Last time: Viran, Cien, and Kyr learned of the bounty. Cien interrogated an imperial. She had fun.

Now: It's the second day on Myrkr.

Chapter 13- The Flood

Just like the day before, Sasha and Oppie walked for hours before they ever took a break. The only difference was that today seemed more humid and sticky. They noticed at certain points during their trek, when they could see the sky beyond the canopy of trees, that the sky was greyer today as clouds formed as if preparing for a storm. Yet no storm came, only humidity. But that still kept them on guard as they needed to be ready to seek shelter if it did start to rain.

The other thing that kept them on guard was the anxious anticipation of whenever the bounty hunters would catch up to them. They hoped with their days head start that they wouldn't run into any hunters at all and hopefully find a way off this forested planet. However, they also had to be realistic as they still weren't quite sure where they were going and the bounty hunters were most likely better equipped for this than Sasha and Oppie were. Either way, they were both learning real quick that they had to be ready for anything on Myrkr.

After another hour of walking through the forest and as the day slowly became the afternoon, they broke through another patch of bushes and found themselves staring at a wide river that started kilometers in one direction and ran down for several dozen kilometers more. The river looked about waist deep and the sight of fish could be seen swimming around as they came out from the brush.

"Well this looks like as good a spot as any to gather water," Sasha commented as they slowed to a stop. "Should we take a break here or keep going?" She asked.

Oppie looked up and down the river. "Yeah, a break sounds nice." He said. "I wonder if this river has carnivorous fish." He mused.

Sasha chuckled. "I hope not," she said as she walked over to the water's edge. "They don't seem dangerous." She joked.

"Drink water from your canteen now, and then we'll fill them with this and boil it later." He directed, remembering back to survival training and experiences during the war. He really wished they had some purification tabs.

"Yes sir," Sasha said as she unclipped her personal canteen from her hip. She then popped open the lid and took a drink of water. As soon as she pulled it away, she sighed in relief as she was quite thirsty. "Do you think it will rain?" She asked after a moment as she took a seat by the waters edge.

"Maybe." Oppie said, having taken his own drink. "This place does seem more like a jungle than anything else, so it probably rains a lot." He observed. "I don't see any clouds here, though." He said, looking up.

Sasha looked up and around. "Looks like there are some over there," she pointed out towards their left. "Just beyond those mountains."

He looked at them worriedly for a moment. "Hopefully far enough away. Those mountains might be a good place to head towards, though." He suggested.

"Sounds good to me," she said before finishing the water in her canteen. "We should probably get our canteens filled then before that storm gets closer."

"Yeah." Oppie said, taking one last swig of clean water before he started filling his canteen.

Sasha followed his lead and started filling her own. After a few moments, she closed up her canteen and re-clipped it to her belt.

"Want to cross here? It will help disguise our trail, too." Oppie suggested.

"Sure," Sasha said as she stood.

Oppie tentatively stepped into the water, using the butt of his spear to stabilize himself. He grimaced as his boots, socks, everything below his waist became soaked, but it couldn't be helped. "It's not too deep." He observed back to Sasha.

Sasha nodded and started following him. She also grimaced as her lower half got soaked the further she waded into the water, but she kept going. They made their way along towards the other side, doing their best to keep their supplies dry. However, about halfway across the river, Sasha felt a droplet of rain hit her cheek. She looked up to an already grey sky as it started to darken. Then it started to sprinkle.

"Op, we should move a little faster," she observed. "It's started sprinkling."

"Yeah, just keep moving." He said, as the water around them started to flow a little stronger.

They kept moving along through the water as the sprinkling slowly turned into rain. The water started flowing more vigorously as they struggled to wade to the other side. Looking up stream, Oppie saw what looked like a wave of water rushing down towards them, inundating the forest around it. "Sasha!" He yelled in warning.

Sasha's head snapped around to look at the wave coming. "Kriff! Run!" She shouted as she tried to move faster to the other side. They both waded through the water as fast as they could, using their spears to try to pull themselves along. They weren't able to make it to the other side before the wall of water crashed into them, and they were pulled away by the current.

"Swim for the trees!" Oppie yelled, coughing some water out while he was trying to swim to the far side of the river and keeping Sasha in sight.

Sasha coughed as she accidentally swallowed some water, but heard what Oppie had said. She started swimming towards the other side while fighting the rushing water that was pulling them down stream. Her arms were getting sore with how hard she was swimming, but she was getting closer to the trees. Oppie made it to the edges of the far side, where a few branches hung down. He grabbed a hold of one but lost his grip as the current pulled him away.

