The Witch of the Forest

I don't own star wars.

Horrible searing pain rippled through my body… however more towards my leg than anything but this waking up in pain bullshit is really starting to piss me off. I sat up, and promptly screamed in pain as I glanced down. My leg had been pierced in the calf by a jagged metal rod attached to the floor. It was bent out of shape like much of the rest of my surroundings.

Then everything came back like a runaway speeder. The oncoming planet, the crashing ship, all of us screaming in-

"Oriana!" I shouted, reflexively trying to get up as the metal tore at my flesh and I sat back down. "Damn it!" I hissed, gripping the bar and yanking at its base. Hearing the metal groan, sparks flashing and the ship rumbling dangerously as I did. Oriana managed to get the ship into a productive decent, instead of a full-blown head-long crash we sort of skidded through several trees… the ship was totaled, but we were better off.

The bar wasn't moving… I could pull my leg off it but then I'd bleed out… I know from experience.

"…Fuck." I hissed angrily looking around… I saw a hold-out blaster amongst a pile of wrecked weaponry, just out of my reach. Lying back, I stretched my arm, hissing as the bar wiggled in my calf. "D-damm it…" I hissed, dealing with the pain as my fingers brushed against the handle and- "YES!" I scrapped it into my grip before holding it tightly and aiming it at the bar, as close to my leg without hurting myself. I fired one, twice and the bar snapped away. The blasted end is red hot.

Gingerly. I got to my feet. This was a mistake, but I needed to find Oriana. "Oriana!" I shouted, scrambling to what used to be the cockpit to find my friend unconscious and bleeding from the head. "Oriana!" I removed what I could, brushing broken glass from her and cutting my hands as I lifted her from the chair.

This was an even worse decision, my leg screaming unimaginable pain up at me as I forced myself to carry her to safety. She rested her head on my shoulder as I made my way to the ramp. It wasn't opening… "Fuck me. Open damn it!" I roared, slamming the button as it hissed and sparked, the smell of burning electrical fire and foliage slipping up my nostrils as the ramp spluttered slowly open. "Come on!" I stomped hard with my good leg, the pain becoming unbearable as the ramp collapsed, but opened. Letting us out into the fresh air as I lied her beautiful, but unconscious body by a nearby gigantic tree.

The ship was on fire… dangerously on fire. I glanced at it. I could keep going with Oriana… but we could use whatever supplies I could recover. I limped back in, blood bleeding slowly down my leg, but it was just a trickle regardless. Leaving the bar in seemed to be the better choice. I couldn't afford to bleed out and I'm pretty good with pain.

"Fuck that HURTS." I snared, and getting mad helped. I went limping back into the ship to find Oriana's bag that she had back on Nar Shaddaa… I checked it… some of the more delicate gadgets didn't survive but there were a few supplies…

"…mMn…mom?..." I paused, spying an equally beautiful and unconscious Lala lying beneath a small pile of durasteel. "…Everything hurts…" she whimpered as I shouldered the bag, reaching into Oriana's supply cabinet and gathering what preserved food and water I could as the burning smell began to increase… I was about to leave, when I paused again. Hearing Lala's bleary, weakened moans…. I should leave her…

…But I knew I wasn't going to do that…

I hefted the rubble off her as I distinctly noticed the raising flames. Shit if that reaches the fuel this ship's going to turn into one hell of a smoke signal. I dragged a bleary-eyed Lala onto my shoulder as she mumbled incoherently. Her weight plus the supplies caused me to scream in pain as my leg declared its anger at my exertion. I limped out with the Zeltron on my shoulder tossing the supplies, and her, farther away from the ship as I went back for Oriana…

But I ran out of time. I had lifted her up and began to hastily limp away before the ship went up in fire and smoke. Blasting us with the force of the explosion away to land roughly, and painfully onto the ground… I screamed one last time as the metal shrapnel in my leg tore loose, finally finishing me off…

…And I lost consciousness…

I finally woke up, not in pain. I had forgotten what that felt like… someone was dabbing my forehead with a cool wet cloth. I sat up quickly and was met with a blaster pistol to the face. Not the one I used to free myself.

"Do not move." The female said firmly in a growl like voice as I glanced past the barrel towards her rather… Canine features.

She, and she certainly was a she, had short blue fur covering her body, long pointed furred ears jutting out from her coal black hair. Her eyes, black as her hair, stared dangerously into mine. A Nelvaanian… I thought they were just a myth, so rare that many had thought that they had died out centuries ago. Her face had odd red tattoos, red lines across her eyes, between them as well running down her muzzle, and one across her muzzle itself. She had a very war like appearance, but a body like Oriana… so honestly, I didn't quite know where to look at first. She wore tight, but ragged clothing that had seen much better days, along with a short poncho like cloak.

