Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I'm just playing with it. I only own Kates Zecli and Antooanna. My friend owns Edwth Sucli. Lucas is God! I am unworthy!
Antooannaian Jedi Apprentice #1
Lost Lives
Seth N Jones
*
Chapter One
"Kate," a soft female voice said. "Kate. It's time to wake up."
Kates Zecli opened her gold-streak brown eyes and saw the rooms lights on. Quickly, she covered her them with her hand to block the glare. Kate got up from her sleep-couch and dressed in her cream-colored tunic and pants. Her lightsaber hung from her belt around her waist. She pushed her waist-length, gold-streaked brown hair behind her shoulders and secured it with a leather strap headband across her forehead, above a red stone, in her people's way. Then she tied her hair at the nape of her neck, except for one small braid that hung down the right side of her face, in the Jedi Apprentice's way.
"What are the plans for today, Master Aurra?" she asked as she sat down for breakfast. Aurra Amandi was only a Jedi Knight, not a Jedi Master. She will not become a Jedi Master until she has successful trained her first Jedi Apprentice, Kate, into knighthood. Aurra had hair like molten copper that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her green eyes stood out in her honey-tone skin.
"We are to leave Antooanna today to our next mission on Delios," she answered. Antooanna was Kate's home planet. The people of Antooanna have glittery skin that was able to protect them against the harsh environment and sun. Outsiders to the planet often get harsh sunburns from standing out in the sun for only minutes. All Antooannaians have at least some kind of link to the Force through a stone placed somewhere on their bodies.
Kate's red fire stone was placed in the middle of her forehead. She is considered rare. A Jedi Antooannaian is unusual, much less one with the ability to change forms.
Kate's parents were killed by pirates when she was only six months old. Aurra sensed their distress and tried to save them. Aurra promised Kate's father, before he died, that she would watch over her. She didn't realized that Kate had Jedi potential besides her stone powers. She went before the Jedi Council and told them about her promise, only to find out about Kate's Force connection. For many years, Aurra visited Kate in the Jedi Temple, watching over her, and becoming more like a mother to her.
When the time was right, Aurra took Kate as her Padawan Learner. Now at the age of twelve standard years old, Kate has been on many missions, and became an expert of electronic devices. She is actually twenty-four in her native planet year, considered as an adult.
As she ate her fruit, Kate pulled out a small datapad from her pocket and made her daily entry in her native language that she programmed into the hardware.
Aurra glanced over from her breakfast and smiled. "How old were you when I gave you that journal?"
Kate looked up from her datapad. "About seven, I guess," she said after a moment. Unconsciously, she fingered a smooth stone that hung around her neck on a leather thong, feeling the emblem carved into it. The symbol shows friendship, but Kate carried only half.
The other half belonged to her friend, Edwth Sucli, another Antooannaian Jedi. Unlike Kate, he had silver-striped black hair, silver-streaked brown eyes, and a blue water power stone on his right wrist. Eddie was still at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, training to become a Padawan.
The power stones depends on where the person was born. Eddie was born near the ocean while Kate was born in the desert. Some types of stone are rare; blue the third rarest, red the second, and white the rarest of all.
Kate finished her journal entry and went to the part of her datapad that was able to send and receive messages. Before she left the Temple, Kate gave the transmission code to her friends so they can mail each other while away. Kate had four messages, one from Eddie, two from a younger Jedi friend named Suzanne, and one from another Jedi friend named Padruà.
Kate opened the one from Eddie and read.
Hi Kat. How are you, what have you been up to, you know, the general stuff. Master Yoda says I'm ready to become an apprentice like you(even though I'm older then you by two standard years). All I have to wait for is for Master Reion to come and get me.
Sukio,
Eddie
Kate smiled as she closed her datapad. *I'll have to mail him back when I have time,* she thought. *By then, he'll complain that I don't mail him.*
"I think it's time we have to start our way to the spaceport," Aurra said. Kate stood up and pulled her brown Jedi robe around her shoulders. A Jedi's outfit was unmark and common to blend in with the crowd around. Beside her, Aurra put on her robe, but pulled the hood over her head and covered her face before they stepped out into the bright sunlight.
Chapter Two
Kate stepped out into the sunlight, feeling the rays warming her face. Beside her, her mentor hid from it.
They quickly made there way to the spaceport where a shuttle will take them to Delios. A young man with a green stone on his left wrist waited for them. When the two Jedi reached him, he bowed. "It is a pleasure to take the Jedi to Delios," he said in Basic.
