Cerasi5 Weird? You don't know what weird is just yet :D

Yes, it was the kiss, just a kiss. Morals - never kiss strangers (just kidding ;-) )

~*~*~*~*~

Black smoke, heart-wrenching cries, blaster shots – a settlement that had been so peaceful just an hour ago was immersed into the chaos of war. No, it was not real war for war implies two fighting parties. This was destruction, uncaring erasing of everything. People – men, women and children – were wiped out without a thought. But then again, how is a droid army supposed think? The metallical monsters invaded the settlement, breaking the peaceful morning – the sound of their mechanic feet on the ground permeated the air – they were wrecking havoc, bringing terror and death. Rising sun had basked the carnage in its light, turning everything blood red.

People ran between their burning homes in fear. Nothing could stop the droids: neither resistance, nor pleas. Droids had no heart. They had an order to wipe the settlement out of existence and they would do just that. Yes, droids didn't have hearts, but those who gave them orders were even more heartless.

The main street of the settlement was in the same chaos as the rest of it: houses burning and falling in on themselves one by one, people screaming and running in blind panic. And in the center of all this stood a seventeen-year-old girl. She came here to buy some fruits from an old woman, like she did every week. But this time she found herself in the middle of hell. She froze at the sight before her, unable to move. Never in her short life had she seen such cruelty. She has grown up with caring parents and kind friends, never knowing war, never seeing so much death. She stood right in the middle of the street, sharp wind waving her long silky hair that were now covered in ash flown around by the wind, caustic smoke eating at her eyes, blurring her sight – the very embodiment of shock.

A child about five or six years old ran out from one of the houses that collapsed right behind him. The young girl, standing in the middle of the chaos, could barely see the little blond boy through the tears in her eyes that she made no move to wipe – she just couldn't move. The boy was in panic of being left alone in the pandemonium that had suddenly erupted in a quiet village, not knowing where his parents were, feeling only terror and desperation of dozens of people killed. Terror and desperation that were palpable in the air.

He stopped, not knowing where to run. Dark smeared spots of ash marked his clear, innocent face. Then he spotted her – the only one who wasn't running with wild screams – and rushed to her as fast as his little legs would carry him. He had almost reached her when a battle droid came around the corner of a house behind him. With her eyes wide the girl watched in slow motion as the droid fired at the unsuspecting and vulnerable child. She wanted to rush to the child, to cover him, but she was frozen by shock – unable to move but able to watch. She desperately wanted to close her eyes, to not see what was happening – but she could not. The child stumbled as a blaster bolt reached him, then slumped to the ground in a small bundle. He never moved again.

Rivers of tears ran down her cheeks but she didn't care. She didn't care for the droid that now aimed at her. So intense was her grief that she didn't care for anything but the life of a little child that has been wasted so ruthlessly. This was simply too much for her. She felt a hand grab her arm, pulling her out of the harm's way. She didn't resist. Grief started to go away, leaving the dark empty void in its wake. The droid's fire missed her by centimeters, but the fact only registered in her mind, not evoking any emotion from the soul that was overweighed by the brutality of destruction.

"What are you doing here, all alone, child?" She heard a kind and worried voice ask her. Through the haze that enveloped her, she could barely make out weatherworn appearance of an old woman. A warm hand, covered with wrinkles, brushed her hair, bringing comfort. And this one human gesture in the middle of death-stricken village made the girl loose any semblance of control. With a loud sob, she buried her face in the old woman's worn clothes, clinging to her like this woman was everything that was left in the entire universe.

Everything was in a haze after that. The girl couldn't remember how they got away from the village, or how they got to her native village that was nearby. She could scarcely remember her relatives fussing around her, asking questions – questions she didn't want to hear and didn't want to answer. Her parent's voices seemed to drown in a roar that reigned in her head.

*********************

The seventeen year-old girl woke up with a start the morning after carnage. The first rays of morning sun crept tentatively through the small windows of the old wooden house. Everything breathed with peace. She didn't get up immediately, deciding instead to stay in bed for a while. She lay on her back, feeling the last remnants of dream dissipate and memories of previous day reestablish themselves in her mind. She remembered the horrible destruction of that village and thanked every god she knew that it was not her own village. Then it occurred to her that the droid army would proceed and eventually come to her village too.

A lump formed in her throat and tears welled up in her eyes when she envisioned how the people she knew and loved would be killed, and her home would be destroyed. Fear rose in her but then it transformed into resolve. She would do everything possible to not let the same fate of the neighboring village befall her own village.

She reflected how her people and the people of the neighbouring village used to live - the way of relationship maintained by generations and tested by time.

Though most sentient inhabitants of Allura were human, her people weren't. The original population of the planet was all but extinct, replaced by colonists. Most colonists came from highly populated worlds such as Coruscant or Correlia. But no one knew where the inhabitants of this particular settlement had come from, though it was known that they had come from one faraway star system. There were few legends, describing the appearance of their race on Allura, but they could hardly be trusted, for most of them contradicted each other in the most important of things.

