Star Wars Rebels: Crisis and Consequences
The Ghost: Lothal After the Mandalorian Uprising
Being alone is never a good thing, especially being alone among those that do not understand you and in some ways do not relate to you. Ezra Bridger felt this as he sat in the Weapon Turret of the Ghost peering up at the stars of Lothal. He would spend hours here looking at the stars and the Holo Image of his Mother and Father. Down below sleeping in their rooms were his friends. Friends that word lay bitter in his throat. On more than one occasion he had risked his life for them and once in a while they did the same for him. Though the reason for his resentment and frustration was one of his friends telling him something he did not want to hear. Closing his eyes he heard those words again. "I am sorry Ezra, I cannot love you or be with you." Sabine had said that to him recently and now his heart was broken. Pulling the Data Chip that held the image, he exhaled. There was no point, not anymore. Climbing down the ladder he picked up his travel bag, it was time to leave. He had come to that decision right after the devastating statement that Sabine had said to him. "I am sorry Ezra, I cannot love you or be with you." Slipping off the Ghost he began to walk. Sure Kanan, Hera and Zeb would miss him. Perhaps Chopper, but Sabine would not. Mainly because she did not care about him. Feeling the Long Grass on his legs he continued on into the night, not really knowing where he was going.
Rising in the morning Sabine exhaled, yesterday with supreme reluctance had to relay the message that she was forced to tell him. It had not been her choice, it had been her Mothers. Those words left a bitter taste in her mouth. Standing she went to the mirror and frowned. After she told him those words she had come to her cabin to mourn. Crying for hours she laid down exhausted from the emotional turmoil that she felt. She hated to say those words. "I am sorry Ezra, I cannot love you or be with you." Each time she thought about those words she felt she had betrayed herself. Betrayed her reasons for being a Mandalorian. Looking over there were a message for her on her terminal and an incoming transmission. Selecting the incoming transmission she grimaced. Once again it was her Mother. Tapping the visual aspect she stared at the Monitor. "Hello Mother." She said with barely any feelings, she now had none.
"Sabine, I have wonderful news. Count Leuso Indigo has approached me to ask for your hand. Is that not wonderful?" Ursa Wren her mother said joyfully, smiling with enthusiasm. Sabine shook her head negatively.
"No Mother, I do not except!" Sabine replied casually with a hint of malice. Her mother stared at her through the Holo Screen and frowned. "I will not accept any proposals, no matter who makes them."
Grimacing Ursa leaned closer and glared at the Image of Sabine, her daughter. "This is about that boy is it not? I told you I cannot allow you to throw your life away on him and ordered you to severe all potential emotional connections with him." Sabine winced and bite her bottom lip. She had obeyed that order now with extreme regret. Knowing at the time she should have argued against it, but she feared that her Mother would severe all ties with her once again and cast her out of the Family and Clan. Now she was more afraid of losing the one man that she truly cared for and loved.
"I am sorry Mother, I just can't. Ezra is special to me and I just can't do this." Sabine felt tears in her eyes as she stared at her Mothers image. Waiting for the wraith that would soon come. Ursa smiled and leaned back.
"Stubborn. Just like I was long ago, when I set my heart on your father." Ursa shook her head negatively as she frowned. "That boy is not a Mandalorian, you are the Daughter of the Countess of our Clan. You cannot have him, I am sorry." This upset Sabine as she stared angrily at her Mother.
"It is him or no one. That is my choice and I have made it!" Exhaling, Sabine looked at the Message on her Terminal it was from Ezra and he had made it late last night. Fearing the worse she keyed it up and read it. Her eyes widened with dread as she read the short message. Her breathing became shallow and she burst into tears. Her mother seeing this became seriously concerned.
"What is it Sabine, what has happened?" Ursa demanded as she tried to get her Daughters attention. Sabine snapped out of it and then read the message again.
"Sabine, I am leaving. Those words you told me have convinced me that there is no hope, because of that I have no reason to remain on the Ghost. I cannot be there, seeing you everyday without that hope. I cannot do it. Goodbye and May the Force be with you. Ezra.
