Last time: Viran and Cien to reach Sasha, but they found out she is sick.

Now: The next morning comes with a surprise.

Chapter 25- One More Hunter

Oppie blearily came awake in the early hours of the morning as the rays of the sun swept in through the mouth of the cave as it rose above the horizon over the forest that stretched below them. Then he startled a bit, realizing he was waking up. He had tried to stay awake through the night, watching over Sasha, but his exhaustion had finally caught up with him, apparently. He blinked and settled back against the cave wall, looking at Sasha who was still buried in the blankets beside him. She was still sound asleep, but still looked to be battling the infection as there was a line of sweat gathered on her forehead.

Oppie got up as quietly as he could and got his canteen. He sacrificed one of the bandages, wetting it down, and took a swig of his water, then knelt at Sasha's side. He gently tried to wipe the sweat away from her forehead with the cooled rag. Sasha stirred as he did that responding to the cooled rag with a sigh of relief. She slowly peeled open her crusted over eyes and looked up at him, blearily.

"Op?" She said, her voice dry and hoarse.

"Hey." He said, reaching for her canteen, and offering it to her.

"Yes, please," Sasha said to his offer of water with a nod. She brought one of her arms out from under the blankets, reaching for the canteen. She took it and awkwardly propped herself up with her other arm, and took a long swig of it. She pulled the canteen away moments later with a refreshed sigh. "Thanks." she said as she rested back, still holding her nearly empty canteen.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked.

"A little better," she said. "But I still feel… meh." That was the best word she could think of.

"Okay, we'll just stay here today, so no worries." He said, looking out the mouth of the cave.

"Okay," she said as she followed his gaze. "Do you think the others will find us today?" She asked with a sense of hope in her tone.

"Well it's been a week or so, so I'd say it's a good bet." He said hopefully as well, trying to keep both their spirits up. "Do you feel like a little breakfast?" He asked.

"Not really. I'm not all that hungry, but I know I should eat something," she said.

Oppie nodded and dug two of the ration bars out, looking at the labels. "You want the meiloorun fruit or the chocolate one today?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"Hm, normally I'd say the chocolate one, but I don't know how well my stomach will take it. So I guess the meiloorun," Sasha said almost in a defeated manner. She loved chocolate, but it probably wouldn't mix well with this infection.

Oppie nodded and handed her the bar, and he put the chocolate back in the bag, grabbing one of the zherry ones. Sasha peeled back the wrapper and took small bites as she began eating. Oppie ate his in quick order, quite looking forward to having something other than ration bars at some point soon.

"I think I might go refill the canteens and scout out the neighborhood a little. Are you okay if I go do that?" He asked.

Sasha nodded. "I'll be okay. And if something happens, I yell or something," she said with a slight smirk. "I've also got my blaster, just in case too."

"Okay, don't have too much fun while I'm gone." He said, grabbing the new rifle he had gotten from the Trandoshan and the water bottles and canteens.

"Not planning on it," Sasha replied with a smile.

Oppie smirked at her as he walked out of the mouth of the cave, looking at the view as he made his way down to the river.

Sasha laid there, watching as Oppie left for water. Her whole body felt heavy and tired, but she felt somewhat better today. She felt more coherent and her mind was in less of a fog. But physically, she still felt sore. Her injuries still hurt. And her fever still made her feel uncomfortably warm. Oh how she wished for some bacta right about now.

As she laid there resting, she could have sworn she heard the distant sound of a speeder bike. Okay, was she hallucinating again? Opening her eyes after dozing off for a few minutes, she looked towards the mouth of the cave. There was nothing there, at least at the entrance. But she could still hear it. Could it be the family arriving to save them? Or maybe a local who could help them? She needed to know. Painstakingly, she struggled to sit up and even more so get to her feet. The mere action of doing so made her vision swirl in and out of focus, and made her body scream in protest. It had come to enjoy the idea of not moving, but without Oppie there, she had to protect herself. After about two painful minutes of trying to stand, Sasha was successfully on her feet, but still leaning against the wall for support.

She slowly moved along the cavern wall and towards the entrance. Once she reached the opening to the cave, she produced her blaster and held it in a ready grip, her hand shaking. Sasha carefully surveyed the area to see if she could see what was making that speeder bike like sound. She even looked up to the sky to see if it was possibly a ship trying to land like their family's ship. But no. There was nothing she could visibly see.

