise and a feeling of contentment that filtered through the Force and made soothing music in Tama's ears. Another one of the creatures approached Farr, its mandibles waving through the air, as if testing his scent to determine if he was something edible. The Rodian gave a squawk and scrambled back to Fenn's side; the Bothan did not seem particularly enthused regarding that, but he was also uncomfortable with the animals' presence, and the pair huddled close to each other, keeping tight grips upon their blasters. Fenn's ears stood upright, and he gazed across the clearing to where Tama lay. "So...we're out. Now what?"

Tama opened her eyes through disgruntled effort. She wanted nothing more than to lose herself in the Force within that bed of fungi, to let herself drift off to sleep and forget all her troubles, hoping that she would awaken to find all the tumultuous events of the recent past nothing more than a nightmare. She came to a sitting position with a groan, and was surprised to see everyone gathered was staring at her, awaiting her response. If most of the other children deferred to her advice before, her plan to stage an escape and her ability to call a rancor to their assistance in the process had earned her the title of de facto leader of this group. Whether she liked it or not, the others looked to her for direction and purpose. The plan they had called insane and hopeless had worked against all odds, and so they had placed their faith in her and her abilities. Greater faith than she had in herself, certainly.

The Twi'lek girl rubbed her eyes. "Well, the important thing now is to find a defensible position where we can get some much needed rest. Establish an order of watch, so there's always someone keeping an eye out for monsters, or droids, or the blasted Savior himself. Then we need food, and water."

Cyran, who still stood and patted the side of one of the large, wriggling grubs, asked a question. Nuri nodded, then faced Tama. "We need to find a ship offworld."

Tama shrugged as the weight of their shrinking options and the responsibility heaped upon her shoulders beginning to drag her high spirits back to reality. "The only one we might find would be back in that city, where that bastard is. Unless we can find these Imperials who may or may not be on this world, and convince them to lend us a ship."

Nuri smirked with dark humor she barely felt. "If they are here, we could get a fast ride to Coruscant if you gave them a demonstration of your abilities."

"Or a blaster bolt to the face," Tama replied. "The Empire doesn't look kindly upon Force-users who aren't interested in kissing the Emperor's feet."

"This is a moot point anyway, right?" Fenn interjected. When he was treated to a collection of curious looks, he continued with an explanation. "I mean, we were all so busy punching lightspeed out of there and away from that kell dragon, I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going. And this forest looks all the same to me. Does anyone remember where the city is?"

Everyone began to look about the clearing, trying to get their bearings in the forest of fungal foliage, where each individual specimen looked so different and yet so alike, it was impossible to pick out any particular defining features. Tama looked to the area of the clearing from whence she was certain they had arrived, but any signs of their tracks or passage had already been defiled by the larval beast's appetites. Tama refused to panic, though. The ruins had been their prison and the domain of the horrific Force-user who had kidnapped them, but they may also represent the group's best chance for escaping the planet. They had not run so insurmountably far from the city that they could not find it, and given some rest and concentration, she believed she could find it again. Even on such a world tainted with the Dark Side, places with exorbitantly high concentrations of pain, loss, and death were unmistakable to those with the Force. She could find it again if needed. Tama finally stood, and had to close her eyes for a moment as she swayed, lest she faint. "I can find it again. I'm hoping we won't have to go back there, but we may not have the choice if we want to get offworld. We should get moving, though. I fought off 'the Savior's' mental attacks so far, but that doesn't mean he can't use to Force against us again. Putting distance between ourselves and him will help."

With weariness that made their limbs leaden and their bodies ache, the children forced themselves to proceed, leaving the clearing behind and plunging into the forests' thick, snarled confines. The large, docile grubs deigned not to follow them, too concerned with feeding themselves. They moved at a slower pace than they had before, for each of them were pushing themselves far past their endurance, but necessity and fear drove them onward. They clambered over fluctuating terrain, slipped between tightly-snarled strands of fungi reaching up to the murky heavens above. The day drew on as Felucia's primary slipped across the sky, though it offered only momentary patches of light that valiantly struggled through the windblown spores and the canopies above. With the aging of the day came a stifling heat and humidity as moisture and spores clogged the air, and soon the former prisoners were gasping heavily, not just because of their exhaustion, but also due to the difficulty with which each breath of the thick, cloying atmosphere was drawn.

