New chapter up and running! I know I said I'd make this longer, and I did a little lol but what comes next would make this a little too long. So now you gotta wait for more xoxo.
Disclaimer: All Star wars characters are not mine except for Klara and whatever delusions I bring forth
Thank you all for reading, loving, and reviewing! I encourage you all to review and critique my work 3
cherryorpeach: I know! Ally my fantasies get to come true xoxo
anna backer: Thanks for loving this xoxo. You won't be disappointed as to where this goes!
Charlotte Silverfyre: Well lucky for you, it's here! All ready for you to read and review if you desire xoxo.
Chapter Two: In Search of the Map
Jakku
To say it was hot was an understatement. The star nearby Jakku was setting the place ablaze, at least that's what it felt like for Klara. Glancing around, all she saw was sand. Sand on the ground, sand in the distance, and sand in her mouth as she tasted its bitter saltiness from being whipped by the winds. She landed her ship a distance away from the town Lor San Tekka was presumed to be feeling that it was safer to keep a resistance ship from prying eyes, especially if it was indeed stolen. She wouldn't put it past Maz to acquire stolen goods. In fact, that was how she came across Luke's lightsaber though she never bargained it off to any merchants. No doubt lightsabers were worth quite the amount of money on the market. Upon her arrival to Maz Kanata's Castle, Maz offered Klara the chance to take the lightsaber, and even then, Klara dismissed Maz. Klara didn't feel the need to carry around a reminder of her past, at least not the negative ones.
Jakku's star was at its highest point in the sky as rays of its magnificent heat descended onto this dreadful planet making her regret having to walk such a long distance to the town. Klara groaned in dissatisfaction of her choice. As to how some managed to live here was indeed something she couldn't understand. This planet is insufferable. It took her about an hour to finally reach the town and by then she was fatigued. She needed water, food, and perhaps a good ale to go along with it all. Well, perhaps not the ale seeing as how it would dehydrate her even further, so was it truly worth it? She pondered for a bit before internally siding with a reasonable choice. Klara was elated when she found a pub rather quickly. Upon entering the settlement, Klara didn't bother to take off her cloak and remained hidden within the confines of her hood. She wanted to remain unseen. Hmm, but wouldn't that make me all the more suspicious looking? Perhaps it did but she paid no heed to it. She ordered something simple, meat procured by the locals of which she didn't wish to know the origins of. Its taste was all that mattered to her.
Paying the man, she took her meal and cowered in a nearby corner, one in which gave her a view of the door. She ate in silence and made sure to keep a lookout. She wasn't disappointed when an older man walked in a few minutes after she started eating. He wore a brown overcoat and a lighter brown pair of slacks. His shirt was darkly colored but tinted more with the ever-descending light of the star nearby. Lor San Tekka. Klara's lips curled into a smile as soon as she identified him and continued to watch him. She noted him glancing around, looking for someone, but she glanced down at her table when his gaze was working his way towards her. Klara stole a glance back up. His back was to her as he was exiting the area. Klara quickly took one last bite of her meal and rushed towards the door. The air outside was no longer it's blazing heat but it had a chill to it now. The planet's star was setting bringing an array of beautiful colored tints to the sky. Klara will admit that though this planet is unreasonably hot and full of sand, it still had a beautiful sky.
Following Lor, she remained a short distance away and lurked in any nearby shadows. He was looking for someone no doubt. Klara's mind wondered to the words Maz had muttered. Something about meeting with a resistance member. No doubt about that. Lor San Tekka was well known for siding with the resistance, he even helped the great Luke Skywalker. Lor was pretty easy to follow, Klara soon came to realize. He rounded a corner, Klara followed pursuit. When she rounded, he entered a hut but not before looking around. Klara quickly followed.
Pushing aside the drapes that hung over the entrance, Klara entered. Lor was across the hut, ruffling through something, still not noticing that Klara was there. Klara smirked again, trying not to let out a laugh at his incompetence.
