A/N: In this chapter, Zeb continues to survive against the three surviving hunters and will get the upper hand on them. He is relying on all the survival training he went through when he was in the Honor Guard, and that is keeping him alive...

Chapter 5 Time Passes On

Twelve weeks had passed and Zeb continued to elude the alien hunters. They still pursued him, but he always stayed two paces ahead of them. With time going by and not having enough rest and proper food, Zeb was becoming increasingly weaker and he was starting to show signs of malnutrition. The furry animal continued to be by his side and he began to call the creature Ashla, after the Lasat version of the Force. After getting sick from eating too many tree fruits, the Lasat was relieved that with Ashla's help, he had gotten pretty good at trapping small animals. It took awhile to get used to eating raw meat but he was glad for the change in diet.

"Tastes good, doesn't it, Ashla?" he said leaning back against a tree trunk and chewed on what were the remains of a lizard-like animal that tasted somewhat like bantha meat. The little animal cuddled onto his lap and chewed on her own piece of meat. Zeb wasn't sure if the animal were male or female but he began to refer to it as "she", because of the name Ashla.

The past two days the hunters had left Zeb alone and he chose the time to make some more weapons from the tree wood and other things in the jungle. He had fashioned rope out of tree root fibers and bark fibers. The Lasat was now deeper in the jungle and he figured that he and Ashla had covered over half of the jungle planet. The stream he had been following had now broadened into a river with the air warmer and more humid, making the Lasat's fur sweat more and take on a more musky smell.

"Phew!" Zeb said as he got a whiff of his rather aromatic body, "I think I need to take a bath in the river! What I would give for a bar of soap! Maybe this vine sap will work. Smells kinda nice. What do you think, Ashla?"

The animal gave him a purr of affection and nudged his arm.

"You love me know matter what I smell like," he said as he began to remove his chest and back armor, laying it on the makeshift bed of tree boughs he had been sleeping on. Removing his small loincloth, he wandered naked into the water, sighing at how soothing the cool water felt on his fur and injuries. Ashla had wandered into the water too and was lapping at the water with her long tongue. Zeb leaned back and floated feeling totally relaxed until he felt the carcass of a dead animal land on his bare chest.

"Karabast!" he cried seeing the bloody thing and flung it away. Off in the distance stood the three hunters and they were trilling with each other. The largest fired it's shoulder cannon and Zeb ducked under the water the shot nearly hitting him. He swam off away from the area and came up for breath in amongst some shrubs that grew next to the water. Panting for breath, Zeb watched as the hunters looked around for him and then walked out into the water in the direction of where he was hiding. Growling in his throat, the Lasat took off under the water and swam until he had to surface to breathe. He looked around for somewhere to hide and saw that a mound of muddy dirt beckoned to him. With his clawed fingers, Zeb dug himself a hole into the mound and waited to see if they would find him.

His fears were justified as he heard splashes and the trilling sounds that marked the hunters return. He held his breath for a moment and then stayed as still as he could manage. From his hiding place, he saw the legs of his pursuers and they were so close he could've reached out to touch them. Hardly breathing, Zeb watched as they looked around and trilled to each other poking at the mound of mud and then the leader bent down to peek into the area where Zeb was hiding. Zeb held his breath and to his relief, the alien moved away, not seeing anything. He continued to sit still until they left and then he crawled out covered in mud. He was puzzled at the lead alien not seeing him. Maybe they couldn't see in something as dense as mud.

"Ashla!" he called hoping his companion was nearby. He heard a familiar grunting and then felt a wet tongue licking mud off his face, "Am I glad to see you!"

A few minutes later, Zeb swam back to his makeshift camp and was relieved that the hunters hadn't taken his clothing. Getting redressed in what was left of his clothing, the Lasat sat down to rest and reorganize. Knowing that the aliens could swim like he could, Zeb knew that he had to find a way to get ahead of them and quickly! Looking around at the trees, Zeb cut several of the bigger ones with the use of the alien wrist knives that were razor sharp. He was going to make a raft for him and Ashla to navigate the river and possibly get away from the hunters. For the next few hours and then into the night, Zeb built his raft of fallen trees, root rope and tree sap to seal the cracks. By early morning, the Lasat collapsed from exhaustion and curled up on some tree boughs with Ashla next to him. He would sleep until the next morning and woke up a bit confused. Ashla licked his now dry face and nudged his arm.

"Ashla, how long did I sleep?" he asked taking the animal into his arms where she reached up to lick his pug-like nose, "Feel a little better, and am I hungry!"

The two beings went on the hunt for something to eat and soon found one of the little lizards. It didn't take long for them to make a meal of it. Zeb rubbed his bare stomach and smiled as he leaned back for a rest. It wouldn't last long...

