The Unknown Regions - On an Unknown World

Sabine Wren slowly returned to consciousness with a groan. It took several long seconds for reality to set in and she groaned again. The solar storm, and the escape pod from their ship careening out of control all flashed through her mind. With a jerky motion, she hit the release for her escape pod's crash webbing and sat up. The good news was that only her head felt like it was splitting open. Everything else seemed fine. With a growl, she hit the exit hatch release - and nothing happened. "Blasted piece of space junk-" she snarled before slipping into a string of Mando'a, the language of her people, cursing her luck, the planet, the ship and everything else she could.

Fortunately, she knew how to get out if the emergency exit hatch was defunct. Taking a canister from the back of her belt and an aerosol sprayer, she put just a hint of highly explosive spray on the hinges and lock of the hatch. Then, after making sure that her helmet's sound dampeners were working at full capacity and backing as far away as the cramped escape pod would let her, she triggered the fluid. There was a series of loud pops and flashing light and the hatch fell outward with a dull thump.

Sabine grabbed the survival pack and climbed out of the pod. The world she was on, or at least the part she was in, was a tropical jungle. The air was muggy and humid and even smelled muggy and humid. She could hear the various fauna around her in the trees and shrubs, but none of them sounded familiar. Judging by the lengthening shadows, the sun was beginning to go down and she needed somewhere to rest during the hours of darkness. On jungle worlds like this one, no smart being stayed out in the open after dark.

It didn't take her too long to find a cave dug by some long-gone animal between the roots of a tree. It was large enough inside to be able to stretch all the way out. Sabine wasn't worried about being cold either since the weather was humid and muggy. In fact, she was temped to get out of her armor but that would be a mistake. If something came after her in the night, the extra protection would be important.

As she sat inside her cave, she took a pain killer for her aching head and used the medical scanner on herself, scanning her body from head to foot for everything from poison or internal bleeding to broken bones organ damage. When the scan was finished, Sabine sighed with relief. She had a minor concussion, nothing even remotely dangerous, and a few bruises but that was it. Feeling just a little bit better, she put the scanner back in the survival kit and pulled out a ration bar. Yanking off the wrapping, she began to eat it hungrily while digging for the water bottle that came in the pack as well.

It was well sealed and she opened it, drinking half of the water inside before capping it again. Somewhere out there, there had to be fresh watcher to drink but it could wait until tomorrow. Stretching out, she put her helmet beneath her head and pulled a small holograph emitter from her belt. Every night for four years, she had looked at the thing. Up from the tiny device came the grinning picture of her friend, Ezra Bridger. It was a very old one, way back when he had first joined the group. His blue-black hair was still long, and his face didn't have the parallel scars he had received from the Grand Inquisitor yet. The next still was of Ezra while he was next to Kanan, going through lightsaber forms together. He had gotten taller and just a little more muscular, though the kid would never be really big. He had a lean, wiry build, not a bulky one. Finally, the last picture of him appeared, with his close-cut hair and a far more serious look on his face than he had in the earlier days. Even so, there was a smile on his face. Even during the later years, he would still smile. It always helped her feel better about the situation.

Sabine sighed and closed down the device before murmuring to the darkness around her, "Hang in there, Ezra. I'll find you. But apparently, I need to find Ahsoka first."

She fervently hoped that the one-time Jedi Ahsoka Tano hadn't landed too far away. Either way, she'd start on that in the morning.

The following morning, she crawled out of her cave and drew herself up. Her head felt a whole lot better and in the full light of day, the jungle around didn't seem so imposing. After quickly checking her blasters and her gauntlets, she set out, heading up hill as much as possible and hoping to find a tall tree to climb or a clearing at the top of a hill, just to get her bearings. When the ground began to level out, she found a tree with branches she could reach and lowered her survival pack to the ground. It wasn't hard. Sabine was in superb shape and climbing trees like that one were far easier than the rock climbing and wall climbing she had excelled at during her training as a child.

When she had reached the highest she could without worrying about the branches being too thin, she pulled a set of microbanoculars and looked around. Far as far as the eye could see, there were trees. She was at the top a hill, looking down and all that she could see were trees. Birds and other avians flying species could be seen soaring over the canopy. Looking around, she noticed the sun, of course, and several very near moons. Over in the distance, she saw thin curls of smoke and a nasty gauge in the trees - most likely the crash site.

