A Bringing Of Forces

Chapter 5

Ahsoka found she could hardly keep her eyes open even after sleeping for so many hours. Her body still felt half dead from the torture and struggled escape and her thoughts grew more and more sluggish. The younglings were still stuck on the star destroyer and she and Obi-Wan had no way to get to them. Not unless they convinced Hondo to let them go. Or escape that is, which she couldn't do half asleep.

She also had a strong urge to take the twi'lek with them. There was something about her presence. Something that called to Ahsoka like nothing had before, in a way it was almost like when she had traveled as a youngling to Illum and her Kyber crystal had called out to her. She cleared her mind, she had to focus on the current events. The twi'lek would come later.

With a quick bid of good night, Obi-Wan retired to his quarters, leaving Ahsoka to mull over her thoughts in silence. Ventress came to mind for no particular reason, throwing her back to those last fateful days after being framed for murder. Asajj Ventress of all people had helped her. When all her friends had turned their back to her -her family- a former Sith apprentice had seen through the lies. Though if she truly had, was still a mystery. It was possible Ventress had simply wanted to thrust the Order into even more upheaval than it had been at the time with thoughts of Ahsoka only coming second.

She wondered if Ventress had survived the mass execution. It wouldn't be a surprise if she had. Simply living the life of an undercover bounty hunter roaming the galaxy. It suited her, if Ahsoka was to be honest. Even under all the gusto and the cruel front Ventress wore, Ahsoka could tell there was something underneath. Obi-Wan would know, he seemed to always be running into her one way or another.

Her eyes blinked shut momentarily as the thoughts continued rushing in. With a final exhale, she cleared them all, submerging herself in a clean slate to ready herself for sleep. Not that she'd need much readying as her legs were already wobbling as she made her way to the small cot in the back corner. Despite the extravagance of the room, the previous owner must have dumped the larger beds and replaced them with the smaller ones to take off weight.

The small excursion down to the hanger had drainer her, reminding her once more of the atrophied muscles she needed to build up. With that thought in mind, and discarding her weary body, she lowered herself to the floor, pausing only slightly before completing a round of twenty push-ups until her arms gave out. She growled to herself at the weakness in her arms, any other day she would have been able to do sets of one-hundred, no problem. But, she supposed that's what being locked up in a prison cell for weeks on end would do to one's muscles, no matter how well honed they had been to start with.

Next, she did a hundred sit-ups followed directly with fifty squats to match it. By the time she finished, her muscles quaked with fatigue and she cursed herself quietly over and over again for her weakness. She was in no shape to go rescuing younglings if she could barely get through one meager round of workouts. She completed the list twice more in slowing succession and by the time she laid down on the cot, she had fallen asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Much too soon, Obi-Wan knocked gently on their shared side door and silently entered. "What do you want?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes with a forefinger and thumb. That was another thing she cursed herself for, she should be wide awake at this point, but her body still clung to those extra few moments of rest like a hungry bantha would a plot of fresh grass.

"It's nearly oh-nine-hundred." He raised an eyebrow, "Hondo has 'summoned' us for food. He also says there are some clothes for you."

"Can't he just send it to us like he did before?" She mumbled, getting slowly to her feet, body aching from the previous night. She frowned as blood rushed from her head. "Ugh, I feel like I stayed out too late at a cantina."