A blue lightsaber cut through the suffocating darkness. A desperate battle-cry follows closely as the plasma beam barely misses the black wolf like creature running on four legs. The beast using its keen instinct managed to move out of the deadly weapon’s way. Its front right paw, equipped with a set of sharp claws, whips out mid dodge with the intention of severing arteries in the teenager girl’s leg.

Alas, the girl in question was prepared for this. She pulled back her leg while sending a force push into the beast's body that was still in midair thanks to its earlier jump.

The dilapidated cat like pupils of the bloodthirsty creature widened in fear as it felt the wave of invisible force take hold of it. Soon it was propelled towards the wall across the dark cave. It’s body crashing against the solid rock, yet the wet crunching sound which Barriss expected did not appear.

She looked at the abominated creature and saw with newfound fear and annoyance that it somehow managed to turn while being mid air in a way that its cursed feet landed on the wall. It managed to absorb almost all the energy that the force push generated through its thick and powerful legs… The beast was now literally standing on the wall sideways, only using its claws to fix itself to the rock surface.

Barriss huffed loudly as she circled in a way that her back was still mostly against the wall. She could not underestimate these beasts. She already understood through this battle that these creatures could instinctively sense when she was channeling the force and preparing for an attack of that nature.

Such a beast shouldn’t be allowed to exist… She thought while uncertainty grew in her heart. Could she really defeat such a beast? And there are more of such creatures, and probably they are not even the worst things on this planet… aside from that Sith… She shivered from the very thought, it seems even thinking of that Sith lord was too much for her after that incredibly close call… The memory of helplessness, made her stomach sink. How could she stand against such ferocious enemies? If she was dead either way… Wasn’t it easier to just let it happen?

Darkness surrounded her on all sides… where were the others? She thought for the first time the battle against the tuk’ata broke out. She must have unintentionally gotten away from them…

The shadows seemed to move around her, almost flickering in glee, feeling, knowing her sense of loss and growing fear. The darkness seemed to tighten around her. She felt her breath become quicker and shallower by the seconds.

She heard whispers traveling across the caves. Dark conspiratorial words were exchanged in the depths of darkness. She heard words that cut into her, making her even more terrified and ashamed.

Barriss… Barriss …Your friends are no more… you let them die... it is only you now… its your turn... you are alone… alone… alone…

She tried to push aside the dark thoughts as her master taught her, but it didn’t work this time. She tried to cling to the light, that always assured her and made her make peace in her predicaments. However, there was no light to find in this darkness.

She unconsciously lowered her saber while the sudden wave of uncertainty assaulted her.

A memory jumped into the forefront of her mind. A memory… that felt so alive, vivid, as if it had just happened yesterday.

-Barriss!

Shouted her master. Right after she disarmed her with such ease that it made her current self blush in discomfort. She looked around, dazed, realizing that she was reliving the memory. She was on the practice field of the order. She saw many familiar faces around her, standing, watching or practicing on their own… She saw too many, too many people who she could never meet again.

For a moment, she looked up to her master’s form. She also seemed a lot younger than nowadays. The war, the endless worry, has done its work on her, just as it did on each of us.

She looked up at her master’s form with an unexpected longing in her heart. Before she could speak, she was playfully flicked in the nose by her.

-Fool! Do not let your attention wander in the middle of our duel… If it wasn’t me, you would get yourself killed by now!

She was surprised by the words, but she was a lot more shocked by her master’s actions. The reason for her surprise was more than the memory itself. It was because she truly felt it. She winced as her nose was cruelly flicked and she immediately scrunched up her nose and narrowed her brows in a sign of childish protest.

She blinked in confusion, and when she opened her eyes again, she was back in the dark cave with all its dreadful reality.

Just then her eyes caught a movement in the dim light of her blue blade, and she snapped out of the strange trance completely, only to realize that the beast using her momentary confusion circled around and was about to jump at her from her defenceless left side.

-Damn!

Shouted Barriss while hastily trying to reposition herself, to face the ready to pounce beast. Alas, the moment the creature realized its sneak attack had been discovered, it jumped forward, jaw wide open, filled with razor-sharp teeth, not even mentioning the deadly claws and muscular forearms eager to rip into her flesh.

Barriss was too late to dodge properly and decided to flatten herself against the floor intentionally. This way, the animal will jump over her body, based on its current trajectory. Her expectations were correct, and it happened just like that, however, now she was on the floor, while the animal had already been turning around about to bite down on the back of her unprotected neck.

She gracelessly rolled out of the way as the animal ran after her with increasing annoyance. In the end, she had to use the force, sending a force push against the ground and propelling herself back into a standing position.

