Ask [Felucia] A Few too Many Acklay

[Kanan Marek]

Every second that passed seemed like an eternity. Waiting had always been one of the more routine aspects of being a Sector Ranger. It also happened to be one of Kanan’s least favorite aspects of being a Sector Ranger. Patience wasn’t one of his strengths. He would rather take action.

He turned over the grenade in his hands as he waited, his eyes glued to the entrance of the cavern. He wondered how deep the cavern went. He wondered what unforgettable, nightmarish views would greet River the deeper he traveled the cavern.

He wasn’t left to his thoughts much longer. A welcome, if loud, voice broke the silence. “Bringing the party to you!”

Kanan stepped out from behind the boulder and readied his aim. One throw was all he had, and he had to make it a good one. Waiting to take aim until he could see the Acklay would be to wait until it was too late. Moments later, River appeared in the entrance. Running, he activated his jump boots and launched himself ahead of the Acklay hot on his heels.

Arm back, Kanan activated the grenade and threw it at the mouth of the entrance and at the pursuing Acklay. The explosion echoed through the Felucian valley as the ceiling of the cavern’s entrance crumbled, collapsing and falling in on the Acklay.

As the dust cleared, the mouth of the cave was visible once more. Completely blocked by collapsed rock and dirt. Between the explosion itself and the rocks, hopefully multiple creatures had been eradicated.

Silence followed. A part of Kanan dared hope that that was it. That the cave in had trapped the creatures within the cavern. No such luck. Not on Felucia.

A great green leg appeared, its strong claws tearing a path through the fallen debris. Those that remained within the cavern were about to make their exit.

@Feng Mian​

 

[Song Wren]

Song cushioned her fall back to the ground with a smooth roll, a trail of dust kicked up behind her. When she regained her footing, she turned to see at least a dozen Acklay already crowding the cavern mouth, and the explosion which followed soon after. The ground trembled. Rock gave way. In a matter of seconds, the mountainside rolled down on top of the swarm. If the explosive didn’t kill the Acklay, the landslide sure did.

She glanced over to Kanan and gave a thumbs up. They had trapped the creatures inside. What she feared might be a bloodbath turned into a walk in the park.

Then stone shook. As the dust cloud melted away, Song watched a green, bloodied limb rip through the collapsed rock. Another followed, and another, until a nerve-racking shriek burst from the wrecked cave. The Mandalorian didn’t give it a second chance to squeal and charge at her, though, before she planted a few shots into its head. The Acklay fell limp, and for the last time.

Song laughed. “For a second there, I thought…”

Several more Acklay emerged from the reopened tunnel, caked in soot. More continued to spill out into the clearing, numbering at least twenty by her count. Dread crept in to make a home. Song tried to activate her jump boots again to find a better vantage point, hopefully somewhere back on the hill, but they needed time to recharge. For now, she was on her own.

She unleashed several more rounds. A screaming head exploded into silence, but another quickly took its place. As they moved towards her, Song kept firing like a madman, her mind gravitating back to the blade in its sheath. It was only a matter of time before she was out of ammo. Alone, with her sword, in a circle of death.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Of course, Kanan thought to himself with a sigh and a heave of his shoulders. Nothing can ever be that easy.

The monsters were forced to adjust to the light upon leaving the cavern, but their disorientation only lasted seconds. Their instinct to kill and to eat was a strong one.

Drawing his blaster from its holster, the ranger took aim at one of the monsters exiting the cave. His Mandalorian friend was already hard at work, making short work of several Acklay with head shots.

Kanan began his own attack on the Acklay, firing one blaster shot after another. Between the Mandalorian and the ranger, the two of them were doing a fairly good job of holding the monsters at bay. For a brief moment in time, anyway.

As more creatures appeared from within the cavern, crawling over the dirt and rock in its pathway, it became increasingly obvious that the two of them would not be able to hold the monsters off forever.

