[center][h1][color=3CB371]Bemizel Balu[/color][/h1][/center]
[center][img]https://imgur.com/79NP0ps.png[/img][/center]
It was hard to say when he'd last felt so alone. Perhaps before he had first felt the warmth of the Force, all those years ago as a child on the plains.

The plains were far away now. Huge trees loomed from all sides, suffocating in their closeness as Bem stumbled his way through the jungle in the dark. The few tiny slivers of sky visible in the canopy overhead had begun to turn gray with the predawn light - another day of running. The haggard Jedi had guessed, judging by the occasional colorful flashes in the skies and the deep tremors of the ground, that the Separatists managed to put together a hasty counteroffensive after the chaos and confusion at the Republic command post, though that hadn't stopped his own soldiers from combing the jungles for any trace of him. Any time he paused for breath, he could hear the faint whirring servos and telltale thudding footsteps of AT-RT scouts behind.

[i]Alone.[/i] Bem's mind was still struggling to put the shattered pieces of his thoughts back together after what had happened. [i]Liris.[/i] No. Too painful to think about. He couldn't bear to. His master had taught him to surrender himself to the Force, just as he'd taught to her. But the Force was little comfort right now, either. That wave of panic, confusion, and overwhelming pain had threatened to send him sprawling. Even now, he still felt occasional little agonizing shivers run through him as some other Jedi no doubt met with a terrible fate on some far-flung world.

Perhaps the only thing threatening to steal his sanity faster than his own crimes was the question that stood at the front of his mind, the maddening [i]need[/i] to know how this terrible thing had been done to the Order. No, the Force would not be much help any time soon. He could barely concentrate enough to extend his senses to just beyond this -

Bem flattened himself against the nearest shaggy trunk instinctively. Far behind, he heard familiar voices, now, in addition to the scout walkers.

Another loud explosion seemed to rock the very planet itself. The Jedi seized the opportunity and took off again through the undergrowth, running perhaps a little faster this time. A creeping vine whipped at his face as he crashed forward, hoping to put some distance between himself and the searching troopers. He could only hope that on the other side of this jungle there was a settlement... or some other way off-world.