They followed the young man into the shuttle and after a few minutes, they were in hyperspace. "It will be a few more minutes before we reach our destination."
"Thank you," Aurra said. She turned to the younger Jedi and looked her in the eyes. "Many children have disappeared from Delios and I put you in danger taking you there."
"I accept the danger, Master," she said quietly. "But you need not worry about me." Kate's stone glowed slightly and she grew. Her hair shortened but stopped when it reached her shoulders. Her legs and arms grew longer and her clothes grew with them. Right before Aurra's eyes, Kate grew ten years older. "I am not helpless."
*
As soon as Kate got off the shuttle, she could sense the fear under the calm surface of the capital city, Hyrot. She stumbled slightly, still not use to her longer legs. "Is there anything wrong?" Aurra asked.
"There's no body on the streets," Kate answered quietly. Her hair whipped around her face, the only thing holding it back was her leather strap. She pulled the hood of her brown robe over her head when Aurra motioned for her to follow.
After a few minutes, they reached the palace where they were to meet King Tresis. The guard at the door let them in but kept his gaze Kate for a few seconds longer.
Under her robes, Kate morphed back to her actual body while walking into the building and to the next guarded door. The guards let them in without a challenge. Kate looked up from under her hood and saw a large room with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the whole city. In the middle of the room sat King Tresis behind a large desk.
He immediately stood up and walked to the two Jedi. Aurra bowed to him and Kate followed her mentor's gesture. "Thank you both for coming," he said. The king pushed his emerald green cape behind his shoulders. His face was worn from worry. King Tresis had black hair and dark blue eyes. His skin was the same honey-tone color like Aurra. "I fear for my daughter's safety, along with the city's children."
Kate remember her lessons about Delios. She remembered the king's only daughter, Princess Tigera, was only five standard years old and fragile from a rare illness. The princess was getting better but only if she didn't do too much.
Aurra pulled off her hood and Kate followed the action. Kate's striped hair fell to it full length, no longer restricted by her hood or hair tie. The king gasped. "You risk your apprentice's life by bring her here!"
"With all do respect, Your Highness," Kate said, "I am not completely powerless." She once again demonstrated her powers by morphing. Her hair went from waist length to short and spiked, save for a small ponytail in the back and her braided pigtail. Her face changed with the morph and now she looked like a human boy.
Then she morphed again. Her limbs became longer and her clothes grew with them. Now she looked of a twenty-five year old man, taller than both Aurra and Tresis. "My powers will fool anyone."
"You're an Antooannaian, aren't you? A rare one?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Kate replied in a deeper voice. In a flash of red, Kate was back to her real body. "I will help to protect your daughter and find the other children."
Chapter Three
Kate could not fall asleep. It has been many days since she and Master Aurra arrived on Delios. Aurra stayed at the palace with Princess Tigera while Kate went out and asked the parents of children that got kidnapped. She went out as Justin, morphed as an adult male human.
And so far it hasn't gotten them any closer to finding the children.
Kate walked to the large window in the room she stayed in. The room showed how rich the king was. Her bed was covered with velvet and satin sheets, the windows had curtain of rich fabric, metallic green and silver threads weaved into it.
As Kate looked into the star-filled sky, the sense of urgency became stronger. The Force was telling her something, but she didn't know what. Quickly, Kate morphed her day clothes and saw her lightsaber secured to her belt. She morphed back to her nightclothes and stepped out into the hall.
She walked for a few minutes before she reached the corner. She gazed down the next corridor and saw three dark figures carrying a small form.
*That's Princess Tigera!* Kate thought. But before she could shout for help, darkness fell over her.
*
Aurra woke up early next morning, feeling like something's amiss. She dressed and hooked her lightsaber on to her belt. The Jedi Knight walked into the hall and around the corner when she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She looked down the hall to where the princess's room was located. All around the door, guards stood talking to the king.
Aurra ran to them and when she got there, King Tresis turned to her, tears shining in his eyes, but not falling.
"My daughter is gone," he said. "We went to check on your apprentice and we can't find her anywhere."
"Kate has a morphing power, Your Highness. She could be anywhere without being found," Aurra answered. But the Force told her otherwise. Aurra pulled out a comlink and tried to call her Padawan. But she knew that her apprentice was not on the planet anymore.
Chapter Four
Kate woke with a start, every muscle in her body jerked. For a moment, all she could feel is pain. Kate accept the pain, then called on the Force to help lessen it. "Oh man. It feels like a bantha ran over me."