Outnumbered and running out of time. “Any ideas?” Kanan asked his Mandalorian friend, continuing to fire as he backed away from the encroaching monsters. He had a mind to take off running, never stay in one spot and take as many out using the environment as was possible. A half-baked, impromptu plan with little thought put into it, but a plan, nonetheless.

@Feng Mian​

 

[Song Wren]

She was relieving knowing Kanan was beside her now, but afraid that both of them might lose their lives against the oncoming horde. It had been a trouble the previous day in handling only two Acklay in close combat, but if they engaged against at least twenty, the Mandalorian doubted she or the Ranger would survive. As effective as their blasters were, she was almost out of ammunition. She had already used a whole clip the day before.

As she planted headshot to another Acklay, Song clicked the trigger and realized she was already out. Her luck ran thin.

“Move to higher ground!” said Song, who discarded her blaster aside in favor of her brother’s sword. It shone brightly as she drove it through a leg, smearing green blood across the discolored soil.

With Kanan in tow, the Mandalorian charged back up the occasional. None of the Acklay were keen to let them go so easily, however, and she was forced to spin around and fend off those she could. Song wished she had come up with a better plan. Cause a more powerful cave-in of the nesting grounds. Trigger a heavier landslide. Bring more ammo, wait for reinforcements. Something, anything.

But she knew she couldn’t turn the clock. Song was stuck where she was now. With Kanan. She would do what she must to survive.

At the hilltop, she severed an Acklay’s head when it snapped its maw out towards her. It was clear even on the high ground, the horde would only surround them the same way it had on the clearing. “We need to draw them into the jungle. Take them out one by one!”

The Mandalorian wasn’t sure if the Ranger had any other ideas in mind, but she had her own, and it was the best she could give.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

“I won’t argue with that,” Kanan replied under his breath, falling in line behind the Mandalorian as they charged backward in their tracks, to the higher ground they had abandoned not long ago.

The Acklay were persistent on their heels, snapping their teeth and swinging their spear-like legs every step of the way. Kept at bay only by the ceremonial blade that swung from between River’s we’ll-practiced hands.

As they reached the top of the hill, the monsters were beginning to surround them again. One fact they could be certain of: they would have to keep moving if they hoped to survive this. “I agree,” he concurred with River, kicking away a great green leg that stabbed at him.

Glancing behind them, toward the mountains, his eyes scanned the tops of the jungle. Hoping to see anything other than flora that might be of use. That might help them. His eyes fell on a rocky crag in the distance, above the jungle. Then to the length of rope at his side.

“There,” he pointed, already moving toward the jungle’s edge. “If we could get up there, we could cause a landslide. Crush them. And kill as many of them as we can along the way.”

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

Song lured as much of the Acklay as she could towards the thick of the jungle. At the same time, she did her best fending them off, unable to outrun several in her heavyset armor and their superior speed. Her jump boots were since recharged, and Song was every bit tempted to use it, but she knew she had to save it for later. While she still had the energy, she could slice and dice as many of the sick creatures as she could.

A sharpened limb shot out of the sky to gut her from the head down.

The Mandalorian almost tripped backwards trying to avoid the strike. Instead, the clawed leg drilled into the dirt, right between her armored legs. She was thankful River and his armor was leaner than most in Clan Wren, else the blow might’ve taken her armored groin clean off. Of course, without another thought, Song swept her blade around and axed the limb like she might a tree. The Acklay screeched and fell forward, meeting its death as its face plunged onto the tip of her sword.

Retreating, Song glanced between the Ranger and the faraway cliff edge on the mountain. If she and Kanan reached it and drew the Acklay uphill, then he was right. They could trigger a landslide. An easy solution to the problem in numbers. Getting up, however, would be no simple task with two of them and only one rope.

Fortunately, she had a rope too. Or something like it.

“Good idea,” she said as she ran towards the mountainside, but grinned. “Meet you there?”

