Writers note:

Hey again! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, I started playing World of Warcraft again, and it kinda cut into my writing time. Heh. SOOOO sorry about the long wait.

I've got the following chapter in the works right now, but I figured I'd put up chapter ten now because I don't know how long chapter elevenis going to take, so here you all go! Chapter ten! Wow... Never got this far in any of my books before. Whooot. xP

Once more... No Beta-reader, things might seem funky, blah, blah, blah... I need a new one. xD

Well, enjoy!

Chapter ten: It's a start…

"Hey big sis, what do you think is out there?"

"Space."

"No… I mean, like people…"

"I don't know… Do I look like I've been in to other planets before? They just probably have people like you see in Mos Eisley."

Two young girls sat out on a balcony of their home set off in distant area of Tatooine, far from any other settlements. The eldest sister had her elbows propped up on the edge of the balcony and was leaning forward. The younger sister was sitting on a small bench kicking her small legs softly. The two were staring up at the stars that twinkled faintly; both of them had small smiles on their faces. The younger sister's sapphire eyes lowered to the elder, she blinked before her smile faded.

"Do you think daddy is alright?..." She asked. The elder sister looked back at the girl and grinned.

"You know very well dad wouldn't let anything bad happen to himself. He's too good of a smuggler to have something bad happen." She responded.

"Shika… How come you want to be a smuggler like daddy? Mommy says that it's a bad job... Because of the people who are mean to you and stuff." Shika stared at the brunette haired sister.

"Well, how come you want to work on droids?" She asked. Her younger sister's face lit up in a bright smile.

"Because! Droids are cute and funny!" Shika rolled her eyes before turning and looking back out into space.

"Well… I want to be a smuggler because I want to be able to see all the planets and people dad gets to see... To see new places and meet new people… To watch planets zoom passed as I pilot my star ship through out the galaxy with no worries about having people tell me how I should do my job, or how I should live my life." Her younger sister pushed herself up from her seat and walked over beside her sister, standing on her toes to peek over the balcony.

"But daddy says you have to work for people like Jabba… And Jabba is mean." Shika looked down at her; she was amazed her sister cared so much.

"I know… But at least it's a way of living." Her younger sister looked up at Shika through her long brown bangs that dangled in her face.

"But you'll have to leave like daddy does… And you might not come back… You might die…" She said in a quiet tone. Shika smiled and patted her head.

"Don't worry. No matter what happens; I'll come back here safe and sound…"

That I promise you, Saris…

She felt a gentle nudge, then a harder nudge, then just a plain old annoying poke. Shika rolled over in her bed and groaned. She then opened her eyes slowly; she saw two blue fuzzy droids. She narrowed her eyes to get a better focus on the two blobs that stood in her room. They were Magnaguards, standing there; one was poking her with its shut off Electrostaff, the other watched. Shika smacked the staff away and rolled over to sleep again. She laid there for a moment until coming to realize…

There were never Magnaguards without…

"Grievous!" She screamed as she sat up. Her head snapped in every direction, nothing… No sign of the General, he wasn't here. Why was that? She eased back little, it was good he wasn't here; she didn't feel like starting off the day with a heavy breathing cyborg staring coldly at her while yelling the day away with insults. She looked to the Magnaguards who stared back at her." What do you want?" She asked before yawning.

"General Grievous has assigned us as your bodyguards." Answered one. Shika looked confused.

"You mean he gave you to me?" She asked, a bit surprised.

"Affirmative." The other replied.

Her jaw dropped open in shock, he painted on her cheeks, he took her light saber, he was rough on her mouth and head, and he even yelled at her! And NOW he gave her two bodyguards? Why? The way his voice always sounded when she was around, it made it seemed he didn't like her at all, nor did he seem all too happy with her being his apprentice. Did he just grow nice over night? Or was he planning to just steal them back in order to make her angry because he liked watching her attempt to stay calm? Whatever it was she was more confused than ever. Maybe he was in a good mood? In which case, she had better ask why he assigned these two as her personal guards before his mood switched.

She quickly pushed up from her bed and ran to her door, it slid open and she ran out, only to ram into the backside of a droid. She fell back onto the floor and held her face, her face throbbed.

"Watch where you're going!" She yelled before she looked up. And who did she see? Who else? General Grievous. He was staring back down at her with the most angered look in his eyes. She gulped. She just screwed up again, go figure, and not even five minutes into the day. His arm flung down and grabbed her neck; he then flung her into the air and slammed her against the wall beside him. Shika whinced.

