22 BBY, Month 10
Shaak Ti
Shaak Ti was in a forest blanketed in snow. She saw Rylann fighting off blaster bolts but then from behind Shaak Ti, a bolt shot Rylann in the leg, sending her over the cliff. Shaak Ti rushed over to the cliff side, watching as Rylann's body lay still on the ground, blood painting the snow around her head. Hunter was at her side, checking her pulse, relief sagging his shoulders. He looked up and met her eyes. She heard the cry of a baby echo over and over until her ears rang.
Shaak Ti jolted awake, sweat drenching her forehead. Shaak Ti let out a shaky breath, pulling her legs out of her covers to let them hang off the side of her bed. She grabbed her journal from her bedside table, writing it down as sleep fought with awareness. She would go back to sleep, but she had to write it down. She had relived the vision from months ago over and over in her dreams, each time there was new information. This time, she had found out that Rylann survived the fall—at least Hunter's relieved shoulder made Shaak Ti want to believe that.
The crying child was a new addition to the dream. She flipped through the pages of her journal, landing on the written version of the vision. It read:
An image of a baby's face appeared clear in front of a blurry, black background. All I could hear was his cry for a moment before his face shifted into that of a young boy. He looked like that clone, Crosshair, but had Rylann's lips and nose. In a moment, the boy drew Rylann's lightsaber, the green clashing with a red one. After a few strikes, the boy disarmed the red saber wielder, picking up the fallen saber. He turned both sabers off, combining them into a lightsaber staff and the blade became white. Much like the vision of my master.
Shaak Ti shut her journal, biting her lip as memories of her master swarmed her mind. Master Sifo-Dyas was a great Jedi with many visions of the future. When he chose Shaak Ti as his padawan, he had a vision claiming that her legacy would be a key to bringing balance to the Force. That vision/prophecy was why everyone thought that her padawan, Tally, was the Chosen One. She was a great student with many talents, but after Shaak Ti received the shared vision with Rylann, she knew that Tally was not who Sifo-Dyas was talking about. It was Rylann and her legacy. The boy that Shaak Ti presumed to be the son of Rylann and Crosshair. And that was the reason that Shaak Ti was letting them figure out their own path. That was why Shaak Ti was willing to protect it at the cost of her station and credibility.
Shaak Ti picked up her comm off of her side table, looking at the unread messages on the screen. It looked like Kenobi had gotten her message about the Mandalorian Death Watch a little too late. Pre Vizsla was, in fact, the leader of Death Watch and he got away. Now Kenobi had transferred over to Geonosis to help Anakin's forces. That meant his new padawan would be without him for even longer than planned.
His latest message was strange. How are you doing? He rarely asked her that over the comms. In passing he would, but to intentionally ask? That was new.
How was she? Needing to help and protect Rylann was weighing down on her and with the threat of Pre Vizsla sending assassins was scary. There was also Wynn Avunn and all the untapped power she had—not to mention her DNA was of an ex-jedi (possible sith) and a Death Watch overlord. And then making sure she felt welcome was a whole other thing. Then the documents Rylann found meant research and pulling what she could from the Kamino and Jedi archives. Also, talking to Senator Pro'oz about clone aging to see if she could solve that for Rylann and the whole GAR's sake. And then the war. And the visions. So much was going on so she was definitely not doing well.
Overwhelmed and in need of a friend, she typed out on the commlink, pausing. He was just as stressed as she was, if not more. Wynn was quite possibly a clone of his sister and the guy who just tried to kill him and his old love on Mandalore. She wouldn't stress him out any more. She erased what she had and instead she wrote, I have been extremely busy. How are you?
She sent it, laying back down in her bed. It was only 0400 in the morning. She used to wake up at this time every day when she was a padawan. She would make her way to the tree in the courtyard and watch the sun rise. She needed that time alone to process her thoughts and set her mind and heart right before the start of the day.
Maybe she'd do that again.
Sliding out of bed, she made her way to the door of her room, pushing the button to open it. Outside of her door was Rylann, groggily rubbing her eyes.
"Master, I had a dream," was all she said and Shaak Ti ushered her into the room.
"What is it, Rylann?" Shaak Ti asked as Rylann crawled onto the bed.
"I had a dream that I—" Rylann gulped, looking down as she licked her lips. "I was shot."
"Ah, I see," Shaak Ti said, fear rising to her throat. "Was it in a snowy woods?"
Rylann furrowed her brows. "No. I was shot in the shoulder on a ship and then it crashed." Rylann shivered. "And the team didn't know what to do."
"It's often hard to prepare everyone for the worst-case scenario," Shaak Ti said. So the dream was separate. But Shaak Ti wasn't going to dismiss Rylann's dream. Two dreams of Rylann being shot in one night was too big of a coincidence. "Maybe you could join heads with the Batch and figure out some plans in case bad things do happen."
The image of Rylann unmoving in the snow jabbed at Shaak Ti's vision.
Rylann furrowed her brows, placing a hand on Shaak Ti's. "Are you alright?"
