A/N: Hey all, this starts during the events of The Empire Strikes Back and is my first trip into the Star Wars Universe! Hope you all enjoy! This is going to be legends universe. I really love a lot of the legends stories. They're so amazingly interesting to me! And will include a lot of the canon characters, including ones that aren't listed, such as Fenn Shysa.

Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable.

Bounty Hunters, Smugglers, and Thieves

Prologue

Batuu, Black Spire Outpost

Eleven-year-old Kiya Shesh climbed up onto her knees in the pilot seat of her grandfather's ship. She leaned over the wide control panel, placing her hands between gauges so she could see what was further beyond the transparisteel. Outside the smuggler's port was a bustle of activity. Sunlight highlighted the rich auburn hair that had escaped her braid and hung around her round freckled face. All different manner of creatures and droids hurried back and forth. Kiya watched a small grey gonk droid, a smile tugging at her lips as it scuttled out of sight.

The pavement was wet from recent rain. Steam rose from the deep grate covered trenches Kiya wasn't sure what were for. Almost directly in front of her grandfather ship, a Snivvian appeared to be arguing with a Devaronian. Even from a distance, she could see the Snivvian's large nostrils flare in its snout. His pink upper lip curled up, making his small white tusks more prominent. The Devaronians large pointy horned head shook as he gestured brusquely at the stack of crates standing by his ship. The Snivvian held up the holo device and shook his head. His horned companion grew even more agitated, hand going to the large blaster strapped to his thigh. He took a menacing step in the smaller creature's direction; Kiya's heartbeat picked up in response. The Snivvian's hands flew up in defense. He took a step back and shook his head. His lips raced as he fired off words she couldn't hear.

The Devaronian seemed to calm down and returned its attention to the crates stacked nearby.

Kiya watched them a moment more than dropped back into the seat with a huff. She blew the hair out of her face.

Her grandfather had left her on his ship while he went to the cantina. Kiya loved the Serawk. This Corellian built light freighter was the only place she'd felt safe and happy since her parent's death, but she hated having to stay inside of it when it was on solid ground.

This was not the first time Kiya or Kia, as her grandfather usually called her, traveled to Batuu either. The last time they were here, her grandfather had taken them to the speeder races in Galma. That was a treat. She usually wasn't allowed off ship here.

Kiya dropped her head back against the back of the chair and dangled one leg over the arm, kicking her foot back and forth. She remembered why she had come here in the first place. Kiya flopped over, hanging her body over the arm of the chair, her long braid flipping down past her face as she looked for Fenni.

Gaining her feet, Kiya called "Fenni."

She stood and headed for the hatch, placing one hand on each side. She looked left and then right. "Here, Mister Loth Cat," she called in a sing-song voice. Her mouth puckered, and she drummed her fingers on the durasteel frame under her hands.

She knew he wasn't in the hold or in her quarters or any of the others. She'd checked the galley as well. "Hmmmmm." Kiya turned around and crossed the cockpit, leaning over the controls again. She slowly scanned what she could see of the landing pad. Her stomach knotted. If he was out there, she'd never see him again.

Her stomach dropped completely as he moved into sight just beyond the view screen. Her shoulders slumped. He had climbed out when her grandfather was unloading. He looked back over his shoulder.

"Stay," she mouthed at the creature, who simply gave her an impatient look in response. She spun around and ran out of the cockpit, nearly skidding into the wall. Kiya grabbed her coat off the back of a chair as she sprinted through the galley. When she reached the main hatch, she paused, worrying her bottom lip. She knew she should wait for her grandad. If she did, she didn't know if she'd find Fenni. Kiya stared up at the button, hesitating for a second before she pressed it. She only opened the hatch enough for her to slide through the opening on her belly. She held onto the edge of the ramp then dropped to the ground below. She could climb back in, but not just anyone could squeeze through.

Xx

She made a cursory sweep of her surroundings as she whirled around to find her intractable little friend on the ground by the front of the ship, cleaning his hindquarters.

