Cerberus bounds through Equestria with nite train, Liz, and jordycat2000 on his back.
Liz: Don't you think we should stop and ask the locals where m3At is?
nite train: No, why?
Liz: Because we've been bolting around aimlessly for over an hour with no progress.
nite train: Nonsense, everywhere we look and don't find him is a place we can rule out! I'd call that making a lot of progress!
JC: Can't you just call him like you did with us?
nite train: *facepalms* yes… yes I can… *pulls out my phone and calls m3At* Sup homes, where's your profile? ...uh huh… yeah… got it, sorry we missed you… Nah, you're good, see ya! *hangs up* m3At says he's busy. Jordy, can you handle the disclaimer while I drive?
JC: Got it! Nite train doesn't own star wars, anything in the star wars universe, myself, or Liz. He owns himself and his OCs.
The three headed hound jerks right, rushing to lex's profile instead of m3At's.
elsewhere…
Shorya and Tisla rushed to the crime scene, finding the boot treads in the dirt to belong to stormtroopers. Both were furious that those monsters would lay a finger on their brother, but Shorya knew they needed to focus on finding Rathe before throwing a tantrum.
"Those womp rats! I'll kill them for hurting Brother!" Tisla yelled in an enraged manner, throwing down her walking stick furiously.
Shorya was quick to comfort her sister, wrapping her arms around the younger female. "Calm down, we need to find him, then we can worry about that…" said Shorya, in an attempt to ease her sister's temper.
Tisla was silent for a bit, then the golden female exhaled slowly, "You're right. Let's find our brother."
The two went to tracking. Shorya was surprised at how little they tried to hide their direction, seeing a visible trail left by imperial bootprints. After alerting her sister, Shorya set off on the path with Tisla limping along close behind.
Thanks to the naturally increased healing speed of the firrerreo, Tisla hardly needed the makeshift crutch anymore, but still used it to relieve pressure from her leg. She noticed the solemn expression on her sister's face and knew what was troubling her.
"Sister," Tisla began, "don't blame yourself. We're gonna find him." Tisla spoke with reassuring confidence.
"I know we will, I just hope he's alright…" responded Shorya.
…
Rathe slowly emerged from his sleep. His memory was fuzzy as to exactly what happened that put him in a solid white room that appeared to have no windows and one large door that blended in with the wall around it. As he slowly became less and less groggy, he recollected what had brought him here.
*flashback*
After Rathe had regained consciousness, spending about five or so minutes clutching his sore head where the tree had brought him to the ground, he resumed running to escape a threat long gone. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, illuminating the treetops, but leaving Rathe and the undergrowth below in the dark. Rathe knew he had been out for a while and tried to make up what time he could.
The young firrerreo was so determined to follow the orders of his eldest sister that he had paid no attention as to what he was running towards. This lapse in judgement sent Rathe colliding with a scout trooper twice his height.
Mixes of, "What was that?" "It's a native!" "A kid! Grab 'em!" and "Hey, are you ok?" could be heard from other troopers nearby, all racing to get to the child who looked as if he was staring death in the face as he fled.
Rathe sprinted to escape the four troopers that were right on his tail, with a fifth that had been knocked down getting up to join the hunt.
The five scout troopers were gaining on him, and sooner than later, the firrerreo would be within an arm's reach. As he ran, Rathe spotted vines housing a hive of viper wasps ahead of him and got an idea. With his small size, Rathe was easily able to duck under the nest and keep running unscathed. His pursuers; however, had no such luck. The first two scout troopers cleared the vines, not knowing how lucky they actually were. The third grazed the nest, alerting the wasps, but not angering the hive. The 4th trooper hit the vines hard, scrambling under them to resume the chase with a only few stings. The nest full of enraged viper wasps broke open as the last scout trooper ran through, the remaining vines tripping the white clad soldier, forcing him to suffer the wrath of the angry hive.
Rathe hadn't seen the majority of the event, which surely would have scarred him. All he focused on was escaping the scout troopers, which was a light that continued to fade rapidly.
