Fairy Tale Chapter 1 by Vessela-Cordja Kaji
Fairy Tales are seen everywhere. The evil man in power wants the maiden and its up to the lowly beggar to save her... Jaina is being held captive the evil prince Jeo Ket who seeks her hand in marriage. Will Zekk and Jaina's love shine through this hardship? Will Jeo Ket get his way? (Oh and ther also is a Jacen and Tenel Ka thing. Dont worry i didnt forget them!) *Beware* this is going to be a long story!
The sun that both heated and lighted the small moon known as Yavin IV was far from shining on the Jedi Academy. All of the non-nocturnal creatures that had made homes on this side of the moon had long since closed their eyes and were lost in their own, mysterious dream worlds. That is, all except two teenagers that attended the Jedi master Luke Skywalker's academy. Jaina Solo looked up at the young man that had his arm around her, his touch was warm and comforting. She tried to look into his eyes but they had been closed for nearly an hour. Jaina couldn't blame him: Zekk had been awake for the past two weeks, trying to comfort Jaina. He needed sleep just as much as she did, but Jaina couldn't seem to close her eyes for more then 2 minutes without seeing pictures of her friend Lusa dancing through the dark emptiness beneath her eyelids.
Jaina carefully broke away from Zekk's grasp; she didn't want to wake him up. 'I wonder how Raynar is doing.' she thought. Jaina knew that her Alderaanian friend would be suffering from the same insomnia that she was. Raynar loved Lusa with all of his heart; as Jaina loved Zekk (but she had not yet admitted these feelings to anyone, even though it was painfully obvious to everyone except the two themselves).
Lusa had been missing for a total of 2 standard weeks, 4 standard days, 17 standard hours, and 3 standard minutes. No one knew why she was gone or where she could be. It just seemed like she disappeared in thin air, and all they could do was wait for something to happen. The problem was that no one knew what that something would be or when it would arrive. Jaina reached Raynar's room. He was, not surprisingly, awake and was in his usual position: standing at his window, arms crossed, and staring off into the vast sky. Jaina sighed and walked up behind the boy. She gently rubbed his shoulders.
Raynar placed his hand on hers as silent tears started to roll down his cheek. The tears soon came out in greater quantities and he began to sob. Jaina held him in a comforting embrace. She soon mimicked Raynars actions and began to cry herself. The two friends just stood there, trying to comfort each other for a long while
"Have we received any word?" Jaina asked, her voice shaky. "Not since the last time I checked" Raynar looked at his chronometer, "about 30 minutes ago. I know I need to get some sleep and stop haunting the Comm. Center; this isn't healthy, but I'm afraid that if I do then she would call and be in trouble. No one would even know "
"I know." Jaina interrupted, before he stated the fact that they both didn't want to admit. "I know but what can we do?" Then an idea hit Jaina harder then a collision with a run-away bantha. She grabbed hold of Raynar's wrist and dragged him toward the door. Her facial expression had changed from one of solemnity to one of childish enthusiasm. The door swooshed open, revealing the drooping figure of an extremely tired Zekk. Slightly startled, Jaina jumped back, but then continued to head toward her prior destination.
"You should be sleeping Zekk. This doesn't concern you." She said, calmly walking past him.
She was quickly stopped as Zekk grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him once again. Pity was obvious in his emerald green eyes as he looked down at the girl. She was the only daughter of the Chief of State and the General of the New Republic military fleets. She was the niece of the famous Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, and friends with both: the princess of Hapes, Tenel Ka Djo, and heir to the Bornan fleet, Raynar Thul. There was no wondering why she was one of the most sought-after brides in the galaxy. Zekk smiled trying to figure out how an orphaned boy of Ennth had got mixed up with a girl like Jaina. "Anything that concerns you, concerns me" he answered simply. Jaina sighed, then gestured for Zekk to join her and Raynar. He quickly accepted and followed the two into the repoulser lifts. "Where are we going anyway?" Raynar asked
"To the Comm. Center." Jaina replied with out hesitation.
"Why?"
