Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1963563" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 126: Together AgainJen looked across the forests in front of her a long moment. Shadow was resting, though it was beginning to seem like the Alraxian was having trouble figuring out what to get Jen to do. It was becoming obvious to all of them, even Hansen, that Jen was moving much faster through the training exercises than had been expected. She was adept at moving objects through the Force, a task that had given her trouble not long ago at all. Shadow had even worked with her on basic combat training. It was odd at first, a blend of mental discipline with physical prowess. Apparently, Shadow was doing her best to adapt Alraxian techniques to a human learner. Maybe that was the problem.     But the details and why didn’t really matter to Jen anymore. Having gotten so used to a strict daily routine, this sudden shift to constant relaxation was odd. Though complaining wasn’t really worth it. That provided for more time with Titus, which was never something for complaining about. The two of them had decided that, once there was enough time, they would escape for a few months on their own. Neither had any problems with Akan or Shadow, but time alone was just something they both really felt was needed. And then there was Hansen. Jen did dislike that woman. It was from a childish jealousy, but more a basic difference in point of view and personality. The woman was annoying, closed minded, and had a habit of not getting the hint when it was politely suggested she leave.    Sighing, Jen used a mix of older and newer techniques to push those thoughts away. Not right now. The last thing that was needed was getting angry with Hansen. That woman was already annoyed enough as it was and encouraging her wasn’t worth it. It would also force Titus to take sides against his friend. Jen knew without a doubt that Titus would support her, but driving a rift between him and Hansen was probably not the best idea. Everyone needed their friends. Someone they could talk to. Old friends were the best. Jen didn’t have those anymore...well, no, that wasn’t true. Smiling slightly, she thought of one. Not that old, really, but the oldest so far. Akan listened in that way where you could tell he had no idea what to do but really did want to help. It was a childlike quality that was cute in may respects, just adding to her seeing him as a younger brother. Maybe that was why she was so concerned...    Ever since leaving that horrible planet, Arranis, Akan had seemed to be avoiding her. Sure, he would stay around and have distant conversations, but he’d never look her in the eye. Always darting here and there, making sure to avoid eye contact. It was slow, but obvious to her. Whenever she asked him what was wrong, Akan would just look worried, panicked, a little terrified, and then find a way to escape. Not always in that order, either. Jen had a look up to the sky above. From where she stood in front of one of their small huts, she could only catch small glimpses of the sky. The tree cover was heavy all over. That wasn’t a bad thing, but it was getting a bit...closed in. That got a grin on her face. Couldn’t seem to pick anything positive to think about anymore.    Her ears, while not as sensitive as the Alraxians’, picked up a soft sound not far off behind her. Turning, Jen saw Shadow. The Alraxian girl looked exhausted. So maybe she hadn’t been sleeping at all. It was only another moment before Shadow saw Jen. Slowly, she walked over to the human woman. Once getting within earshot, Shadow said, “Something’s wrong.”    Short, straight, and to the point. No actual referring to what was wrong, but then again, that wasn’t necessary. Jen managed a slow nod before saying, “Its been four days, of course something’s wrong. I told you that two days ago.”    Shadow managed a nod, looking off to the forest and then back to where the two ships were. She didn’t say anything, but Jen could feel that there was a at least something going through Shadow’s usually quiet mind. Moving so that she could look Shadow straight in the eyes, Jen asked quietly, “What’s happened?”    It was odd seeing Shadow look so helpless. Having all her defenses beaten just like that was just one thing to add to the pile. Her ears flattened and her entire body slumped forward, “I don’t know. I should know...” sighing, she tapped her forehead, “He’s...there. But not. I shouldn’t have let him go. He wasn’t ready yet.”    “You said he was ready,” Jen said quietly, picking her words carefully and making sure to avoid any kind of confrontational tone.    Shadow mumbled something incoherent before saying, at a level just above a whisper, “I was wrong.”    “We all make mistakes,” responded Jen, reaching up to put a hand on the Alraxian’s shoulder.    