The Rise of the Valkyrie *ON HIATUS*

Chapter Twenty-Five

In the quiet grove of a meadow, a stream trickled nearby. Birds chirped in the trees, and the leaves rustled in the wind, but other than that, it was silent. Peaceful. A perfect place for a nap, as a togruta had discovered. Her body relaxed against the lush moss covered ground. Time seemed to pass slowly, as the togruta let her war torn body become less tense. She felt she could stay here forever, but she knew it wasn't to be. The force was calling her elsewhere, but she would relax for a few more moments.

Just as the Jedi was dozing off, a few giggles sounded through the air. Her eyes opened, and she reached out through the force. Nearby she felt a few little kids, being watched over by a slightly older one. Smiling, she spoke softly. 

"I know you're out there", she called. "You can come out, I won't hurt you."

She heard rustling, and the older child walked out, being followed by three younger children. She sat up, and smiled at them.

"Hello", she greeted. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

The older one's cheeks flushed red, and he ducked his head. "I was playing with my sister and her friends, when she decided to run off, so I had to chase after her and these two followed me. We're lost now, unfortunately, no thanks to her." He sent a glare toward his little sister, who looked down at the ground.

The togruta frowned, and knelt in front of the young child. "Hey, it's okay. Ignore your big brother okay? He's being a bit mean right now, but he's just scared."

"I'm not scared!" the older kid exclaimed. The Jedi sent him a glance, before looking back at the young child.

"Can you tell me the names of your friends?" she asked gently. The young girl pointed to one of them.

"That's Caben", she said quietly before pointing to the other one. "and that's Stoke."

"It's nice to meet you", the togruta said to the two boys, before turning to the young girl. 

"Do you want to tell me your name now? I'll tell you mine."

The young girl nodded. "Omera", she whispered. 

"Omera", the Jedi Knight smiled. "That's a really pretty name. My name is Ashara, but if you want, you can call me Ash."

The young girl returned Ashara's smile, her teeth sparkling in the light of the setting sun. Ashara stood up, and turned to the older boy.

"Don't be too frustrated, kid", she said. "You're lucky I'm here, or else you'd be stuck in these woods until someone from your village came and found you."

The kid scoffed. "I doubt that. What can you even do that we can't?"

Ashara shook her head. "I'll tell you when we get to your village. Which we need to get a move on if we want to get there before dark."

The kid nodded, and knelt down, having Caben climb onto his back. He stood up and scooped up Stoke before glancing at Ashara.

"Can you carry Omera?"

The Jedi nodded, and lifted up Omera, who instantly rested her head onto the togruta's shoulder. Ashara smiled softly at the tiring child, and started walking in the direction that the group of four had come from.

"What's your name, kid?" she asked the older boy. 

"Ben", the kid answered. "My name is Ben."

Ashara smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Ben."

They walked in silence for while. Omera's eyes had slid shut, and she was snoring softly. Stoke had also fallen asleep, while Caben was still partially awake, but very quickly falling asleep. Ashara knew they needed to get back to the village soon, and she could sense that it wasn't too far away, but she didn't they would make it before the third child fell asleep, and if he did that, they would have to stop walking until they were found due to the fact that Ben couldn't hold both him and Stoke at the same time without dropping one of them if they were both asleep.