Septangst 17: Torrent
Septangst2021 prompt list
A look into when Sith Fynta didn’t quite discover that she had a connection to the Force. This one didn’t quite make the microdrabble word count.
Word Count: 516
Rain slicked off Fynta buy'ce, sending rivulets of water down her faceplate. Verin crouched next to her left, Torian on the other side of him. This hunt wasn’t sanctioned by the clan elders, but the three orphans needed to prove that they belonged.
Clan Ordo had accepted them under the promise that no one cared who their parents were, so long as they become productive members of the clan. Fynta had found that to be a half-truth.
“Half a klick,” Torian whispered even though they were sealed into their armor. These were the last pieces of an old life that tainted each of them. The children of traitors; aruetiise.
Fynta had never seen it that way, of course. Her parents had died for what they believed in, and that was the core of Mandalorian life. However, in doing so, they turned their backs on the Resol’nare by following Torian’s father instead of answering the call of the chosen Mand’alor. Verin said that she’d understand when she was older. Fynta doubted that.
“I see it.” Verin shifted in the mud, his knee sinking deeper. “Shab, it’s big.”
“You want to go back empty-handed?” Torian challenged. When Verin didn't answer, the young Cadera snorted. “Didn’t think so. Follow my lead.”
Fynta started to rise, but Verin shoved her back. “Guard the rear.” Before she could argue that she didn't need his protection, Verin dropped over the ridge to slide through the mud until he joined Torian at the bottom. Fynta muttered under her breath before doing the same.
Carefully, the three youth flitted from cover to cover, hiding behind trees, tall grass, or flattening into puddles deep enough to speed Fynta’s heart rate. She refused to call it a panic attack, no matter what the clan physicians said. Phobias were an exploitable weakness, and she didn’t trust Clan Ordo enough yet to admit to having one.
Torian and Verin had nearly made it to the beast’s flank when the wind shifted. Fynta stood to call out a warning at the same time the massive head whipped around, red eyes pinning the gangly boys who thought themselves big enough hunters to take its hide.
Time slowed, revealing the scene in painful clarity. Torian staggered back, caught mid-fall in Fynta’s peripheral vision, and seemed to freeze there. The creature lifted fur-covered hooves, aiming a kick at Verin’s helmet that would likely kill him. A scream lodged in Fynta’s throat as images of her clan’s massacre overlaid the vision of her brother’s ruined body. Pressure formed in her chest until she couldn’t breathe, then exploded out through her arms and torso. The pain was unfathomable, tearing Fynta apart while holding her together. She couldn’t move, only watch as Torian and Verin sailed backward into the foliage on the other side of the clearing.
Fynta didn’t remember falling, and having her HUD register only muddy water didn’t trigger the same overwhelming dread this time. She was numb, completely separate from her external surroundings. Blinking twice, Fynta told herself to get up and find the boys; to go get help. She did neither.