Present Day
Location: Orbit above Wasskah
Aurora's POV
Fire. My body was on literal fire. That's the first thing I felt when I started to come back into consciousness. As I slowly started to open my eyes, I realized that I wasn't in the shuttle I was originally piloting, instead I was in a cargo-hold, surrounded by full cargo crates. I felt dizzy, but still glanced down to look for any weapons I had on me…I had none. My blasters and vambraces were gone, meaning my only way of getting out of here alive was shot. I also glanced down at my feet and realized that my left boot was missing.
"Why didn't they just take the right too?" I asked aloud knowing I wouldn't get an answer.
Just as I was about to attempt to get up, the door opened, and a shadowy figure walked in. As he got closer, I noticed that he was a male Zabrak, like the one my brother and I have in our nightmares/visions, but instead of red and black skin, he had yellow and dark brown skin. His eyes were yellow though.
I felt too weak to stand up and face him, but just as I had the courage to try and get up, the next thing I knew I was thrown against a stack of crates. I landed on my back and moaned in pain. I had already broken my back once; I don't want to break it again.
"You know I already broke my back once." I said weakly. "I really don't want to break it again."
"Dooku want's you dead." Was all he replied.
"Wait wh-" I began but he didn't let me finish because the next thing I knew I was thrown against another stack of crates on the other side of the room.
I struggled to get up. Not only was my body still inflamed from being gassed, and now getting thrown around with crates…well…it added more fuel to the fire.
"You…you work for Dooku?" I asked in confusion.
"He want's you dead. You know too much." He explained as he began to walk towards me.
"Why? Because I know too much?" I asked.
"Because you are not applying yourself to your full potential." He explained.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I asked breathlessly as I slowly stood up but gripped onto a crate for support.
"Haven't those pathetic Jedi associates of yours figured it out yet?" He asked.
"Figured out wh-" I asked but again was cut off as I got picked up and thrown to the ground again. That's when I realized that he was using the force.
"Can you at least let me finish?" I asked as I tried to get up off the floor. "What are you talking about?"
"The Jedi are weak…they don't understand your power. You are a rare breed, you possess power from both sides of the force…the only other Jedi that possesses this power, is the Chosen One." He explained.
As soon as I regained some strength I stood up. "And that's what Dooku want's…to turn me into you. A slave. A slave to serve his needs. That's all we ever are, and that's all we will be."
He immediately grabbed my throat. "I AM NOT A SLAVE!"
"Yes, you are. I am the same to him, as you are the same to him as Ventress is the same to him. And the cycle goes around and around and around. We're all pawns in his game…I just realized that I wasn't weak…you on the other hand…are." I croaked.
His yellow eyes filled with more anger than before and the next thing I knew was that I was being choaked by way of the force. I was gasping for air, as it felt like I had something wrapped around my throat that I couldn't get off.
"I AM NOT WEAK!" He shouted. "You are the weak one! Using others for your own personal advantage…you are the weakest of them all."
I couldn't reply because I was losing all the oxygen that I had in my body. My eyes were bulging out of my head, and I could feel that I was starting to get light-headed. Just before I passed out, the door opened again revealing a Trandoshan.
"When can we have her so the hunt can begin?" The Trandoshan asked.
My torture sighed before releasing his force-choke on me making me fall to the ground. I started to cough as I tried to regain my breath and as I tried to get my breathing back to normal, I wasn't paying attention to the conversation that my torturer and the Trandoshan had. I should've though, as the next thing I knew was that I was unconscious once again. The next thing I knew, I was awake via an alarm going off. That's when I realized that I was in a metal cage.
I looked around and realized that there were more people, of all different races in cages as well. I looked over to the man sitting next to me in a separate cage. He was a Zygerrian.
"What's going on?" I croaked. I touched my throat in shock. My throat was so raw and in pain, it hurt to talk from my torturer from choaking me so much.
"They're going to release us so they can hunt us." He explained.
"Hunt us?" I croaked again. My voice was still hoarse.
"Keep quite if you want to live." He replied quietly.
Just as I tried to get my thoughts together to try and process what was happening…the floor beneath my cage gave out. Sending me flying out of the ship and onto a beach below. The other prisoners and I looked up the ship above us as it slowly backed away from us, and that's when it started to fire. I immediately took cover behind a tree that was on the beach, but unfortunately, other prisoners were not as lucky, as they were gunned down immediately. I glanced towards the forest that was just off the beach, and even though I was in pain, I decided to make a run for it.