They stood perfectly still behind a tree. How the girl caught onto their presence was a mystery. These Jedi weren't supposed to be connected to the Force. The ysalamiri had taken it all away from them. However, this girl stood there looking around as if she had sensed their very presence. After witnessing the other Jedi leave, they knew this would be their chance to strike and nab the girl. But she thought based off the girl's state that she wouldn't be strong enough to even stand. Well no matter. They could tell that the Jedi was still unwell as she leaned so heavily in the opening of the cave, her leg obviously broken. When the girl started to turn away, they saw their opportunity for attack. Raising up their gauntlet, they fired at the girl.

Taking one last look to make sure that the coast was clear, Sasha sighed before turning back to re-enter the cave. But before she even got completely turned around, a light rope net shot out of nowhere and pinned her to the cavern wall. Sasha let out a pained yelp as she was slammed back against the wall, dropping her blaster. Her bruised ribs crying out at the impact and her infected shoulder burning. She was stuck in a standing position on her broken leg with the net keeping her upper body and head pinned back. She looked around in a panic, trying to figure out where this net came from. Was this Von's doing? She couldn't see anyone approaching and she couldn't stay like this. Was she dreaming this or was this for real? Her protesting injuries said otherwise. Reaching out, Sasha struggled to pull the netting off.

"You're struggling is pointless. It will only weaken you further," a voice spoke, amplified by a helmet, pulling Sasha from her panicked attempt to rip the net.

Looking up, Sasha gasped when she spotted a hunter clad in red and black armor with a matching bucket approach. They were armed to the teeth with weapons. And, even though Sasha didn't recognize the symbol on the right shoulder pauldron, she recognized the style of armor.

"You're a Mandalorian," Sasha gasped out. A small sense of relief filled her, but it was quickly overshadowed by fear as she didn't know if this Mando was a friend to her family or not.

"And you're a Jedi. Are we done stating the obvious?" The female mando asked, irritated as she approached Sasha.

"Who are you?" Sasha asked.

"The name's Xar'ii of clan Maul. I work with Von. Didn't he tell you to expect me?" She answered the question, a hint of amusement in her tone.

Maul? There was no way. Sasha didn't even know that Darth Maul had his own sect of Mandalorians. Hell, she wasn't even sure if he was still alive. Then suddenly, despite her feverish mind, she remembered hearing he had killed Duchess Satine, but not much more than that was given in the Holonet report. Why she didn't remember that on her vacation to Naboo weeks ago was beyond her. Did Kyr or Kitsu and Illara know? She wondered to herself. "He only told us that there were five hunters. Did he miscount or lie to us?" Sasha asked as she glared at the female mando.

"Most likely he miscounted, but I wouldn't blame him if he did lie to you," Xar'ii said as she closed the distance and placed herself right before Sasha. She was just as tall if not taller than Sasha.

"Then do you know clan Xiv? That's my family," Sasha tried to explain. "Von did tell you that right? You wouldn't go after another Mandalorian."

Xar'ii laughed like Sasha just told her the funniest joke in the galaxy. She actually doubled over, she was laughing so hard. "Of course, I know the Xiv clan. The weakest excuse for Mando's that I have ever seen. And you, a member? HA! Your friend is an actual blood relative of clan Xiv and even then he doesn't deserve to be Mandalorian. You're just a stupid foundling if that. And why would they accept you anyway, you're just some Jedi wench. Your order died off years ago. I know. I was there when the clones turned against the Jedi when the siege of Mandalore occurred," she said.

Sasha took that all as a straight punch to her heart. This woman was wrong about her and her family, and hearing her talk about them like that made her blood boil. "Then why are you here?" She asked through a snarl.

"I'm here, because Von is asking for a million credits for your head," she answered.

"Me?" Sasha asked, confused. "What about Oppie?"

"Oh, I can get an extra million for him too, but he was only added on because he was at the wrong place and time," Xar'ii explained. "But you? Well you were our target from the very beginning. So now that I have you. I will kill him and take both of you back to Von to collect my winnings. Now be a good girl and stay." She laughed at her own joke as Sasha couldn't move from the netting no matter how much she had tried.