Kiya watched him cautiously for a moment. "Fenni," she called softly, carefully moving toward him.

The orange and black loth cat's big pointy black-tipped ears perked. He lifted his head but merely snapped his tail before he went back to cleaning.

"Come here, boy," Kiya called next. She watched as he lifted his head again.

Encouraged when he didn't move, though Kiya knew better, she continued as if he could understand her. "I'll get you some pickled sarilian minnows when we get back to Nar Shadda." sarillion minnows were disgusting little things in Kiya's opinion, but her grandfather and her pet shared a love for them.

He looked back over his shoulder at her again and meowed. Then lifted his skinny toed foot in front of him and began cleaning his digits. Kiya used his preoccupation and continued to inch in his direction warily.

She squatted down when she was within a couple of feet of him, offering the temperamental little beastie her hand.

Xx

He lifted his broad head and tilted it to the side. His black lip curled up over his teeth slightly, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. He sniffed at her fingers. Kiya leaned closer, her hand slipping around the back of his head. She scratched his ear, shifting her weight so she could awkwardly grab him.

She gently started urging him closer. "That's it, Fenni," she encouraged. She leaned closer again, planning to edge him nearer. The Devaronian yelled, startling her pet. Fenni snarled, scratching Kiya's hand as he pulled away. Kiya lunged after him at the last second, landing squarely on her stomach.

"You mangy moof!" She grumbled after him as he ran across the pavement. He jumped down into one of the trenches.

A split second later, Kiya stood and jogged across the pavement toward the opening in the grating where he'd disappeared.

Kiya paused just short of the trench. "Fenni," she called almost desperately. Biting her lip, she looked back over her shoulder at her grandfather's ship then back down. She would be in so much trouble if her grandfather came back and she wasn't there. Kiya climbed down anyway.

There were no real footholds, so she shimmied down a pipe onto a large crate that sat below. Kiya looked around, jumping to the ground. Water splashed around her booted feet.

Steam rose from the pipes running along the bottom; the tunnel's air was warm and damp and smelled musty. The gentle hum of machinery blocked out a lot of the nose from above. There was a corner ahead of her that she saw Fenni run around. Kiya looked over her shoulder, down the long darkened tunnel, swallowing roughly. She turned forward again, cautiously following the direction she saw him go.

"Fenni, " she called softly. "You mangy nerf herding chobb's knob." she added under her breath.

Kiya paused when she reached the corner and peeked around it. She'd be lucky if her grandfather let her keep him after this. Creed Shesh had most assuredly not wanted her to have him in the first place. He said a space ship was no place for an animal, but in the end, he'd caved. Thick steam blocked her view for a moment. As it thinned, Kiya saw Fenni sitting, not far away, cleaning himself again.

Kiya bit her lip, slipping around the corner. His large ears perked, and he looked in her direction. "Hi, Fenni," she said.

Much to her surprise, he let her get to him and scoop him up. Kiya spun around, hurrying back the way she came. Now that she had Fenni, her thoughts shifted to how she was going to climb back out the way she came with her loth cat. She would probably have to tuck him inside her jacket and hope he didn't scratch her too bad.

Kiya glanced over her shoulder as she reached the corner. She looked ahead of her just in time to see someone filling her path. Kiya stopped short, just inches from her obstacle. She nearly tipped forward. Her eyes were level with green plates on an armor-plated chest. Her gaze shot upward, her heart pounding harder and faster as it went. She marked two small rectangular, blinking red lights on her trip. Kiya's mouth fell open slightly as she met the regard of a helmeted head complete with a dark t shaped visor.

She hugged Fenni closer as he hissed and struggled.

"Kia!" a voice called from far away, drawing her attention upward again. She looked back at her companion as she opened her mouth to call to her grandfather.

