"Rex, I'm the real Ahsoka,"
"No, I am,"
Rex was totally confused. One moment he'd think he knew which was the real Ahsoka, but other times that thought would turn to dust from his doubt. Caelat had turned into Ahsoka, and he was convincing at it. Rex sighed, "Okay. Okay, uh, listen. You-," he pointed to the one in front of him, "-prove you're the real one,"
"Look, I swear, that's the fake," she pointed to the one behind him.
Rex turned around, "Dumb question, but is that true?"
The Ahsoka he was looking at now brushed a bit of wool from her hood out of her face, and when she did that, Rex felt that warmth he had felt earlier. His eyes went wider a tad, but he forced himself to relax. She nodded ever-so slightly and he blinked in reply. "No," she said, "It's not true," But he needed to be sure she was the one.
He turned around again, "Okay, before I get more confused, you are One," he rotated to face the one who he thought was the real Ahsoka, "And you are Two," he sighed. "All right, One, prove you're Ahsoka,"
One gave him an affectionate look, "How should I prove it? How about this: I became temporarily blind on planet Mygeeto,"
"Okay...." Rex thought for a moment before saying, "Here on Carlac, at the cabin, when did I accidentally blow the door off the furnace?" He figured they'd both know this, but he wanted to see who knew the most details, and he could also tell who was lying. Though that was proving difficult and seemed impossible at the moment.
"Hmm, let's see. It was when we had first gotten there because we needed water, so I went down to the crick and it was after that when you nearly blew up the cabin,"
Rex nodded. But something inside him flared up when he heard her say 'crick.' He thought back to Ahsoka's words ...it's 'creek' not 'crick'... He unholstered his blaster, turning around, and aimed it at the one he called 'Two', "She's the fake," he lied, hoping to convince One and catch her, or him, off guard. He took a breath and he felt that brush in the back of his mind again. He wondered if she could feel him trying to reach back, but he didn't have the Force so he doubted that was possible.
Rex whipped around and pulled the trigger. Two fell over and metamorphosed back into Caelat. He let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and he turned to face Ahsoka. She smirked at him and quickly went up and hugged him, "I knew you got my message,"
He pulled away, "I'm glad I did. Are you okay?"
She shrugged, "Eh, little banged up, but I'll be fine,"
He nodded and turned around. Rex walked over to the down Gurlanin. Caelat was still breathing. He looked at Ahsoka and she nodded, "Put him out of his misery,"
Rex aimed his Deece at Caelat's head and pulled the trigger. He took some backwards steps away from it and holstered his pistol. He faced Ahsoka and his expression dropped, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Why?"
"Well I'm assuming the blood stain that's on your coat isn't yours?"
She looked down and inhaled sharply, "Oh. That is mine..."
"Yeah.... here, let me carry you,"
"No, no. I can walk," she went to take a step away but struggled from the pain that was starting to emerge.
Rex put a hand on his hip, "Mm-Hm, I believe you. C'mon."
"You're injured too,"
"I'll be fine. I had my armor and blacks to protect most of me. I don't want you to bleed out," Rex didn't wait for her to respond. He scooped her up and lifted her bridal style, "Keep pressure on the wound,"
Ahsoka grunted, "Rex, I don't need carr— ow," she looked up at him and could tell he was going to make a snarky comment. "Don't,"
"I wasn't gonna say anything,"
His elbow really started to flare up with pain. Like a bunch of needles and knives were stabbing into it if he moved a certain way. He kept his facial expression neutral and focused on not dropped his wife. "Y'know," he said, "I've always told you to wear armor, if you had you w—,"
"Please, don't berate me about that. I am not in the mood," her voice was slightly strained.
Rex just nodded and continued walking. He'd look down occasionally to look at Ahsoka's blood stained coat, getting more nervous that the blot was increasing slowly in size. He quickened his pace, trying not to let his thoughts take control of him.
They finally made it to the end of the trail and Lux appeared. He was crouching, but he stood up and his eyes widened at the sight of Ahsoka. Jammara was still lying on the snow covered ground, but she wasn't flat on her side like she was earlier. They got up to them and Ahsoka looked at the Gurlanin, frowning, "Did Caelat do this?" She felt Rex nod.
Lux looked at them, "Is he....?"