"Because I want to set up an alarm that will go off whenever
a message come through to Yavin 4." She explained "If
Lusa tries to contact us, we'll know."
Raynar shrugged "If it helps me get some sleep, I'll join
you."
Jaina, Raynar, and Zekk worked through most of the night. Time lost all meaning to the Jedi trainees as they focused on their task.
~*~
Dawn flooded the horizon. It's light swept through the dense jungles and caressed the temple with its warm beauty. Tenel Ka woke up and was prepared to start her morning exercises.
As she walked down the long corridor she heard her name being shouted from behind her. She turned to find her friend, Jacen Solo, trying to catch up with her. The Hapan princess waited patiently for the young man. Her eyes drifted toward the closed door of Raynar's room that stood before her. She could sense his feeling of emptiness radiate from the room, she felt sorry for the young man, and her friend Jaina Solo who was suffering from the same ordeal.
"Tenel Ka, I just checked Jaina's room and she wasn't there." Jacen's voice was full of concern.
Tenel Ka pondered what she could do. Soon coming to a conclusion,
she offered her suggestion. "Let's see if Raynar is in his
room if not, we'll see if the Shadow Chaser, Rock Dragon
or Lightening Rod are in the docking bay.
Jacen agreed and opened Raynar's door. He silently looked in and
saw that Raynar was sleeping in his bed. Across the room, Zekk
was also asleep in Raynar's self-forming chair. Then, Jacen saw
that his sister was curled up in Zekk's lap, also sleeping. Under
normal circumstances, Jacen would have woken Jaina up and dragged
her back to her room and away from Zekk (his normal "Protective
brother" routine) but they hadn't gotten any sleep in weeks,
so Jacen didn't want to disturb it. Besides, Jacen was relieved
that they were still on the planet, although he could sense if
Jaina had left.
"C'mon. Let's leave them alone and go for a walk." He whispered to Tenel Ka.
~*~
Tenel Ka was waiting for the right moment to make her move. She wasn't nervous of course; she had been through much more frightening and dangerous situations than this. She just wanted to have the least amount of trouble fulfilling her task.
~*~
The two young Jedi descended the staircase of the great temple from the second and soon made their way out into the open area in front of the temple. Upon placing her feet onto the soil, Tenel Ka broke out into a sprint heading toward the dense thicket of trees in front of her.
"Tenel Ka!" Jacen yelled to the warrior girl from Dathomir. She stopped and turned around to look at Jacen.
"What is it friend Jacen?" she asked.
"I said 'a walk', you know, moving at a pace slower than light-speed?" Jacen said sarcastically.
"I can assure you, friend Jacen, that I was running much slower than light speed." Tenel Ka replied matter-of-factly.
Jacen shook his head and tried not to laugh, though he wasn't doing a very good job. "I knowI knowHow about we walk at my pace and take in our surroundings a bit?" he suggested, walking up to her and placing his arm on her shoulder.
"If that is what you want friend Jacen." She replied, sliding her one good arm around his waist.
~*~
Jaina, Raynar, and Zekk were all aroused by the loud, shrieking
sound that was produced by Jaina's alarm. Zekk was flabbergasted
by the sudden outcry. He stood up, momentarily forgetting that
Jaina was still in his lap.
Gravity pulled the young woman down hard and she winced in pain
as her knee connected with the stone floor. Jaina looked at her
chronometer and was surprised to discover that she had been asleep
for nearly 6 standard hours straight; a new record for her, recently
that is.
Zekk apologized and lifted her off the floor while Raynar turned off the alarm. The sudden silence was almost deafening, but the high pitched sound still rang in their ears. Raynar raced out of the room in the direction of to the Comm. Center. Zekk picked up Jaina and followed Raynar.
"Zekk, I can walk you know. I just bumped my knee; I've
done it millions of times before." Jaina tried unsuccessfully
to convince Zekk to put her down.
