The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

Prologue

Sweat dripped from her brow as her breathing was heavy. Her armour felt thousands of pounds heavier as her mind buzzed. A load crack of thunder sounded next to her. It shocked her as she gasped at the snap of light that lit up the path before her. Running through the valley, she kept her head low in order to avoid the eyes of those who were looking for her.

The sound of the storm approaching sounded it's way throughout the night sky, as the bright lights of the sky above started to cloud over with malicious looking clouds. The wind picked up as the rain just started to fall to the planet.

Catching her breath, the young woman leaned forward as she looked over the tall grass. The sounds of the wind rushed through the tall blades of grass, the rain smacking down on the dirt below her. Her eyes darted to the edge of the field where she saw the white clone armour waiting and watching.

She heard yelling from behind her hiding spot. Looking in the direction of the voices, she ran across the clearing, getting the attention of the clones who were waiting and watching. Her boots hit the newly formed mud as she ran as fast as she could. The rain started to fall heavier, the huge pellets of water hit her cheeks as she ran towards the forest. All she knew was that she needed to get off the planet. She needed to run.

"Over here!"

Her head turned to look over her shoulder, she saw, the flash of white turn away from her and point another direction.

Sliding on the ground, she covered herself in another batch of tall grass and looked through the blades, the rain now heavy. A flash of lightning again, showed her surroundings. The men now turned to face another direction as they ran after someone else. Not wasting anymore time, she picked herself up off the mud and sprinted towards the woods, deeper into the valley.

Racing through the grass, she heard blasters and yelling from behind. Closing her eyes she tried to forget what she had seen and push herself forward, not wanting to stop and risk her own safety. Her hair was soaked to her forehead as she made it to the edge of the woods. Another crack of lightning showed that she had been followed, she could feel it. Turning off into the woods, she heard another set of boots not far behind her, soon they turned into two pairs, then three, finally... four.

She swallowed her fear as she saw the edge of a cliff in front of her. It fell deep down into a cavern to a river that ran quickly far below her. Sliding to the edge she turned around to face the darkness. The rain hit the trees above her, as the forest held the darkness of whoever was following her. One final crack of lightning in the sky lit up the forest. Standing in front of her, was a familiar face, one had seen only a few weeks prior, when she helped an old friend.

The dull shine of red became bright in the lightning, the dark figure standing there with his hands up. He was defenceless. Pulling her two blasters from her waist, she pulled it to face the figure, before her mind figured out who it was. But once she knew, she kept her guns forward. She had no idea if she could trust him, not after what the others had done to the Jedi. Not after what she had seen.

"Senator please, I'm on your side." The figure said from under his helmet.

She stood her ground, but she was shaking. The cold wind shook her in the rain. "How do I know you won't kill me! Like you killed the Jedi?"

"We won't." He stated. She didn't put her blasters down. "I won't hurt you." He slowly reached up and took his helmet off, revealing his face to the pouring rain.

She watched as he slowly placed his helmet down on the ground next to him, the rain now soaking his face like her. She saw the eagerness in his eyes, the truth and confusion. He was as confused at this as she was.

"Hunter." She breathed out before dropping her blasters to her sides.