[Chapter Three] Chasing Shadows

[Lief]

The dusty desert spread far ahead of him; orange, as far as his eyes could see. Bland, coarse, broken by the occasional jagged shrub or black rock. Even the critters had given up, hiding beneath splintered sandstone or submerging themselves in the sand. They didn't even attempt to flee at his approach.

Kobe lifted a hand, and tugged at the collar of his tunic in order to shroud his face from the worst of it. A fierce wind blew through the night, disturbing the ground and causing sand to spray into his eyes. Clenching his jaw the young man pressed on, one fist curling tightly at his side.

He breathed through the thick material that sheltered his mouth, and glared into the distance. His eyes were not the greatest, but he could definitely make out a camp of sorts in the distance. But it was some way off, and he did not seek to come upon it.

Instead he skirted around a rock face, craggy valleys breaking up the otherwise flatland, towering overhead. They were out in the middle of nowhere; Kobe could not help but wonder if there was not a better place for them to be. Curiosity bade him to look in their direction again. Perhaps they were archaeologists?

Truth be told he did not wish to find out.

After all, he was not here for them.

He was here for Him.

[member='Joon']

 

[Connor Harrison]

Dusk was settling in and the pair had experienced events that Joon never wanted to experience again. Another crashing ship, dehydration, starvation, hallucination, anger and confrontation, guilt – the clone had been taken from her protective home in the ruins of the Imperial Research Facility for this?

The Sith, [member="Darth Ayra"], had promised nothing but potential for Joon – Project JN-4 – to learn and continue the power and purpose she was being bred for. Now, this sparse world was nothing like she had expected and so far it had been painful and sad.

She was learning emotion quickly, and now was frustrated at Ayra herself, which led to her wandering away from their erected camp to be alone; to try and take herself back to the peace of Duro.

Her hair was down, brushing against the jacket collar she wore, zipped up to keep her covered and warm as the temperature was dropping. Steady, but still dropping. Joon wanted to get away and look up to the stars like she used to do – maybe [member="Asemir Lor'kora"] would be thinking about her? He was a dirty liar, but maybe he could have helped her? Where was he, she wondered.

There was an itch over her body, like she was being watched. This Force power was new to her, again, but she understood life-force could be detected, and she knew life was all around and not to be afraid. Her feet crunched over the hard sand that turned into pebbles and grit as she came to a clump of boulders, ones that would take her a little higher to the stars if she climbed them.

Which she did.

[member=Grotthu]

 

[Lief]

He heard the scuff of feet on sand and pebbles, and tensed up.

Maybe they were not archaeologists after all... If they were, why would someone be lurking around in the dead of night trying not to be spotted by him? A slight growl left his lips, rumbling from his throat, at the thought.

No, they would be more forward.

Less suspicious.

Then again, whoever it was certainly wasn't trained by the noise they were making. Turning around, Kobe squinted through the darkness and caught a strange scent on the air.

Further scuffles against the rockface he was pressed against. Someone was seeking higher ground. An animal, perhaps? No... That was definitely not claws he heard, but boots. He began to walk around the boulders, slow and quiet so as not to alarm whoever was climbing, and turned his gaze skyward. He could see, set against the placid sky, the outline of a figure.

Definitely a human.

He did not like being the prey. Perhaps she would like it more.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As she climbed, her fingers clutching the cold rock, Joon glanced over and froze; she didn’t like this feeling she had. Like an animal in the wild, she felt eyes on her. Was it Ayra? She turned her head the other way to look out but the camp was still, the crackling fire flamed a little in the distance.

Her heart thumped, and instinctively, she retreated to that place on Duro where she hid.

Quick as a flash, she started to descend, jumping on the rock, one to another until she hit the desert again and curled herself into the foetal position and hugged the cold feature behind her, arms around her legs.

She hated this – HATED it. She had no weapon, no protection, and she was scared. She didn’t want to be, but she was alone in a world she didn’t understand. Closing her eyes, she buried her head into the nape of her arm and twisted as much as she could to curl away and hide from whatever was out there.

[member="Grotthu"]

 

[Lief]

Not unakin to the way he had hunted the Council Members on Cerea, Kobe all at once left the dusty ground and propelled himself upward onto a higher point of the boulder. He soared over the girl who lay hunched and curled in a protective fetal position, opting to land in a crouch just a few feet ahead of her.

He turned to face her.

Shrewd eyes narrowed in her direction.

Though it was dark enough to not make out many features, it was definitely a she. There was something about the posture, the position, that made him realize this fact. She appeared vulnerable, and this was oddly enticing to the boy who had been on the back foot for his entire life.

No more.

He would play the role of no man's fool!

Just two paces forward closed all space between them. His nose twitched slightly, lips pulling back in a snarl as he glared down at the weak figure beneath him. She would never come to know his past. She would never know that he was one of the weaker ilk of the Galaxy.

Aurum had awoken something within him. Sumiko had made him crave power, indirectly. He would not be weak.