Once it was under control, she sat up to look at her surroundings. All around, small kids sat on the floor, some crying, but most with sad, blank looks on their faces.
"Ah. Your awake," said a soft voice.
Kate spun around and immediately wished she hadn't. Behind her stood a tall girl with black hair and wearing a simple blue dress. Kate put her right hand against her forehead as if trying to stop the pain that rang out. As her hand felt the stone, she gasped.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked.
"My power stone. It's cracked."
"Yeah. So?"
"You don't get it. If I don't get treatment to heal the stone, I'll die in five standard days. Even less if it gets cracked more."
Kate stood with the help of the black-hair girl. She looked down and saw that she wore the same blue dress. "My name is Jessie."
"Kate. Kate Zecli." She looked around and saw a small door on the far wall. She limped over to the door and looked out the small window. Beside the door stood two guards. "I need to get out of here. I need to get back to Delios."
"So. Is the other chosen one awake?" Kate turned around and saw a blond-hair boy standing behind her. "We all want out of here and get back to Delios."
"Leave her alone, Alex," Jessie said, coming to stand behind her.
"Stay out of this, little caretaker," he hissed.
"Caretaker?"
"I take care of the sick children that come through here."
"Where am I?" Kate asked next.
"No one knows. We were taken from Delios and inslaved here. Apparently, Wuthyvm has chosen you for one of his personal slaves." Alex looked around. "The kids with the blue outfits are personal slaves."
Kate looked closer at the kids. Half of them were older than she was. Suddenly, a young boy ran up to Jessie. "The little girl is crying again."
"Little girl?" Kate asked.
"Yes," Jessie said as she made her way to one corner of the large cell. "She's been crying none stop since she arrived with you." They reached a corner where most of the little children crowded around. The kids parted to let Jessie and Kate in.
Sitting in the corner was Princess Tigera, still in her white nightgown. Her curly, silver hair was all in tangles and tears fell from her dark blue eyes. Jessie tried to comfort her, but Tigera pulled away.
Kate kneeled beside her and touched the princess' forehead. "It's all right," Kate soothed. The princess stopped crying and looked to the young Jedi.
"I wanna go home," she sniffled. Tigera put her hands around Kate's neck and clung to her. Kate stood up, holding her.
"Don't worry," she whispered into the younger child's ear. "I know how we could." Kate turned to Jessie. "Would you please hold her?"
"Okay," Jessie said with a little wonder in her voice. Tigera let Jessie carry her without any fuss. "What are you going to do?
"I'm going to get us all out of here," Kate said with determination.
"How?" Alex's voice asked. He stepped into the crowd, his arms crossed
over his chest. "Only a Jedi could get us out of here." He looked at Kate and smirked. "And you're as much of a Jedi as you are a morphing Antooannaian."
Kate just smiled. She pulled off her leather band, ran her fingers through her hair as if to straighten it, the put it back on. Her stone glowed for a second then Kate fell to the floor in pain. Slowly, the blue dress change color and finally formed her tunic and pants. Black boots appeared on her shoeless feet. Her lightsaber appeared at her right side. Kate stood up as fast as her body would let her and walked to the door. As she did so, she pulled a hair tie out of her pocket and secured her hair at the nape of her neck.
Kate closed her eyes briefly and whispered, "You need to check the other hall."
Outside the door, one of the guards said, "There something in the other hall we need to check."
The other guard gave him a weird look then shrugged. "Whatever you say."
Both of the guards disappeared from sight around the corner.
Kate looked behind her and made a quiet sign. Then she grabbed her lightsaber from her belt and lit it with a *snap-hiss*. Pale light came of the opalescent blade, lighting the space around it.
Kate moved closer to the door, the blade changed colors as it moved in the air, changing from green to red to blue around the edges. Kate check again to see that the guards were completely gone, then thrusted the blade of her lightsaber into the door.
She moved the blade down the seam of the door until it hit the latch. Silently, the door swung open. Kate steeped into the hall and motioned for the other children to follow. She grabbed Alex and whispered, "Take the lead. I'll follow and protect the end."
"Okay," he said in a shaky voice. He looked around with wide eyes.
"Don't worry," Kate said. As she spoke, she used the Force to calm him. "Just get us to the space bay."
Alex nodded then went down one side of the hall. Jessie followed after him, still holding Tigera in her arms.
After a few minutes, nearly every child was out of the cell and in the hall. Kate counted twenty-five and followed the last child down the hall when she heard a voice behind her.
