Chapter fifteen: He has a temper problem…

Grievous led Shika into a small room with a transmitter sitting in the middle of the room, just like the one she had used to talk to Lord Sidious. Once reaching the machine, he pushed her aside and punched in random buttons. Shika watched, rubbing her arm, he had never grabbed her that tightly before; it seemed her worst fear had come true, she really pissed him off. When a blue see-through hologram of Count Dooku appeared, Grievous gave a slight bow.

"Report General." Dooku ordered. Grievous placed his hands behind his back, standing very General like. Shika watched silently.

"We managed to take over most of Kashyyyk, and half of the Republic soldiers and Wookiees are dead. The Trandoshans will have their planet soon enough." Grievous answered.

"And Tarfful?"

"He managed to escape with several elite Republic troops; I attempted to track them, but was un-successful." Dooku looked a tad surprised but waited for Grievous to continue." Also… One of our ships that was supposed to drop off more troops has been… Eliminated. Four Republic soldiers managed to get to our own defense cannons and shot down our ship."

"You managed to fail twice in one day, General," Dooku said, sounding displeased with Grievous's actions." I hope to see better results in the future." Grievous nodded slightly. Dooku then looked to Shika, finally taking notice of her presence." You have brought Miss Cloudrunner here?" Grievous looked to Shika; she only stepped forward and bowed.

"Count Dooku, sir… We managed to capture one of the four Republic troopers… He wants to join the Separatists and to serve under me as my personal bodyguard." Shika said, her voice partly shaken. Dooku raised an eyebrow at her.

"I thought the General provided you with two bodyguards already…" He then looked to Grievous." Did you not give her any?"

"Of course I did!" Grievous quickly said." I gave her two new guards of her own! She only got one killed and lost the other!" Shika looked over at him in shock.

"What are you talking about? The guard got him self killed and the other wandered off on his own!" Shika snapped. Grievous glared over at her, sending the chills down her spine again.

"Grievous," Dooku spoke up, Grievous looked to him." You gave her two new bodyguards? Ones that were not trained by you?"

"I gave her those two for her to train on her own! If I was able to train over a thousand of them, then she should be able to train just two! Apparently I was wrong!" Grievous hissed as he sent another sharp glare at her. Shika's hands clenched into fists.

"How was I supposed to know that? Why do you keep expecting me to know everything when I just joined the Separatists a little ways back?" She snapped. Grievous went to yell back when Dooku cut in.

"You may have the trooper as your bodyguard." He said. Grievous looked up at him in shock, as if he wasn't expecting that answer. Dooku looked to Grievous." General, I would also like you to present her with a fully train guard, perhaps one of your extra Magnaguards would fit her liking."

"Of course..." Grievous said his voice jumping as he tried to restrain himself from yelling. Dooku then looked to Shika.

"I will expect your bodyguard to be in top physical condition by the time you return to the Flag Ship," He said. Shika nodded her head slightly. Dooku's gaze once more traveled to Grievous." I look forward to your next report, General. Hopefully, the next one will be less… Depressing."

"Yes, Count Dooku…" Grievous then pressed one of the buttons on the control panel and the hologram of Dooku vanished. Grievous's hand fell to his side as he stared down at the control panel. Shika only began to back up slowly.

"I'm… Going to go fix up my… Bodyguard..." She said, almost in a light whisper. Grievous didn't move. She quickly turned around and walked to the door as fast as she could; and right before she reached it Grievous moved in the way, his cloak pulled back over his shoulders, his hands clenched into tight fists. Shika backed up, partly startled. He stood before her, making a low growl. Her eyes grew large as she slowly backed up from him, he only advanced towards her.

"You made me look like a fool in front of Count Dooku," He hissed." And you helped a Republic soldier after I told you they were the enemy and you were to not show pity on them!"

"But you said only the Jedi were my ene-"

"THAT IS NO EXCUSE!" He roared. Shika made a loud grunt as she stumbled back in fear. Grievous slammed each foot down as he walked towards her, showing he was more than angry with her. Shika backed herself against the wall in the room, her breathing got heavy as he angrily approached her. What could she do? She had never seen him this angry before, he looked as though he was just going to jump at her and rip off one of her limbs with his bare hands.