Nuri was the one to finally call a halt, and only because everyone else was a few centimeters away from falling flat on their stomachs or backs. She planted the stock of her A280 in the mud, and gestured ahead of them, up at a ridge that rose far past the canopy and out of sight. Its slopes rose to either side as far as their sight could see in the jungle, suggesting the ridge was only one height of a much larger terrain feature, perhaps a moor of moss-covered and fungus-wreathed slopes, or even something that was as large as a mountain. "There," the Zabrak gasped through clenched jaws. "We can make our camp...up there. We'll have...a wall to our backs, and anything on the ground will be forced to climb up to us, just as long as they're not bigger than...a rancor."

Tama honestly expected there to be some complaints regarding the slope they must now climb, but the group, as a whole, were silent as they grimly set about their task. All were far too tired to utter little more than gasps as they came to the base of the slope, their gnarled and battered fingers and worn boots finding fractures and cracks with which they could draw themselves up the slope's steep face. The tenacious fungi growing across the surface also provided suitable protrusions and makeshift handles for them to grab and brace themselves, and yet, it took them the better part of an hour for everyone to make it to the top of the ridge. The slopes of the hill rose above them, but atop the ridge was a jagged, mostly level ledge which was a perfect place for them to camp, the stone blanketed with a thin carpet of moss, lichens, and mushrooms. As they pulled themselves upward, they threw themselves across the ledge's surface, and lay there gasping and willing the aches and pains to leave their overextended and malnourished forms.

Tama rolled onto her back, gazing up the contours of the cliff above, rising into the dark haze of the sky above, infrequently parted by blades of light from the sun streaming downward. Nuri flopped beside her, cradling her blaster against her cheek as though it were a pillow. "We need food...and water," the Zabrak murmured.

Tama found it difficult to concentrate on her friend's words, her eyelids fluttering open and closed. "We need rest," she replied around a thickened tongue.

Nuri nodded slowly, conceding the point without any argument. She pressed her palms against the ledge, straightening her arms and using what little strength she had left to bring herself up to a sitting position. "We'll establish a watch. Take turns...so no one and nothing can simply sneak on us up here."

Tama groaned as she forced herself into a squat, twitching her tchun weakly in agreement. "I'll take first watch then. Let everyone get some rest, so...so we actually have the strength to find ourselves food and water."

Nuri pressed a hand against the Twi'lek's clavicle and gently forced her back down, shaking her head all the while. "No. You rest. You can...you have this power none of us understand, but you've used it to save us and guide us more than once. And...you say that murglak has the same kind of power, so you are our best weapon against him and whatever he might throw at us. We need you rested and ready to fight, if need be. I'll take...first watch. Let everyone else get some rest."

Tama wanted to argue vehemently against this, but the prospect of finally allowing herself to rest was too great to overlook. She laid her head back in the moss, her weary vision alternating between Nuri's concerned and haggard face, and the spears of sunlight lancing through the clouds above. The two sights began to blur, and she had a moment when she questioned what exactly she was seeing, before her entire world went black.

Tama awoke slowly, barely aware of the hand on her shoulder shaking her awake. Her eyes fluttered open, her vision momentarily confounded by a visage of grayish green with two, swimming points of red. Her ears were assaulted by an alien tongue she was unfamiliar with, and a cold grip of fear encircled her heart as she sat upright, instinctively reaching for the Force and gathering it about her hands. Those hands thrust forward to produce a savage Force push, before her sleep-blurred vision clarified and produced the features of Cyran. Tama gave the Duros a bewildered expression, working her jaw to produce enough saliva to articulate speech again, but the girl was gesturing wildly to the ledge's lip. Tama followed the direction of her gestures to see the others gathered about the ledge, peering over the edge and into the gloom beyond. Tama curled her lekku about her throat in an instinctively defensive gesture when she realized how dark it had become, and she could not see Nuri amongst those at the edge of the ridge.

