*Bold and centered text are song lyrics. Other than that, happy reading!*

I awoke once to choke around the feeding tubes being forced down my unconscious body's throat. Both Ren's were hovering up above me while Phasma was helping the medical droid with the insertion of the tubing. A groan escaped my lips from the pain of the intrusion. Memories soon overtook me again and I was back under.

~~IN MIND~~

"She was wrong. I'm nothing special." A little lean, red-headed Hux spoke to himself a couple days after his unusual presentation ceremony and the horrible trauma of all that happened after it. He was curled up with his knees pulled to his chest on the balcony of his own bedroom. The cold floor was keeping him distracted as he looked out at the sunrise. His own thoughts moving to his own past.

"That's not true. You won't understand this yet child; in fact, you may never understand fully what I say to you. It will take many years to discover the multitude of ways you will bring something special to the lives of others." At first the words seemed to be those of a ghost, but he knew better. They were really the words of the woman who had handled his presentation. She had said that before she'd left, having heard Hux's internalized doubts just before she'd exited the circle.

It's not like I went home right after the presentation either. Instead, I had scaled up to the rooftop of a nearby building. Birds were kept up there to be released at weddings and trained for frivolous ventures. The only thing useful they were used for was to send militant letters across the planet to other villagers. Now they seemed absurd, for even now I could hear them sing to me.

So I walk alone down the darkest roads

'Cause I've always known how the story goes

When the curtain falls I'll be wearing thin

Clawing at the walls as they're closing in

In this twisted plot I was destined for

I'm an astronaut on the ocean floor

So misunderstood 'till the bloody end

How I wish I could do it all again

The rooftop faded from my vision and all I could see was a distant mountain. From my perspective I was flying miles above it's surface, far enough to not be able to touch the rocky peaks. But the scene appeared so clearly in front of me, it was almost like I could touch it. A short haired kitten with bright red fur was nursing to wounds in it's shoulder and ankle. It was situated on a clifftop, a beast with bright eyes approached, taking it's time to reach the kitten. Said animal tried to escape but the beast snarled harshly at it and the kitten froze in fear.

It feels like I'm a lone survivor

Forgotten in a dark and deadly world

And on my own I walk alone

To see the sun again I'd give anything

But life demands a final chapter

A story that we all must leave behind

It's do or die, and this is mine

The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

The beast kept pawing across the expanse of mountain until it came fully into view. Shaggy black hair around bright blue eyes. Oddly enough, it reminded me of someone, though who I couldn't place. A titanium blonde, nearly white, lynx jumped down from above landing beside the frightened kitten and gave it's own monster growl over to the beast, as if to scare it away or assert its dominance over the other.

It's another night of the living dead

Like a viper bite in a spiderweb

It's so deathly dark in the alleyway

And a bleeding heart makes you easy prey

I would run and hide for the afternoon

With the butterfly in the panic room

Though I won't be missed, I would say it's time

For a different twist in the story line

More frightening than the first, a second beast dropped out of the sky, seemingly from behind me as I watched. Using it's talons like crooked fingers, it lifted the frightened kitten up into the air and squeezed as hard as it could and released it's very much deceased prey. The first beast nuzzled into the kitten's side while the lynx grew further enraged, sitting in pained submission. A bright glow began to emit from the kitten and the first beast was spurred into rabid action.

It feels like I'm a lone survivor

Forgotten in a dark and deadly world

And on my own I walk alone

To see the sun again I'd give anything

But life demands a final chapter

A story that we all must leave behind

It's do or die, and this is mine

The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

With a feral growl the first beast attacked the second one, using it's teeth and claws to literally tear the villain apart. No single part of his whole being was left whole until it was completely dismembered. Once the first beast's task was completed he gave a mighty roar and returned back to where the kitten had dropped. But the kitten's body was gone, it had disappeared from sight. It looked with the lynx but neither could find it. Both of them were at a loss for what to do until they saw it.

It feels like I'm a lone survivor

Forgotten in a dark and deadly world

And on my own I walk alone

To see the sun again I'd give anything

But life demands a final chapter

A story that we all must leave behind

It's do or die, and this is mine

The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

At the top of a clifftop directly across from while simultaneously beside the current location there was a majestically bright red lion standing and letting loose a magnificent roar. It cascaded down to the base of the mountain and the lion followed the sounds path carefully. The others watched it make it's moves with caution coursing through their unsettled veins. While the lynx knew almost immediately, the beast had to tackle the lion and see the puncture scars, as if made by talons, to prove it to himself that the kitten had in fact become the mighty lion. The animals snuggled together gently, the beast laying across the other as they lay there, together.

Tell the world I know that my mind is made

It's a hard show, but I'm not afraid

Though I won't be missed, I would say it's time

For a different twist in the story line