- CASTLES CRUMBLING (A.S.) -

- 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎 -

i gave you your chance to deliver, now it's my turn.

THE NIGHT WAS PEACEFUL.

Regina was on watch duty, staring into the desert that spread below her. The sun had long set, and the winds and sandstorm had died down into nothingness–presumably during the time that she had been sleeping. Skywalker was slumbering peacefully in his corner of the cave;  the outside was silent except for the occasional call of some unfamiliar creature moving across the desert.

Above Regina, the stars were shining through a partly cloudy sky. Honestly, she was taking comfort in the peace and quiet; she preferred the night, especially now that she was marooned with Skywalker. The darkness gave her time to think in perfect peace. What's more, she could feel the Force in everything around her.

The young Padawan was sitting near the mouth of the cave, enjoying the slight breeze that wafted by every so often. She also enjoyed staring up at the stars. For some reason, the giant globes of gas gave her comfort. They reminded her that she was not the only being in the galaxy and that even though her problems seemed overwhelming at times, there were others out there facing things that might be even more horrible.

Well, that and the fact that she found the night sky beautiful.

But this far in the Outer Rim, Regina had difficulty recognizing the stars, let alone identifying constellations. These stars were far different from the ones in the skies above Coruscant, let alone its nearby planets.

Gazing into the sky, Regina realized that the horizon was fading from black to grey and that the stars were beginning to disappear in the brightness of the morning. It was time to make contact with her master.

Fishing through the bag that lay at her side, Regina grabbed hold of her miniature holoprojector, holding it over her hand as she readied to begin her transmission.

"It's morning already?" came a groggy voice.

Regina turned her head slightly to see a slightly disheveled Anakin Skywalker sitting up. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and rolled slowly to his feet.

"Yeah," Regina replied quietly, looking down at the holoprojecter and finding the switch. "I was just about to send a transmission to my master. You might want to be around just in case Master Kenobi shows up." Regina looked over at Skywalker who was walking in her direction. His face gave off slight annoyance but Regina ignored him. The guy just thought he was better than everyone else and she had no time to deal with his staggeringly enormous ego.

"Do you want me to do it?"

Regina rolled her eyes, irritated now, and hit the button.

Instantly, projections of both Jedi Masters appeared, floating above the device itself. Quillow and Kenobi were standing there, smaller versions of themselves gazing back at her. From the looks on the face of Quillow, he seemed relieved to see her. She felt a pang of guilt; she should have contacted him sooner.

"Good morning, Master Quillow, Master Kenobi," Regina politely addressed the Jedi.

"Any news, Regina?" Obi-Wan asked anxiously. The Jedi looked like he had gotten little sleep. Despite his image being so small, Kenobi looked drained. Skywalker had better know how much stress he caused Obi-Wan.