Coldness spread throughout her body, starting at her toes and moving towards her fingertips. It had started raining and the cold wind surrounding them bit through her clothes.
And they kept running.
Run, run, run or you'll die…Cherris kept repeating to herself, hurrying to catch up to the Jedi Knight. He kept beckoning for her to run faster but she was a scientist, not an athlete.
The loud growling sound, now seemingly coming from everywhere at once, grew louder and Cherris forced herself to stay calm. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she'd start getting hysterical, screaming like a little child for someone to help. Even though she felt like doing just that.
Kyp suddenly stopped and Cherris almost ran him over. He gave her one of those typical annoyed looks she was slowly getting used to and gestured for her not to talk. He concentrated on something she couldn't fathom, his gaze far away.
It was very interesting, from a scientific point of view. Some would put the Force off as being something for religious fanatics but what she had so far seen made her think twice about such an assumption.
The Force was a magnificent tool but she imagined that responsibility always travelled in its wake.
Kyp's low voice ripped her out of her thoughts, "You know, there's something I honestly don't understand." He frowned, "If your people have already been here, cataloguing this place, how the hell did they miss that?"
She was almost afraid to ask, "Miss what?"
Following his gaze, her heart seemed to stop, "Oh. My."
It wasn't as large as she had assumed, considering the awful sounds it made, but it scared the hell out of her. In a strange way, the creature reminded her of an overgrown, mutated furry dog, with long pointed, slimy fangs. Its fur was a dark rusty red and four sharp, pointed bone-like appendages protruded from its scalp.
Even from a distance of at least a few hundred meters, Cherris was positive the creature could see them very well.
"What do we do now?" she whispered, somehow afraid that the creature could and would hear her.
Kyp's response was drowned out by and ear splitting roar and Cherris cupped her hands over her ears.
Rain and coldness could be ignored but the fear she felt was paralyzing her.
Kyp firmly grabbed her hand, pulling her the other way, trying to avoid staying in the creatures' line of sight. The beautiful green landscape was slowly coming to an end, no more trees or blooming flowers could be seen.
The desert greeted them with a hideous weather and with a creature even more so.
Besides the growling, Cherris suddenly noticed a trembling beneath her feet. The scientist within was curious and she took a look behind her shoulder, instantly wishing she hadn't.
The creature was following them. It amazed her how agile and fast it was, even though it was so very big.
They kept running and running and running until finally the fact that there was no where to go settled in. The cave system was on the other side of the oasis and in the dark neither Kyp nor Cherris could see very much.
Cherris heard him sigh and unclip his lightsaber from his belt. The rain from above sizzled as it touched the surface of the amethyst blade, small billows of smoke rising into the air.
"Keep running!" he ordered but Cherris couldn't. She couldn't leave him here, alone to fight of this hellish demon.
She was rooted to the spot, afraid for herself and afraid for him. She shook her head.
"I said go!" he suddenly shouted, his voice rising. "There's nothing you can do here!"
The rain pelted down from the darkened sky, the once beautiful twinkling stars now covered by dark clouds. Cherris started to argue when she was suddenly pushed.
A frown creased her forehead but then she realized that it was Kyp, pushing her back with the Force, a definite signal to get going.
I can't just leave him here, she thought. But common sense told her to leave; she'd die if she didn't and so would he because she'd be in the way.
"Go." He said more softly this time and she did as she was told.
Death was a thing Cherris did not want to deal with. Losing Aeron to an explosion devastated her; possibly losing a Jedi because he wanted to protect her? She felt bad. She felt absolutely dreadful.
But she walked on, the sounds of the hideous beast still in the air, the trembling still beneath her feet. Soon the creature would stop.
She prayed to all the Gods in the universe that Kyp would survive.
Maybe the holomovies are correct and the Jedi are almighty, she thought while taking a deep breath and hurrying on.
Her ankle was throbbing and she thought it was swelling with each step she took. She bit down on her teeth and tried ignoring it as best she could.
Rain, cold and pain; what more could anyone want? She thought glumly.
The beast suddenly stopped bellowing but instead uttered and ear splitting screech that could have shattered glass. And then all went quiet.
Cherris listened to the wind, trying to focus on other sounds around her but hearing nothing. Her heart beat was erratic as she hoped that her Jedi savior was alright.
Taking a deep breath she continued on. Whatever had happened, if Kyp was still alive, they'd meet up sooner or later.
She was sure of it. But still she slowed her steps, the hope that the Jedi Knight would soon be right behind her in the back of her mind. And then she stopped, letting the cold rain caress her face, the cool wind making the water feel like ice on her skin.
Cherris was exhausted; she wanted to sleep, to take a long warm bath and to finally have a decent meal. She wanted this ordeal to be over with.
Without thinking about it much, she fell to her knees and sat there for a while, tears that she had so far ignored surfacing and for a very long moment she wept for Aeron, for herself and possibly for Kyp.