Tama grabbed her E-5 Blaster Rifle and crawled to the edge of the ridge beside Farr, uncertain of the support her feet would actually provide her if she tried to stand. She peered past the Rodian's shoulder and down into the forest below, to see several humanoid figures moving inexorably up the slopes of the ridge, climbing up toward them. She raised her blaster to take aim, but was stopped when she sensed the presence of Nuri again. Peering down the blaster's length, she could see that the figure closest to the top of the ridge was Nuri, her blaster rifle slung across her back as she picked her way up the cliffside. She paused often, making certain to turn toward the other figures behind and below her, lingering long enough to indicate the best handholds and divots in which those who followed her might clamber up. Tama shifted her aim to the other figures, and her keen, low-light vision began to pick out humanoids of varying species, all individuals who were vaguely familiar to her. She lowered her blaster, and then made a wave of her hand to those beside her, indicating they should do the same.

The fur on Fenn's cheeks and throat ruffled itself, and he turned to the others as he hissed, "They're more of the other kids!"

Cyran seemed equally excited by this prospect, that others with whom they had been imprisoned had also managed to survive, while Farr grumbled something under his breath regarding how they would be unable to sneak around now with so many people clomping through the jungles. Tama was simply glad that Nuri continued to live and breathe, but found herself curious as to where she found so many other fellow prisoners.

Nuri was the first to crest the ridge, and as a group, Tama, Cyran, Farr, and Fenn each helped up the other children following her, receiving friendly tactile contact or words of gratitude in multiple languages in return. Nuri, who was breathing heavily more with a sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm than exertion, gestured to those being helped to the top of the ridge and explained. "I went hunting after I'd gotten a little rest. Hunting for food, not allies, but I ended up finding both." She tossed several corpses of small, leathery avian creatures, their carcasses affixed to the carrying strap removed from a blaster. The carcasses were either devoid of heads or had deep burns in their chests, once again providing evidence of Nuri's pinpoint marksmanship. The Zabrak girl hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "There's a little stream of water down the slope, about twenty meters to the left. The water looks relatively clean, though we should probably boil it first, just to be sure."

"Good idea," Tama replied. She cast a look down at the fowl carcasses, and could not stop her stomach from growling, so she looked away and back to the newcomers, who were busy reacquainting themselves with the other escapees. Thus began a lengthy period of introductions and swapping of tales of pain, horror, and ultimately, hope, as they escaped into the jungles, which, being no less terrifying, still seemed to be outside the reach of their kidnapper. There was a Togruta girl named Ashla, who barely spoke beyond giving her name, her dark eyes haunted with what she had seen during her own struggles in their kidnapper's "crucible". Beside her was a Gran boy calling himself Vo-Yees, but Tama was unable to make out much more from his speech due to his thick, guttural accent and the way he seemed to bite off each Basic word he muttered, as though chewing on a tough nerf steak. A Nautolan girl named Ossa seemed genuinely excited to see the others alive around her, which Tama found more than slightly discomforting, as she remembered the girl being one of those in the pit who fought hardest to secure all the meager rations dropped within for herself. And finally, the last of the company of newcomers, a Gormak boy calling himself Vibak-Ol, who glared with his red and yellow eyes at all those assembled, the hostility inherent in his emotions and features reaching Tama through the Force in the form of an acrid smell. Together, they all sat around the center of the ledge, where they uprooted enough fibrous and tough mushrooms and sprigs of moss to build a sizable amount of kindling, which they ignited with a low-intensity bolt from the holdout blaster they continued to carry with them. Within moments, they had a small but healthy fire, which they slowly fed and and sustained with larger stalks of mushrooms, until the flames were hot enough to properly cook the birds Nuri had managed to slay. Meanwhile, Nuri, Ashla, and Fenn set about properly preparing the carcasses for sustenance, skinning them and separating precious meat from bones. Ossa retrieved some sturdy and thin stalks of mushrooms, stabbing two of them into the ground to create supports for several held horizontally over the flames, upon which they skewered the paltry slabs of meat they had gleaned from the avians. The smell of sizzling meat began to fill the air; Tama's stomach initially revolted against the aroma, as it had gone so long without food, the thought of actually eating again sickened her. But as the smell grew in intensity and she became accustomed to it, Tama found her mouth beginning to water, which surprised her, as she had felt almost completely dehydrated for over a day now. The others gave appreciative comments and groans, but those gathered restrained themselves, waiting until the meat was properly cooked and proportioned out evenly to make certain all would gain the sustenance they so greatly craved.