Below the crag, she raised her left arm at an angle into the air, beside the incline. A split second later, she fired her whipcord launcher. Although it wasn’t close to a grapple line, especially for her weight in armor, Song would make it work, using it along with her boots to make the incredibly steep climb. As a child, she had been forced to scale the snow-peaked mountains on Krownest. So to her, this wasn’t anything new.

Once she reached the top, Song peered over her shoulder and back to Kanan. Despite the nightmarish circumstances, she was rather having fun.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

”Meet you there,” Kanan laughed, unable to suppress the mirth from his voice. This was one of the many, many reasons Kanan enjoyed River’s company. Despite the Acklay that surrounded them, the treacherous jungle they found themselves in, and the threat of death or dismemberment that loomed over them like a dark cloud at every second, Kanan would not want to be anywhere else. With anyone else. Somehow, strangely—he was having a good time. If they survived this adventure, he would have made good memories to last him for years to come.

The two parted ways, the Mandalorian one direction and the ranger another. Kanan lost sight of the Mandalorian as soon as they drew close to the rocky crag, but he did believe he heard the sound of rocket boots being activated somewhere close by.

Kanan would have to reach the top the old-fashioned way, but he did not mind. With one hand still on his blaster, the other hand shot to the rope at his side, diving deeper into the jungle with every quickened step he took. The Acklay pursued him, hindered but by no means dissuaded by the blaster bolts the ranger fired.

Taking a bolt to the head, the Acklay at the front of the pack tumbled to the dirt, tripping up the creatures directly behind it and providing Kanan a small window of opportunity. Throwing the rope toward the rocks above him, the noose caught somewhere up above. One tug told the ranger that it was sturdy enough to support his weight, and he began to climb. Fast.

Sharp teeth scratched at the bottom of his feet, but he was out of the monster’s reach now, and he didn’t dare look back down until he had reached the top. Below, the creatures clawed at the base of the crag and shrieked with displeasure and anger. Kanan turned toward River. “Let’s get this party started, shall we?”

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

As Kanan climbed furiously over the mountainside, Song was quick to pull him over to the crag. The Acklay below gnashed and screamed at them from below, desperate to reach where they were. One even managed to climb a few rocky steps, which almost made her heart skip a beat thinking they had learned and adapted, but it wasn’t a second later that the rock gave way to the creature’s weight and sent it crashing back down on top of another. She resisted the urge to chuckle.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” she said, laughing, then took out her blaster.

With a sudden click of a new magazine pressed inside, she turned to the Ranger and grinned. “I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what you had in mind when you said we could trigger a landslide, but I sure hope you can keep your balance.”

She flourished her blade, and it whistled through the air with every turn of her hand. “If not, you can always hold onto me.” Song got a light chuckle out of that, figuring Kanan still saw her as her brother River. Although she almost wished he didn’t.

A split second later, she found a crack in the floor of the crag and drove her sword clean into it. Although it was no lightsaber, it certainly acted like it, vibrating to the point where it could cut through even titanium. Thankfully, the rock was already weak, and a short slice through only fractured the crag even more. Cracks began to splinter. A spiderweb of fractures, spreading from their position and down the mountainside like it were ice.

“Can’t say I’ve ever surfed before, but I’m not sure it’s no different from the water, no?” she said sarcastically, as the rock below her crumbled like bread. The starved Acklay below didn’t seem to notice or care, at least until the crag and a chunk of the cliffside started to slide and crash down to the jungle floor.

The Mandalorian had driven her blade into another, thicker portion of the rocky platform and held onto it for dear life as she and the Ranger skidded back down from where they came. Right into the swarm of Acklay.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

”Keep my balance?” Kanan clarified, his eyes fixated on the maddened creatures below them. Returning his gaze to the Mandalorian, work had already begun. The Mandalorian’s blade had been driven into a crack in the crag, manipulating the rock formation’s weakness and shaking it.

