The light of the morning sun woke Orlen. He paused to watch the sunrise from the tree crook where he had spent the night. After unwrapping his tail from the tree, he carefully scanned the horizon. The landscape was filled with trees and hills. To the south, the terrain descended into a valley where the trees gradually gave way to farmland. To the west, the clouds grew darker. Looking to the north, the direction he had come from, he saw no evidence of campfires or smoke.
Relaxing a bit, Orlen contemplated his next move. He couldn't wander into any settlement; the locals clearly had issues with near-humans like himself. Remembering how the lizard women behaved, he couldn't blame them.
Once I get my bag, maybe I'll find a different town. The roads should lead me to another settlement. Since the villages were human, perhaps I'll try to disguise myself.
I can tuck my tail into my clothes. It'll be uncomfortable, but I can handle it. As for my ears… I guess I'll have to steal a hat or something.
Realizing it has also been almost a week since he last had a shower, Orlen made the mistake of sniffing himself. Oh, that was a bad idea. I smell like a bantha.
I'll need to get a hold of some currency as well. Maybe I can barter something off?
Orlen cursed himself when he realized he should have taken a moment to see if there was anything worth stealing from the bandits besides food.
"Well, no point living in the past. Time to get a move on."
Looking down the tree, he looked for a path to descend.
"Wow, I'm really high up… How the hell did I get up here?"
Minamo groaned as she pulled her pillow tighter. Why did her head have to hurt so much, why was the sun so bright? She knew if she got up, drank water, and had some food, she would start to feel slightly better. A hot bath also sounded really good.
On the flip side, the pillow she was hugging was warm, fluffy, and felt nice. It almost seemed like the fluff was wrapped around her.
She slowly realized that she did not have any big fluffy pillows and if she did, they wouldn't be able to wrap around her.
The pillow also expanded and shrunk in a steady rhythm, almost like breathing.
Her eyes snapped open and saw that she was squeezing Izuna tightly. The four-tailed kitsune's face was nestled in her breasts and their tails were wrapped around each other in a very intimate way.
Her face grew bright red and she let out a yelp, she tried to leap away, only to realize Izuna was also using her as a body pillow.
"Izuna, wake up! If someone sees us like this, they'll never let us live it down." Her attempts at waking up her friend were in vain as Izuna let out unintelligible gibberish and pulled her tighter.
Seeing her captor was still drunk and passed out, Minamo used her skills in ninjutsu to slowly squirm her way to freedom.
After several minutes, she at last escaped to freedom. Jumping to her feet, she immediately felt the room start to spin and nearly lost her balance. Minamo paused for a moment to regain her senses.
As she moved to the door, she stopped for a moment before turning around and grabbing a blanket to put over Izuna. She then exited the room on a quest for food and water.
Minamo soon arrived at the meal hall in the shrine. Getting some food and tea, she found a seat and slowly ate.
"Morning Minamo. You look awful. I'm guessing you indulged a bit too much last night."
Minano paused and looked to see Nanabi sitting beside her with her own meal. "So, I look how I feel then."
The two kitsunes quietly ate their breakfast. After a short while Minamo broke the silence. "So Kitsu was telling me that a hero beat both of you? I find that hard to believe."
Nanabi replied after taking a sip of tea. "She was indeed telling the truth. I used my eyes to put him to sleep. However, that seemed to cause him to unlock some sort of hidden power that he used to trounce me thoroughly."
Minamo chuckled. "Wow, sounds like a real snooze-lose situation."
Nanabi responded by smacking Minamo in the back of the head with one of her tails causing her to spill her tea all over herself. "Ah, hot hot! That was uncalled for Nanabi." Seeing the unimpressed look on her superior's face she let it go. "Was he at least cute?"
"He was. I was even thinking of taking him home with me after beating him." She signed at the missed opportunity. "No point dwelling on it, the Monster Lord isn't assisting him in combat which means Alma Elma likely stopped him on the crossing to Sentora."
"Ya, he's fucked." Minamo said in agreement.