"YOU should watch where YOU'RE going! You're the one who sped out into the hall like the ship was crashing!" He snapped. Shika only kicked her legs as she attempted to put her feet back on the ground.

"I'm sorry!" She managed to choke out. Grievous' grip weakened. Shika fell back down onto the floor, coughing as she caught her breath. Grievous turned his back to her.

"Get up. We're leaving." Shika looked up from the floor to where he was originally standing, he wasn't there. Her head slowly traveled down one direction, and there he was, already making his way down the hall. She slowly stood up and began walking, she paused and looked at the two magnaguards; they didn't even budge to save her! Well, I guess it was for the best. She thought. He most likely would have killed them, and then ever gave her anything else for the rest of her life. She then followed after Grievous, jogging a bit to catch up with him. As she followed behind him, she began to wonder what he was doing out side her room, making sure the magnaguards got there? Or just so he could yell at her for goofing up? He seemed to like yelling at her. There were just so many things she wanted to ask him, but she was too afraid of having her head chopped off if she asked him anything.

He stopped walking for a moment. Shika stopped as well. She watched his head lower for a moment, now what was he doing? It seemed like he was looking at himself, she couldn't really tell because his cloak was in the way, she attempted to look over his shoulder before he spun around and shoved a neatly folded cloak against her stomach. Another gift? Grievous then ended that thought.

"Count Dooku thought it would be appropriate for you to wear that." He said. Shika stared down at the cloak, she when to look up at him, but he turned away from her and began walking again. She looked back down at the cloak, there was something inside. She carefully unfolded it to find her light saber tucked away in a pocket. She blinked. Did Dooku really arrange the whole thing? I mean… Did he ask Grievous to take my saber last night? She thought before allowing the cloak to unfold, she slowly set it on her shoulders and hooked the two edges of the cloak together with a small red button. The cloak fit perfectly, she smiled weakly before seeing Grievous turn down another hall. Shika gasped and ran after him. Her two new guards following right at her heels.

Shika watched as the droids prepared to leave the Invisible Hand, she also watched Grievous scream his lungs out at a droid who dropped a rifle, it had accidentally fired at Grievous, and he didn't like that very much. She took a deep breathe before letting it slowly escape her lips; she then looked at the two bodyguards who stood tall beside her, not flinching or moving. Well, this is boring. She thought before letting her eyes travel back to Grievous, who had just shooed the droid off. He turned towards Shika before pointing at a ship; she knew exactly what she had to do. She snapped up and quickly got aboard, Grievous watched her with most interest, she learned quickly. He then followed after her, following behind him was several Magnaguards, and all but two were his.

She waited patently as the ship shot through hyper space, her thumbs fiddled nervously, what was Grievous going to tell her to do once they were at Kashyyyk? Even now, was he going to say anything to her? Like… An insult maybe? He hadn't said pretty much anything to her after he gave her the cloak, he spoke to her by pointing and hand movements, but that really wasn't a conversation that she was used to like back on Coruscant. Back there, she used to talk to everyone with out a care or worry in the world, but now that she was with the Separatists… It felt as though she didn't quite fit in. Her gaze was lifted from her hands to Grievous, who sat across from her. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. What was she going to say? He wasn't one to talk, being he was nothing but a jerk, he would most likely yell at her or something.

Her head trailed off to the side a bit, she saw Grievous look toward her from the corner of his eye. He shifted poses before lowering his head again. Shika sighed. She thought for sure he was gonna say something that time. Her head lifted toward him again, she took a deep breathe.

"So! What are we going to do once we reach Kashyyyk?" She asked. Grievous was silent. That ended that attempt to start a conversation, so she tried again." Uhhh… You have something against the Wookiees?" Still, he said nothing. Shika leaned toward him slowly, was he asleep? Did he even sleep? She got down onto the floor and peeked up at his lowered head. Indeed his eyes were closed. He couldn't be asleep… Could he? She blinked before slowly moving her face closer to his, just to make sure. And his eyes were closed, not half opened at all. She slowly backed down from him.

"Are you asleep?" She said lightly, almost in a whisper.

"I don't sleep." Grievous answered. Shika jerked back in shock. He lifted his head to look at her. She fell back in her seat, a bit surprised that he was awake during the whole time.

