Sorry about the wait, I'll try to be better about it. Enjoy. :)

The Order: Chapter 2: Fluffy

Night had fallen, but it was too dangerous to stop. Asoka knew she could go for another day like this, but Rex was already slowing down. The other troopers were definitely back on their feet and probably looking for them. They'd be moving slower than her and Rex, but they had definitely reported back and were given further instructions, maybe even reinforcements.

They slowly made their way down a rocky grade. They had agreed that Asoka should lead the way back to the ship since she had better reflexes and could sense any people or animals. So she carefully climbed down the boulders being on the lookout for loose rocks and any of the many small deadly creatures that inhabited the Kalee wild. Rex followed closely, only putting his hands or feet wherever Asoka put hers.

They had landed so far away from the arms facility so they wouldn't be picked up by any scanners. As another precautionary measure, they landed next to the Kashé River, so if they got lost or separated they could always head east until they hit the river and just make their way back to the ship. Asoka had thought she was showing wisdom and caution by directing her troops in the quietest way possible, but now it just seemed unnecessary. Also it placed her and Rex right where the others would expect to find them.

Asoka could both hear and smell the water from the river as they made their way down. They were very close, but she was still worried. They were still at least half a day away from the ship, the strain from the previous days was wearing them both down, and their team would know exactly where they're heading. My team…she thought wryly. Mutiny on the first mission: that had to be a record.

Once they were past the rocks, they had to push through some brush. Asoka had thought to pull out her lightsaber and hack her way through, but that would have left too much evidence of the way they came. After making it through a particularly dense thicket, the Jedi and the soldier found themselves on the bank of a huge, fast flowing river.

"We'll rest here." She ordered and made her way to the water to wash her face. Even at night the climate was particularly warm and the cold water felt nice against her skin.

Rex and Askoa hadn't said much to each other along the way. Now that they were having a moment to sit and think, Asoka could feel Rex's prickling doubts. Not that she blamed him. Something had definitely happened back on Coruscant.

Asoka mentally groaned. How could all this happen? The council definitely wouldn't rebel against the Republic. Seeking power is not the Jedi way. Even if it were a faction of Jedi separating from the temple, Master Yoda and Master Windu are much too powerful and clever for the situation to have gotten so completely out of hand. Separatists, Sith, sabotage, nothing made sense! She had to try to get in touch with the temple to find out the truth. But it was too risky using her communicator; they could be traced. She had to get back to the ship as quickly as possible and that's all there was to it.

But she wouldn't leave Rex behind. He completely compromised himself for her sake and she refused to abandon him. Even if she came back for him with the ship, the chance was too great of the others finding him. They'd execute him on the spot for treason. No, there had to be another way.

"Go on without me."

Asoka nearly jumped out of her skin. More startled than anything else, she rounded on her clone companion who was sitting on a rock watching her. "What?"

"Go on without me" he repeated. The moon was high and bright and she could just make out his features. He looked exhausted. He was covered in mud, his eyes were bloodshot and his shoulders were slumped in a most un-Rex-like way. "I'm slowing you down, just go on."

The young Jedi shook her head. "No. I'd be dead if it weren't for you. We're in this together."

"Well we're either going to be shot or stranded together if we don't get to that ship soon." Good old pragmatic Rex.

"We have time. We got a head start, and the others will also need to rest." She tried to sound reassuring, but he didn't look convinced. "Besides, you saw how easy they went down. We can handle them together."

She sensed irritation from him. He probably didn't like the comment about his brothers going down easy. "And what if the Kaleesh find us?"

Ah yes. The Kaleesh weren't exactly peaceful people. "We'll be alright. Most Kaleesh fear Jedi."

Rex turned his gaze from her to stare at the rushing river. It was almost unfair that the Force allowed her to sense emotion, but not read thoughts. "You do believe me, don't you? The Jedi did not rebel against the Republic. It goes against what we stand for."

Rex continued to gaze at the water. "I believe that whatever happened to start all this had nothing to do with you."

She sighed. That would have to do for now. "So what do we do now?"

He shrugged. "You're the commander."

"No, I'm the condemned and your help has made you a traitor. Getting back the ship is the first step, but then what?"

"I guess that depends on what we find out."

"For all we know, the whole thing could have been a misunderstanding."

Rex grunted, still skeptical. They fell into silence and Asoka's mind went back to how they were going to get back to the ship without being captured and/or executed.

She sat down, cross-legged, and tried to relax. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and waited for the gentle tug and falling sensation of her consciousness entering the Force. She immediately felt something was wrong. Normally the Force felt like slipping into a warm bath, but she felt incredibly cold. She could feel, pain, anguish, fear. Suddenly, it felt like something slammed into her and she was falling faster, or was she being pulled?

Dreadful images came to her, Master Yoda escaping with help, Master Plo being shot down. The falling sensation became more intense. Master Kenobi fighting his way through clone troopers at the temple, her Master standing before a volcano. A cacophony of images and sounds, she couldn't keep up, she couldn't breathe. He's cutting down people she recognized as Separatist leaders, fighting Obi-won, losing, dying, Padme screaming in pain and a child begins to cry-

"AHSOKA!"

Ahsoka gasped for air and Rex was grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. She yelped and tried to push away, but he held her firmly. "It's okay, it's okay, it's me!"

Ahsoka forced herself to breathe slower and deeper, forced herself to calm down. "What happened?"

