In a galaxy far far away....

 

The morning went by quickly in the distant planet. Bounty hunters, officers, citizens and wealthy people alike were busy bustling through, busy with whatever activities and errands they had that day. The planet was rather small, the only actual place to go to being a large series of arenas and casinos for gambling and sport. Many corrupted political figures often traveled there, excited to partake in game and even some illegal activity.

A young woman by the name of Aqua emerged onto the deck at the main ship port, holding the hood of her cloak closely over her azure hair. She was a young padawan under the teachings of Jedi Master Eraqus. Along with her close childhood friend and fellow peer, they were sent to find a lost Jedi relic stolen by a thief known as Baahl. Aqua wasn’t even there for a half an hour yet and already people were giving her dirty looks. Some even hollered at her.

“I know the master said to be careful, but this exactly wasn’t what I was expecting.” Aqua uttered softly.

"You would think they would be happier seeing a Jedi around." Terra replied, his blue eyes watching the populace under his hood. "I know there's not that many of us around any more, but surely they haven't forgotten that Jedi are guardians of the Light, right?"

The young Padawan shifted a little uncomfortably at some of the glares he and Aqua were getting. All his life, he had heard tales of the ancient Jedi and their heroism. He remembered the thrill and excitement he felt when he had constructed his own lightsaber. To see the reaction this crowd was giving them, one would think they were thieves or pirates.

Feeling confused and frustrated, Terra pulled out a datapad with a map of the city.

"Some street signs wouldn't hurt either." He grumbled under his breath.

Aqua walked along silently, frowing at the dissapointment Terra seemed to be feeling. Aqua herself was proud to be a padawan, striving to protect the Force. But she knew especially from the Master’s teachings that the galaxy was filled with darkness- it was why he often kept them isolated from the other worlds in the first place.

“We’ll be okay... we have to focus on the task the master gave us... this is our chance to prove to him we’re ready- to show him we’re not children anymore.” Aqua wrapped her arm around Terra’s smiling to him.

“It’ll be easy... we just find the thief, take the relic back and leave.”

Aqua looked around, trying to think of the best place to go. They were apparently in some kind of slums. Aqua could even see some merchant seeking black market items to another.

“Wait, there.” Aqua pointed to Terra’s map. “We’re here, under the casino. It looks like there’s a bar not too far from here at the outskirts of the city. If we cut through this tunnel it’ll lead us straight there. Maybe we can find out where the theif could be there.”

Terra's frown of concentration and disappointment melted away with Aqua's words of encouragement. She was right. This was the chance they had been wanting for a while now. The Galaxy might be full of darkness, but their light was strong enough to face it.

"Our thief doesn't stand a chance." He said with a chuckle.

With some of his sour mood dispelled, Terra stretched out with his feelings. Master Eraqus spoke often of trying to listen to the Force and how it spoke through your instincts. He could feel the life around them and the ebbs and flows of the force. There was also something...else. Something or someone that seemed to shine more than others, but when Terra tried to pin it down, he couldn't find it. He was trying to focus on it when Aqua stopped them and pointed to something on his map.

"Huh?" Terra said, bringing his mind back to the here and now.

He briefly tried to see if he could find that presence again, but he couldn't find it again.

"Oh right, bar on the outskirts." He said, reassembling what his friend had said. "Sounds like a good place to look."

Memorizing the route laid out on the map, Terra shut down his datapad and stuck it on his belt. He entered the tunnel, his nose wrinkling slightly at a few odors the lingered there.

"Aqua..." he said, still puzzling about the presence he had felt. "Do you...feel anything?"

Aqua was looking around as they walked, weary of any strangers staring at them. Luckily everyone seemed to go about their business, there was nothing interesting about two dumb kids in the black market. Yes, Aqua was only fifteen at this time, but she believed she knew how to take care of herself.

Terra suddenly asked about if she felt anything, causing Aqua to glance over to her partner with a puzzled look.

“No... why?” Aqua asked as they got further down the tunnel. It stretched as far as the eye could see.

A couple of minutes later down the tunnel, Aqua began to think more about Terra’s question.

“Did something bother you-“ Aqua’s words were suddenly cut off by the sound of something dropping. About a yard in front of them, some kind of toy fell out from behind a locked gate. The sound echoed down the tunnel. A second later a hand stretched out from the gate, struggling to reach the toy. Aqua stared for a moment, confused as to what was going on.