“I think I can manage,” the ranger replied, smiling slightly as his thoughts drifted back to a rather embarrassing moment during their first adventure together. When the speeder bike had taken an abrupt lurch forward and Kanan had been forced to reach for River to regain his balance.

The ranger had never been surfing either. He chuckled in response, “I guess we will find out now, won’t we?”

The final strike had been driven. Into a large, thick section of the formation, causing the whole structure to crumble beneath their feet. They slid down, returning to the jungle and monsters below.

As dirt and rock settled, Kanan rolled from the landslide and stumbled a few feet into the jungle, regaining his balance now that he was on solid ground again. Facing the landslide, he waited silently for any movement or sign of life, his hand hovering mere inches from the blaster at his side.

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

“Yes we will,” she said, right before they plunged to the ground. A three-story drop. The mountainside ached and clamored on down to the jungle floor. Wedges of stone and rocky shrapnel rained down on the Acklay before the crag even reached them, shredding the creatures into ribbons. Those that managed to avoid the falling rock were only met with even bigger stones, which crushed several with a sickening crunch. Same went for the crag as it crashed right on top a lone Acklay, whose screech stopped a moment later.

The sound of the landslide, and the silence that followed, was like music to her ears.

The small platform Song was on managed to remain intact once she landed, but Kanan had lost his balance and tumbled out into the underbrush. The Mandalorian wanted to leap after him, but she had driven her blade too deep into the rock and struggled now to pull it out. A mess of dust and soot surrounded her, clouding her vision. How many of the Acklay did they kill? Were there any left? Burning questions that left her paranoid and unsure.

She spotted movement ahead. “Kanan, is that you?”

The silhouette turned to face her. She smiled, but that relieved grin disappeared as the figure went higher, and higher. Transforming into a sick, skeletal-looking nightmare. The surviving Acklay shrieked at her, then drove its clawed leg through the dust. Still reeling from the drop, Song underestimated how close it really was, and the razor sharp limb cut through the side of her leg.

The Mandalorian gasped. Blood spilled onto the rock. She tried to pull out her sword again, but to no avail. Her blaster was empty too, so was her whipcord launcher, and all she were a pair of fists and jump boots that would lead her nowhere but into the mouth of the Acklay. Wherever the Ranger was, now might’ve been a good time for him to show.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

There was a moment of silence. Sweet, blessed silence. But only for a moment. A brief second in time. River’s voice rang out clearly. Not an unwelcome sound.
Quite the opposite, actually.

“Yes, it’s me,” the ranger began to answer the question, until he followed the Mandalorian’s gaze. That? That certainly was not Kanan. Apparently the fight was not over yet. Rising from the wreckage of dirt and rock, the remaining figure of an Acklay loomed over the Mandalorian. Tall, dirty, hungry, and most definitely angry.

It was impossible to reach River before the slash of the Acklay’s leg tore into his leg. It all happened much too fast. River struggled to pull his sword from the rock, but it was in too deep and was a lost cause for the moment. Tearing through the brush he found himself in, Kanan jumped over rock and dirt, clearing the landslide and reaching the Mandalorian in a matter of seconds.

Kanan flung a nearby rock he had snatched along the way, and it hit the Acklay on the head. The creature’s hard, tough skin made the blow nothing more than a scratch, if even that. But Kanan did not intend for the rock to deal any measure of damage. It was merely a distraction, to pull the creature’s attention away from the Mandalorian and instead to the ranger.

If the rock didn’t do the trick, his next coarse of action certainly would. Aiming his blaster, Kanan fired five blaster bolts aimed directly for the creature’s head.

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

The Acklay opened its maw, flashed its teeth and unleashed a bloodcurdling scream at the Mandalorian, like it understood that she was responsible for the massacre of its nest and offspring. For the first time in a long time, Song flinched. She continued to try tearing out her sword from the rock, but it wouldn’t budge. A few more rough pulls and a couple cracks later, perhaps it would, but she didn’t have that kind of the time. The six-legged creature meant to bite her head clean off.

