6

Kli'nah Cassus. Bleeding Skulls Compound, Gree. 1525 hours GST. 14 ABY.

Kli'nah was trying to push her way through the crowd, but since she had gotten in the training room the crowd had grown twice as big as it was before she arrived. The whole compound was there, and it was all she could do to squeeze through. The crowd was cheering louder than ever. She could hear screams and shouts coming from the east wing from outside, but now something was going on that had the whole crowd in an uproar. She yelled and looked frantically around to see if she could find An'kin in the midst of the people but with no luck. Being shorter than most she couldn't tell what was going on that far into the middle of the room. The crowd started to laugh, then go back to cheering, then laughing again. Some sort of demonstration was going on, but she couldn't make out what it was. She tried tugging on a soldier's arm to ask if he could see anything but the man just brushed her off, obviously reeled into what was happening in the arena.

She had had enough of this. Forcefully, Kli'nah pushed and nudged her way through the crowd until finally she found herself at the edge of the ring. When she finally saw what was happening she was confused. Had An'kin got knocked off his rocker? She stared at the heated fight that was waging in front of her. An'kin, for some reason she couldn't understand, was in a melee duel with the stowaway.

"What is going on here!?" she screamed but the deafening sound of the crowd drowned her out. She watched as An'kin swiped away every emotionally misguided slash and swipe the stowaway threw at him. She seemed so desperate, but it was obvious her emotions had gotten her distracted. An'kin was just toying with her, Kli'nah could tell. She knew because, even on a bad day, he could have landed herself on the floor within seconds. How long was he going to just let her fight him? Was he trying to teach her something? Goad her into something? She didn't understand, but she found herself enjoying the scene. It was entertaining if anything though she did feel a little sorry for the girl.

She spotted Kotra standing on the sidelines on the other side of the arena talking with a banged up soldier. Ty'din, she thought it was. Struggling through the crowd around the edge of the ring she was able to make her way over to them.

"What is the deal here ad'ika?" She asked Kotra.

"Dad's got himself a little play doll!" He laughed back. "Oh you should have seen it. That little shabuir handed it to Ty'din pretty good. That little thing's a Force user if you can believe it!"

"It wasn't fair! I call osik!" Ty'din tried yelling over the crowd in response.

"Yea, that sheila pounded him!" Kotra laughed at Ty'din. Ty'din just gave him an embarrassed and disgusted look. The two men kept on joking with each other and watched the match. It was clear that she wasn't going to get any useful information out of them, though the fact that the little girl was a Force user struck something deep inside her. She didn't understand it but she was instantly interested in the outcome of this match. She decided to watch and see what panned out.

Lerina Deeharc and An'kin Cassus. Bleeding Skulls Compound, Gree. 1525 hours GST. 14 ABY.

Just as she had gotten up on him, he made a quick side step and parried her feeble strike. He had gotten her angry, and it was making her think irrationally just as she had done to her challengers. He swiped away every emotionally misguided slash and swipe. Lerina kept coming at him, but she would never land a hit she threw at him.

Sweat was just starting to bead up on An'kin's brow. Lerina kept coming at him but she would never land a hit. An'kin knew how to fight against Jedi, and this girl was not fully trained.

Lerina was getting frustrated and winded. She knew why she couldn't hit him. She let her emotions get the best of her, and that is why she was failing miserably. With every blow parried, Lerina felt her frustration rise to the point of where she couldn't suppress it any longer. She knew he was just playing with her, which just made her anger boil. He landed playful and infuriating blunt hits on her arms and legs. She wanted to show this Mandalorian what she could do. She wanted to do to him just as she did to Ty'din, but she couldn't control when and where she used it.

Swing after swing, stab after stab, the man blocked and knocked away every one. After every parry he would hit her on the arm with the blunt of his blade, and she would strike back with more and more ferocity. As his smile widened behind his helmet her anger enraged. Finally, out of pure irritation and frustration, Lerina did something no one was fully expecting.

An'kin flew back and hit the ground struggling to keep his Vibrosword up and blocking his torso. Lerina, the skinny little stowaway, somehow shot a strong bolt of lightning at him knocking him off his feet. It didn't deal any damage though. He had blocked it just in time and held his sword firm until the lighting passed out of it and into the floor.

