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"It's because I know he's right," I said to myself limping after her. "There's no way all those bounty hunters should have such an easy time getting their hands on me."
Raena and I were wandering the marketplace together in thought. Since we were hiding from the Federation, we'd brought a few bare essentials only. Now to find some kind of offering for the Hutts seemed to be a foolish and impossible quest and the aimless walking was starting to become a nuisance. I blindly followed Raena, who seemed fascinated by most the different items in the marketplace, and quieted my mind; reaching into myself I took a hold of the living Force and began to let it flow through my body. I let my thoughts wander into Raena's mind, and I curiously listened to her thoughts.
"This is fascinating…but it's still seems commonplace. To offer that would be insulting. I need to find something from another planet. I bet the Hutts would love a light saber's crystal…" Raena's mind was focused, yet it wandered carefully.
"Raena," I said suddenly getting an idea from her mind. "I have the crystal old from my old light saber. When I built a new one, I needed a bigger crystal, plus I needed 2 different colors."
"You think the Hutts would like that?" Raena asked, excitement showing in her face.
"Do you?" I winked with a smile. I reached into an inside pocket of my Jedi cloak and withdrew a clear crystal that nearly resembled a diamond, except for the fact it was the wrong shape and much larger than any diamond ever seen or theorized about.
"Yes! Déshawn you read my mind!" She squealed happily.
"Let's head up there now," I said playing off of her happiness.
The story of the intimidating size of the Hutts were widespread, numerous, and almost a thing of legend among the easily impressed natives of Tatooine. However, as I looked up into the disgusting face of Jabba the Hutt, I couldn't help but understand where they were getting the stories. Far from instilling fear in me, however, Jabba's size simply revolted me at the thought of how much lard there must be on the planet considering there was a whole family of Hutts.
"I hear," his loud, echoing voice broke the silence. "From my guards that you two have a gift for me."
"This is true," I stepped a half step forward and reached into an inside pocket on my cloak, causing unrest in several of the guards who feared Jedi's for some reason. "If your guards would calm down, I could present a gift you can only get from a Jedi."
He yelled at them in his native language, causing them to scamper from the room. He then turned back to me and looked at me with greedy expectancy. I pulled out my old light saber crystal, and he looked as if he would jump out of his seat; that is if his size would permit it.
"Ooh," he intoned in amazement.
"This is a crystal used by Jedi to power their light sabers," I explained, levitating it with the force. "This very crystal was used by myself, before we were forced to flee here."
"Ah," he said understanding finally. "You wish for me to hide you."
"It would be greatly appreciated," Raena's voice came from next to me, and I realized she'd moved up also.
"Hmm," he seemed to be in thought, as I let the valuable and rare crystal float in front of him. "This is for a Jedi's weapon, why would I use this?"
I smirked at his attempts to raise the price, but I was expecting this. I simply walked over to the door where is guards had left the room and drew my light saber. I ignited the deep blue side of the blade and stabbed it through the door, earning a roar of anger from Jabba behind me. I heard shouts of panic from the security on the other side, which came bursting into the room as soon as I'd removed my light saber from the door. However, I put up a wall of force to stop their progress.
"What do you think you're doing?" Jabba roared at me.
"Now imagine that I was on the other side of that door, and trying to kill you," I continued ignoring the protests that now seemed to be coming from all around me. "If you were to use this crystal to power an internal shield in the door, it would make the door impenetrable to a light saber. And a Jedi cannot manipulate a shield made by one of these crystals through the Force."
"Interesting, but could you set this up for me?" Jabba questioned, suddenly over his rage.
"My apologies," I bowed my head as if I really was sorry. "But I'm afraid that extends beyond my limited capabilities. I'm sure that you have access to some of the more clever engineers in the galaxy however. You should have no problem getting it set up."
"Agreed," Jabba finally relented, reaching for the crystal in front of his face.
"Now," I plodded on, pulling the crystal back to myself. "About hiding Raena and I?"
Raena and I were now sitting in the back of a small transport on our way to the outskirts of the city. Raena hadn't really wanted to go to the edge of town, because most of the farms with slaves were lined up around the perimeter of town. I understood her sympathy, but I knew that Jabba's resources were solid: it was the safest place to hide until Trance and Shomari contacted us. They dropped us off right in the middle of the street and pointed us towards our new residency. Raena and I grabbed our two bags and headed into the new house. The "neighborhood", if it could be considered that, was groups of houses set deep into a large pit in the ground. There were about 15 houses to a single pit that had arching walls to provide shade from the two intense suns that scorched the planet's surface. We walked into the slightly furnished house, to find it had about 4 rooms. Straight ahead of the door was a small kitchen. It held a gas stove, with a sink to the left, and a small refrigerator across from the stove. To the left of the entrance was a door that led to the only bedroom. The bedroom held a bed, a single, 4-drawer dresser, and a small closet. To the right of the entrance was a small dining room with only a single, 4-seat kitchen table in the middle of the room. The fourth room, which also happened to be the first room you entered in the house, I assumed to be the living room. As it was the largest room, and was completely empty, except for a couch in the middle of the room, which faced towards the door of the house.
"Well," I shrugged walking in and heading towards the bedroom. "You get what you pay for."
"He's never, nor will he ever again, see a crystal like that. We should be living in one of his huge mansions here." Raena complained following me into the bedroom and dumping her bag next to mine.
"Nah," I disagreed. "I don't like the idea of all the attention that would be drawn if 2 Jedi walked out of a palace-like house owned by a known hater of Jedi. We'd seem like assassins or something."
"Let's get outta here," Raena shivered nervously. "This small space is making me feel claustrophobic."
"Since when have you been claustrophobic?" I raised an eyebrow as we both stood in front of our temporary residence.
"Ever since we walked in there." Raena sat down and hugged her knees to herself.
"You sure it's nothing else?" I stayed standing.
"Well, not really. It's the same feeling I got around that Hutt. Sort of like something was after me." Raena said nervously.
I closed my eyes for a second and let my mind wander into Raena's as I tried to feel the same thing she was. Instead of the chills she was getting, I felt my body get warm, which was always a warning sign of danger.
"Raena, you know the first thing we learn is how to sense for danger; immediate, incoming, and future danger we all sense differently." I started, my eyes on the sky. "The main thing we're taught is that everyone gets their warnings differently. I feel danger as flashes of heat, difference in intensity and duration tell me what I need to know."
"Where are you going with this?" Raena looked at me as if I was rambling.
"Well, I think you're sensing incoming danger," I said.
"And this danger is?" she said.
"Jabba sold us out," I said gripping the handle of my light saber looking at the walls of the pit.
Raena followed my eyes and saw that I was simply staring at the shade-generating walls of the pit.
"Déshawn what are you talking about?" She said standing up.
Suddenly the door that led to the stairway to the surface at normal ground level was shut and sealed with a ray shield. Then, the garage, opposite the doorway to the stairs, which allowed different transports to drive down into the crater followed suit.
"Someone is sealing us in here so we can't run." I said nervously.
"It better not be more bounty hunters," Raena said. "I have a new type of light saber I've wanted to try out. And they would be perfect to try it out on."
"Oh?" I said suddenly curious.
"Deuce inspired me for the idea. But when you renovated your own light saber, I decided to go through with it." Raena smiled.
"Well then," a deep voice boomed from on top of the high walls. "I guess, young Jedi, it's time to show it."
"Who the-?" I said squinting trying to see our opponent.
"It's a Sith," Raena said drawing and igniting her standard
pink light saber. "Who else would take on 2 Jedi alone and not want
them to get away?"
"Anybody who decided life was too much to
deal with." I laughed.
The, assumed, Sith jumped from the wall and landed on the nearest house. He leaped off of roof and hit the side of the nearest house. He expertly slid down the side of the house for a while until he bounced off of it again and landed on the roof of a lower, nearby house. He leapt from this roof onto the other nearby roofs, in a sort of complicated stair step pattern, until he reached the ground. As he flipped off of the last house and landed in front of us, he ignited his red light saber. I extended my own blue blade and prepared for battle. He stepped in powerfully taking a horizontal swing at my head. Instead of blocking it and allowing him to start a flow of attack, I ducked it neatly, and jabbed at his ribs quickly, before flipping away. Raena sliced at his chest, which he blocked with a counteracting rotation of his light saber, knocking it away. However, having predicted this, Raena had already pulled her blade away, causing him to overextend his defense. She spun easily, and took a low attack angle at his front leg. He lifted it up, and kicked her in the face. I landed behind him immediately, giving him no rest, and aimed a blow for his throat. He ducked and spun around countering with a high attack. His strike came as a slightly angled overhead swing, but the manner with which he struck at me indicated a trap. I blocked it cautiously; doing my best not to put too much into the defense, and immediately saw his plan. The bottom of his light saber suddenly ignited in a brilliant red also, and he brought the newly revealed blade in an uppercut fashion towards my torso. I moved my blue blade down quickly slapping away his tricky maneuver and backflipped away from him. Raena and I were now on completely opposite sides of the Sith, the two of us watching his movements carefully. I suddenly saw our mistake, a double-sided blade was easier to use if your opponents were on opposite sides, because the blades pointed away from each other. Deciding to make it harder on him, I flipped over him and we clashed blades. Raena saw her opportunity and swung at his open ribs. He pushed me away with a wall of Force, throwing me against the side of a house, and blocked her attack. I slid to the ground, my legs crumpling painfully. I struggled to get up as I watched Raena burn herself out trying to defend herself. I realized her mistake, she wasn't good at defenses, and she needed to find a way to start attacking. Remembering back to when I was sparring her, I know she could conserve her energy better if she was on the offensive.