Sasha stared at her as she blanched. She was the target. She was the one they were all after. Suddenly it all made sense. Every encounter with the hunters flew through her mind. The Weequay intentionally went after her and only thought of Oppie as an afterthought. The droid only seemed to be interested in her. The younger brother's comments about needing her alive. And… well she wasn't sure about the Trandoshan, but she was sure he had said something now to Op about her. Tears welled up as she tried to figure out what was so special about her that all of this would happen. That she would become a target in this. That she really was the one responsible for them being here. Sasha tried to suppress a shiver so it didn't look like a shudder in fear as her fever reminded her that it was there, but also as reality set in.

"You didn't know, did you?' Xar'ii asked. Sasha didn't answer. She was practically frozen in place. Xar'ii snorted. "That's rich. Well, whoever placed this bounty on you really wanted to see you suffer. My kind of person. And I was hoping to do a little more to you, but I guess destroying you emotionally is somewhat entertaining.."

Sasha didn't respond. She just tried steadying her breathing as she started to hyperventilate and feel like she was going to retch.

"You don't look too well," Xar'ii said with mock concern. "According to my scanners, you are sick and injured. Here this will help." She reached into her belt and pulled out a bacta ampule. Sasha felt a wave of relief wash over herself seeing it. That's just what the doctor ordered.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Sasha asked as the Mando moved to inject the medicine. "I thought you were working for Von."

"I might be hunting you, but in order for me to get paid, I need you alive," Xar'ii explained. "So shut up and let me give you this. I can't have you dying before I get paid. And at the rate your infection is spreading, I'd have to guess you wouldn't make it another two days in this condition. But I'm no medic so what to do I know. It could be sooner than that." Sasha could hear the mischievous smile in her voice when she said that. Sasha glared at her. The Mando ignored the glare and jerked Sasha's head to the side. She then injected the bacta right into Sasha's neck. Sasha released a shaky breath as the bacta flowed through her veins, already taking effect. "Now you are going to tell me where your friend has gone."

"Not a chance," Sasha hissed. "I won't let you win."

"Wrong answer," Xar'ii said. She pulled out her blaster and pressed it against Sasha's sternum where she could feel her family's heart piece. "I can still hurt you without killing you. No amount of heroics are going to save your life. Just tell me or I will add another lovely injury to your collection." She added emphasis by tapping Sasha's sternum again, but this time her heart piece made a metal clang as she did that. That stopped Xar'ii. "What's this?"

"No, don't…" Sasha started to urge, but it was too late.

Xar'ii reached into Sasha's shirt with no hesitation and pulled out her heart piece that was still wrapped around her neck. The Mando stared at it for a moment before laughing.

"You weren't kidding. You actually are a part of that clan!" She laughed. "That's hilarious! A Jedi foundling! Well now I have seen everything. But where you're going," she ripped the cord off Sasha's neck and dangled the heart piece before Sasha. "You're not going to need this anymore." Xar'ii tied the cords around her belt as she claimed it as a prize.

Sasha watched as she did that, unable to move or fight back. Tears threatened to fall as she watched this Mandalorian steal the heart piece. The symbol of her family. The family she was now actually sure of that she might never see again. Sasha shook with difficult emotions as she tried to lash out at the bounty hunter. But she could barely move due to the net.

"Now I will ask this again, where is he?" Xar'ii asked, pointing the blaster back at Sasha's chest.

"Hettir haran, dar'manda," Sasha cursed at her in Mando'a.

Xar'ii stared at her, most likely appalled based off her body language. She then heard a low growl come from the bucket as she punched Sasha in the jaw. Sasha saw stars as her head jerked to the side.

"I've almost had it with you," Xar'ii hissed. "But I don't need your help. I just wanted to see if you would squeal. I'm sure I have a good idea of where he went. I'll be back soon, you piece of osik."

With that, Xar'ii moved away from Sasha and the cave, leaving her still pinned against the wall in the light rope net. The Mando was heading right for Oppie as if she already knew where to go. Sasha felt herself deflate as she watched her go, helpless. Everything the Mando said filled her head as it was now clearer than ever.

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