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Chapter 4
Kana

I was worried about Mira, but at the same time I knew that I had to handle my own problems. The attacker didn’t seem to be following me, and for that I thanked my lucky stars, but it also made me worry more that he’d gone for Mira instead. I shook my head a little as I ran. Now was not the time to think about that.

I jumped and ran through the forest, sometimes along the ground, sometimes through the trees. Whichever seemed faster at the time. I was making my way to town the along the longest route I knew to throw our attacker off my trail if he’d actually picked it up.

We had a plan for situations like this; we split up and rendezvous at the nearest spaceport. That was the bare-bones version, anyway. We usually had more details depending on where we were. However we had no way to compensate for an attacker like this. We’d never dreamed that a force user would be the one to find us. After all, as far as we knew there were only two of them, and neither of them would ever bother with some half-trained-at-best younglings.

However it seemed that there were others, or at least one.

I emerged from the forest and into the town where we usually went to get supplies. We didn’t come here very often, but the few times we had I’d learned the basic layout of the streets and allies. I slipped into and ally as an imperial patrol passed by and took a moment to start clamping down on my racing thoughts.

I was fairly certain I’d lost our attacker, so I put thoughts of being caught to the back of my mind. That left my suspicions that he’d followed Mira alarmingly central in my head. Of course, it was possible that he hadn’t followed any of us, but somehow I doubted that. Whatever else this guy was, he was a Jedi hunter. The thought set a shiver down my spine. I knew there were those that hunted Jedi, we’d dodged plenty over the last few years, but I never though another Force user would throw in with the empire. The guy couldn’t have been that powerful, seeing as two younglings had defeated him. He’d also been using red force lightning in short bursts. I wasn’t sure if I was remembering right, but I was fairly certain that red lightning was the weakest there was.

My thoughts turned to Marl and Kirin then. I had to find them. They could handle themselves pretty well, but they were far from perfect at it, and if I waited too long they’d leave the planet without me and Mira.

I slipped into a shallow meditative state behind a dumpster, sitting as if I were a bum and hiding my face. I felt out with the Force, checking the city and some of the forest around it. I felt life everywhere, but I was looking for a stronger presence than most people would have.

I found the familiar collections of thoughts and emotions that I knew to be Kirin and Marl. They were at the port, just as we had planned. I felt my mouth tug into a half grin. “Good job, guys,” I muttered.

I felt around in the woods more, trying to find Mira, the attacker, or both. I felt Mira, moving fast along her emergency escape route. I’d laughed when she insisted that we designate routes to take in case we were discovered, but I’d gone along with it thinking it couldn’t hurt. Now one of those routes had just saved my life. I made a mental note to apologize later.

The attacker seemed to be moving too, but it was harder to pin him down. I didn’t know his signature, and he was still half masking it. Still, it seemed like Mira had lost him for now.

Mira would be here soon, and through the mental link we’d developed over the years I sent her the news that I’d managed to gather. Our link wasn’t perfect, we more got emotions than coherent thoughts, but I hoped she got the message.

I stood, checked the street, and mingled with the crowd, beginning to make my way to the spaceport.

-

When I arrived at the port, Kirin and Marl found me almost immediately.

“Where’s Mira?” Marl asked, a bit worried.

“We had to split up to get away, but she’ll be here soon.” I answered, still tracking Mira through the Force. She was in the city now, working her way towards us. The attacker was still vaguely present in the forest, so it seemed she’d shaken him.

“Why did you split?” Kirin asked, a mix of confusion and a tiny sliver of worry leaking out before she dammed up her emotions.

“That presence,” I began, not sure how best to explain, “It was some kind of assassin that was gifted in the Force. We held him off for a while, but we had to get out of there after a while.”

“Wait,” Marl said, holding up his blue hands, “You mean they have Jedi on their side?”

I thought about that possibility, and then gave a single nod. “It might be a former Jedi yes. But we don’t know if it is, or if this guy is the only one.”

“Great,” Kirin mumbled, “Anything else we should know?”

“Not really,” I heard Mira’s voice from behind me, and wheeled to face her, “But I would like to know if we’ve decided on what ship to stow away on.”

I looked Mira over. Her usual gray flighsuit was stained with dirt and grass from the knees down and her short black hair was a mess but that wasn’t so unusual. She wore a cocky grin that didn’t quite reach her blue eyes, and through our link I could tell something was bothering her other than our situation as a whole.

That would have to wait, however, as Kirin was showing us to a cargo freighter she and Marl had found to stow away on.

Within a few minutes, we were in space. We weren’t entirely sure where we were going, which wasn’t like us, but under the circumstances we’d elected to just load the freighter at the first opportunity, which had come before we’d heard where it was going.

Mira and I were in our own corner of the stacks of crates, Marl and Kirin in another. Mira had slipped into an uneasy sleep for now, through the Force I felt that the others had too. I had to admit, I was tired too, but that didn’t mean I would abandon my little ritual of making sure everyone else was asleep before I let myself dose off. Once Mira’s breathing had calmed a bit, I closed my eyes. I felt the ship jump to hyperspace, and slept.

