Origins of a Talon

**'Dad?'**

##'Yes Son?'##

**'Am I Dead?'**

##'No son, its time for you to wake up again now, I will see you later..'##

**'Dad, don't go , I have more to ask you...**

**'Dad?'**

My mind and voice slither back to reality as the strange tasting water being poured into my mouth and down my throat awakens me.

It must of been less then a few minutes since that creature tried to kill me, and as I start to open my eyes my vision is very blurry, although I can make out various colours, shape definition is no good at all.

I cough and splutter as the water goes down the wrong way, the convulsions remind me of my battered and fractured ribs which make me cry out in pain with more of a wheeze then an actual yell.

I can feel that I am a little off the ground and that someone or something is holding me, as if a loved one is holding another loved one close in a protective stance to keep me from harm.

Who is it?

'Dad?...'

My hearing is getting a bit better as I can just about make out something moving about either side of me.. Of us..

I try to pull in closer to this person who is shielding me from harm although my various wounds make it painful to move but i manage to cling on for dear life with a grunt.

As my vision started to clear, I can indeed make out the helmet, although in the dark I nearly mistake it for some sort of rock as my fingers are holding onto armour plates which I also mistaken for stone that has been worn away by the weather.

My eyes go wide and my body goes rigid as I spot the creatures on either side of me, silently waiting as if they were waiting for me to make a move.

It was when that bolt of lightning illuminated the water clogged atmosphere I noticed what must be the creature that had attacked me lying motionless on the ground. I was then relived when I came to realise those two creatures must of helped me from its death clutches.

But where did that rifle shot come from?

The lightning struck again accompanied by a long roar of thunder when I was looking for what made the kill, and I saw it.

It didn't make sense at first, I was looking at a T-shaped depression into the rock I was holding onto. Once the rock began moving its arms around me then it made more sense that this was the shooter, for which I was thankful and also worried.

Did I get rescued from one creature just to be a slave to another?

As I try to move away without making this monster turn on me, I am surprised when it lifts my arms and places me softly onto the floor.

'Boo Her' I think I hear as the creature stands up fully and starts to leave, although I don't know what language that is, the gentle monster must either be talking or grunting something to me or the two other creatures beside me. I figure out it must be to them as they move closer to me and turn their backs as if protecting me from some unseen enemy that could strike at any point.

I sound the word out in my head a few times.

Boober?
Boobuer?
Booere
Boo-ere.

'Boo-Ere.'

The two creatures shake their heads and remain motionless, although I noticed a small reaction from them, so I must of got something right.
I couth and splutter a small bit as my lungs feel like they have been sat on by a tree, but the feeling passes with a lingering tap to the ribs every breath i take.


It is not long until the gentle giant returns with a couple of bags and an old rifle clutched in one hand. The two smaller beings then rushed off to take the dead thing somewhere while the giant of a man bends to one knee and reaches out to me.

I react on instinct and put my hands up into a defensive position in front of my face although it hurts to do so with the injuries I have sustained over the last few days.

Maybe its more then that..

What's the date?..

How old am I now?

Thankfully the big beast gently grabs my shoulders and lifts me up to stand on my legs which are weak from fatigue and hunger.

I am surprised that the giant speaks to me in a language I can recognise, although the tone is different then what I would imagine, instead of a deep gruff voice it is electronic, possibly by a microphone inside the helmet.

I nod to show I understand and pose a question to him, at least it sounds like a man under that mask.

"Thankyou for saving me, Who are you?" I start to follow the stanger a bit slower then he was walking, not just because of the wounds giving me pain, or the fatigue that turns me legs to jelly with every step, but because we are walking over moss covered rocks in some places, and I don't want to lose my balance on them.

I still have my Vibroknife in its sheath on my right leg, I did for a minute think about using it on this man or his pets back there, but I was taught not to judge just on looks. The knife remained in its home, although I fully knew how to use it when either hunting and skinning game or to kill another being, but I haven't done that yet.

