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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2051124" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 157: Are We Alive?For Shadow, the events that occurred before her eyes were all a blur...yet a strangely focused blur, as if time itself had collapsed into a quick few moments that had been so clear she couldn’t get them out of her head. Her shock at what happened to Jen...then Voort nearly killing her...then the vicious fight between Voort and Akan...it had all faded away as she realized that Akan had collapsed. She could feel his mind, exhausted even more than she was. He had exerted himself so much just to get to the top of this horrible tower, and then...then chaos let loose. She still wasn’t even sure how Akan had stayed conscious for so long. There wasn’t any rational reason for it. All his energy had been used up in remorphing and fighting their way up here, and somehow he had found a second wind to first save her life once...fight the fallen Voort back, then save her life again.    But now he had passed out and Voort was dead. Killed by sheer chance. Akan wasn’t going to kill Voort, despite everything the young Alraxian had said through the time the they had all known each other. And so a simple defensive move had resulted in exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Shadow couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t the kind of person to misplace something like that so foolishly. The real fault here was Halpak...and to a point, her. Him for manipulating all of these damned events to culminate here on the Smuggler’s Moon. And her for dismissing everything Akan had tried to warn her of. But it was too late for that now. And despite the fact that a part of her needed to find Jen’s body, Shadow knew that she had other priorities.    The next few hours passed in another odd blur. She would later remember removing Voort from the three blood covered blades and laying him out in the center of the chamber, fitting a shrine of sorts over him from the remains of the desk that had been shattered from Jen’s impact. Marix knew the irony in this, but dismissed it for the time. After that, she could recall moving to Akan and picking him up, carrying him over one shoulder as she started towards the exit. Now they had time. Time to rewire the turbolift.    And halfway back down that column lined corridor, Shadow saw the small, black furred, blue striped body of the jai. He hadn’t moved from where he had fallen, but she could tell he was still alive. If she had been thinking and not just acting and doing what ‘should’ be done, Shadow probably wouldn’t have scooped the jai up and carried him out in the crook of her arm. But she did. One Alraxian in each arm, Shadow eventually made it back to ‘their’ room at the top of the nearby tower. She had deposited the two unconscious Alraxians there and gone off back into the morning of Nar Shaddaa. Off to call in some old favors. Off to get them a ship.* * * *Slowly, the nothingness of unconsciousness gave way to the pains of consciousness. Akan was still exhausted, and therefore figured that he hadn’t been out too long. His head was spinning and he felt hungry...so very hungry. That was probably why he felt so dizzy and tired and achy and...well, somehow he had a feeling that the hunger was the reason. He could hear noises around him distantly. Beeps, buzzing sounds, and similar noises echoed around him for a few minutes. Eventually, his ears stopped focusing on certain sounds and he could hear a breathing near him.    It took some time before he finally found the strength to open his eyes. The blurry world around him slowly came into focus, and Akan could see a viewport in front of him, the blue tunnel of hyperspace cascading ahead of him. There in front of him was a large console and Akan realized he was sitting in a chair that had been leaned back. Slowly turning to look to his left, he could see Shadow sitting upright and watching him with an odd look on her face.    It wasn’t the usual emotionless stare, but something else. He could feel it through their link, but simply couldn’t describe it. But it was something. And something was more than anything he could remember. After blinking a couple of times to refocus the world again, he tried to sit up. Shadow, however, reached over and put a hand on his chest to stop him, saying quietly, “Just rest.”    “How long...?” Akan found his voice, and not even thinking to use the link for a more simple communication.    Shadow sighed and looked out the viewport a moment, saying in that same quiet, almost depressed voice, “Thirteen standard hours,” there was a pause before she anticipated his next questions, then she said, “I got us a ship. You’re X-Wing’s in the cargo hold in back.”    Akan’s eyes didn’t move away from watching Shadow, and his voice steadied somewhat as he got used to consciousness again, “Where are we going?”    “There’s a gate to the Empire’s territory at the edge of the Unknown Regions,” Shadow said, turning back to him, her voice almost a whisper, “We should be there in a about three days.”    “What about–“    ”Don’t,” Shadow said, cutting off any questions about either of the Voorts. Her voice was still calm, though, “I’m sorry, but my...our people are in danger. I know that Ket is going there. There just...isn’t...isn’t time to waste. We have to stop him.”    Akan nodded, slowly bringing his seat upright and ignoring the dizzy feeling that the new position brought with it. An odd question found its way into Akan’s mind, and he found himself asking it before having a chance to even think, “Have you slept at all?”    Shadow shook her head, “I was busy getting you out and getting this ship and then plotting the right coordinates...but I’m fine. I ate. You need to eat. The food isn’t great, but there’s a mess of sorts on this thing that you should use.”    “I’ll eat if you sleep,” Akan mumbled, feeling her exhaustion through the link as he heard his own stomach growl slightly.    To his surprise, though, Shadow didn’t argue. She simply nodded and got to her feet, reaching over to help him up. Standing was interesting, as Akan realized how weak his body really was. Shadow allowed him a moment to orient himself, holding him up as best she could while trying to ignore her own exhaustion. The short walk down the central corridor to the nearest of the quarters in the fairly large sized ship was interesting, as Akan was still getting used to how weak he was.    But when they finally got to the room and the door had slid open to reveal the nice sized bed, it was Akan who was keeping Shadow on her feet. Her absolute exhaustion was finally catching up with her. He helped her to the bed, laying her down on it and finding himself sitting next to her. Something was bugging him, and yet he knew that it wasn’t something she wanted to hear.    Shadow easily picked up on his thoughts, even in her half-awake state. The look she gave him was an old one that he recognized easily. It was the ‘just say it’ look that was usually accompanied with Shadow rolling her eyes at him. But for some reason, it suddenly became hard to say. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ignore the images that were forcing their way into his mind before stuttering out, “I...I didn’t mean...I didn’t mean for that to happen. I didn’t mean to...to...”    He trailed off as tears started to well up in his eyes. Carefully, Shadow reached over and took his hand in hers. Akan took this as her trying to comfort him in the usual awkward way that she did. And maybe it was at some level...but she was falling asleep and becoming more and more terrified as she did so. Now that the adrenaline rush was completely gone, her duties of getting them out of there and on their way to save their people passed for the time, she worried it was all a dream. What if Akan was dead, too? What if they were all gone? What if the Darkwing still lived?!    As she fell asleep, her grip on Akan’s hand tightened. It was her only reminder that it was real. That he was really still alive. That she was. That all wasn’t lost...that maybe, somehow, they would get to the Hidden Worlds before Ket let loose whatever it was he planned to let loose. Vaguely feeling Shadow’s thoughts through the link and the tight grip on his hand, Akan went no where. It didn’t matter how hungry he was for some reason. To Shadow, it didn’t either.    He was alive. They were alive. Despite all of that...he was still alive.</blockquote>

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