Lerina stood there stunned at what she had just pulled off. It unnerved and scared her.

Thoughts flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds. How was she able to create something of that nature? All she had been able to do before was pull and push objects to or from her. Never anything like this.

Before she could make another move, An'kin lunged at her knocking her to the ground, and he had her pinned on the floor with her arms and legs swiftly grouped together and tied with hunting wire. Her shock caused her to not even know what hit her.

The crowd, in awe, cheered louder than ever as An'kin picked Lerina, kicking and screaming, up off the floor. He slung her over his shoulder and proceeded to walk through the crowd out of the training room. Lerina, knowing it was useless, quit squirming and just rested there on his shoulder as he walked her out of the building. Before she knew it An'kin had her back in her chambers sitting on her bed.

Kli'nah Cassus. Bleeding Skulls Compound, Gree. 1530 hours GST. 14 ABY.

The crowd started to thin out and go back to their duties. Kli'nah stood there waiting for them to file out before she even tried to go back to the construction site. Kotra and Ty'din were still hanging around the arena picking on each other.

"Boys, calm down and answer me something." She called to them. They both walked over, Ty'din still with an embarrassed flushed face.

"Do you know why you're father was doing this? This is the anniversary… he has been in his room all day. And now, I'm having to postpone construction because he's wound up fighting a little girl?" She aimed at Kotra.

The to men shared a quick glance at each other. Kotra shrugged.

"Not sure Kli. We just heard all the hoop and holler like the rest of them. Came in here and saw Lerina fighting some of the boys. Ty'din thought it looked like fun, so he decided to have a whack at it." And under his breath he added jokingly, "Which was a poor decision on his part."

Ty'din heard him and elbowed Kotra in the ribs. Kotra irritatedly said, "ouch" and shot him a mean glare then continued with his story.

"Anyway, after she Force pushed Ty'din, Ty'din was about to attack her again, but then dad stepped in. Ty'din came down here with me and dad finished it. It was awesome! He was toying with her the whole time. Really showed us how a real Mandalorian should handle a Jedi!"

Kli'nah wasn't sure how to take that. What she did know, however, was that An'kin must be going through something, and she should be there to help him with it, and make sure he doesn't do anything he will regret. Leaving the two guys to duke it out some more, she left to find An'kin. She knew he would most likely be in the guest chambers.

Lerina Deeharc and An'kin Cassus. Planet: Gree. 15:35 GST. Bleeding Skullz Guest Quarters. 14 ABY.

Lerina, untied and bandaged, sat on the foot of her bed. The man had taken the wire off and cleaned what wounds she had. Not a word had been uttered between them until he had her settled down. Nor did she want to speak to him. He broke the silence.

"You gave my boys quite a fight out there today Lerina." He said jokingly, hoping to break the ice. "What you did to my man Ty'din, very funny." He continued to wipe a cut on her face.

He was still wearing his helmet, she had grown to despise that skull looking hunk of metal. "Why do you always wear that? It makes me angry." She replied.

She couldn't read the expression behind the mask, but she could tell he was taken aback. "Wear what?"

Lerina wondered if this guy was an idiot. How could he not know she was talking about the helmet? The last time they talked she wouldn't respond until he took it off then too. "The helmet, juma head..." she said with annoyance and attitude in her voice. For some reason, she found that she couldn't care less about the other mandalorians' helmets, but his tugged at her constantly. May it was because his helmet was unique. The visor was still "T" shaped but closures in the mask made it have an intimidating and menacing skull look. Customized teeth protruded from the bottom sides of the mask, and a dominating line of spikes lined the top of the helmet.

Carefully, he slid his helmet off and looked Lerina in the eyes. She looked down at the helmet then back at him. He could tell she was going over something in her mind, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Why does my helmet bother you so much?" He squinted at her curiously. Lerina paused for a moment.

She knew it from somewhere. That tug of recognition only grew stronger and stronger every time it appeared before her. Lerina looked down at the helmet then back at him. But where? Something was off. Something wasn't right. The idea that she couldn't pinpoint the memory frustrated her.

"I… I know it from somewhere." Finally came a reply. Lerina seemed like she was deep in thought studying his helmet.

