A Good Man

Prologue

The sounds of burning buildings and the dying screams of innocent villagers floated through the air along with the ash of their homes. Despair and the smell of burning corpses hung so thick with the smoke till the sun was no longer visible; it became so heavy one could not see a few yards ahead without being greeted by shadows and darkness. Even as the daughter of the village's kannushi sat huddled under the floor boards with her siblings, she felt exposed, unsafe and hopeless. She clung to her elder brother's sleeve and held her younger brother's hand with hers. She was beyond sniffling and crying like her little sibling was, but instead she trembled and held her breath, too afraid to move.

It'll all be over soon… daddy will make them leave and he and mother will come get us and we will be safe… safe… when will we be saved?

Her father had just gone down to meet with an unexpected visitor; at least that is what her mother had said before ushering them under the floor. They'd hear her footsteps above them every once and awhile as she tried to sooth the infants in the room. The girl lowered her head, unable to shake the overwhelming fear of darkness surrounding them.

"Lykoi… Koi, look at me." She winced slightly at the sound of her brother's voice, looking up at stoic Tam. Tam never smiled but never frowned either. His face never held emotion, for that job was for his eyes only. Lykoi turned her head, blinking against the darkness to see what her brother was trying to tell her. When his face became clearer, she saw his bright, honey eyes. Instead of being reassured like she had hoped, her own hopelessness was mirrored back at her. Lykoi swallowed as Tam grabbed the hand that gripped his sleeve, taking a deep breath. Lykoi curled her arm around her younger brother, her trembling matching his own. The sound of her heart pounded in her ears, every noise and every bit of movement sent fear down her spine, overwhelming her to the point she couldn't even respond. Her ears began then to ring, the silences in the room unnerving. She bit the inside of her cheek till she tasted her own blood.

"Tam, what is going to happen to us?" Lio, her little brother, whispered as Lykoi held him close. The eldest looked above; his eyes were a storm with worry and regret.

"I don't know, Lio… I don't know," he murmured, the screaming from the village down in the valley below becoming louder and impossible to ignore. Lykoi closed her eyes, the noise making her heart beat hard and her head unable to think straight. Suddenly they heard thunder above their heads as they came up the stairs, the smell of sweat and wickedness coming closer. Lio whimpered, pressing closer to his sister. They heard their mother shuffling above them, her quiet crying making her children worry and her infants whimper in the closet she had hidden them in. They could smell her restlessness and terror that fueled her own children's terror. Lykoi closed her eyes, pressing her face in her younger brother's soft black hair as Tam gave her hand a squeeze, hearing nothing but the thunder as it got closer. The door to their room was opened and Lykoi's heart stopped.

Safe…daddy will make sure we're safe.

Her father didn't come in when she heard the men pin her mother down. Her father didn't rescue them when they discovered her baby brothers in the closet. He failed to keep them from harm when they opened fire on them as their mother screamed. Her daddy didn't save her or her siblings as the monsters opened the cellar door and began to grab her brothers, their screams now dull hums in the air.

Lykoi felt tears roll down her cheeks as she felt hands grab at her arms and neck, lifting her in the air. She trembled harder and more tears fell as the smells of death and blood greeted her. Her daddy was not there. Lykoi screamed with all her might, screamed for fear this was the last day she would live. That this would be the last time she ever screamed or breathed.

Where are you, daddy?

Author's Note:

Hi guys! So this is my first fanfiction on here, so go a little easy on me, however constructive feedback is appreciated and welcomed. I don't know how long this story will be but for the most part I know where I'm going with it. This will be along the time line of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, however it will not be completely canon, backstories will mostly stay the same and such but will diverge from the actual canon plot as we go later into the series. I own NONE of these characters and I do not own any of the Star Wars works, I only own my own OCs. Hope you enjoy!

~RK

Edit: Changed the title to A Good Man, it sounds better and yeah c: