A/N: In this chapter, Zeb is still on the run from the predatory aliens that have decided to hunt him down. If any of you readers have figured out from the description of the alien hunters, they are the Predators from the movies and numerous graphic novels and comics that have been written about them. I thought it would make an interesting story to have them hunt a species that is endangered such as the Lasat...

Chapter 3 The Hunt Continues

Nearly a week went by and the alien hunters kept Zeb on the run. The small furry creature that had befriended him was still at his side, and when he was able to grab some sleep, the animal curled up next to him. After the death of one of the hunters, Zeb had gone back to get some of the weapons off the corpse, but the many animals of the jungle had nearly devoured it. The dismembered arm had been dragged off into the bushes and Zeb found it with the wrist gauntlet still attached. He pulled it off the decaying limb and was relieved that the gauntlet fit his muscular forearm. The Lasat went back to his hiding place to study the gauntlet and how to work the knives hidden within. Playing around with the controls on it, he discovered how to release the knives to their full length.

"This ought to give them something to think about," he said as he curled up on the ground, the furry creature laying next to him. Zeb's rest didn't last for long as he heard a trilling that made his fur stand on end, "Karabast...c'mon little guy, we have to move."

He moved deeper into the jungle and swung up into a tree the animal following him. Zeb positioned himself on a large branch waiting for the hunters to appear. Soon he saw their familiar scaly skin and smelled their offensive decaying scent. Shuddering with a feeling of revulsion, the Lasat glared down at the aliens with a look of pure hatred. He held the gauntlet close to his bare chest and readied to activate the knives when to his horror, he saw them look right up at him!

"Karking hell!" he cried out and jumped away just in time before a blast of the shoulder weapon blew the limb off he was sitting on. He fell to the ground and groaned feeling the side wound open up again. He gritted his teeth against the pain but got up to run as they pursued him. The little animal kept up with his long stride and even overtook him. Zeb ran until the muscles in his legs burned with pain from using them more than he had used them in a long time.

"Gotta exercize more," he said his breath in pants, "You don't seem to be out of breath, little guy."

The small furry creature looked up at him and nuzzled against his arm. Zeb looked down and saw that his side was bleeding again and he was glad that the stream flowing through the jungle, was nearby. He bent down and removed his makeshift bandage to look at the injury. Gently, he washed the blood away and re-wrapped the bandage on it. He made his way up to where some bushes were and sat down, the animal sitting beside him. It crawled onto his lap wanting to be petted. Zeb obliged it and smiled feeling relieved to have some kind of companionship even it were a furry creature of an unknown species. The little animal began to purr and Zeb dozed off, the sound lulling him to sleep...

Back on Yavin IV:

Preparations were being readied for a search for Zeb. The leaders of the rebels were reluctant to allow Hera and her group to search for the lost Lasat even though he was a valued member of the team. Senators Mothma and Organa noticed that the GHOST crew were more like a family than a group of rebel fighters. Sometimes that clouded their judgement during dire situations but they always came through when needed.

"You wouldn't give up on someone you cared for would you, Senator Mothma?" Hera asked after being told they didn't have the resources to search for Zeb.

"Of course not, Captain Syndulla," the senator from Chandrilla said, "You have to realize that we don't have enough people to use in such an endeavour. I'm sorry..."

"Well...," Hera said her anger building, "I guess Kanan and I will go search for him. We'll take the PHANTOM II."

"Not without us," Sabine said seeing Ezra look just as flustered at not searching for Zeb.

"Us, too!" Rex said gesturing to Kallus to stand by him. The former agent had been more subdued since Zeb's disappearance and blamed himself for the whole situation.

Ele and Leka Pauen stood nearby and their young faces were in frowns of disbelief. The Dathomirian and Lasat worked feverishly with Kallus contacting smugglers and other assorted low lifes but they came up empty. The only lead they had was from a bounty hunter by the name of Bossk, a Trandoshan that always was looking for a bounty to line his pockets. He had heard about a group of aliens that were unknown to most in the galaxy but liked to hunt other beings for sport, especially beings of an endangered species. They would choose their trophies by species and also worthiness of leadership. Zeb being a former member of the Lasan Honor Guard made him a prime candidate for hunting down.

Ayessa, the Barrelian female rebel, heard all the commotion and walked down a path away from the arguing rebels. She needed a chance to catch her breath and was extremely worried about Zeb and wouldn't admit she was developing strong feelings of affection for the big Lasat. She carried a small pack on her back and hoped to find a quiet place. After walking for nearly an hour she found the perfect spot.

It was near a waterfall and pool of clear water that the other rebels like to visit when time allowed them between missions. She removed her pack and opened it bringing out a golden object that almost resembled the meteorite that Kallus kept from his adventure with Zeb on the Geonosian moon. This thing glowed with a light that seemed to come from deep within. She found a large rock near the waterfall and set the glowing object on top of it. Ayessa sat down in front of the rock, legs crossed and placed her delicate hands on her knees. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began to speak in her native tongue. The sounds were almost musical in their tone and her closed eyes became moist with unshed tears. She was delivering a prayer for the return of her "sycha" which in Barrelian meant "beloved". Ayessa was declaring her love for Zeb and hoped that he would return the feelings of affection.

"Garazeb," she whispered as she opened her eyes, tears trickling down her golden cheeks, "Please come home...I wish I told you before you left how much I care about you. I am telling you, sycha, I want you for my bondmate."