Sabine read it over and over again then snarled viciously at her Mother. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT, HE IS GONE BECAUSE OF YOU!" Hitting the switch, she ran from her room and pounded on Ezra's and Zeb's room. When Zeb came to the door, she glanced around the Lasat and her eyes widened. "Where is Ezra?" Zeb looked back into the room and shrugged, then looked closer.
"Hey the kid's stuff is gone." He said shocked, looking about for anything that was important to Ezra. Zeb frowned and shook his head in confusion. "Well not all, just the stuff that was important to him." Sabine ran down the hall, going to where he liked to sit and think. The upper Weapons Turret. Climbing the steps of the ladder she looked for the Holo Chip that she once gave him, it was also gone.
"No, oh no." Sabine stammered as she dropped to the floor and rushed back to her room. Passing Zeb who was pounding on Kanan's door. Attempting to awaken him. Inside her room, the terminal was flashing for another transmission. It was her Mother calling again. Ignoring it she grabbed her Helmet and the Jet Pack. Determined to find Ezra and bring him back. Not waiting, she ran down the corridor as Kanan came out wearing a Purple Robe. She passed him without comment heading out of the Ghost at a dead run. "Seven hours, it had been seven hours since I saw him last. Seven hours since I lied and told him those awful, hurt-filled words." As soon as she stepped out of the Ghost she looked for any trail or sign of him. Using the Visual Enhancer on her Helmet she peered in all directions. "Where are you? Come on. Where are you?" She said barely audible. Tears stung her eyes as she looked. Feeling a hand on her shoulder she turned to see who it was, silently hoping it was Ezra. But it was just Kanan.
"What is going on? Where is Ezra?" Kanan asked blindly looking about. Sabine suspected he was attempting to locate him with the Force, but he seemed not to be able to find him.
"He is gone, he left!" Sabine replied in desperation. Her heart beating hard in her chest. Sorrow about to over come her as she returned to looking for him with her Visual Enhancer. "I fucked up yesterday, my Mother ordered me to say something to him that I did not mean and now he is gone!" She said in tears. Not being able to locate him, she reverted to her tracking expertise and started looking for his footsteps, to give her a general sense of direction for where he might have gone. But there was too many footprints in the dirt to accurately tell.
The Plains of Lothal: Contact
Walking Ezra glanced about, he had no idea where he was. For the past three hours he had walked then Jogged then walked again. He could have moved faster if he used the Force and his Jedi Skills. But he did not want Kanan being able to locate him, so he relied on his own stamina and endurance. Now he was far out onto the Plains and thankfully he was lost. Thinking to himself he believed that he had gone at least ten miles in the last five hours. The Sun had not risen yet so he figured he could go another five before the heat of the day struck him. Believing by then he would be at the Mountain Ranges that he saw in the distance. He preserved the Water that he had brought, not drinking any yet. Waiting until the heat of the day made it necessary that he did drink. As he walked his mind wandered to Sabine, how beautiful and spirited she was. Without warning those words echoed in his mind. "I am sorry Ezra, I cannot love you or be with you." Those words hurt him, his heart felt like it had been stabbed with a knife or a lightsaber. Closing his eyes he trudged on. Then he saw it, A Loth-Wolf. Stopping he stared at what he thought was a mythical beast or at least something that was supposed to be extinct on Lothal. It came closer and Ezra froze. Whispering "Shit, I cannot use the Force so I cannot connect with it. I use the Force and Kanan will be able to locate me." The white Loth-Wolf circled him and did not make any aggressive moves towards him. Then to his disbelief other Loth-Wolves joined the White one. "Double Shit, where the fuck did they come from." A little louder then a Whisper. The thing that made this situation worse, was his Lightsaber sat deep within the bag on his shoulder. Looking around him, he did the only thing he could think of. He talked. "Easy fellas, i mean you no harm. Hopefully you feel the same." He said. The Wolves continued to circle him. This was bad and he knew it. Thinking to himself. "Well isn't this just great. I have survived Inquisitor, a Dark Lord, several blaster fights and I am about to be killed by something that is supposed to be extinct. What else can go wrong?" But he knew it had gone wrong. "This is just great! The only woman I ever loved has basically pushed a knife into my chest and now I am about to die. Alone."
