COMPLETED, after elly was taken off of active duty, she grew used to her routine. training younglings and being the sole sentient carer of the meditation gardens had filled her time perfectly but as the clone wars raged on, she couldn't avoid her re...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER ONE.
The sky was scorched with smoke. Elly's eyes burnt with it, red and water-y. She could barely see as she ran, stumbling over her own feet with Andri's body clutched to her chest. The girl was heavy but she couldn't leave it to the fire. She couldn't leave it to burn. Not after what had happened. Elly panted heavily as she ran, smoke filling her lungs, infecting her. Her chest rose and fell jaggedly as she forced herself to keep going.
It was too far away and she was too tired but she kept moving. She had to keep moving but her foot snagged on a rock. She went tumbling, falling down the sand dune. Sand covered her skin, filling her lungs as she rolled. But her grip never released Andri, not letting the young girl fall away. The sand covered her blood-stained skin, sticking to her. Scratchy and brittle as she landed harshly. Her spine smashed into a rock, a scream of agony escaped her lips.
The scabbed wounds that covered her skin reopened again as she turned over. Andri slumped across her chest, not moving, not breathing. Nothing but suffocating smoke around them. Elly could taste it but she still felt calm. For the first time since she had arrived on this Maker-forsaken hellscape, she felt calm. She took in a breath, smoke filling her lungs.
She coughed and sputtered but couldn't move. Everything was too heavy. Her body, Andri. It was all too heavy. Her head rested in the sand and she just lay there. Shouts and screams and blasts went off in the distance. Elly wasn't sure how far she had gone but if they found her now, she didn't see the point in fighting.
Her lightsaber was strapped to her belt but her hands felt heavy to lift. The blood that flowed through her veins felt heavy, too heavy. It was exhausting and darkness started to invade her vision as her eyes blinked closed.
The smoke had begun to clear away now. The wind had blown it in a different direction and as she forced her eyes open again, she looked at the stars. The unfamiliar constellations and planets and suns that lay just past the stratosphere and she wondered if she would die under these stars. It would be a beautiful way to die. Stars above her head and completely alone. Dying with people was so much more painful.
Then there was the familiar sound of a lightsaber and she heard more cries and more blasts. They were closer now and the adrenaline kicked in. She couldn't die under these stars so with a heave, Andri fell to the desert floor. The brown blood-matted mop that was once her hair smacking against the sand.
Elly didn't say a word but she pulled herself to her feet. Every muscle in her body strained, screaming for her just to sit back down. They didn't want to move any longer but Elly had the power. She would not die like a coward, alone and under an unfamiliar sky. She would die with blood spilt and a purpose.
The hill was steep but with the Force helping her up, she made it to the top. The smoke was still billowing from the building and there were men running. Blasts and a small group of Jedi. Three of them. A familiar man at the front, a panicked look in his eye but still so focused. He was the sunlight in this dreary nightmare.
Elly didn't call out to him like she usually would. Her focus wasn't on him but instead, the criminals. They had spotted her and the blasts came quickly. She heaved herself behind a rock and waited, strategising.
Two had been further down the hill and one was alone to the left. If she was lucky, they would split further apart or someone would come to assist her. On her best day, she would have killed the entire base but she was tired. Her brain was honey and her movements were sluggish. It would be dangerous to take so many people on.
The criminals were talking in a language that Elly barely knew. It was native to the planet and she had never seen the point in learning it. The outer rim was not her territory. Her hand reached down for the lightsaber and she pulled it from its place, clicking it on.
The orange hue wrapped her in a familiar warmth, burning hot a few inches from her face but she didn't notice. It wasn't supposed to harm her so it didn't. Her head moved to look around the corner again and one of the criminals had moved closer. He was looking around, weapon raised and unsure.
Elly stepped out, holding her lightsaber close. Then the blasters went off and she blocked any shot she could, dodging the others until she was close enough. With the force on her side, she jumped through the air, slashing the criminal in half. It cut through skin and bone like a knife on hot butter and it thudded to the floor.
The criminals were stunned and it made Elly smirk. She cocked her head and the two seemed to exchange a look before dropping their weapons and running. Her head tilted and she watched them run for a moment before she picked up one of their blasters. With two shots, they were both dead. Perfect headshots and they fell to the ground like chopped trees.
Her gaze met the blaster and she watched as her hand began to shake. Both her hands and she dropped the blaster, hastily moving to turn the lightsaber off before she slipped it onto her belt. Her hands still shook and it felt like every part of her had been drained. Her body buzzing with adrenaline, she felt like she'd lost control.
The honey that her brain had turned into had been sucked out, leaving her empty yet so overwhelmed with everything. Her head flicked from side to side, in search of someone and then she met his gaze. His eyes were like the ocean on a perfect summer day and he ran to her, his lightsaber back on his belt in a second.
Before he reached her side, she began to fall to her knees. Crumbling under the weight of herself but he grabbed her arm, pulling it around his shoulder. The building was falling apart and Elly would be caught in the crosshairs. The smoke billowed around them in a thick haze. He tried to take her towards the ship but she pulled away.
"Andri," She coughed as she reached out towards the hill. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at Elly. He could feel nobody else but he took her word. The two of them climbed the hill as they coughed and spluttered, trying to escape the smoke. They both nearly tumbled down again but instead, they slid down the bank until they reached Andri.
Elly collapsed beside the brunette, turning her over. She brushed the sand from the young girl's cheeks and let out a soft sigh. Her head was spinning, she felt nauseous from the battle. The blood she had lost hitting her as the adrenaline dissipated. Her head felt empty but she couldn't, she couldn't leave Andri.
"We must get back," He said as he watched Elly pull Andri onto her lap. The blonde hair of the older woman was obscured in the dark night of Nieguth. The burning fire and the starry sky were the only light and they needed to leave before something else happened. Elly shook her head violently and lifted her gaze to meet his. He just stared for a long moment, his reaction to her masked so perfectly. It was nothing he hadn't experienced before.
"I can't," Elly whispered. Her voice was hoarse and rough. Talking felt like sandpaper against the back of her throat and the smokey smell coated the inside of her mouth. The bitterness seeped into her bones as she looked down at Andri's dead body, "I can't," She solidified after a moment of silence. There was a beat and then Obi-Wan lowered himself to sit beside her. He knelt forward and picked up the brunette and together, they took Andri back to the ship.
