A Star Among Planets (Star Wars Rebels Fanfiction)

Chapter 82: Not The Final Battle

    Halftail leaped back down and whiskered his tail behind him. "Three of them. You'll be able to see them soon," he explained as he padded backwards and blinked at Swifttail and Keen.

    Keen flapped his wings and looked upward at where Halftail had been looking. He hadn't seen anything originally, but when he turned his head slightly, he saw what Halftail had been talking about. They were huge and clanking forward on giant feet and legs. He gulped as he lowered his head into his shoulders before he hunkered down. "They're huge," he gasped with his jaw gaping in awe.

    Swifttail surged forward and pressed against Keen to calm him down. He then blinked his eyes and saw what Keen was talking about. "What are those things?"

    "I don't know," meowed Halftail as he brushed the fur on the back of his spine. "But I can tell you that they're probably the nastiest buggers that we could have seen."

    Horror blinked his one eye at them and his ears twitched on the side of his head. He watched as they walked and he sucked in a harsh breath. "They're pretty swift for their size," he pointed out.

    Halftail nodded in agreement. "Swift or not, they can still blow us up with the power of their canons. We might want to initiate that plan now," he offered, but when he tried to swallow, saliva became caught in his throat.

    Kanan nodded in agreement and the group charged into the room. Halftail brought up the rear and pushed his head against Keen's haunches to force him forward. "Hurry up! We don't have all day, Keen!"

    Keen darted forward and Halftail followed him. The door closed as they entered the sand storm and he sighed heavily. He slumped to the back of the wall with his paws thrust on the ground in front of him. He hovered over a picture that he pulled from his belt. He unfolded it and gazed at it fondly. He saw himself and Bine sitting together. They were so close that their fur brushed and their tails were intertwined. Bine's blue eyes shone as she looked into Halftail's eyes. Halftail's head was tilted slightly downward so that he could truly gaze at his mate's beauty. Hee had remembered that heartbeat like it was yesterday.

    "That's a beautiful she-cat."

    Halftail nearly jumped when he realized that it was Horror. He went to fold the picture away, but Horror stretched out a paw and forced him to keep it out. He sat beside him and gazed at the picture with his remaining eye. "Was that your mate," he inquired as he ran a paw over the picture of Bine.

    Halftail felt grief make his throat close. However, he wasn't about to let it control him, at least not now. "Yes, she was."
   
    "I take it that she died," pressed Horror. He was a bit worried of pushing Halftail too far, but he was curious. He knew that Halftail had a son, yet he had never heard him mention a mate.

    Halftail blinked his eyes to stop the tears from falling down his face. He grumbled as he nodded, remembering the day that she had slipped away. "Yes, she did. She died not long after giving birth to Swifttail and his sisters. I wish, more than anything, that I could bring her back but I can't. I always keep this with me to remind me that she's always with me."

    Horror gave a tiny dip of his head. "I'm so sorry about your loss. I'm sure that she would be very proud of you."

    Halftail had to stop himself from laughing in Horror's face. Bine couldn't possibly be proud of him. He was failing miserably as not only a Jedi, but as a father as well. He knew that Bine loved him. He just wasn't sure if she was proud of him. "I have no idea. I suppose I never will."

    Horror was about to say something when Kanan suddenly came over to Halftail. Horror gave them some space while Kanan sat beside Halftail. "Hey, are you looking at that picture of Bine again?"