Chapter Twelve

She gritted her teeth, the pain making her want to pass out. Blood soaked her Jedi robes, leaking through the fabric and dropping onto the dusty floor beneath her, creating small red puddles. Jango put the blood-covered whip back on his belt, a satisfied smirk on his ugly lips. She breathed heavily, failing miserably at hiding her gut-wrenching agony.

"Are you done? Already?" she asked sarcasticlly.

"Just be thankful you survived this one, Jedi." Jango spoke, then walked out of the long corridor. She watched him leave, then heard the sound of a heavy metal door sliding closed. She knew that Boba had heard her screams of pain, she figured the entire planet heard her. She could feel the burning marks on her back and chest, the raw and exposed flesh feeling as if she was on fire. After a minute, her binders clicked automatically clicked off, causing her to fall to the blood-soaked ground.

She coughed as she struggled to stay up straight. The room around her was spinning rapidly, her black eye swollen so much that she couldn't see on her left side. Denali took a deep breath, then immediately got to her feet. Hobbling out of her pool of blood and towards the large metal door, she pressed her ear against the cold metal. The freezing temperature caused her to jump back, but she didn't let something like that stop her. Denali listened quietly, trying to hear what was happening on the other side of the barrier.

The shouting screams of a crowd.

She gasped, knowing that the Geonosians had gathered. They were waiting for the show to start, and she feared that it was about to start soon. She pressed her back against the metal, sliding down til she was sitting down. Denali thought, trying her hardest to think of a plan. Anything that would save her from a terrible fate.

After a few minutes, she took a deep breath, thinking that her efforts were useless. She held out her palms, looking at the raw flesh. Closing her eyes, summoning the Force, the skin slowly began to heal. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to fully heal her hands. After a moment, she suddenly felt a surge of energy blast from her fingers. She shrieked and her eyes flashed open. Looking around, she saw a small puff of dust float in the air, hovering above the ground.

Cautiously, she crawled on her knees over to the dust cloud. Looking at the ground just below the cloud, she saw that the sand had crystalized, it looked as if it had been hit with some sort of bomb. Her head filled with confusion as she stared, awestruck, at the crystals. Slowly, she extended her hands forward, this time keeping her eyes open to watch what would occure. When nothing happened, she slowly extended her fingers till her fingertips were facing forward.

As soon as she had done that, a falsh of blue suddenly burst from her hands and struck the ground. Another cloud of dust erupted from the spot on the ground, making her gasp and quickly put her hand over her mouth in shock. She could feel the electricity flowing through her, and it scared her.

She had possessed the power of lightning.

But possessing that kind of power was only something a sith could do, and Denali knew she wasn't a sith. She was a Jedi, a strong, powerful, Jedi that was connected strongly to the light side of the Force. She hadn't even considered the fact that it was possible for her to go to the dark side. She could always see the good side of things and would rather talk through problems than use her lightsaber. To her that had always been a last resort.

Less than a second later, the door suddenly slid open. She stumbled backward, trying to maintain her balance as two Geonocians quickly grabbed her binded hands. They pulled her forward, half dragging her deeper down the hall towards a white light. Denali knew that that was where the arena was located.

As she walked, she could hear the sound of a Geonocian announcer speaking into a microphone, its voice was amplified throughout the stronghold. One of the aliens spoke in their strange language to the other, Denali wondered what they were saying. Then, after a moment, one of them elbowed her in the back, causing her to move forward. They continued walking til they entered the arena, the sunlight nearly blinding her. She held up her hands to block the sudden light.

"And now, may I introduce, Jedi Master Denali Bleway!" Jango's voice sounded over the microphone. Denali looked up at the large balcony that over-looked the arena. She could see Jango Fett standing up there, a huge evil smile on his lips. Beside him was his son, the poor boy's face was so pale in the daylight. He looked horror-stricken at the sight of her.

"Master!" she heard someone roar. She looked across the floor of the arena and saw five poles. Chained to one was her padawan, Chewbacca. Chained to the others were Padme Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Regret slithered into her heart like a snake. She shouldn't have been so weak, she shouldn't have trusted Boba in the first place.

She and her padawan made eye-contact and Chewie immediately felt better. He had been worried sick about his master ever since he had heard that she had gone missing. He was over-joyed that she was alive, but her injuries looked horrible. He could tell, even from all the way across the arena, that they were serious and would be fatal if not treated carefully soon. His heart began to beat rapidly as a new amount of worry began to form in the pit of his stomach.

"Are you alright?" Denali asked her padawan as the two Geonocians chained her to the pole beside the wookiee. Denali could hear the chains click, making her grimance. She knew that she'd be able to escape them soon, she just strongly disliked the noise. Her shoulders felt like they were on fire the longer her arms stayed up straight at a 180 degree angle.

"I should ask you the same question. What did they do to you?" Chewie asked her.

"I'd like to know the same." Anakin said from the other side of Chewie. He could see the fresh blood dripping down her arms and legs, layering her entire body in a thick red liquid. She had a black eye that was swollen closed and her lower lip had been busted open. She was the spitting image of pain and suffering.

"They tortured me. Simple as that." she stated.

"Is Denali alright?" Obi-Wan asked from the other side of Anakin. He couldn't see his wife from where he was chained, and the worry was finally starting to get to him. Anakin looked over at his master, a grim expression on his lips.

"They tortured her, Master. She's covered in blood, her clothes are soaked in it. Not a single speck of white left on her." Anakin told his master. Obi-Wan's fury was beginning to grow inside of him, fester within like an infected wound. They hurt his wife, his beautiful wife. And they sure as hell were going to pay.

"Now, everyone, I think we all agree that our Jedi friend, Denali, should go first." a different voice said into the microphone. Obi-Wan growled, knowing exactly who was speaking.

Count Dooku.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Denali said to her padawan, who was suddenly looking quite worried. He roared as he struggled to get free from his chains. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape. If only they hadn't taken his lightsaber, he would've been able to get out and help his poor master.

"And now, for the main event! Release.....the rancor!" Dooku shouted.

Their hearts stopped. All five of them. Padme, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Chewbacca, and Denali. She took a deep breath as a large gate suddenly opened on the opposite end of the arena. The Geonocian crowd screamed with happiness as the large brown monster sulked out of its prison and into the open. The rancor looked around, took another step forward, then let out an ear-splitting roar. The crowd went crazy once again. The rancor's claws seemed to shine, its teeth glimmered deadly.

Denali just smirked.

"This will be easy."