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Enjoy chapter 7!

"Where did that kid go?"

"What kid?"

"You know, the one in the black armor and shapeshifting monster!"

"Oh the Inquisitor? He probably left."

There was a sigh. "Of course… just like the higher ups to abandon the scene of the crime and let us grunts deal with the mess…"

Cal frowned as he leaned against the building, just around the corner from the chatty Imperial patrol. This certainly confirmed that an Inquisitor had been here, but the description was disturbing. A kid whose daiima hadn't settled?

Rida shifted her head slightly under his poncho. [I guess we didn't save all of them…]

Cal clenched his fists. "Yeah…" he murmured under his breath. Of course it had been foolish to think they had, but after so many years without any news of Inquisitors… They had hoped that the Inquisitorious had been shut down for good. Evidently, they had been rebuilding silently for all these years, managing to find new Force sensitive children to twist into Inquisitors.

"Can't imagine what the Governor was thinking… How was a kriffing kid supposed to nab the terrorists when we couldn't?"

The patrol walked out of earshot and Cal stood straight from the building and looked around the corner. The twisted wreck of the destroyed TIE fighter was still in the middle of the main square, surrounded by blackened duracrete. There were a few locals going about their daily lives, although they were avoiding the wreckage and the sparse Imperial patrols.

His hands in his pockets, Cal made his way over to the wreck. He pretended to look over the local wares of the stores as he went over while also getting a better look. He could see where the explosion had originated, marked by a starburst stain on the ground.

He smiled at a Rodian merchant as he bought a fruit from him. Munching on it, he sauntered closer to the wreck. With a feigned absentmindedness, he ran a hand over the twisted durasteel.

He couldn't help but grin as he easily slipped past the Imperials. As planned, they were all admiring the fireworks. They didn't even notice as he crouched immediately below the platform holding the new TIE and slapped on the explosive.

Cal frowned. No sign of the Inquisitor.

[Doesn't seem like an Inquisitor to just abandon their objective] Rida pointed out.

[Maybe he didn't. Maybe he left the planet to pursue the ones who did this.] Although that seemed unlikely given the Inquisitor's apparent youth. Unless this was a test the Inquisitorious had set for the youngling.

Cal spent a little longer circling the area, making his way further and further from the square as he searched for any other clues that would give him more information about this new Inquisitor. There wasn't much to go off of. This was the world's capital city, so there were echos everywhere, but none were particularly strong.

[Well we're not completely empty-handed] Rida assured. [We know the Inquisitor is a child…]

Cal clenched his fists. The Inquisitorious must have scooped this kid and his daiima up some time after the Arkanis break, keeping their activities much more quiet so that the Mantis couldn't track them down again.

He was about to pass another alleyway when he felt a soft echo. Frowning, he looked into the dark and short alley. There wasn't anything there except scattered garbage and a rusty dumpster. While his physical senses didn't notice anything off, he could hear the Force beckoning him.

Walking into the alley, he began to gently run his fingers along the walls of the alley. No definitive echo stood out, but there were still whispers that he could just barely make out.

"I said kneel!"

"I kneel to no one."

It was dark, and Cal couldn't make out any features of either speaker, but he knew the former voice was the Inquisitor. So there had been a confrontation. The Inquisitor had cornered someone, but from what Cal had overheard from the various Imperial troops, no arrests had been made.

There was something more to all of this. Cal just had no idea what.

[We should get back to the Mantis] Rida said. [I don't think there's anything more for us to learn here.]

Cal nodded. [Yeah, you're probably right.]

It was deep into the night cycle when Thirteen made his move. As he feigned sleep, he had kept his awareness of the Jedi sharp. There were no more words spoken aloud, but Thirteen could tell that Kanan was communicating silently with his Asset. There were a variety of emotions that stirred in the Jedi. Most of them Thirteen couldn't identify. There was… guilt? Melancholy? Some sort of aching… hope?

That thread that seemed to connect them, the buzz in the back of his head, it somehow made it easy for him to sense what the Jedi was feeling. Beyond the utility of the thread, Thirteen pointedly ignored any other implications. He convinced himself that it meant it was his destiny to finish the Jedi off. The Force has connected them to help Thirteen accomplish his task.

Eventually, the Jedi's emotions calmed, and his consciousness quieted. Once Thirteen sensed that the Jedi was asleep, he waited just a bit longer to be sure. Then he slowly opened his eyes.

