Chapter 18: Badgers

In what seemed like an instant, the soft grass beneath Kandria cracked and rolled as a furry snout burst into open air not three feet away from the her and Vancil. The rest of the creature soon forced itself into open air, the ground revolving and shaking once again in a way which almost caused her to lose balance.

Large grey paws the size of her head with elongated claws the length of her forearm. The beast shook the dirt from its dark grey fur, its hackles raised and yellow teeth bared as its rabid gaze switched to Kandria and Vancil, as though she had insulted its bloodline and everything it was. Its body was lean, however still managed to seem like it had substantial meat to it. On its four paws as it was, Kandria estimated that if it were to stand on two feet it would be about the height of a regular human.

"BADGERS!" One of their escorts screamed, snapping Kandria out of her analytical stupor as her head twisted around.

All around the group of six, these badgers sprouted up, the tremors seemingly never stopping. The beasts had emerged from the ground all around them, effectively cutting most of the escorts, who had surrounded them in a spread-out fashion, off from Kandria and Vancil. The badgers who had already emerged didn't even wait for the rest to do so before beginning their assault. One of their escorts was particularly unlucky, having one badger right below him, one behind him, and one to his side. The bottom one's jaw snapped around the escort's leg, eliciting a sharp yell of pain. The one to the side latched its own maw around the man's right arm. The badger that was coming from behind was the worst however, getting a running leap before its mouth closed around the man's neck, its claws piercing through the armour and causing it to emit a loud crack noise.

Then, somehow, instead of collapsing and being devoured by the feral beasts, the Kaviran raised up his left fist and thrust it into the eye of the badger which found his neck so tasty, causing the thing's grip to loosen. The escort let out a loud gurgle, blood spilling out of his unmasked mouth in what sounded to Kandria like a war cry. The man removed his fist, and a small blade extended out of the top of his wrist, which soon found its place in the arm badger's forehead.

The now one-eyed badger recovered quick, however, and thrust its claws into the man's remaining arm, knocking it out of commission. The guard collapsed to the ground, the ground badger emerging fully to begin chewing on the corpse alongside his injured fellow.

Eyes narrowing into slits, Kandria drew her lightsaber and ignited it, twisting and gliding it through the neck of a badger that had tried to leap at her from behind. The familiar hum of a lightsaber was then heard twice over as Vancil ignited his own.

The tremors finally stopped and Kandria's eyes flicked over the entire battlefield. Five left on their side, soon to be four most likely considering that another of their escorts seemed dangerously close to the same situation as the already fallen guard. The other two were also surrounded but in much closer to her and Vancil. Her gaze switched over every badger. Thirteen. Four surrounding the separated Kaviran, six surrounding the rest of the party collectively, and two snacking on the unfortunate soul to have already fallen.

Dropping into a low stance, she ducked below the swipe of a badger's claws, her lightsaber cutting it in two and, thankfully, cauterising it to such an extent that its innards didn't spill over her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Vancil use the Force, picking up a badger and pulling it towards him at high speeds. His red lightsaber cleanly separated its body into two pieces as he stepped to the side. Kandria winced as she saw one of the Kavirans go down, impossibly long claws piercing his skull and causing him to drop without another word, brain matter spraying all over the Kaviran beside him who wasted no time in extending one of his wrist blades and disembowelling the offending badger.

The Kaviran that was surrounded, surprisingly, had managed to kill two of the badgers, however her now bloodied left arm dangled uselessly at her side. Steeling herself, Kandria leapt forward, slicing into the badger which had almost ended the injured woman's life, which killed it instantly. The woman's expression morphed into one of shock before she nodded in thanks towards Kandria, turning back and charging at her last remaining foe. Looking back, the other remaining Kaviran had killed two of the three badgers and was now circling the last one.