The alien hunters were approaching and with his keen hearing, the Lasat heard them and his anger burned. He was getting tired of the aliens not letting him ever rest for very long. He grabbed his spear and the other weapons he had made from the jungle's resources. One was a sling-type device that faintly resembled Ezra's old energy slingshot. Zeb could launch stones from over a long distance to hopefully hit one of the aliens in the head. The other was a snare that he made out of root fibers and bark. He set one up near a tall tree and waited.

A few minutes later, from his perch in a tall tree, Zeb saw the hunters approach and he readied his sling. With a grin on his face, the Lasat let the sling go with a large stone in it. He had aimed right and the stone hit one of the smaller hunters along side the head knocking it off it's feet. The leader looked up at the trees and spotted Zeb crouched on a high branch.

"Come and get me, guys!" he taunted and leaped to another branch. The leader growled and then went to a nearby tree climbing up after the Lasat.

"Uh...oh...forgot you guys can climb trees too, but you aren't as fast as a Lasat, are you? Catch me if you can!"

He kept leaping from branch to branch, keeping ahead of the bigger alien and then miscalculated the distance to the nearest tree. Zeb tried to grab a branch and fell to the ground landing on his right arm wrong. By the feel of the pain, he knew the bone in his forearm was broken. He hissed with pain and picked himself up. The hunter who he had hit with the sling, got up and approached the Lasat who was now cradling a broken arm. It let out a hiss of anger and lunged towards Zeb. The Lasat moved out of the way but not before giving the taller alien a punch to the side of it's head. The alien's helmet flew off and it fell to the ground stunned. Zeb turned and got his first look at one of the alien's faces, if you could call it a face.

The creature's face was nothing but a maw of teeth, small mouth opening and four mandible tusks, two on each side quivering. It's nose was nothing but two slits under each eye. The alien's eyes were small and a sickly yellow color with small pupils. It uttered a hiss and looked to be having trouble breathing. Small spikes bordered it's forehead ridges and they were also quivering.

"Karabast!" Zeb said with disgust, "I thought my face looked bad...Buddy, you win hands down in the ugly department. You are one ugly bugger!"

The beady eyes narrowed in anger and the creature let out a roar as it stood up activating it's wrist knives. Zeb stood his ground and also activated his wrist knives.

"Oh...you wanna fight? Okay, ugly...you'll get one!"

Zeb threw himself forward in an inhuman motion and landed smack in the alien's chest knocking the wind out of it. The creature let out a loud roar and threw Zeb off it's chest and swiped the wrist knives at the Lasat's legs. Zeb moved out of the way but not in time. His left leg took a slice to the calf and he let out a cry that echoed through the jungle. This just made Zeb madder and he slashed out at the hunter again seeing that it was breathing heavy as if the air wasn't right for it's lungs. With a loud roar, the Lasat raised his arm with the wrist knives and brought it down into the creature's chest, it letting out a cry of pain that was louder than Zeb's. Growling, Zeb drove the knives further into the now dying alien's chest and felt the creature shudder in it's death throes. The lead hunter and the other smaller one watched as Zeb removed the other arm gauntlet and attempted to remove the shoulder cannon but a blast from the leader's weapon threw him aside. When Zeb looked up he saw that the dead hunter was nothing but a pile of neon-green goo with bones and gristle in it. The Lasat looked up and saw that the leader was leaping to another tree and then disappeared with the surviving smaller one. He saw the alien helmet laying near the remains and picked it up hoping to use it in some way.

"Ha!" Zeb said as he took a deep breath and cradled his broken arm, "Mess with a former captain of the Honor Guard, will ya? Keep coming back and I'll kill you both! Oh...Karabast!"

He walked over to lean against a big rock and looked down at his broken arm. The bone was trying to poke through the fur and he knew that it needed to be set. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Zeb took his arm and slammed it hard against the rock the bone snapping back in place. The Lasat let out a loud cry of pain and tears fell as he cradled the injured limb against his body. Ashla who had been hiding during the skirmish, came out from her hiding place and lay at Zeb's feet purring in comfort.

"Ashla...I've got to get this arm taken care of," he said to the animal, "At least I got another one of their weapons."