"Oppie!" Sasha cried out as she swam after him.

Oppie grabbed hold of another branch, this one he was able to keep a grip on even though it wrenched his shoulder a bit. He coughed water as he tried to pull himself up, looking for Sasha.

Sasha noticed him grab a hold of a tree and tried to go for the one nearest to her. Her own grip slipped as she tried to grab the branch. The current then swept her under for a moment and she started going down stream towards Oppie. As she resurfaced a moment later, she noticed that she was getting closer to where he was.

"Oppie!" She cried out as she coughed up water.

"Grab my hand!" He called out, reaching as far as he could towards her.

Sasha reached up for his hand as the current pulled her closer. Once she was within reach, she stretched out and tried to grab his hand. As soon as she was closer, she managed to grab a hold of his hand as tightly as she could. However, the water and current weren't helping her keep her grip.

"Pull me up!" She urged. "I'm slipping!"

"Hang on!" Oppie yelled, trying to keep a hold of her hand as the current pulled at her, and the water made everything too slick.

Sasha gritted her teeth as she held on, but the current was too strong and she lost her grip as she felt something under the water hit her in the back of the knees with enough force to pull her down. She yelped as she was pulled under and away once again, further downstream.

"Sasha!" Oppie called out, trying to figure out if he should let go to try and help her.

She emerged from the water a moment later, further from him. She looked around again and managed to find another tree branch within arms reach of her. She reached up and grabbed it, this time keeping a tight grip, before pulling herself up and out.

Seeing Sasha safe, Oppie pulled himself up onto his own branch. "Are you okay?" He called out to her.

As she leveraged herself up and laid across the branch on her stomach, she looked over to him as she coughed up water. "Yeah," she croaked before coughing again, her breathing heavy. "What about you?"

"I'm okay." He said, coughing. "Let's just rest here for a bit." He croaked out.

"Way ahead of ya," Sasha said as she gave him a thumbs up. She laid there panting and shivering as she took the time to relax after that. "This planet sucks." She added after a moment.

Oppie could help but laugh as he climbed a little higher and settled onto a branch tiredly. "It really does."

Sasha chuckled as she felt exhaustion take over and her eyes drifted close for a second. A nap was sounding good right about now. "How long do you think this flash flood will last?" She asked after a long silent moment between them as they both recuperated against their tree branches.

"No idea." Oppie replied, also tiredly.

"Then it looks like we're waiting," she groaned in a tired manner as watched the rushing water go by them. "Maybe this has stopped the bounty hunters too," she mused.

"I hope so." Oppie said. "Maybe they'll call it off on account of rain."

Sasha laughed at that. "That would be amazing. Then that means we can go home, right? Since the hunt's been called on the count of rain and flooding?" She joked.

"Definitely. Maybe we can get back in time for dinner." Oppie replied with a tried chuckle.

Sasha chuckled at that too, her exhaustion evident. Slowly her chuckle melted away and her smirk turned to a frown as she stared distantly at the water. "Yeah… that'd be nice." She was feeling homesick and hated this situation they were in with a burning passion. She just wanted to go home. They both did.

Oppie noticed her turn to melancholy and frowned himself. "First thing we get home, after we hug everyone, what do you want to do?" He asked. "I wouldn't mind a nice warm shower." He said wistfully.

"That would be nice. And a nice warm meal too," Sasha agreed. She paused for a moment. "But I think what I would do is spend some time alone with… well you know." She hated she couldn't say their names, but she knew Oppie understood who she was referring to. She felt tears well up. "I miss them all…" She trailed off for a second. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the moment."

"It's fine. I miss them too." Oppie replied, "just focus on seeing them again. We will see them again."

Sasha nodded and looked at Oppie with a tired smile. "I know. You're right. Thank you," she said genuinely.

"No problem." He replied.

For the next couple hours, they sat up in the trees as the rain and the flood continued. However it all soon came to an end as it moved along across the forested valley. The rain moved on and left just the humidity behind as it went on its way. The raging river and high waters calmed until it was just a pool of standing water that was slowly, so very slowly going back down to its original water levels.

And during all of that, because it did take so long, Sasha had actually fallen asleep in her tree as she waited for it to pass from the pure exhaustion of walking so long beforehand and the near death experience of facing the flash flood. Oppie tried to stay awake as well but the drowsiness hit him in the warm humid air, and he ended up taking a fitful nap as well. Sasha awoke a while later when the water had pretty much disappeared, but so had most of the day. They maybe had only a few hours left of day time. Sitting up from her uncomfortable sleeping position, she looked over to Oppie.