Quickly, she dropped to the jungle floor, grabbed the pack and went as fast as she could through the greenery. From the top of the tree, the crash looked closer than it had been. After running for three kilometers, she finally came to the wrecked ship. It had once been a beautiful Suwantek 1800 Freighter was now a smoking wreck of twisted durasteel. Sabine and Ahsoka had been forced to steal it shortly after their search began due to a run in with the remnants of the Empire.

Crawling over the wreckage, she found a way inside the shattered craft. It certainly didn't look good. The inside was a mess too. Wires were still sparking and in the background, she could hear the ships engine still humming, though it didn't sound very good. Hurry as best as she could to a computer station, she tried to power it up. Much to her shock and relief, it worked - kind of. The screen was flickering and dim.

As quickly as she could, she keyed through the ship's internal logs. It stated that the damage from the storm itself had been minimal, only knocking out the scanners and sensors and forcing the ship off track and into this unknown world's gravitational pull. Neither she nor Ahsoka were able to do anything about it in time. Luckily, two escape pods were jettisoned before the ship crashed.

Again, Sabine sighed in relief before pulling a Mandalorian Blaster Rifle from the locker as well as another survival pack. Once she had everything she could carry, she ran from the ship. She was less than a hundred meters away when the engine and the hyperdrive both went critical and the wreck exploded.

Sabine winced. She would either need to say close or get away fast. Unfortunately, she knew nothing about this world or if it even had any inhabitants. Looking around, she noticed that a tree had several branches she could keep watch from. Tying some cord to one of her survival packs, she climbed to the branches and sat down, pulling the pack up by the cord. The pack from the ship was far more complete than the pod's so she began pulling things like extra rations, medical supplies and the half-filled water bottle from the pod's pack and stuffing it into the extra pockets of the ship's survival pack. That done, she hung the pod's pack from several branches using the cord from her pack.

With everything reorganized, she decided that all she could do was wait. She pulled the pocket-computer out and activate the recording rod that came with it. "This is Sabine Wren of Clan Viszla, day one after myself and Ahsoka Tano crash-landed on this unknown planet in the Unknown Regions. This planet wasn't on any of the limited charts we had of the Unknown Regions. I don't recognize any of the flora or the sounds of any of the fauna. There are a lot of unknowns here. I don't know where Ahsoka is, only that her escape pod was jettisoned. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's alright. She was a Jedi after all and the things they can do are incredible. Anyhow, I've gotten a survival pack from our ship - right before it exploded - and am now set to wait and see if anyone or anything is drawn here by the explosion. If nothing else, I'm hoping that I can find some kind of civilization and they can help me find Ahsoka so we can keep looking for Ezra."

Her throat tightened and she worked to clear it before saying, "I'll keep this updated as I go, but that's all I have for now. Sabine Wren out."

Sighing, she set the computer and rod back in her pack before settling in to wait, her mind wandering back to Ezra Bridger, the young man who had dropped into her life and the life of the crew members of the Ghost. At first, he seemed like a nuisance - a clever nuisance and a sometimes useful nuisance, but a nuisance none the less. But then he had begun his Jedi training and it seemed to change everything about the guy. As they became more and more involved with the rebellion against the Empire, she had come to trust Ezra and to rely on him and to care very deeply about him. He had stood by her every step of the way when she had returned to Mandalore and her family. He had been her training partner while Kanan instructed her in the use of the fabled Darksaber, the weapon of the chieftain of the Mandalorian warrior clans.

During her brief time away from the Specters, she had been surprised by how much she had missed Ezra, his ridiculous sense of humor and his antics around the ship. Yet, his steadfastness and determination, she missed even more. It mirrored her own and complemented them. All of it had come to one final conflict against Grand Admiral Thrawn. The Empire had control of Lothal and while the remainder of the fledgling Rebel Alliance had abandoned the planet as lost, Ezra and the others had returned to fight for it. They had lost Kanan but defeated the Imperial governor Pryce. Finally, in an act of self-sacrifice, Ezra had summoned the purrgil and they had dragged him and Grand Admiral Thrawn away from Lothal to who knows where out into the Unknown Regions.