"Old age is getting the better of you, old man." She said with amusement and folded her hood back.
Lor quickly turned around stunned and defensive. He looked at her closely not feeling threatened but felt something familiar about this woman. "Klara?" He barely whispered. She gave him a reassuring smile confirming the accusation before walking up to him and pulling him into embrace. He hugged her back. "I thought you were dead."
Klara pulled back and gave a saddened laugh, "As do most."
Lor San Tekka's mind was scrambling through his thoughts. "Luke…he-."
"I know." Klara said solemnly, interrupting him before he continued.
"Does Leia know?" He asked.
"No," she simply stated, "no one knows. Maz is the only one that knows…" she trailed off.
Lor gave her a sympathetic look, "why?" He placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly as he watched her struggle to answer. Perhaps she hasn't let go of the past. "It's him…right?"
Klara placed her hand over Lor's and gave him a curt smile, "I wasn't ready then, I am now…I think." They stood in silence for a moment, both reminiscing the past. Klara wished she could let go of the past but how could she when two important people in her life are gone? One is a Sith and one went in hiding. It greatly affected her and prevented her from truly being happy. This map would be the start of it and perhaps…perhaps she could save Ben.
Lor San Tekka stared at the woman before him. No doubt she had been through a great ordeal but her flame that was once there, was slowly dwindling. Klara was known for being a hellfire, or at least from the tales Luke would give him. Luke was always so proud of Klara and her accomplishments and at some point, he was ready to make her a Jedi master. That was right before Han and Leia's son attacked the Jedi Temple, they were residing in. He wished he had more time to discuss the events that unfolded from her past, especially her survival.
"I'm here for the map." Klara said breaking the silence.
Lor shook his head sadly, "I cannot give it to you my dear child. I promised it to another."
Klara bit her lip frustrated, "To the resistance?"
"Yes, you know as well as I do that we are bound by our duty. Yours to the Force, and mine to the resistance. I would give it to you if perhaps you were in the resistance. Even then though, I'm afraid I would probably not do so. Leia is sending out a pilot, she is putting his life on the line. I'm sure you understand?"
"Kriff," she uttered under her breath. She began to pace slowly around as she pondered. Lor stood quietly waiting for her to speak again. "When does this pilot arrive?"
"Relatively soon." He said. He watched her think deeply and he felt he could see steam coming from her head. He chuckled at himself as it brought back memories. She gave him a questionable look and he shook it off. "What do you plan to do Klara?"
She sighed. "I'm not sure." She groaned internally. Even before coming here she felt that her request for the map wasn't going to go the way she hoped. Her plan was selfish, and she realized that. The resistance actually needed Luke Skywalker in their battle and Klara, well, she just wanted to see him again. It was unreasonable. A higher calling was demanding Luke's presence that could in fact save a lot of lives but here was Klara, being selfish. She hoped that maybe with his help, they can both save Ben. Would that even work? Klara didn't know. A small beeping noise interrupted her from her thoughts. Klara glances to see Lor reach for his coms.
"He's here," he turned toward her and hugged her once more, "I'm afraid you have to go my dear, regardless of your relation to the situation. I must meet with him alone; you can go to the resistance for the information you seek but I cannot give it to you. I hope you understand."
She sighed heavily, "I'll be nearby. If I am to see the map, I need to assure his survival." She gave him one last glance before exiting the hut.
Klara wasn't sure how she would pass time, but she knew she needed to keep a close eye on the one to carry the map back to the resistance. Klara took a seat on a sandstone edged row nearby. She glanced at the stars above, fascinated by their beauty they radiated from afar. They lit up the night sky and gave direction for most but more importantly, they were just simply magnificent to look at. Sighing, Klara moved to sit on the ground. She folded her legs and began to concentrate. Whenever she had free time she tried to meditate and focus on the force. It was what was required to have control of the force for any Jedi. To have control means to have balance. She let in a few deep breaths followed by the exhale of those deep breaths. She did this routine for a few minutes until she heard a nearby ship land. Klara opened her eyes and spotted an X-Wing, a new model from hers, taking cover a little distance away. Not long after a man was walking towards Lor San Tekka. His features were muffled by the darkness that the night blessed them with. She could make out his dark short wavy locks and some dark clothes that she couldn't make out. She didn't see his face and he didn't look her way, he seemed to have one goal in mind which was to most likely get the map and get the hell out.