"What the. . . Those kids are escaping. Blast them."
"Use stun only. The boss will kill us if they get hurt."
One of the kids froze, terror showing in his eyes.
"Run!" Kate shouted. She pushed him with the Force and he ran, along with the other kids in front and behind him. She turned back to face the guards with her lightsaber ready, determined to get the children home, no matter what.
Chapter Five
"She's not dressed like the others," one guard said.
"Then I guess it doesn't matter if she dies," the other said. Kate heard a click as the blasters went from stun to kill. She held her lightsaber in a two hand grip and stared at the guards. The first bolt shot out and Kate easily deflected it.
The deflect bolt went back and hit one of the men in the knee. He fell to the ground, no longer able to stand. The other guard began to fire his blaster without stopping.
Kate dodged or deflected most of them. But one got through her defense. The bolt hit her in the left arm and she felt the briefest pain, but her stone took the fire and hurt away, enough to crack it more.
Blood ran down her forehead and into her eyes. Kate wiped it away with the sleeve of her tunic and looked down at it. *You have the blood of a Jedi,* Kate remember Aurra Amandi saying, *and the spirit of a warrior.*
Aurra's words spurred Kate on. She ran forward to the lone standing guard. Right before she reached him, he fainted.
"Kate!" a voice called to her. She turned around to find Alex standing at the end of the hall. "Everyone's waiting for you."
Kate ran to Alex and he noticed the blood on her tunic and running down her face. "You're hurt."
"I'll live long enough to reach Delios," she said in a strained voice. "Hurry. Lead the way to the shuttle."
*
Within a few minutes, Alex and Kate reached a landing platform with a large passenger shuttle waiting. Both of them ran up the ramp and into the cockpit.
"Is all the children accounted for?" Kate asked as soon as she saw Jessie. She still held the young princess in her arms.
"Yes. But none of the older kids know how to pilot this craft."
Kate looked over the controls and said, "I can. I've flown ships in simulation at the Temple."
The young man that sat at the pilot controls moved out and let Kate sit down. After a moment, the shuttle lifted from the ground and shot into out of the atmosphere.
"Brace yourself for hyperspace," Kate called out to the children behind her. She pulled the hyperspace levers back and the star became lines as they shot out of the system.
Blood ran into Kate's left eye and she wiped it away angrily. Her right hand felt her red stone, feeling the cracks that ran through out the whole stone. "I won't be able to live much longer," she said in a hushed voice.
"Kat gonna die?" Princess Tigera asked, her blue eyes filled with tears again.
Kate smiled and touched the princess's forehead again. "Not yet, young princess. Not yet."
Chapter Six
Aurra sat with the king in the throne room. Her face showed her worry about losing her young Padawan; the king's showed dread.
Suddenly, the door to the room was flung open. One of the guards walked in and bowed. "Sire. A large craft just landed in the docking bay."
But the king didn't hear what the guard had to say. He immediately sprang out of his chair and out of the palace with the Jedi Knight at his heals.
He arrived at the hanger when the large boarding ramp lowered. Kids ran out of the shuttle and Tresis and Aurra searched the faces. One of the last kids out held a little girl in her arms, and the king ran to her.
"Daddy!" the young child squealed and jumped into his arms.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you." King Tresis breathed.
"Don't thank me," the youth said. "If it weren't for Kate, we would all be stuck in the cell."
Aurra was about to speak when Princess Tigera voiced her concern first. "Where Kat?" she asked.
"I'm right here," a pained voice said. Aurra looked up and saw Kate supported by a blond-haired boy, bright red blood ran down her face from the cracks in her stone. She looked directly at one of the guards and a fire burned fiercely in her brown eyes.
"All of us were kidnapped by that guard. He was the one that stole the princess and I from the palace." Kate walked slowly down the ramp with the young boy's help. "He was the one."
"Guards!" the king yelled. "Arrest him!"
The former guard ran for the hanger doors, but Aurra grabbed him with the Force and held lim steady as the true guards apprehended him.
Once that was over, Aurra ran to Kate as the young apprentice collapsed on the floor. Her hands wiped the blood off of her padawan's forehead. "Kate! We need to get you back to Coruscant!"
She just smiled weakly. "I have the blood of a Jedi and the spirit of a warrior." With that, she laid her head against Aurra's arm and lost consciences.
The king came to stand beside the Jedi Knight. "Take my ship to Coruscant. It's the fastest thing here and I don't care if I ever see it again."
