Across the skies

Prologue

The green of the leaves blurred into the brown of the trunks holding them out until Guinevere saw nothing but streaks of dull colors bleeding into one another. She had no time to admire the depth of the beautiful greens nourished by the sun and the soil underneath, nor did she had the time to nestle against the roots that peeked from the rich earth and cozied with curled moss to provide a comforting blanket.

She didn't have time to admire any of the beauty of the forest or the Force that thrived through every piece of it. She wished she did, but with two bounty hunters chasing behind her, she had to measure each bated breath and push herself faster before they caught up to her.

"STOP!"

"WE CAN TAKE YOU IN ALIVE! OR WE CAN TAKE YOU IN DEAD!"

The last option caused her to pick up the pace.

She jumped over a fallen tree. Her hand skimmed along the dead bark and felt the left over life still swirling within the rings of the trunk. There were whispers of stories embedded in the bark that called out to her, but with her pursuers she had to leave them unheard.

The wind hissed angrily in her ears as it roared at her to keep going. She listened to it as she pumped her arms by her side to push herself even faster.

She spared a glance over her shoulder to see the two men were far enough away that a simple turn would cause them to lose sight of her.

She looked ahead and waited until she reached a slight dip in the earth, then she turned left and ran alongside the ditch.

There was a willow tree crouched over the ditch that had long branches swaying with the howling wind. The thin leaves adorned along the thin branches threw off shades of greens that resembled strands of jade and emerald.

She ran through the curtain of branches then Force jumped up to hide among the thicker branches near the top of the tree.

She pressed her back against the tree's trunk and closed her eyes to steady herself. Her heart beat traveled down her limbs until her fingertips pulsed with every raving urgency of blood.

Though her eyes were closed, she had a sense of the world around her. All flowing life took shape in differing shades of soft grays and periwinkles. The ditch below her feet was a soft pearl while the trees around her captured a more ashy hue.

In the distance to her right were two distinct figures practically radiating with differing shades of Prussian. Their colors pulsed with their heavy pants and soaked the air around them.

They grew closer to her, and as they did she heard their heinous whispers.

"We should just kill her and get the bounty for her dead body."

"She's worth more alive. The risk will be greatly rewarded."

Her eyes peeled open as she looked down to see the two hunters just beyond the willow's outer branches. One held a tracking fob with a beeping red light buzzing in the middle of it. As he moved the tracker, the tall double prongs pointed towards the willow tree and made the light consistently glow as it gave a steady hum.

"This says she's right here..."

The man with the rifle looked around the forest floor, but never raised his head above eyelevel. "I don't see her."

The man dropped the tracking fob to give his partner a disgruntled shake of his head. "Keep looking. She can't be far." He traded his fob for his own laser pistol as he scoured the ground before him. "I want that weapon of hers. What a prize it would be. Worth more than any bounty."