This action of hers was met with the impatient growl of the tuk’ata in front of her. This time it was the beast who had underestimated her, not the other way around. She focused on the beast, that once more started to circle around her this time more cautiously, waiting for the ideal opportunity to strike.

She was drenched in sweat, since the time she met with that damnable Sith… and now the dust and red sand that partially filled the cave systems, it had stuck to her skin and clothes thanks to her perspiration and the recent tumble on the ground. It was annoying, but she didn’t have the luxury to do anything about it.

Her thoughts were running wild, about similarly useless things trying to distract herself from her cruel predicament, as she and the beast slowly circled around each other. She scolded herself silently for that. She needed to focus on the tuk’ata, and not on stupid stuff like fashion right now!

She had enough trouble trying to focus on the damn beast in the complete darkness and oh, boy, such thoughts didn’t make it any easier.

This place was cursed, she concluded. She could swear that something was dancing on the edge of her vision, miraculously managing to always just stay out of sight. Not even mentioning that she has heard distant whispering voices calling her name from times to times.

It was putting her on edge, almost as much as the ugly creature grinning at her, a grin made out of rows of finger long teeth. How would anybody be motivated to create such beasts as this?

She thought back at the recent meeting with that Sith, then she reconsidered her earlier statement. Oh, well, those bastards would probably find it amusing.

She had been waiting to turn the tide in the battle against this monster when her eyes accidentally brushed over a few stalactites just above the slowly circling beast. She got a new idea. She had already realized that the creature could sense force type powers directed at them, but it was mostly on an instinctive level. Like a sixth sense or something.

Aside from that, the animal didn’t seem more intelligent than an average hunting dog.

It is worth a try. Thought Barriss, as she focused her mind on a particularly large stalactite above and in line with the beast’s current trajectory. She reached out with the force, feeling out the rock, and making a grabbing motion with her left palm.

-NOW!

With that, the stone snapped.

She shouted simultaneously, trying to cover the noise of the braking stalactite with her own voice. Her sudden shout worked even better than she expected. It made the beast tense up as it stopped in place, waiting for her next action.

The poor beast never knew what hit it, as the thousand year old rock spear squashed it against the ground, with a sickening wet crunch, created by the breaking bones and ripped muscles and sprayed guts.

Seeing this, she finally relaxed her shoulders a bit, while releasing a long, relieved sigh. Then she unceremoniously dropped on her ass as she felt her knees buckle under her weight.

She hugged herself, trying to calm her shaking. It was one thing to almost die in a day, but doing it twice in a row was stretching her nerves.

-Damn… these things are no joking matter. I hope the others are all right.

The thought crossed her mind for a second time since the battle started, but now, as the immediate danger was no more, it seemed to linger in her mind… Barriss was worried for her friends, but she was even more worried about being left behind alone in this terrible cave. Finding an alternative source of motivation, she pushed herself to her feet and looked around.

She scrutinized her surroundings, using her saber as a makeshift torch; her earlier thoughts seemed to be proven right. She unintentionally managed to get away from her friend’s company. This must have happened while she was too focused on the battle to realize such things. A foolish thing to do… she could have run into more of those things, while not even realizing where she was heading.

She felt foolish for committing such an amateurish mistake, but there was no reason to cry over it now. She was lucky this time. Next time, she will be more careful..

With that, she nodded and listened to the sounds carried across the cave. She could hear sounds of discord and fighting not far from her current position. So she decided to head over there. She must help the others…

With that thought, she started to head in the direction of the fighting. However, by the time she got there, the battle had been settled. There was the other five tuk’ata laying on the ground, with a different series of injuries covering their bodies. There were numerous bruises, cuts, or burn marks etched into their hides. The smell of burnt hairs and flesh was filling this portion of the cave system, forcing Barriss to breathe through her mouth. As the disgusting smell made her want to gag.

-Are you guys alright?

Barriss asked, seeing the others panting heavily while still looking around. Everyone turned towards her, as she stepped closer, they were alert and ready to fight. Only when they saw who she was, did they let their guards down, somewhat.

Barriss, shook her head. She should have announced her presence sooner, instead of spooking them. After all, who could have known what other things were hiding in the surrounding shadows?

Eventually, Nizzal nodded towards Barriss and said.

-…Yes, what about you? You seriously made us worry when we saw you getting separated. These are deadly beings, especially in their natural habitat. Luckily, I can’t sense anymore of them, which means that you killed the last one. Well done for that, and it was the biggest one too! Anyway, we were lucky this time, as they were only cubs, but don’t let your attention falter and get separated next time. It could have gone a lot worse…

I nodded… then added shortly after.

-Yeah…I pretty much realized that already… thanks though. These things were terrifying. I had trouble defeating a single one. I have no idea how you guys killed five of them so quickly.

Nizzal smirked at me, then started to tell the story.