She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Massive paws thundered in her wake. Ania risked a glance back and caught sight of glinting teeth. She ran faster, urging herself towards the approaching mountains.
Ania grabbed an outcropping on one of the mountains and swung herself around. The beast behind her skidded to a halt and whirled back towards her. Ania's eyes widened in fear and she began running again. With a bound, she sent herself flying up onto another ledge. The beast sat down below her and stared.
She gasped, staring into the yellow eyes. Ania slowly calmed her racing heart and reached towards the animal. It closed its eyes as she rested her palm on its forehead. The connection snapped in place instantly. The wolf opened her eyes and motioned for Ania to follow her.
Ania stood and tried to move, but found her legs leaden. The wolf padded slowly away as the vision became blurry around her. Ania reached towards her, but at last let herself withdraw.
"Hey, are you back?" Tolsa peered at her intently.
Ania shook the fuzziness from her mind. "Yeah. What're we looking at?"
They were crouched beside the cement speedways just outside of Lothal City. Their speeders hovered behind several of the nearby mountains, thoroughly hidden from sight. It had been a few days since Kanan had died and gradually, things were returning to normal.
"The transport will be here any minute now," Tolsa whispered.
"Right. Isn't there supposed to be a supply transport after it?"
Tolsa huffed impatiently. "Did you really forget the plan?" Ania grinned sheepishly. "You hijack the prisoner transport while I handle the supplies. Sabine will fly Ezra in as soon as we're in the clear, then she'll guard our flank. Rex is coming in on another speeder."
"Got it." Ania wrapped a hand around one of her blasters as the whirring of a transport drew near. Tolsa nodded to her and Ania quickly sprinted towards the large overpass that towered above the speedways. With a bound, she pushed herself atop the overpass and crouched down. Two AT-ST's stood beneath her. I'll have to jump when the transport gets to the other side, Ania thought to herself.
She spotted the transport, quickly approaching. Ania shimmed to the other side of the overpass, still on her stomach. The transport flew straight between the legs of the walker. Ania leapt without a second thought. She hit the roof of the transport with a thud and coughed.
"Help us, please!" Someone cried out. Ania bent over the side of the transport. Three workers were locked onto its side. "Hang on. I'll get you out of here," Ania said reassuringly. She ducked back as the transport door hissed open and the co-pilot poked his head out.
Ania seized the opportunity. She wrapped her hands around the open doorway and kicked the co-pilot back inside. Ania quickly jumped in after him and closed the door behind her. With a wave of her hand, the other door opened and the co-pilot screamed as he was sucked out of the transport.
The pilot turned his head and raised his hands defensively. "Hey, you're not authorized to be here!"
Ania rolled her eyes. "Oh please. As if that ever stopped me." She raised her blaster and quickly stunned the pilot before throwing him out of the transport as well. Ania sealed both doors shut and activated the autopilot while she searched out the tracking beacons and bugs within the transport. She swiftly destroyed them all.
She ran back to the rear visor. Tolsa had already taken control of the second transport. Two speeders emerged behind Tolsa's transport. Ania narrowed her eyes. "Why aren't they flying in?" Sabine and Ezra were riding the speeders they had left hidden earlier.
Ania shook her head and darted back to the controls. Her comm started beeping urgently. She quickly switched it on and continued to look for hidden tracking devices. "What's going on?"
"Change in plans," Tolsa replied. "Sabine's jetpack was hit by a probe droid. They had to find an alternate route."
"Rex?"
"Still in route. Head towards the rendezvous point. We're about to have company." The comm switched off and Ania hissed in annoyance.
She opened one of the doorways and leaned out. The three prisoners had their eyes screwed tightly shut against the wind. "Hey!" She called. They all glanced at her. "I'm going to get you inside the transport but you have to trust me!" She waited until they nodded, before climbing out and on top of the transport.
Ania leaned over the side of the transport and spied the activation button. She waved her hand and hit the button. Instantly, the panels holding the workers to the transport swung open. The woman's eyes flew wide open and her mouth dropped in a silent scream. "I need you to remain calm," Ania called.
She moved over to the woman and reached a hand out. The woman screamed as the Force wrapped around her and lifted her from the transport. The woman grabbed the panel, still screaming. Ania screwed her eyes shut in concentration. "Let go!" She ordered.
The woman's gaze snapped up to her and realization dawned at the sight of Ania's outstretched hand. She quickly let go of the transport. Ania levitated her to the open doorway of the transport. The woman grabbed the doorway and pulled herself in. Ania waited for a moment, before turning to the second worker. Her comm began beeping again.
Ania switched it on and began to lift the second worker. "We've got TIE's inbound!" Rex yelled through the comm. "Get those prisoners inside that transport!"
"What do you think I'm doing?" Ania hissed. She set the second prisoner inside the transport. The roaring of approaching TIE's echoed around them. Ania quickly spotted the TIE's and began to lift the third prisoner. One of the TIE's passed over them and began firing on Tolsa's transport. Instantly, Ezra abandoned his speeder and jumped onto the transport. His lightsaber flashed as he deflected the TIE's blasts.