With a short growl, Shadow batted Jen’s hand away and took a fairly large step back. Glaring, though Jen could tell it was more from panic and worry than real anger, Shadow spoke quietly, “There are different kinds of mistakes. I let him go alone to do something he couldn’t handle. If I can be wrong in such a critical choice once...then...”    Her voice trailed off, and Jen knew what the rest of that was. Then she could make other mistakes. Then, maybe those worries about Jen’s training might just be true. No. No, she didn’t believe it. In fact, only Akan seemed to be worried about it. But now Shadow was doubting herself and all the choices she’d made...yet...yet... “But he’s still alive, Shadow.”    “That may be the problem!” the Alraxian snapped, a mixed look of both anger and pain crossing her face. She made an almost whimpering sound, which was odd from a feline creature, and spoke more quietly, “He...he was there...I could feel him there...but...the last few days. Nothing. No, not nothing...just...not right.”    Though Jen had never really understood the link between Akan and Shadow, she had a feeling asking the details probably wasn’t the best thing to do right now. She managed a polite nod, and thought about asking ‘How is it not right?’ but then decided against it. From the sound of it, Shadow couldn’t even figure it out herself. Describing it to Jen would likely be even more complicated. So there wasn’t much she could really do except stand there feeling a bit useless. When she noticed that Shadow was looking to her with a look of helplessness, Jen said quietly, “I’m sorry. I wish I could do something.”Shadow nodded slowly and her ears rose a bit more, “I...I wish I could, too.”* * * *Titus didn’t like the huts. Not that they weren’t comfortable, but there was just something about being on the ship that made him feel safer. Especially in the last couple of weeks. Ever since that price increase in their bounties, he’d made sure to sit much closer to the sensor systems. Out in the huts, that was impossible. Not that he would just stay in here all the time, but even Jen had mentioned more than once that they sleep in here. He sighed and leaned back in the large chair. Alone in the ship. Hansen was off fuming again. Seemed like she wasn’t ever going to get over losing ‘her’ ship. Honestly, Titus didn’t have that much of a problem with what Akan had done, especially after having heard Shadow’s reasons for letting him go.    A test. Titus had gone through a test not so different twice before. The first time was from the Emperor. That test was one Titus still did his best to forget. It was in his past, and something couldn’t change anymore. Dwelling on it was pointless. That was what Akan needed to learn. Titus had seen Akan come very close more than once, yet every time that kid just pulled himself right back into old routines. Perhaps seeing the place where he’d lost that girl would kick start a bit of rational thinking.    He grinned. Hadn’t worked for him, years ago when Landau had convinced him to go back to where Calina had been killed. In fact, it had only made him more vehement in clinging to the past. A short laugh at his old foolish self was something he couldn’t hold back. No matter how much credit he gave Akan, that kid was still just that. A kid. Titus had been an adult and couldn’t deal with it. But it would probably be good for him. Maybe it wouldn’t kick start exactly what it was that everyone(Akan included) expected. Titus at least hoped that maybe Akan would realize how similar their situations really were. And then maybe...just maybe, that kid would listen to some reason.    Akan was a person that Titus wanted as a friend. Not just because it would ease one of the only tensions between him and Jen, but because he really did like the kid when it came down to it. It was like looking back at himself, years ago and experiencing the same things. He could help Akan. And he would...but not without being asked. With matters as sensitive as those that Akan was dealing with, it wasn’t something to push. Titus knew that well. Especially since he’d been pushed and broke Landau’s hand out of anger. Akan was just a bit more unstable than he had been.    There was a beep. Or rather, more of a mechanical screech. Either way, it got Titus sitting straight up and getting to his feet in a haphazard way. Quickly, he ran through the short corridor to the ship’s cockpit and jumped around one of the passenger seats into the pilot’s chair. As he was sitting, his right hand brushed against the sensor unit and stopped the annoying noise. He then quickly turned in the chair to look to the small sensor screen off to the left console. When his eyes fell on the screen, they widened and he nearly fell back out of the chair. Resisting the urge to run off and find Jen to warn her and get the word to the others, he stayed put and made sure this wasn’t a joke. Or a random stroke of coincidence.    