Chapter 6

Kai couldn't ignore the influx of people coming into the woods, searching days and sometimes well into the night for her.

The days that it was cold and overcast were what saved her life ultimately as her hunters weren't quite keen on searching the woods on those days. Those were the days, few and far in between as they were, where Kai could leave her cave and stock up on provisions. She filled her canteen with water and searched for as many fish as she could, drying and curing them so that she could store them.

On most days, she could get at least five fish, which she would cut them up into stripes and placing them, wrapped in a cloth, back in her pack and hightailing it back to the cave where she hid.

Kai hoped that the men hunting her would lose interest soon enough.

While hidden, Kai made sure to try to work on her starfighter, but the fear that she felt at being caught in a metaphorical corner, with no way to escape was too much. She felt like that whenever she was focusing deeply on fixing her ship, whenever there was a snap of a twig somewhere outside the cave, her heart would stop.

Kai had dropped her wrench so many times she was surprised that it hadn't alerted those hunting her to the cave.

But thankfully, it didn't.

Aside from those searching for her, the most worried thing the wound she received after she saved the young boy. With great difficulty, and with absolute the worse pain she had ever experienced, Kai had dug out the little piece of round metal that was embedded in her shoulder and wrapped the wound to the best of her ability. She had taken great care to wash it out and change out her bandages whenever she went to the rivers, but there was fear that infection was starting to take hold.

Kai prayed that there would be a way for her to get medical supplies.

And soon.

Her hope came one midmorning day, maybe two weeks after she first crash-landed. It was hard to keep track of time when the days seemed to blur together.

It had been one of those dreary days that Kai used to wander around. She had becoming more and more comfortable with coming out on more sunny days due to the lack of people seen. On this day particular, Kai was walking around aimlessly. The teen could feel the beginnings of a fever take hold of her, so she set out in hopes that she could find some medical supplies.

She didn't want to steal if she could avoid it, but she didn't think that she would be able to do so.

By the point that she reached the edge of the wilderness and the border of the town, her heart was racing far too hard. Kai waited until she caught her breath before sneaking through the town. Crossing from a relatively quiet area into one where the hustle-and-bustle of city life was all around was a bit jarring, especially for Kai's slightly fevered self. But she shook it off and made her way towards what she assumed was a hospital, weaving through the multiple alleyways and clinging to the shadows.

When she reached the outside of the hospital, Kai was faced with a dilemma.

Kai didn't look even close to human. Her form was humanoid, yes, but her green skin, huge almond shape eyes, and lekku were a dead giveaway that she wasn't.

"Which means that I need to come up with a way so that I'll be able to sneak in without being noticed…." Kai hummed to herself. She licked her lips in anticipation as her eyes spotted something. There was a side door, one that opened a moment later. A doctor with a head covering large enough to hide Kai's lekku stepped outside, igniting a match and putting the flame to what looked like a death stick. To herself, Kai shrugged. "That'll do."

About fifteen minutes later, Kai was dressed in the now-unconscious/hidden doctor's gear. It all but draped over her body, and the face mask did nothing to hide her large eyes but it was successful enough that Kai would just have to improvise if she needed. Kai picked up a clipboard and, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, opened the door and plunged right into the building.

It was just as busy as the city outside, though this was something of a controlled chaos. Women and men in white moved around, some at a relaxed pace while others moved at a quicker speed. There were civilians in the hospital, easily spotted by their regular suits and hats and pencil skirts. Some carried flowers or little gifts. The rank of antiseptic that was always in hospitals seemed to be universal.

Kai tried not to take in the scenery around her, tried not to gawk at the primitiveness that surrounded her.

She kept the clipboard up so that it blocked her eyes but also at a height it wasn't constructing her path. It took her going down three corridors until she realized that she had no idea where she was going. Kai was about to toss her clipboard in frustration when a nurse coming out of a room with a little glass vial that caught her eye.

The teen quickly retreated into the shadow of a corner until the nurse had wandered off. Then, she took a deep breath and turned the corner. She opened the door to the room and was greeted with a whole bunch of liquids in glass bottles.

Kai thanked her stars before letting a string of curse words flow at the fact that she couldn't read the labels on any of these. They were written in the language of the planet.

"SHIT!"

Voices just outside the door had her freezing. Since she couldn't waste much more time, Kai grabbed six bottles and stuffed three in each pocket of her robes. There was a window in the room so Kai figured it would be better to ditch the disguise and make a break for it that way. She had just dropped her head covering, when the door opened and the loudest scream Kai had ever heard had her shattering the glass of the window with the Force and jumping out it a moment later.

She free-fell for a moment before Kai landed on the street a moment later, landing in a crouch amid the broken glass, but thankfully not cutting herself. Those who were lingering on the steps of the hospital shouted in surprise and in fear as she booked it to the forest.

There was the sound of gunfire. Kai almost buckled at the breeze that rushed past her legs that was followed by the sound of glass breaking.

Kai ignored it, dodging the best she could as she ran towards the safety of the tree line. If she could make it there, she would be able to disappear.

Please, please, please let me disappear! She shouted in her mind.

Her legs were pumping fast as she ran, her heart pounding. Kai's fear came true as she passed the tree line and the shouting still followed. But no matter how scared she was, Kai kept running.

Something told her that these natives would show her no mercy if she was caught. They would do things that were truly horrible.

Much like the Separatists.

A piece of bark flying as a bullet connected with it had her jerking straight to the left, the opposite direction of her ship. Best not lead her pursuers to the one thing that could get her off this kriffing planet.

But that was less of a comfort when she came to a cliff with a waterfall. Below was a river with a rocky base.

Her heart thundered as she glanced behind her and saw the mob.

Without another thought, Kai launched herself over the cliff. The last thing she remembered was hitting the icy cold water and being swept away by the current.