As they sat around the small fire and watched the meat cook, Farr and Cyran clambered down the slope to retrieve water in the bowl provided by a hollowed-out bulb of fungus. Ashla continued to tend the meat, turning the spits upon which it had been skewered, keeping her eyes on the fire and the ground before her crossed feet. Vo-Yees was engaged in rapt conversation with Fenn, who was showing the Gran the DL-44 he was so proud of. Vibak-Ol was surreptitiously staring at the two, listening to Fenn's enthusiastic account of everything he knew about the weapon, as well as a mostly one-sided discussion of all the modifications that could be applied to the heavy blaster pistol if he had the right supplies and facilities. This led to an avid discussion on blasters and energy weapons in general, a subject both boys appeared to be well-versed in. The Gormak shifted slightly closer to the pair to hear better, obviously enraptured by the subject of weapons, though he was trying to pretend he could care less. Ossa had decided to seat herself directly between Nuri and Tama, who, having been sitting near each other, had intended to converse with each other quietly, until the Nautolan had inserted herself.

"So, when did all of you notice the shields were down and jetted out of that city?" Ossa seemed strangely optimistic and energetic, considering all that they had been put through in the last week or so. Tama found the contrast between the Nautolan's external and internal moods uncomfortable because she could feel the great pain hidden beneath the girl's surface thoughts and appearance. Perhaps this was merely the Nautolan's way of processing her experiences; Tama decided she should probably be grateful that the girl was not a shivering, gibbering wreck incapable of a single coherent thought.

Nuri cracked a knowing grin as she stared hungrily at the flames and the meat pierced above the licking tongues of fire. "Same time the shields went down. Had to dodge a kell dragon, but otherwise, everything was smooth as a Bith's head."

Tama snorted in disbelief at the Zabrak's penchant for understatement. She turned to the Nautolan, who's eyes were wide with amazement; or were they always that wide? "We...we were the ones to bring down the ray shields. Had a hella time at it too, but we figured it was fight or die. So we fought."

"And we're still breathing!" Nuri interjected triumphantly.

Ossa glanced back and forth between the two of them, her mouth agape. "You took out the shields? By yourselves?!"

Tama made a weak gesture meant to indicate the others around the fire. "It was a group effort."

"Plus we had help from a rancor," Nuri added.

Ashla, Vo-Yees, and Vibak-Ol suddenly swiveled to look at Nuri and Tama at that comment, various expressions of disbelief and curiosity on their faces. Nuri only seemed to be emboldened by the attention, beginning a lengthy elaboration of how the rancor had indeed come to their aid, and ripped apart the emitters of the shield generators with its claws. Ossa was the one to ask the inevitable question regarding how they had managed to coerce or trick a rancor into aiding them in such a manner, and the Zabrak deferred the question to Tama. Tama, having been raised to practice her supernatural abilities in secret and to disguise her sensitivity to the Force, was initially uncomfortable explaining her connection to the Great Mystery, and how she had used it to call upon the rancor's aid. But she realized that if they were going to devise a means of escaping Felucia once and for all, it was likely she would have to draw upon the Force in a direct manner on more than one occasion, and it was better that she explain the concept, and her sensitivity, to it now, rather than later, when she did access the infinite energy of the Force and the other children would be reevaluating her as a possible enemy. When Tama finished her breathy explanation, she received a series of expressions she was already familiar with, as though Felucia's mushrooms had endeavored to grow directly from her head and face. During this time, Farr and Cyran returned with several hollowed bulbs sloshing with murky water, setting them beside the fire and awaiting the moment that the water could be set over the flames to be made potable.

Cyran provided Tama a welcome respite from the scrutiny when she jabbered something in Durese, directing her adamant sentences toward Nuri. Whatever she had said produced a shocked expression on the Zabrak's countenance, and she whirled on Farr. "You drank it? Are you vapebrained?!"