The lights had been dimmed, with only a pale orange glow illuminating the cargo bay. The lupine Asset was on the elevated platform, with Kanan curled up against her side. Nara had her body curled up around the Jedi, her large head obscuring most of Kanan's body from Thirteen's view. They didn't even call in another crew member to stand guard. Thirteen grinned. Their overconfidence would be their downfall.

He moved as slowly as possible as he sat up in the cot. It let out a few loud creaks, making Thirteen freeze each time. However, the Jedi and his Asset remained still. Letting out a shaking breath, Thirteen stood up fully. He turned around and looked down at his own Asset peeking out from underneath the cot. She was trembling slightly, her eyes flickering between Thirteen and their objective. [We shouldn't...]

Thirteen's lip curled. Now was not the time for hesitation. He cocked his head towards the platform. All it would take was a single action: yank the blaster from the Jedi's holster and shoot. Either Kanan would be dead… or the Jedi would finally grow a spine and finish Thirteen off. One way or another, this was going to end. Any alternative was unthinkable.

But still, his Asset didn't seem swayed. She just stayed under the cot, her uncertainty rising with every second.

Thirteen grit his teeth and turned back towards the Jedi. Fine. He could do this without her.

He slowly stepped toward the enemy, remaining focused on the Jedi's consciousness. He was confident that he would be able to tell when he started to wake. If that happened Thirteen could explain away his walking around as going to the refresher. Then he would just have to wait for another opportunity.

It wasn't until he was only a couple meters from Jedi that he felt an uncomfortably familiar tug on his chest. He turned to glare at his Asset incredulously. She had backed away from him, her belly low to the ground and her ears flat back against her head. Their tether had been stretched to its limit. Panic gripped at Thirteen's chest. What was she doing? She knew what would happen to them if they didn't do this. This was their entire purpose, what they had been designed for: to kill Jedi.

"She doesn't want to."

A yelp escaped Thirteen's throat as he spun around. His balance swayed violently, and he fell back onto the ground. He was panting fast, his heart pounding with adrenaline as his mind scrambled to figure out what had just happened. A pair of yellowish amber eyes stood out in the darkness, gazing down intently at him.

Thirteen gaped at her, looking between her and Kanan in utter disbelief. How…? How? He could still sense the Jedi, and he was still asleep. How could the Asset possibly be awake?

Nara slowly raised her head to look more directly at Thirteen. "Can you not hear her?"

Thirteen scrambled back to his feet. "What are you talking about?" he growled.

The wolf glanced at his Asset, who was still cowering away from all of them. "Your daiima is screaming her fear for you in the Force, and you are completely ignoring her."

The pull on his chest was edging on painful, and why was she doing this to him? Thirteen glared back at Nara. "I'm not about to be lectured by some Jedi's Asset! She is an extension of my will, she obeys me!"

For a moment, she just gazed at him. Her gaze was probing, as if she was looking into Thirteen's mind. But she couldn't be. Thirteen would have felt it if she was. Could Assets even do that? No Asset Thirteen had ever met had ever used the Force in such a manner.

Then Nara shifted her gaze to his Asset. "It's alright, little one…"

"Don't talk to her!" Thirteen snarled.

Kanan's consciousness blossomed in the Force as the Jedi blinked rapidly and sat up. He immediately jumped up away from his Asset, facing Thirteen with a sharp focus. His hand had instinctively gone to his blaster. "What's happening?"

"Nothing of concern," Nara said, her eyes still focused on Thirteen's daiima. It was as if she was trying to silently communicate with her. "They just tried to kill us in our sleep."

Kanan didn't seem surprised at all. "Right…" he said quietly, tapping the side of his thigh.

More than anything, Thirteen wanted to ask how Kanan and Nara could stay conscious separately. Was this a Jedi power? Why hadn't the Inquisitorious adopted this? It seemed incredibly useful.

"You haven't gotten any sleep, have you?" Kanan asked.

There was no use in responding. Kanan obviously already knew the answer, and lying would be a pointless endeavor. So Thirteen just leveled a glare at the Jedi.

Kanan let out a tired sigh, running his fingers through his loose hair. "Look, obviously you're not going to catch us off guard. So why don't you take this time and actually get some rest?"

Thirteen didn't move from where he was standing. He did not want to give the Jedi or his Asset the satisfaction of obeying them. But then the tugging on his chest eased, and he realized that his own Asset was walking back towards him. Turning his head slightly, he saw that she had curled back up underneath the cot.