"Then why didn't you answer me when I spoke to you?" She asked.

"Do I need to answer you?" He made it sound almost like she was so lower than him she NEEDED to be treated like dirt. This made her hands clench into fists.

"Well it would be nice if you did answer me. I'd like to know why we're going to Kashyyyk." She said calmly, trying her best not to get him angered. Grievous only shifted poses again. He then lowered his head again. Shika stared angrily." Don't you shut me out!" She then slapped her hands over her mouth. Grievous' head snapped towards her." Sorry." She said; her voice muffled from behind her hands.

Grievous rolled his eyes." We're going to fight. If you were as intelligent as the droids, you would know this by now." He answered coldly. Now that insult made Shika steam, the way he insulted her made her feel as if she was dumber than the droids. She gritted her teeth.

"Well sorry! What, you want me to know every little detail? Hello! I just JOINED the Separatists yesterday! You can't expect me to know everything as soon as I join? I think you're the one who has the less intelligence here!" Grievous growled before getting up from his seat and grabbed the girl by the scruff of her shirt, he then held her up to his face.

"Were you back talking me?" He hissed. Shika only folded her arms and turned her nose up at him. Grievous' grip tightened." Look at me when I am speaking to you girl!" She only kept her gaze else where.

"Why should I? And I have a name you know!" She snapped. Grievous threw her into her seat and slammed his hand onto her neck, pressing down slowly. She gagged and struggled to remove his hand. It didn't budge.

"I don't really care about your name. You are not allowed to back talk me, you understand?" He growled." Lord Sidious may have granted permission for you to be my apprentice, but that still doesn't change the fact that I am allowed to slice you into little peaces of human flesh!" Shika coughed as Grievous pressed down even harder, almost cutting off her air.

"Okay! Okay! I get the point!" Shika managed to spit out. Grievous withdrew his hand and Shika began breathing heavily, letting out some coughs and hacks. Grievous went to say more, but the droid pilot cut him off.

"Sir, we are approaching Kashyyyk." It said. Grievous' head snapped to the cockpit.

"Excellent. Land the ship immediately." Grievous commanded.

"Yes sir."

"Thank you pilot." Shika whispered before coughing. The day couldn't get any worse. Or could it?

The ship landed in a clear opening of the planet, large squads of droids were walking about, forming up squads, repairing others. The normal droid stuff. Shika followed after Grievous who had walked out of the ship. A droid greeted them, well, mostly Grievous. Shika was un-noticed because, just as Grievous had said, she didn't have a reputation; she was just a girl following the General around on his missions, maybe she would even get some personal training lesions, but that would be asking too much of his greatness. Shika folded her arms and sighed.

"Sir, we have the Wookiees pined down, we are awaiting further orders." The droid informed.

"Good, send another squad of droids to the battle and capture the Wookiees." Grievous ordered." Tarfful will eventually have to save his people… He can't hide forever." Shika looked at Grievous, he was after Tarfful. Tarfful was the leader of the Wookiee city known as Kachirho, he was an excellent leader of the Wookiees, and half the Wookiees on Kashyyyk looked up to him for wisdom and guidance. Though, the Wookiees had currently been at war with the Trandoshans, and the Trandoshans had made a deal with Count Dooku and the Separatists to help them win the fight against the Wookiees. Which was probably the reason for Grievous actually being here; he was here to capture and most likely kill Tarfful.

"Girl!" Shika snapped up and saw Grievous a little ways away from her; he was following after a squad of droids." Stop standing there like a worthless battle droid and MOVE!" He snapped. Shika blinked before puffing her cheeks with air, sometimes that cyborg made her so mad it made her feel like she was going to pop. But it quickly passed when Grievous was fed up with waiting. He started after the droids again.

"W- Wait!" She cried out. Grievous stopped. Shika's head jerked back in surprise. She couldn't believe what she saw, he actually stopped! He turned to face her and his head tilted slightly; she was just standing there with a shocked expression. Grievous' eyes traveled around the area, trying to see what she was looking at. His gaze fell back to Shika, who was slowly approaching him. She went to ask why he waited, but stopped herself from saying anything, last time she asked a question she angered him, heck, if she just opened her mouth he got angry at her. So she just gave him a fairly weak smile. He let out a sigh before turning his back to her and walking again. She followed after him, watching Grievous bark commands and give orders.

Maybe he isn't such a big jerk after all…