Last time: Cien and Viran tried to call to Sasha again and got a weird signal.

Now: Oppie and Sasha make camp for the night.

Chapter 7- A Night Around the Fire

As they continued to walk, the sun was getting lower in the sky. The days seemed to be the same length here as on Artemis. Sasha looked over to Oppie as they walked along.

"Should we make camp here soon for the night before it gets too dark? Or should we keep going?" She asked him as she adjusted her pack as her back was getting stiff from walking for so long since the animals chased them.

"Yeah, we should probably make camp while we still have light." Oppie said after a moment.

"Okay," Sasha said. "Would this location work?" She asked.

Suddenly, she heard a distant call from almost the back of her mind. It felt like it was Cien or something that seemed like Cien. Was she just imagining it? It was possible, but it was gone as quickly as it came. She blinked and looked back to Oppie.

"What?" He asked, looking around.

"Oh I asked if this location would work," she stated again.

"Yeah." Oppie said, "this is fine. What was that reaction though?" He had seen her do a subtle double take.

"Oh," Sasha said as she came to a stop. "I thought I heard something. But I think I was just imagining it."

"Like what?" He asked.

Sasha hesitated as she still wasn't really sure what she heard. As she did so, she heard it again, but this time it sounded like Viran. Sasha looked around at the sound as if it came from her left and saw nothing but forest. She sighed and looked to the ground.

"It's like I'm hearing Ci… the others in my head, but it's more of a feeling than actually hearing them," she said, unsure. "I don't know. It's hard to explain. But maybe they are trying to reach out to me via the Force. I just wish I knew for sure." She chuckled as she shook her head. "Or maybe I'm going crazy or I hit my head too hard earlier."

"The others are looking for us, it makes sense they could reach out to you if they could." Oppie said quietly. "Both of them would have a stronger connection to you than me, and you're stronger in the Force than I am, so if anyone could get through this..." He trailed off, not sure how to refer to the nullification of the Force around them, "it would be the two of them trying to reach out to you."

Sasha looked up to him. "I guess you're right. If I hear it again, I'll let you know," she said then looked up to the sky. "We should get camp started before it gets too dark."

"Yeah, I'll gather some firewood. I think we can risk a small fire." Oppie said. A little worried about Sasha.

"Alright," Sasha said with a nod. "I'll gather some leaves and maybe make a couple of soft-ish patches we can rest on tonight." She suggested as she set her pack down at the base of one of the trees.

Oppie nodded. He returned a little while later, after night had set in, and the sounds of various creatures echoed from the dark. Nothing that sounded too big, or like the predators they had encountered before. He dropped the bundle of wood, and set about moving some rocks into place to form the base for the fire. With that done, he piled the tinder and kindling, then the larger logs, making sure to leave room for airflow, and then he used the knife and a flint rock he had found to try and set the fire alight. It took several tries, and Oppie swore to himself he could add a lighter to the various kits he kept in his belt pouches if they- when they got out of this. But soon it was alight and growing.

As soon as they had light, Sasha, who was sitting on the pile of leaves she made, pulled out a ration pack. "Think this is enough to split?" She asked as she gestured to the food.

"Yeah, I think I might have some old ration cubes in my pouches too if you want to split one." He said digging into the pouch to see.

"Okay," she said as she opened the food pack. As she started to dig in, she paused before she bothered to take a bite. "Op, I'm sorry." She said after a long moment.

"For what?" He looked at her quizzically.

"I feel like this is my fault," Sasha said simply. "I was the one that got lured into a trap and got you captured. Even though we haven't figured out who the bounty was for. You. Me. Both of us. Either way, I feel responsible for us being here. So I'm sorry for getting you dragged into this."

Oppie looked at her and had to almost keep himself from laughing. "Yes, how dare you."

Sasha glared at him before grabbing a pile of leaves into her hand and threw them at him. "I'm being serious, ya jerk," she said as she tried not to smirk.

"Sasha, don't worry about it, I walked into the same trap you did. With forewarning, I might add, so don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're not alone with this." Oppie said with a slight smirk of his own.

"Jeeze, yeah," Sasha said with a chuckle. "I have no idea how I could have handled this on my own. I'd probably would have been lunch meat to those creatures earlier. So I'm really glad you are here despite the circumstances."

"You'd be fine. Heck, maybe you could have made friends with those things." Oppie said with a shrug.

"I doubt that," Sasha said, now digging into the ration pack. "I may have done it that one time with those deer, but those were kind and gentle creatures. Plus I had the Force then too to help me. Now? It probably wouldn't have done much. And I think I know what those creatures were."

"Oh?" Oppie asked, "I had no idea about the fauna on this planet."

"On the holodisk, that Von guy mentioned some creatures that hunt Force users. The vornskr is what I think he called them. I think that is what those were," Sasha explained. "I think that is why they were chasing us."

"Hmph. And we didn't even use the Force, that seems unfair." He said with an annoyed grimace as he finally started eating his own portion of the ration bar.

Sasha chuckled at that. "Well maybe next time we can meet them on an even playing ground," she joked before we went silent for a moment as she ate. "So before we were taken, were you able to learn anything else about what happened to the medical center?"

Oppie shook his head, "no, I just turned in that footprint and the other stuff I showed you. They didn't seem to have made much progress on it." Oppie said, taking a bite and chewing on it.

"Hm, well maybe the captain will be able to figure out what happened with your help," Sasha stated. "What's their name again?"

"Messan." Oppie said, with a slight touch of a guarded tone to his voice.

"Messan? Didn't you used to work with someone named Messan?" Sasha asked him curiously.