Thirteen clenched his fists. What was wrong with her? Not only was she defying him, she was obeying this Jedi? If his master were here right now, she'd have thrashed them both for her cowardice.

Unfortunately, the Jedi was right. Again. There was no point in staying up, especially if his kriffing Asset was going to be this insolent. Maybe if they got enough sleep, he'd figure out a better plan tomorrow. So with great reluctance, Thirteen backed up until his legs hit the cot. He ignored the trembling in his limbs as he slowly laid down on his side, still glaring at the others.

Without his bidding, his vision went unfocused and his eyelids grew heavy. He tried to cling to consciousness, but there was a soft pressure on his mind coming from all sides until his awareness had been snuffed out.

The next couple of days were among the longest of Kanan's life. With how stressful the situation was, one would have thought that would have made time go faster. Instead, the combination of stress and the lack of anything productive to do just made his awareness of time excruciatingly acute.

Thirteen (no, Ezra) had remained ornery and snippy, all glares and clipped angry responses. Kanan could almost see why his daiima's preferred forms were feline. Despite her own submissiveness, her jemma was reminiscent of a feral tooka. He seemed determined to constantly remind Kanan that he was their enemy.

However, Kanan and Nara were careful not to let it get a rise out of them. They knew that it would only feed his anger and make everything about this situation even harder. It seemed to be effective. By the end of the second day, his open contempt had already noticeably softened.

His daiima remained close to him, laying on the ground except for when… Ezra… used the refresher when she stood guard. She didn't speak again, but had been giving Nara and Kanan the occasional glance. It was obvious that she wanted to reach out. However, her fear - not for herself, but for her jemma - was just too overpowering.

Of course, nothing about the situation was helping. They were still prisoners, regardless of how well they were being treated. Kanan and Nara were still their guards. They were at a stalemate. Kanan and Nara couldn't just let them wander free. At best, Ezra would run back to the Empire and the Inquisitorious, and Kanan wasn't about to let that happen.

Although, maybe not… Ezra's fear of his master was stronger than Kanan even thought possible. As much as he clung to that collar of his, his relief upon hearing that he couldn't be tracked had been palpable. This was good. It meant some part of him was trying to break free, trying to reach for some sort of better life. Maybe Kanan could build on that.

He and Nara had to be careful to avoid using Ezra's name when addressing him. Given his complicated relationship with his daiima, they didn't want to risk a violent fallout if he learned that she had revealed such a personal piece of his past.

"You know, Thirteen…" Kanan said, stirring a spoon through the soup Hera had given them. "The offer is still on the table." Ezra looked back at him with a slightly confused glare, and Kanan clarified. "To get that collar off of you."

Ezra didn't verbally reply, but he traced a finger over the edge of the black durasteel before staring back down at his own bowl of rycrit stew.

"If you're worried about what they'd do if they found you without it…" Kanan said carefully, "... You can say we forced it off of you."

Ezra quickly looked away, his fingers tightening on his collar. He looked contemplative, which was promising. Kanan gently probed the Force to get a better idea of his emotional state. It wasn't something he was used to. He's avoided using the Force for such a long time, and Ezra's emotions were just so intense… it was easy to get overwhelmed.

Right now, the ever-present underlying fear had grown to the forefront of Ezra's mind. Doubt was twisting with it, almost fighting against the fear. While the emotions were easy enough to sense, it was hard for Kanan to parse out what any of it precisely meant. Was his fear of retribution from his master if the collar is removed? Or is it fear just of the collar itself being removed?

"What did you mean when you said you had 'earned' your collar?" Kanan asked softly.

Ezra flinched and looked up at him. At first he tried to glare at Kanan like usual, but it had no heat and it almost immediately dissolved into a neutral expression. He looked back toward his soup, taking a small sip. Even his emotions quieted down to an almost placid acceptance. "I had to prove myself as an Inquisitorial Candidate." He traced a finger over the collar again. "With this… it means I can do missions without my master."

Kanan nodded slowly. That was more or less what he expected. As much as Ezra professed loyalty to the Empire, he would go to any lengths to stay away from his master. He could relate. "What… if I said you don't have to go back back to your master?"

Ah, there was that glare again. It was accompanied by a wave of indignant disbelief and a brief flash of panic. "I'm Eye See Thirteen. I am a weapon. I…"

"...live to serve the Empire, I know," Kanan finished.

