Hidden Malice

Chapter Thirty-One

Malice had been laying awake for hours already before Kylo woke up. She'd been trying to think of any way to reverse what Darth Plageus had done. She hadn't had any ideas yet, so she had laid awake staring at the ceiling.

Kylo turned to his side, looking at her.

Are you ok? He asked her.

Yeah, just couldn't sleep. She gave him a small smile. He didn't seem to fall for her answer but let the topic go.

I'm going to be going on a little trip. More of senzu's training. You're welcome to come as well, but we'll be gone for about a week. She told him. Kylo raised an eyebrow.

Where are you going?

Cholganna. It's the Nexu home planet, and it's filled with large forests. It'll be good to work on climbing and being stealthy. Might even be able to give you some training there, actually. She thought back.

She sat up, going to go change. He regarded her for a moment before turning to look at Senzu. The little cat had been growing, and was now the size of a human toddler. He was very protective of Malice, and only allowed her and Kylo to hold him. They already had a very close bond, and Kylo had been intrigued with their form of communication.

Senzu knew and understood many words in basic, but, and it must have come from past experience, Malice was able to make the same chattering noises a Nexu mother would make to communicate. Hide, come here, and many other commands had been learned through this method.

Malice finished dressing, and picked up Senzu, allowing him to climb to her shoulder. He wouldn't be able to sit there for much longer, with how he was growing.

"When did you make these plans to go to Cholgonna?" He asked, watching her pack.

"Last night." She answered, packing another few changes of clothing to a small bag. She pulled her cloak on, clipping her lightsaber to her belt, and turned to look at him.

"I've decided that you're coming with me. Go pack." She told him. Kylo nodded, getting out of bed and to his room. Malice waited for him to finish, giving Senzu a small pat on the head. Senzu purred at her touch, enjoying the  affectionate scratches.

The door to Kylo's room opened, and he stepped out, holding a packed bag.

"What will we do for food?" He asked. "And shelter?"

"There are creatures there that we can hunt. And I have a shelter there. Or it was there when I was last on the planet."

"And when was that?"

She thought for a moment.

"20 or 30 years ago. Hopefully it's still there." She turned, walking down the hall and to the hangers. Kylo followed, noticing the confused glances from the officers they passed. She entered the hanger, speaking to a nearby pilot. The pilot nodded, turning and walking into a nearby ship.

"She'll take us to the planet, drop us off, and return in a weeks time." She told Kylo, who had up to this point just been following her, paused a moment.

"You're sure this will be ok?" He asked, looking at her.

"Of course. It'll be excellent training for both of you."

They boarded the ship together, taking their seats quickly. Senzu wrapped his tail around Malice's neck for stability as the ship took off.

"So this planet. Did you train your last Nexu there?" Kylo asked.

"Nope. I did my training there."

"You chose a wild forested planet to train? Why not just a civilized planet?"

"I didn't chose to train there. Lord Sideous was not the kind to let you chose anything. He sent me there, dropped me off for a week, and returned a week later. But it was some of my most valued training, so now I'm passing it down." She said, thinking back to her first experience. She'd survived by following a Nexu pack around for a week. If she got in their way, they'd have killed and eaten her. So she simply watched them from afar. When they killed a meal, she waited till they were done and took the leftovers.

That experience mixed with training with Maul had sculpted her animalistic and acrobatic fighting style. Perhaps Kylo would pick up some pointers from the experience.

They exited light speed, heading through the planet's atmosphere, and made a smooth landing. Picking up their bags, Malice gave the pilot a quick nod before stepping off onto the cool soil of the planet. It seemed to have rained recently, and she knew that they would want to get to higher ground. That way she'd be able to find out where they were and hopefully find her shelter.

Once Kylo had followed her off of the ship, it took off. It had taken the exact coordinates and would return when she had instructed. He looked around at where they had landed. They stood in a small clearing, small enough that he was surprised they'd been able to land. But as soon as the clearing ended, thick trees grew in all directions, blocking out the sky. He looked at Malice, who had been checking the trees nearby.

"This way. We need to get higher." She told him before stepping into the trees. He walked after her, preparing himself for what might be the most difficult week of his life.

Whoo Forest adventures! Gotta love them!