Nanabi sighed at Minamo's double entendre and decided to change the topic. "I noticed the villagers are slacking off again. It must be getting time for the annual 'sacrifice' to Yamato no Orochi."
"It's started to get really bad; all the young men are refusing to work in the hopes that they get to be the year's 'sacrifice'. The village chief even sent a request to Grand Noah in hopes of getting the situation resolved."
As the two kitsunes were talking Fujibakama entered the room with a concerned look. She took a moment to scan the room before making her way over to the other two kitsunes.
Nanabi put her cup down as she spoke. "I didn't realize Yamato was having this much of an effect on the village. When I return to the Monster Lord's Castle, I'll report this to Lady Tamamo. I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to intervene personally." Nanabi finished her meal and stood up to leave before stopping when she noticed Fujibakama approaching.
"Nanabi, Minamo, have either of you seen Kitsu this morning? We were supposed to have breakfast together, but she wasn't in her room, and I haven't seen her anywhere in the shrine." Fujibakama asked.
Nanabi frowned and replied. "I haven't seen her since we parted ways last night. Are you sure she hasn't wandered into town to go play? You know how she can be sometimes."
"She isn't one to skip meals though. I'll take another look around the shrine."
"I'll help you look. Minamo, would you be able to look around the village for her?" Nanabi asked.
Minamo stood up and stretched before answering. "Sure, I was finished eating anyway. I'll go grab Izuna and check around town."
The two kitsunes descended the hill to the village. Walking down the streets of Yamatai, they saw no sign of Kitsu, and every villager they asked replied that they hadn't seen her. Minamo was starting to get worried for her student and little sister figure.
"Maybe she's at one of the other shrines?" Izuna pondered.
Minamo nodded. "Maybe, mind quickly checking them? I'm going to look around the village some more."
As Izuna departed, Minamo continued to search the town with no success.
The sun had risen high in the sky, meaning it was almost time to meet up with the others again. As Minamo was about to head back to the Fox Shrine, she felt someone tug her tail.
Turning around she saw it was a nekomata girl trying to get her attention.
"Nya!" the cat-girl said.
"Sorry, I don't understand you." Minamo said before asking about Kitsu. "Hey, you didn't happen to see a two-tailed kitsune girl with silver hair, did you?"
The cat-girl nodded in affirmation before turning and gesturing for her to follow. "Nya."
"You want me to follow you? Alright let's go." Minamo followed the nekomata, and before long, they arrived at a nearby house. The nekomata nodded toward the door.
Petting the cat-girl's ears, Minamo expressed her appreciation. "Thanks, for the help. I'll make sure to get some fish delivered to the Cat Shrine for you."
The Nekomata let out a purr before running off.
Minamo knocked on the door of the house and after a short wait, the door was opened revealing a tired-looking harpy.
After a short conversation, the kitsune grabbed the harpy by the wing, pulling out a few feathers in the process and dragged the frightened harpy towards the Fox Shrine.
They soon arrived at the entrance to the shrine and Minamo saw that the other three kitsunes had got there before her.
"Now tell them what you told me, or I'll pull out even more of your feathers Tsubasa." Minamo threatened the harpy in a harsh voice.
"No, please not that!" The harpy pleaded before turning to the group of kitsunes. "Kitsu showed up at my door last night and demanded I fly her to Averton! She said it was official Kitsune business, so I didn't question it!"
Izuna frowned. "Why Averton, if I remember correctly that is just a mining town in San Ilia, why would she want to go there?"
Fujibakama gasped. "Minamo, you don't think-."
"I do think, and I can see her doing just that," Minamo groaned in annoyance as she released the harpy.
Looking between the two, Izuna was growing confused. "What are you two talking about, did I miss something?"
"When we were in Grand Noah, Kitsu supposedly heard a rumor that there was a male kitsune allegedly spotted there. I told her it was impossible, and she didn't bring it up again, so I assumed she dropped the matter. It appears I was wrong." Nanabi answered.
"Last night she came to Minamo's room after you passed out Izuna and told us the same thing," Fujibakama added. "I was going to ask her about it again over breakfast, but it seems she decided to take matters into her own hands."