Sabine smiled as her eyes became misty and she remember that last message to them all. "If you're watching this recording, then I owe you an explanation. There were several paths in front of me. While this wasn't the one I wanted to take, it's what I had to do."

The memory of that last message forced Sabine to scrub at her eyes and take a few deep breathes. "Dammit, Kid!" she said under her breath. "I hate that you can get under my skin like that. Ever since you left, you have me all messed up. By the stars, you had better be alright when I find you."

His final words to her hit home the hardest of course. "Sabine, don't forget, I'm counting on you."

"I'll get you home;" she murmured again. "I promise, I'll get you home."

At first, she had thought he meant about keeping Lothal out of the hands of the Empire after it had been saved but after the major victory at Endor, she had come to realize that he meant to bring him home. That's what she and Ahsoka had set out to do.

Once again, mastering her turbulent emotions, she climbed down from the tree. She needed water - or at least, she needed to know where to get more water. Listening carefully, she tried to detect the sounds of running water - either the pleasant gurgle of a stream or spring or the louder roar of a water fall. Even the pitter-patter of drops would have been helpful but unfortunately, she couldn't here any of it. Holding her blaster rifle at a low-ready position, just in case there was trouble, she headed out in the opposite direction of her escape pod's crash sight.

With her senses on high alert, she made sure to study everything. Before long, she heard the sound she had been listening for - water. While still keeping three-sixty degree awareness, she hurried towards the sound and was amazed at what she happened upon. She burst into a small clearing and found what appeared to be an old shrine of some kind. There were idols in a circle around a spring of crystal clear water. The symbols etched in the stones were completely alien but beautiful as well. The artist within Sabine was fascinated and, still trying to keep her senses alert. She almost thought she could get a very, very basic idea of what they meant. This was a religious shrine, honoring a pantheon of some kind of pagan gods and goddesses. There were thirteen, all told, six female and seven male. They all looked humanoid enough though they were crudely carved, as if with only hand tools.

When she had figured out everything that she could, Sabine stood and went to the spring, filling her bottle back up from the clear water. She tasted it as well and it tasted clean and pure, without the taste or smell of any sort of contaminate. It was less than three quarters of a kilometer away from the crash site so, with her water sources refilled, she headed back that way.

When she was about half way back, her keen hearing picked up sounds in the woods. They were very soft sounds, the rustling of bushes and leaves and the very soft sound of footfalls. Casually, Sabine lifted her blaster rifle and held it ready. Just as she was coming to the crashed ship, the attack came. Out of nowhere, a figure rushed and struck her weapon from her hands with a heavy spear staff before pointing it at her menacingly with a command in an unfamiliar language. Out of pure reflex, Sabine went for her blaster pistols, only to find both of them struck from her hands by two more warriors. Before she could do anything else, a dozen primitive warriors armed with weapons of obsidian stone and wood. They wore the loincloths made from animal skin and their feet were also covered in boots of supple skin. Other than that, the only thing on their bronzed, muscular bodies was war paint. The paints were amazing camouflage and, at the same time, made them appear fierce.

Slowly, hoping that it was indeed the universal sign for surrender, Sabine lifted her hands. One of the warriors, a man who also wore a skin over his head and shoulders - the skin of a lupine creature of some kind - snarled an order.

Unsure of what to do, Sabine said, "I don't understand you!"

Suddenly, the warriors fell silent and one of them, a man with a necklace of claws, murmured something to the man with the skin. The response was brief. One of them unwrapped ropes made from interwoven plant fibers and tied her hands down beside her waist. They tied her at the elbows as well and then across the middle of her upper arms. When they were done, it was near impossible to move.

At another few brisk commands, they gathered up her fallen weapons and lead her off.

Sabine was furious and anxious at being led away by primitive natives. She had to find Ahsoka and to get off this planet. She had to find Ezra.