As soon as Rathe felt the cold grip of the scout trooper tighten around his arm, he knew there was no escape. Since running was no longer an option, he knew what had to happen next.
"Got the bra- AHHH!" shouted the scout as Rathe rammed his head into his groin.
Using the basic fighting skills his father taught him, Rathe unloaded on the scout as best a small child could. Rathe's teeth latched onto the hand of the scout trooper, causing him to scream out once more as the other scouts arrived.
Two other scouts attempted to pry Rathe off of the first trooper, but they only peeled off his shoe as the child refused to budge. The shoe was tossed aside and a powerful kick to the head silenced the young firrerreo, rendering him unconscious.
…
Rathe rubbed the sore area on his head and smiled. Yes, he was in pain, but he, a child, went toe to toe with a stormtrooper and almost won. Few words could describe how it felt to be better than what he feared the most.
In his moment of pride in what he had achieved, Rathe completely forgot he was currently an imperial prisoner stuck in who knows where. His trip to cloud 9 was cut short as the door across from him opened to allow an imperial officer and two armed guards to enter.
"You should be dead right now," began the officer as he approached Rathe, "but I'm sure that after we get done with you, you'll be saying the same thing..." The officer stopped to notice the lack of fear in the small boy, "You think I'm bluffing… How cute." said the officer without a hint of emotion.
"Sir." addressed a voice from behind the officer, outside of the view of Rathe.
"What is it?" asked the officer.
"The men are getting impatient." the voice responded.
The officer turned around to face him, "Tell them they won't be waiting much longer." With that, the person left and the officer turned back to Rathe. "They want a piece of you and the girls you were with. You three skrogs killed two of our men and destroyed a walker. With that said…" Rathe was grabbed by the arm and thrown into the far wall, making him cry out in pain.
"I want my share of it first." said the officer as he sent his boot deep into Rathe's gut with a solid kick.
at the order of the officer, the boy was drug off by the two guards to where the crew was. Rathe hoped and prayed that his sisters would save him soon, but he knew that even if they knew he was in trouble, his punishment was far from over.
…
Shorya and Tisla followed the trail as closely as they could, both ready to attack at a second's notice. Tisla had abandoned the crutch and now held an imperial blaster pistol in her hand with Shorya brandishing the blaster rifle.
The two moved as fast as they could to find where their brother was taken to when, seemingly out of nowhere, the two heard a weak cry for help.
"Get down." whispered Shorya to her sister as she readied her rifle, Tisla already in prone by the time the former had finished speaking.
The voice was louder this time, but still shaky and almost lifeless, "P-please… help me…"
"Who and where are you?" asked Shorya in a loud voice, still anticipating an ambush or surprise attack.
"AR… one two f-four… I'm on the ground… Please, help me…" replied the trooper.
With a quick scan of her surroundings, Shorya spotted the white armor of the scout trooper and approached him with caution. Upon closer inspection, the trooper's armor strained to contain the swollen mess under it, visibly cracking in various areas while the exposed skin bulged out in huge lumps. The helmet of the trooper had broke apart from the internal pressure of a swollen head, which was currently too huge to determine any difference between the humanoid trooper and a hutt. The sight of the trooper nearly made Shorya sick.
The scout began to speak, "I hit a hive of-"
"Viper wasps, that's obvious," Shorya said, interrupting him, "but a nest of viper wasps is pretty hard to miss if you're not in a sprint, and even then… So what were you running for?" Shorya pointed the barrel of her rifle at the scout's forehead, already knowing exactly why he was running and who he was chasing.
"Please don't kill me…" the trooper begged, too swollen to move.
"You were chasing one of us, a child, weren't you?!" Shorya asked accusingly, barely able to control the fury she had towards the man.
"Yes and I'm sorry!" the trooper pled in a shaky, unstable voice, knowing his life was at the full mercy of this woman.
"No you're not… But death is too good for you. " she told him coldly before taking his gear and ID, then walking away. Tisla was waiting back at the trail, ready and waiting for Shorya to arrive.