Terra tensed up, his hand near his lightsaber when he heard the toy drop. When nothing dangerous happened, he relaxed a little. He was king of glad Master Erawus wasn't here to see how jumpy he was. The arm reaching out made him start again, but he got control faster this time. Was a kid playing down here? Weird place for that, but it was away from other people, and that counted for something.

With him not sensing anything ominous about this, Terra gave a little wave to get Aqua's attention. With hand gestures and mouthing words, he communicated "I'll get the toy, you watch the gate." Hoping she got all of that in the dim light, the young apprentice crept forward.

"Hello?" He called out as he crouched down to retrieve the toy. "This yours?"

He tried to keep an eye on the gate as well, but his hood was making it difficult.

Aqua couldn’t help herself but smile in the slightest despite the situation due to Terra’s startle. Terra was always someone who was never able to relax. Aqua understood why; their master always taught them to keep their guard up. Terra always did so, even when he didn’t have to.

Her face softened when she saw the hand each out from the shadow behind the gate. What was a child doing down here. Aqua placed her warm hand on Terra’s shoulder and nodded, taking cautious look towards the gate and down the halls to make sure no one was nearby.

The hand retreated quickly into the shadows, followed by a small whimper. Whatever or whoever was in the shadows was startled.

After a few minutes some arms and legs poked out from the shadows, although the face and most of the body was hidden. The hand didn’t dare to reach out. In the dim light, a few dark scars could be seen creeping up the figure’s arms.

“Y-Yeah... I’m so sorry! I won’t bother you again...”

Terra picked up the toy carefully, examining it for a moment. It was made from bits and pieces stitched and stuck together with what was available. One of the arms had been damaged from the fall, a length of wire coming uncoiled from the main body. Terra did his best to rewind the wire before standing up and offering the toy back to the kid. The sight of the scars on the kid's limbs made Jedi Apprentice's jaw to tighten. What had this child been through?

"No problem." Terra said, speaking as soothingly as he could.

With his free hand, he pulled off his hood and smiled at the kid.

"My name's Terra." He continued. "What's yours?"

Aqua watched the scene carefully, worried about the welfare of the child before her. This place was no place for a child. She didn’t know truly how to handle the situation; she was only fifteen. She tried to think of what her master would do. For now, Aqua wanted to show that they meant no harm.

“And I’m Aqua.” She said with a giggle, pulling her hood down as well.

The figure pushed himself back into the shadows, afraid of the strangers before him. Upon seeing their faces however, the young boy seemed to relax; the strangers didn’t look that much older than him.

Slowly he inched out again, some specks of blonde hair poking out from the shadows. He slowly reached out his hand, excited but weary to get his toy back.

“My... my name...”

“Aww, well look how cute. You kiddos are making friends already.” A man walked out from a hidden corridor, smirking as he stood in front of the two teens. His thin black hair was slicked back, revealing frightening yellow eyes. He held a blaster by his side, and a satchel with a peculiar book sticking out.

Aqua’s eyes widened. “T-That’s the theif!”

A whimper was heard from the gate, and suddenly the toy flew out of Terra’s hand and into the boy’s hand as he quickly ran away back into the depths of the corridor.

The man held the book in one hand, waving it at the apprentices while the other held his blaster aimed right towards the teens.

“I’m kinda dissapointed. I wouldn’t think the old geezer would send kids over to a place like this. Going through all this trouble just for a relic from a fake religion.”

Aqua growled, hand tightening on her lightsaber.

“That relic is ours! Give it back!”

Terra whirled around at the sound of the thief's voice. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the man. The pull of the toy from his hand caught him off guard, causing him to look back down the gate the boy had been in. Had the kid kept a grip on the toy, or had he used the Force to pull it out? In the heat of the moment, Terra hadn't been paying attention. He silently cursed himself for being so focused on the thief that he had missed something that had happened right under his nose. Master Eraqus had told him a hundred time to be mindful of his surroundings.

"Can't fix that now." He thought as his hand dipped to his belt with practiced ease. "Complete the task at hand."

Shifting into a defensive stance, Terra ignited his lightsaber, its orange blade illuminating the tunnel.

"Hand over the relic and turn yourself in." The young padawan demanded, ignoring the thief's provoking remarks. "Despite what you think, you are still facing Jedi."

Edited January 8, 20187 yr by rikunobodyxiii

(You might want to re read what Terra said LOL)

The theif couldn’t help but chuckle at Terra’s words.