Giving up on the debate, Jaina squirmed out of his grasp and ran
toward the Comm. Center with high hopes that her friend was contacting
them. She ran down the halls letting the Force guide her step
and push her forward. She passed Raynar, entered the doorway and
typed in her access code rapidly. Raynar entered the room with
Zekk on his heels just in time to see the Holo-vid of Lusa. All
three cried out in excitement as they saw their friend after so
long. "Listen, I don't have much time. I am being held captive
on the planet of Larpenop." She started and was interrupted
with a flock of questions from her friends.
"Well I" suddenly she was grabbed by a long greenish-blue tentacle that came from off the screen. "Jaina" she screamed "help me!" soon her mouth was muffled by a second tentacle; she was being pulled out of range of the communication computer. "Raynar" she said, after she bit the tentacle. "I love you.." the screen was filled with static as they were disconnected.
"We have to save her!" Raynar and Jaina said in almost perfect unison.
"We are going to need a ship. Mine, the Shadow Chaser, has a problem with the hyperdrive and in order to use the Rock Dragon we would have to find Tenel Ka. We don't have time for either one." Jaina said.
A few months ago Jaina's uncle had given the Shadow Chaser to her as a present. She had helped to apprehend and keep the ship away from the Empire. She wanted a ship more than anything else, but her mother refused to let her have one, so Luke gave it to her. Leia was angry at first but soon calmed down, and the ship had quantum armor, which pleased both Han and Leia.
They hurried into the Docking Bay and spotted Zekk's ship being held there for safe keeping between his missions.
"We could take the Lightning Rod!" Jaina exclaimed, then widened her brandy brown eyes and looked at Zekk pleadingly.
"Only if I go with you." Zekk said with a stern expression.
"But..."
"But nothing it's MY ship!" Zekk interrupted, happy to have a reason to stay with Jaina.
"Please!" Jaina said with sweetness in her voice. She tugged at his shirt and looked up at him, but Zekk didn't back down.
"We don't have time to argue." Raynar said. "
Just let him come!"
Raynar ran up the open ramp. Zekk started following Raynar up
while Jaina ran to the weaponry cases that her mother had insisted
be installed there. She grabbed a blaster and made sure it was
on 'stun'. Zekk felt the danger through the force and turned around
to face Jaina. Before he could react to the situation, Jaina shot
at him. Blue ripples surrounded the boy and he fell to the ground
unconscious.
"Sorry Zekk." She said as she threw the blaster back to the area she got it from. She dragged the boy's limp body off the ramp and to a safe place in the corner of the docking bay "but I don't want you to get hurt trying to save my friend. This doesn't concern you."
Jaina joined Raynar in the cockpit of the ship. He was already fastened in his crash webbing. She quickly sat in the pilot's seat and did a few pre-flight checks.
"Where's Zekk?" Raynar asked
"He's not coming." Jaina said without a pause.
"Well, well, well you convinced him to stay behind? How?"
"I simply explained to him that I didn't want him getting hurt in a matter that didn't concern him." It wasn't a total lie.
There was an awkward silence for a moment as Raynar looked to Jaina unbelievingly. Jaina gave an uncomfortable laugh, se never could lie successfully, it didn't help that everyone she knew could sense untruths, even her father in his own way. "Well, what are we waiting for?" She asked, changing the subject. "Let's save Lusa."
~*~
Jacen Solo had a strange connection with wildlife. He loved
to watch and discover new things about every creature he encountered.
He even had a small menagerie in his quarters. His twin sister,
Jaina, had made the cages for him; she had a strange connection
with machines, similar to the one Jacen had with animals.
Suddenly Jacen felt a twinge in the force. He looked around and
found a small, lost, baby bird-like creature. He picked up the
creature carefully and looked around for its mother. He felt a
small disturbance in the force again, he could feel worry and
emptiness. Jacen knew that it was the emotions of the bird-like
creature's mother. Concentrating, he lifted the bird in the air
in the direction of its mother. As soon as he settled the baby
into the safety of its nest Jacen was wrapped in a fiber cord.
He yelped in surprise and lost his balance.
Jacen winced as his head hit the ground, hard. His eyes remained closed as he tried to focus his energy to dulling the pain. Jacen's eyes fluttered open again and he discovered that his attacker was Tenel Ka.