A hint of worry entered Kandria as she looked to Vancil, fearing the worst only to see…him straddling the one-eyed badger, his armoured gauntlets relentlessly beating its maw and easily batting away the claws which attempted to slice at him. It was almost comical. The only thing that stopped her from laughing was the realisation that the other one that had been chowing down on the dead Kaviran was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes widened and she swung around with her lightsaber at the badger which had snuck up behind her. She wasn't fast enough. Seize it with the Force? She didn't have the time necessary to do so, the rank breath emanating from its gaping maw enough of an indicator that it was too close.

Fear entered Kandria, and for once she didn't suppress it. She wasn't a Jedi anymore, and so refused to suppress fear based solely on principal. If she was afraid and desperate enough, she would find a way out of this situation. She was sure of it. Her mind raced at speeds imperceptible, trying to find anyway for her to come out of this alive. Too slow.

Time slowed even more as the jaws began to close. Kandria shut her eyes in anticipation.

…Nothing.

Cracking a single eye open, Kandria saw everything frozen. Or rather, she could only see the badger, and the badger was frozen. Hands shaking, Kandria didn't let the opportunity pass, cutting off the badger's head to fall to the ground, the rest of its body remaining frozen before falling as well moments later.

Her gaze slowly turned to Vancil. Sure enough, he had his left arm outstretched in her direction, the hand that would have been in a gripping motion only moments now relaxed. His right hand had somehow crushed its way through the one-eyed badger's head, its face now a mangled mess with a metal fist embedded into it.

Kandria's gaze locked onto his blood red eyes for what seemed like an eternity before she could tear them away, surprising herself at how much effort it took to look away from his handsome face. She turned towards the two remaining escorts. Both had dispatched their own respective badgers and were now going at a light jog around Vancil and Kandria, seeming to check for anymore badgers that could be lurking.

Straightening out, Kandria turned off her lightsaber before she made her way over to Vancil, who now stood up, his head turned downwards in contemplation as he idly shook the brain matter off of his hand.

As Kandria was halfway however, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. A blue flower, a splattering of blood having coloured half of the petals. She was drawn to it. She couldn't pin down exactly why though. Her brain told her that it must be the Force for whatever reason, but her heart said otherwise. This wasn't the force. Kandria tilted her head upwards to look at the rolling hurricane above as she picked the flower from the ground.

She got a sense of…approval. No one was approving her of course, but it still felt like that. Frowning in thought, Kandria idly walked back over to Vancil, her feet taking advantage of their owner's distracted mind.

Vancil looked up from his contemplation over to Kandria, a signature shit eating grin on his face, "That's the second time I've saved yo-"

The words faltered in his mouth as he looked to her, causing her frown to only deepen. His silent, almost shocked gaze seemed to be fixated entirely on her and her approach. Wait, not Kandria. He was focused on the flower. When Kandria reached Vancil she tentatively held the blue and red flower out to him. Giving this to him was one of the reasons she had picked it. But still, she had zero idea as to exactly why. Following her feelings instead of her teachings was confusing.

Vancil reached out to the flower, hesitated for a moment, before tenderly taking it from her fingers, more tender than she would have expected from the Sith. He remained dead silent, his eyes still wide but betraying no emotion. Did he not know what it meant either?

Kandria sent out a curious glance to the escorts, only to find their own eyes wide. The woman was even grinning with joy. Vancil muttered something under his breath in that language that had made her head hurt. Now though, coming from him, it didn't seem to hurt so much. It was soothing even, to an extent.

Vancil blinked slowly as he stared directly into her, which felt like he was piercing into her very soul, "You do not know what this means, do you?"

Kandria shook her head. The two escorts now stood side by side, whispering to each other excitedly.

Vancil let out a resigned sigh, "Go with the winds, they will guide you to great fortune."

Kandria remained confused. That…didn't seem like what the flower meant. She didn't know how, but she was sure that wasn't it.

Then, surprisingly, Vancil tucked the flower inside his cloak, "Come on, I can explain it to you later. Right now, I must gather these Storm Petals."

Kandria blinked owlishly before she nodded dumbly as he walked away. Was that a blush? She shivered slightly as her gaze briefly flicked to the two grinning escorts.

Just what the hell had she done?