Tw: Violence, snakes, threats, cold hearted Bad Batch, sickness

~Amita~

I thought about Echo as I ran, thinking back on the advice I gave him. To run with your hands flat.

I Followed my own advice as I sprinted, heading for the stretch of grass ahead. It didn't have a lot to hide behind, but that was the point. Nothing could sneak up on me there.

At least I didn't think so.

My ankle was starting to throb, and I cursed them for making me do this. I really hated them.

I briefly turned my head to see them watching me, and I gave them the finger before facing the plains again.

I eventually slowed to a slow jog and wondered why it had been so easy. They said there would be traps, but I hadn't seen anything yet.

Maybe the were psyching me out?

I came to a stop and looked around, not seeing anything.

In fact, it was oddly peaceful.

The grass swayed gently in the wind, and the breeze felt nice on my face. There was a herd of Shaaks grazing, which narrowed down which planet we were currently on by quite a bit.

"Rex?" I asked as I pulled out my comm.

They knew I had it, there was no point hiding it anymore. Did I mention I hated them yet?

"Amita?" Rex answered. "Is there any new information?"

"They know about my comm," I sighed. "But I'm on a different planet now doing a bit of testing or something."

Rex let out a low hum. "We think we know where the imperial base is."

"Really?" I gasped. "You'll rescue me soon?"

"Hopefully," Rex let out a heavy breath. "We've had some help from an ad'ika of mine."

"Oh?" I furrowed my brow. "Who are they?"

Rex let out a low chuckle. "You know her. She was General Skywalker's padawan?"

"Ahsoka!" I snapped my fingers at the realization.

"Yes," Rex confirmed. "She'll be helping us get you back. She says she owes you for that time on Geonosis." 

I laughed, reminded of the Togruta's spunk that fateful day. "Well you can tell her she doesn't owe me anything."

"I did," Rex sounded confused "but for some reason she started stuttering and insisted it was the least she could do."

"Hmm," I rolled my tongue through my cheek. "She's a loyal one."

"She is for sure," Rex sighed.

A sudden movement to my left drew my attention, so I made my excuses and hung up on Rex. I slowly turned to the movement, only spotting a curious Shaak approaching me.

"Hello my friend," I laughed and sipped my comm into my boot once again. "You gave me quite the fright."

It let out a low noise and chomped at some grass next to me. I rubbed at its head and started walking toward a river, wanting to make as much distant between me and the Bad Batch.

I was watching the clouds swirl in the sky and didn't notice the ground became patchy under my feet, and I took one step too far, falling into a pit.

"Karabast!" I cursed.

I grumbled to myself and pulled myself out of the hole, covering myself in dirt and mud. I brushed myself off best I could and resumed travelling to the river.

"Watch out for the pit," Crosshair warned, amusement rolling off him.

"Thanks," I curled my lips at him. "Why are you here?"

"I was bored," Crosshair shrugged. "Figured you might be entertaining."

"Glad I'm your source of amusement," I placed my hands on my hips. "Now kark off."

"Oh I will. I have to tell Hunter you got out of the first trap. That was the easy one," Crosshair motioned to the pit that I had unfortunately graced with my presence.

"What is the point of this?" I angrily asked. "All you're doing is proving I can survive falling into a hole."

"It gets harder," Crosshair's amusement turned into sinister excitement.

I rolled my eyes. "Great. I'm so happy."

Crosshair waved goodbye and turned around to go back to the ship.

I walked and walked until I finally reached the water and sat in a rock. I grabbed a small stone and started striking it against the one I was sitting in, sharpening it to a crude weapon.

A growl made the hairs on my arms stand up. There's no way they actually put me in danger right?

Right?

A clutched my makeshift weapon to my cheat and gazed up to the sky, where the sun was slowly setting.

I thought back about what they had said, about how I had to survive for only one day.

Wrecker said my death wouldn't be too painful.

Was he not exaggerating?

I sighed and rubbed at my temples. I was overthinking this. They're were just clones with activated chips. They weren't evil masterminds.

Actually, maybe Tech was.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at the stars. I nervously but at my nails, a bad habit I had.

Just then, a hissing sound came from the long grass behind me.

"I swear, if that's you again Crosshair, I'm going to split your skull open and give it to Tech to study," I threatened as I pushed myself up to see what it was.

It wasn't Crosshair.

A lime green snake peered out of the grasses, its fangs dripping with a purple venom.

Wait, was that Crosshair?

No it wasn't, get your head in the game Amita.

"Get away!" I raised my pointy rock at it. "Or else I'll hit you with this!"

It flicked its tongue out and slithered out of the grass, getting closer to me. My lips thinned and I hoisted my rock above my head, ready to bring it down.

It hissed again and got closer, narrowing its eyes.

Just as it reached close enough, I slammed the rock down, ending its life.