She stopped speaking and fingered her Barrelian necklace of adulthood around her slim neck and closed her eyes. Her species being telepathic expressed intimacy in the joining of minds and the touching of foreheads. With Zeb being from a non-telepathic species, she knew that it would be more difficult to express affection, but she knew her people had joined with non-telepaths before, namely Twi'leks. Her own grandfather had joined with a Twi'lek female and had a successful relationship, so her joining with a Lasat male wasn't so out of the ordinary...just different. She had been attracted to the Lasat rebel from the first day she had met him, admiring his tall muscular frame and mostly it was his luminous green eyes that had stolen her heart. She saw warmth and a heart of gold in those eyes. Now she may never gaze on those eyes again and it hurt...

Zeb slept and in his exhausted state, he began to dream:

He dreamed about being home on Yavin IV and was interacting with Kanan, Hera, Ezra, Sabine, Rex and Kallus. The rebels were playing an exciting round of Sabaac and Zeb was winning. Ayessa sat nearby watching and he stole glances back and forth with her. The dream changed to them taking a walk down the path to the waterfall. Ayessa being taller, had an arm around Zeb's waist and he didn't mind being seen with a female that was a head and a half taller than he was. The Barrelian beauty turned alot of heads and he was proud to have on his arm, such a beautiful female and she was attracted to him! Some of the other female rebels who had been trying to win his attention, felt a bit envious but were happy for him. Both human, Snivven, Twi'lek and Gotal females had been giving him looks of interest in the past year, but he just smiled at them not showing he wanted anything but friendship from them until Ayessa came along. The tall dark-skinned beauty had caught his attention and she was throwing him signals of interest back. Her winning him in a round of arm wrestling made the attraction grow stronger. Here was a female that was strong enough to keep up with him!

As he sunk into a deeper slumber, Zeb found himself sitting next to Ayessa beside the waterfall, the spray getting their clothing a bit damp but they didn't notice. She had told Zeb about how Barrelians showed affection for each other by telepathy and he agreed to join minds with her. Sitting cross-legged on the grass, Ayessa and Zeb closed their eyes and held each other's hands as she began the ritual of joining. As their minds came together, Zeb gasped at how erotic the feeling was and he felt his fur grow muskier with arousal. As the link deepened, Ayessa began to react to the erotic feelings too and sighed. They moved closer and soon were in each other's arms, damp clothing beginning to be removed...and then Zeb felt cold metal on his neck and he woke up with a start. The hunters had found him!

Growling, Zeb rolled away from the hunter's weapon and got up to run. He felt pain in his side but kept running knowing that if they caught him, he'd be dead in minutes. Letting out a groan of pain, Zeb continued to run and looked down at the alien gauntlet he wore on his left wrist. Grinning, he activated the weapon to it's full length and readied to do battle with the three surviving hunters. He discovered a tall tree nearby and jumped up into it, his injured side burning with pain but he ignored it. His animal companion climbed up into the tree beside him nuzzling his side. A loud trilling sounded and he looked down to see that the hunters were nearing his hiding place. Swallowing hard, the Lasat climbed higher in the tree and watched as the aliens approached.

"That's it," he whispered, "Just a little closer..."

With a Lasat battle cry, Zeb leaped down from the tree and landed in a crouch near the leader. He stood up seeing that the alien was three times his size but he wasn't afraid.

"Okay...you karking creeps!" he yelled activating the wrist knives. The alien leader let out a trill of surprise seeing the Lasat with one of their weapons. "Give it your best shot!"

With a roar that made Zeb's fur stand on end, the tall alien hunter moved closer and stared down at the smaller Lasat. It bent down to his height and uttered more trills making Zeb's frown deepen.

"What the?!" Zeb said seeing how close the alien was to him.

Suddenly he felt a large clawed hand around his throat and the sensation of being lifted off his feet. Gasping for breath, Zeb tried to free himself and looked over at his left hand with the alien weapon. With a grunt of effort, Zeb raised his left hand up and hit the leader across his chest opening up a big cut on the hunter's chest. Neon green blood flowed from the wound and the creature dropped Zeb to the ground. It let out a roar of pain and fell to the ground. The wound wasn't fatal but just angered it more than anything. Zeb saw his chance to escape and ran further into the jungle hoping that his attack on the leader would make them now leave him alone. He ran until he ran out of breath and was surprised to see that the small furry creature that befriended him had caught up to him again. Zeb sank to the ground seeing that he was covered with the alien blood and it nearly made him gag. Stumbling down to the stream of water, he washed off the foul-smelling blood and sat down to catch his breath. The animal crawled onto his lap and Zeb scratched it behind it's large furry ears. That caused it to begin purring and Zeb, lulled by the sound, fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

In another part of the jungle, the three alien hunters also rested and tended to their wounds. One of the smaller ones tended to the largest and trilled as it washed the cut clean and then gave it what looked like a syringe of medication was injected into it's chest near the laceration. As the medication stung, the alien hunter let out a cry of pain that echoed through the jungle. Miles away, Zeb's pointed ears perked up hearing the painful cry. He knew that wounding it, probably made the hunter more angry with him and most likely would pursue him with a stronger intent. He had to watch his back more...and also what was in front of him. They could be anywhere with that strange light-bending camophlage that they possessed. Zeb knew the next thing he needed to get from them, was that and possibly one of the shoulder cannons.

"All right, guys," he said flexing the muscles of both arms and hands, "You want a war? I'll give you a war, and I don't plan on losing."