A/N: Poor Zeb! Can he take any more being hunted and trying to stay ahead of the alien hunters? Now he has to deal with trying to survive on what he can find to eat. At least he has access to a water source. He finds out that too much of some foods isn't good for the digestion! Wasn't sure if this chapter saved on Word Pad. Had a bad thunderstorm yesterday knocking out the power until this morning and I lost part of the chapter. Hope it still is okay. Warning for mature content (dream sequences)

Chapter 4 Survival Tactics

"Ugh...oh Karabast!" Zeb groaned as he felt another stomach cramp. Soon the sound of voiding bowels interrupted his pain. The Lasat was squatting, lower half of his jumpsuit at his feet as he had another round of watery diarrhea. This had been going on for two days along with vomiting, and he knew it was because of having nothing to eat but the green fuzzy fruits from the trees. They were upsetting his stomach bad and he was paying for it! . He looked over to see the furry creature staring at him in what looked like sympathy.

"You're lucky," he said to the animal as he cleaned himself up with water and leaves and pulled up his jumpsuit, "Nothing seems to bother your stomach. Must be these kriffin' fruits from the trees that's killing my stomach. Better find something else to eat before I poop myself too death! Oh...Karabast..."

He ran back to the area he just used and unfortunately didn't get his jumpsuit down in time.

"Karking hell!" he grumbled as he pulled the soiled bottoms off his eyes teary with embarrassment and pain. A few minutes later, naked from the waist down, Zeb was washing out his dirty jumpsuit in a deep part of the stream hoping the water wouldn't get too contaminated. The stream had a strong current in the middle and the water cleared up quickly.

"Geez, at least I'm halfway clean," he said as he waded out into the water up to the bottom of his chest and back armor. The soothing coolness felt good on the irritated fur of his buttocks and to his annoyance, some of the fur had rubbed off and the skin was developing a rash.

Zeb got out of the water, shook his fur off and went to lay on the grass to dry off. The sun felt good on his damp naked half and he felt the animal lay next to him. He smiled and put an arm around the creature where it began to purr. It's sounds were like a lullabye to the Lasat and he fell asleep only to be awakened by a bad round of vomiting less than an hour later.

"Oh...Karabast," he whimpered as tears streamed down his furry cheeks. Zeb sat on the ground as more whimpers sounded deep in his throat. Between the puking and pooping, the Lasat was in bad shape. The animal cuddled up next to him trying to make him feel better and to let him know he wasn't alone. Zeb was relieved to have the companionship, especially now. He began to think about his family on the GHOST and how much he missed them. Feeling as rotten as he did, he knew if he were on the ship, Hera would be taking care of him in that maternal way of hers. He thought back at the time when he, Ezra and Sabine had Loth-cat flu and how sick they were. She never complained at picking up after them when they'd puke on the deck or in their bunks. Kanan offered paternal comfort too in his own Jedi way, but it wasn't the soothing, nurturing comfort that Hera offered, and now he wished she were there to soothe his troubles. He sat sniffling letting the tears fall, not caring that the animal was sitting watching him behave like a Lasat kit. After a few moments he took a deep breath willing the tears to stop.

"Kriff!" he said as he wiped the last of the tears away, "A captain of the Lasan High Honor Guard wouldn't let some stomach trouble reduce him to a sniveling cry baby! Suck it up, Zeb, you're tougher than that! You...You...are tougher than that!"

He curled up on the ground in a fetal position, feeling the furry creature curl up to his chest purring in a soothing manner. Zeb felt his guard go down and he began to cry and felt the animal lick his tears away soothing him in the only way it knew how. Soon he fell asleep and dreamed...

Zeb found himself standing by the waterfall on Yavin IV gazing at the tranquil scenery and he looked like he did now; dirty, injured and sick.

"Garazeb," a pleasant voice sounded.

He turned around and saw...Ayessa. The tall dark-skinned Barrelian was standing by the pool's edge and she had on a gown that looked like it was spun gold. It hugged her curvy body and Zeb took notice.

"Garazeb," she said again and walked over to place a hand against his face, "Oh...my poor sycha."

Zeb sighed feeling her gentle touch on his furry cheeks and her honey smell that was paradise to his senses. He hoped that she would keep caressing his face for it not only felt soothing, but also a bit erotic. She lead him over to sit by a big rock that had a glowing stone on top of it. Easing him onto the ground, she sat next to him still caressing his face. She began to sing to him in her native tongue and he fell asleep...