"General… I didn't mean to disobey… I just thought-"

"I now have to deal with another fallen Republican BECAUSE OF YOU!" He then grabbed two sabers off his belt, ignited them, and then slammed them beside either side of her head. Shika made a light scream and shut her eyes tightly. All she heard was Grievous's heavy angered breathing and the loud humming sounds of his light sabers. She felt like her knees were about to give in she was shaking so badly, her breathing was almost as heavy as the General's, never in her life had she felt this scared." I should just decapitate you right here… Save me the trouble of having to deal with you…" She heard him hiss. She then heard the light sabers switch off, slowly her eyes opened to see Grievous allowing his cloak to drape over him in the normal fashion. He then turned his back to her.

"Aren't… Aren't you going to kill m-"

"If I catch your guard doing anything without your orders, I will kill him and you. AND if you disobey me again I will kill you. Am I clear?" Shika nodded and Grievous swept out of the room.

She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself tightly; her breathing was now quick and heavy, her whole body shaking greatly. Everything that she thought nice about Grievous was gone, she didn't look to him like a teacher, or someone who actually cared but didn't show it. She only thought of him as the killer the Republic all hated and feared. What had she gotten herself into? This was a problem she couldn't escape from; she actually wanted to go back to the Republic, to the Jedi. She didn't care anymore about how they lied to her; she just wanted to get away from him. Even if that meant suicide! The General scared her greatly now, she had never dreamed of seeing this day come so quickly. What was she going to do?

Many hours had past since the episode with Grievous, she had retrieved Sev from the cellars and brought him into the Medical room, where she asked Graka to fix him up with a few Bacta treatments, and then work on his armor, to make it look more like he was part of the Separatists. Shika sat silently in a seat while gently chewing on the remains of her cracker; Sev had a few rations left; so he offered her one, being she hadn't eaten in who knows how long. She was still terrified from Grievous spewing out his anger like that; she knew she angered him, but not that much. But at least she knew the General truly hated her now and that it wasn't a mystery she had to figure out. She let a soft sigh escape her lips as she finished the cracker completely; Graka and Sev both looked over at the girl, then towards each other.

"Anyway, you sit here and let the wounds heal up; I'm going to start on your armor now." Graka said. Sev only answered by sneering at him, showing he really didn't like the Geonosian. He swallowed hard before scampering off to Sev's armor. Sev looked to Shika once more, rolling his shoulder a bit.

"You know, I would have rather died than join forces with the Separatists." He hissed. Shika only sunk lower into her seat.

"I'm sorry… I seemed to be making everything worse… I originally planned to help you escape, but Grievous would kill me if he found out, and then hunt you down and kill you too…" She smiled faintly, but it soon fell back into a frown." I guess a small part of me still lies with the Republic... I just couldn't stand watching him beat on you like that…" Sev stared in silence while rubbing his wrist before leaning back a bit.

"So you really work for that bucket of bolts eh?..." He smiled." Heh, he must lik-"

"Don't say it," Shika interrupted. Sev fell silent." He hates me… He almost killed me… He wanted to, I could see it; I could even feel his anger surrounding me in a bubble I could not escape from. But he stopped himself… Knowing it would upset Count Dooku… That is the only reason I'm alive… I finally realized it when I was in that room with him… I had never seen him so angry…" She talked so light and faint, Sev was the only one who could hear her, being he was the only closest humanoid near her.

"Maybe being on the Separatists side won't be that bad," Sev muttered loud enough for her to hear. She looked over at him." I still get to kill things, so it shouldn't be that hard." He then laid back onto the small bed Graka had set him on to do his Bacta treatment, setting his hands behind his head, crossing one leg over the other. Shika blinked before smiling fairly weak.

"You're just saying that because you want me to feel better…" Sev closed his eyes and shook his head as an answer." Yes you are." He only shook his head again, refusing to crack even the tiniest smirk. This made Shika giggle." I can tell your trying not to smile!"

"No, no. I don't know what you're talking about." He answered, Shika began laughing a little and Sev finally revealed a faint smile. She pointed at him.

