To the safe place?

The knowledge of what awaited her in case of a recapture - rape, humiliation, torture - this time while being fully aware of everything - filled Aayla with a moment of sheer terror. No matter how many battles she'd fought, how many close calls she'd survived, the prospect of being taken prisoner once more to be brutally used by those she once called friends was nearly too much to bear. Another vice of the Dark Side, fear was taking hold in her mind.

Instead of panic, however, an odd sense of purposeful clarity settled over her. Unencumbered by her armor and clothes, the naked Jedi sprinted through the jungle with supernatural agility, letting the Force guide her to the perfect place to hide. Her blue naked body was a blur as she bounded from rock to root to branch, gracefully surmounting obstacles and changing direction with dizzying speed. Her survival depended on reaching safety, and that alone fueled her frenzied flight.

At last, Aayla sensed she neared her destination. Squinting through the dense foliage, she spotted a hole in the earth just large enough to squeeze into, cloaked by tendrils of fern and moss. Without hesitation, she dropped to all fours and began crawling through the increasingly narrow tunnel, her shoulders brushing against the damp dirt walls. Her hips scraped painfully against stone on both sides, while her flailing lekku threatened to wedge her in place entirely. But inch by agonizing inch, she wriggled forward.

Finally, the passage expanded into a cavernous underground chamber. Still, she had no light, yet Aayla navigated the space with ease, guided by her connection to the Force. Water trickled somewhere ahead, and following the sound, she discovered an underground river bubbling out of the rocky wall. With a grateful sigh, she sank into the icy flow, letting it wash over her abused body.

For a long time, Aayla floated motionlessly on her back, staring at the inky blackness overhead. Gradually, the frigid water worked its magic, soothing her physical hurts and numbing her mind to the horrors she'd endured. When she could bear it no longer, she surrendered to the anguish pent up inside her and wept. Her sobs echoed off the cavern walls as she scrubbed at her skin with shaking hands, desperately trying to cleanse away every trace of her humiliation.

She felt filthy, both outside and inside. Used. Defiled. Broken. And ashamed that she was not selfless enough, thinking about herself not her fellow Jedi. As the water washed her body clean, Aayla tried to scrub away the memories of her violation, to forget the feeling of the cock violating her body, to try not to imagine what came before that, to erase from memory the sensation of having a layer of such filth on her skin. Cold water... Cold water was so helpful and she dove down several times, letting her head stay submerged as long as possible. Even when her body started shivering, she kept swimming, drowning sensations in the soothing cold water.

But with each passing second, she realized that there was no easy erasing the shame, the impotent rage, the horror of sensing so many Jedi sisters and brothers brutalized and killed by those they trusted. She had to do something, to strike back somehow, to make a difference. But what could she do? As she was pondering this question, she felt... a presence.

Aayla's eyes snapped open with alarm, focusing on the inky blackness ahead. Something alive and sentient lurked in the depths of the cavern. Its presence was incredible, stronger than any she'd encountered before. And yet... it felt neither light nor dark. How was that possible?

Before she could ponder this mystery further, Aayla felt something cool and slimy wrap around her ankle. Her heart raced as she tugged against the unseen grip, but it held firm. Fear spiked through her when her entire leg was suddenly dragged beneath the surface of the churning water. She thrashed wildly, bubbles bursting from her lips as she was pulled deeper and deeper...