"Op, wake up," she said, her voice hoarse. "The flood is gone."

Oppie blinked awake and was surprised he had fallen asleep. "Yeah." He said, looking around getting his bearings. He adjusted himself and started climbing down to the soggy ground.

"We should get moving before we lose the light," Sasha said as she started to climb down. However, because of how she slept, some of her limbs had fallen asleep and she slipped as she climbed out of the tree. She fell and landed on the soggy ground with a hard thud. "Ow…" She groaned.

Oppie fell heavily to the ground as well with a splash and grimaced. "I agree."

"Damn, that hurt," Sasha groaned as she sat up, rubbing her back. "Let's never do that again." She looked over to him as she shook the feeling back into her limbs. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Oppie said with a great deal of annoyance as he got to his feet and tried to brush the mud off his clothes. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," Sasha said as she sluggishly pulled herself to her feet and brushed the mud off. "Might be sore for a while after all of this." She chuckled.

"Forget the shower. I'm taking a nice long bath." Oppie said.

"I honestly don't care what it is," Sasha said as she stretched. "As long as I'm clean and in dry clothes, I'd be happy. Now we should get moving." She added.

"Yep." Oppie said, hefting his pack. "I remember one of the masters at the temple always took the high ground." He mused, "I guess we're following his advice."

"I guess so," Sasha chuckled. "But let's maybe take the path away from the river."

"Yes." Oppie agreed solemnly. "Very much away from the river."

They moved away from the river and made their way in the direction of the mountains. They walked in silence for the next couple hours as the sun started to set. Soon it was getting too dark to see in the forest as they continued along.

"Want to call it for today?" Oppie asked as they entered a likely clearing.

"Yeah," Sasha said with a tired nod. She walked over and dropped her pack next to the nearest tree trunk. She then sat down next to it, leaning against the tree with a sigh.

Oppie sat down heavily and looked up through the trees. The day's rain had washed the air clean, and being on such an unspoiled planet the night sky was brilliant with the pinpricks of shining light. "All those years we were running, we never really had a place to call home." He said quietly, "It still feels like that was so recent that we only just settled into the house, but I guess it's been years. I miss everyone, but I just miss being home."

Sasha looked at Oppie as a frown formed on her face. She then looked up at the stars above. "I miss it too," she agreed, sadly. "I miss our family. I miss the Force being with me every second of every day. I miss it all… and we've only been here for two days." She gathered her knees to her chest as she said the last part.

Oppie looked at her with a frown and got up, sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulder. "I didn't mean to be a downer." He said a little ruefully.

Sasha leaned against him. "It's alright," she said quietly. "I'm sorry we're in this mess. I know I've said this a few times now, but I am sorry."

"You don't need to apologize." Oppie said, "and I'm sorry. If anyone's to blame, it's me. I came on the trip to watch out for you." He said quietly, "and I walked right into his trap when I came to save you. It should have been such a simple thing to stop him, but he got both of us." Oppie said, troubled. "I'm sorry I failed you." He said quietly.

Sasha looked up at him. "You didn't fail me, Op," she said. "I think we both need to come to the understanding that it's neither of our faults. I'm just grateful that you are here with me so I'm not alone in this."

Oppie just nodded, "yeah, I'm glad neither of us is alone in this." He paused and looked around. "I don't think I can make a fire in this." Oppie said with an annoyed tone, at all the damp wood around them after the rain.

"Looks like we are stuck with our blankets then," Sasha said as she reached for her pack. "We should actually see if our gear is still in one piece, otherwise we are in worse shape."

"Yeah." Oppie said, moving over to grab his pack and look through it. "These packs are actually kind of okay." He said, zipping it open and looking through the contents.

Sasha did the same with hers. "Looks like the rations and the medkit are still in one piece," she said before pulling out the blanket. "And this is still dry." She wrapped it around herself before pulling out a ration bar. "I guess it's better than nothing," she added before she shivered in her still damp clothes as she adjusted the blanket then downed the food bar in a few bites.

"I'll take the first watch, you go ahead and rest." Oppie said, settling back against an uncomfortable tree trunk.

"Okay," Sasha said as she placed the pack against the tree and adjusted herself. "I'll see you in a few hours then. Night, Op." She said as she laid down.