They traveled for several long kilometers until they came to what appeared to be a sizable city. The buildings were of good size, though nothing compared to those on Lothal. Across the city-scape occasionally rose tall pyramids with enclosed rooms at the top of them and doorways that went inside of them as well. The only building more than three stories other than these temples was a single, large structure. It was built at the top of a pyramid which, in contrast to the others, looked to have been carved directly our of a massive formation of volcanic rock. Straight to the top of that structure they went, climbing the high stairs until they came to what appeared to be a dome without walls, only a series of rough-cut pillars. At the center of the circle sat the last person in the universe that Sabine had expected to see. Wearing a white skin of the same lupine creature that the native in charge of her capture wore, wearing nothing else but an animal skin loincloth, boots and a necklace of the teeth and claws of some animal, sat Ezra Bridger.

His electric-blue eyes widened in shock at seeing her and he stood quickly to his feet. On either side of him, to very large and strong warriors with black lupine skins lowered their spears and made loud commands. Then Ezra himself spoke in their tongue and stepped towards her. Before he could reach her, the raspy, nasally voice of an old main came from the side. Two identical old men with headdresses made of the feathers of some fantastic bird and wearing mantels that looked to be made from the skin of a scaly reptile stepped from behind curtains woven from some exotic kind of silk. They pointed staves at Ezra and one after another seemed to be sternly giving him orders or delivering dire warnings.

Ezra looked irritated, a look that Sabine knew well. He was clearly resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he replied to them.

But the two old men, obviously priests or shamans or something like that, were adamant and shook their heads twice. This time, Ezra did roll his eyes and said something else as he went back to his seat and sat down. The old men looked at one another and nodded cautiously before taking up positions on either side of the throne with the two burly guards. "It's good to see you again, Sabine. I can't even say how good it is. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to go too close yet. The two old geezers there say that you and your clothing and armor must be purified before I can."

Sabine's eyes widened and she asked nervously. "What exactly is 'purifying'?"

Ezra's blue eyes suddenly began to sparkle and he said, "Oh, it's not so bad. It's where a bunch of the priestesses take you down to a hot, salt-water spring and scrub you with a plant that is used for hygiene here. It smells good too. They'll use something else on your armor and weapons but don't worry. They know what their doing and the stuff won't effect the blasters or gauntlets. Trust me. They did the same to my lightsaber."

Her patted the familiar cylinder at his waist. Despite herself, Sabine was getting a little irritated. "So a bunch of old woman are going to strip me naked and wash me. I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself, thanks."

"Oh I know, but it's part of their religious ceremony. Trust me, if you don't play along, they'll feed you to the dragon lizards in the river at the bottom of a ravine, way over there. I saw them punish one of their criminals that way. Look, I promise, it won't hurt. In fact, once you get passed the awkwardness, it's actually kinda nice."

It suddenly struck Sabine that Ezra was speaking from experience and she narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah? And I'm guessing you know this because they did it to you too, right?"

Ezra shrugged. "I didn't have a choice. I had no desire to be fed to the dragon lizards. Just play along, Sabine, please. Once you have been cleansed, we can work something out, alright?"

Hesitantly, Sabine nodded and Ezra turned to the two old men, saying something in their primitive tongue. The old men nodded in satisfaction and motioned the guards to take Sabine away. Suddenly realizing that she hadn't said even one word to Ezra that she wanted to, Sabine called to him. "Ezra, I have so much I have to tell you, so many things."

The young man's eyes were filled with joy at seeing her and longing to speak to her. "I know. Same here. We'll talk, I promise."

As she was pulled away, Ezra's smile only grew. Sabine had found him, just as he knew she would all those years ago. How many had it been? Four? Five? Six years ago? What was going on with the fight against the Empire? Had the Alliance ever returned to help the people of Lothal? Had the people of Lothal needed help after the purrgil had removed Thrawn? There were so many questions that Ezra had for her. He noticed that her hair was black again too - black and even shorter than the last time he had seen it. He liked it. It made her look tough but beautiful. Granted, after eight and a half local years and at least five yours of not seeing her at all, Sabine could be bald and he would still think her beautiful.

But now, he had to be patient and the villagers were coming to ask for his blessing, his healing or his advice. His powers in the force had set him up as a chieftain-hero of some kind.

