Fear and Sabers | (The Push of a Button #1)

Fear

Explosions rocked the ground.

It was hard running directly away from the battle, because the trees were so large I had to run around them. Blaster fire erupted from behind me, and I ran faster, only to screech to a halt as I heard wailing from behind a tree to my left.

"Mommy!" a small voice screamed.

I peered behind the roots and saw three small children hunkered down, tears running down their faces. They were natives, with dark, chestnut skin and thick black hair that was piled on top of their heads in a way that reminded me of their ice-cream cone roofs. They stared back at me with wide eyes, the eldest, who didn't look more than five, hugging the other two tightly to herself.

"Hey," I slowly approached, holding out my hands. "It's okay. I'm with Jedi Rey."

The children's eyes widened.

"Did you loose your mommy?" I questioned, hoping they could understand me as I crouched down. Everything in me urged me to keep running, but I forced myself to stay calm. The eldest nodded, batting tears out of her eyes and smudging the white markings on her cheekbones.

"We can't stay here," I explained, fighting for balance as the ground shuddered again. "We have to run. The bad guys are coming."

The littlest one burst into tears. I mentally kicked myself.

"I'll help you," I promised, holding out my hand. "My name's Kenna. What's yours?"

"Avy," the girl sniffled. "This my brothers- Jam and Pico."

"Let's get you guys somewhere safe." I scooped Pico up; he was so tiny, probably not more than a year old. How did these kids end up here anyways? I expected him to struggle, but he clung tightly to my neck. I ordered Avy and Jam to hold hands, and we ran together deeper into the trees. I was surprised at the kids' speed in which they ran. They managed to keep up to me without becoming winded. I wondered if it had to do with the Sidol trees.

"Do you know a good place to hide?" I questioned Avy, breathing hard.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "Mommy not let us come this far into trees. We could lose ourselves."

Well, I couldn't argue that. If it weren't for the rumble of battle behind us, I would have lost all my bearings. I'd taken a quiz once and gotten an elf as my results, saying I was one with nature and could never get lost in a forest.

Ironic.

"We have to hide," I panted. "We can't keep running." My heart was pounding, and I forced myself to think. There were only trees around us, and the Duns were approaching. All of a sudden, blaster fire zipped past us. The kids screamed as I shoved them down, behind one of the massive roots. My hand shook as I reached for my blaster and peered over the edge.

Oh....no.

It was a droid. A mechanical, evil looking, red-eyed and blaster wielding droid. There was no doubt this one was evil. Two more emerged from the underbrush, their metal feet sinking deep into the soft forest soil.

"Sh-h," I whispered to Avy. She nodded and hugged her brothers close. I gulped hard and lifted my blaster. It was just a droid. Just a droid. My hands shook, my, gosh darn it, my feet were sweating. I aimed, holding my breath, closing my eyes and with a click-

Oh no. It was on safety.

I yelped and quickly made the switch just as the leading droid turned his evil eyes on me. I fired just as his blaster raised. By some miracle the blaster hit his mechanical head, and he tumbled backwards in a smoldering heap as the other two droids began firing.

"Did you get him?" Avy shrieked as the blaster bolts wizzed over my heads.

"Yeah, but he brought some friends," I fired again.

Curses. I missed.

A bolt exploded off the tree root to my right. I returned the fire, hitting the second droid on his chest plate. The third was so close I could almost hear his blood-thirsty thoughts.

Wait, did droids think?

I yelled and fired again, knocking the blaster clean out of the droid's hand. I was stunned for a moment before letting out a whoop.

"Dang, I am good with a....oh kids- run!" I screamed. The droid apparently didn't need a weapon and was charging towards us. I scooped Pico up and we ran for our lives, weaving through the trees with the droid in hot pursuit. I attempted to fire again, but it was hard balancing a blaster and a child. Was this what motherhood felt like? I was suddenly understanding my mother in a whole new light.

No time for thinking though.

We ran towards another tree, and Avy and Jam ran right, thinking that was the direction I was headed.

"Wait- Avy!" I shrieked as I ran left. The droid followed the children, and suddenly, I felt my mothering instincts kick in. I set Pico down, patted his fuzzy head, then straightened up and lifted my blaster, feeling an anger burning through my blood. I fired, and the droid turned towards me as the bolt glanced off his shoulder armor.

"Don't you dare touch my kids," I shrieked, firing again.

The droid collapsed to the ground as I returned the weapon to my belt. "Well, they're not mine," I reiterated, scooping Pico up. The little boy giggled and waved his hands. I grinned back. "But they're very cute," I finished.

I suddenly realized I was shaking. I looked at the fallen droid, hugging Pico tightly.

And then, I had a realization.

I had done it. I had faced my fear of droids! I hurriedly pulled out the red button as Avy and Jam joined me again. Surely....

My heart sank at the dull face of the button. No, no. I had done it! Why-

I was halted from my mental storm as Avy tugged on my arm.

"Hey, Kenna?" She piped up. "We need to go."

"Right," I sighed and returned the button to my pocket. "We need to-"

"There's a hiding spot, right over there," Avy's eyes sparkled with her discovery. I looked to where she pointed, and sure enough, behind a thick bush, was a large crack in the tree big enough for a person my sized to squeeze through.

I gulped.

"Come on!' Avy tugged Jam towards the hole. I followed, my heart beginning to pound once again.

"Wait!" I pulled Avy back just before they ducked inside the tree. "There could be- like, animals in there!"

"We don't have animals on our planet," Avy explained. "We only have very large bugs."

Oh.

Like that helped.

I swallowed hard and looked behind us. The blaster fire was drawing nearer. Pico began to whimper in my arms, and Avy and Jam stared up at me with big, dark eyes.

Everything in me fought against going into that hole. I hated the dark. Ever since my friends had pranked me when I was seven, I had been extremely scared of dark places. I never told anyone, and only my family knew that I slept with a nightlight and a flashlight in hand and never went into dark places.

The thought of hiding in a dark tree with no light now was suffocating.

I felt stupid. Kylo and Rey were risking their lives for the villagers, and I couldn't even help three kids out by hiding inside a giant tree.

"Alright," I gasped. Avy and Jam grinned, their fear forgotten as they scrambled inside. I carefully followed, forcing myself to breathe as I passed Pico to Avy and crawled after them.

I can do this. I can do this.

———-
We're nearing the end, lovelies.

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