"Thank you, King Tresis. I'll make sure that it returns to you." With that, Aurra ran into the king's ship with Kate in her arms.
Antooannaian Jedi Apprentice #1
Lost Lives
Seth N Jones
*
Chapter One
"Kate," a soft female voice said. "Kate. It's time to wake up."
Kates Zecli opened her gold-streak brown eyes and saw the rooms lights on. Quickly, she covered her them with her hand to block the glare. Kate got up from her sleep-couch and dressed in her cream-colored tunic and pants. Her lightsaber hung from her belt around her waist. She pushed her waist-length, gold-streaked brown hair behind her shoulders and secured it with a leather strap headband across her forehead, above a red stone, in her people's way. Then she tied her hair at the nape of her neck, except for one small braid that hung down the right side of her face, in the Jedi Apprentice's way.
"What are the plans for today, Master Aurra?" she asked as she sat down for breakfast. Aurra Amandi was only a Jedi Knight, not a Jedi Master. She will not become a Jedi Master until she has successful trained her first Jedi Apprentice, Kate, into knighthood. Aurra had hair like molten copper that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her green eyes stood out in her honey-tone skin.
"We are to leave Antooanna today to our next mission on Delios," she answered. Antooanna was Kate's home planet. The people of Antooanna have glittery skin that was able to protect them against the harsh environment and sun. Outsiders to the planet often get harsh sunburns from standing out in the sun for only minutes. All Antooannaians have at least some kind of link to the Force through a stone placed somewhere on their bodies.
Kate's red fire stone was placed in the middle of her forehead. She is considered rare. A Jedi Antooannaian is unusual, much less one with the ability to change forms.
Kate's parents were killed by pirates when she was only six months old. Aurra sensed their distress and tried to save them. Aurra promised Kate's father, before he died, that she would watch over her. She didn't realized that Kate had Jedi potential besides her stone powers. She went before the Jedi Council and told them about her promise, only to find out about Kate's Force connection. For many years, Aurra visited Kate in the Jedi Temple, watching over her, and becoming more like a mother to her.
When the time was right, Aurra took Kate as her Padawan Learner. Now at the age of twelve standard years old, Kate has been on many missions, and became an expert of electronic devices. She is actually twenty-four in her native planet year, considered as an adult.
As she ate her fruit, Kate pulled out a small datapad from her pocket and made her daily entry in her native language that she programmed into the hardware.
Aurra glanced over from her breakfast and smiled. "How old were you when I gave you that journal?"
Kate looked up from her datapad. "About seven, I guess," she said after a moment. Unconsciously, she fingered a smooth stone that hung around her neck on a leather thong, feeling the emblem carved into it. The symbol shows friendship, but Kate carried only half.
The other half belonged to her friend, Edwth Sucli, another Antooannaian Jedi. Unlike Kate, he had silver-striped black hair, silver-streaked brown eyes, and a blue water power stone on his right wrist. Eddie was still at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, training to become a Padawan.
The power stones depends on where the person was born. Eddie was born near the ocean while Kate was born in the desert. Some types of stone are rare; blue the third rarest, red the second, and white the rarest of all.
Kate finished her journal entry and went to the part of her datapad that was able to send and receive messages. Before she left the Temple, Kate gave the transmission code to her friends so they can mail each other while away. Kate had four messages, one from Eddie, two from a younger Jedi friend named Suzanne, and one from another Jedi friend named Padruà.
Kate opened the one from Eddie and read.
Hi Kat. How are you, what have you been up to, you know, the general stuff. Master Yoda says I'm ready to become an apprentice like you(even though I'm older then you by two standard years). All I have to wait for is for Master Reion to come and get me.
Sukio,
Eddie
Kate smiled as she closed her datapad. *I'll have to mail him back when I have time,* she thought. *By then, he'll complain that I don't mail him.*
"I think it's time we have to start our way to the spaceport," Aurra said. Kate stood up and pulled her brown Jedi robe around her shoulders. A Jedi's outfit was unmark and common to blend in with the crowd around. Beside her, Aurra put on her robe, but pulled the hood over her head and covered her face before they stepped out into the bright sunlight.
Chapter Two
Kate stepped out into the sunlight, feeling the rays warming her face. Beside her, her mentor hid from it.
They quickly made there way to the spaceport where a shuttle will take them to Delios. A young man with a green stone on his left wrist waited for them. When the two Jedi reached him, he bowed. "It is a pleasure to take the Jedi to Delios," he said in Basic.
They followed the young man into the shuttle and after a few minutes, they were in hyperspace. "It will be a few more minutes before we reach our destination."