[You're pushing too hard] Nara said.

[You're free to jump in and help] Kanan replied exasperatedly.

[You know he won't listen to me…]

Kanan sighed. She was right, which only made this entire situation more frustrating. He will forever be grateful that he got to grow up in the Temple with the wisdom of the Jedi. The idea that Nara was just a tool or a dumb animal was… unthinkable.

Returning his focus to the Inquisitor, Kanan was finding himself at a loss for what to say to him next. They needed to deactivate the beacon to get use of the Ghost's signal modulator back. Even if they wanted to forcibly restrain Ezra and his daiima, he seriously doubted they'd be able to. Even with the cuffs, his daiima would be almost impossible to restrain, and any move that hurt her jemma would no doubt destroy what little trust she had with them. Not to mention potentially put Sabine and Hera in danger.

No, they had to get Ezra on board with this as well. And it wasn't just for the practical reasons. Ezra obviously had no loyalty to his master. His loyalty to the Empire was nothing more than fear-driven conditioning. And most importantly, he was a child.

All of these facts resonated deeply with a part of Kanan that he had desperately been trying to ignore. It also hadn't helped that Nara had been pestering him every chance she could.

No matter the cost, they could not let Ezra and his daiima fall back into the hands of the Empire. They deserved a better life.

But it was going to take baby steps. The first of which was getting that beacon deactivated. "You know that collar doesn't change your allegiance. Taking it off doesn't mean you're betraying the Empire."

"Stop it!" Ezra scowled. "I know what you're trying to do. I know you're trying to trick me. I don't need this collar off."

"And why do you need to keep it on?" Kanan asked genuinely. "The Empire isn't here. Your master isn't here. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone on this ship."

Ezra pulled his knees up to the cot as he wrapped his hands around his neck. "This is for me," he said, his voice cracking. "It's proof to me that I'm free."

Kanan gave a small frown. "You really think that collar makes you free?"

"Yes!" Ezra said almost desperately. "Because right now I'm out here and not in there!"

Kanan gazed at Ezra, at the way he was curled up tightly. He was trembling slightly as he stared back at Kanan with a mixture of fear and anger, echoing what Kanan could sense in the Force. "Well… right now you're still out here. And taking off that collar isn't going to just teleport you back there."

The knuckles on Ezra's hands went white as he pressed them more tightly against his collar. "I know that," he growled petulantly.

Kanan sighed. "We don't even have to remove it," he admitted. "We just need to deactivate the beacon. We can leave the collar on you… if that's really what you want."

He hadn't expected that to work, but Ezra's grip on his neck eased a bit. His fear deflated as his shoulders slowly relaxed. He had a slight frown as his eyes searched the space in front of him. That was encouraging. Kanan didn't know why he hadn't thought about it before. Ezra's attachment to his collar might be symbolic, but it was born from a very real need to protect himself. That collar had gotten him away from his master and her likely brutal torture.

If Ezra wasn't emotionally prepared to take that collar off, that was fine for now.

The young inquisitor bit his lip as he looked at Kanan. "That's all you're going to do?" he asked, his voice small and unsure.

"That's it. I promise."

The kid's expression hardened again, his fingers squeezing his collar. "Fine," he ground out quietly. "You can deactivate the beacon."

Something in Kanan's chest unwound itself as he gave a small smile. "Alright. I'll let Sabine and Chopper know."

Ezra visibly swallowed, looking away from Kanan, but his shoulders were noticeably more relaxed than they had been before. No doubt a part of him was relieved to know that his master wouldn't be able to track him. Of course, he was probably going to try to use that little bit of freedom to continue attempts to kill Kanan and Nara, but progress was progress.

[We still don't have a path forward] Nara pointed out. [We can't keep them cooped up in here with us all the time. That's not going to help them.]

[I know, but for right now I'm going to take this victory and roll with it.] Kanan gave a small sigh. [Maybe once the beacon is deactivated, we could go somewhere more isolated, away from the rest of the crew. Like Denova.]

Nara gave an audible snort at that. [I suppose Denova worked well enough for us… Although I don't know how Hera and Sabine will feel about us just up and leaving the Ghost.]

[I think they'll understand, given the circumstances.] He would talk about it with Hera later. For now, Kanan was going to try and spend the rest of the evening trying to relax and enjoy their small victory.

Check out the prequel oneshot Tethered Fate for more context on Cal and his daiima, Rida :)

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