“Ooo, scary. You kids aren’t even real Jedi. What’re you going to do, hit me with that laser sword of yours?”

Aqua hissed and brought out her own blade, light blue light mingling with Terra’s orange.

“You don’t scare us!” Aqua called. “If you don’t give us back the relic we will take it by force.”

The thief dangled the relic in front of their faces, taunting them with his blaster raised.

“You really think you can just waltz in here with your pretty little flashlights and threaten me? You kids really don’t belong here, unless you want to be taken in as slaves. Actually, I’ve let some of the laborers here know that there’s two little brats down here.” As he was saying this, some voices was heard behind Aqua and Terra down the hallway.

Aqua had just about enough of the thief yapping his mouth, especially since he was showing the relic to them. Upon hearing the voices down the hallway, Aqua knew she had to act fast. She suddenly sprinted toward to attack. The theif shot at her, the blast being deflected from Aqua’s Sabre.

(*facepalm* Good night, everybody)

Terra wanted to charge in and wipe that smug look off the thief's face, but he had already felt he bungled the situation before, so he did his best to keep his instincts in check. He was not really concerned with the thief as a threat himself. The difficulty lay if he tried to run and had laid traps. He seemed to be too overconfident then that, though. The sound of voices behind caused Terra to half turn to look behind them. Ah, reinforcements. That's why he was so smug. With Aqua charging the thief, Terra prepared to defend the flank, if these laborers couldn't be reasoned with.

"Careful!" Terra called out, brandishing his Lightsaber. "This weapon isn't for show!"

That slowed down the laborers, but whatever the thief and promised or threatened them with kept them from abandoning their task. One moved closer, hefting a large pipe. Not wishing to harm these people if he didn't have to, Terra held out his left hand and Force Pushed the laborers back, hopefully buying Aqua more time.

(Don’t worry I’ve done worse)

Aqua kept swiping at the theif, only only laugh at her pitiful attempts to lay a mark on him.

“You look cute, poppet. I guess you don’t like playing with dollies do you?” He taunted, dodging each and every blow.

The taunts only fueled Aqua’s anger, causing her to growl in frustration. She swiped at the thief’s hand, effectively cutting his blaster in half. It went off, sending blasts bouncing everywhere throughout the room. Aqua yelped and fell back.

The thief yelled loudly as one of the blasts hit him right in his shoulder. Growling, he picked up his satchel with the relic and began to run down the hallway.

Terra was considering his dwindling options for dealing with the laborers when he heard Aqua's successful strike. He turned to see the misfire spray out in a random pattern. He gave himself over to his instinct and training, bringing his Lightsaber around to try to deflect the coming shots. It wasn't elegant or impressive, but Terra was fortunate enough to catch a blast heading for him as he moved his saber blade. The laborers scattered, mostly avoiding the blasts. One seemed to receive a flesh wound while one was hit in the chest and stayed down. Terra wasn't sure if that one still lived.

Taking a moment to re-center himself, the Jedi Apprentice glanced this way and that to see what was happening. Aqua seemed okay, but the thief was running for it. Terra wanted to charge after him, but that could leave his friend with an unprotected back. A quick looked confirmed that the laborers were still entent on harm, though he was beginning to feel their doubt.

"Aqua!" He called out, placing himself firmly between the laborers and his fellow student. "Use the Force! Trip him up!"

A laborer came at Terra with a pipe. He carefully side stepped and sliced at the makeshift weapon. The embers blade of the Lightsaber cleaved through the metal pipe, leaving a glowing stump in the attacker's hands. To regain ground, Terra kicked out to knock the laborer back.

Edited January 10, 20187 yr by rikunobodyxiii

Aqua got right back up when Terra protected her, nodding immediately. Holding out her hand, Aqua dropped down a dozen ceiling pipes in front of the thief. The thief yelled as he stumbled over the pipes the sounds of metal clashing echoing through the hallway.

Then the laborers. With all her might, Aqua pushed the closest laborer into the others. After, she grabbed Terra’s hand and began to chase after the theif.

“I slowed him down!” The theif was just up ahead, throwing whatever he could find into the path of the two. Aqua pushed any items she could to the side as they ran.

Not expecting Aqua to help with the laborers, Terra stumbled the first few steps when she grabbed his hand and pulled him along. He managed to get into stride and get along beside his friend.

"That was actually better than what I was thinking." He admitted.

