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To answer Junerebels ; I removed te original chapter to because I'm republishing an improved version of them right here. I should be done with all remaining chapters in less than a week now.
Thanks for your support, I'm happy you enjoyed so much my work! :D
Chapter 7
Another alert twinged inside him! Ezra dodged one more hit near his throat... Too near. Only a few minutes had passed and he already had two small cuts on his neck, one on his cheek and a few more on his arms for having tried to protect his chest! The boy never learned how to do hand to hand combat. Never had to. Even when he was a street rat, he avoided fighting as much as possible... and when it couldn't be avoided, it rarely ended well... if only he had his electric sling-shot...
But this man... This man knew what he was doing and he was good at doing it. Just thinking about it made Ezra reminisce the disturbing memories he had to watch inside that demented's head. They were still engraved in his mind, painfully unsettling him. He shook his head, shoving them away, and evaded another thrust just in time, ripping his clothing in the progress!
The criminal kicked low to make his prey trip. Ezra jumped high, kicked the wall and flipped above the man to dodge him. He rolled on the floor, trying to get back his balance. The effort made him cough. There was still blood inside his lungs and it was hindering his breathing. Great, like it wasn't enough that he had issues with his Force powers right now. He should definitively drop this stupid concealing... but the pain. Just the thought of the Master made him shiver. If that monster was to make his suffering memories arise right now, his low chances of surviving this would drop to nothing...
Ezra swallowed back the tears that menaced his sight and tried to concentrate. He could do this. Amara showed him how to keep his focus on two techniques at the same time. He slipped under another hit, and tried to pull the knife out of the man's hand. Surprised but tightening his grip on the weapon, the criminal threw a punch from his other fist, soundly hurting the boy's shoulder and destabilizing him! Taking the advantage, he thrusted the blade inside Ezra's belly!
The knife pierced his skin and penetrated his stomach! Ezra screamed, Force pushing his aggressor with all his might. The man was projected on the wall across the room, breaking parts of the rock but without passing through it. He fell on the ground, unconscious, half covered by the debris.
Panting, a hand covering his belly, Ezra stepped back. Standing against the wall behind him, he let himself slide to the floor, leaving a bloody line on the rock. Breathing heavily, with black dots dancing in his sight, he concentrated to close the hole behind his soaked red hand. Soon, his skin was mended, but his stomach was still hurting. It had the time to get filled and he turned on his side to vomit his own blood.
This made the boy feel better. Still tilted, he moved his hand to his chest and Force healed his lungs, coughing to finally clear them. God, it had been a difficult day, and it was barely past noon.
Throwing a look at the criminal, he saw the debris and the stone dust moving on him. Great, he was still breathing. Near him, there was the knife he had dropped under the pulse shock. How easy it would have been to end all this right now...
Ezra shook his head, cowering his arms around his knees, and looked away from the deadly weapon, sobbing quietly.
-'Kanan, where are you...'
...
The pain. The throbbing pain he felt all over his body.
-'Kanan...'/-"Kanan!"
Where were those voices coming from?
It was like he was swimming in an ocean of suffering for so long that his entire being was starting to melt in it, making his mind fuzzy.
-"Where are you..."/-"Wake up!"
He had been drifting until now, incapable of holding on anything. Suddenly, it was as if the ocean went raging! The turmoil kept shaking him in all directions. He had difficulties breathing, the water menacing to drown him.
-"Kanan! Wake up Now!"
Opening his eyes wide, he took a long and deep breath. He was on the med-bay floor, a blanket still holding his legs onto the bed beside him. Looking around nervously, he met Ahsoka's eyes. She had his shoulders tightly gripped in her hands, as if she had to shake them to make him come to his senses.
-"Ezra. Ezra needs me!" He shouted, agitated .
-"Calm down." She ordered, trying to maintain him on the floor.
-"No! You don't understand! I need to find him!" He replied firmly, grabbing one of her wrists.
-"You need to clear your mind. He can't be found now." She stated calmly, posing her other hand on his.
He closed his eyes a second, lowering his head, concentrating... She was right! He couldn't sense him!