Then a rock flew and hit it instead. Not hers, but the Acklay’s.

The creature spun around to face whatever or whoever threw the stone. That was when Song made her move, and mustered together every ounce of strength in her arms and yanked the sword from the rock. Like something out of an old legend. Without a single thought, she raised it high and chopped the limb which had slashed through the side of her leg. It fell away like the stump of a tree.

The Acklay didn’t even have a chance to react before several blaster bolts shattered against its thick-skinned head. Laser melted its insides, and the creature collapsed onto the ground where the rest of its kind were slain.

Song fell onto one knee. She watched the silhouette of the Sector Ranger approach, relief flooding through her. She winced at the severe pain in her leg, but it was better that way. Kept her awake. If it was numb, she knew it’d be a goner.

As Kanan approached her, cutting through the disappearing cloud of dust, she chuckled through the pain and said to him, “What took you so long?”

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

With five blaster shots to the face and a sharp edge of a blade to the leg, the Acklay didn’t stand a chance. For the first time since this adventure had begun in that small Felucian village, Kanan felt that he and River had the upper hand. The advantage. The edge. It was a nice feeling.

The feelings that occurred as a result of seeing blood spilling from River’s leg onto the rock beneath were not nice. Returning his blaster to its proper place in its holster, Kanan was by the Mandalorian’s side in a matter of two wide strides.

“What took me so long? Shouldn’t you be thanking me?” Kanan teased as he knelt down, knowing full well that he owed River just as many thanks, if not more.

Not bothering to ask for permission and without a second thought, Kanan took the medkit from the Mandalorian’s utility belt. The same kit River had used earlier to treat the ranger’s wounds.

“No sense warning you. I know you know that this will be painful,” Kanan stated, applying bacta spray to the gash across the Mandalorian’s armored leg.

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

“I mean, thanks,” said Song, but added jokingly, “But if you had just listened and held on like I told you to, maybe... ow!”

The Mandalorian glanced down to see Kanan already applying the bacta spray to her bleeding leg. Pain shot through to her waist. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the Ranger by his wrist and said, “Could you be a little gentler with that?” Of course, there was nothing serious in her tone of voice. She would have done the same thing if their positions were switched. Song was only glad that he was by her side again.

She let go of his wrist and slumped against a crushed boulder. A sigh escaped her lips. Their crazy travels together through the jungle, from the encounter at the village, the Sarlacc and the rippers, to the final battle at the nest. Could it be really over?

As much as she wanted to close her eyes and rest, she found it incredibly hard to. Even with Kanan beside her, after saving her for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Song’s focus never left their surroundings. Like the first landslide, she was afraid another Acklay would rise out of the debris and attack. As she waited, nothing happened. Nothing else moved. Just their quiet breathing. Just him and her.

“What next?” she said, breaking the silence with sarcasm, and a laugh. “You going to carry me back to the village?”

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

​

Amused, a small smile tugged at the corners of the Ranger’s mouth. Of course River couldn’t leave it at a simple thank you. He had to add a, “But if you had just listened and held on...” The Mandalorian’s addendum was not wrong, and Kanan expected no less from his companion. River’s playful and witty comments could be added to the ever-growing list of reasons the Ranger enjoyed his company.

Once River had relinquished his hold on the Ranger’s wrist, Kanan began to bandage the gash in the side of his leg. “What are you complaining about?” he teased the Mandalorian. “I’m the one who had to take a bath with a Felucian Ripper. And I was almost lunch for that sarlacc pit.”

Tearing the end of the bandage in two, Kanan tied it off around River’s leg before returning the medkit to its proper place in the Mandalorian’s utility belt. “Thankfully,” he added seriously, his way of giving credit where credit was so obviously do. “You were there to save me both times.”