Back in the jungle, Zeb stirred for a moment, turned over onto his stomach and sank into a deeper slumber. The creature curled up next to him nuzzling it's long snout against his side. Zeb began to dream...even more...

He was sitting by the waterfall, legs crossed, hands on his knees, and his big green eyes closed in utter bliss. All he had on was his ragged Honor Guard jumpsuit bottoms, furry torso bare except for the bandage on his side.

Off near the trees stood Ayessa and she again wore her robe of spun gold. She smiled seeing Zeb in what looked like deep meditation. She walked over towards him and while doing that, she reached up to the high neck of her robe to unlace it down to the middle of her chest. The outline of her full breasts covered in golden tattoos shown along with the erect nipples of gold hue. She knealt in front of Zeb and caressed his face. He opened his eyes seeing how close she was kneeling by him. A smile crossed his Lasat features and he felt a bit aroused seeing the outline of her breasts.

"Garazeb," she said in her sultry voice, "I want to get closer to you. In order to do that, I must join minds with you. Do you want to try? I know you are not a telepath, but my people have joined with non-telepaths before. My grandfather was joined to a Twi'lek female and they were very happy together until their deaths a few years ago."

"Uh...Okay, I'm willing to try. What do I do?" Zeb asked a bit uneasy at the prospect of someone diving into his most private thoughts. What he was thinking about Ayessa bordered on being erotic. Her nearly exposed breasts weren't helping.

"Just relax, I'll be doing all the work. I need you to take a deep breath, close your eyes and let your mind go blank."

Zeb took a deep breath, closed his eyes and tried to block away any unnecessary thoughts. Ayessa placed her hands on either side of his face, her gentle touch easing him into a fugue state. She smiled and took her fingers to run from his forehead ridges down to his cheeks and sideburns where she gently caressed them. Zeb relaxed more and a smile of pure bliss crossed his face. Suddenly a warm golden glow appeared from her hands and enveloped Zeb's whole body with a gentle hue that made the Lasat smile more. He let out a loud sigh and sat up straighter, his head back, lips parted. Ayessa opened her eyes seeing he was still joined to her and went deeper into his mind...Closing her eyes, she smiled seeing scenes of friendship, loyalty, a strong moral compass when it came to fighting the Empire and most of all a strong feeling of love towards his adopted family; the crew of the GHOST. Smiling more, she sunk deeper into the Lasat's memories and saw the deep sadness and guilt he felt at not being able to save his people from the Empire's near genoside of his species. Tears burned behind her closed eyes and she shook off the sadness to reach another part of Zeb's mind. She shivered with a feeling of arousal as she saw what he was feeling towards her and it was very erotic. The Lasat wanted to mate with her. She could feel that he was being more aroused by the second and the emotions were affecting her.

"My sycha," she whispered as she deepened the meld. Zeb moaned and his large body shivered as the arousal grew. Ayessa knew that she needed to ease her way out of his mind seeing how he was reacting. Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hands away and saw his green eyes open. They were a bit unfocused for a moment then he saw her face.

"Ayessa," he whispered, "That...That was...incredible!"

"The joining of minds for a non-telepath can be a bit disconcerting but is not dangerous," she said still kneeling in front of him.

"Ayessa," he asked leaning forward his face close to hers, "My people show affection in a different way, with a kiss."

"A kiss? What is that?"

"Let me show you..."

Zeb leaned forward more and with one of his big hands layed against her face, pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss, Ayessa's eyes widening in amazement at the feeling .

"That is nice," she said her eyes half closed, "Garazeb, will you kiss me again?"

The Lasat put his arms around her pulling her closer where he could give her a deeper kiss. Ayessa sighed her own feelings of seduction overcoming her. She pulled away for a moment and brushed her lips against his cheek.

"I never knew expressing love could be like this," she whispered and then felt his hands moving from her face down her back and settled on her buttocks that he began to caress. She shivered a moment but enjoyed the feelings of desire that were traveling through her body. Barrelians usually felt desire through their mind joining and only mated when it was time to procreate, but Ayessa was feeling her body react the way her mind should. She moved closer and began to kiss Zeb in a more passionate way. The Lasat sighed and pulled her closer his fur growing warmer and the scent of musk becoming more pronounced.

