CHAPTER 10:
Luke Skywalker watched the shadows grow as night closed in on them. Princess Leia's head rested on Luke's lap, and he massaged her arms, hoping to ease the pain she would be feeling once the stun effects wore off. Leia began to stir, inciting both relief and fear in Luke. She was going to be very angry, and since Han wasn't around, she was certain to unleash her wrath on him.
"Luke?" she croaked. Her eyes fluttered open and then stayed shut. "My head…"
"Here," Luke put a water pouch to her lips, "Drink some of this. It'll help."
The girl did as she was told, and with head rested comfortable on Luke's lap, she opened her eyes. "I can't believe he did that!" she yelled but then immediately grabbed her head.
"Me neither," Luke muttered as he stroked Leia's brow.
"I'm going to kill him," she fought to pull herself into a seated position.
"Not if I do it first," Luke assisted her. "Or he gets himself killed."
"How long have I been out?" she groaned as she surveyed their surroundings.
"A few hours," Luke answered. "He left us the thermal sensor."
"Well, that was generous of him," she quipped. "Come on," she ordered Luke as she painfully climbed to her feet.
"We're goin' back to the base?"
"No," she rolled her head and shrugged her arms. "We're going to find Han so he can feel what it's like to get stunned by a so-called friend!"
"Leia, he was only looking out for you, for us," Luke reasoned.
"Don't you dare defend his actions!" Leia snapped and immediately scrunched up her eyes as she tried to ease her pain. "What was he thinking? He's not going to be able to take on all the Grendolies himself."
"And we can?" Luke stood up and caught her hand.
Leia's eyes flashed with anger, "Maybe not, but he has no one watching his back." She stomped around in circles, ignoring the pain in her legs. "And what about Chewie? Who's going to save him?"
Luke rolled her eyes, "We are."
"Then I suggest we get going," Leia called over her shoulder. Luke trotted to catch up to her.
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Luke wasn't aware of how long they had been pushing their way through the dense foliage. He was amazed at the pace Leia traveled, especially after she had been stunned. But as she constantly reminded him, that wasn't the first time. Maybe one gets a tolerance to such things, Luke shrugged. He hoped he never found out.
The princess stopped for a moment, her head turning from side to side. Luke hunched over as he caught his breath.
"Are we still going the right way?"
"Yeah," Luke panted. He opened his water pouch and took a generous drink. "Here, Leia," he handed her the pouch. She took a few sips and handed it back to him. "You need to drink more. You'll get dehydrated."
"I'm fine," Leia trudged forward. "Can we go now?"
Luke replaced his water pouch. One of Han's pet names for her popped into his head, "Her Most Bossiness". That one certainly fit. He looked up into the dark, "Leia?"
He wondered how she kept up such a fast pace. He knew she was experiencing pain. He couldn't believe that he had to fight to keep up with her short gate, "Leia!"
"Oh!"
"Leia?" Luke quickened his step and fell face flat into the mud when his foot caught under a root. The boy wiped the mud from his face and continued his search for the princess.
"Leia!" he whispered into the forest. Something wasn't right. She couldn't have gotten that far ahead. Luke squinted into the dark ahead of him, "Leia—"
Luke kicked furiously as he was lifted off the ground and back into the lower canopy above him. Not again! This time he had his light saber. Luke pulled it off his belt and ignited it.
"Luke, no!" Leia yelled.
Luke caught sight of the girl's frightened face and deactivated the saber. They were perched upon a thick branch. "Chewie!" Luke hugged the massive Wookie, "Where's Han?" He looked to Leia. She shook her head.
"The Grendolies have him," he surmised.
"As far as I can understand Wookie," Leia whispered. Chewie grumbled and showed them blood smears on a rag. He pointed to the both of them. Chewbacca lifted Leia's chin, revealing the scratch marks upon her neck. Then he bent Luke's head down, and noticed the scratches on the back of his neck.
"It looks like the Grendolies were playing with Chewie, using us as bait," Leia said bitterly.
"Whadda we do now?" Luke frowned.
Chewbacca pointed to the cluster of caves Luke had spoken of earlier.
"Han's in there," Leia inferred. "So what are we waiting for?"
"We can't just go stormin' in there," Luke frowned and Chewbacca nodded.
