Two young boys carefully crept around the corner, casting wary looks up and down the two narrow metal corridors. The lights flickered, the hum of electricity sporadically buzzing and sputtering. The horrid smell of the sewers reached the children's nostrils, but was never noticed as they had lived with it for their whole lives. The filthy chipped and cracked windows granted them a view of run-down speeders zooming past, going about whatever business needed doing, whether honest or illegal. Some were the former, most were the latter.
The two human boys finished their search and nodded to each other. Neither had seen anything out of place. Not a soul was in sight, and apart from the ambient noise, there was neither any sound.
But things on Deralia were never easy. They might sometimes be simple, but never easy. The corridor might have seemed empty, but the next moment it might be filled with the sounds of deactivating stealth-units and a dozen thugs bent on killing them, or stealing everything they owned, which was as good as. But that only happened if you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and extremely careless. If you were a species other than human, anyway. If you were human, you stayed locked up in whatever walled place you lived in, only coming out when absolutely necessary. Because the criminals were seeking you out, going out of their way to find you, to give you a good beating if they were low-lives, or to capture and enslave you if they had 'connections'. And then, one of the crime lords would steal you - you weren't worth any credits – and hate you, and use you and starve you, and hurt you. You would be lower than a slave, lower than the shit they walked on.
Those were the reasons the boys were so careful. Even in their short seven years, they had learned facts of life that a full-grown alderaanian man could only begin to grasp. They had seen friends and family dragged away, had mourned their loss, and had learned from it.
The two kids quietly and swiftly ran down the left corridor, going around the refuse piles that were too tall to jump over. It was not uncommon for them to come across recently deceased bodies, the result of a gang fight, or a poor man's negligence. The boys gave no mind to them. For one they had seen it too many times to care for every one of them, and two, they didn't have the time. They needed to lose the gang.
The boy running in the lead had a determined expression on his face. His short black hair ruffled slightly at the speed he traveled and his eyes looked fiercely ahead at an unseen goal. The second had shoulder length reddish-blond hair, and was blindly following his friend.
The first boy stumbled to a halt so suddenly that the second crashed into him, sending them to the floor with a small yelp.
"Get off, Dace." The black-haired boy grumbled.
Dace sprang up and off of the boy, hurriedly checking around to see if the noise of their fall had attracted the attention of someone nearby. Seeing no one, he glanced at his friend and helped him to his feet.
"Why d'you crash into me anyway?" the boy demanded.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault. You're the one who just stopped in the middle of the street."
The boy glared at Dace, "You should look where you're going!" he replied heatedly.
As Dace prepared to reply, his eyes caught a flicker of movement at the end of the corridor they had come from. His eyes widened and the other boy whirled around to see what had freaked his friend out.
A couple Twi'leks, a few Aqualish, another two Rodians and a single Nikto were jogging down the street, searching every nook and cranny, but moving quickly nonetheless. They were the gang pursuing them.
"Revan..." Dace said worriedly to the black-haired boy.
The Twi'lek saw them first. His eyes lit up at the sight of the two puny humans they had been chasing. They needed credits, and the two would be worth a fair price in the right circles.
Revan grabbed Dace's ragged and dirty sleeve, twisted him around and pushed him forward. They needed to escape. Now.
Jedi Knight Kreia stared intently at the view screen. What captivated her was the planet-wide cityscape below. There was a surprising number of ships entering and leaving the atmosphere, especially for a planet out of Republic jurisdiction. In her mind, she checked off the facts she knew of this world.
Deralia was much like the Outer-Rim world of Taris, to which it was often compared, though it was so much more out of control. Where Taris had a semblance of peace and prosperity on the surface, and only as people went down did they realize the brutal and cruel way of life of its citizens, Deralia did not even pretend to attempt to hide its anarchy. The almost non-existent and corrupt government taxed its few lawful citizens into depressive poverty, who were constantly more than harassed by the real authority: the crime lords. This planet was a slummy hub for thugs without money, criminals on-the-run, opportunistic scoundrels, the Exchange, and of course, the trapped victims that could no longer escape the rampant nihilism.
One of the major differences between Taris and Deralia was the composition of the populace. Unlike Taris, which was dominated by xenophobic humans who oppressed the poor, Deralia was dominated by aliens. The Exchange was run by hateful lords that believed all humans were responsible for every injustice, every act of discrimination committed against their respective races everywhere in the galaxy. And, so believing, abused the humans residents of Deralia. Most non-humans didn't think that way, but no one would stop the cycle of violence, because if they ever tried, the crime-lords would crush them without a second thought. It was easier - not to mention safer - to follow the masses, and keep quiet.
And now Kreia, fully aware that she would likely be recognized and singled out as a human, was willing to brave the trials of this world because of some flicker in the Force. As she sat observing the planet, Kreia wondered briefly what exactly she was hoping to find. It had been no more than a flicker! Ordinarily, she would have considered the disturbance momentarily, decided it would not be worth a visit to a veritable hive of illegal activities to find its source, and would have moved on with her current mission. But her Force intuition was telling her to search for it. It was telling her this small disturbance was important to the larger scheme of things, and she knew she couldn't resist the will of the Force. She just hoped it was worth it. She was after all risking her master-hood trial mission to-.