"You will tear your wound open…" she said firmly as I slowly lay back down.

"…Where am I?"

"…The House of the Witch." She replied quietly, holding her blaster on me but still tending to my wounds. "…I brought you here." She added, as if it wasn't too obvious.

"Why?"

She glanced at me for a moment, lowering her blaster. "…it is a rare thing to see on this planet. For someone to risk his life for others… I suppose I thought such courage should be rewarded by letting him keep his life."

"…And what's the blaster for?" I asked as she glanced at the weapon.

"It is a necessity that I have grown used to." She replied, I flinched as she tightened the bandage on my leg. An actual bandage, that's old school right there.

"…What about the girls?" I asked as her big black eyes lingered on me curiously.

"…They are fine. They have suffered nothing more than blows and cuts to the head. Rather miraculous really all things considered. You were by far the most injured and endangered. Your loss of blood was the most problematic but by leaving this-" she held up the bloody rod before letting it rest on a nearby table. "-in your leg kept you from bleeding out too much."

"…Hurt like hell though." I groaned quietly as her lips stretched into a rather amused smile.

"I imagine so. A normal man would've passed out from the pain long before you went back into the crashed ship. "But you seem to be made of durasteel." She said glancing at my battle scars.

I smirked, before looking at her as she tilted her head curiously. "…I'm Kallus. My friends call me Kal."

She blinked curiously, as if not recognizing my words. "…You do not have an Imperial number?"

I paused, suddenly suspicious as my eyes narrowed at her. "…Why do you ask?"

"You have three on your back." I flinched; she obviously meant the tattoos "…I assume they are no longer alive." She added apologetically, with an almost sad look on her face

"…My friends call me Kal." I repeated as she slowly nodded her understanding.

"Kal it will be then." She said placatingly, "I am Nerrisa. I have been called the 'Witch of the Forest' before, although that is an inherited title. But my friends called me Nerri."

"Nerri it will be then." I replied to that as her lips twitched slightly in an almost smile once again.

"I will see to your friends." She noted, as I let my eyes wander through the wooden hut I seemed to be in. Although there were traces of metal plating in the walls and roof, apparently whoever built this used whatever they could to do so. "They have yet to awaken." She noted, turning and walking out of the doorframe. There was no door.

I rested my head on the rough pillow I seemed to be using, it felt like it was stuffed with old leaves… but then I promptly sat up and tested my leg… I put a little weight on it. It hurt but not enough to keep me down. I inhaled and stood up… it didn't hurt as much with a metal bar inside it, but there was still a dull ache. I limped out into a new room. Lala was laid out on a table. Oriana was on a collection of old cushions. But the room itself wasn't a hut. It was obviously a repurposed ship hold, long ago patched with whatever could be found to do so.

"…This place used to be a ship?" I asked as Nerri blinked at me, looking annoyed.

"From my own investigations yes. Get back in bed."

"Investigations?" I asked, sitting next to Oriana as Nerri glared at me, rolling her eyes before checking on Lala.

"I did not build this place. I found it." she said absently, "…Arguably it's probably the safest location on Juggalo II. I am absurdly lucky it had not been inhabited for some time."

"Who lived here before?" I asked as she dabbed at Lala's bandaged head.

"…The first witch I assume." She glared at me, "If you are not going to listen to my medical advice make yourself useful." She tossed me the cloth she was using on Lala and went to retrieve another from a cabinet in the wall. "She had long ago left before either of our times I believe." She damped the cloth in a small bucket of water, frowning quietly before approaching Lala and dabbing her head again as she cooed slightly at the touch. "…Good thing it will be raining soon" she replied. Resting the cloth on Lala's head she went to retrieve the bucket and another bucket. "Stay there." She ordered firmly.

Luckily, I was in the mood to listen to her… a few minutes after she left it immediately began to pour, water echoed around us as it hit the 'house'. Nerri soon returned, damp, and took off the poncho revealing her slender, but surprisingly muscular body. A wild woman I suppose… I wonder if that is stereotyping.

She stared at me for a moment, "What?"

"Nothing." I replied, flinching as my leg twinged in pain. "…How long have you been here?"

"…I've stopped counting after the second month." She replied flatly, "…At least a year." She added with a shrug before picking up an odd fruit from a nearby bowl.