Her mind zipped through her memories. The farthest she could remember seeing that helmet struck at her core. She couldn't believe it. It was him! She remembered the fighting style he used from one of the security tapes she had gotten ahold of from one of the security cameras her father had set up. Lerina went into momentary shock. It all made sense now! How he knew about the death of her parents, why he made her an honorary guest! He killed them! Then suddenly she backed away and stared frightened into his eyes. fear and anger rose in her.

An'kin was caught off guard. Had she really figured it out that fast? Lerina started to stutter.

Lerina started to stutter. "You… it… it's you!" she squeaked out.

He lowered his head. "How did you figure it out?" He asked shamefully.

Lerina stared frightfully at him. "My… my father wasn't helpless. You… you had to fight him. I knew som...something was familiar about your fighting." She trembled. "And… and your helmet," she continued. "I remember it from all those years ago…" She started to cry. The murderer leaned in to comfort her, but she squirmed farther back and pushed him away sobbing. "You… You killed my parents!" She screamed. At that moment a gasp blurted out behind them. Lerina looked up to find Kli'nah at the door. She looked horrified to find out what this man had done. In Lerina's eyes, all of his followers should abandon him for his crimes.

Kli'nah looked at An'kin with a sad and denying stare. An'kin saw her eyes start to water.

When the man stood, Lerina scooted to the back of the bed. "Cyar'ika, I can explain…" the man said to the frightened women in the doorway. "Kli'ika, it's a long story. I'm not proud of it. I was a different man back then. I'm sure you have done similar acts! Why are you getting so upset?" He pleaded with her. She fell into his arms and looked over at Lerina sobbing on the bed.

Eventually he had settled the women down and let her leave the room. As he brough a chair over to the bed, all Lerina could think about was vengeance. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had to kill him for what he had done. Just how many other people had he made suffer like her?

He sat down and sighed. "I know, this is going to be hard for you to hear, but please listen to me." He said sorrowfully. "My name is An'kin Cassus. Eighteen years ago, I was a different man than I am today. I had lost my way and resorted to bounty hunting in order to make money. Your parents were Jedi with a bounty on their heads. It was my job to find them and eliminate them. Usually I wouldn't take jobs," he continued, "that only wanted the target dead, but I was desperate and needed the credits. Now I know that didn't justify my actions. And… I know I put you through haran for what I did."

He paused. Lerina sat there. She had stopped crying and was listening intently on every word he said. 'Like you understand! Like you know what hell you put me through!' Lerina screamed in her head.

"Lerina, I'm sorry. I have to tell you something else." His eyes started to water.

"Today… today is the anniversary of my beloved daughter's death. Rusaan was only eighteen. The age you are now."

Lerina's eyes began to water. 'Just because your daughter died doesn't mean you know what I've been through. You don't know me!' Thoughts continued to scream in her head.

He continued, "She… she was infected by the blackwing virus after a freak accident. She… she turned on me. Lerina, my own daughter… turned on me." An'kin couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He had been a toughened and seasoned warrior, but the memory of this fact still haunted him and he couldn't take the thought of his little girl coming at him with those eyes full of hunger."

'I should kill you, bastard!'

"I… I had… had to shoot her, Lerina." Those words hit home.

"You don't know what it's like. Watching your only daughter die in your arms then turn on you with unwavering hunger! I… I had to shoot her Lerina." He sat there with his head low, holding in the tears as hard as he could.

Lerina started to bawl uncontrollably. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to take revenge for those who could not. But how could she? Was there anything left to kill? Before her sat a broken man who had suffered loss, just as she did. Before her sat a man full of regret. An'kin raised his head and looked at her. She stared straight back into his eyes. Instead of seeing the dark soulless eyes he had trained to be stone cold, she saw a broken and humbled soul. She knew, somehow, he had changed since all those years ago.

She scooted over to him and grabbed his hand. Her hand fit softly into his. An'kin looked down. She stared straight into his eyes and uttered the words in which she was dumbfounded to her herself saying. "An'kin, I… I forgive you." She said through tear filled sobs.

They both hugged each other and sat there letting the moment sink in. She cursed her soft heart. She should have taken revenge, but she couldn't. Whether or not if she truly meant the words she spoke would only be proved in the future, but now it was time to let go. It was time to make the past ghosts stop haunting her. It was time to look to the future, whatever her time here at the compound may bring.