His voice was trembling with worries -"W-What happened? The kid... "
-"We don't know. Let me brief you on the situation."
He calmed down a little, listening to Ahsoka as if his life depended on it.
...
An hour after he made the criminal unconscious, Ezra heard something slide. There was a little piece of wood, rectangular, placed at eye's height on the door, that could be move aside. It was just big enough to allow someone to look inside the room. He glanced at the little trap moving, and saw the two maleficent yellow eyes staring at him.
-"So?" Inquired the old man. "How did it go?"
Damn him and his joyful tone.
-"I won." Answered the boy, grumpy. "Can I get out now, Master?"
-"Oh? But I still sense two living presences in this room." The man replied, falsely surprised. Then, his tone hardened. "I didn't ask you to knock him out. I ordered you to kill him!"
-"I won't. Please, stop asking me that, Master." Pleaded the boy, cowering more.
The man's tone lightened -"Since you'll be confined a little longer in there, let's continue your last lesson here."
-"I don't want to." Complained quietly Ezra, leaning his forehead on his knees.
The Master's voice was now growling, menacing. -"Are you trying to upset me, young man?"
It made Ezra's whole being quiver.
-"No, please go on with your lecture, Master." He answered, defeated.
-"That's better." The man became joyful again. He took his best teacher tone. "Let's dig a little more around this 'Good Vs Evil' obsession you seem to have. Here is the context; there is a small planet where are living peaceful creatures, but one day, another species from another planet come to live there. Since there is not enough food for the two nations, they engage in a war. Here is the question; Who are the bad guys?"
It seemed rather simple. Ezra tried -"The one invading, Master."
-"And if I was to precise that, a millennia ago, the invaders were the one living on this planet and were expulsed by the ancestors of the one living there now."
-"Then..." The boy hesitated. "I guess, they should have the right to reclaim their homes... "
-"But it was a millennia ago." Pursued quickly the Master. "Should the children be punished by the actions of their elders?"
-"I... I suppose someone should take responsibility to, at least, try to correct this injustice..."
-"Then again, at the beginning, the people living on this planet now had to move away because their own planet was going to explode and this new place was the only one near where they could live on."
Ezra was mute, incapable to find a solution to this issue.
-"You see," Continued the old man. "Sometimes, there are no good or bad guys. Only circumstances that lead people to take actions. They may seem bad for others who have to suffer the consequences, but those kind of actions are always taken while thinking of the best interest of at least one person. The question is; Is this person's life more valuable than the others?"
The boy understood. The Master was trying to convince him that his life had more value than the one of a lowly criminal, but he couldn't shake away the fact that he was always told every life were precious... he dropped his head, in the impossibility to answer the old man.
-"How long it will take for you to get out of this room depends on when this man dies. And he will die, even if you don't finish him out right now. To even your current weakened state, I had him miss meals before coming here. Be it from your hand or from starvation, he will pass away. So, how you kill him is yours to choose and the way you'll do it will define who you really are. Will you cut him out of his miserable life quickly... or will you let him endure the suffering he deserves, slowly letting him starve?"
And still no answer came from the boy. He couldn't accept the fact that, either way, he was going to be the one on whom this death will fall upon.
The Master sighed. -"I have other things needing my attention. I'll let you ponder until you finally make the right decision and take action."
Then, he closed the trap, leaving Ezra alone with his thoughts, the flame of the feeble lamp hanging on the wall dancing with the sudden change in the air.
...
Ahsoka had to call the rest of the crew to the med-bay. They needed to convince Kanan to stay in bed. Zeb even had to put him back on it forcefully.
He struggled, making the bed creak. -"I said I'm fine! I don't need to rest!"
-"You're in no shape to run around." Replied the Lasat, still holding him tight.
-"Just listen to us for once!" Added firmly Sabine.
-"You said it's already been three days since I passed out." The Jedi roared. "Last time I heard of him, they were torturing him! Who knows what they're doing to him right now!"
-"We are as worried as you." Hera tried to soothe him. "But you won't help him if you pass out again!"
-"I have to try again. I have to try until I can reach him. Until I find him!" His voice was a mixture of pleading and determination.