Mere minutes passed by before Klara saw a few ships enter the area with their lights searching the grounds. Upon closer inspection, she instantly knew it to be imperial.
"Kriff!" She cursed. She was about to go warn the pilot and Lor when she saw a droid unit buzz quickly by into their hut. Soon after she saw both the droid and the pilot run out along with Lor. The pilot quickly made haste back to his ship leaving Lor behind after uttering something to him. Klara cursed again and ran to Lor. "What are you doing?!" She yelled at him. "You have to hide! Or run! One or the other. They will kill you!"
"Like I told the pilot, I'm done hiding," he looked at her with determination. "It is my time my dear." He noticed her face express sadness and loss. Lor shook his head at her and patted her head softly, "tears do not befit you. It is time for you to go. Ensure the map gets to where it needs to be."
Klara shook her head in understanding. With one last glance his way she said, "May the Force be with you," and ran off in the direction toward the pilot.
Blasters were being shot in every direction and screams could be heard. The stormtroopers even brought out a weapon to spit out fire as if their chaos with blasters weren't enough for them. Klara saw the pilot in sight but halted when she spotted two children cowering from the oncoming troopers to her right. They were attempting to hide in an alleyway. Klara glanced back to the pilot; he was resting on the ground to take cover. If he was still here, then his ship was most likely destroyed. Praying to the Force and any Divine forces, she hoped the pilot wouldn't do anything reckless. Klara turned and ran straight to the children. They had two stormtroopers pointing their blasters at them. Klara realized this wasn't a "surrender or die" type of attack, it was a slaughter, a massacre. Klara ran with all the speed she could muster before they fired their shots.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Klara said when she was behind them. They instantly turned around and both fired shots at her. She quickly raised her hand and swatted the blasts to the side, hitting the wall nearby before they could touch her.
They both faulted. "You-".
She waived them off as they both fell where they stood unconscious before the one speaking could finish. She picked up one of the blasters from the troop and gave it to the boy holding what she presumed would be his sister. "Here, take this." She said, offering the blaster. The boy hesitated at first, but she urged the blaster closer to encourage him. Once he took it, she gave a small smile. "Now run as far away as you can and don't look back. The boy seemed to comprehend and nodded. They both took off away from Klara. She rushed her way to the edge of the ally but stopped short before she rounded the corner. The fighting had stopped. She peaked around to see the pilot stand and fire a shot. Stupid pilot! The blaster shot was immediately halted, and Klara stiffened.
Ben.
He was here. Of course, he was here, why wouldn't he be here? She just wasn't expecting him so soon. At least not as soon as she accepted that she needed to get back in the world. Klara turned her gaze towards Ben. He was dressed in all black and now wearing a helmet to cover his face. It was a menacing look. Turning back, she took a deep breath. The pilot was sure to be captured and tortured. She needed to make sure that map reached its destination. How was she going to do that? She heard one of the stormtroopers groan and that's when she got a wonderfully stupid idea.
A/N Whew, wrote all this in a span of a couple hours lol. I wasn't planning to update until tomorrow but I was like, what the heck xD. Are any of you curious as to what she has planned? Some of you may be slightly confused of her past or who she is but I assure you, in all due time! I can't remember if I said it before but this will closely follow the last triology of Star Wars movies. All but one character death will remain the same. Who? You might ask. Why, that's for me to know and you to find out. Bwahahaha. Until next time!
-Scarlet Knight
