Willow's breathing was rapid, and her heart was still pounding loudly against her chest. The monstrous creature had vanished entirely from her sight, but not before letting out another bone-chilling screech.

Overwhelmed, she turned to around and looked into Cal's face next to her. The boy also seemed shaken by the encounter and was breathing heavily. Without thinking, Willow let her aching head fall against his chest. Immediately, she felt two arms wrap around her, and she savored the added warmth. With her ear pressed to his chest, she could hear their hearts racing in unison.

After a moment, she heard Cal's soft voice near her ear: "I think it's gone."

The places where his breath had touched her bare skin began to tingle. Fearing he might notice, she quickly pulled away from him. She nodded in agreement with Cal's observation and noticed a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. She was about to reply when the droid started beeping and quickly hopped off Cal's shoulder, scurrying back to the corpse of the Nightbrother that was still slumped against the wall.

The two teenagers followed him, and when they arrived, Cal knelt beside the lifeless body. He confidently reached for the Nightbrother's hands and removed something from them. It wasn't until Cal slipped the unknown object onto his knuckles that Willow recognized it. The tool looked like small grappling hooks that extended with the movement of his hand.

Uncertain of their purpose she still asked, "What are those for?"

Cal looked up.
"I think they're some sort of climbing hooks - just for the hands," he shrugged. Then, suddenly, his expression fell.
"But... there's only one pair of them," he said, eyeing the wall in front of them with a troubled expression. This wall, unlike the others, wasn't covered in vines but was marked by small, graspable craters in the stone, requiring the right tool to ascend.

Willow waved off his concern. "No worries. I'll find a way."

She spun around, searching for a path out of the cave that she could take. Then something occurred to her; she confidently reached behind her. Relief washed over her as she felt the polished wood of her broomstick. Grinning, she pulled it out and turned to her companion.
"Need a lift?"

Cal looked at her in disbelief.
"Your broom? You've only remembered of using it now? We could've been back at the tomb ages ago," he exclaimed, though he quickly raised a hand in apology at his tone.

Willow shrugged.
"Don't get cheeky, Redhead. Unlike me, you can actually see the broom," she retorted with a smug grin, and Cal conceded that they were both to blame for the delayed idea.

Without further ado, Willow mounted her broom and gave Cal a challenging look. He glanced back and forth between Willow and his new climbing tool, appearing quite undecided. He shot a look at his droid, who chirped cheerfully. With a resigned "Only because BD insisted," Cal made his way over to her.

She chuckled at the little machine's sense of adventure and shook her head slightly. Then she instructed her friend on how to position himself on the broomstick. He sat behind her, cautiously placing his hands on her hips. With a powerful push off the ground, they soared upwards. Cal almost fell off the broom and immediately held on to Willow a little tighter. And there it was again - that strange tingling sensation, only this time accompanied by an odd warmth. She quickly shook off the thought, knowing she needed to focus.

Behind her, she heard Cal's laughter. Once again, she realized it was one of the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard. Grinning, she teased him a bit by spiraling gently upwards. The flight wasn't long, but it was enough to create another precious memory.

They landed on a ledge to get a better view of their new surroundings. Cal dismounted the broom and stumbled slightly. Willow quickly grabbed his arms, worried he might collapse. He took a moment before looking at her with a mix of awe and delight. The expression on his slightly pale face made her laugh. The redhead in front of her shook his head before saying, "I'm not sure if I hate it or love it."

BD-1 chirped, and Cal translated for Willow.
"BD loved it. But that doesn't surprise me," he said, grinning.

"Once you get used to it, it's actually pretty great," she grinned back.
Her thoughts drifted back to Hogwarts. Her classmates and the professor for Flying Class, Madam Kogawa, had often told her that she had a knack for broomstick work. It saddened Willow that she never had the chance to try out for Quidditch. She enjoyed flying, but with Headmaster Black banning all Quidditch activities at Hogwarts, Willow would never be able to turn her hobby into a professional sport.

"Hey, there's a way up here!" Cal interrupted her gloomy thoughts.

Willow turned around, searching for him. He must have already run ahead but he couldn't be far. As if on cue, Willow spotted his tall, slender figure. He was standing between two rocks, looking up at another crater-covered wall.

"I'll give you a head start; otherwise, I'll be waiting up there forever," she teased, glancing up at the towering wall.

"We'll see about that," Cal replied, gripping the rock.

He was quick with the grappling hooks, already several meters off the ground. Willow grabbed her broom and was about to jump on when she was forced to duck. The hideous creature swooped just above her head and dug its claws into the cliffside below Cal. The rock vibrated violently, and Willow saw that Cal was struggling to fend off the creature. He was now climbing at an impressive speed, trying to get rid of the creature. On top of that, he had to dodge massive boulders that the monster's aggressive claws dislodged from the stone.

Horror was written all over Willow's face. She swung her right leg over the broomstick and quickly pushed off the ground. Willow wasn't sure how close she could get without being hit. She raced upwards, and as she reached Cal's position, he was just about to pull himself onto the ledge at the top of the cliff. Her improvised plan was to pick him up at the ledge. But just as she was heading toward him, the beast's massive claw grabbed him.

"Cal!" she shouted his name, her heart nearly stopping.

The monstrous creature carried him higher and higher. Willow was almost certain it was going to drop him to his death. So she circled beneath the beast, her eyes fixed on its claws. The wind whipped against her face, and she felt sweat breaking out on her forehead - not from the heat, but from sheer terror for Cal.