"Fuji, go to Averton, find Kitsu, and bring her back before she gets herself killed," Nanabi ordered. "Take Izuna and Minamo with you. That girl is going to be in so much trouble when she gets back."
"Yes, lady Nanabi," Fujibakama answered before turning to Minamo and Izuna. "Get whatever you need and meet me at the shrine entrance in thirty minutes."
The group of kitsunes scattered, leaving an irritated and concerned Nanabi and a terrified harpy. "Um, lady Nanabi… Can I go now?" The harpy hesitantly asked.
Nanabi glared at the tremoring harpy. "Go before I follow through with what Minamo threatened."
The harpy let out a squeak of fear as she flew away from the irate kitsune.
After a long day of traveling, Orlen looked to the horizon and saw the setting sun before deciding that it was time to find a good place to rest for the night. The sky had grown overcast throughout the day and he knew that it would likely rain during the night.
Continuing along his path, he kept an eye out for something that would keep him protected from the rain. Eventually, he found a large hollow at the base of a tree that would suit his needs.
Satisfied, he sat down and relaxed for a moment. His ears perked up when he heard someone snoring.
Jumping to his feet, Orlen tried to find the source of the snoring. After a few moments of looking, he spotted a figure with yellow fur with black spots nestled in a nearby tree. Taking a closer look, he noted that like the lizard-women he fought earlier, the person in the tree was a human female with animal features added on.
Her limbs and part of her torso were covered in fur and instead of human-like hands and feet, her limbs ended in powerful feline-like paws. Emerging from her back was a thin furred tail and sticking out from her blond hair were a pair of feline-like ears.
Orlen took a moment to appreciate the fact that her sizeable breasts were uncovered and on full display while she slept in the tree.
Knowing that most feline-like species were nocturnal, Orlen decided to find a new place to spend the night far away from the woman. He did not want to have to be on guard all night in case she woke up and found him.
Orlen started to regret that decision when night fell, and he had not yet found a decent place to sleep. With the sky covered in clouds, blocking the stars and moon, he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.
Entering a clearing, he debated whether he should just sleep under a tree and hope the rain was light enough to not bother him. The shadows of the forest loomed around him, casting an eerie silence that was only broken by the distant rustling of leaves.
"That is far enough." A voice called out from the darkness. "Bran, now."
A flaming arrow shot out from cover and flew past Orlen and struck a large pile of wood, igniting it. As the fire roared to life, Orlen saw that he was surrounded. Along the edge of the clearing, torches were being lit and stabbed into the ground to provide further illumination.
There would be no escape without a fight.
The man from before stepped forward and addressed Orlen. "You've certainly led us on a merry chase monster. That ends now."
"Yes, you've certainly been persistent. I'm pretty impressed." Orlen replied. He decided to keep the conversation going as long as possible to let him get an accurate count and positions of his hunters. "I have to ask though; how'd you end up catching me?"
"Baron Frederic, let's just kill him and be done with this." Shouted one of the peasants. "It's been several days already; I want to go home."
"Quiet Jacob." The Baron said while giving him a pointed look. "We will be returning soon enough. In the meantime, a little civility before a fight with a monster is a refreshing change of pace. Don't you agree?"
"I couldn't agree more, Baron Frederic. And honestly, calling me 'monster' all the time must be exhausting for you. How about we switch it up? You can call me... Garven." Orlen answered, giving the first name that came to mind.
Continuing to assess his surroundings, he counted around thirty men. There were seven archers on raised terrain at the edge of the clearing, making Orlen an easy target. He will have to take them out as soon as possible. The rest of the men were scattered around him with a mix of spears and swords.
I'll have to be quick on my feet and take advantage of the trees and logs around me to prevent being crowded. Archers will be the priority.
"An unusual name. As for your earlier question Mr. Garven, I had a hunch that you were trying to lead us away from something and that you would double back after losing us. Looks like I was correct. We spotted you a few hours ago."
"I don't suppose you're willing to forget you guys saw me and let me be on my way? We're reasonable people and there is no need to turn this into a mess." Orlen said.