All the legends agreed on only one thing: the name of the race: Kunikuri - "soulhunters". One might think it to be odd that the whole race could be called this, but truth be told, they were who they were called. They needed other sentient beings' souls for survival. They devoured those souls, like vampires drank blood, leaving only the empty shell of a body.

Once upon a time they really hunted for the souls, bringing horror to the surrounding settlements. People frightened naughty children by telling soulhunters would come and 'eat' their souls. But then it had ended. Kunikuri had settled down and built their own village next to one of the largest human settlements. They had made an agreement according to which people had given one of their own to the soulhunters, to keep them alive. In return Kunikuri, who had the powers to call or stop rain, helped people get a larger harvest.

Kunikuri and humans had lived side by side for ages, until the day came when someone decided to build a metallurgical plant in that area. The metallurgic magnate's plan had been perfect, and there had been only one little obstacle - settlements. But the obstacle could be easily eradicated by the means of a droid army…

 

Anisa let her gaze slide onto the tall window of an office that belonged to the very same magnate. She could still remember how she - as a young common girl from a village that knew nothing but peace - had come to the city she had visited only once or twice in her entire life. She had had no trouble finding the main office of Arones - the man responsible for the destruction of many villages, including the massacre she had witnessed. Streets were virtually screaming at her with placards and posters, Arones' promotion campaign at its heights. She had had some trouble getting into his office, but her resolve had been unwavering, and she had managed that too.

At first Arones had been very surprised to see her in his office - how could he not be? - his office wasn't open for public. But then he saw a very good opportunity for himself. He listened to the girl, indifferently at first, then with a growing interest. She sat before him, nervously clutching her simple dress, trying to make her voice, weak from fear, sound stronger. And then he made a proposal Anisa could not decline. He promised to leave her village alone if she worked for him.

She had accepted his proposal then. He had made her his personal assistant -  his personal killer.  At first, she strongly resented having to kill people at his order, but she quickly learned that it was the only way to keep everything she loved safe. Innocence and purity of her soul was the price she paid. How ironic - a soulhunter had to sell her own soul to save her people. Her lips curved in a wry, ironic smile that had no mirth in it. She also lost love and respect of her relatives and everyone she knew. Whenever she met one of them she got only looks of disdain, they hated her. And they had very good reason to hate her. She had saved her village, but she became the same as those who had wanted to destroy it.

Now she had no trouble killing any sentient being if Arones told her to, though some part of her still took solace in the knowledge that those she killed were as evil and spoiled as Arones - or herself. Anisa even had options: she could do it fast with just one deep kiss, or she could draw it out; the latter gave her some perverted pleasure. In the latter case, it required a kiss first. Then even the slightest touch was sufficient. She even killed several people, not for Arones, but for her own pleasure. Still, she had done it only four times in the nine years that she has been Arones' 'aide'. Obi-Wan was going to be the fifth

But did she really want to continue to be this way? Couldn't she change her life? What she had done in the past had been her only option, but now everything was different. She could find other ways to keep Arones away from her people. She could stop being heartless, although she suspected she had no heart anymore.

Arones' voice brought her out of her reverie. The man looked angry and agitated as he paced the floor of his office. Finally he sat down into the chair at his desk but didn't calm down a tad bit. He drummed his fingers nervously on the table's polished surface.

"That Imata girl is of more trouble than I thought. We must get rid of her," he glanced at Anisa. "Kill her."

She stood silent for a long time. A struggle was going on inside her. Should she comply as she always did or could she stop walking this path? She had taken this path those long nine years ago. Could she leave it now? Did she have enough courage? To quit now would mean to become personal enemy of Arones. She didn't know if she was up to it. Perhaps memories had brought up her suppressed conscience. Or maybe it was innocence of Namira that made her come to a decision. Finally Anisa shook her head. "No."

Arones stared at her in disbelief, which quickly morphed into anger. Then he erupted. She stood her ground, holding her head high, waiting for him to stop yelling. She took the moment he paused for breath to retort:

"I have had enough of you and your orders," she said calmly, though she was nowhere close to calm inside. On contrary, a storm was brewing, threatening to consume her. She was suddenly disgusted with him and his wealth. She wanted no part in his dirty business anymore. "I will not kill anyone else for you. I resign."

"Then your people will die," he breathed angrily, giving her a dark look.

"I will find another way to save them." With these words, Anisa left the office, the stunned Arones in it. She stormed past a surprised looking secretary and out of the quarters, stopping only when she was in a corridor. There, she leaned against the wall, trying to calm down the thoughts that were racing frantically through her mind. Had she done the right thing? She didn't know. She only knew that there was no turning back.

Anisa felt like she had just woken from a horrible nightmare. Her thoughts, which had been dwelling on what she had done in the past nine years, suddenly moved to Obi-Wan, and shame overtook her. She tried to think of a way to help him but came up with only one option - kill him fast to stop his suffering. There was no alternative she knew of. And so she went to his quarters.

******************