Ahsoka tried to reason him. -"You tried it earlier. He can't be sensed right now."
-"Then, let's try it together!" He retorted, firmly. "Let's burst whatever they're using to block us and get to him!"
The crew looked a him with concern, but Ahsoka nodded.
-"Alright, we'll try it together." She declared.
Kanan eyes lighted -"Thank y..."
-"What?!" Hera interrupted him, glaring at Ahsoka. "But you're the one who said it was too risky for him right now!"
-"'We'll try it together." She repeated, looking directly at Kanan. "I'll lend you my strength to search but you'll be the only one scanning for him, as I'll be occupied to shield your mind. And if I sense even the slightest sign that you could be hit again, I'll break the connection."
-"Deal." A spark of determination passed in Kanan teal eyes. He was much calmer now, ready to do it.
...
How many hours had passed since he was confined in this room? Too many? Not enough?
A dangerous weariness was holding on him for so long now. What if he was to fall asleep and the criminal wakes up? He couldn't let those many hours catch up to him. So he kept thinking to keep himself awake. Thinking about the Master's talk, about the murderer's doing... but, also about the Ghost crew...
How each hour, each minute, each second made him miss them more and more. Because, they were coming for him. Wasn't it? They were going to get him out of this place before long. Before one of them had to die. Before... before he had to do the unthinkable to survive.
He had to keep believing they'd come. It wasn't their fault, not enough time had passed for them to have found him... because they were going to find him... if they could find him. Would they be able to find where he had been taken? Could they really free him from this cell? From this planet?
His stomach growled painfully. When was the last time he had something to eat? Before noon? Was it to make him realize how the criminal was feeling, starving, and pity him to give him a quick death?
Small knocks on the door disturbed his thoughts. He look nervously at the trap sliding again. To his relief, it was the shy voice of Amara that talked to him.
-"Ezra, are you okay? Please, tell me you're fine." She was so worried that her voice was trembling.
-"It's okay, Amara. I'm still holding on."
She sighed with relief. -"Thank goodness. Can you come near the door?"
-"I think I can manage."
He does as she asked, helping himself along the wall, and saw a book she was holding in the trap's hole.
-"We were ordered not to feed you. But I still can provide you some reading."
He took the book, a little confused, and understood when he opened it. The sheets were glued together and carved inside to hide food.
He leaned his back to the door, smiling. -"Thanks you, Amara. I think this reading will delight me."
She leaned on the wooden door too, and let herself slide to sit with her back against it.
-"I knew this book would please you. I took it especially for you. So, please, do not share it with your roommate."
He jolted, surprised. -"How did you..."
She chuckled lightly. -"I think I'm starting to know you. This criminal doesn't deserve your kindness..."
Ezra had already taken a few bites in the bread. He started coughing and vomited the food along with some blood.
-"Ezra! Are you alright?!" Alarmed, she jumped on her feet again, trying to look inside through the trap's hole.
-"It's okay." He reassured her. "I was stabbed in my stomach earlier, but I healed it. Must have had some blood remaining in it."
-"Healing internal organs is really hard." She stated nervously. "Maybe you didn't totally healed it... Kill him."
-"What!?"
-"I need to check your wounds!" She urged him. "Just kill him already and get out of this cell!"
-"Forget it, Amara! I won't!" He snapped, his determination unwavering.
-"Please, don't die in there." Her tone shifted to pleading. "Now that I've found you, I don't want to be left alone again. Not anymore..."
-"I'll be fine. I don't need to..." He started to felt sick again. "to..." and threw up once more.
-"Kendrick was right. For your own sake, you have to stop being so stubborn!"
-"Why should I..." His voice was low at first, but it raised with anger. "My parents didn't raise me to kill people! When they were taken away from me, I never had to kill anyone on the streets! And when my friends found me, they taught me how to help people, not how to end them! So why! Why should I start killing people now!?"
-"My Parents," Shouted the little Twi'lek "they didn't raise me to heal people, again and again, for the sadistic pleasure of a despicable old man!" She took a deep breath, calming herself down, and continued sadly. "But here I am, doing it so I could keep on living. Keep on helping every unfortunate soul I can in this hellish mansion..."