Using all of the strength I had to run towards the forest. Thankfully, I went somewhat unnoticed since I was in all black, but then again…I only had one boot, so I was semi-barefoot, running through a forest on an unfamiliar island, on an unfamiliar planet, being hunted by Trandoshans, after being tortured by one of Dooku's apprentices. My life was great right now…not.
I ran as fast as I could through the forest. It was difficult to see through the brush because of how dark it was. There was no way to tell time, since my commlinks were gone, along with the fact that if I ran into wildlife, I wouldn't be able to do much, since all of my weapons were gone. Just as I thought I decided that I was far enough away from the beach, I tripped over my left foot, and started falling down a small ravine. I hit brush and trees on my way down, and eventually, my fall ended when I finally hit the bottom of the ravine with a small roll.
"GAH!" I moaned in pain. My entire body felt like it was on fire again. I was in so much pain, I felt like I could barely move again. I felt the way I did when I broke my back. I felt paralyzed.
I rolled onto my stomach, and mustered a very small crawl, as I dragged my body along the surface and headed towards a nearby tree to try and pull myself up. Using the tree for support, I pulled myself up into a standing position to try and catch my breath.
I looked up at the tree, and realized, the best way to get a scope of the land…is to climb the damn tree.
'I hate this day.' I thought to myself in my head before I started to climb the tree.
Flashback: 8 Years Ago
Aurora's Age: 13 Years Old
Location: Kalevala
Third Person's POV
"C'mon Zara I want to see what's going on!" Aurora exclaimed as she ran through the crowds of people.
"Ro, we shouldn't be doing this. We should be back with your mother and not with the people." Zara explained.
"No!" Aurora replied. "We are going to see my mother address the crowd…just from a better seat!"
Aurora ran through the crowds and headed towards an unoccupied alleyway. She climbed onto a dumpster before starting to climb up the wall of a building to head to the roof to see her mother address the crowd on the anniversary of the Mandalorian-Jedi Wars.
"Where did you learn how to climb like this?" Zara asked as she climbed behind her. She climbed a lot slower than Aurora, but nonetheless, Zara was keeping good pace to keep up with her younger and experienced cousin.
"Bo-Katan." Aurora replied. "She told me that if you are ever in a crowded area, or in a wooded area, or an unfamiliar area, always climb high, so you can get a scope of the land."
Zara tilted her head back in forth and consideration, as she continued to follow Aurora. Eventually the two ended up on one of the roofs within the town and had a clear view of where Satine would be speaking. Aurora sat down on the ledge of the building and smirked as Zara looked out in awe.
"You can see the palace from here." Zara remarked in awe.
"Always scope the land." Aurora said with a smirk as Zara sat down next to her.
"For once, I agree with you." Zara replied before they both turned towards the area where Satine was and waited for her to begin her speech.
Present Day
Aurora's POV
Once I reached the top of the tree, I realized where I was. The Trandoshans brought me to Wasskah, a moon of Trandosha. Makes sense considering Trandosha is filled with crime, but I still didn't get why they wanted to hunt me specifically. Because I was a beautiful princess? Because I was a Mandalorian assassin? Because I worked for Dooku and now work with the Jedi? I had no clue, but I did know that I had to keep moving…no matter what. As I started to climb down the tree, I began to hear voices. I was halfway down the tree when the voices became louder. They weren't Trandoshans, as far as I could tell, but then again, I could be wrong.
I decided to finish climbing down the tree and decided to take cover in the brush. I stayed there until I heard the voices go quiet, which I thought meant that they went away from me. I was oh so wrong. I cautiously climbed out of the brush and started to slowly walk toward the direction that the voices came from.
"Ro!?" A familiar voice asked with hope.
My eyes widened and I turned around to see Ahsoka looking directly at me. She was standing with three other kids, who looked rather confused.
"Ahsoka?" I croaked.
She nodded before practically running toward me to engulf me into a hug.
"What're you doing here?" She asked with concern.
"What're you doing here?" I hoarsely asked back.
"I was captured, I'm guessing the same happened to you…what happened to your voice?" She asked.
"It's a long story, I got tortured by one of Dooku's new associates, I got dropped onto the sand, got shot at, I have no weapons, and I ONLY HAVE ONE BOOT!" I said in exhaustion, annoyance, and pain.
Ahsoka looked down at my feet.
"I see that." She said with a nod. She then turned back toward the three kids. "It's okay, she's a friend."
"How do we know?" One of the kids asked.
I looked over them before stepping forward. "Because if I wanted to kill you, I would've already done it by now."
"We need to move; we need to take shelter." The kid replied and Ahsoka and I glanced at each other before we followed the three kids that Ahsoka trusted, but I on the other hand was rather on the fence, as I have never been the biggest fan of children.