Shifting his weight off his knees, Kanan sat down and let out a low breath. It was quiet now. Only River’s and his own breathing could be heard, and the peace and quiet was a welcome reprieve. The dust was still settling from the landslide, but Kanan’s eyes drifted back and forth between River and the still warm body of the Acklay.
To say it had been a long two days was an understatement. Between Acklay, Felucian Rippers, and a sarlacc pit—it almost didn’t seem real. Almost. The bruises, cuts, and aches shared between the Mandalorian and the Ranger were more than ample evidence that this was real. Though there had been a few near death experiences wrapped into this journey, Kanan honestly wouldn’t change a thing about it. Glancing over at River, he knew why. For all the pain coursing through his body at that moment, Kanan wouldn’t trade all the comfort in the the experience they had shared or the memories they had made.

“I could,” Kanan replied to his companion’s sarcastic comment, smiling playfully over at him. In all actuality, there was no possibility of Kanan carrying River all the way back to the village, not after everything they had just gone through. They both knew that, but there was no need to admit it.

“Would you settle for back to the tee-musses?” Rising to his knees again, Kanan extended a hand to the Mandalorian.

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

As Kanan tied the bandage around her wound, Song choked down the pain in her leg, struggling not to show weakness, but failing miserably. She had taken a serious beating that day. Worse than she could have imagined, worse than she had experienced before. But miraculously, she was alive—from the village raid, the sarlacc pit, the Felucian rippers, to the Acklay swarm they had narrowly defeated. All thanks to Kanan.

“Don’t throw me all the credit,” she said, shaking her head. “You saved me too. More times than I can count.”

Song stared at him for the longest time, settling in the quiet. She listened to his low breaths, caught the occasional glance he shot her way, watched him smile. Her cheeks started to burn. She turned another direction, towards the rotting heap of the Acklay, and focused there. Fought to keep her emotions in check.

She cleared her throat. When he climbed off the ground and stretched a hand to her, Song accepted. But as she rose too, the pain did too, and staggered forward into him. Her free hand grabbed onto his shoulder in an effort to find purchase. Then she realized what she’d done.

“My bad,” she murmured roughly, and slid back.

Song flushed, and she was more thankful than ever to be wearing a helmet. Hoping to dispel the awkward tension she might have created, she continued, “Yeah, the tee-musses work. Let’s just hope they didn’t run off during the landslide.”

At the same time, she thought but didn't say, But doesn't matter if they did. Long as I got you.

She shook her head. Gods, you're unbearable, she thought to herself, then limped toward the stretch of trees where she hoped the tee-musses would be waiting.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

“No need to apologize,” Kanan assured his companion, not bothered in the least. It was only natural to want to take pressure off the wounded leg. With one arm around the Mandalorian to help support his weight, they slowly moved toward the treeline.

Clearing the trees and coming out on the other side, Kanan let out an exasperated grumble. The tee-musses were gone. There was no sight of them. The landslide must have scared them off. He was beginning to think this jungle was dead set on claiming River and himself as its prey, wether that had to be through one of the jungle’s deadly and ravenous creatures or by simply stranding them here.

Always a warrior, River had put on a brave face (figuratively, or perhaps literally beneath the helmet) and not allowed a single word of complaint to escape his lips. Try as he might to hide his condition, there was no use. From his sharp intakes of breath to losing his balance, hiding the pain he was experiencing was a futile struggle. It would be cruel to force the Mandalorian to struggle all the way back to the village, even with Kanan for support.


Kanan briefly entertained the idea of leaving him here to rest while he searched for the tee-musses, but that thought was immediately shot down. No way was he going to take his eyes off River again, not until they made it back to the village and safety. If he had learned anything these past two days, it was that this jungle could not be trusted and that the two of them had already experienced far too many scrapes with death.

The tee-musses could not have gone far, Kanan reasoned with himself. Tracks in the dirt and a broken branch implied the two animals had made their escape in that general direction. Before his proud Mandalorian friend could protest, Kanan had picked him up, careful not to touch the freshly bandaged wound on his leg. “Come on,” Kanan said, his eyes focused on the path before them, “They can’t have gone far.”