"Thank you," Aurra said. She turned to the younger Jedi and looked her in the eyes. "Many children have disappeared from Delios and I put you in danger taking you there."
"I accept the danger, Master," she said quietly. "But you need not worry about me." Kate's stone glowed slightly and she grew. Her hair shortened but stopped when it reached her shoulders. Her legs and arms grew longer and her clothes grew with them. Right before Aurra's eyes, Kate grew ten years older. "I am not helpless."
*
As soon as Kate got off the shuttle, she could sense the fear under the calm surface of the capital city, Hyrot. She stumbled slightly, still not use to her longer legs. "Is there anything wrong?" Aurra asked.
"There's no body on the streets," Kate answered quietly. Her hair whipped around her face, the only thing holding it back was her leather strap. She pulled the hood of her brown robe over her head when Aurra motioned for her to follow.
After a few minutes, they reached the palace where they were to meet King Tresis. The guard at the door let them in but kept his gaze Kate for a few seconds longer.
Under her robes, Kate morphed back to her actual body while walking into the building and to the next guarded door. The guards let them in without a challenge. Kate looked up from under her hood and saw a large room with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the whole city. In the middle of the room sat King Tresis behind a large desk.
He immediately stood up and walked to the two Jedi. Aurra bowed to him and Kate followed her mentor's gesture. "Thank you both for coming," he said. The king pushed his emerald green cape behind his shoulders. His face was worn from worry. King Tresis had black hair and dark blue eyes. His skin was the same honey-tone color like Aurra. "I fear for my daughter's safety, along with the city's children."
Kate remember her lessons about Delios. She remembered the king's only daughter, Princess Tigera, was only five standard years old and fragile from a rare illness. The princess was getting better but only if she didn't do too much.
Aurra pulled off her hood and Kate followed the action. Kate's striped hair fell to it full length, no longer restricted by her hood or hair tie. The king gasped. "You risk your apprentice's life by bring her here!"
"With all do respect, Your Highness," Kate said, "I am not completely powerless." She once again demonstrated her powers by morphing. Her hair went from waist length to short and spiked, save for a small ponytail in the back and her braided pigtail. Her face changed with the morph and now she looked like a human boy.
Then she morphed again. Her limbs became longer and her clothes grew with them. Now she looked of a twenty-five year old man, taller than both Aurra and Tresis. "My powers will fool anyone."
"You're an Antooannaian, aren't you? A rare one?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Kate replied in a deeper voice. In a flash of red, Kate was back to her real body. "I will help to protect your daughter and find the other children."
Chapter Three
Kate could not fall asleep. It has been many days since she and Master Aurra arrived on Delios. Aurra stayed at the palace with Princess Tigera while Kate went out and asked the parents of children that got kidnapped. She went out as Justin, morphed as an adult male human.
And so far it hasn't gotten them any closer to finding the children.
Kate walked to the large window in the room she stayed in. The room showed how rich the king was. Her bed was covered with velvet and satin sheets, the windows had curtain of rich fabric, metallic green and silver threads weaved into it.
As Kate looked into the star-filled sky, the sense of urgency became stronger. The Force was telling her something, but she didn't know what. Quickly, Kate morphed her day clothes and saw her lightsaber secured to her belt. She morphed back to her nightclothes and stepped out into the hall.
She walked for a few minutes before she reached the corner. She gazed down the next corridor and saw three dark figures carrying a small form.
*That's Princess Tigera!* Kate thought. But before she could shout for help, darkness fell over her.
*
Aurra woke up early next morning, feeling like something's amiss. She dressed and hooked her lightsaber on to her belt. The Jedi Knight walked into the hall and around the corner when she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She looked down the hall to where the princess's room was located. All around the door, guards stood talking to the king.
Aurra ran to them and when she got there, King Tresis turned to her, tears shining in his eyes, but not falling.
"My daughter is gone," he said. "We went to check on your apprentice and we can't find her anywhere."
"Kate has a morphing power, Your Highness. She could be anywhere without being found," Aurra answered. But the Force told her otherwise. Aurra pulled out a comlink and tried to call her Padawan. But she knew that her apprentice was not on the planet anymore.
Chapter Four
Kate woke with a start, every muscle in her body jerked. For a moment, all she could feel is pain. Kate accept the pain, then called on the Force to help lessen it. "Oh man. It feels like a bantha ran over me."
Once it was under control, she sat up to look at her surroundings. All around, small kids sat on the floor, some crying, but most with sad, blank looks on their faces.