"NOT ALONE." The White Loth-Wolf said. This caused Ezra to stare wide eyed at the Loth-Wofl. "COME." It growled and started to walk towards the Mountains. Ezra followed slightly stumbling with shock, glancing back to see that the other Loth-Wolves were gone.
The Ghost: Sorrow and Desperation
Not knowing the possible direction of where Ezra had gone, was killing Sabine. She had walked about a hundred yards and still could not find any trace of what direction Ezra had gone in. Her immediate thought was anger. He was using the skills that she had taught him against her. Moving through an area without leaving any sign was one of the things she had taught him when he first asked her to teach him Mandalorian ways. "That smart asshole." She said with bitterness and some envy. "Using things I taught you against me from finding you." Sorrow struck her as she continued to look. "Using what I taught you." With slight desperation she hoped that she was better than him since she after all was the one that taught him the tricks he was using to confuse or leave no trail.
"Any luck?" A female voice asked and Sabine turned to see Hera approaching, being careful to only step in Sabine's footsteps.
Shaking her head, Sabine frowned. "No, he is using techniques I taught him so he left no trail or sign." Leaning down to pick up her helmet to go to another possible direction and search again for his trail. As she walked she searched, looking for a footstep, broken or bent grass any visible sign that indicated that someone had made their way through an area. Hera touched her arm to stop her momentarily.
"Listen Sabine, perhaps it would be best not to follow him. Let him come back if he wants to on his own." Hera said sadly as Sabine turned and looked at the Twil'ek, seeing that Hera had tears in her eyes as well. "You do not even know which way he went."
Looking down to the ground, Sabine winced. "It is my fault he left. I need to find him, bring him back." She said as she exhaled and tried not to make eye contact with Hera. "My Mother ordered me to tell him that basically I cannot.." Sabine could not continue, saying it made her feel worse and clouded her mind with emotions that would keep her from focusing on what she was doing. Looking for his trail or direction.
Hera squeezed her arm. "Sabine it is not your fault, you did not know that he would leave. Perhaps he will come back when he has time to cope with what you told him. With the belief that you still can be friends. Then you can tell him you were mistaken." Hera saw Sabine's expression. "What, don't you think we all saw it? The subtle looks, the over concern for each other. Clear signs that you both have deep feelings for each other." She said as Sabine closed her eyes and exhaled. It was true, the words she said were just hollow words that her Mother made her say. Sabine suspected that even her Mother had seen it, that she cared for Ezra deeply. Enough where it could turn into something, even love. So her mother ordered her to break his heart and focus on some pathetic moron that would increase the Wren Families status. Something that Sabine disdained and disgusted her.
Returning her focus on the ground she went back to looking for any sign. Ignoring Hera as she went back to the Ghost, her Twil'ek Lekku drooping with sadness. She had not believed a word she had said about Ezra coming back. She had also noticed that he had taken the Data Chip with his Mother and Father on it. If he was going off to think, he would have left that behind. No Ezra had left and planned on never returning. Approaching Kanan as he knelt in concentration. "Do you sense him?" She asked and he frowned and shook his head.
"No he is not using the Force at all." Concentrating harder, Kanan continued in a strained voice. "I can just feel a small sign of him. But it is not enough for me to tell where he is."