He would never be weak.

Reaching down, Kobe aimed to scrag her by the back of the shirt - attempting to lift her to her feet so he could get a better look at her. But he also did this in order to expedite his movements. For all he knew another of the travelers from the camp could be nearby. And he didn't quite fancy that.

Already he could feel the Force envelop the girl, without having to do much probing; she was strong, that was for sure, and her fear only made it more obvious. He could taste it on the air.

Was this the chance he needed to break away from all those chains he'd unknowingly forged?

Would this set him on a new path?

The answers would not lie in this cowering girl, but perhaps she would be a useful way of extracting them all the same.

Kobe would take no chances.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

If she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t see it.

Something inside her wanted to see it, to face the danger and be what Ayra thought she could be, but something else didn’t let her. Her fingers dug into her legs and her breathing was cold, hearing the noise above her and then in front. She was going to be terminated.

Fingers dug around her clothing, pulling her body up, even as she pulled down to resist, her legs scrambled upright to gain balance. Reaching around, she lashed out as she had been trained regardless of the fear she felt and dug her nails into the brute’s wrists, pushing deep as hard as possible to lacerate the skin, make them bleed, anything – survive.

Looking at the savage male, she snarled and fought his grip, but felt she was going nowhere, even as she made her attack.

[member="Grotthu"]

 

[Lief]

Her nails bit into his skin, causing him to suck in a breath. Yet his grip did not loosen.

Quite the contrary.

His grip tightened, not just into her clothes now but against the back of her neck. His other hand raised, attempting to strike her cheek with the back of it.

Nothing was said by the boy.

Instead he growled back at her, and leaped from the top of the rock with her in his grip, down into the sand below. If she was not alone, they might notice that she was missing soon.

They had to be gone before that happened.

This girl was not Kaine, but she would be one rung in the ladder which led to his demise.

Whoever she was, she was lucky he was not as brutal as his former Master; he would have killed her without any hesitation, especially if she dared try to lash out at him.

Kobe, though? Kobe saw the usefulness in lesser beings.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon gasped as she was hit, the blow stunning her and stinging – a hit she hadn’t ever experienced. She had felt pain, but now she was being physically abused. Lurching forward, she maintained her grasp, half-way to crying out of anger and screaming in anger; she couldn’t act as she fell forward with the brute.

Knees buckling on the ground, everything about Ayra vanished and wondered if this was a test. Tears blurred her vision for a moment, but she blinked them out and felt the desire…the hunger…the rage.

"Bona nai kachu!” Joon snarled in a dirty rage.

She screeched and twisted, bringing her arms forward and clamping them to the man’s neck and face, pushing her fingers into the skin and fingering the eye sockets, whilst pushing him back as hard as she could. Saliva spat from her gritted teeth as the darkness crept in – the will to survive.

Joon wanted to hear bone crack and see the man fall dead, and she didn’t think about it. Something took over, and she pushed, and dug in, and twisted with all her might.

[member="Grotthu"]

 

[Lief]

The girl continued to fight, lashing out against him as they reached the dunes below and Kobe began to drag her away. Fingers clutched at his face, trying to scratch at his eyes, but rather than making him stop it only fueled him further.

He would not be weak.

His free hand reached up to snatch at her wrists, seeking to pull them away from his face with a tight grip. He clenched his jaw, growling back at her. He had no clue what she had said, he didn't care. It did not matter to him.

Kobe marched her away from the rocks and the camp, back toward his ship which wasn't too far. Well, Kaine's ship. His ship. Whoever's.

He could feel blood trickling lightly down his cheek from where her nails had dug in. The air stung, especially when the wind picked up sand and threw it at him again.

Hand curled, fingers twitching and longing to strike her again. She was being too loud, too resistant. Part of him wanted to silence her, but death was too final and he had nothing to gag her with. Best he just hurry.

Nothing was said as they neared the ship.

No explanation.

Nothing.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Fingers around her wrists like clamps, the brute pulled her easily away from her safe haven of the rock formation and away from the camp. Why wasn’t Ayra helping? Joon opened her mouth and formed one syllable of exclamation before he struck her again – this time with enough force to knock her back and collapse onto the floor, legs buckling again, with a sharp cry.

She hadn’t recovered from the ordeal landing on the planet, let alone what followed, and now she was being beaten and taken away by an unknown human to an unknown place – what if this was an Imperial solider, or someone belonging to Asemir? What if he had found her?

He was lying all along; he wanted to keep her and the JN programme to himself.

Joon was bleary eyed and dragging along the sand, half-out for the count, pulling against as much as she could with no effect.

She was bleeding, and she felt the flesh stinging as the dark night sky above covered the brute and she was unable to make him out, let alone the ship he headed too. Closing her eyes, Joon tried to remember her Dark Side Force power Ayra had touched on, but she wasn’t focusing or concentrating enough – this really had become a nightmare of epic proportions.

[member="Grotthu"]