And I felt a burning pain in my leg, bring tears to my eyes.

I crumpled to the ground, seeing a second snake with its vangs buried in my calf.

"Stupid reptile!" I used my rock again, feeling bad for doing so.

But it was my life or the snake's.

I pulled its limp form off my leg and threw it to the side. A bit of purple venom leaked from the wound, a burning pain slowly growing.

I let out a small whimper, tearing my eyes away from the puncture wounds.

Carefully getting up, I stumbled to the river, my vision getting blurry. My goal was to rinse the wound out.

I fell into the river, making a splash. My clothes got wet but I didn't care, my life was at risk.

Just as I was about to rinse the injury, everything went dark.

My life was a kriffing mess.

"-fanned rawl, a venomous reptile native to Naboo," Tech said to his brothers, standing over me.

"She's awake!" Wrecker pointed at me.

Hunter crouched next to me. "Looks like you failed. You didn't make it one rotation. You'll have to go through more training before we test you again."

"I survived didn't I?" I raised my head to look at my leg.

The veins around the bite wound had turned purple, a burning feeling slowly climbing up my leg.

"Yes but you passed out," Hunter stood up and crossed his arms.

"That wasn't the deal," I smirked victoriously. "I just had to survive, not stay conscious."

Hunter frowned and turned to Tech, who confirmed what I had said. He turned back to me and glared.

"Failure," He firmly said.

"What?" I exclaimed. "You can't just change the terms!"

"I just did," Hunter narrowed his eyes.

"You have been bitten by a fanned rawl," Tech told me as he checked my pulse. "It is extremely venomous."

"I blame you guys," I said. "I wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't brought me to this stupid planet."

"Well you'll be happy to know we're going back," Hunter put the blindfold and the binders back on.

"Back where?" I innocently asked.

"Nice try," Crosshair hit the back of my head. "We're not stupid."

"You sure look like it," I kicked out wildly, hitting someone.

"Hey!" Crosshair kicked me back.

The ship shuddered as it lifted off the ground, flying to wherever the kriff we were going.

Why did they have the temperature set so low? It was so cold in here. It wasn't even close to a comfortable level, I was shivering in my seat.

"What's wrong Amita?" Wrecker asked. "You're shiverin'."

"It's cold," I complained. "Why is it so cold?"

"It's not cold," Wrecker slowly said. "Its jus' you."

"Oh," I shifted in my seat.

I laid my head against the wall, the cool metal nice against my clammy skin. I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart, but it didn't work.

"W-Wrecker?" I called out. "I don't feel so good."

"It's probably jus' Adeline," Wrecker unsurely said.

"Adeline?" I raised my foggy head in the direction his voice came from. "What?"

"He means adrenaline," Crosshair explained.

"Okay," I put my head back against the wall.

"We're coming up on the base," Tech announced.

"Tech, can you come here?" Wrecker requested.

"Is it urgent Wrecker?" Tech questioned. "I am quite busy."

"Anita's actin' weird," Wrecker worriedly said.

"She always acts weird," Hunter dismissively said. "She's chosen not to join the empire. That's why she's weird."

"This is somethin' else," Wrecker insisted.

"Alright," Tech sighed heavily. "I am coming."

I feel a hand on my forehead before it switched to my neck, checking my pulse. Tech tutted as he poked the snake bite. I inhaled sharply at the pain and writhed away from his touch. 

"It is as I suspected," Tech said. "The fanned rawl's venom is taking its hold."

"What's that mean?" Wrecker anxiously asked.

"It means she will die if not treated," Tech simply said.

"Then we'll treat her right?" Wrecker placed a hand on my shoulder. "Right?"

"I don't know," Hunter thoughtfully said. "I don't think we should waste resources someone who's an enemy to the empire."

"But this isn't right," Wrecker sounded confused. "Even if she's not part of the empire, we should still help her!"

"Because it's the right thing to do?" Crosshair laughed. "This isn't about doing the right thing, it's about peace. The empire brings peace to the galaxy, while the rebels bring chaos and fear!"

"Think about Omega," Hunter quietly said. "Think about what the rebels did."

Wrecker stayed silent.

"I never met anyone named Omega," I weakly said. "But would they want you to let me die?"

They started quietly talking, out of my earshot. Then they returned and pulled the blindfold off.

"We'll help you," Hunter crossed his arms. "But if you escape again, there will be a heavy price to pay."

"Deal," I agreed.

I would escape again, I just wouldn't get caught.

Tech shined a light into my pupils and put a medpac on the seat next to me. As he was working on treating the bite, I glanced at the cockpit, checking the coordinates.

Daros.

Mando'a translations:

Vod'ika~~~~~ little sister/brother

Hehehe.

We finally know where Amita is.

Only question is, will she manage to tell Rex and Echo?

Or will she die because of the venom?