II

The Sith Lord couldn't remember the last time he felt so hot. He could almost feel the sweat pouring off of his body, or perhaps evaporating before it could do so from the heat he felt rising off of his skin. His head throbbed uncontrollably; his eyes refused to open. Maul moved his mouth and moaned out unknowingly, his tongue feeling like it had a coating of chalk plastered over it. He wanted water—some to drink and the rest to pour over him.

Finally, Darth Maul willed his eyes to open. Everything was a blur and he couldn't make out a single thing that surrounded him. His arm—the one that felt the least injured—jumped out and reached for something. He heard something spilling and something else banging onto the floor.

For a second he couldn't recall what had happened, why he felt like he did, or where he even was. His own name was a blur in his mind as he forced himself to think. But he couldn't. Maul felt his eyes slowing closing again as a stream of heat washed over his entire body. Reacting to this, he tried to turn over, but he couldn't—it hurt. His entire body throbbed, or the parts that he could feel. His lower half almost felt numb to the point he wondered if it was still there. Looking down to check wasn't an option.

Then, out of the corner of his barely opened eyelids he saw someone coming towards him. Maul didn't know what came over him, but he was almost afraid. The voice's words made no sense to him, as if it spoke in a language that was made up of nothing but hums. Yet…it was calming him, even though he was so hot he thought he'd burn to death.

Maul tried to look at the figure, but all he was a brownish blur. A hand came up and he thought he felt it stroke the side of his face. He wanted to get away, to lash out and kill who dared to touch him.

But he couldn't. He had no strength. Not even the Force could help him.

Something came to his lips and he forced his head to turn away. The person, though, forced whatever it was to his mouth again and poured liquid down his throat. Maul coughed and grunted as it stopped. Forming words to verbally attack whoever-this-was was impossible. All he could do was close his eyes as he saw the brown blur walking away from him. And soon…everything was dark again.

The first thing he realized was that something annoying was filling his ears. A chirping of some sort…an animal…a bird, most likely. Before he forced himself to open his eyes he could tell straight forth that he was somewhere where a lot of fresh air was being filtered into the room. It smelt a little strange, something that off-set the normal cleanliness he was used to on some planets, such as Naboo. That and wherever he was it was very bright. Even from closed eyelids he noticed the bright white light and it almost hurt to the point where he wanted to cover his face with his hands.

Moving his hands was probably a mistake. Immediately he felt the harshness of the wounds he had suffered in his battle on Naboo. Curse that revolting Jedi, he said to himself as his good arm tried to move away from his side. He knew he was lying on his back on something rather comfortable, his head resting on a pillow he guessed because he could feel something soft brushing up against his ears when he turned his head slightly. His hands felt fabric, probably sheets or something; he wasn't used to sleeping on something so…nice.

Finally he found the will to take a peak at what was making him feel so relaxed, excluding the lights and sounds. What he saw surprised him to no end. He was in a small room, naturally lit by the sun pouring in through two windows on either side of him. Ahead was an open doorway in the center of a plain pale yellow wall. The room was fairly empty with the exception of some strange looking plants he didn't recognize, a small round table, a cushioned chair, and a small stool next to the bed he occupied. His hand brought up one of the sheets that covered his bare chest, finding it to be white and the probable reason as to why he was blinded—the sheet and the light combined and jumped at his unprepared eyes.

Maul tried to sit up, but his abdomen wouldn't let him. His whole body felt sore, save for maybe his left arm and leg, but even they felt that there should be pain somewhere just to join in with the rest of his body. He had a terrible headache and the breeze from the open windows sent a sudden chill to his now exposed skin.

For the second time he tried to sit up and this time he didn't give in to the tenderness of his muscles. He relaxed back against the smooth surface of a wooden headboard, his eyes closing for a moment just to let his thoughts gather. He remembered the entire battle against the Jedi. He remembered falling down the shaft. He barely remembered finding his way to his ship. Where he was now, he hadn't the slightest clue. He couldn't even recall if he had set coordinates into the space cruiser's computer to bring him to a specific place.

