2 days later

Zheth woke up to a sharp kick in her side but stayed on the open ground still half buried in sand. The unknown visitor was persistent however and jabbed at her a few more times before giving out a call to someone else, she still didn't bother to open her eyes, at least not until someone jerked her upright. Blinking a few times, though her vision stayed slightly fuzzy, she was able to make out Storm Troopers scouting the dunes around her while the bounty hunter stared at her, probably cursing himself for not doing more to make sure she had died... not that it mattered. She'd be dead by nightfall if not sooner considering she was already going unconscious again.

"Walk." She was shoved forward roughly.

The ground met her almost immediately after and she didn't bother to move as her old mentor once again forced her to stand, though this time he held onto her as he moved forward. Zheth let him practically drag her, part of her wondering if this was all just in her mind, her mentor had died. Did that mean she was still inside her ship? Was her body just lying there, bleeding out or slipping into a coma, which would make sense considering this. Everything seemed so real though...

"Am I dead?" Her voice didn't sound too raspy with the distortion but she knew it was bad considering how hard it was to actually force out the words.

Boba Fett stared at her from under his own helmet. "You'll wish you were once I take you in to answer for your crimes against the First Order."

"You aren't... real." Zheth weakly tried to shake him off, wincing as his grip tightened.

He stayed silent this time, probably bored with the conversation or not caring. A few minutes later she staggered to a halt as Boba stared down at a small civilization below, the Storm Troopers' white and black uniforms stood out against the desert colors as the searched for something... shouldn't she know what it was? Zheth felt like she knew... and then it hit her. BB-8. Poe, the last conversation she'd had with him... Hadn't he said BB-8 had escaped? What if they found the poor droid? She fought harder to escape, a small reserve of energy welling up inside her for a moment, before landing a hit on a sensitive area for Boba. He of course gave a string of curses and released her.

"Should've stuck with talking." Zheth hissed before giving a small bout of coughs as she half fell and half ran down the dune.

A second later three figures burst out of hiding as TIE Fighters came in low over head, one figure in particular decided to bowl her over and give a series of excited and concerned beeps. She groaned in response before glaring at the little droid, why was it so much trouble.

"Stupid ball..." She mumbled, ignoring BB-8 as it nudged her and continued beeping. "Yeah... noticed."

"BB-8, come on!" A female's voice made Zheth's head turn as the other two people retraced their steps. "We need to get to the ship!"

BB-8 gave some explanatory beeps and she felt a pair of arms lifting her up, the male's voice near her ear. "Alright, I've got her, let's just go before they come in for the next round."

Zheth squirmed in this new grip before finding her feet and getting free, sinking back onto her knees. The group of strangers stopped again and she felt BB-8 pressing against her, its one photoreceptor staring at her intensely.

"We need to go. You know how to get this droid home right?" The female questioned.

She nodded, hearing their pursuers catching up. "BB-8 can tell you... I'll hold the others off."

BB-8 gave an alarmed beep before retreating after the other two. It knew she was going to die at the hands of the First Order just as Poe had. She turned away from the little white and orange droid, unable to reassure it that she would be fine. There was an explosion from one ship and she heard the female say something about garbage before lunging at Boba as he landed a few feet away, easily being taken down by the healthy bounty hunter.

"I could kill you." Boba growled down at her, ignoring the ship that was taking off and the Storm Troopers trying in vain to shoot it down while the TIE Fighters took pursuit. "The First Order already thinks you're dead and I have my reward. But I wonder if they'll give me extra for capturing the famous Predator twice... You're not such a legendary fighter now, are you?"

Zheth kicked his leg out from under him, wincing as he fell on her particularly deep cut, before rolling to the side and pulling out a blaster. "I don't know... I still... I still have a fight left in... me."

Her breaths were short and her arm was shaking, she was more likely to miss than hit her target. When her mentor kicked it out of her hand and grabbed her by her shirt collar she didn't bother to fight back anymore, that trickle of energy was gone just as quickly as it had come. She gave another fit of coughing, this one worst than the first as the dry air entered her lungs; darkness filled the edges of her vision. Zheth barely winced as she was suddenly released and dropped back onto the ground.

"Zheth?" Boba's voice reached her ears over the coughs wracking her frail form. "I saw you die."

She gave a rough gasping laugh between her coughs. It was about time he figured it out. "W-what... gave me... away? It... w-was the... the burn right?"

Her eyes wouldn't open anymore as her mind continued to darken though she could feel him brush against the mark on her neck, what he responded to her however, was lost in the haze of unconsciousness. Zheth was limp as he picked her up bridal style, her body pressed protectively against his armor like he'd done when she was a child... it was comforting to her in the last moments of being aware of her surroundings. At least this time if she died he would have her body as proof.

A single sentence broke through the darkness before it closed in completely. "I'm going to fix you up when we get to Slave III, just hang in there."

The last of her awareness left and Zheth went into the void of limbo that made up her unconscious mind.