The Baron sighed before replying. "I'm afraid not, you happen to be a very rare individual and I will be rewarded greatly for bringing you to San Ilia."
Orlen nodded while reaching his hand down to his blaster. "Shame."
Pulling his blaster out, he fired two shots towards the archers. Taken by surprise, his targets had no time to dodge the blue stun bolts and they fell backward out of sight.
Two down, five more to go.
Dodging to the side, Orlen avoided the oncoming arrows before sprinting towards a small group of charging peasants. He fired several shots, and two of them hit their targets causing them to tense up before collapsing. Leaping off a fallen log, Orlen lashed out with a kick to the face of one of the peasants and felt the man's jaw crack under his boot.
Landing back on the ground with a roll, Orlen weaved through the trees. No longer surrounded, he did his best to position himself so that the hunters would get in each other's way.
Aiming once more at the remaining archers, Orlen fired a few shots before diving back behind a tree as arrows flew past him. The blue rings of energy passed harmlessly past the archers as they carefully aimed their bows.
Hearing a shout, he turned his attention to one of the peasants charging at him with a spear. Avoiding the spear thrust, he stepped right against the man and shot him point blank with his blaster. As the peasant fell unconscious, Orlen grabbed him and wrapped his arms under his shoulders, holding the man up.
Twisting around the tree and out of cover, he aimed at the archers once more. Seeing one of their comrades being used as a shield, the archers hesitated allowing Orlen to unleash a barrage of stun bolts at them.
Three of the archers were hit and dropped to the ground. The remaining two archers lowered their bows and dove for cover as the blue energy rings flew towards them.
Dropping his human shield, Orlen charged towards the remaining two archers before they had a chance to get back on their feet. Sprinting up the small embankment, he stunned one of the archers before he had a chance to react.
The last one dropped his bow, drew a knife in a reverse grip, and moved to stab him. Orlen turned to face his attacker, brought his arms up, and grabbed the man's wrist. Twisting the knife away, Orlen pointed his blaster at the man's face and fired point-blank. The stunned man collapsed and rolled down the small hill.
With the archers taken out, Orlen turned his attention back to the remaining hunters and resumed firing. Taking advantage of the high ground, he had a clear shot on most of the villagers charging toward him. Letting loose shot after shot, he quickly thinned out their numbers. Eventually one of the men was able to attack from the side, causing Orlen to dive out of the way. Rolling onto his back, Orlen quickly shot the man.
Getting to his feet again, he aimed at another attacking hunter and fired. 'Click'.
"Shit." Orlen cursed, seeing that the power cell ran out. Thinking quickly, he threw the blaster at the charging man's face, momentarily stunning him. Orlen followed up by charging the man and downing him with a front dropkick.
Grabbing the fallen man's sword, Orlen climbed to his feet again and quickly stomped on the man's stomach to knock the wind out of him and make sure he stayed down.
Stepping away from the unconscious peasant, he took note of his remaining opponents. Orlen saw that there were eight remaining enemies, Frederic held a finely made rapier and held it with confidence. The remaining peasants nervously held a mix of poorly made spears and swords. It was obvious that the minions had little to no experience using their weapons.
As the remaining hunters cautiously approached, Orlen slowly stepped back, ensuring he would not get surrounded. "It wouldn't be too much to ask for you guys to make this simple and form a neat orderly line for me, would it?" Orlen asked
Frederic smiled before replying. "Cheeky but I have a feeling this hunt is coming to an end, Mr. Garven."
Orlen felt a drop of water hit his head and then another. They were soon joined by a steady stream of raindrops, causing the fires to dim.
Orlen gave his stolen sword a few twirls to get a feel for its weight before taking a two-handed grip and holding it in front of him and bent his knees slightly. Form I, also known as Shii-Cho or 'The Way of the Sarlacc', was an ancient lightsaber form known for is simplicity. It was the first saber form taught to younglings and though it was designed for lightsaber use, its wide sweeping strikes made it a good choice for fighting multiple opponents.