Description
Chapter 4
Kana

I was worried about Mira, but at the same time I knew that I had to handle my own problems. The attacker didn’t seem to be following me, and for that I thanked my lucky stars, but it also made me worry more that he’d gone for Mira instead. I shook my head a little as I ran. Now was not the time to think about that.

I jumped and ran through the forest, sometimes along the ground, sometimes through the trees. Whichever seemed faster at the time. I was making my way to town the along the longest route I knew to throw our attacker off my trail if he’d actually picked it up.

We had a plan for situations like this; we split up and rendezvous at the nearest spaceport. That was the bare-bones version, anyway. We usually had more details depending on where we were. However we had no way to compensate for an attacker like this. We’d never dreamed that a force user would be the one to find us. After all, as far as we knew there were only two of them, and neither of them would ever bother with some half-trained-at-best younglings.

However it seemed that there were others, or at least one.

I emerged from the forest and into the town where we usually went to get supplies. We didn’t come here very often, but the few times we had I’d learned the basic layout of the streets and allies. I slipped into and ally as an imperial patrol passed by and took a moment to start clamping down on my racing thoughts.

I was fairly certain I’d lost our attacker, so I put thoughts of being caught to the back of my mind. That left my suspicions that he’d followed Mira alarmingly central in my head. Of course, it was possible that he hadn’t followed any of us, but somehow I doubted that. Whatever else this guy was, he was a Jedi hunter. The thought set a shiver down my spine. I knew there were those that hunted Jedi, we’d dodged plenty over the last few years, but I never though another Force user would throw in with the empire. The guy couldn’t have been that powerful, seeing as two younglings had defeated him. He’d also been using red force lightning in short bursts. I wasn’t sure if I was remembering right, but I was fairly certain that red lightning was the weakest there was.

My thoughts turned to Marl and Kirin then. I had to find them. They could handle themselves pretty well, but they were far from perfect at it, and if I waited too long they’d leave the planet without me and Mira.

I slipped into a shallow meditative state behind a dumpster, sitting as if I were a bum and hiding my face. I felt out with the Force, checking the city and some of the forest around it. I felt life everywhere, but I was looking for a stronger presence than most people would have.

I found the familiar collections of thoughts and emotions that I knew to be Kirin and Marl. They were at the port, just as we had planned. I felt my mouth tug into a half grin. “Good job, guys,” I muttered.

I felt around in the woods more, trying to find Mira, the attacker, or both. I felt Mira, moving fast along her emergency escape route. I’d laughed when she insisted that we designate routes to take in case we were discovered, but I’d gone along with it thinking it couldn’t hurt. Now one of those routes had just saved my life. I made a mental note to apologize later.

The attacker seemed to be moving too, but it was harder to pin him down. I didn’t know his signature, and he was still half masking it. Still, it seemed like Mira had lost him for now.

Mira would be here soon, and through the mental link we’d developed over the years I sent her the news that I’d managed to gather. Our link wasn’t perfect, we more got emotions than coherent thoughts, but I hoped she got the message.

I stood, checked the street, and mingled with the crowd, beginning to make my way to the spaceport.

-

When I arrived at the port, Kirin and Marl found me almost immediately.

“Where’s Mira?” Marl asked, a bit worried.

“We had to split up to get away, but she’ll be here soon.” I answered, still tracking Mira through the Force. She was in the city now, working her way towards us. The attacker was still vaguely present in the forest, so it seemed she’d shaken him.

“Why did you split?” Kirin asked, a mix of confusion and a tiny sliver of worry leaking out before she dammed up her emotions.

“That presence,” I began, not sure how best to explain, “It was some kind of assassin that was gifted in the Force. We held him off for a while, but we had to get out of there after a while.”

“Wait,” Marl said, holding up his blue hands, “You mean they have Jedi on their side?”

I thought about that possibility, and then gave a single nod. “It might be a former Jedi yes. But we don’t know if it is, or if this guy is the only one.”

“Great,” Kirin mumbled, “Anything else we should know?”

“Not really,” I heard Mira’s voice from behind me, and wheeled to face her, “But I would like to know if we’ve decided on what ship to stow away on.”

I looked Mira over. Her usual gray flighsuit was stained with dirt and grass from the knees down and her short black hair was a mess but that wasn’t so unusual. She wore a cocky grin that didn’t quite reach her blue eyes, and through our link I could tell something was bothering her other than our situation as a whole.

That would have to wait, however, as Kirin was showing us to a cargo freighter she and Marl had found to stow away on.

Within a few minutes, we were in space. We weren’t entirely sure where we were going, which wasn’t like us, but under the circumstances we’d elected to just load the freighter at the first opportunity, which had come before we’d heard where it was going.

Mira and I were in our own corner of the stacks of crates, Marl and Kirin in another. Mira had slipped into an uneasy sleep for now, through the Force I felt that the others had too. I had to admit, I was tired too, but that didn’t mean I would abandon my little ritual of making sure everyone else was asleep before I let myself dose off. Once Mira’s breathing had calmed a bit, I closed my eyes. I felt the ship jump to hyperspace, and slept.