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

Arm in arm with the Sector Ranger, the Mandalorian limped and hobbled her way toward the treeline, through the clearing dust of the landslide and over the bodies of every acklay they had killed. Discolored blood pooled between the rocks. The head of an acklay, crushed under a boulder, twitched in its death throes. If she had not been wearing a helmet, she would have spit on it, glad to be rid of the swarm and the cause of all this suffering.

Song knew, had any other bounty hunter gone into the jungle, they would not have made it out alive. It was a good thing neither she or Kanan were ordinary hunters.

As they reached the tracks of where the tee-musses last were, she nodded. “I hope not. If we have to hike through this jungle on foot, I’m asking those villagers for double.” She breathed a wry laugh. A part of her knew the villagers had only offered lodging and supplies, rather than credits, but she at least wanted to pretend all the trouble they had gone through was more than just for a good night’s rest.

After several minutes of stumbling through the foliage, Song noticed a ruffle of leaves and the snap of a branch. A dark shadow crossed behind the undergrowth. She whirled around, her hand gravitating towards the blaster at her waist. Only by instinct, because she had bled the weapon dry during the earlier battle. She grit her teeth and readied for the worst.

The worst never came.

The tee-musses emerged, chewing on cellophane grass, clueless and unblinking. She half-sighed, half-laughed. “Just our luck. We were wondering where you ran off to.” She spoke to the beasts like they might understand her. She was not exactly lucid enough to care.

Exhaustion gnawed at her. Song wasn’t sure if she could make it far, even on horseback.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Perhaps for the first time since either River or Kanan had set foot outside of the Felucian village, the jungle had dealt them a piece of good luck. As was their hope, the tee-musses had not strayed far.

The landslide had frightened the creatures— startled them, certainly, but not enough to pass by the luscious and tempting undergrowth without a taste. It was fortunate that the creatures’ desire for nourishment surpassed any temporary terror brought about by the landslide. By the looks in their dark eyes, the landslide had already been forgotten.

“Maybe our luck isn’t so bad after all,” Kanan said faintly in reply to his companion, offering a small smile in River’s direction but sure the humor would be lost on the Mandalorian in his condition.

Atop the tee-muss River looked no better. Faceless as he was behind the Mandalorian helmet, the warrior’s body language was not lost on Kanan. As if he might pass out at any moment. Except he didn’t.

Caraya’s soul, he’s strong, Kanan thought to himself with equal amounts of disbelief and admiration.

As a precaution, although perhaps unnecessary, Kanan would ride alongside River’s tee-muss in case he started to fall.

It would be getting dark within the next few hours, but if their luck continued the two of them would make it back to the village before nightfall.

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

Song climbed onto the tee-muss’ back with a grunt, pretending the pain did not bother her in the least. Much as she appreciated and valued his care and attention, she had to remember—she was a Mandalorian. Hard and unrelenting, as stone-faced as the armor she wore. Weakness was not a quality of her kin. She simply had to bear the torment and push on. She had to let Kanan know she would be okay.

While she slouched against her ride, her legs were taut, wrapped around the saddle so even if she were to pass out, she could still continue without forcing Kanan to a stop. If their bad string of luck had finally come to an end, they would be back in the village in due time. She could rest, recover, and move onto the next wild adventure.

Song glanced to Kanan and wondered, But what about him?

She shook her head, unwilling to consider that train of thought. Better to just savor with what time she had left with him, than to think about a time without.

Her eyes wavered, her focus dipped. She fought the urge to drop unconscious then and there, but it was a losing battle. She needed something, someone, to keep her awake.

“Kanan,” she said quietly. “Tell me something.” She thought back to their conversation at the fire last night, his life before the Rangers, his life after. “A story. About you. Or your family. Anything.”

She hoped she didn’t sound desperate, hoped he understood. She imagined she might fall asleep to that voice of his, low and careful, but right now she just wanted to hear it. Hear something.

@llamallove