Narrowing his eyes, Orlen planned his opening move. "Well, let's finish this then." He leaped forward towards one of the more nervous-looking hunters and with a quick and powerful strike, knocked his opponent's spear off center. He then stepped inside the man's guard and twisted around to the left, bringing his left elbow around and striking the man in the face.
Hearing the man fall to the ground behind him Orlen raised his sword as two more hunters engaged him. Parrying the sword thrusts, he smoothly counter-attacked, driving his opponents back.
Swinging his sword above his head, Orlen swung it down hard on one of the swords, knocking it out of the man's hands. With a twist of his wrists, he directed the tip of the blade with precision and cut midway along the unarmed man's forearms, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.
Orlen continued swinging the blade and intercepted a thrust from Frederic's rapier and quickly stepped past him before his remaining foes had a chance to surround him.
He soon fell into a rhythm, smoothly parrying an attack before quickly swinging to intercept the next spear seeking to strike him.
Blocking another spear thrust, Orlen put more force into the swing and knocked the spearhead from the poorly made spear. His foe looked at the broken spear in fright before throwing it to the ground and running away.
Orlen was given no chance for a reprieve as Frederic engaged him with a series of stabs and thrusts from his rapier. Orlen desperately paired and blocked as he was driven back. This man is good. Really good. I need to take out the others so I can properly focus on him.
Another man ran up and joined the Barron. The two combined were putting pressure on Orlen and he had little chance to counter, having to focus entirely on defense.
"Behind you!" A female voice shouted, and he heard a cry of pain right behind him.
Jumping to the side, he saw another hunter holding his hand in agony. A small throwing knife was sticking out of the hand and had caused him to drop his sword. Orlen lashed out with a kick while the large man was distracted by his wounded hand, sending him tumbling into Frederic, knocking them both over.
There were three hunters left beside the baron, who was struggling to get out from under the man who fell on him. Orlen could feel his muscles burning and growing tired.
The three men charged as one towards Orlen and attacked once more. Blocking an overhead swing, he then lashed out and intercepted a spear thrust, knocking it to the side, and causing it to get in the way of the man's ally.
Seeing an opportunity, Orlen pressed his attack on one of the hunters and unleashed a flurry of strikes, eventually knocking the man's sword aside. He then followed up with a quick strike to the hunter's face with the pommel of his sword, breaking his nose. The man dropped his sword and stumbled onto the ground.
Turning to engage the last two hunters a swordsman and a spearman, Orlen pressed his advantage and continued to rain blows down on the two men. Seeing the sword wielder's grip on his weapon was weakening, Orlen twisted his wrists and caused the man to lose his grip on his sword as it was flung away into the darkness. He then coiled around and struck the man's temple with the flat of the blade, knocking him unconscious.
There was one man left, shakily holding his spear and backing up. Orlen struck with an overhead swing; his sword blocked by the spear just in time. Before he could attack again, he heard the female voice shout out again.
"Watch out, he's going for your tail!"
Orlen was unable to react in time as he felt two hands grab his tail and pull. His feet slipped out from under him and dropped his sword as he fell to the muddy ground. Looking back, he saw the man with the broken nose lying on the ground, having also slipped in the mud.
He kicked the man in the face, forcing him to let go of his tail and knocking him back. Returning his attention to the spearman, the man let out a scream as he ran and tried to skewer him. Rolling out of the way, Orlen saw that the spear was stabbed into the ground beside him. He quickly rolled back the way he came, and rolled onto the spear, breaking it in half. Orlen then pulled the spearhead out from under him and stabbed the man in the calf.
Screaming, the injured man fell to the mud and groaned in pain. Orlen then looked back to see the man who pulled his tail earlier charging towards him with a sword raised over his head.
With the light from the fires almost extinguished, the man did not notice an exposed root and tripped over in, crashing to the ground. Feeling vindictive, Orlen got to his feet and kicked the man hard in the ribs. "Pulling someone's tail really hurts you know." Bending down, he grabbed his sword and started walking to face the last foe, who had just gotten back on his feet.
Finally getting out from under the large man, Frederic climbed to his feet and surveyed the carnage that befell his men. "I certainly have to commend you for how you ruthlessly took out all of my men. It certainly would have been easier for you if you actually went for killing blows."