Then she saw something blue, glowing brightly, peeking out from the claws and flickering back and forth. He's fighting it, she thought, glad that Cal hadn't given up. His blade swung wildly, and Willow couldn't quite tell if he was landing any hits. Then, suddenly, the blade disappeared. It took Willow a moment to realize that the beast was actually falling.

She quickly scanned the sky, searching for Cal - and she found him. He was plummeting at an alarming speed, tumbling through the air. Before Willow could even think about it, her body moved on its own. She flew toward her friend, arm outstretched. When she reached him, she grabbed his wrist and held on tightly. The added weight caused them to wobble briefly, but Willow expertly regained control of the broom. Cal seemed to need a moment, but when he realized what had happened, he looked up at her. She gave him a smile, and he grinned back. Cal gripped the broomstick with his hands and, with surprising strength, pulled himself up to sit behind Willow.

"Merlin's beard, Cal! Are you two okay?" Willow asked over her shoulder.
She had come to a stop in mid-air, giving them all a moment to catch their breath.

Cal placed his warm hands on her shoulders and nodded, completely out of breath. His little droid chirped, and Cal found the strength to speak again, leaning his head back.
"Yeah, we're... great. Thanks, Lills," he leaned slightly over the broom and peered into the abyss. "Wish I could say the same for this creature, though."

"Oh, forgive me. Next time I'll catch the beast that's trying to kill you, first," she grinned at him.

"I should hope so! Bloodthirsty creatures are far more effective than I am," he said in a serious tone, straightening his back.

Willow held his gaze for a moment before bursting into laughter. Cal joined in, his freckles dancing across his handsome face. To stop herself from staring, she turned back around and began to fly again.

Behind her, she heard Cal talking to BD-1: "Hey, buddy. Could you scout out a good spot for us to land?"

The little droid beeped, and for a moment, there was silence. Then Willow felt Cal lean closer to her. His chest pressed against her back, and his face was close to her ear.
"Hey, Lills," he said, sending a shiver of goosebumps down her spine.

Willow held her breath and tried to focus all her attention on flying.
"Hm?" was all she could manage.

"There's a small ledge up ahead, not too far from the tomb," he said, pointing in the indicated direction. "Think you could land us there?"

Willow just nodded; she wasn't capable of more than that. Her cheeks were flushed, and at this point, she suspected that Cal was doing it on purpose. Surely, by now, he knew the effect he had on her. She was frustrated with herself. After having been infatuated with Sebastian for years, with that crush never being reciprocated, she had recently moved on and had no intention of going through the same ordeal again - especially after what Cere had said to her recently.

Lost in thought, she didn't even notice that they had reached the designated spot. Cal had to alert Willow so she wouldn't fly past it. Still dazed from her little revelation, they slowly descended towards the ground, and both Willow and Cal dismounted from the broom.

They found themselves on a wooden platform with a view of the Mantis.
Suddenly, Cere's voice came through the small communicator in Willow's ear.
"Cal, Willow. Have you found the tomb?"

Willow had completely forgotten about the communicator. Feeling a bit dazed, she shook her head. She couldn't explain why, but she felt a bit strange.

Cal took over the conversation.
"Close, but... we got a little sidetracked."

Willow heard a resigned sigh come from the former Jedi.
"Greez is acting strange. He swears he saw someone outside the Mantis. Dathomir is getting to him."

"Pretty sure that's who he is," Cal joked.

"Are you all right?"

"Well, I'm not seeing things, so... yes? Hoping to get back on track."

"Sounds like you're handling yourself," Cere observed.

"Yeah, the three of us got this," the young Jedi replied, ending the communication.

Their path led them through a dark passage where several torches hung on the walls. The flickering light of the flames might have been inviting and warm under different circumstances, but here it seemed threatening, as if the flames were trying to escape and spread for death. Willow rubbed her left eyebrow. Dathomir was beginning to unsettle her.

Cal, who was walking a few steps ahead, turned around and looked at Willow. When he noticed the considerable distance between them, he stopped and allowed Willow to catch up.
"Hey, everything okay?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in concern.

The student just nodded. Her thoughts swirled around in her head, too many and too loud to form a clear one. The eerie atmosphere on Dathomir didn't help either.

Cal took her hands and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Lills, you can go back to the ship at any time. Please don't push yourself through this. BD and I can handle it."

Willow immediately shook her head, giving his hands a slight squeeze.
"No, I'm staying with you, Cal. It's all right, trust me."

The boy sighed in resignation. He nodded, then put an arm around her shoulders. They continued on their way, and Cal stayed by Willow's side the entire time. She was grateful for his support, even though she was sure he must be feeling worse than she was. She almost felt guilty that she couldn't offer him the same support.

After a moment of walking, they found themselves facing the door that had initially led them directly to the tomb. A few dark corridors later, they stood in front of the old broken bridge, whose chasms they had already crossed once before. Like the last time, they jumped over the first chasm, but this time something was different. The wanderer... He was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.152 Words,

well, well. the sweet moments before disaster. any thoughts on this chapter? feel free to let me know!

btw, now that we're talking (or maybe i will just talk to myself) i have to tell u something. i am currently watching Gotham for our dear Cameron. he plays the role of a maniac and let me tell u. the change from the (godly attractive) psychopath to the sweet and innocent Cal is massive. i beg ur pardon if Cal should at any time seem a bit Out Of Charakter. if that should be the case, let me know!

for now, i'll (hopefully) see u at the next one
~Alice