In another part of the Plains, Sabine swore in Mandalorian. Then in Wookie and finally Basic. "Smart." She stated poking at a bent stalk of grass, looking beyond it was a flat rock that left a foot long skid mark. False indicator or sign. She smirked, knowing exactly what he had done. Something she had taught him. He had picked up a fist sized flat rock and threw it, so that it either would break a grass stalk or bend it. So that she or one of the others would think that this was a sign of him going in that direction. Though not to smart, she now knew he had passed in this general area. All she had to do is reason it out. "Alright Ezra." She muttered mostly to herself. "You did not use the Force because you were being sneaky and did not want Kanan feeling you using the Force. So that size of a rock only weighs a couple of pounds. You might have been only able to throw it perhaps twenty feet. By the direction of the skid, that way." Walking over still looking for sign, she walked twenty three feet and stop. There on the ground was a scuff mark twisted into the dirt. Where someone twisted his booted foot to add to the throw. Looking closer she smiled. "Gotcha." Though it still did not give her a direction. Standing she looked in the four possible directions, thinking. "Okay, from here, let me see. No you would not go in that direction, because it goes back to the Ghost. Those boulders and rock pillars would take you hours to climb over. Let leaves South, North and West from here. I just came from the North and that was the direction of your fake sign. You would not put down a fake if you were going that way. So South or West." Looking in both directions she concentrated. Reasoning it further out. To the South was just open Plains for as far as she could see, putting her helmet on she went to the highest magnification. "That is at least one hundred miles of open prairie. Nope you would not go that way, any of us would be able to see you in that direction." Glancing to the West she saw some very big mountains situated about thirty miles away. Smiling she nodded. Running back to the Ghost she grabbed her Speeder Bike and pulled out the tether line. She needed to verify it, attaching the tether to her back and leaving the Speeder on hoover she began to walk in that direction. Even the best could not go for more than an hour moving and not leaving any sign. For one it was a very slow way to travel. So she figured that within a mile or two, he stopped hiding his tracks or moved without leaving sign. Walking she peered at the ground and after an hour she was spot on. There in the rocky dirt under some stalks of grass was a normal foot print. Glancing back she calculated he had gone two maybe three miles. "You were probably thinking you went far enough and that none of us would be this dedicated upon finding you. Big mistake Bridger. I am." Still walking she followed the trail. Stopping briefly and looked back towards the Ghost, she had a funny feeling in her stomach. It nagged at her, it felt like she was never going to see any of the others again. Shaking it off, she went back to following the trail of Ezra Bridger.
Two hours later, she exhaled feeling tired, but she could not ride the Speeder Bike yet. Ezra had been really sneaky and she believed he was not done being tricky. At any given time if it was her, she would leave a false sign and pick another direction. Throwing off any that made it this far and as she neared a high point of the plains, she had been right. He had veered towards the North and according to his footprints that seemed a little deeper then the others went in that direction. "Oh no you don't Ezra, I know exactly what you did. Anyone else would have fallen for it." Kneeling she looked closer. "Yep, you walked several meters leaving a trail in that direction and then walked backwards stepping into your own footprints." Turning around she went back to were it had started and she continued towards the Mountains. A few hundred meters later she saw his footprints again and he was walking normally. As she followed she was smiling widely. Her Mother had said that Ezra was not a Mandalorian, but this shows that he was close enough to being one. Hell she doubted that any others of her clan or family could track him. She could only because she knows him and she taught him all the tricks. As she kept looking at his footprints, she saw something disturbing. Stopping she knelt. Right on one of his prints was another footprint. This one had four pads and claw marks. Clear sign of an animal and by the size a big one and heavy one. Standing back up she continued and there ten feet on was another sign of the animal following Ezra. "Shit something is hunting Ezra and it is not just me." She figured it was a least a mile behind him, because he showed no indication of seeing or hearing it. So it had to be out of sight of him. That meant a mile maybe more. Climbing on her speeder, she hovered over the trail and then throttled the Speeder at a pace that was close to what would be a fast running speed. Watching the trail as she drove. Hoping that whatever was following Ezra was not a Carnivore, but she bet it was. Trying to remember if there was any dangerous Predators on Lothal. Her mind blanked, her worry made it that she could not focus on if there was or not.
Cresting a small hill, she stopped and jumped off. "Shit more than one." Walking in a circle she found signs of other Four Padded Feet and Claws. Whatever they were they were walking around where Ezra also had stopped. Panic flowed through her running her blood cold. Looking for any signs of blood, death and feeding. Her heart quickened when she found none. Either they did not kill him yet, or they had herded him along. She found where he continued on towards the Mountains. Getting back on her Speeder Bike she returned to following his trail. "Please be alright, please." She begged as she watched the trail towards the Mountains, noticing the Animal Footprints as well.
To be continued