Four

Vos woke up groggily, his arms felt as if pins and needles were being driven through them. When he tried to get his arms free, Vos felt rope dig into his wrists and groaned. There was the taste of blood on his chapped lips when he licked them and that's when he felt the pain in his nose.

Opening his eyes, Vos saw the camp in front of him, women moving above freely, while men went about their servant duties. A few women were not far away, examining something familiar in their hands. "You're awake."

Quinlan Vos saw Dass Jennir with his hands tied behind his back, hugging a pole in a painful way. "The twins?"

"I wish I knew." Dass replied. "They were driven back into the brush, from there everything went black…"

Worry encompassed the older man's face and Vos struggled with the rope, hoping feeling would come back to his arms. "Any idea as to our situation?"

"Currently we're being stripped of our items and observed," Dass said, shifting his weight, "other than that, I'm unsure of what is happening."

A whooping noise came from the edge of the camp and the two Jedi turned to see a hunting party returning, looking successful. Dass scanned the mass of huntresses for the twins, but saw no trace of them.

One of the witches, obviously someone of importance, approached the leader of the group. "Where are the warriors?"

"We ran after them for miles and miles, and still the trespassers remained strong willed," the leader proclaimed, "but finally, we drove them far enough to watch them throw themselves off of a cliff in defeat!"

All of the warriors cheered, but the woman who addressed them had a disdainful expression. "You were to keep them alive."

"They are no longer a threat, Mother," the younger woman retorted, "they are the star people, the people who killed your sister."

"We don't know that." The graying woman snapped. "Go back to your post."

Dass felt his fists clench in fury, his anger overriding his usually calm exterior. Vos looked away. "We shouldn't have come here."

Taking a deep breath, Dass looked over to Quinlan. "You did what you thought would help, I can't blame you for that."

The witches dispersed and the two captives remained tied for the rest of the day, long into night, as fires lit the camp and the people went about their daily tasks. Vos was snoring and Jennir was beginning to nod off when he heard rustling in the brush behind him. Snapping to attention, he tried to turn and look, but he could see nothing then two cold hands wrapped around his. "Seren?" Dass whispered hopefully. "Solan? Is that you?"

"Don't worry," Seren replied, "we're all right."

"Thankfully a pool from a waterfall broke our fall," Solan said, "we spent the rest of the afternoon drying off and coming up with a plan to save the two of you."

Dass smirked as he felt the rope loosen from his hands and then pulled free of the ties. Nearby Vos's sound sleep was broken and he tried to see who was setting him free. "I thought you two were—"

"Never underestimate them," Dass rubbed his knotted hands, "let's get out of here."

"No, I need to find out what happened to T'kallya." Vos insisted. "And why we were treated so coldly."

Before Dass could do anything, Quinlan stole off. "Master…I hate to say this," Seren bit her lip, "but I think Master Vos is right."

Staring at his two young protégés, Dass contemplated the danger. "You've risked your lives too many times today."

"If you think we're going to let him go off and get himself killed…"

"I know, I know," Dass stopped Solan before he could go on, "we'll follow Master Vos."

Solan turned to Seren, who took her lightsaber out and then handed Master Jennir's his that the pair had stolen back. Solan went ahead, followed by Master Jennir and then Seren came, making sure their backs were covered. The leader of the three stopped abruptly, signaling for the other two to stay back as a guard passed by one of the tents. After she was gone, Solan moved on, followed by his master and sister.

There was a shout and Solan ran ahead, as Seren prepared to defend Jennir, as if he was incapable of doing so. The fires that the guards held changed direction and headed quickly toward the tent of suspicion. Seren and Master followed Solan, reaching the tent first and rushing inside to see the ruler of the camp looking surprised to see her captives and the live quarry presumed dead standing in her tent.

"Mother!" A voice came from outside, everyone in the tent regarding each other with silent tension. "Mother, are you all right?"

"Go back to your posts!" The servant in the tent looked horrified. "Fellan's having another night terror!"

A hesitation went about the guards before they finally started going about their business. The leader scowled at her intruders. "Had you wanted to kill me, I hope you would have done it sooner," the woman rose, a flowing, white shift brushing across the blankets as she came towards her uninvited guests, "you have my full attention."

Vos stood strong. "We had nothing to do with the death of T'kallya…in fact, we came here searching for her help, she and I were friends."

"Ahh, the man from the skies she went into the woods to find," the woman nodded, "I thought you were only a myth…until I watched who I thought was you kill her. But your face is not like his. I remember it well."

Then why had she not released them? Perhaps to study them further, but Vos was furious by now. Dass laid his hand on his fellow Jedi's shoulder to quell his rage. "I understand your anger…she was your sister, wasn't she?"

The woman nodded at that. "Yes. My name is Ayo Cho, I am the leader of the Singing Mountain Clan."

"I am Quinlan Vos, this is my fellow Jedi, Dass Jennir, and his two padawans, Seren and Solan." Quinlan said. "We came seeking peace, not war."

"These times are troubled. Even the stars shiver with fear…" Ayo became distant for a moment and then turned to her intruders, "forgive me for taking such caution, we are a people adverse to outsiders. My sister put her trust in you, Quinlan Vos, so I will do the same."