Even if he had, he knew he wasn't there. He never would've picked a planet that was so…peaceful and serene from the looks of it. Glancing out of the window to his right he saw a beach and blue waves crashing up over the sand in the distance. He knew of several plants that had oceans, but which one he was on he didn't know, nor cared at the moment. The only thing he focused on was his condition. He easily felt the pain in his side, and by the looks of things someone had brought him to this location and tried to fix him up. White bandages wrapped around his entire torso, a bloodstain apparent somewhere near the center. He could see from the corner of his eye his arm was covered in the same wrapping as well. With the bandages, he couldn't quite tell if his tattooed body suffered anymore scathing that he hadn't been aware of. As for the rest of him, he noticed he still wore his black pants, although there was a tremendous tear in the thigh on the right side, which too was covered in the white medical.

Darth Maul noticed the rest of his clothing draped across the arm of the cushioned chair. He held up his hand to try to get them to come over by using the Force, but instead he managed to do that and knock over some sort of statue sitting on the table. It crashed to the ground and as if he was a small boy again he looked up and waited to see if he'd get caught.

For a moment there was the silence, with the exception of the birds and waves outside. Then he heard footsteps getting closer. He had no weapon and he was too weak to do anything else but throw a punch if necessary. All there was to do was wait to see who appeared from around the corner of the door.

What he saw surprised him and he knew his eyebrows automatically raised themselves a little. His yellow eyes stared at the creature before him. Instead of a crippled old man of whatever species that he originally expected, he found himself looking at the figure of a woman, human he was sure, that was by no means old and definitely not crippled. He was never attracted to anyone, having no need for the foolishness of love and devotion to a suitor, but he would not deny to himself that she was exquisite.

"I see you've finally woke up," she said in a soft-toned voice. She entered the room and came around the end of the bed where the articles of clothing had landed on the floor. "Guess there was a strong gust of wind or something, huh? Sorry if that was the reason why you're awake now."

She picked up the pieces of the broken statue, placed that and the clothing on the table and made her way over to him. Maul eyed her suspiciously, trying to ignore the brown eyes that gently looked at him like he was helpless and in need of her care. She wore a simple worn-looking skirt that hung no lower than her knees; her upper body was covered with a strapless shirt that tightly hugged her stomach. Her dark brown, curly hair framed her flawless, tanned colored face. When she smiled at him while leaning over he saw the whitest of teeth he had ever seen, enough to blind him a second time that day.

She put her hand up to his forehead and he quickly pulled away, a scowl covering his red and black face. She pulled her arm away when he crumpled his nose, his eyes giving her a purposely lethal stare. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to see if your fever finally went away."

She attempted to touch him again, but he remained leaned over to one side, no matter how much his body protested at the harsh movements and uncomfortable position he forced it to hold. The woman sighed and sat on the stool, Maul waiting a moment before sitting back up and leaning against the wall. His eyes looked straight ahead at nothing in particular, but he made sure he was aware of her every move.

"Well, at least you're showing definite signs of improvement," she started again. "For a while I thought you were going to die on me."

Maul looked at her for a brief moment from the corners of his eyes, his head remaining still, when she spoke of herself as if he belonged to her. Already she was annoying him and when he was sure he didn't need her for any reason he would kill her.

"You're on Corellia, outside of Tyrena if you didn't already know. I doubt it though—I found your ship a few miles up the coast," she continued. "You were in pretty bad shape. What happened; a fight or something?" He gave her no answer. She hesitated before going on, but did so anyway. "So…what's your name?"

The Sith Lord was growing angrier by the minute with her every word. He was at the point of choking her with whatever energy he could find. After all, he didn't need some weak human woman to take care of him like he was a baby. He was a warrior, apprentice to Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith—he didn't need anyone.

"I'm Naturri Karredine," she introduced as if trying to coax him into telling her his own name. He refused to give her the pleasure of knowing. She shifted her weight on the stool and crossed her legs. "I'm beginning to wonder if you even talk."