According to the sensor readings, a small object had entered the planet’s orbit a few minutes earlier. It completed one full orbit before scanning the surface. This was half the reason that the alarm went off. The other half was that the ship was coming in towards them. And it was now close enough for the computer to identify what the ship probably was. That was what had Titus wanting to run off. Instead, though, he powered up the weapon’s systems and prepared to get the top turret charged up and ready. The ship was an X-Wing. Or at least, close to an X-Wing. It was just slightly larger than the normal model and was moving a little faster, too. But it was alone. And something stayed his hand from the turret controls. Seeing that he wasn’t going to shoot the thing down, Titus spun around in the chair, stumbled to his feet and ran off to find Jen.    He found her by nearly running into her. Jen and Shadow had heard the obvious sound of the X-Wing’s engines echoing not far from them, and were running to it. There were no words beyond sounds that had probably been thought of as words between them before the three tore off between trees back to the only clearing anywhere near them. Back to the ships. When they arrived, they watched the X-Wing setting down just behind Loki and a little off to the right of the Alderaan II. The three of them ducked and ran around the larger form of Loki, who was pounding Shadow with questions of all sorts, and stopped so as not to be crushed.    The ship was larger than the normal X-Wing. It had the normal shape and build, except that the underside near the rear had a slightly larger, fifth drive unit attached. The only other visible difference was that the pilot was sitting very far ahead of the back of the ship. It had a gunner’s seat. Interesting...    The second that the ship was down and stable, Titus watched the two females charge forward as one. He couldn’t help a slight grin at that. Surprise had faded from all of them to a sense of worry. In the pilot’s chair was not the usual orange and white uniformed pilot. Instead, they could see a dark brown shoulder, scruffy and slightly red tinted white hair, a large brown ear, and Akan’s profile. He didn’t look down to them. In fact, Titus noticed that the kid wasn’t really doing anything but staring forward. The canopy hadn’t opened, either.    That helped Titus to the decision of following both the females, who were already working on getting up onto the ship. Jen put her hands together, cupping them low so that Shadow could use them as a footstep. Though the Alraxian probably could have jumped up herself, she nodded to Jen and took the boost. A short moment later and Shadow was on the long nose of the ship, clawing at it just slightly for fear of sliding off the other side and landing on her tail. Making sure her balance was fine, Shadow then looked forward into the cockpit.    First, she noticed his eyes. Open and blinking, but not aware. He just looked forward. How that assisted in landing this pile of metal, Shadow had no idea. But the eyes weren’t what got her attention. What got her attention was all the red. She had first noticed it in his hair, then seen that there were much darker patches all along his clothes. If the canopy wasn’t sealed, she would be able to smell it and identify that as what she had a feeling it was. Extending her claws, Shadow tried to pry the canopy open. It wasn’t working. Growling, she punched the thing and yelled, “Open the damn canopy!”    Though she didn’t see his hand move, there was a short pause and then a short hiss of air as it snapped open. Shadow quickly shot back so as not to be carried up with the canopy, but was suddenly overwhelmed with a heavy smell of blood. Red blood. She couldn’t help a shudder. Red blood was disgusting.    “Akan!” Jen said, who was now being help up at level with the cockpit thanks to Titus. When she noticed that he was staring forward and not reacting, she instead turned to Shadow, “What’s wrong with him?”    “Shock,” Shadow commented, climbing half into the cockpit to start undoing the straps holding Akan into the ship, “I think.”“You think?” that was Titus, shaking slightly but not having too much trouble holding up Jen. She didn’t weigh all that much, and was also using one hand on the edge of the cockpit to lift her up just a little more. The other hand was helping Shadow with parts she couldn’t reach.    “I’m not an expert in these things,” grumbled the muffled voice of Shadow. She had thrown the straps off over Akan and then looked at the current problem. Getting him down was going to be interesting. But that wasn’t going to be all that much trouble. The trouble, Shadow figured, was going to be getting any information out of Akan. Before starting in suggestions on how to go about lifting him out, she sighed and rested her head on the forward console of the cockpit. Once this was all over and done with, she was going to hit him. Hard. Seemed like no matter what he did, it always ended up in more work and trouble. Why couldn’t he have just stayed in bed?! And what was that other smell the blood was masking? Too many questions...</blockquote>

Verification