"Why not?"
"Why not?" Luke repeated aghast.
"It'll be the last thing they're expecting," Leia explained. "Surprise is our best weapon."
"We don't know how many there are, how deep those caves are, where Han is…"
"Since when has such trivial things ever stopped us before?" the princess tilted her head.
Luke rolled his eyes. Leia was definitely spending too much time with Han, "Be reasonable. We need some kinda plan."
Leia brusquely sighed and then chewed on her upper lip, "Do either of you have a plan?" She looked between Chewie and Luke. When neither answered, she frowned. "Okay," she glanced back down at the caves. "They're really toying with Chewie, right?"
Chewbacca roared.
"Then Chewie can go in fighting and acting like the very angry Wookie that he is," Leia waved a hand at him. "Chewie can distract them while we sneak into the cave and find Han."
"That sounds way too easy," Luke frowned. "And Chewie'll be in danger."
"We'll all be in danger, Luke," Leia's brow knit. "Who do you think will last longer as a distraction, one of us or him?"
Chewbacca chortled and smoothed his mane with his paw.
"Okay," Luke conceded. "You have a point. But that still doesn't explain how we'll find Han in those caves."
"There are two of us," Leia shrugged. "We'll split up if we have to, and Chewie'll join us when he can."
Luke shook his head as he looked out toward their destination. There were several Grendolies loitering around the opening of the cave. He couldn't tell if they were guarding the entrance or not. They didn't seem to be too vigilant or too concerned about intruders. Maybe Leia was right.
"They're nocturnal, right Chewie?" Leia waited for Chewbacca's affirmation. "Then most of them are probably out on the prowl."
"Don't you think they know that we're here?" Luke pointed out.
Leia's large brown eyes shifted up to the right, "I don't think so." But Luke only stared at her with an implausible expression. "They have Han. They don't need us anymore."
Chewie grumbled in agreement.
"The way I see it," Leia's right brow arched, "They're only real interest now is Chewie."
"How can you be certain that they don't know where Chewie is?" Luke reasoned.
The princess looked at the Wookie who purred. She smiled and glanced back at Luke, "Good enough?"
"I don't know…"
"They had the chance to take any one of us, Luke," Leia shook her head. "They chose Han."
"Han made it an easy choice!"
"We all did," Leia pointed out. "They pushed us until we revealed who would do the most to save Chewie. Han did that."
"So, you're not mad about Han stunning you?" Luke's face stretched into a wary smile.
"Oh, he's going to pay for that," Leia muttered as she prepared to climb down the tree.
"Leia, wait!" Luke whined.
"For what, Luke?" she furrowed her brow. "We've wasted enough time as it is." Chewie roared in agreement and assisted her with her descent down the tree.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Luke muttered as he climbed down behind them.
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The moon was on the rise, but fortunately for Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca, it didn't deter their mission. As they approached the cave mouth, it became clear that the Grendolies loitering outside expected no trouble that night. Two of them hunched over marks they drew in the course sand and argued in a language Luke and Leia couldn't understand. The other seemed fascinated with the ebb and wane of the ocean foam. Leia inferred that the Grendolies hadn't been here long, and she wondered where they called home. It made sense. After all, they were attempting to capture an angry Wookie. She wouldn't invite that trouble into anyone's home. Well, maybe Darth Vader's, if he had a home.
Chewbacca growled in a low, menacing tone. The princess looked up to him, waiting for him to make his move.
"Wait!" Luke whispered.
Leia and Chewie turned impatient eyes on their young friend, "What now?"
"We can take all of them together," Luke whined.
The Wookie shook his head, but Leia placed a hand on his hairy arm, "Luke's right. There are only three of them, and they are all distracted."
Chewie started to protest be he caught the headstrong look in the girl's eyes and knew there was no point of voicing his disapproval.
"We've got to do this quietly," she said, and both her companions rolled eyes. "Fine, no blasters."
"Then maybe you should stay put while Chewie and I take care of this," Luke pointed out.
"Now why would I do that?"
"You're the only one with a blaster."
She looked down at her weapon, "Oh, right." Then Leia made eye contact with Luke, "I'll use the vibroblade Han gave me."
"Leia!"