There was a silence, both of them lowering their head. Then, the little Twi'lek continued softer.-"I wished I could be the one you would come to for advice. But, I understand. What you need, right now, is to speak with your real master."
He sighed, angry but calm. -"If that was possible, I would have done it way before this. Remember the old geezer's orders..."
-"I'll block your Force signature from the Master." She cut his complain confidently. "He won't know what we've done."
-"You can do that? And, for me?" He inquired, unsure.
-"At least, I'll try. But, if you use too much strength, I won't be able to hide all of it. So, please, try not to get too excited."
-"Amara, you're a lifesaver!" His hope was renewed, chasing away his weariness. But then, he heard something moving behind him. "Wait."
He turned to look at the man. He was crawling quietly toward the knife, the debris rolling from his back to the floor betraying his stealthy attempt. Ezra mentally shoved the blade at the last second to the other side of the room, making the man growl. He tried to jump toward the spinning knife, but was pushed hard on the floor. Ezra was holding him on the ground with the Force.
-"We don't have to do this. Let's wait for my friends to get us out of here." The boy tried to convince him, but the man spat on the floor.
-"Ya can't promise that. And, even if it 'was to happen, ya can't promise they won't jus' hand me back to imperials. I'd rather take my chances with this 'Master' of yours."
-"For him to free you? For what, killing more innocent people? I won't kill you, but you deserve to be kept in a prison!" The boy spat back.
The criminal just shrugged his shoulders -"A man hav' to make a living. Sword fo' hire pay the bills."
Ezra's frown deepened. -"There's many other jobs you could do..."
-"But none as fun as that! Haven't ya ever feel the joy of doing whatever you want without having to hold back?"
-"Like gutting mothers before their little children." The kid felt he could vomit again even without anything left in his stomach.
-"Yeah!" The criminal replied happily. "Ya should try it! Th' look on their eyes is always so gullible! Ya'd come to like it."
-"Why..." Ezra was trembling with rage. "Why are you so despicable!?"
-" 'Cause I can. It's the rules of the strongest."
-"Well, not anymore!" Ezra made the man float and dragged him to fall hard on the ground, again and again, until he was sure he'd be unconscious once more. "Because, I am the strongest here."
-"Let's not waste anymore time." Urged Amara. "We don't know how long it'll take the Master to visit you again."
-"You're right." The boy turned back to her. "Let's do it now."
-"Okay, start by releasing the Force in you slowly. Do it until I tell you to stop... again... a little more... Stop!"
-"What? But, I was just beginning!" He replied appaled.
-"Not everyone is as strong as you." She retorted, wavering between amusement and discouragement. "And, I've planned a safe zone, just in case. So, you'll have to manage with this amount."
-"Alright, alright."
He closed his eyes and... realized he had no idea how to do it. Last time, he just needed so much to hear Kanan's voice... Well, that should be a good start. He focused on a mental image of the Jedi, thinking hard of him.
-"Ezra! Ezra, do you hear me?"
-"Kanan!?" Ezra jolted. Was it really Kanan's voice just now?
-"Ah, finally! It's me, Kid! You've been so hard to find, where are you?!" Replied hurriedly the Jedi in Ezra's head.
It's been so long since he last heard him. The boy's heart twinged. He got a hold of this multitude of emotions, all hustling inside of him, and manage to answer.
-"Pyleiad."
-"What?" Replied Kanan, confused.
-"Seventh told me this place's name was Pyliead." He clarified.
On the Ghost, Ahsoka turned to Hera, relaying the info. She nodded and went away to search the coordinates with the ship's computer.
-"Got it!" Replied Kanan. "Don't worry, Kid. We'll be on our way!"
The boy's nerves broke. He was so tired of everything that has happened, so exhaused, that those simple words made him cry.
Kanan jolted, surprised and worried. -"Ezra? What's happening?!"
-"I..." He tried to control his sobbing, forgetting the Force. "I thought you'd never come."
-"Ezra, remember to restrain yourself." Reminded Amara, panting. "You nearly busted the safe zone!"