"Yeah, she was a rookie investigator when I was there." He said with a shrug. "I didn't have much to do with her." He added.

"Huh, did you guys recognize each other? I never got to ask you if anyone did," she asked.

"Yeah, she recognized me, only person in the office who did." Oppie admitted, taking another bite.

"Oh wow. Was she surprised to see you again like how the nurses and medics were to me?" Sasha asked before taking a bite.

"A little, I guess." Oppie said noncommittally.

"I admit it was weird catching up with people we used to work with," she said. "Especially as ourselves now. If this hadn't happened, I think I would have loved to stay to properly catch up with them all."

"Yeah." Oppie agreed, looking off into the darkness as he took a sip from his canteen.

"What's up?" Sasha asked, noticing him looking away as she finished her half of the ration pack.

"Nothing." He said with a shrug, "how's your arm feeling after that fall?" Oppie asked.

"Hm, oh it's fine," Sasha said as she stretched out her arm just to make sure. "Heads a little sore where I got scratched, but I'm alright. Are you doing okay? I never asked after you saved me."

"Oh fine, my shoulder got wrenched a little but, you know, better than you falling to your death." Oppie said with a smirk.

"Yeah that was terrifying," Sasha admitted with a chuckle and slight shudder. "Thanks again for saving me."

"No problem." He said with a shrug. "I do really miss having the Force to help with stuff though." He groused.

"Yeah, I miss it too," Sasha said as she lowered her gaze. "It's kind of… empty without it here. It's always been here for us. For me. But now… it's like I'm missing part of myself."

Oppie nodded in agreement. "Now I know why the others like their armor so much, it augments a lot of the senses we take for granted back to them."

"Now that would be handy right now," Sasha said with a chuckle. She took a quick swig of water before looking back to Op. "So before when we talked about catching up with old co-workers, I think I remember meeting Messan a couple of times."

"Oh?" Oppie asked guardedly, glancing away.

"She was the tall brunette who was really smart and pretty right?" Sasha asked, trying to remember her.

Oppie gave her an odd look. "I guess so."

Sasha noticed the look. "What? I was just curious. Why? Did something happen?" She asked with a slight frown.

"No, no. Just an odd way to describe her." Oppie said, taking one last sip before he decided to ration the rest of his water.

"How would you describe her?" Sasha asked innocently.

Oppie blanched a little, "I dunno." He said, "just hair color and stuff." He said slightly flustered.

Sasha smiled. "Hair color and stuff? Oppie, you can do better than that," she said, amused.

"Well yeah if I was being interrogated and needed to provide a physical description." Oppie said, and wished he could take a drink or something and didn't need to ration his water.

Sasha raised an eyebrow at him. She had never seen him like this when talking about someone before. It was a rare sight. "Oppie, are you interested in Messan?" She straight up asked with no hesitation.

"What?" Oppie asked, shooting her a look and holding his hands in front of him. "Where's that coming from?"

"Sorry, it's just the way you're reacting made me think you are interested in her," Sasha explained. "I'm sorry if I read the moment wrong."

"That'd be weird, she was like ten years younger than me." He said, rather flustered.

"I guess it would be, but you haven't aged in seven years. So technically she's only three years younger now if you consider that," Sasha pointed out simply.

"Well yeah, but, I… You know I'm-" he said, and got annoyed with himself for not being able to articulate a sentence.

"Op, it's okay," Sasha said gently. "You can tell me if you want."

"I'm a Jedi, I was raised at the temple and I never thought about that before." He admitted. "It just never came up."

"I completely understand," Sasha said with a nod. "But look at me and V… me and you know. We were raised the same way and because the galaxy changed we were able to be together." She paused. "Look no one is telling you to go out there and find the right person for you. But be open to the idea if you are interested in something like that."

"Yeah, she asked me out for a drink and -" Oppie began.

"Wait, what? Really?" Sasha interrupted. "What happened?"

He blanched a little, "I, uh, when I went to go turn that last bit of evidence in, she casually suggested getting a drink and then she set a time after work. I didn't even realize it, still not sure if it was a professional thing or… that." He said very sheepishly.

"Well when are you guys supposed to have drinks? Cause maybe it's more of a casual thing than a date," Sasha said simply.

"That evening, six or so." He replied.

Sasha frowned. "Oh…" She said. "I'm sorry you missed it. Maybe you can pay her back when we get out of here."

"Yeah, maybe." Oppie said with a shrug. "This is honestly less scary than that." He said, gesturing around him to encompass the situation they were in.

"And the bounty hunters aren't even here yet," Sasha said with a chuckle. She then looked down at the fire. "He said we will be dealing with five bounty hunters. How difficult do you think they will be to face?"

"Honestly not sure." Oppie said, trying to keep his voice even, even though he had to admit he was a little scared by the prospect. "With our lightsabers and the Force they wouldn't be a problem, but in this case they might be annoying. First order of business is to disable them as quickly as possible, so we might try to set a trap in an area of our choosing. And we need to salvage whatever we can from them." He added, looking down at the small fire.

"Okay," Sasha said, nodding in agreement. "We should probably get some rest then. I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day. Should we sleep in shifts?"

"Yeah, in case some of those... vornskrs come. Which shift do you want?" Oppie asked.

"I can take the first watch," Sasha offered. "I'm not feeling all that tired. So you go ahead and rest."

"Okay," Oppie said, pulling the blanket out of his pack. "See you in a few hours." Oppie said as he laid down on the mat of soft material Sasha had gathered and pulled the blanket over him and tried to get comfortable under the rough, scratchy blanket.

"Night Op," Sasha said before pulling out her blanket and wrapping it around herself.

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