Orlen ignored the later half of what Baron said and pointed his sword at the man. "Either attack me now or leave. I'm fed up with this."
Both fighters attacked at the same time but before long, Orlen found himself on the defensive. Frederic fought in a way similar to Form II which was almost tailor-made to counter Shii-Cho. The man's fast precise strikes drove Orlen back and gave him no chance to counterattack.
Orlen was feeling the fatigue from the fight and his defence was growing sloppy, eventually, Frederic saw an opportunity.
Parrying Orlen's blade to the side, the Baron stabbed forward, aiming for his chest. Orlen was barely able to twist to the side, the blade narrowly missing his chest. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough, and the blade cut through his left bicep.
Jumping away to get some distance, Orlen quickly saw that he had a nasty gash on the side of his arm. He knew he would not be able to keep this up and adopted another saber form.
The rain pounded down with relentless fury, nearly quenching the last embers of the dying fires. Both fighters, drenched and tired, edged closer to the fading glow, drawn to the lingering light. Each man waited for the other to make the first move
Orlen gritted his teeth and ignored the pain from his arm as he raised his sword handle up to his ear. Charging forward, he leaped off a stump and used the extra momentum to smash away the rapier. With a series of rapid and fast attacks, he gave Frederic little chance to regain the initiative.
Form IV, also known as 'Ataru' was an aggressive form that was focused entirely on offense with the goal of ending the fight as fast as possible. Without the use of the Force, Orlen was unable to use the form to its full potential and could not take advantage of the insane acrobatics Ataru was known for.
Despite this, Orlen's change in style was enough to throw off Frederic. With each powerful strike, the Baron took slightly more time to get his rapier back to a position to defend himself.
After a powerful diagonal strike knocked Frederic's blade away, Orlen quickly changed his blade's direction and swung back up. The tip of the blade caught the Baron's face and cut into his right eye.
Frederic let out a grunt of pain as he fell to the ground defeated, hand over his wounded eye.
Standing over him, Orlen breathed heavily as he pointed his sword at his fallen opponent while his blood streamed from the wound on his arm down to the tip of the sword. It would be easy for him to finish the man off now that he was on the ground defenseless.
Orlen felt disgusted with himself at his train of thought and quickly tossed his blade away. Using the last of the fire's light he was able to find his discarded blaster and re-holstered it.
As he turned away, he absently noticed one of the hunters grab the wounded Baron and drag him out of the clearing. Looking around the clearing, Orlen made sure none of the wounded or unconscious peasants were going to try to attack him again before relaxing.
He took a moment to catch his breath as he recalled the female voice that helped him earlier in the battle. As Orlen was about to call out, he felt a sudden chill in the air as the last embers of the fire died out and the clearing was smothered in darkness.
"Impressive Jedi."
Orlen's ears flattened in fear as he felt a surge of adrenalin rip through him. He pulled his blaster out and desperately looked to see where the metallic voice was coming from.
"It seems at the very least, you have not neglected your sword skills. Unfortunately, even with that, this will not be a very tough kill." The voice continued.
Orlen's hand fumbled for the spare power cell as he desperately tried to reload his blaster. His instincts were screaming at him to run and hide.
Hearing a branch snap behind him, Orlen twisted around and saw only darkness.
The rain had stopped, and it had grown almost supernaturally quiet.
Looking back forward, Orlen eyes widened in terror as the silence was interrupted by the hiss of a crimson blade illuminating the night.
Orlen stumbled backward as he retreated from the advancing silhouette. He heard the rumors like everyone else in the Massassi Group. Imperial Inquisitors, fallen Jedi who now serve the Empire and ruthlessly hunt down their former comrades.
Now one was bearing down on him, intent on cutting him down. For a split second, it looked like the red plasma blade turned blue. Blinking, he saw the blade was still crimson.
Sliding the new power cell into the blaster, he quickly pointed it at the inquisitor and fired. Red blaster bolts flew towards the dark Jedi who raised his blade and blocked the oncoming bolts of plasma. Each bolt that hit the blade was deflected in a random direction, some impacting trees, others hitting the muddy ground.
