His heart fell at the thought. He had been so rude —and for what? Simply because she reminded him of her. It was no excuse, but he would continue to treat it as such to save his bruised heart from more contempt. But, as he furthered in his panicked search for the Padawan, he promised himself one objective.
He would learn her name, but from her alone, he would do so.
Although as he tore into the death trap of debris, that promise looked bleak: 'This is like finding a needle in a haystack.' His thoughts cackled resentfully — spitefully — at the overtaxed Commander. Dread cocooned itself contently into the anxious fractures of his brain. Persisting with one penetrating thought, and one thought alone.
'She's dead, Wolffe, and it's your fault.'
He choked, crumbling to his knees and continually clawing at the debris she was buried in; gently grasping it as he did. Raising the fistful to his chest, he allowed a single tear to fall. Though more brimmed at the grave where she lay, watching how the broken pieces escaped his hands.
Like everything always did.
-
"Will you be my friend, Wolffie?"
-
"Quick! Hurry, run!"
But he still had a job to do.
His fists clenched, "Men! In the pods now, we must escape!" Resuming his Commander rank, he stated his orders. Rushing to a pod too, the General, Sinker and Boost soon followed.
And he ran from both the Padawan and Eisha Ree, again.
Unknowing that they were two of the same.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"COMMANDER," Wolffe shot up, attentive to his General as the Kel Dor hid a worrisome expression beneath his mask.
Cautiously, Wolffe replied, "Yes, General?"
"My Padawan," Brows furrowed, his breath hitched slightly, "Did you see her, Wolffe? You were the last to board the pod, I believe."
Meanwhile, Wolffe was commencing an internal battle in his mind worse than any Separatist fleet could manage.
'How am I going to explain it to the General? How am I going to explain it to the boys?'
To both Sinker and Boost, who were staring just as desperately as the General now?
'To the Jedi? Hell, how will I explain it to her kriffing loth-cat?'
"Wolffe?"
Snapping his head up, instead of the General, he made immediate eye contact with the shaken loth-cat's yellow, beady eyes.
"Wolffe!" Plo Koon shouted now, gaining the Commander's attention instantly. The General never raised his voice, and most certainly never shouted at his men, "Wolffe, just tell me. What happened?"
Heart pounding erratically at the memory, Wolffe stuttered, "Sh—she saved me." He began, a broken sigh leaving, "But, I—" His head dropped, "I couldn't save her."
The Jedi Master's eyes widened now, 'No! No, no! She couldn't, she wouldn't be! She's not—'
"Dead. I'm sorry, sir."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
NOW, THIS JUST SEEMED LIKE A RECURRING EVENT FOR EISHA.
Groaning and grunting, she brushed more debris off of her, surveying the bruises and grazes that now covered her rather disfigured and broken body.
After waking up alone and under masses of debris, the Vashuni had to Force push much-fallen debris the weight of whole craters off of her — exhausting herself dearly in the meantime. Although that wasn't something to focus on right now, more importantly, she had to get off the remaining pieces of this ship. Otherwise, she was heading straight on a one-way ticket to her grave.
Beginning her sprint to the pods, a sharp pain ran up her leg as she did. Leaning against the wall, she glanced at her currently misshapen leg. It was clearly sprained — great.
Attempting to straighten it out, she hissed at the pain as a whimper escaped her lips. Groaning, she scowled, "You just had to save the prick, didn't you?"
With that in mind, she pushed off the wall. Navigating a new path, she desperately hoped that there were some pods left. Otherwise, she may as well let the abyss of space swallow her now.
'Although, I did hope for something a little less painless.'
Hurrying as best as she could with her limp, the hanger soon appeared before her, where only two pods now remained. Swiftly scampering, she finally reached one, however, it appeared as though no clones or even her Master had stuck around long as the ship was tearing itself apart from the inside out.
So, with a final rapid glance, she threw her bloodied and beaten self into the pod; slamming the release button as she collapsed to the ground. Exhaustion abruptly replaced her burst of energy, causing her to rest her head against the cool, metal floor of the pod.
She was safe. For now.
The relieved breath of air that fell from her raw bloodied lips was the only sound she heard as her body passed out from pure shock.
Not even the collision with the Jedi cruiser could awaken her now — blissfully unaware of the explosion that pushed her pod further out.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
SINCE WOLFFE'S REVEAL OF THE PASSING OF THE PADAWAN, the pod had been flooded in silence. No one dared to utter a word as they collectively mourned the young Padawan's passing.
Not even her cat made a noise.
In his mind, a growing distaste for the Commander was ever growing in the cramped pod — Sinker and Boost both exchanged occasional glances as they shared their remorse. It was Wolffe's fault, and he was pretty sure everyone else in the shuttle would agree with that presumption. Even his General hadn't spared him a glance. But, he couldn't blame the Kel Dor. He looked heartbroken.
From what Wolffe understood about the Jedi — and it truly wasn't much — it was that both Master and Padawan shared a deep bond.
A bond that was merely torn by Wolffe's foolishness.
Guilt-ridden thoughts subsided, however, as the General finally stood, "Let's get the power restored until help comes. So, we are here to be found."
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•°. *࿐Hi! So, I managed to update chapter eleven, even if I did think it was rather awful...
(Oh, and I am currently writing chapter twelve however I thought I'd first upload this because I didn't know if I'd finish it in time!)
But forget about me, how did your guys' days go? Better than mine hopefully?
Anyways, love you all! See you tomorrow :)
- iss
FIRST PUBLISHED: 12/01/2021 LAST EDITED: 21/02/2023
