"January 29th, 1988.
My parents woke me up today, I was lying in the middle of the garden, a good distance away from the house. I remember waking up during then night and writing the last entry then exiting my room but nothing else after that. It's safe to assume my fever had gotten so bad it sent me into a trance-like state making me walk outside and then pass out in the garden."
(Y/N) looked up from their journal, they were feeling much better now that the sickness had passed, they hated the beginning of "winter" in Earth terms as it was the time their condition got so bad it often sent them into painful, dream-like states, this would last for weeks or even months at times. Thankfully it was over now and they could carry on with their life as usual.
They looked through the window taking notice of the bright day outside, quite usual for that time of the year on their planet, they got up from their chair and crouched down to look under their bed, with a slight hesitation they dragged their dusty computer from underneath and opened it. During their time they were sick, (Y/N) didn't have many chances to check in and see what The CIS was up to, maybe it was better that way.
They sat on the wooden floor and inspected the many applications that were open, scrolling down and typing stuff in, however, soon interrupted by the soft knocking sounds on their door, their mother's voice coming from the other side.
"(Y/N)? May I come in?"
(Y/N) slowly closed their computer and hid it back under the bed then got up.
"Uhm, sure."
With that, their mother opened the door carefully walking in.
"Sweetie I know this is very out of the blue but Count Dooku has requested an audience with us." She said, noticing the instant drop in her child's expression.
"And", she continued, "We want you to come with us, now that you're feeling better."
They knew their mother wasn't somebody to be argued with so they simply nodded in response, clearly unhappy with the situation.
"I'll see you downstairs sweetie, get dressed now." Their mother then closed the door and her footsteps could be heard getting farther and farther away.
(Y/N) sighed and sat on their bed. "Great.", they thought to themselves, "I gotta go to another mindless business chatter now."
The Count was getting his papers in order, his office was dull and cold as always, when a sudden burst of light came from the opening doors, making way for a worried assistant running in holding a tower of papers, some of them fluttering off as she ran up to him.
"Count Dooku, sir, we've received word that the Jedi are going to pass over Axion!! This might be our very chance to catch the-" The assistant had been silenced by Dooku's hand, he looked up from his desk and exhaled.
"Please inform General Grievous about this and make sure he knows one of my closest business ties locates on that very planet, if he fails to lead the battle without damages to the planet itself he will answer to me." He said in a firm tone, looming over the helpless assistant.
"Y-y-yes, sir!! Right away, sir." She said, her voice shaking with fear, she carefully placed the papers on Dooku's desk and ran off to the other room.
(Y/N) was already dressed when their computer gave off a quiet sound, notifying them of something. They looked over at the screen while shoving the ever growing flowers on their skin further down their shirt but suddenly stop as they saw there had been a signal given off by The CIS droid army. Perplexed, (Y/N) looked through the data, only managing to mutter the words "A battle...? Right....now?" under their breath.
"(Y/N)!!" Came the rapid knocks of their mother on the door. "(Y/N) we have to go!"
They quickly hid the computer, faked a deep cough and threw themselves into bed, making themselves look more sick than ever, faking a very rusty tone they slowly replied.
"Come in..."
She came in, obviously worried. "What's wrong sweetie?!"
(Y/N) coughed harder. "I think it's...back...I-I don't know if I can go..." They were staring into nothingness, as they usually did when they were sick, hoping against hope their mother would buy it.
"Well...", came their mother's voice, still concerned, "Me and your father will go and you stay here and get better, okay?"
(Y/N) nodded slowly visibly struggling to move at all, their eyes were empty. "Sounds good..."
With that, she softly closed the door behind her, walking away, (Y/N) waited for the sounds of them leaving the house and the ship taking off, only then did they jump out of bed, covered themselves from head to feet so they'd be unrecognizable, pulled their infamous bird mask over their face and ran outside through the back exit, their lightsaber at the ready for any possible incoming threats.
The General was using all of his 4 arms to fight the Jedi, taking the most powerful ones on himself as he was more likely to snap right back up after a good hit than a regular droid. The battle was fierce and even with the droid army outnumbering the Jedi 4 to 1 they were still able to maintain their grounds, using The Force when necessary, their fleshy agility outgoing the metal bodies of the droids and their cyborg leader.
His objective was getting into their massive cargo ship and taking over it but the Jedi proved to be much stronger than he had assumed from their small number, they were wise to send some of the most powerful to defend their purpose.
As the battle grew more intense, the fighters had managed to deliver some hard hits to his body, sending him to the ground, two of his collection lightsabers from his previous victims falling off the cliffside he was now close to falling down in. They hit they fed him with was special, as it had been placed onto his chest which was housing the remainders of his organs, leaving him on the ground vulnerable to any further attacks.
The hooded Jedi moved in for the killer strike when suddenly his saber clashed against another, peeking from under the hood, his eyes widened as he saw his own kind defending the murderer of his people. They wore a crooked smile which could be seen underneath the beaked mask covering their nose and upper face.
"Why are you doing this?!" The Jedi shouted, not backing away from the edge they were standing on, sabers still clashing against each other with mighty force. "Why are you helping him, he KILLS people like us you idiot."
A slightly deeper growl-like tone came from (Y/N)'s mouth, their eyes filled with hatred and bloodlust. "I am NOT like you."
The General's head looked up at the masked figure looming over him, surprised from hearing their voice, at that point he had assumed "Bird Mask" was mute since they never made a sound while in battle. He let out a few coughs then rose to his full height, his usually hunched back now standing straight making him even more terrifying. His grand body was now casting a shadow over (Y/N) yet both of their presences struck an irrational fear into the Jedi's hearts.
Just as he got his other weapons out from their places on his belt the sound of a crack hit their ears. The area between them and the Jedi had a massive tear, making the hooded fighter and his other soldiers fall back from the edge in which they had cornered the two. Grievous was as still as a rock, avoiding any sudden movements and trying to think of a way to get them out of there safely, his thoughts, however, were blown away by a single golden petal falling from underneath (Y/N)'s bandages. He followed it with his eyes, holding his breath in as the petal landed gently on the ground next to (Y/N)'s foot, they noticed it as well and froze.
The crack between them and the Jedi became bigger as the edge had fallen off taking Grievous and the masked fighter alongside with it.
The General was looking up, as if in slow motion, the figure hovering above him was leaving a trail of petals and fully grown golden flowers as they were falling into the abyss, their mouth agape, their ginger curly hair being driven by the wind, there was no fear in their expression, as if they've gone through hell and back before, as if this experience couldn't compare to their everyday pains. Their eyes met each other as The General's heavy metal body and (Y/N)'s gracious posture were being pulled down by the gravity, something about those eyes seemed familiar to him but he couldn't quite figure out why.
As they were getting closer and closer to the deep forest-covered ground he grabbed them and pulled them onto his chest, locking them in a tight metal cage with all his four arms and his legs, shielding them from the shock of hitting the ground. His body connected, making a loud, metallic sound and digging itself into the mud, staining his pure white cape and body. A few seconds after the impact he slowly opened his arms to check if his little savior was okay, to his relief, they were staring at him in shock.
Satisfied that they were now even, he left his head hit the grass softly, looking up at the sky from where they had fallen, the Jedi cargo ship was making its' way out of sight, he sighed deeply and let out a soft chuckle.
"I'm not as heartless as you might've heard, Bird Mask...At least not to the ones by my side."