One bolt was defected back at him, forcing Orlen to stop shooting and dive to the side. Scrambling back to his feet, he raised his blaster again and saw only darkness.
Looking around in panic, trying to find the inquisitor, he shot at any hint of movement or sound, the blaster bolts flying through the air harmlessly.
"He's on your left!" The female from before shouted out. Not questioning the assistance, he fired several more blaster bolts at the silhouette. The inquisitor's lightsaber ignited once more and casually defected all the shots.
"That is enough interfering out of you." The inquisitor declared.
Orlen saw the force energy gathering around the man's hand and shouted out a warning. "Get down!"
Pushing forward with his hand, the inquisitor let loose a blast of concussive energy into the trees. Orlen heard a cry of fright as trees were blasted down while rocks and dirt were thrown through the air.
"There we go, no more interruptions Adrien Vec." Lowering his hand, the inquisitor deactivated his lightsaber and disappeared into the darkness again. "Or is it Orlen Amar you go by now? Then again, you called yourself Garven earlier. My, you are very quick to throw away names."
Orlen was blasted off his feet and flew across the clearing as the Inquisitor launched a wave of Force energy at him. Scrambling back to his feet, he quickly fired several shots in the direction he was launched from. The bolts impacted the trees, leaving scorch marks in the bark.
"So, Jedi, what are you going to do now? Are you going to run and hide like a coward SP-87?"
Orlen froze at hearing that name. "How do you know that name?" He shouted out into the darkness.
"I have been studying you SP-87, you would be surprised how much information the emperor has on failed projects."
"Wha-." He was unable to say anything as the inquisitor interrupted him by igniting his lightsaber.
"Time to die SP-87." The inquisitor declared as he swung his blade at Orlen.
Diving away from the strike, Orlen cried out in pain as he felt the tip of the lightsaber graze him on the side. The plasma blade cut through and burned the left side of his torso.
The inquisitor stood silently, waiting to see what he would do next as he got back to his feet. Orlen's side screamed in pain, and he succumbed to his instincts, turning and running. Glancing over his shoulder, the sight of the clearing filled with stunned, unconscious peasants and the inquisitor was replaced by the vision of a council room strewn with the corpses of children and a dark-robed man wielding a blue lightsaber standing over them.
Orlen suddenly felt like he was nine years old and fleeing for his life again.
Sprinting through the trees, Orlen kept seeing flashes and visions of memories long suppressed. Looking to his left, he saw a door open revealing two clone troopers pointing their rifles at him. A quick blink and they were gone. Looking back ahead, he saw two other children running with him. Blue blaster bolts flew past him and struck them down.
The vision vanished as his foot hit a root, causing him to stumble, regaining his footing, he kept running. Branches impacted him, knocking him to the ground. He got up and kept running like he always does.
"I was hoping for something more impressive." The inquisitor said with a bored tone.
Head snapping to the left, Orlen had no time to avoid the blast of lightning that emerged from the inquisitor's outstretched hand. Screaming in pain, Orlen was thrown off his feet and impacted the muddy ground.
He tried to get to his feet, but before he could, the inquisitor sent a continuous blast of Sith Lightning at him. All Orlen could do was writhe on the ground screaming in pain for what felt like hours.
After a few seconds, the lightning stopped, and he heard footsteps approaching.
"You know, Sp-87. You could have been one of us if those vexing Jedi weren't shoving their noses into places they shouldn't. What a waste."
Orlen felt himself be lifted into the air by the Force. With a dismissal wave of his hand, Orlen was flung into a tree trunk. Coming back to his senses, he was surprised to see he was still holding his blaster. Raising it, he fired a few more shots at the inquisitor who quickly blocked them.
Stumbling to his feet, Orlen continued to flee through the woods, eventually coming to a cliffside with a river below it.
"I grow tired of this. Time to finish this." The Inquisitor said.
Orlen saw a cylinder land in front of him, his eyes widened in realization as the flash grenade exploded in white light.