Focusing on the fleeing Thief, Terra managed to bat away the debris hurled at him and Aqua. She had done a pretty good job slowing him down, but he still had a big lead. After a few feet, he had an idea for how to stop the thief. Turning off his lightsaber, Terra called on the Force to preform a leap that cleared the distance between him and the thief. Well...mostly. With his arms out stretched, the young Jedi was too low to grab the thief by the torso like he planned and instead got the culprit around the legs instead, taking a pseudo-kick to the face.

Though the tackle didn't quite as he planned, Terra did manage to trip up the thief, sending both man and teen sprawling on the floor.

Aqua looked on in shock as she watched her childhood friend make a huge leap towards the thief. Wanting to support him, Aqua got in the fray as well to try to grab the relic.

The thief growled and fell to the ground with a loud bang. He just about had it with the two kids. He swung his arm back, ready to jab right at Terra in the face- that is, until Aqua clung to his arm and bit hard on his hand.

The yelled in pain and tried to get up, only making it on a single knee. He had to at least get one of them off of him. Clenching his hands tightly, the theif whipped his hand back to smack Aqua straight in the face. She backed away, yelping in pain. With Aqua open, the thief shoved his upper body into her, knocking Aqua back to the ground. The problem was, there was no ground, and Aqua fell right into some kind of chute.

She tried to grab onto the ledge but couldn’t, her screams echoing as she fell down the chute into who knows what. The thief chucked and wiped some blood off of the corner of his lips.

“You might want to go after your girlfriend, kiddo... I hope she didn’t fall into a trash compactor.”

Terra struggled up, rubbing his face where he had been kicked. He felt sore all down the front of his body. Maybe that hadn't been the best idea. He rallied quickly and tried to aid Aqua in the fight, but as he was reaching up to try to pull the thief down, he smacked Aqua back and into a dark hole.

"Aqua!" The young Jedi yelled.

Not even hearing the thief's suggestion, Terra launched himself after his falling friend. He landed and slid to the edge of the chute, one of his arms thrust into the darkness below, seeking his friend.

"Aqua!"

The thief chuckled, backing away as Terra dove for his friend. He held a hand on his hips as he taunted him.

“Your girl is out of sight.” The thief said, with a grin. “We can keep playing this game of you trying to get back the relic or you could go and save her from perhaps an untimely death. Time to make a big boy decision, kiddo. What’s it gonna be?” Aqua’s echoes was heard down the chute before it faded out entirely. Wherever she ended up, no one knew.

As Aqua's screams faded, anger rose in Terra. He should have been quicker. If she wasn't alright at the end of this, he would never forgive himself. The flames of his anger turned icy cold at the Thief's ultimatum. He wasn't getting out of this.

"I have a better idea." Terra said through clenched teeth. "Let's both go!"

As he spoke, he quickly rolled over on to his back and thrust out a hand. Empowered by his anger, he violently pulled the thief off his feet with the force. The thief tumbled forward and into the chute. Terra hopped up on his feet then dove after his quarry and his friend.

The theif let out a loud yell upon being ripped off of the ground by the Padawan. Trying his best to grip onto a knife at his hip, the thief stumbled right into the chute. His body was almost like a pinball, bouncing around in the shaft.

He saw Terra behind him and hissed. The last thing he wanted was to end up wherever this shaft led to.

Down the chute, there was another path from a different entrance. Grinning, the thief took out a grappling hook from his hip and shot it up the alternate path, pulling himself up to watch Terra fall down the rest of the way.

“See ya later kiddo!” The thief called.

The shaft only continued on a couple of yards down, however it didn’t lead to no trash compactor or other deadly end- rather- it it led to a tiny room filled with dirty clothes. Aqua gasped and moved out of the way when she heard noise coming from up the chute. She still felt disoriented from the impact, but at the very least the disgusting dirty laundry broke her fall.

“T-Terra!?” She called, readying her lightsaber for the worst.

Terra gritted his teeth in anger as he saw the thief manage to alter his fall. He lashed out with the force, but it was too late. He had let his quarry escape. He did his best to relax his body for his landing. He was a little surprised when he hit laundry rather than trash. Thank the Force for small favors. He was trying to get his breath back when he heard Aqua's voice.

"it's me." Terra said in between gasping breaths. "Are you okay?"

He struggled up, but fell over as the dirty laundry shifted beneath him.