A mechanised voice snapped her back to reality.
"Freighter Emerald Honour, you are clear to land. Proceed to docking bay R-56."
Revan scowled as they stopped running. He hated running away. He didn't like feeling scared. He despised it in fact. He wanted to be brave. He wanted to be able to stand up to them. To everyone that hurt him. But he couldn't. He was helpless, just like he was at home.
"You think we lost them?"
"I don't know, but I think we're lost"
Revan was panting when he answered. Both had run for ages before the sounds of the gang's running footsteps had faded behind them. They had stopped at the entrance of a type of public square. People with shifty eyes were milling about and around stalls, mostly not seeing or ignoring the two boys.
"We need to get back Revan. If anyone actually looks at us... We'll be in trouble. They'll hurt us. I don't want to be hurt. Not again. Please, we should go back."
Revan knew most aliens in this sector were the rough sort, the ones that would hurt you and take everything that was on you, but would generally leave you there. And Revan knew that it did hurt.
Dace continued.
"My parents will be mad if I don't get home before the power runs out, and your ones... Well..."
"I know." He didn't want Dace to talk about that. His mum wasn't in shape to say anything. And his father probably wouldn't notice Revan not being at their run-down apartment. If he did... Revan didn't want to think about that. It scared him, terrified him even, though he would scarcely admit to himself. It was just better if his father didn't notice.
They had to get back, and the only way they knew was the way they had come. But they couldn't go that way, since the gang was probably still there looking for them. They rarely gave up. They were like hunters.
"Maybe we could back and circle them." Revan offered, "You know, make a loop around them. That way we won't see them one bit."
"Uh... I... don't know."
"Well it's better than standing here doing nothing but waiting for them to catch up to us!"
"Revan..." Dace was terrified, but he wouldn't admit it. He wanted to be like the people in the few old holo-vids his family owned. He wanted to be like the Jedi, brave and strong.
Revan turned to his friend.
"How about we go over there?" He pointed to door where many people were exiting and entering. "Maybe we can hide there for a long time, then go back home. The gang won't be there if we stay long enough."
Dace looked at the door for a moment. Then,
"They won't let us in, Rev. Only grown-ups go in there. I think it's a... cantina, or something. Let's find something else."
"We need to go somewhere!"
In a last ditch attempt to make Revan find something else, he whispered
"Your father said you weren't allowed in there."
"I don't want to think about my father!" Revan shot back vehemently, feeling an angry pulse surge through him. "He doesn't care about mum. He just let her get sick, and he gets mad, and, and... He's mean! He hurts her! Don't talk about him!"
Dace cringed, but Revan was too mad to care. He just stood stock-still and waited to calm down. After a moment Dace opened his mouth and said
"Alright, Revan, we'll do it your wa-" he cut off abruptly as two big arms seized him from behind, pulling him off the ground.
Revan had a split-second to register what had happened before another ruffian grabbed him and covered his mouth with a smelly gauntleted hand.
No! he tried to twist out of the grip, but it was too strong. He only slipped marginally toward the ground. Now he could barely touch the floor and felt himself being dragged a small distance. He tried to scratch and claw his way out from the thug, but in vain.
He heard someone speaking in twi'leki, saying to 'take hold of the scrapper before we're forced to hurt him'. Before more hands could touch him, he bent his head and took the biggest and hardest bite he could out of the thug's arm holding him. He felt the grasp loosening and he kicked backward, right between its legs. He pushed as hard as he could and felt himself get free of the arms. He took a few steps forward blindly before he crashed into a wall of flesh. More thugs.
He fell back toward the fallen one and went to its belt. He frantically felt for something, anything to help. His hands curled around a thin object, and as the rest of the gang jumped on him he pulled it out, swinging it madly across one's chest. Blood spattered across his face as the knife cut through the thin material of the Rodian's shirt and deep into the skin. It fell to the ground yelling.
Revan had no time to realise what he had done. He looked up from the body just as the Nikto hit him full in the face, sending him tumbling backward. The thug who he had kicked earlier was now recovered and caught him.
As much as he twisted and turned, bit and hit, he couldn't get free as they dragged him and Dace off deeper in darkened alley. They had him.
Kreia pulled her hood lower over her eyes. Her face was lost in shadows. No one could recognise her species this way. She strode swiftly, guided by the Force. The feeling was growing frantic, and she knew she had to find the origin of it before time ran out. Something was happening, and Kreia didn't know what! It irritated her to no end, but she kept her shadowed face expressionless.
The twists and turns constantly led her astray, as when she tried to travel directly toward the source, she kept hitting dead ends, and was forced to backtrack and find round-about ways. As each second slipped by, Kreia could feel her patience giving way to anxiety.