"Good night." Oppie said, hunkering in, and looking back up at the stars. He wondered if one of them might be home.

Viran lay on the cushions in the meditation room aboard the Shadow Runner, staring up at the ceiling with one arm behind his head and the other across his chest. He went there shortly after they left Nivon 5 to rest as he let Nova and Kelce borrow his bunk and the spare in the bunk room so they could rest too. But he didn't rest, he just laid there. Thinking. He was thinking about everything that had happened in the last day. He thought about the alleyway where his wife and brother were taken. He thought about the incident regarding the Imperial sympathizers after they left the bar last night. And the man that had been responsible for ratting out Sasha's location to that Von Signa guy. He also thought about how they spent the entire night with no sleep interrogating those sympathizers and how that all passed in a blur for him. But the thing he thought about the most was the news regarding Sasha and the million credit bounty on her head.

It baffled him that someone wanted to see her captured or killed or whatever for a million credits. Sasha was hands down the kindest, most gentle hearted, compassionate individual he had ever met. She wasn't a criminal or a crook. Hell, she had only ever killed maybe two, possibly three people in the entirety he had known her. And in all of those instances it had been in a moment of self defense or pure accident while trying to stop the person from escaping. He knew that she even cried for those individuals even if they didn't deserve her pity as she felt that they deserved to live more than meet the fate they did. So why would someone hunt her down? Was it for another reason? Another intention?

Viran knew all he had to do was look at the datapad lying next to him and he could learn more about what this bounty was. But he hadn't even looked at it. After Kyr had gotten the call from Kitsu and Illara about what they had found at Von Signa's office, they said they would make a copy and send it over to Tac the first chance they got so the rest of the family could take a look at the information. By the time they got the intel, they had already left the police station and were gathering some last minute supplies before they left. They then had returned to the spaceport and proceeded to leave the planet. However, Kelce, Nova and Scamp had decided to journey with them. Pulling the maneuver that Viran recognized as the one he and Sasha had used years ago to attach the ISB shuttle to the Shadow, Kyr had instructed Scamp on how to attach their small little U-Wing to the ship so they could travel with them. It took a little longer than Viran particularly liked to connect the ships together, but once they were attached to each other, they leapt into hyperspace and began their journey to Myrkr.

A journey that was going to take three whole days of galactic time to travel there. Three whole days in the Shadow with people who had been trying to cheer him up from the start. He had to admit he was grateful to them for trying, but he wasn't as upset as he had been when Cien had taken Sasha a couple of years ago. Then he was furious. Then he was afraid that he would suffer the same fate as the Viran from the cursed future who had lost his wife and child before the child was ever born. Back then, he was in a place where he skirted the edge of the darkside because he was ready to do anything to get Sasha back. This time was different. This time he was focused. Once he had learned that Sasha and Oppie were both still alive, he was relieved. He had literally thought his entire universe had shattered when he had initially felt her presence leave the Force. But she was still alive. Disconnected from the Force, but alive and with Oppie. But once they had left Haven and made sure Lana was in the careful hands of Reya and Zaren, he had been so focused on getting Sasha and Oppie back he was sure he looked like he was being distant or depressed. He had been thinking over and over again in his head the questions that haunted him until answers would appear. However, that just replaced old questions with new ones. And right now, those new questions were connected to what was on that datapad.

Viran glanced down at the datapad lying next to him. When he had said that he was going to rest in the mediation room to give Kelce and Nova privacy, Kyr had given him the datapad. Neither Kyr nor Cien had taken a look at it. It was obvious that they wanted Viran to be the first to read through the reports and the information that was found. But Viran was afraid to look. He was afraid of what he might find in those reports. He was also afraid of what they might find when they would eventually reach Myrkr. If Viran was one thing right now, it was afraid. But he wasn't going to let that control him.

Reaching over, Viran grabbed the datapad and turned it on. He stared at the screen for a whole minute before he started scrolling through. With each minute that passed as he read through it all, his brow furrowed lower and lower. Whoever this Von Signa guy was, he was a sick man. The research he had done on how to take down a Jedi made Viran's stomach twist into a knot. The dossier he had on Sasha made him grimace as he realized how much of their life was on display now while working with the New Republic. He was just grateful that their home wasn't listed in the file and neither was any mention of Lana. That made him feel a smidge better, but it didn't change everything.

He didn't know how long he laid there reading, but at some point his exhaustion from not sleeping at all in the last couple days hit him like a bantha as his eyes fluttered closed and he fell asleep with the datapad resting against his chest.

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