Ania set the worker inside of the transport. "One of you get on this gun turret!" She called inside.
"What about you?" The woman stuck her head out.
"I'm backup." Ania whipped her lightsabers in hand as the second TIE approached them. "Get this turret working!" She didn't look to see if the woman would obey her.
The TIE screamed overhead and fired several shots at them. Ania flashed her lightsabers towards the blasts, trying to deflect them at the TIE. The turret beside her turned suddenly and came online. The TIE passed over again. Ania deflected the shots but was knocked to her knees briefly.
"Um, hello? Shooting back would be nice!" She screamed.
Instantly, the turret lit up with red blasts. They flew towards the TIE, but missed. Ania shook her head and deflected more volleys. A third TIE appeared behind them. Ania whipped around, preparing to deflect its blasts. The turret beside her lit up again, but shot wide. Ania reached out and pulled the shots back into the TIE. She heard muffled whoops from inside the transport.
The second TIE was inbound yet again. Ania narrowed her eyes as the turret overshot. The TIE's guns lit up in a blaze of green. Ania waved her lightsabers to either side of her, two fingers outstretched. The shots went wide of the transport, redirected by her. The TIE flew above them and Ania leaped. She flipped mid air, drawing her lightsabers through the wing support of the TIE. One of its wings fell into the grasslands and the TIE went screaming into an explosion of dirt and metal.
Ania looked back to see Ezra doing the same to the other TIE. He landed on top of Tolsa's transport and met her gaze. Ania grinned wickedly at him. A howl split the air. Ania felt anticipation spike through her body. She looked out to the grasslands. The white wolf watched her solemnly. The wind whipped her lekku over her face. Ania brushed it down, annoyed. The wolf was gone. She looked to Ezra, but he hadn't seemed to notice anything.
Ania sighed and swung herself into the transport, sealing the doors. They dropped off the workers and a few supplies at the rendezvous point, an old refugee camp. The three workers thanked Ania repeatedly, trailing behind her as she attempted to pass around crates of food. At last, the workers scurried off to see if their families were waiting for them.
Ezra made his way over to her. "Nice moves."
"Thanks." She bumped her hip against his. "Same to you."
"Hey, did you hear something weird while we were on the transports?" Ezra asked, furrowing his brow.
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"The night that Kanan died, I saw something. They were...loth wolves I think."
"I heard a howl when Tolsa and I got back to the camp. This morning, I had a vision where I was chasing a white wolf and she tried to show me something."
"She? Did she have any weird markings on her forehead?"
Ania thought for a moment. "I can't remember. I think I need to find her, though. She has something important to tell me. I can feel it."
Ezra glanced at her. "I'll help you find her. If it was her we heard today, maybe she has something we need to see."
Ania nodded. "Let's go then." She headed towards one of their speeders. Rex was nearby, handing out crates. "Hey, Rex, Ezra and I are going to steal the speeders. We need to find something."
"Jedi business?" Rex turned to her.
"Isn't it always?" She shrugged.
Rex chuckled a bit. "All right. We'll take care of the transports."
Ania hopped onto one of the speeders while Ezra climbed on the other. Within minutes, they were speeding across the grasslands. Ania turned away from the smoking wreckage of the TIE's. The billowing smoke looked too familiar.
"How do you think we'll find her?" Ezra called.
"In my vision, she was chasing me through the mountains."
"There are a lot of mountains on Lothal," Ezra pointed out.
"Then I'll let her guide me to the right ones." Ania closed her eyes, maintaining her focus as Ben had taught her. Almost instantly, her eyes snapped open. She was running through the grassland, watching...herself on the speeder. She veered away suddenly.
Ania opened her physical eyes but kept her mind locked onto the loth wolf. She turned sharply, following the wolf's sight through her mind. Ezra said nothing as he followed her. Gradually, a mountain formation began to appear. Ania blinked the wolf's sight from her mind and slowed to a stop. A single howl echoed through the mountains.
Ania jumped off the speeder and began to follow the howl. Ezra was close behind her. "Do you know where we're going?" He asked.
Ania shook her head. "I'm just listening."
The call sounded again. Ania turned towards it, winding her way through the mountains. "Do you feel that?" She whispered. "The Force is strong here." Ezra nodded. He looked around, suspiciously.
The howl rang out, closer than before. Ania rounded one of the mountains and gasped. The white loth wolf was enormous. Her yellow eyes glimmered with knowledge. The wolf lifted her tail, an invitation. Ania lifted her gaze to the wolf's forehead. A crescent was embedded there, mirror to Ania's own markings.
"What do you wish to show me?" Ania asked.
The wolf turned and pointed towards a mountain with her nose. Ania followed her gaze. The wolf's yellow eyes met her own blue ones. Ania looked down, her mouth opening.
"It's a Jedi Temple!" Ezra gasped.
The wolf blinked again. Ania tilted her head. "No, not a Jedi Temple. It's a Gray Jedi Temple. For those who are like me and choose neither light nor dark." She looked at the wolf. "What's in there?"
The wolf touched her nose to Ania's forehead, then pointed it towards the temple. Ania looked back at Ezra. "All right." He stepped up beside her. "Let's find out."