As the first group came up carrying a young man with a nasty gash in his leg, Ezra cleared his mind and prepared himself to help these people - people who had, for the most part, shown him kindness since he had awakened lying almost naked on the jungle floor. The least he could do is use his powers the way Kanan would want him to - to protect, defend and to heal.

Sabine was surrounded by naked woman holding soft clothes and strange bark that oozed clear bubbling sap. Slowly, two that were around her age located and deftly removed the plating of her armor. The body glove that she wore beneath followed after and in no time, she stood naked among them. The older women murmured to one another and Sabine had the distinct impression that they were talking about her, though whether in a complimentary fashion or a negative one, she had no idea. They led her down into the water and had her duck beneath the surface for a moment before lifting her back up. Gently, they drew her into a shallower part of the pool. Two young woman rubbed the bark over the soft cloths, causing them to become sudsy.

A wonderful smell permeated the air and the young woman began to gently scrub her arms. A very pleasant tingle spread wherever the soft cloth brushed her skin. Another soft cloth began to brush one of her legs, starting down at her knees and going upwards. "Woah now;" murmured Sabine, a little nervously. "You're uh... really thorough... aren't you?"

The woman working on one arm clearly didn't understand her as she scrubbed under her arm and her shoulder - before moving across the top of her chest. The woman cleaning her other arm moved down her flat stomach and the right side of her body. A forth woman put something on her hair and began to gently massage it into her head, forcing her eyes to close. Her sense of feel and smell became hyper-aware. The cloth washing her leg moved upward over her thigh, almost all the way up to the apex of her legs before switching over to her other knee and repeating. When the cloth that had been washing the top of her chest and her slender neck brushed downward over her breasts, Sabine shuddered as the tingling of the sap spread over them, causing the tips of them to harden. "Stars!" she muttered, "take it easy with this stuff!"

Again, the women murmured, probably saying, once again, that they didn't know what she was saying. The cloth moving up her legs quite thoroughly finished with washing her lower body, not at all shy about washing her womanhood. Satine gasped again and felt heat rushing to her face and her core. Again, the cloth brushed over her breasts and she bit her lip to avoid letting out anymore noise. Some took Sabine's left hand and placed it on what felt like a naked shoulder before lifting the left foot out of the water, scrubbing the foot, ankle and shapely calf just as thoroughly as the rest of her.

As the women finished up and as the tingle permeated her whole body now and she couldn't help but smile. In the back of her mind, Sabine wondered if the suds were some kind of mild narcotic or that was just part of the result of a 'cleansing.'

She was led deeper into the salt water and gently pressed to dunk again. Sabine allowed herself to sink below the warm water and ran her fingers through her hair a few times before rising, brushing the water from her face before opening her eyes.

On the bank of the pool, three women who were dress held towels. As she came up out of the spring, Sabine realized that the treatment, whether it had been intended to be sensual or not, had left her aroused. The three women wrapped their towels around her - one around her waist, one around her head and one around her hair. The oldest woman, still beautiful but probably in her fifties in standard years, pointed to a soapstone building and said something.

Sabine didn't have a single clue what the woman, someone of obvious authority, was even saying but it was clear that they wanted her to go into the building. Still wrapped in towels, she went down into the building and found two more women waiting for her. The building was very warm and dry inside. Gently, the women removed her towels and combed her short hair. On a low counter sat what appeared to be clothing made of the skins of the lupine creatures. "What are those animals called anyway?" she asked allowed to no one in particular. "They remind me of Lothwolves."

The women took some kind of lotion or something from jars and gently began to rub it over her legs. Again, they had no qualms about rubbing it into the outside of her groin and over her firm cheeks as well. Again, she hissed and muttered, "They seemed determined to get me all riled up before I go see Ezra."

As they worked the lotion into her abdomen and breasts, she wondered if that was actually their intention. When they were finished, the women handed her the clothes, a strange skirt-like garment that hung around the waist, clasped with three bone clasps at the hips and a vest of some kind. It covered her naked body. However, if she turned to fast, her breasts very well could spill out one side and, just like most of the other lupine garments, the had came over her head much like a hood.

The women smiled and led her out. The older woman, the authoritative woman motioned her to follow back towards the palace-temple.