"He's dead," Rex said. "But before we go, he need to get Jammara in her feet,"
"No," said the black creature, "I fulfilled my goal of keeping you safe. You need to get off this planet and get medical help. I would be in the way. Get to your ship and you can put all of this behind you,"
Rex was about to protest when Ahsoka let out a small groan. He looked down at her and back at Jammara. She had a death look in her eyes and he couldn't help but avoid them. "All right," he finally said, "All right, we'll leave you..."
Rex turned around and started to walk away with Lux at his side. He couldn't shake that nagging feeling to go back. How could he kill Caelat so easily, but he couldn't leave Jammara? Perhaps it was because Caelat had hurt both him and Ahsoka. He groaned, "Kriff it," he turned to Lux, "Here," he handed Ahsoka over to him. Ahsoka looked at Rex with a slightly panic stricken face, but he gestured for her to relax.
He quickly ran back to Jammara. He scooped her up and his arm screamed at the weight, but he ignored that. Jammara let out a growl and bared her teeth. Before she could speak, Rex stood up and started walking, "If you bite me I'll bite you back," he threatened. Jammara slumped and let him carry her.
He got back next to Lux and motioned with his head to keep moving. They moved at a quick pace to get to the ship as soon as they possible. Both Ahsoka and the Gurlanin needed medical attention, and so did Rex. He was surprised his arm wasn't completely failing, but it did hurt. He also felt pain when he looked over at Lux carrying Ahsoka. It wasn't physical pain, more like mental. He didn't want to swap since it would be too much of a hassle, so he forced himself to deal with it.
After a while, they got to an incredibly dense woods. It was hard to navigate, but soon, a clearing appeared and the small ship came into view. Rex wanted to cry with relief. He could be warm, brush his teeth, take a hot shower, and get his arm looked at. The ramp lowered and they climbed onboard. Rex swiftly went to the tiny medical area in the ship. He didn't pay attention to what the model was, and he didn't care. He set Jammara onto a thin bed and Lux did the same with Ahsoka.
"Contact Skywalker," Rex said as he started to fish around in drawers for anything to clean Jammara's wounds.
"I don't know his number. And don't you need a certain scramble set and all?"
He groaned, "Fine. Take care of both of them, I'll be right back,"
Rex navigated his way to the cockpit and he sat down in on of the swivel chairs. He flipped some switches and pulled up the comm onboard the ship. He put in everything and held in a button, "General Skywalker, this Rex, do you read me?" No answer. "Skywalker, come in." Nothing. "General Skywalker, please respond," he was ready to punch something when static came through a speaker.
"This is Skywalker. I read you Rex,"
Rex exhaled, "Thanks the Force," he held in the button, "What're you're coordinates?"
"Oh, uh, hold on..... okay, I sent them to you," Rex quickly powered up the ship and put in his destination. "Where are you guys?" Anakin asked.
"On Carlac. Don't know what happened, well, actually I do, but it's a long story so I'll tell you when we get back. Okay, listen, we need two medics ready when we board, Ahsoka is injured and we've also got a shapeshifter on board, a, uh-," he snapped his fingers trying to remember, "-a Gurlanin,"
"A G- wow.... Okay I told Kix and he'll bring a buddy." Watching out the transparisteel, Carlac was getting farther and farther away. "What about you? Are you okay?"
"I just need maybe one or two stitches and a wound cleaned, but I'll be fine. Oh, also, we're bringing Lux,"
"Lux? As in Lux Bonteri?"
"Yes,"
"Wow. You must be really desperate,"
"Okay, yeah, look, I gotta go."
"All right. I'll see you soon, Skywalker out," the line disconnected.
Rex scrambled out of the chair and rushed back into the medical room. Lux was disinfecting Jammara's wounds and he got to Ahsoka. He grabbed a gentle hold of her hand and looked over his shoulder, "I'm not familiar with this ship. I've inputted the coordinates and got it on autopilot, but I don't know if I did everything correctly,"
Lux took the hint, "Okay," he set down the gauze and took off the gloves, tossing them in a trash can, and he walked out.
"Jammara, how're you faring?"
"I'll be fine. Work on Togruta,"
Rex pressed his lips together and turned his attention back to Ahsoka. He let go of her hand and unzipped her coat. He peeled it away and took it all the way off her her, setting it on the floor. He untucked her shirt and lifted it up. exposing the wounds. There were a few deep claw scratches that stretched from just below her chest to down a bit below her naval. He quickly sanitized his hand and snapped him on a pair of gloves. Ahsoka looked up at him, "Is it bad?"
"Uhh, sorta," he shrugged, not wanting to alarm her, and grabbed a disinfectant. Time to get to work.