Farr's enormous eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "I fine. It not taste so bad. Not too different from water on Rodia."

Nuri shook her head as she sat back down. "Well, don't expect us to carry your stoopa ass when you're rolling in the dirt with worms in your stomach."

Cyran set the hollowed bulbs near the fire, so that they would warm slowly, and bring the water to an eventual boil, instead of placing the liquid directly over the flames and thus risk setting their makeshift containers aflame. Farr gave Nuri a menacing glance, to which Nuri responded with one equally hostile, and the two divided their time between small talk with those immediately beside them and glaring vibroknives across the fire between them. The interruption did not last long, however, for almost every eye of those gathered turned to regard Tama again with measures of disbelief; the Twi'lek even received skeptical glances from Fenn and Farr, both of whom were apparently still unconvinced regarding Tama's Force-sensitivity. Or maybe they were naturally suspicious of things they could not easily comprehend or explain. Even Ashla's sunken eyes had risen from her feet to sneak furtive glances Tama's way, and the Twi'lek caught a small shiver of positivity and hope from the girl when they momentarily locked eyes. Tama wondered as to the girl's viewpoint and knowledge regarding the Force, for of the new companions they had gained, she seemed the least surprised to hear of Tama's connection to the Great Mystery. Indeed, learning about Tama's abilities appeared to have lifted her spirits slightly, which was all the motivation Tama needed to continue her explanation, and weather the suspicious queries levered her way.

Ossa, though skeptical herself, was still insistent upon badgering Tama with questions, a barrage of inquiries regarding all aspects of the Force, what it truly was, where it came from, whether she could learn the ways of the Force also. Tama answered as best she could, her eyes taking in the interested and judgmental visages of Vo-Yees, Vibak-Ol, and Farr. Eventually, at great urging from the annoying and insistent Nautolan, Tama summoned what little of her strength she could muster and called upon the Force, using it to levitate a small stone sitting to the side of their campsite and spinning it end over end for several lengthy moments. Though the use of the Force was taxing, Tama was heartened to find that the use of telekinesis was not as difficult as it had been for her back when she was training on Yanibar. The one positive side of all this tribulation and adversity was that her circumstances had necessitated her nearly complete reliance upon the Force simply to survive and stay sane, and so she was finding it easier to connect to all the time, even if it was still exhausting.

Tama let the rock fall to the moss below its hovering mass and mashed her face into her hands, gritting her teeth against the migraine shearing through her skull, the pain arcing all the way to the tips of her lekku. Nuri placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Tama began to feel better simply via proximity to her friend's unspoken encouragement and support. Though it did not eliminate a strange, pressing drone in the back of her mind, as though there were insects buzzing in her brain, so small she barely recognized they were there. She grimaced again as she forced herself to ignore it, chalking it up to some sort of stress-induced inconvenience.

The Gormak boy shifted closer when Ossa appeared to have finally exhausted her questions, and spoke for the first time that the Twi'lek had heard. Tama was not at all familiar with his species, but she had assumed that being a juvenile specimen, his voice would hold a child-like pitch and quality to it. So she was surprised when what emerged from his mouth was gravelly, like durasteel scraping across broken permacrete. He spoke Basic, but his accent was so overpowering, Tama initially assumed he was speaking another language. "'Ere yo get 'eapons?"

Ossa's attention flicked to the blasters Tama, Nuri, Farr, Fenn, and Cyran kept by their sides. "Yeah! Those are some wicked blasters! Where'd ya get 'em?"

"Some of our droid friends lent them to us," Nuri replied sarcastically as she squatted by the fire and inspected the meat. "They didn't need them anymore, so we thought it best not to waste firepower."

"We weren't able to find weapons," Vo-Yees squawked. "We found a stash of ration packs, yes. No blasters. Not even knives."

"We fight for our blasters," Farr explained proudly. "We kill droids, pick up blasters. Kill more droids with those blasters."

Fenn's ears twitched. "You make it sound like you took on all the Savior's droids by yourself."

"I kill many droids!" Farr proclaimed.