-"Don't be silly." Kanan reassured him. "We'd go to the end of the galaxy to get you back! We're doing everything that's possible to rescue you!"
-"Please, get here soon." Continued Ezra, his voice trembling. "I can't stay here anymore. They... they're asking me to kill someone..."
-"They what!" Kanan shouted. "Stay strong, Kid! Remember, always trust in the Force. I may not be with you now, but you've got to... survive."
This was odd. It was definitively Kanan's voice, but something was a little... off.
-"Kanan? What did you mean by that?... Kanan?"
-"Time's up, Ezra." Interrupted Amara. "I'm at my limit here. Please, resume concealing!"
Ezra sighed, concentrating on his Force concealment.
-"He had stop answering anyway. Must have been time up for him too..."
...
-" I may not be with you now, but you've got to hold on! Try buying time. Don't listen to what they ask of you!"
-"I knew you'd eventually try to communicate again with Ezra." The voice of an old man had replaced the Kid's.
-"Who..?" Replied Kanan, confused.
-"The last time we talked, did you like my gift to you?" Mocked the Master.
-"You!" Growled the Jedi. "You won't be able to pull the same trick again. This time, my mind is well protected!"
-"Otherwise would have disappointed me." Sneered the Master. "Oh, well. You could not have intervened at a better time. How I wish I could have seen Ezra's face when he heard the end of your sentence. A end that I took the liberty to... alter a little. With one of his memories, that is."
-"No! You fiend, what do you say to him?!"
-"Nothing special. And, it was from you, if that can make you feel better." The old man said it with a mild tone. "So, when should we expect you? I'll have to ask my students to prepare some more silverware."
-"Oh, we know where you are, now." Retorted Kanan with confidence. "We'll be there soon enough to make you regret everything you did to my Padawan!"
-"I can't wait to see that." Replied the old man, amused. "Please, don't take too much time. I wouldn't want you to miss your only chance to get your precious pupil before the return of Lord Vader..."
The communication was cut. It was time it ended, Kanan was fulminating inside the med-bay.
...
-"So what did he say?" Asked the little Twi'lek, leaning again on the door to catch her breath.
-"He told me they were on their way..." Ezra answerd while pondering. "And he said... to trust in the Force and survive until then..."
-"See, I told you so. No one to whom you're dear would want to lose you to an ugly killing maniac who'll backslide the minute he's free. Protecting you, who could protect others, is way more beneficial for the worlds."
-"I don't know." Insisted Ezra, still unsure. "It definitely sounded like him, but... he would never push me to do something like that..."
-"And he didn't." Confirmed Amara. "You didn't say he ordered you to kill him. He told you to survive."
Ezra was so deeply in his reflexion that he didn't realize the criminal had woken up. He sneaked behind the boy and grabbed his neck with his arm, choking him! Suffocating, he struggled, trying to loosen the grip, only to get hit repeatedly on his side by the man's other fist!
-"Ezra!" Yelled Amara, powerless to help him.
He reached a hand to the man's head, barely touching him with the tips of his fingers... and immediately after, the man's arms broke! He stepped back, releasing the boy to look, incredulous, at his bent limbs.
-"What did'ya do! I can't use my arms but I don't feel 'hem! I don't feel my whole body!"
-"You may be a monster, but I am not. I won't make you starve. I won't make you suffer. I'll just return your soul to the Force. Pray that you'll be reborn one day with a better existence... or that our paths won't come across again..."
He made the knife levitate and threw it in the back of the man, piercing his heart! The criminal fell not long after, never understanding what happened.
Ezra started to cough again. The hits on his side had aggravated his internal wounds that he didn't know how to heal. He fell on the ground, emptying this stomach another time.
He vaguely heard Amara screaming his name again, pounding on the door, before he passed out.
...
Kanan was fulminating inside the med-bay. He hit the wall beside him with his fist, turning to the crew.
-"We don't have a second to waste. Let's rescue Ezra Now!"
-"We can't." Hera appeared in the doorway with the saddest eyes they've ever seen on her.
-"What do you mean, we can't?" Inquired Kanan, frowning.
-"Pyleaid doesn't exist..."