"We don't have time to argue, Luke!" the princess admonished. "Chewie can take the one closest to the cave opening, and I'll take the one next to that one. You take the one near the water." Both Chewie and Luke had sour expressions. "Agreed?" Nevertheless, they knew better than to counter Leia's plan. Han was the only one who ever got away with that. "Let's go."
It didn't take long for the three to overpower the Grendolies. None of the menacing creatures expected the attack. Chewbacca had climbed on a ledge that hung over one of the Grendolies and pounced on it, knocking it to the ground. The Grendoli's companion was surprised and bared his claws, ready to take out Chewbacca. Chewie grabbed the Grendoli by the neck and threw it around like a rag doll while Leia slipped passed the commotion and slit the throat of the Grendoli Chewie brought down. That was two. There was only one left.
Still panting, Leia looked at Luke. Fortunately, the sounds of the crashing waves on the shore muffled any noise Chewie and Leia made during their attack. The Grendoli fascinated with the ebbing sea was oblivious to what was about to come his way. Leia frowned; she could feel Luke's hesitation and guilt. This Grendoli wasn't attacking them. It was just enjoying a moment in life. She didn't like it any better than he did, but if that Grendoli saw what they done, he would kill them.
Luke slowly approached the massive beast whose fur blended in with the night sky. The Grendoli's ears pulled back, but before it could turn around, Luke took its head off with his light saber.
Leia rushed over to her friend, "Come on."
But Luke stood over the headless body, watching the ocean wax and wane around it. Leia grabbed his arm, "You had to do it. Come on before we're discovered." He still wouldn't move, "Han needs us!"
Luke pried his eyes off the dead Grendoli and followed Chewie and Leia into the cave. The mouth of the cave narrowed, but it was still high enough to accommodate the largest Grendoli if it crouched down a bit.
Reluctantly, the young farm boy followed his friends, and just as he expected, the odds were against them. He was wondering if they were walking into a trap; if they were, it was too late. Nevertheless, Leia was right. Han needed them, and Han wouldn't give up on any of them. Luke just wished they had a better plan.
"Which way?" Leia brandished her blaster and looked up at Chewie.
Chewbacca grumbled quietly and pulled two curved knives from his bag. The princess arched a brow, "I always wondered what you kept in there." Chewie bared his teeth in a very mischievous Wookie smile. She smiled back, and he nodded in the direction they should travel. Luke, once again, just shook his head.
Chewbacca dunked through a narrow passage. He let out a ferocious roar and shoved Leia back. She hit the ground and rolled backward, pulling Luke with her as she gracefully found her feet. Luke activated his light saber, swung around, and advanced toward the approaching Grendolies. Leia fired at those who escaped Luke's saber while Chewie fought them off on the other end.
Leia glanced at Chewbacca over her shoulder and then at Luke, "They're herding us to where they want us!" She fired at the Grendoli nearest Luke, "We can't let them—"
"How are….uh …we supposed to stop them!" Luke grunted as he removed a limb of another creature.
Leia didn't have an answer, nor did she have to answer. The Grendolies ceased fighting, leaving Luke, Chewie, and Leia wary and on-guard. Luke and Chewbacca flanked Leia as the uninjured Grendolies ripped open the necks of their injured and dying. Luke's mouth dropped open, and Leia grimaced and turned away. Chewbacca just stared at their merciless actions and feared for the life of his best friend. Then those Grendolies still strong and very alive herded the rebels back to the opening of the mouth.
"Go fahree," one of them uncurled a clawed finger, pointing to the exit.
Chewbacca's blue eyes flashed and he furiously growled at the large creatures.
The Grendoli allowing their freedom smiled, his black lips stretching thin against his lime teeth, "Yahohor fahreend ease thahat way." It pointed to another opening in the cave behind him.
Then the Grendolies backed away from the group and down the tunnel where Han allegedly was being kept. Chewie started after them, but then the ground shook underneath them. Leia grabbed onto Chewbacca's powerful arm and pulled and pulled until she pulled him down on top of her.
Chewbacca howled, and Leia and Luke tried to hold him back as the ceiling caved in on them. As the last boulders crashed to the floor and the dust settled, Luke, Chewie, and Leia found themselves alone. The mouth of the cave was still open; they still could get out. But where Han was….
Chewie shook Leia and Luke off of him and mournfully howled.