"Ah. Your awake," said a soft voice.
Kate spun around and immediately wished she hadn't. Behind her stood a tall girl with black hair and wearing a simple blue dress. Kate put her right hand against her forehead as if trying to stop the pain that rang out. As her hand felt the stone, she gasped.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked.
"My power stone. It's cracked."
"Yeah. So?"
"You don't get it. If I don't get treatment to heal the stone, I'll die in five standard days. Even less if it gets cracked more."
Kate stood with the help of the black-hair girl. She looked down and saw that she wore the same blue dress. "My name is Jessie."
"Kate. Kate Zecli." She looked around and saw a small door on the far wall. She limped over to the door and looked out the small window. Beside the door stood two guards. "I need to get out of here. I need to get back to Delios."
"So. Is the other chosen one awake?" Kate turned around and saw a blond-hair boy standing behind her. "We all want out of here and get back to Delios."
"Leave her alone, Alex," Jessie said, coming to stand behind her.
"Stay out of this, little caretaker," he hissed.
"Caretaker?"
"I take care of the sick children that come through here."
"Where am I?" Kate asked next.
"No one knows. We were taken from Delios and inslaved here. Apparently, Wuthyvm has chosen you for one of his personal slaves." Alex looked around. "The kids with the blue outfits are personal slaves."
Kate looked closer at the kids. Half of them were older than she was. Suddenly, a young boy ran up to Jessie. "The little girl is crying again."
"Little girl?" Kate asked.
"Yes," Jessie said as she made her way to one corner of the large cell. "She's been crying none stop since she arrived with you." They reached a corner where most of the little children crowded around. The kids parted to let Jessie and Kate in.
Sitting in the corner was Princess Tigera, still in her white nightgown. Her curly, silver hair was all in tangles and tears fell from her dark blue eyes. Jessie tried to comfort her, but Tigera pulled away.
Kate kneeled beside her and touched the princess' forehead. "It's all right," Kate soothed. The princess stopped crying and looked to the young Jedi.
"I wanna go home," she sniffled. Tigera put her hands around Kate's neck and clung to her. Kate stood up, holding her.
"Don't worry," she whispered into the younger child's ear. "I know how we could." Kate turned to Jessie. "Would you please hold her?"
"Okay," Jessie said with a little wonder in her voice. Tigera let Jessie carry her without any fuss. "What are you going to do?
"I'm going to get us all out of here," Kate said with determination.
"How?" Alex's voice asked. He stepped into the crowd, his arms crossed
over his chest. "Only a Jedi could get us out of here." He looked at Kate and smirked. "And you're as much of a Jedi as you are a morphing Antooannaian."
Kate just smiled. She pulled off her leather band, ran her fingers through her hair as if to straighten it, the put it back on. Her stone glowed for a second then Kate fell to the floor in pain. Slowly, the blue dress change color and finally formed her tunic and pants. Black boots appeared on her shoeless feet. Her lightsaber appeared at her right side. Kate stood up as fast as her body would let her and walked to the door. As she did so, she pulled a hair tie out of her pocket and secured her hair at the nape of her neck.
Kate closed her eyes briefly and whispered, "You need to check the other hall."
Outside the door, one of the guards said, "There something in the other hall we need to check."
The other guard gave him a weird look then shrugged. "Whatever you say."
Both of the guards disappeared from sight around the corner.
Kate looked behind her and made a quiet sign. Then she grabbed her lightsaber from her belt and lit it with a *snap-hiss*. Pale light came of the opalescent blade, lighting the space around it.
Kate moved closer to the door, the blade changed colors as it moved in the air, changing from green to red to blue around the edges. Kate check again to see that the guards were completely gone, then thrusted the blade of her lightsaber into the door.
She moved the blade down the seam of the door until it hit the latch. Silently, the door swung open. Kate steeped into the hall and motioned for the other children to follow. She grabbed Alex and whispered, "Take the lead. I'll follow and protect the end."
"Okay," he said in a shaky voice. He looked around with wide eyes.
"Don't worry," Kate said. As she spoke, she used the Force to calm him. "Just get us to the space bay."
Alex nodded then went down one side of the hall. Jessie followed after him, still holding Tigera in her arms.
After a few minutes, nearly every child was out of the cell and in the hall. Kate counted twenty-five and followed the last child down the hall when she heard a voice behind her.
"What the. . . Those kids are escaping. Blast them."
"Use stun only. The boss will kill us if they get hurt."