Shaak Ti nodded. "I will be fine." She removed her hand. "And you need some rest. Get back to sleep."
Rylann froze, averting her eyes. "Could we sit under the tree like we used to?"
Warmth spread through Shaak Ti's body as a smile grew on her face. "Of course we can."
【 ⌖ 】
Hunter
The room seemed to freeze after Rylann's statement. Hunter looked around at his brothers who sat scattered across the main room of the motel. Wrecker and Crosshair were on the stools on the island counter and Tech was beside Hunter at the table across from Rylann.
"Nothing is going to happen to you, Ry," Hunter said, leaning forward onto the wooden table. "We will make sure of that."
"But you never know," Rylann said, a real pain in her eyes though she wouldn't meet his gaze. "I could fall unconscious or worse."
Hunter gulped. He couldn't deny that she was right. She was right. But it didn't mean he had to like it. "Don't worry, I'll work on some plans."
"Good," she nodded, shooting Crosshair a glance. Hunter looked between them, noticing their heart rates picking up. Hunter sighed. Their crushes on each other were annoying. Their hearts raced because they were thinking about each other which in turn meant he had to think of them all the time because he could feel their little crushes. It was annoying. He'd rather not think about his brother falling in love. Bleck.
"Hunter, are you ready to take me back?" Rylann asked, standing up abruptly.
Hunter felt Crosshair's disappointment, but he heard Wrecker's.
"Aw, man!" Wrecker grumbled. "I wanted to hang with Lanny."
Rylann shot him a sympathetic look. "I have to stop at the GAR this afternoon. But don't worry, we will soon. I think the 501st is going to be returning soon so when they do, we can celebrate at 79s."
That made Wrecker excited. "Let's go!!!"
Hunter stood to his feet, nodding to his brothers as he grabbed his gun, escorting Rylann out of the motel. They had a relatively quiet walk, though Hunter could tell something was upsetting Rylann. He just hoped it didn't have to do with Crosshair.
"Are you okay?" Hunter asked, breaking the silence as they reached the GAR headquarters, the First Battle of Geonosis monument towering above them.
Rylann paused to gaze at the names written in stone. "I think something will happen to me one day." Hunter opened his mouth to correct her but she shook her head, shooting him a look. "Don't say it won't. I have this feeling in my gut but I have peace with it. I just want to make sure you guys are prepared." She then turned on her heel, briskly walking into the building.
Once again, they were in silence. Finally, they reached a training room and Hunter leaned against the wall outside of the door.
"Don't take too long," Hunter said, chuckling. "I'm sure you can't wait for Crosshair to take the next shift as your bodyguard."
Rylann froze and then she furrowed her brows. "Why?"
"Why not?"
Rylann scoffed. "And it's up to you how long it will be." She gestured for him to enter. "You and I are training."
Hunter furrowed his brows. "Why?"
"Why not?" she asked back, sending him a smirk.
Hunter chuckled. He had walked right into that one. Entering the training room, he noted it looked similar to the ones on Kamino, but a lot more industrialized. It was without the sleek Kaminoan tech, and Hunter was okay with that.
"So, what are we doing?" he asked, hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. He had been working on some Corellian Jiu Jitsu with Crosshair. Joseta Pro'oz was from Corellia and was the one who hyped him up into trying it. So one day, when Wrecker was on duty, Hunter and Crosshair went to a lesson. Hunter couldn't wait to talk about it whenever Joseta returned from Geonosis.
"We are preparing for the worst-case scenario," Rylann said, unhooking her saber. Hunter fixed his stance into defense, ready for whatever she threw at him, but he really wasn't ready when she literally threw her lightsaber at him. He caught the hilt, feeling the cool metal in his grasp. He examined the fine craftsmanship, amazed at how light the deadly weapon was.
"So, in the worst-case scenario, I have to fight like you?" Hunter asked, a smirk finding its way onto his face. "Because that's easy. Just let Crosshair do all the work."
Rylann rose a brow, sassily placing her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?" She shook her head, crossing her arms. "And no. The worst-case scenario is if I am down and you need to use my saber."
Hunter looked down at the saber. "But what if I don't want to play with your stick sword?" He tossed it back to her and she swiftly snatched it out of the air.
"What if you're out in the open and are faced with blaster bolt after blaster bolt?" Rylann asked, walking towards him. "What if you're stuck and need to burn a hole through a door or wall to escape?" She then placed it into his hands. "What if you're fighting against someone else who plays with stick swords?"
Hunter gulped. "Alright." He frowned. "Doesn't mean I'll like it."
"And besides, out of everyone in the Batch, I trust you with this the most." She looked down at her feet. "You're both responsible and you can sort of sense things before it's going to happen. It's a useful tool when fighting with a saber."
Hunter nodded. "I will try my best."
"Good, cuz I won't go easy on you," she said, clicking a button on her commlink. Suddenly, a bunch of circular droids rose and started shooting at him. Kriff.
It's been a hot minute since we had a Hunter POV.