"…You haven't tried to leave?" I asked as Oriana's head rolled against my hand.

She was silent for a moment, "…Did you not hear? We are on Juggalo II." She glanced at me. "Unless you have your own ship. Nobody leaves." She said eating her fruit loudly.

…Well that will be a problem then. Well I'm sure Oriana could arrange something of a pickup… assuming again any of her communication equipment survived the blast.

"I managed to get a bag out of the ship before it exploded, did you bring it?" I asked as she glanced at me with a mouthful of food before moving behind a wooden counter to pull it into view carrying it and resting it beside me. She walked away as I opened it quickly recognizing a com-device. Heavily damaged. "Shit." I cursed, taking it from the bag as if fell apart in my hands.

"Mmn? What?" Oriana's eyes flickered open and she sat up, hissing angrily as she flinched. "Fuuuuuck that hurts… what happened? Where are we?"

"Juggalo II." I said as she glanced around, and quickly caught her up to speed as Nerri watched us talk.

"Give me my bag." she said, yanking it from my hands and cursing softly to herself. "…Other than my blasters and my clothes not much survived." She grumbled, immediately emptying it of the destroyed com-device and various other metal bits. "…I might be able to jury-rig something…" she said hesitantly, already beginning to work. "But don't count on it."

Nerri sat up a little straight, "You can call for help?"

Oriana blinked at her, then glanced at me unsurely… but I don't think her concern was Nerri. "Ideally…" she noted, still in an unsure voice. "But I actually have to make contact to find out." So a bit of good news… possibly. I don't like that look she was making. "But first things first." She pointed to the still unconscious Lala. "We need to tie her up."

Oh. Right. I forgot that Lala was technically an 'enemy'. Nerri, apparently more concerned with the prospect of getting off Juggalo II, decided not to argue with her ticket off planet and retrieved a handful of rope made of vines. Binding Lala's hands and feet together but keeping her on the table. She glanced at us for a moment before retrieving a longbow and stone flinted arrows.

"I am going to try and get dinner." She noted. "Do not leave the hut." She warned, "Wounded and unsure of terrain I imagine the wild nexu or other beasts will devour you whole."

"…Got it." I replied as, surprisingly. She stepped outside and was lowered on a rather crudely designed elevator. Whoever the 'Witch of the Forest' was before her she was either crazy or brilliant. Oriana was silent for a long time after she left, working on the device before finally… she spoke. And it wasn't good news.

"…I don't think anyone will come for us." She said in a whisper. "We need to find a way off this planet on our own."

I looked at her oddly, "Why do you say that?" I asked, although deep down I believe I already knew the answer.

She looked into my green eyes with her bright ruby ones. Making sure she had my full attention. "Kal they would come for me. Not you. I would get off this planet but you would probably be left here or shot."

I sighed, she was probably right. She went back to working on the com-device.

"…Assuming I can get contact. The likelihood of me arranging transport without a Cromwell agent finding out is small, we could of course try your extended family, but I don't doubt the Cromwells have eyes on all of them too."

I sighed, lying down on the floor beside her as she worked. "…Which means we'd probably get attacked before any sort of extraction arrived."

"Yeah probably… or they just won't come at all. You're blacklisted Kal only a handful of people could be seen with you and I'm one of them. If even more of them show up, someone's going to get suspicious."

"…So we're on our own." I replied as she shrugged.

"Probably. I can still try though… maybe I'm wrong and somebody will come. If they don't like us, I'm sure you can take care of it."

"Not with a hole in my leg." I replied as she paused and glanced at my leg, before she laid back next to me, kissing my cheek.

"That's for getting me off my ship… now I don't remember much but I do remember that… by the way how is my ship?"

"…Probably in many pieces…" I replied. She sighed, sitting back up with surprisingly excellent core strength.

"…My aunt's going to kill me." She mumbled quietly, "…Never mind, they might not come for me." I shut my eyes and listened to her work. "…Probably would ask the Cromwells to shoot me too if I did call her. But who else can I call?... we probably are on our own… Well. If I'm going to be trapped, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be trapped on a dangerous planet with than Kal, that's for certain…" she mumbled to herself for a little while long after I fell asleep.

Her voice was as always very soothing…

However, when I awoke for 'dinner' to a blood-covered Nerri I was a little put off until I realized it was from her kill, some sort of feather bird like creature with vicious tearing beaks and claws… tasted like chicken… I've had worse, never eat anything that flies on Balmorra, too gamey.

End of Chapter.