"I'm beginning to wonder if you ever shut your mouth," Maul said finally in his normally cool tone, breaking his self-made code of silence. He turned his head slightly and looked her directly in the eye, knowing that she'd realize he meant business with his frustrated tone.

Naturri uncrossed her legs and nodded slowly. "Sorry," she apologized, "I do tend to get carried away sometimes. I was just trying to make you feel welcome."

Maul looked away from her once again and closed his eyes. He wondered if he ignored her completely she'd go away. Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case; as if she just noticed she gasped loud enough for him to open his eyes again.

"Damn, that bandage needs to be changed," she said pointing to the one over the most serious wound on his body. Without another word she got up and hurried out of the room.

I'll be damned if she thinks she's coming near me, he mentally told himself. He looked down at the bandage; it gave all signs that the wound was still wide open and having trouble healing. It wasn't the first time he'd been injured, but usually he let it go through the healing process without paying much attention to it. It had worked before, so why should he be bothered now?

The Naturri-girl returned moments later with a roll of fresh bandages, a bottle of some sort of liquid and a cloth. Maul gave her a warning stare, but she paid no attention to his face. She pulled out a pair of scissors from a drawer in the cabinet under the window and made her way over to him, scissors placed in her hand and ready to cut.

Maul swatted her hand away ruthlessly, snarling at her. She looked surprised at his reaction, but that didn't seem to put much fear into her—something he was not used to seeing with anyone around him other than his master.

"Look, those have to be changed, otherwise it'll get infected," she told him and tried again.

"I don't need, nor want your help," the Sith snapped. "Stay away."

Naturri gave him a look as if he was crazy and put a hand on her slender hip. "Are you stupid or still delirious? You might as well have nothing on it if you don't change it."

"Then so be it," he said dryly and looked away from her.

Naturri looked more than annoyed and tossed the scissors back on the countertop. "You are a foolish one," she said. "Look, buster, I didn't go out of my way, practically breaking my back to help you out here just so you can tell me you don't need my help. If that's the case, then why don't you pick yourself up and leave—if you can." She ended her short lecture with a small smirk, daring him to give it a try.

Maul furrowed his brow and shot her the deadliest stare he could. She didn't even flinch, and that started to get to him. Everyone he had ever encountered since the day he could remember feared him, the only exception to that being his master, the only person he could honestly say he held a small amount of fear for. This girl was different though; she looked fragile to a certain point, but he could sense the strength in her. Perhaps she wasn't physically capable, but her mind was strong and witty.

"Well Mr. I-can-take-care-of-myself," Naturri said as she walked over to the door. "If you're not too stubborn, I'll bring you some food in a few hours. I've barely been able to get you to eat anything since I found you, so you must be hungry."

Maul watched her, his head bent and eyes staring up. He refused to admit, even to himself, that he was the slightest bit hungry. One of the many punishments he had been given when he was a boy learning to use the Dark Side was going for a week with a meal. Then again, he was given a small piece of bread and water to sustain him enough to function…and cooking was not his thing, although he was by no means helpless when it came to survival. Maybe he should keep this girl for a while; she would provide him with whatever he needed. She didn't dare defy him if she knew what was good for her.

Maul's tired yellow eyes looked out the other window in the room. Wherever he was wasn't in any city. There was no sign of life anywhere outdoors except the birds flying around. He let his head fall against the wall behind him; he closed his eyes to think. He wondered if his master had discovered that he was indeed still alive, or if he thought he was dead. It was possible with the survival of that young Jedi that the Theed Palace was taken back into the hands of the Naboo and the Trade Federation was pushed out. He knew the powers of a Jedi, although he was convinced that they were nothing compared to his own.

The most important thing was getting back into shape; then he would have to get back to his ship and see how much damage it suffered when he absentmindedly took off from the palace hanger. Before drifting off to sleep once again, he decided he would get what information he needed from that Naturri girl, use her until he no longer needed her to serve him, and then dispose of her quickly.