"Tenel Ka, what are you." Jacen started, but was hushed by Tenel Ka's dragger pressed against his lips.
"I believe Jacen, that you have been captured," Tenel Ka informed him- Jacen noted that she didn't use the word 'friend' in front of his name. "And according to Dathmirian law, you shall be my husband."
"You mean marry you?" Jacen was astonished. Tenel Ka released the cord and Jacen broke free. He picked up Tenel Ka and spun her around, laughing.
"Do you accept my offer then?" Tenel Ka asked.
"Oh Tenel Ka I would be honored to be your husband!" Jacen said, with tears forming in his eyes.
Jacen and Tenel Ka leaned toward each other. "I love you Tenel Ka." Jacen whispered "With all my heart."
"As do I Jacen." The two drew closer until their lips almost connected. The moment was interrupted by the sound of a ship soaring through the skies.
They both looked up to see the Lightning Rod flying over their heads. Jacen knew that his sister was on that ship and he glared at it for a moment.
"You want to follow her." Tenel Ka said. It wasn't a question.
"Yep, but if I go after her she'll only get angry and say that I don't think that she is capable of taking care of herself, but I DO think she is capable of taking care of herself! I just don't show it all the time. " There was a long silence, and Tenel Ka could sense that Jacen was talking to his sister with their unique connection through the force. A smile spread across his face and he looked back at Tenel Ka with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Now where were we, soon to be Mrs. Solo?"
"Mrs. Solo? You mean soon to be Mr. Djo" with that, Tenel Ka took off in a sprint again, leaving a dumbfounded Jacen behind.
~*~
Zekk groaned and rolled over onto his back, he wasn't sure what had happened but he was paying for it severely. It didn't take him long to realize that he was on the floor of the docking bay with a small blaster, set on stun, lying close to him. Suddenly the memory of the whole event came back to him.
Zekk got up and a dizzy spell washed over him. He placed his hand on his forehead and steadied himself, then headed out toward the jungles of Yavin IV. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but whatever it was, he was going to need Jacen's help to do it.
~*~
For the second time that day Jaina was awoken from a pleasant sleep because of a blaring alarm. She groggily stepped off of the small cot that served as Zekk's bed while he was a bounty hunter and walked into the cockpit. She found Raynar had somehow curled up into an unusual position in the navigator's chair with his crash webbing still on. He was sleeping soundly through the computer's announcement: it was almost time to leave hyper-space.
Jaina laughed and sat back down in the pilot's seat. She started to count down the seconds out loud with the computer but realized that there was no point. The only person that was aboard the ship with her was Raynar, and he wouldn't care about it even if he were awake. She longed to discuss the different cores of negative powered hypo thrusters with someone, but she couldn't. Lowie was probably modifying his T-23 skyhopper with MTD, her father was on Coruscant performing the tedious tasks of that came with the title of the General of the New Republic's military, and she had left Zekk unconscious back on Yavin IV.
The streaks of light turned back to stars as Jaina approached the rather large planet of Larpenop. Larpenop was a green world filled with many wild and plant life. Jaina remembered the name from many exhibits in the Holographic Zoo back on Coruscant, Threepio took her and her brothers there all the time to get them out of the way.
"Jacen would love this place!" Jaina said out loud to no one in particular.
"What?" Raynar asked groggily as he opened his eyes.
"Look how beautiful this place is!" she told him
"Ship please identify yourself and state your business" a voice interrupted.
"Yea, umm this is Raynar Thul of the Bornan fleet. I am here to drop off some shipment for my mother, in the Lightning Rod." Raynar said.
Several moments of silence passed before the voice spoke once again. "You have clearance to enter Mr. Thul, you may land on docking bay 32. Enjoy your stay on Larpenop."
When their connection ended Raynar stated. "I thought it easier to say it was for the fleet. Larpenop is a neutral planet and the Chief of State's daughter would probably be less welcome."
"Don't worry Raynar, it's perfectly understandable. This was the easy part, the hard part is getting out of here with Lusa." Jaina answered.