She emerged in a common area, a market, filled with tables and stalls displaying numerous inventories. Her eyes passed over several illegal rifle and pistol models, but she didn't bother noticing them. A cantina was visible. She paused a single moment to feel where the source of the disturbance was coming from. Her eyes settled on a dark opening in the wall across the vast expanse. It was there, in the alleyway.
Revan was abruptly thrown to the grown. He looked up to see a wall of flesh baring his way to freedom. There were more than there had been. He glanced at Dace who had also been violently chucked beside him. Dace looked up at the thugs with fearful eyes, but Revan could also see him examining them, trying to find a way to escape.
A Twi'lek and a Rodian approached Revan and Dace, tying their hands and feet so the couldn't try anything.
One of the aliens started talking in his native language to the rest of the group, but Revan barely had a mind to listen.
"[We got them, but one gave us a run for our money.]" His voice hardened as he continued and he glared at Revan. "[The little son of a bitch sliced Tahkol good. Bled out before we could get this bastard under control.]"
One Nikto, the leader it seemed, looked down at Revan, that back to the other.
"[And Tahkol?]"
"[Dead, boss.]"
The Nikto's eyes darkened and he stared furiously at the little kid who seemed to think he could get away with killing one of his best men, his friend even.
"[Take the smaller one away for Fornax. I'll deal with the other.]"
Both kids shifted backward until they were pressed against the wall. Three aliens were slowly advancing toward them, and both boys knew that it was to take one of them away.
"They're coming," Dace whispered, "Stop!" He screamed at them, but they paid him no heed. He looked sideways at Revan. His friend that was like his brother, that always had a way out. But Revan just looked at him, than back at the group. He didn't have any ideas.
The Twi'lek took hold of Dace and hauled him off his feet.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Revan, "Don't touch him! Stop it!"
But they just took Dace away, screaming, before someone covered his mouth. Revan tried to stand up, but he was just shoved down with a kick. He scowled at them, even though he was almost crying.
"[Give him back.]" he snarled.
"[He can speak Ryl. He might be worth the trouble after all.]
"[He killed Tahkol!]" growled the leader as he stared murderously at Revan. "[He is not worth anything, after that.]"
Revan could feel they wanted to harm him, and he tried again to squirm out of his bonds. It only hurt though. He kicked out with both legs, and hit one in the shin. He received a whack to the head, knocking him on his side.
He couldn't defend himself as blows rained down on him from every direction. He curled up, drawing his knees to his head. He felt so helpless. Revan felt something build up inside his head. He couldn't do anything as they hurt him again and again. He cried out as he was kicked and punched and hit. The pressure in his head spread to his whole body. In his mind, Revan saw his father's drunken eyes as he did the same to him. The beating went on. He wanted it to stop. He just wanted it all to stop. He watched through his mind's eyes as his mother lay on the bed, bruised and sick. He felt anger at his father and at the world for doing this to her. The rage was white hot. The pressure was unbearable. He couldn't keep it in. It needed to get out.
Revan yelled as he pushed the pressure out. Just let everything out. His pain, his grief, his hate, and his rage. All of it. An uncontrolled shock-wave crashed outward, invisible to any non Force-sensitive, but was felt none the less by every creature for miles, one way or another.
Revan stayed curled up even after everything was silent. It hurt too much to move. He was drained and scared and beaten, and he just wanted to stay there until everything would go away.
Kreia had just penetrated the dark side street when the Force overcame her. She staggered to one knee when the power she had felt build up was brutally unleashed. The moment it had manifested, the Force had seemed to overwhelm her entire being, deafening, blinding and numbing her all at once. At that moment, she felt fear. What manner of creature could possess such power, untamed as it was?
She recovered from the surge slowly, then stood up. Looking around, she saw the utter chaos the market was in, debris everywhere, unhinged by the awesome pulse. She didn't study the scene long, though. She quickly ran further in the alley, uncertain if she wanted to find the being responsible.
She fell upon a pitiful scene.
Curled up in a foetal position was a small thing, a child. It was shaking uncontrollably, and around it was strewn the corpses of half a dozen non-humans. She approached it carefully, reluctant to surprise it.
Who is this boy? Kreia wondered. She used the Force to get a bearing of his state. He was obviously traumatised. The Force only knew what had happened before the blast.
Before long, the boy stopped trembling. He took deep breaths and gradually got to his knees. He looked up, and Kreia could see the bruised and cuts that covered his face, blood trickling down several places. When he saw her, he flew to his feet and took a wary step backward, seeming ready to bolt. When she made no move to come near him, however, he held still.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
Kreia crouched so she would be at his eye level.
"I am called Kreia." She paused then, and considered how to continue. She pulled her hood back to let him get a look at her face "Who are you?"
The boy studied her for a few moments before answering.
"My name is Revan."
AN: alright, then. hope you enjoy the chapter... i'm pretty sure i'll continue this story, maybe even up to the mandolorian wars. Review please! This is my first fanfiction, so be nice [sad puppy dog eyes]. Merry Christmas everybody :) !