Aqua stood back, a small sigh of relief escaping her lips as her fellow comrade was the one to fall down in front of her. She went forward and attempted to help him, tripping herself over some of the laundry. It smelt utterly horrible in that laundry dump, so Aqua was definitely in a hurry to get out of there.

“Relax, it’s okay.” Aqua uttered softly, trying her best to calm Terra down from the fight.

“I’m okay. Actually, I’m more than okay since we completed our mission.” With a silly smile, Aqua pulled out the very relic they were fighting the theif for from the satchel at her hip. In the middle of the fight, before the thief pushed her down the chute Aqua managed to grab onto it undetected.

The young girl also took out a small canteen and handed it over to her comrade. “Here... that fight took out a lot from you.”

Terra struggled up into a sitting position and was looking up to see if there was a way to climb up to the other chute the thief had gone down. With no way up visible, he started considering the insurmountable task of tracking the thief down again when Aqua claimed that they had completed the mission. The young Jedi looked back at his friend, a look of confusion forming, but it drained away and his eyes widened when he saw the relic in Aqua's hand.

"Ho-" Terra tried, the shock of the reveal and his fall leaving him speechless.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before giving up and taking the offered canteen. He took a careful swig, then looked back at the relic. A low chuckle escaped his lips.

"I don't remember Master Eraqus teaching that." He said, some of his good spirits returning.

Terra took another sip of water, then glanced up the chute.

"We'd better get moving before that creep finds out he lost his prise." He said, recapping the canteen and handing it back to Aqua.

He shifted his weight and started looking for what ever door or hatch opened this place up along the walls.

Aqua grinned mischievously at Terra’s reaction, more than satisfied by his reaction. She stood up in the laundry and began to push at the gate seaparating them from the laundry room to what she assumed was some kind of center dedicated to maintenance and chores.

“I swiped it from him before I fell down the chute. It worked out, though.” Aqua said with a chuckle, putting the relic away in her satchel. She began to open the gate, until she quickly closed it and stood back once she heard some sort of commotion approaching them.

“Oh no.” Aqua whispered, hiding behind the gate. She watched ahead, eyes turning towards Terra when she heard the frantic voice of a young boy and some man yelling at him.

 

“What did I tell you about sneaking off when there’s work to be done, boy!?” The yell came, followed by some other sounds of commotion.

 

The boy’s voice was frantic, crying even. “I-I’m sorry, I won’t do it again! I promise, please!” The cries were followed by a sudden yelp, then a whimper as suddenly the boy with short blonde hair fell into view to the left of young Jedi. He braced himself, holding his arms in front of him while crying out.

 

“Stop!!!! Please don’t!!!” Screamed the boy. Suddenly the man came into view, a large alien creature with flobby brown skin and a fish like mouth. He bore a whip in his hands, which he began whipping the boy with. The boy shouted out in pain, hard leather cracking against his skin. The alien didn’t even care where the whip hit, be it the boy’s legs, arms or even face.

 

“You listen to ME, boy! Did you hear me!? You are my property; I can throw you away in the trash if I damn say so! Do you want that!?” He cracked the whip again onto the boy who yet again screamed and begged for it to stop.

 

Aqua wasn’t expecting the sight. It all happened so fast, she was in shock. Her eyes were wide and a sick feeling went into her stomach. She never seen such a thing, nor heard such an atrocity. The boy was a child who couldn’t be any older than ten years old. With tears brimming her eyes and pure impulse, she didn’t even wait for Terra’s reaction before she threw herself outside the gate and screamed on top of her lungs.

 

“STOP IT!!!”

"I should have thought of that." Terra thought as he moved over to the grate with Aqua.

He was about to step out of the dirty clothes silo when the commotion started heading their way. He shared a look of appreciation with Aqua before the boy came into view. The whole scene played out, causing knots to form in the young jedi's stomach. The fires of anger that had flared when Aqua had been pushed down the chute rose again inside Terra. How could such cruelty and evil be allowed to exist? Well, as a Jedi, he would not allow this to stand.

As Aqua came out of the silo, Terra slipped past her. Her call to stop was punctuated by the snap hiss of Terra's lightsaber igniting. Moving with practiced ease, the young apprentice was next to the slave driver in a blink, his orange blade arcing up. Lightsaber met whip as it came down, slicing through the torture implement. As the majority of the whip spun harmlessly away, Terra moved back, standing protectively between the slaver and the boy, his blade pointed at the big alien's chest.

"Or be stopped." He almost growled, his eyes daring the slaver to try something.