"I can shoot if it helps, My father taught me to hunt and live off the land with a knife and rifles just like the one you have there".
I point to the weapon the man is carrying. It is longer and looks heavier then what I am used to, but with the right application of balance and objects to rest the barrel on, it shouldn't be too hard to use effectively.

I just mentioned my father taught me about the land, so too did mother. They were both hunters who spent almost all their lives out in the forests of Correlia, hunting the local wildlife for sustenance and profit.

Lightning sparked and the thunder rolled again.

Its my first time meeting a solider, or whatever this man is, I have never left our shack in the deep forest unless we need to hunt, we never had a visitor either..

I had no idea what had happened to me once I lost conciousness again although there was no sound of thunder or any precipitation to make my body wet. I am laying on my back on some sort of soft material. I cam also hear breathing above the hum of some sort of engine system from nearby and thought it was the hunter who found me asleep near-by but when I awoke and twisted my head to the side to confirm this all I found was one of the creatures who accompanied him watching my sleeping form as if it had been put on guard duty. I felt somewhat safe and secure that at least one person was looking after me although I was unsure if they could be trusted yet. Sure I had been rescued from that hell-hole but what would happen to me now? Was I to be sold of into slavery or used as game as the centrepiece in another hunt?



Obviously my wounds have not healed fully yet but the sleep did some good because I felt happy, and that was a feeling I have not encountered for a good long time. Hunger is there too which likes to remind me I have not had a proper meal for...



How long has it been exactly...?



I am distracted from this train of thought as I try to raise my body from the bed I have been lying on and I am very surprised to learn that the pain I used to feel not a few hours ago in my upper body have been nullified which leads my gaze downwards to what should be a battered and tired body to find most of my clothes had been removed and medical gels or ointments had been applied to my body underneath a tight webbing of bandages. Weather it was the Yapi or the Hunter I would never be sure of but I would do what I can to repay my debt to them all.



Moving about the bed slowly just in case some unwanted pain comes back for vengeance, I flash a small smile at the lone Yapi who is still here with me although I hardly get any response back.



'boo-EER?'

I attempt to ask the creature and it tilts it's head at me, before walking out of the room which seemed no larger then 3 metres on either side with only the one entrance and no windows for one to look into the cosmos. I gingerly follow the Yapi barefoot as my boots have been taken from me during my sleep and as i reach down to feel my vibroknife I find that it  is gone too. I only just catch the Yapi making its way through another opening to what i can only assume is the control area of what ever contraption I am in.


I do know what a starship is, but this is only the second time I have been inside one since leaving everyone and everything behind on Corellia so this environment is still new to me.  If anything, I feel more lost then ever before, although I may be able at some point to navigate the vastness of open space, I will always prefer the ground under my feet. I am confused as when I step in the same places where the Yapi had been moments before, I thought I would see computers and some sort of place to fly the ship, but instead what I found looked like a cavern filled will multitudes of boxes, crates and other items all over the place.  I would later be told this was the Cargo Hold, where a ship such as this would store any wares it was carrying including supplies for those that used the vessel. I almost got lost once I was a fair way inside the labyrinth of goods and it all started to look the same every which way I turned.  

It was by sheer dumb luck I made it out of there at all moving into the Engineering section. 

With the Yapi no where to be found, I decided to have a cautious look around the area, trying not to disturb anything that I walked near. I saw a few workbenches with tools I have never encountered before let alone know what their purpose is, strange machines that had the appearance of an alien monsters in slumber awaiting a command to wake and do their work. There was a decommissioned droid off to one side nearby a pile of spare parts with various components missing here and there. I had never encountered a droid up to this point so was fascinated by it. I knew I shouldn't go for a closer look but my curiosity got the better of me as i reached out a hand which in turn extended a finger to lightly touch the metal man where the left eye should be but that was missing. My breathing slowed and my heartbeat could be heard in my ears as I was anxious for something to happen if I touch this thing. 

