1 Chapter 1

I woke with a start, the sensation of something dripping down my face making me shiver. I opened my eyes and looked up to see another hole in my roof. Great, another thing to repair.

I unceremoniously rolled out of my cot, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Looking over, I could see a small puddle forming next to me. More holes, more fun, right? I stretched myself out before standing up and walking over to the small room that served as a kitchen, where I spotted yet another puddle.

After muttering curses rebel pilots would blush at, I decided to skip food and head out for more foraging. It's tough living on a rainforest planet with who knows how many giant beasts; living on an uninhabited one, however, was a totally different story. Nobody to trade with, nobody to even talk to. There were several times where I had nearly driven myself insane with the isolation.

Another day, another waste of oxygen.

I slid down the ladder that connected my little hut to the ground and grimaced as my feet landed in something warm and very, very smelly. Nearly gagging, I tried my best at wiping it off on a nearby tree. I'd be smelling it all day if I didn't go to the springs and wash myself. Although, it wasn't necessarily a top priority to smell like a delicate princess. Survival at this point was what I focused on. But maybe a hot bath would help.

I never did make it to the springs.

~|~

A loud boom shook the planet. I looked up to see a gigantic ship racing towards the ground. And as the ship made its descent, a thought raced through my head. Someone finally came for me, someone finally responded to my calls.

I raced towards where the ship landed, not noticing the scrapes that the terrain left on my feet. I had been waiting twelve years for someone to answer my desperate pleas for help.

I was only thirteen when my parents' cruiser crashed on this planet. My mother didn't survive the landing, but my father managed to get the two of us out of the wreckage. We spent weeks trying to fix the cruiser, to at least get some form of communication working. What we thought would take us two weeks took us two months and in that time, my father grew weak and rotted away into nothing.

I don't remember much from back then, I tried to block it out as much as I could. Now, all I could think about was the giant ship that just landed here.

Escape this wretched planet. That was my only goal as I ran and ran until my lungs burned and my legs ached. Escape.

I fell to my knees at one point, hardly able to hold myself up. I looked around me. Nothing but trees until I finally spotted a large beast in the shadows. Now, this would usually be the point where I would run away screaming, but I knew how to handle these creatures. They didn't have a real name, nobody had ever been to this planet before, but I liked to call them Noxii.

There were only a few that I knew of, and the one before me was the mighty Amelita. One of my personal favorites. Catching my breath, I let out a low cry. Her ears perked up and she let out a sharp screech. I smiled as her large paws neared my slumped figure. With a loud grunt, I stood up and — almost missing her — jumped onto the beast's back as she raced forward.

I yanked at her inky fur, pulling her in the direction of the ship. If I couldn't run, I'd ride.

I felt my heart begin to race even faster as we neared. The sound of Amelita's claws sinking into the dirt faded away as I felt something tug me closer to whoever had come to get me. It felt as if something in my soul shifted. I didn't have time to even comprehend what had happened.

It was all so sudden.

I saw the ship. Then the troopers.

Then the shots rained down.

I screamed for Amelita to stop, to turn back. It was too late.

A fire erupted in my lower back and I cried out as I slid from the Noxii's back onto the soggy dirt. I rolled on the ground, dodging as many blasts as I could and yelping when one would get near my face. The troopers were still firing when a cloaked figure made his way out of the ship. Then everything went silent.

I shifted to get a better look, sending a searing pain up my spine as I twisted my body. A low whine escaped my lips and the cloaked figure's head whipped towards me. He was masked, but I felt his eyes stare into mine.

It clicked then. He was what I had felt, he was that ripple of energy.

I tried to pull myself up to at least be sitting, but the pain that arced through my back gave me a very steady no. I was in so much pain, I figured that speaking probably wasn't an option, so I laid there, waiting on something to happen.

This was certainly not the rescue I had anticipated.

The figure slowly made his way over to me, kneeling down so he could lift my head up to face his masked one. I felt a hot tear roll down my dirty cheek. I hadn't even realized that I was crying.

He placed a gloved hand to my temple and I felt something in my mind. A presence.

His presence.

I didn't have the energy to resist his touch, to resist him sorting through every moment of my life.

Every tear. Every laugh. Every scream. Every nightmare.

When he finally pulled his hand away, I caved in to the looming darkness and closed my eyes. The relief of numbness spread through my body as I was pulled into the void.

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