Chapter 6
To all Veterans, I thank you for your service, and I dedicate this chapter to all of you.
Responses! To a Guest Reviewer! My bad, I called the Inquisitor a Sith when he wasn't. Thanks for telling me! And when I say the Force is screaming, it's more like the bond between Jedi and Padawan; the attacks by the Inquisitor are ricocheting off and affecting Kanan and Ezra, physically and mentally. I'm just representing it by saying that it's screaming, to show off the results of the attacks. He's covering up the Force , basically attacking Ezra's mind. I hope that clears things up.
Just want to let you guys know, I won't be updating anymore until the weekend, so this will be the last chapter until then.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars Rebels or its characters.
Burning pain. He could hear him. Laughing. Watching. Waiting. He was waiting for him. He needed to get to him. To stop this pain. He'd do anything.
Glazed over blue eyes stared at the ceiling. He could vaguely hear beeps and gurgles that indicated to him that Chopper was somewhere in the room with him. The smell of cleanliness that goes hand in hand with infirmaries showed him where he was. Ezra wondered why he was here. He remembered going to sleep, to frustrated with Kanan to do anything else, and now he's in a completely different room.
"Chopper," he coughed out. The metallic hum increased in volume, and Ezra turned his head to see the orange droid approaching. Chopper made some gestures with his arm, accompanied by rapidly changing sounds. Ezra groaned. Stupid bot. "Slow down."
Chopper responded by making more noises, followed by a pillow to Ezra's face. Ezra tried to lunge at the droid, but a wave of dizziness forced him back to the bed. Instead of showing sympathy for the boy, Chopper simply gurgled in laughter before moving to the side of his bed.
"What happened?" Chopper made some gestures toward Ezra's head and froze for a second, his version of playing dead. Ezra turned away from him. "Where are the others?" Chopper gave a half-hearted shrug.
"Thanks."
Looking back through his muddled mind, he realized with a start that they left him. They were on Lothal. Without him.
Ignoring the dizziness that came with getting up, Ezra succeeded in getting up, despite Chopper's attempts to push him back down. They really thought that Chopper would be able to stop me? Who cares what Kanan said? I'm going.
Chopper swerved to the door, intent on stopping him, waving his arm frantically, but Ezra simply stepped over him. Chopper made a sound of indignation at this, and proceeded to ram his legs, knocking Ezra over. His arm grasped at his pant leg, taking advantage of Ezra's disoriented state, and started to drag him back to the infirmary.
"Hey! Get off!" A well timed kick knocked the bot off, and Ezra scrambled to his feet. If he couldn't stop him, he'd just outrun him. Ezra took off, easily losing him in the corridors.
Lurching to the side, Ezra took deep breaths. Running was not such a good idea when you had recently passed out. Making his way towards the exit, he could hear Chopper's hum echoing off the walls. He pushed the button to open it, and waited as the wind from outside brushed against his face. When it was fully open, he quickly made his way down the ramp. Chopper gave an outraged squeal as he saw Ezra disappear off the ship. Activating his communicator, he waited until someone responded. Ezra was their problem now.
"Specter 3, this is Specter 1. What's the situation?"
Chopper's groans filled Kanan's ears, alerting him to the situation at hand. Kanan gave a responding groan. He wasn't surprised. That was just like Ezra.
"Specter 3, stay there. We'll find him. We need someone at the ship just in case. Specter 1 out." Kanan looked back at Hera, who had been watching the exchange. They had been trying to find the Inquisitor, with little results, while Sabine and Zeb were trailing any troops.
"We need to find him. If the Inquisitor finds him, in his state, he'll be easy fodder." Hera nodded, and they set off through the alleyways, keeping an eye out for the boy. Kanan let his mind drift off, lost in his thoughts. He would never forgive himself if Ezra was taken.
"Don't you dare blame yourself for this." Kanan looked up at Hera's form at front. "I know you. You're blaming yourself. If anything, it's all of our faults. We left him alone, and Ezra disobeyed a direct order. It isn't your fault, do you understand me?"
"Hera…"
"Do you understand me?"
Kanan smiled. Leave it to Hera. "Yes ma'am."