Seeing her calm, Rex removed his hands from her shoulders and sat down in front of her. "You were having a fit." He seemed to deliberate for a moment before asking "You were…doing your…Jedi thing, right? Did you…see something?"

Ahsoka buried her face in her hands and began to rub her eyes and temples. "I don't know. There was so much I couldn't really grasp on to one thing, but…" She could feel everything well up inside her and paused to swallow the lump in her throat. "The order…all Jedi were…? So…? They're gone. The Force, it's…And so many…and Master Plo…" She bit her lip. She REFUSED to cry. Not when she needed to pull through this. Not in front of Rex, either.

Rex looked conflicted, but tried to be positive. "You won't know that until you can contact…someone…"

"No." She shook her head. "I could feel it. It was so cold." She kept her head down because if she saw Rex's look of sympathy, she wouldn't be able to hold it in. And she had to. She needed to pull it together if they were both going to survive. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Then she felt it: a warm sensation prickling from within and a light shining within her peripherals. She looked up and saw…something…standing at the edge of the trees. It's front quarters was covered in feathers with claw-like feet. The neck and head were also feathery and it had a beak. It's hind quarters, however, had sleek fur with a long tail that was tufted at the end. Huge feathery wings sprouted from it's back. It was enormous and was radiating with a warm glow. It was completely bizarre, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen it before. "Do you see that?"

"See what?" Rex shifted and looked around.

"You don't see it."

"If you told me what you're looking at, maybe I could see it."

"Trust me Rex, if you could see it, you'd know what I'm talking about." Ahsoka pulled herself up and started approaching the beast slowly. It's great black eyes stared at her intently and though she could feel no threat from it, it was still a bit unnerving. "Hey there…uh…Fluffy." The creature stared at her a bit longer, then turned and walked deeper into the jungle. It wanted her to follow it, so she did.

"Hey!" Rex called after her, but Ahsoka kept following the creature and Rex followed her. Soon the beast began to run, so she began to run. Ahsoka whipped through the trees with new found energy. The radiating warmth from the creature seemed to revitalize her and even though she should have been exhausted she felt better than ever as she raced after the weird, yet beautiful thing that her comrade couldn't see. While Ahsoka had to keep dodging rocks and jumping foliage and various other obstacles, the huge creature seemed to float almost immaterially through the rough terrain. It picked up speed, so she picked up speed. It leaped, so she leapt and she was…FALLING!

Ahsoka gasped. Fluffy had led her straight off a cliff. The wind whipped right through her body, burning tearing, straining. Though Ahsoka knew how to control a fall, the suddenness of the situation caused her to panic. The force of the wind was making it near impossible for her to control her limbs so she just flailed mid-air like a rag doll. She finally got a hold of herself enough mentally in order to force her protesting body to flip into a proper falling position.

She reached out to the Force to slow herself down, but she had never fallen from such a height before. The pressure alone was almost unbearable and the will to keep control affected her physically as much as the actual fall itself. NO! The Jedi were in trouble, the Republic was likely to be in utter chaos and after all she had fought through, this would be a STUPID and EMBARRASSING way to die. She let out a tortured growl and commanded herself to slow down. After the first push it became easier, and though it still took a lot of effort, she managed to slow herself until she could drop into a safe landing at the bottom of the cliff.

A beeping and crackled plea came from her wrist. "General, general? Are you alright?"

Ahsoka pressed the button on her communicator and answered "I'm fine. Stupid Fluffy led me off the cliff and…why are you breaking radio silence?" They could be caught! That was so not like Rex.

There was a pause and then "I am sorry, General. I did not realize that Fluffy was leading you. I will keep that in mind next time so that I know not to panic when you randomly jump off a cliff."

Ahsoka winced at the sarcasm. "Sorry Rex. I'm still pretty addled from that fall." She looked around. "Let me see if I can find a way for you to get down here…" The area was fairly clear and actually a bit familiar. Wait. It was the landing site! It would have taken almost a day to get down that grade, but the creature had brought her to just the right spot and sure enough, sitting beneath a bunch of sticks and shrubs was their ship. "I found the ship! Stay there, I'll pick you up!"

Just a quick start-up and system check later and Ahsoka was flying back the way she came. She dropped a line and towed Rex into the ship.

"Nothing like the direct approach, huh Rex?"

"Please don't ever do that again."

"No promises." Ahsoka made her way back to the pilot's seat and began one last system check before getting ready to leave the atmosphere.

Rex had settled into the copilot's seat. "Are you gonna tell me what a Fluffy is?"

"Uuuummm..." There was no reason why Rex shouldn't know what Ahsoka's sudden lapse of insanity was all about, but she didn't think she should tell him until she understood more herself. "Maybe later." Besides, something else was needling the back of her mind, telling her to go back. "Rex…"

"I think we should get the others.

"What?"

"They're gonna be stranded here! In enemy territory! We can't just leave them like that!"

Rex frowned, clearly conflicted and Ahsoka remembered how close and loyal the clone trropers remained to each other. "But they're not our allies anymore."

"I still think we should. I can't explain it." Ahsoka paused in order to think of how to put it. "It just feels like we need to."

Rex heaved a sigh. "You're the commander…"

Okay, hope that wasn't too boring. Sorry if the ending seemed like a bit rushed, but I honestly couldn't think of a nice smooth way to transition without getting even more long winded than I already am.

Next Chapter: The Long Road To No Where