Zeb took two smaller branches from the shrubs and made a splint and then after removing what was left of his jumpsuit, he tore the material into pieces and tied the splints in place and made a makeshift sling to hold his arm close to his body. He looked down at his naked bottom half and frowned. He took what remained of the jumpsuit and made a bandage for the new cut on his leg. Zeb sat on the river side and stared down at the small piece of material left of his jumpsuit. He took some of the tree root rope and made a belt of sorts to tie around his waist and with the wrist knives cut some slits into the material where he wove the rope through making himself a smaller covering that at least covered up everything that would normally show. He was relieved that the front half was well covered, but his butt was exposed making him blush with embarrassment. He smiled and chuckled thinking about what Ezra and Sabine would think of his rather revealing wardrobe. They would never let him hear the end of it! He also knew that Rex would tease him badly and Kallus would just laugh himself almost sick. Thinking about his family made him sad for a moment and he nearly gave into tears, but knew he had to keep moving. Leaning on a tree branch he had made into a spear, the Lasat began to walk away and towards the raft that waited for him.

"Hope this thing can hold my weight," he grumbled as he helped Ashla aboard. After making sure that the ropes were holding, he pushed off with his good arm and secured the provisions he had packed aboard. Sitting down, Zeb let himself rest and hopefully he could get some sleep for awhile. This last battle with the hunters had worn him out, and with his new injuries, he was in bad shape. The little vessel moved along the river and Zeb layed down closing his eyes.

Ashla licked his face waking him up a few hours later. The wind had picked up and the raft continued it's journey down the river. Zeb sat up, yawned and looked around to see that he had traveled quite a distance. The jungle had gotten thicker and the air more humid. Zeb kept wiping his forehead ridges of sweat, the fur getting more musky in scent. Standing up and cradling his broken arm, the Lasat stared ahead having no idea what would happen next...

On Yavin IV:

Ayessa knealt in front of the rock near the waterfall, her prayer stone on top. She was in a deep meditation and didn't hear Ezra and Sabine walk up. The two younger rebels stood off at a respectable distance and listened to her chant in her native Barrelian tongue, the words almost musical in tone. Being telepathic, she soon sensed Ezra and Sabine nearby and turned to them.

"Ayessa," Sabine said feeling embarrassed at interrupting what was obviously a sacred moment, "We're sorry we disturbed you. We just had to get away from everybody for awhile ."

"It is all right, young ones," she said and turned to them a smile on her beautiful features, "I was praying for the safe return of Garazeb."

"You love Zeb, don't you?" Sabine asked feeling even more embarrassed. She looked over at Ezra and saw that he was reaching out to Ayessa and felt her deep feelings for the Lasat.

"Yes, I do. I know he isn't a Barrelian, but I care deeply for him, and have since the day I met him. I want him to return to me so I can show him how much I do care."

"What do you see in him?" Ezra asked as he felt himself react to the sight of her tall and curvy body. Her face with it's bright golden eyes was a thing of beauty, "You are so...beautiful and Zeb is...not exactly handsome."

Sabine gave him an elbow in the ribs for his less than cordial remark.

"We Barrelians being telepathic beings can see beyond the physical senses. The first time I met Garazeb, I gazed into his green eyes and saw into his soul. Seeing that side of Garazeb has shown me how attractive is really is. Does that answer your question?"

Blushing, Ezra nodded, feeling bad for thinking of Zeb as being unattractive.

"There is a beauty in every living being, Ezra," she said laying a hand on the shorter human's shoulder, "When I gaze into your eyes and Sabine's, I see two wonderful young people who are good, brave and above all compassionate. When I gazed into Garazeb's eyes, I saw the same thing and more. I see beauty...beauty of the spirit and that goes beyond the physical realm. If he returns, I want to join minds with him and we will be bondmates. "

Ezra saw that Ayessa was trying not to cry and he layed a hand on her arm.

"We'll find Zeb, won't we Sabine?"

The Mandalorian girl nodded her head and also patted Ayessa on the shoulder.

"We sure will, and we won't give up until he's safely back home."

Ayessa smiled and turned back to her altar to kneel down. She gazed over and saw that Ezra and Sabine were kneeling beside her. The Barrelian female went back to her chanting and soon the two rebels followed along, not understanding the strange words, but felt the love within them. Ayessa concentrated and with her telepathic powers, reached out past Yavin IV and out into space, hoping to make a connection with her sycha. She smiled as she reached further than she ever had before and hoped to touch the Lasat's mind.

On the jungle planet:

Zeb lay asleep on the raft while it moved through the slow current. Ashla lay curled up next to him nuzzling her snout against his face. As he sunk deeper into sleep, he felt something in his mind almost like a tickle.

It was Ayessa's telepathic touch.

Zeb sighed and rolled over onto his back, broken arm across his chest. A smile crossed the Lasat features and he sighed louder feeling Ayessa's presence in his mind. It was a soothing feeling but also a little erotic. Letting out a louder sigh, Zeb placed his other arm across the injured one in the gesture of a hug. That's what it felt like to the Lasat; an embrace of pure love from Ayessa across the galaxy.

"Ayessa," he whispered and fell into a deeper sleep to dream about being in her arms for real...