They continued on, minutes passing by, without any signs that the boy was even on Lothal. Hera had contacted Sabine and Zeb to make them aware of the situation, and they had decided that they would search the other side of town for Ezra and would meet in the middle if neither group could find him.
A flash of orange caught Hera's eyes. Stopping, she made a gesture to let Kanan know. Peeking out from the alleyway, she glanced around, searching for that orange outfit. And there he was. Ezra was keeping to the sides of the crowd, eyes flitting from one place to another. What worried her was that he seemed slightly out of it. He wasn't walking straight; his whole disposition was wrong.
Kanan walked up behind her, also watching the boy. Seeing that he was alright, for the moment, he allowed himself to breath. Stepping back, he took out his communicator.
"Specter 5, this is Specter 1. Do you read?"
"This is Specter 5. Did you find Specter 6?"
"Affirmative. We have eyes on him now. Continue your previous miss-"
"Kanan!" Hera's semi-whispered shout stopped him. Moving back to Hera's side, he didn't see anything amiss until Hera pointed it out. There, moving through the crowd towards Ezra was a familiar figure. The Inquisitor was here.
Bursting out of the alleyway, Kanan vaguely heard Hera contacting the others for backup. It didn't matter; he wasn't going to let him take Ezra.
"Ezra!"
His shout alerted the boy, as well as the Inquisitor. Both turned towards him; Ezra's eyes widened while the Inquisitor merely smiled, casually taking out his weapon. The crowd erupted when he activated it, momentarily shielding Kanan's view of them. Taking out his blaster, the moment he got a clear shot of him he fired. The Inquisitor merely deflected it, and Kanan watched as it hit a building instead.
Fingering his light saber, for a moment they were at a standstill, no one moving until Kanan activated his light saber and lunged at the Inquisitor, who merely blocked it. Kanan was on the offensive, striking at him over and over again, being blocked every time. The Inquisitor continued to smile, content with playing defense.
Kanan could see Hera out of the corner of his eye trying to usher Ezra away from the battle. The boy was trying to activate his slingshot in an attempt to help; Hera defiantly stood in the way. A push against his light saber drew him back into the battle. The Inquisitor was finally fighting back, steadily pushing Kanan back. He was quickly forced to block attacks coming from all angles. Eventually, he felt the cool metal of a building, and realized that he was trapped.
"You should have just left the boy alone," the Inquisitor finally spoke, smile still in place.
"I would never let you take him," Kanan countered. At this, the Inquisitor's smile widened to show off his teeth. His eyes drifted to where Hera and Ezra were. "The boy is quite special. To take my attacks head on and to still be able to stay on his feet." His eyes went back to Kanan. "It's killing you, knowing that you can't do anything, isn't it?"
"Take you down, he gets better, right?"
"Perhaps." At this Kanan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" The Inquisitor let out a laugh at this. He threw one more glance at Ezra. Avoiding the question, his voice lowered. "The bond between Jedi and Padawan is a…..special thing, isn't it? But terribly fragile."
Kanan's heart stopped. To forcibly break the bond? That could be deadly to the both of them. That's his goal? "I thought you wanted to capture him, not to kill him."
The laughter rose an octave. "The boy is unique. He deserves actual training. My training. You are not needed. The boy does not understand the actual value of the bond. And because of that, I can get rid of it. Form a new one. With me."
"No!" Kanan wouldn't let that happen. He was his Padawan, he wouldn't lose him! He desperately pushed against the Inquisitor's light saber. If he didn't take him down now, Ezra would be taken.
The pressure lessened for a moment, causing Kanan to lurch forward, off balance. That was all that the Inquisitor needed. Using the Force, Kanan was ripped from the ground and hovered in the air for a moment before slamming into the metal building.
Black spots covered his vision. He could sense unconsciousness approaching, and could hear his name being called. Black boots stepped into his vision. "He doesn't need you. Even if you took me down, the process has already begun. He's connected to me now, and I'll be taking him. Don't worry though, you'll see him again, eventually, and he'll be perfect."
The boots started to walk away, and Kanan tried reaching out to stop them. The jarring movement caused more blacks spots to appear, and his hand fell limply to the ground. Ezra, Hera, run…
