Fallen Not Forgotten (Adventures!AU Book 6)

Ch. 2 Echoes of the Past

The boy! A bit traumatized, but alive!

CW: Missing limbs, combat injuries, suggestive moments (Hunters fault)

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Heat.

Searing, unimaginable heat.

Licking his back, launching him across the platform, slamming him into a wall, sending it all spiraling into a bleak darkness that echoed with the cacophony of the explosion.

Pain.

Horrible, nauseating pain worse than the fires of hell.

Terror.

Panic.

Where was he?

Fives.

Fives!

Where was Fives?!

He wouldn't have left him. Fives would never leave him.

Fives was always there for him. Was always nearby. He wouldn't leave him.

Fives would never leave him.

In his pain fueled delirium, ARC Trooper Echo felt someone by his side.

Fives?

Fives!

He came back for him!

"Fives," he rasped, blindly reaching out.

"Not... exactly."

Disappointment sank into his chest, turning his limbs to lead. It... wasn't Fives? Where was Fives?

He forced his eyes open.

A human face greeted him once his vision cleared, their blue eyes wide with worry.

Blue... cat-eyes?

Wait, they had furry ears as well. And a karkin' tail, bearing the same cinnamon and gold tabby markings as their ears.

Not a human, then. Close, but not quite.

About his height, their broad shoulders and toned arms suggested a rough occupation that required a lot of physical activity, but other than that he had no idea who or what this not-quite-human was. Or if they were a man or woman. Softer features suggested female, but short hair and a flat chest pointed towards male. Maybe they were one of those species that had an intermix of traits?

Droidbait was always the one interested in other species, not him.

As he blinked at them, confused, they spoke slowly. "Hey, trooper. Can ya hear me?"

"Yes," Echo croaked. The blast must have damaged his vocal cords.

"That's a start," they chuckled, offering him a gentle smile. "Take it easy. You're safe now."

"Where am I?" he groaned, eyes shifting around the small interior. It looked to be a makeshift med-bay that doubled as a storage compartment, various food items shelved next to the medical supplies.

His eyes settled on a tall yet lean grey-haired figure in the corner, half hidden in deep shadow. Arms crossed over his chest and a toothpick in his mouth, he studied Echo with narrowed, mistrustful eyes, one of which had a rifle sight tattoo over it.

On his shoulder sat... well, Echo wasn't really sure what it was. The size of a tooka, it looked sort of like an acklay-nexu hybrid with six limbs, a barbed tail, and antenna-bulb such as those found on some of the weirder deepsea creatures on Kamino. He hadn't the faintest idea what it was.