He found himself on the ground as his vision slowly recovered. Both of his sets of ears felt like they were stabbed and all he could hear was rigging. Through his blurry vision, he saw the inquisitor approaching with his lightsaber activated. As he tried to get back to his feet, the pain from the lightsaber wound on his side was too much; his arms gave out, and he collapsed back into the mud.
Rolling onto his back, Orlen tried to raise his blaster, but the inquisitor stepped on his arm, pinning it to the ground.
The inquisitor was speaking, but with his eardrums blown out, Orlen had no idea what he was saying. A final spark of survival instinct flared up as the inquisitor raised his blade to execute him. Grabbing his vibro-knife, he stabbed it into the inquisitor's leg.
Feeling the boot step off his arm, Orlen rolled away and dove off of the cliff, into the river below.
The Seventh Brother grunted with pain as he ripped the vibro-blade out of his leg and tossed it away. He could feel his blood starting to gush from the wound and stream down his leg. Activating his lightsaber, he lowered the glowing red blade down to his wound. Pressing the blade against the injury, he hissed as he felt the blade burn and cauterize the flesh.
Satisfied with his first aid, the miraluka turned his attention back to the escaped Jedi. His prey was now at the outer edge of his Force sight and was swimming with the river's current.
Stepping away from the edge of the cliffside, the inquisitor limped his way back to the clearing. The near-human had no issues navigating the dark forest. Born without eyes, miralukians had an innate ability to see through the Force. This even allowed him to see the force radiating off living beings.
What he saw when he looked at the Jedi disappointed him. The man was barely stronger than a youngling and would not be a satisfying catch. He was a much better opponent in his ship.
Perhaps I'll give him a reprieve, maybe he will use that time to become a proper challenge. Let's see how determined he is to live. After all that anomaly was a one-way trip so there is no going back to the Empire after this. I already found his destroyed ship, so he is trapped on this planet. I have all the time in the world to hunt him.
His thoughts drifted back to his arrival on this planet. He could sense the moment he entered the rift that he was either in another galaxy or even another universe and that there was no way back. Before emerging from the rift, he did feel his Star Destroyer enter it. Likely at the Tenth Sister's orders.
It is unlikely that the Firestorm survived, the anomaly was collapsing rapidly when I left it. The Tenth Sister was a fool to try to follow me. If they do survive, perhaps I will start an empire of my own here.
This world did intrigue him. While scouting around the planet in his fighter he could sense beings of extreme strength scattered around the world. The largest concentrations were on the barren northern continent and on the unusual structure floating over the center of this continent. He had already encountered several odd female creatures, but they proved to be no challenge, having easily fallen to his lightsaber or Sith Lightning.
The simpletons in that town were easy enough to trick into telling him where his quarry fled to. Their surface thoughts were easy to read with the Force and all he had to do was tell them what they wanted to hear.
He arrived where he had Force Pushed the girl. The inquisitor knew that she had been following him since the girl spied on him in town. Deciding her presence could make things interesting, he pretended not to notice her as he tracked the Jedi. Looking around, his robotic left arm, a punishment for a previous failure, clenched in annoyance.
That girl must have already recovered and escaped. She could have served as bait to draw the Jedi out. No matter, it changes nothing. I will let this wound heal then continue the hunt. Hopefully, he will put up a better fight next time.
Pressing a few buttons on his bracer, he sent a signal to his fighter waiting in orbit to land at a nearby clearing. While he waited for his ship to arrive, he felt the presence of one of the locals approaching him. The inquisitor groaned in annoyance; he did not want to have to deal with these primitives at the moment.
"Thank you, hero, for saving us from that monster. I don't know what he would have done to u-."
He casually raised his arm and interrupted the peasant with a blast of Force Lightning, reveling in the pain the man was undergoing. The human was thrown off his feet and flung into the forest, unconscious or dead.
Not long after, his TIE Advanced arrived and landed in front of him. He leapt up onto the fighter as the top hatch opened and dropped into the cockpit.
Shortly after, the ship climbed out of the forest and departed into the night sky.
AN: Got to give my thanks once again to Chris4th for beta reading