"Which was nothing compared to those destroyed by Tama's rancor and Nuri's exceptional aim. Give credit where it's due."

Farr had no immediate answers to that, and fortunately, he fell into a silence that was blissful for all involved. Vibak-Ol shifted closer, glaring at those armed with the weapons he was so interested in. "Need 'eapons too, yeah? Defend ourselfs."

Nuri produced the holdout blaster she had been carrying around, and offered the sidearm to the Gormak grip first. Vibak-Ol gave the weapon a sneer, but he took it anyway, apparently determining for himself that a small, weak weapon was better than none. Tama, still trying to ignore the strange sounds that flowed through her mind, almost coalescing into palpable whispers in her ears now, offered the E-5 she had procured from Otar's body to Ashla, hoping the blaster would offer the girl a small sense of safety she was dearly in need of. But the Togruta merely made a squeak that may have been a soft protest, and refused to take it from her. Ossa, however, gladly took the weapon, much to Vo-Yees' chagrin, and began examining every part of the blaster in such a flurried and carefree manner, Tama was convinced there would soon be another death, as a result of the girl's carelessness and inexperience, rather than the Savior's machinations.

Soon thereafter, the meat had come to an acceptable and edible heat, and Nuri and Cyran set about dividing the cooked slabs amongst all gathered, as the other children remained close to the fire, practically salivating in anticipation of their first true meal in well over a week. Tama, however, remained on the perimeter of the campsite, massaging her temples as her lekku continued to jitter about her shoulders. What she had initially assumed to be a headache had actually become a feeling, something tangible and yet just out of reach, a sensation through the Force that was putting pressure upon her sinuses and producing a flurry of whispers in her ears. She ignored the beautiful smell of the prepared meat, the churning of her stomach, even the feeling of her fingers pressed against her temples, and focused solely on the feeling filtering through the churning miasma that was the Force on Felucia. It was like trying to find a dragon pearl at the bottom of a vat of Hutt slime, her hand groping blindly through the morass of the Dark Side, to single out the source of the exterior sensation. She could feel the Force responding to her reach, parting for her vanguard of concentration, stretching out to reach the growing strength of the unknown signal. A strand of familiar music suddenly trickled through her ears, dredging up memories of taxing training sessions in use of the Force, of long blizzards and cozy nights beside a small fire, of durni stew. Of laughter, tears, arguments, and friendly games of dejarik. She could feel her heart thudding throughout her entire body as her emotions soared with excitement. She reached further, and found contact with the questing feeling, the shred of consciousness that had been thrown across unknown distances through the galaxy, searching for the thing it most recognized, the person it called family.

Tentatively, wary of a trap upon the unseen mindscape, Tama let hope fill her as she reached for the other consciousness. Foyim'buma?

The other consciousness responded immediately, flooding their shared connection through the Force with pure light born of joy and hope. Tamam'buma! I knew you lived! Tama! I'm here!

Tama tried to picture the ledge, the city, the jungle and all the terrain features' relations to each other. She tried to communicate this information across the void to her sister, though the contact was already slipping, for Tama's mental hold on the Force was fading again, failing due to the exhaustion of both body and mind. She could no longer hold her contact with her sister, so she did her best to throw forth her emotions, to let her sister know that she yet lived, and she would continue to fight for her survival, no matter to cost. That they would find each other, be reunited once again, and the nightmare would be over. But even as she sent this into the Force, she felt no response from her sister. Her consciousness had fled out of reach, the Dark Side clouding both of their spiritual visions and severing their tie.

Tama snapped open her eyes to see the other children already greedily tearing into their strips of meat, while Nuri continued to caution them to eat slowly, lest they be sick. The Zabrak turned to the panting Twi'lek, to see her wide eyes and the open grin that was practically insane with joy splayed across her face. "What is it?" Nuri asked, concern evident in her tone.

Tama blinked, allowing her eyes to focus, though her vision was blurred by tears she had not believed she still had the moisture left to shed. "My sister. She's here. She's come for me." She reached forward and grabbed Nuri's hand, squeezing it tight as she whispered hoarsely. "I know how we're going to get offworld."