Home Away From Home
The Padawan watched unblinkingly as both Mishel and Kurayami Bloodborn moved like wolves among the sandstorm, prowling through the dust to take down the patrols without so much as a yelp from the guards. Were he not on the shorter side for a 13 year old, he might have been able to follow suit.
Instead, he’d have to get creative. Outsmarting someone bigger and stronger than himself was a skill he practiced to perfection growing up on Anaxes. Cailen had to be sly, agile, and adaptable. He waited for the all-clear to move ahead, then darted from behind the rusted barrier to join Master Kryze deeper in the camp.
The storm obscured his small frame well, and the goggles helped him peer through the clouded atmosphere. He spotted another pair of guards a short distance away, seemingly unaware of their fallen comrades. Cailen pointed toward them.
“Master,” he said lowly, “two more.”
He swallowed hard, sizing them up in his head before adding, “I’ll take them.”
Before Mishel could comment or protest, the boy slipped away, darting like a vulptex between piles of scrap as he drew nearer to the guards. Their path was leading them away from the Jedi, their backs turned and open to an unexpected attack.
‘What am I doing, what am I doing?’ reverberated through his mind, but his feet and legs kept moving nevertheless.
Cailen instinctively reached for his lightsaber, but instead he took the second defunct one into his hands. An idea was rolling around in his head.
The emitter was broken and the crystal inside had been cracked, but Tarus’ lightsaber was always a little heavier at the end. Weighted to complement his dueling style. It’d make an excellent bludgeon.
Pushing his feet hard off the ground, Cailen dashed forward using the Force to augment his speed. He was upon the unsuspecting guards in moments, and just as they began to notice his presence, the Padawan sent a powerful Force Push into the man on the right. Before the still-standing guard could react, Cailen was mid-swing with the unlit saber hilt, smashing it into the man’s temple.
When it connected, Cailen spun on his heels with the weapon coming around hard. It struck the fallen man in the forehead as he tried to rise to his feet. When the spectacle was over, both men lay unconscious in the sand.
Cailen flashed a look of both pride and disbelief.
For once, he wasn’t the prey. He wasn’t the one running, hiding, defending.
Tags: Shar Vida;
Mishel
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Kurayami Bloodborn
; BB-4001A; OPEN