"What happened to him?" she asked her sister.
"Viper wasps, the stupa ran through a hive of them while he was chasing Brother and the hive broke open." replied Shorya, in her trademark "all business" tone. Tisla's eyes went wide, but she calmed down and cracked a smile, knowing he got his comeuppance in the end. A single sting from a viper wasp causes swelling, cramps, and diarrhea. Tisla shuddered to think what an entire hive was capable of when angered.
The two continued following the bootprints of the scout troopers, knowing that they would ultimately be lead to their brother and those who took him.
…
Rathe was laid in a heap in his cell after his assault. His injuries were beyond severe, but he was given no medical attention out of spite towards what he and his sisters had done. Any tears that the boy could have shed were spent during the beatings, so all Rathe could do was lie there and soak in the extent of his own pain. He didn't even notice the door opening again to reveal the officer he had spoke to beforehand.
"Set him in the common room, he'll make excellent bait now that we're through with him." The officer spoke with the same unrestrained cruelty that he had used on Rathe earlier, but this time, the young boy was too exhausted to respond with the same fear. He was virtually emotionless as the two stormtroopers roughly drug him by the arms out of his cell once more.
elsewhere…
Cerberus skids to a stop in front of a beach house with a hammock in the front. The three hop off of the hellhound's back and approach the door.
Liz: This is m3At's profile?
nite train: Of course not, this profile belongs to lex!
JC: Lex? Who's that?
nite train: An author, much like yourself, but with a soul eater fanfic instead of a ghost hunt fanfic.
JC: Oh, cool.
Liz: Train, do you really think two jordycats is the best idea?
JC: Hey, not cool! *punches liz in the shoulder*
nite train: You two feel free to duke it out while I go get her.
Nite train goes to knock on the door, but it is opened before his hand hits. In the doorway, a redheaded woman in her early 20s is standing in the doorway, wearing flip flops, sweatpants, and a comfy t shirt.
lex: *in a tired, slightly annoyed voice* Can I help you three, are you selling anything?
nite train: Uhh… lex, it's me, nite train.
lex: Nite train?! Oh my gosh, I didn't even recognize you, you've grown so much!
nite train: I'm not the only one, miss sophomore in college!
lex: Who are your friends? *points to liz and jordycat, who have stopped fighting and are now laughing with each other*
nite train: Those two are Liz and jordycat2000. They're helping me, which is why I came here. Authoress has been... KIDNAPPED! *dramatically emphasizing music plays in the background.* We need your help to go get her.
lex: She was?! Give me a second. *slams the door shut.*
Various noises could be heard from inside the house, including glass breaking, a chicken squawking, an air horn blowing, and other random sounds. The three outside begin to worry about what is happening indoors. Lex literally bursts through the door, breaking it in half with her golden sword as she jumps through it. She now wears black leather boots with metal bits in them, blue skinny jeans, a white tank top, and brown leather fingerless gloves with bands that spiral midway up both arms.
lex: Let's go get Authoress.
Liz: Did you have to break the door?
lex: Hey train, is she always like this?
nite train: Yup, the more I think about it, she's a lot like master hand.
Liz: Who's that?
lex: Nobody in particular...
Liz and lex climb onto cerberus, sitting on his back and immediately talking about Doctor Who.
JC: *looks at nite train with a sly grin, mimicking lex* Ooh, you've grown soooo much…
nite train: Alright, I was the baby of the group… Emphasis on "WAS".
JC: suuure…
nite train: Oh, shut up! *climbs onto cerberus*
Jordycat laughs as she climbs on as well, joining the others while nite train drives the dog beast...
And with a longer than planned wait, chapter three has come and gone! First off, I want to emphasize that this story is not a dark fic, I'm just getting ready for the nitty gritty. Second, I did mean to contact m3At, but he is currently unreachable at this time for reasons unknown to me, so lex was my next best bet, and she did indeed deliver, so kudos to her for that! I don't exactly have much more news, so with that.
Nite train, out!