One of the kids froze, terror showing in his eyes.
"Run!" Kate shouted. She pushed him with the Force and he ran, along with the other kids in front and behind him. She turned back to face the guards with her lightsaber ready, determined to get the children home, no matter what.
Chapter Five
"She's not dressed like the others," one guard said.
"Then I guess it doesn't matter if she dies," the other said. Kate heard a click as the blasters went from stun to kill. She held her lightsaber in a two hand grip and stared at the guards. The first bolt shot out and Kate easily deflected it.
The deflect bolt went back and hit one of the men in the knee. He fell to the ground, no longer able to stand. The other guard began to fire his blaster without stopping.
Kate dodged or deflected most of them. But one got through her defense. The bolt hit her in the left arm and she felt the briefest pain, but her stone took the fire and hurt away, enough to crack it more.
Blood ran down her forehead and into her eyes. Kate wiped it away with the sleeve of her tunic and looked down at it. *You have the blood of a Jedi,* Kate remember Aurra Amandi saying, *and the spirit of a warrior.*
Aurra's words spurred Kate on. She ran forward to the lone standing guard. Right before she reached him, he fainted.
"Kate!" a voice called to her. She turned around to find Alex standing at the end of the hall. "Everyone's waiting for you."
Kate ran to Alex and he noticed the blood on her tunic and running down her face. "You're hurt."
"I'll live long enough to reach Delios," she said in a strained voice. "Hurry. Lead the way to the shuttle."
*
Within a few minutes, Alex and Kate reached a landing platform with a large passenger shuttle waiting. Both of them ran up the ramp and into the cockpit.
"Is all the children accounted for?" Kate asked as soon as she saw Jessie. She still held the young princess in her arms.
"Yes. But none of the older kids know how to pilot this craft."
Kate looked over the controls and said, "I can. I've flown ships in simulation at the Temple."
The young man that sat at the pilot controls moved out and let Kate sit down. After a moment, the shuttle lifted from the ground and shot into out of the atmosphere.
"Brace yourself for hyperspace," Kate called out to the children behind her. She pulled the hyperspace levers back and the star became lines as they shot out of the system.
Blood ran into Kate's left eye and she wiped it away angrily. Her right hand felt her red stone, feeling the cracks that ran through out the whole stone. "I won't be able to live much longer," she said in a hushed voice.
"Kat gonna die?" Princess Tigera asked, her blue eyes filled with tears again.
Kate smiled and touched the princess's forehead again. "Not yet, young princess. Not yet."
Chapter Six
Aurra sat with the king in the throne room. Her face showed her worry about losing her young Padawan; the king's showed dread.
Suddenly, the door to the room was flung open. One of the guards walked in and bowed. "Sire. A large craft just landed in the docking bay."
But the king didn't hear what the guard had to say. He immediately sprang out of his chair and out of the palace with the Jedi Knight at his heals.
He arrived at the hanger when the large boarding ramp lowered. Kids ran out of the shuttle and Tresis and Aurra searched the faces. One of the last kids out held a little girl in her arms, and the king ran to her.
"Daddy!" the young child squealed and jumped into his arms.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you." King Tresis breathed.
"Don't thank me," the youth said. "If it weren't for Kate, we would all be stuck in the cell."
Aurra was about to speak when Princess Tigera voiced her concern first. "Where Kat?" she asked.
"I'm right here," a pained voice said. Aurra looked up and saw Kate supported by a blond-haired boy, bright red blood ran down her face from the cracks in her stone. She looked directly at one of the guards and a fire burned fiercely in her brown eyes.
"All of us were kidnapped by that guard. He was the one that stole the princess and I from the palace." Kate walked slowly down the ramp with the young boy's help. "He was the one."
"Guards!" the king yelled. "Arrest him!"
The former guard ran for the hanger doors, but Aurra grabbed him with the Force and held lim steady as the true guards apprehended him.
Once that was over, Aurra ran to Kate as the young apprentice collapsed on the floor. Her hands wiped the blood off of her padawan's forehead. "Kate! We need to get you back to Coruscant!"
She just smiled weakly. "I have the blood of a Jedi and the spirit of a warrior." With that, she laid her head against Aurra's arm and lost consciences.
The king came to stand beside the Jedi Knight. "Take my ship to Coruscant. It's the fastest thing here and I don't care if I ever see it again."
"Thank you, King Tresis. I'll make sure that it returns to you." With that, Aurra ran into the king's ship with Kate in her arms.