"Raena, attack him!" I said in her mind.
She probably thought I needed some type of distraction, but she immediately performed another brilliant maneuver to get on the offensive. As he pressed his powerful attack, she used a Force boosted jump to leap onto the side of a small house. As he struck upwards at her, she used her higher ground to pin his blade against the house. Using her light saber pressing down on his as a base, she flipped forwards landing her feet on his face. The two of them rolled towards the ground and she luanched herself off of him and landed beautifully before they hit the ground. She struck immediately at his downed figure, and he rolled, getting to his feet just as she followed up. I watched in amazement, despite my agonized spine, as she pursued the fluid motions she called an offensive. It looked so much like my mother I was momentarily hypnotized. However, I pulled myself away from her continuing unrelenting strikes to force myself to my feet. I moved into the battle carefully and watched for an opening to attack, but I was unwilling to be the cause of Raena's pause or hesitation. She looked so confident that a smile played on her soft lips as her light saber struck as his oddly exposed stomach. How had she managed to get him that open? She jabbed playfully at his chest, but spun around ducking, as he retaliated with a defensive strike, and ended up behind him. He leaped into the air; I saw this as a chance to get back into the battle and followed him. We landed on a lower house than the one Raena had got onto, and started our own intense battle. I felt Raena's eyes on me as I started a more aggressive attack pattern than her own. I moved my blade in swift dangerous circles, picking different points in the circle to attack from. I would slice at his neck, then spin and cut at his knee. Sometimes I would follow an attack with an identical one to keep him guessing. He finally decided that I was coming in to fast, or strong, and flipped back off of the building into Raena's grasp. I swore I heard her giggle as she moved in smoothly slicing at his chest. She pulled her attack back suddenly as he leaned away avoiding his own overextension, and came in with a jab that forced him to move to the side. She rotated away from the direction he moved, and came with a spin that counteracted his own movement, causing the two to meet. She used a sort of backwards slice to force him into raising his light saber again finally. Taking this opportunity, she kicked him in the chest causing him to be thrown into the air. He landed on top of a house a few feet away from me. I launched myself after him immediately, and he blocked my initial attack from his back. I felt my arms binded by the will of the Dark side of the Force as he hopped back onto his feet. I was released as soon as he stabbed at my chest, and reacted by ducking as low as I could, and swept his feet out from under him putting him on his back again. This time, Raena's blade met his, as I too pressed down on the weakening figure. He took one hand off of his light saber, and I felt the hatred in him grow suddenly. My eyes got wide as I sensed an attack, but I couldn't move fast enough and Raena and I were suddenly thrown back by a powerful storm of Force Lightning. My light saber was retracted as I dropped it in pain. The bolt of hatred flowed through my being painfully burning my insides. I held my two hands up, trying to summon a wall of protection, but I couldn't focus through the pain. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, he stopped so that he could advance on us. He held his hand out, and I felt a gust toss Raena and me through the air. I crashed through the ceiling of a house, and landed in a small bedroom. I got up painfully, my back arguing with every movement I made. I stood up and looked around, my light saber fell from the tangles of my cloak. I caught it before it hit the ground, and hooked it to my clip. I saw a small boy standing by his window, eyes full of fear. He looked at me, innocence shone behind the terror alight in his pupils.
"Can you stop him from killing everyone?" He asked worriedly.
"I…don't know. I can barely move." I answered honestly.
"It looked like you were winning before," he seemed to plead.
"I'll do my best. Just stay inside, I think he's here for me." I told the frightened child.
"JEDI!" I heard the Sith yell from outside. I assumed that Raena was nowhere to be found. Knowing her, I was sure she would stay that way until she was ready. "WE'RE NOT THROUGH YET!"
I took a deep breath and looked outside. He'd taken his cloak off, revealing his features for the first time. He was a human, about 30 years old; he had no hair on his head, and had orange pupils that seemed to shine with hate. I felt a chill run up my spine, as I leaped out of the window to face him once again.
"How did you find us?" I questioned drawing my light saber.