Nothing happened and I took my hand away from the droid, nerves calming again when a shock rocked the ship and sent me flying off my feet. Time seemed to slow down as I went airborne with most of the items in the workshop and although I was able to move my young body at what appeared to be normal speeds, tools and spare parts floated by me extremely slowly as if they were flowing through thick syrup.  A warning alarm droned and a red flashing light turned on while the main lights flickered on and off. Again like when I threw my Knife at that nexu did I feel that feeling of something guiding my movements with an otherworldly force, keeping my body safe while objects slowly made their way around the room in their syrupy state.


I was unknowingly using the Force to speed my body up to avoid those objects, not slow them down. 

Something must have caused the Initial dampeners to cut off either man or machine. I would probably find out soon as the Hunter and Yapi may attempt to find me to ascertain if I was ok because of the sudden jolt of movement. The lights had already turned to normal and the ship seemed stable again.  When they did find me I would be just touching the ground with my feet once more, unharmed with the debris of the workshop scattered around me.

I found it hard to digest the words being spoken to me by the Mandolorian but that is because I do not speak his native tongue so in response all I can do is give a sort of shrug and raise one eyebrow. It was a given that the armor-clad warrior was asking me one of a few possibilities. 'Who are you', 'How are you' What the hell do you think you are doing'... all of these could be what the hunter was inquiring but I can not make head or tail of it at all. Looking back and forth from the man floating inside of the doorway now to the Yapi who had cleared away all of the floating tools and debris, it was probably surprising to them how I had no one scratch on my body or any indication that I was in trouble at all. The fact that I was effectively standing easily on the ceiling while the Yapi was rooted to a chair and the Mando was floating probably did not help the confusion..

'Sorry, I do not understand what you was saying, can you say it again in Basic?'

Maybe the Hunter did not know any Basic at all and was merely repeating a line from a film he probably watched ages ago but I could not tell.

I followed the armored fellow as he made his way to the service panel, floating above and just behind his left shoulder and silently watch him as he attempts to remedy the current gravity issue. I try to understand how he works on the panel with the Yapi helping him but all i see are circuits here and there, buttons and switches which mean nothing to me. I was about to tell him my name but for some reason the words escape me as if every memory that I had which had someone calling me by my name had been erased, or at least hidden.

'I..... Er....'

One of the Yapi hands the warrior another tool and at that precise moment when it is put into the mans hand, I have some sort of flashback where I am no longer in a ship devoid of its gravity but rather a room with walls and the ceiling decorated in a blinding light, which made me squint my eyes to filter the light out as best as I could. I was strapped down to a table which was angled so that m feet were almost touching the floor and my head was almost at standing height. I can make out a few metallic tables and a desk near to me and various humanoids in the room either looking at the walls or at the various desks and tables. They are all clad in the same color as the room but a shade darker, making it easier on my eyes to pick them out. One of the 'team' at a desk just in front of me stands up and picks up a datapad before calling out to another of his group to visit me.

''How are we feeling today young man?'' He looks at his datapad and then at a tube attached to my arm, some sort of intravenous system from what I can tell and raises the hand not holding his pad to a monitor beside me, tapping on it. This action has given me the ability to answer him, although I do not know why.

'Why?'

That is all I say, before the man shakes his head and taps again after which my eyes slowly close.

Returning to the present time in the ship, my ears hear the Mandolorian metion something about the gravity but I am still too out of it to react in time, thus hitting the deck quite hard when he re-applies the artificial gravity, knocking my left shoulder hard. The pain with such a fall brings me right into the present moment and I remember where I am and the events happening around us.

'I am not sure what my name is, but I did have some sort of flashback I think when he handed you a tool just now..'  I sit up and slowly rub my slightly jarred shoulder with the opposite hand.

'..I am not really sure what to make of it, or if it is even real..'.