~*~
When they landed the two Jedi trainees hunted for clues on where Lusa could be held. Many people knew about a prison that held many creatures. Those who go there never come back to tell their tale. This secret prison was located under the castle that housed the king of Larpenop, King Makorion. Raynar and Jaina kept low profiles as they made their way into the castle. King Makorion was a sociable man so it was relatively simple for them to step foot into the throne room to see him. The Throne room was a large extravagant room filled with many spiral staircases. Everything was the colors of white and gold even the royal family's garments. The king sat in a large throne that had two smaller ones on either side of it. Two human boys occupied the smaller thrones, one that looked not much older than Jaina, and the other one that looked about the age of 3 or 4 years old.
"Your highness, My name is Jaina Solo." Jaina said making a slight bow.
"Yes, Yes, come in child!" the king said happily. "What is it that you want of me and my kingdom?"
Jaina cleared her throat "About two standard weeks ago, a friend of ours had been found missing. A few days ago, she sent us a message that she was kidnapped and is being held captive here on Larpenop."
"Kidnapped?" King Makorion asked confused. "I can assure you young lady that we do not kidnap people."
"I feel her presence here" Raynar whispered to Jaina. Jaina nodded, she had felt it too.
"Sir, we checked where the message was sent from. It was here." Jaina said with calmness in her voice.
"Impossible!" the older boy said standing from his throne. A suave smile crossed his face as he approached Jaina.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Jaina asked keeping her calm tone.
"Of course not M'Lady," he took her hand and pressed it against his lips. "you were just misinformed."
Before the boy could finish his sentence, a door swooshed open and a beautiful, centaur girl walked through the doorway She was carrying a trey with 3 glasses on it, each filled with a different color liquid. Raynar looked at the source of the noise. "Lusa!" he yelled and ran over to her. Lusa dropped the trey to the floor, letting the content spill onto the marble as they threw their arms around each other and stayed in that position for a few moments.
"Misinformed huh?" Jaina said yanking her hand away from the boy. She turned back toward King Makorion "Sir, this is the friend that I was telling you about."
The boy became angry and turned toward the king. "Father. This.." he looked at Lusa in disgust "Lusagirl owes a large dept to our kingdom. She had broken many of our laws."
"My son, Jeo Ket, is correct." The king said. "I sentenced her to work here in the palace myself."
Jeo Ket, satisfied with his father's response, turned around to face Jaina once again. His short, curly, brown hair was a neater version of Jacen's, and his dark blue eyes was unlike any Jaina had ever seen before.
"I'll take her place." Raynar offered boldly. He
still held Lusa close to him.
Both Jaina and Jeo Ket looked at Raynar. "Raynar, you can't
do that. It will just keep you apart from each other."
"Although there is nothing wrong with taking on the responsibility for other's actions here." Jeo Ket looked at his father for approval, finding it he turned back to Jaina. "You could replace her."
Jeo Ket tucked a loose strand of Jaina's hair behind her ear. Jaina flinched slightly at this action. He smiled down at her like Zekk always did, but he wasn't Zekk, he was far from it.
"So what do you say?" Jeo Ket almost whispered. "You agree and both of your friends can go."
Jaina stood tall and clenched her fists at her sides. She tried
to hold back the tears but they started to roll down her cheeks.
"I shall take her place." She said her voice and emotion
solid.
Raynar and Lusa cried out as guards suddenly surrounded them.
They were being taken from the throne room. Jaina fell to her
knees and buried her head in her palms.
Her freedom was gone. Jeo Ket placed his hand on her head, but it wasn't comforting. He lifted her to her feet and led her towards the door Lusa had exited from.
"And now young Jaina," Jeo Ket whispered in her ear "you belong to me!" they walked for several moments through the long corridors that served as a detention hall. Reaching a random door, he pressed in his access code and a door opened to a small cell. Jaina walked in hesitantly "I would get comfortable if I were you. You may be staying here for awhile!"
Alright, I know everything happened a bit quickly, i promis
things will slow down a bit more.