Ayessa pulled away and unlaced her robe all the way, the material parting and falling from her shoulders, now sweating breasts with erect nipples beckoning to him. Giving a low purr of lust, the Lasat pulled her closer and fumbled at his jumpsuit bottoms to free that which made him male. Ayessa pulled her robe down more and showed her brood pouch where a humanoid navel would be located. The golden hued pouch was pulsing with desire and opening up. She guided him to her and they became one, both sighing loudly. While mating, they explored each other's bodies with their hands and Ayessa found out she enjoyed feeling the Lasat's touch on not just her face but on her neck, shoulders and down to her breasts that he cupped in his hands ever so gently. Sighing louder, Ayessa ran her hands over his face, neck and his chest getting a low purr of sexual pleasure out of him, then she moved to his pointed ears; an erotic part of a male Lasat's body. Smiling in a seductive way, Ayessa ran her hand over his ear and then began to lick the soft fur. Zeb moaned and his body stiffened up, the arousal reaching it's peak.

"Ayessa!" he cried out feeling that he was losing himself in the Barrelian's honey scented flesh, "Ayessa! Oh, Karabast!"

Zeb woke up to find that the furry animal was the one licking his ear, not Ayessa. He also noted that he was highly aroused and saw that he had released a great amount of seed within his jumpsuit bottoms. Ears drooping with embarrassment, Zeb got up to go down to the deep part of the stream to wash the sweat and sex off him and rinse out what was left of his jumpsuit. The was the first erotic dream he had had in a long time and it seemed so real. He now knew that he harbored strong feelings for Ayessa and if he ever gets home, he would ask her to be his bondmate, so they could consumate their affections for each other in a proper manner.

Zeb finished drying his fur off and ventured further into the jungle. He heard the numerous sounds of the jungle creatures, but an alien trilling sounded and not too far away. Zeb knew that the hunters had found him. With the furry animal following him, Zeb leaped up into a tall tree and waited for the hunters to approach. He sat for hours and satisfied that the hunters were gone, he jumped out of the tree.

He felt a large hand close around his throat as he hit the ground and knew that they had found him! The alien that had grabbed his throat, was one of the smaller ones and he wriggled free of it's grasp. That angered the being and it activated it's wrist knives and slashed at Zeb. Unfortunately, the Lasat didn't move in time and he received a nasty laceration across his right leg. Crying out in pain and rage, Zeb activated his own wrist knives and attacked. The larger beings easily broke away and activated their camophlage disappearing from his view.

"KARABAST!" he screamed and fell to the ground his breath in ragged sobs. He picked himself up and stood until his breathing eased up. The furry animal nuzzled against his leg and saw the wound. It began to lick away the dark red Lasat blood.

"Thanks, little guy," he said as he looked around for a stick or branch that he could use for a crutch. He found one awhile later and sat down to smooth out the rough surfaces with the wrist knives. Being razor sharp, it made the job easier. Soon the Lasat had a makeshift crutch that he could lean on until he could look after his leg.

When twilight fell on the jungle world, Zeb finally stopped to look at the newest wound to his leg. He grimaced seeing how big and deep the laceration was.

"Kriff...," he grumbled and limped down to the stream that to his relief was still nearby. At least he still had a source of water to sustain him. He sat on the stream shore and stretched his injured leg out seeing the blood soaked fur and also seeing how deep the cut was. Gritting his teeth, Zeb pulled the fur apart and saw the reflection of his leg bone, showing the cut was a bad one.

"If only I were near a medical facility like the one on Yavin IV," he said gritting his teeth again as he began to wash out the nasty wound. He cried out in pain squeezing his eyes shut to keep the tears from falling. After washing out the cut, Zeb removed his jumpsuit bottoms and tore the material in two and made a bandage to cover the laceration. He knew it needed suturing, but he wasn't near any medics. He kept enough of his jumpsuit to make a loincloth to cover up his backside and front.

"Don't need those kriffin' hunters seeing anything they have no business seeing," he said a crooked grin appearing on his grimy face. He looked over at some of the smaller shrubs and saw that the branches looked sturdy. Grinning more, Zeb limped over and with the knives, cut the biggest one off seeing it was as thick as his thumb.

"This will make a good spear. Maybe I can make other weapons too."

Thinking back on his survival training while being in the Honor Guard, Zeb remembered how to fashion a bow and arrow with what he could harvest in the jungle or where ever he was stranded. The wood and bark of the shrubs would do the trick. He knew even though he was outgunned by a longshot, Zeb could defend himself with his bare hands if he had too. After all, he had ripped one of the hunter's arms off before the leader stabbed it too death.

"Oh, what I'd like to do with these knives or this spear," he said his face in a vicious grin, "I could show you some new levels of pain..."