Author's Games: Star Wars

Task Three: Sha'ar and Verita

 For the second time since being captured, Verita found her wrists cuffed by thick chains. However, unlike the previous time, she was chained to Sha'ar, both wrists attached to his left. Irritation bubbled in her gut, not at Sha'ar, but rather the circumstances in general. Isaos and Kaikai were gone, held captive somewhere until she and the other bounty hunter could find them on Obstillia's surface.

She could still see the fear that had briefly flashed across Isaos's face when he had been taken away, could remember hearing herself promise to find him, to come back to him. Verita closed her eyes briefly before turning to look at Sha'ar. He was a silhouette in the darkness, but his eyes glinted in the small amount of visible light.

"Where to?" she said roughly, and the man shrugged.

"Straight ahead seems just fine."

There was a lack of worry to his words that irritated Verita, but she said nothing. Instead she focused on walking, something significantly harder when chained to someone else. They fluctuated between speeds, neither of them ever quite achieving moving in sync with the other. For several steps it was silent, and Verita felt her shoulders tense with unease.

Then the ground of them changed, a tall shape rose into the air. Verita squinted, mouth dropping slightly when she realized it was a mountain of sorts. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There was no time for her to wonder at the sight though, as barely had the mountain risen when bolts from a blaster shot past her. She jerked in surprise, the movement tugged Sha'ar's arm forward as well. A quick glance around her showed shadowy figures,which were recognizable in their white armor, advancing with blaster rifles from every direction, save for in front of them, where the mountain stood imposingly.

As though everything else moved in slow motion, Verita found herself running forward, dragging Sha'ar along with her, towards the mountain. With each step her wrists scuffed the chains, her injured hands screaming in pain. As they reached the base of the mountain, Verita slowed, uncertainty filling her.

"What are you doing?" Sha'ar snapped.

"How are we going to get past the mountain?"

"We'll just phase through it to the other side." Sarcasm dripped from every word, and it made Verita's lips curl into a snarl. Sha'ar rolled his eyes, both hands rose to touch the side of the mountain, forcing Verita to raise hers as well. "We climb. Preferably before we get shot to death by those bucketheads with the blaster rifles." His left hand found a small protrusion from the surface, and he grabbed it. Verita copied his movements. With each passing moment the blaster shots came closer, and Verita's heart beat erratically in her chest, a constant rhythm of don'tdiedon'tdiedon'tdie.

Sha'ar and Verita's movements were made slow by panic and their chains. Each time one of them found a path up, the other struggled to match it. Both of Verita's hands were red and throbbing, and as they attempted to climb she knew they would only get worse. Still, they had no choice, but to continue, the blaster shots getting more accurate with each passing minute.

Despite this, the two of them made slow progress, right up until a blaster shot nicked Sha'ar's left arm. Verita flinched in surprise. Her body jerked backwards, pulling Sha'ar down as well. His right hand slipped off the handhold he'd found in the mountain, resulting in the two of them freefalingl through the air. Wind rushed past Verita's face, a scream swallowed by air. Her wrists pulled uncomfortably tight against the chains, limbs bumping into Sha'ar. She landed on the ground in a tangle of chains and bony limbs. A litany of curses escaped her mouth, mirrored by the ones she heard from Sha'ar.

He scowled at her before looking around them. "Kriff," he swore, shaking his head. Then he turned to look at her, mouth pursed. "Guess we'll have to fly up the mountain." A shadow of a grin crossed his face. "How much do you weigh?"