"See? You're smiling!" She said before gently shoving his elbow. He smirked a bit before his face faulted again. Shika leaned back in her seat again and the two fell silent once more. She slowly returned to her upset state, still she couldn't get the image of Grievous yelling at her out of her mind. It was such a frightening experience for her, and it was something she knew she was never going to forget. Maybe she should just shut up and stay out of his way; it seemed like the only logical thing to do, because every time she lifted a finger, he'd go off like some wild beast. Which made her begin to wonder, would he actually continue to allow her to follow him? Or would he just shove her in some base and run off to fight? Why was it that she could never get the answers she wanted when it came to Grievous? No one ever gave her a straight answer, Dooku just gave her riddle type things, and Graka only knew very little. Everyone else just seemed too afraid to even mention his name.

Her gaze lifted to Sev who had drifted off to sleep, it then shifted towards Graka who worked away at Sev's new armor enhancements. Her eyes fell down to her hands which were resting on her lap. What am I going to do, she thought, I can't face Grievous now… Not after what happened. Then the Medical room door slid open and a Magnaguard walked in, he paused before looking towards Shika, she looked up at him

"General Grievous wants you to follow me to his personal landing pad." He said. Shika's head drifted to the side a bit, why now? She was still recovering from the last time she saw him.

"Tell him I'm kind of busy at the moment, making sure my bodyguard is in top condition."

"It was not a request, ma'am. It was strict orders, if you do not show up, you will be punished."

Shika groaned before looking to Graka." Hey," Graka looked over to her." If Sev wakes up while I'm gone, tell him I ordered him to wait here." He nodded and returned to his work. She only stood up and walked towards the guard. She motioned him to lead the way and he did, he walked out of the room and she followed right at his heels. She really didn't feel like seeing Grievous, but apparently, he wasn't done screaming at her.

The guard led Shika out onto a large landing pad; Grievous's Starfighter was parked off to the side a bit, leaving a lot of the pad un-touched. As soon as her foot was set down on the pat, she heard the door leading into the facility shut closed, Shika spun around to see the guard had only left, meaning whatever Grievous wanted to say to her, he didn't want anyone else to hear. She then wandered more out, large flood lights shined brightly down on her; the sun was still not up yet. She heard distant creatures making their normal night calls, but heard saw no sight of the General.

"Hello?" Shika called out towards the wilderness. There was no answer. Something didn't feel right, it was too peaceful, normally; Grievous was making a racket of some kind. But then again, he had a way with sneaking up behind her. A sudden chill ran up her spine, something inside her told her to grab her saber, and she did. She reached into her cloak, whipped out her light saber, ignited one end, and spun around quick enough to block an aerial attack from Grievous. He pressed forward causing her to take a step back, now he was going to kill her? Why now? Grievous jumped back and twirled his light sabers for a second before standing in a defense position, Shika stood in her normal attack stance. They stood there, their sabers humming.

"Well? Attack me!" Grievous snapped." You'll never win any battles by just sitting around waiting for reinforcements to arrive to help your enemy!" She stared in awe, lowering her saber. What was he saying? She didn't understand at all, was he trying to say kill me now? Or something else?" Never let your guard down!" Grievous launched at her and she gasped, quickly dodging aside as he brought on saber down, he went to cut at her with his extra saber but she moved aside quickly with a short boost of Force run." No!" Grievous hissed loudly as he stood normally.

"What?"

"You aren't allowed to use the Force anymore. If you are to train under me, then you will no longer need the Force, only pure saber skills are your key to victory." Shika couldn't believe what she was hearing, he was training her? After all that had happened? What was with him? One moment he hated her, the next he seemed to care, then he hated her. It was like he couldn't decide whether or not to be angry or content with her. Grievous once more launched at her, she blocked his attacks as he threw them at her, she then began throwing her own attacks and he would end up blocking. The two clashed their sabers around the landing pad. Grievous gave out orders, telling her what to do, and she listened intently. As the two continued to fight, a small smile spread across Shika's face, she was once more happy with her current situation and position with the Separatists. But the happy moment she was having wasn't going to last very long, for the road ahead…

… Was about to get rough…