The stranger shook his head, lifting one gloved finger in front of his visor. He nodded toward the route she had used to climb down. Two hands spanned her small waist, and Kiya found herself being lifted onto the crate. He reached out and took the irritated loth cat from her hands, and she started climbing back up the pipes she'd shimmed down. She could hear the sound of hover sleds passing nearby and people above. When she reached the top, she crawled out, turning when completely free. She found the stranger standing on the crate, holding Fenni up to her.

Her grandfather called her name again.

Kiya turned, gathering Fenni close as she stood. She looked in the direction of the Serawk as the chain of droid operated hover sleds moved past. She just caught a glimpse of her grandfather through the sleds loads.

"Grandad!" Kiya called. Then she glanced back into the trench to find the stranger had vanished. She looked in both directions, and there was no sign of him.

Kiya turned and ran toward her grandfather. "I am so sorry, grandad. Fenni escaped."

Xx

Tatooine, 3 ABY, 12 years later

Tatooine's suns were unforgiving. Inhospitable and vicious. So was its terrain. The sandwinds were equally as ruinous. Kiya Shesh had heard stories of the winds sanding derma down to the soft tissue beneath the sun on the Dune Sea. She didn't believe them. She knew the Tusken Raiders wore garb that covered every inch of their bodies. Despite part of it being a breathing apparatus, she felt sure they wore rough weaved fabrics because they lasted longer and protected them better in the arid climate as the other inhabitants did. In her three years of experience in this barren brown terrain, the moisture leaching winds dried out the flesh and cracked it first. Sand found its way everywhere. It was her life now. It was in her lungs. It clung to her scalp, under her thick braid of heavy auburn hair, embedded so deeply into her skin she thought she would never be free of it. When she had tried to run, Ordo had taken her boots and left her with no shoes. Two weeks later, the bloated Iktochi gave her sandals. Before then, she walked barefoot. He wanted to beat her. He tried to break her down until there was little left. Until she was as desolate as her surroundings. Until Kiya understood she'd never escape.

The sands burnt her tender feet terribly in the beginning; she knew that was the point. To make her feel powerless. Now her feet were calloused, and she had wrapped them, and her lower calves in the same thin light grey material her tunic were made out of. They weren't the boots she had worn when she came here, but they were better than nothing. And her will had grown even stronger.

Ordo stripped her of adequate clothing for the desert elements as well, when she didn't bend. His final indignity was to lock her in "the winter garden." His garden wasn't like any greenhouse she'd ever seen. It was a small durasteel box, barely large enough for her curled up frame. It had air holes drilled into the lid and a little narrow slot for the jailor to dump stuff in. He'd left her there a day and a night. She'd played the contrite one as well as she could. Ordo was too bloated and fat on his own hubris to see she only played the part. Someday, Kiya would see Ordo paid for the things he had done to her and the others. She didn't know how, but ultimately she would escape this world. She would escape. And when she did, she planned to track down her uncle if he was still alive.

For now, sand and dirt and grit were her lot.

What the sand didn't take, the sun burned with equal ferocity. It made her hair lighter and her skin darker than it had ever been before, expect for the scar on her cheek.

Shielding her eyes with one hand, Kiya lifted her gaze toward the largest of Tatooine's suns. The day hadn't reached its zenith yet, and the sands already seemed to boil under her feet.

Today, they were moving her and a handful of others to Bespin. Ordo rented their labor out to mushroom farmers or others in need, but it made her antsier than it usually would, knowing the empire's presence was largest in Bespin. And the empire was always looking for new flesh.

A droid lifted one mechanical hand, blaster held in the other. He pointed one long jointed finger toward a transport sled. Kiya slung her small bundle over her narrow shoulder and followed the direction he pointed. All the pack contained was the threadbare blanket and the crust of last night's bread she had saved. She chewed the edge of her lip as she followed the others. She was nervous, though she wouldn't show it.

Behind her, a young Wroonians girl who'd only just arrived at Ordo's sobbed softly. Kiya had heard her crying last night as well. Kiya looked over her shoulder as they shuffled toward the transport. The girl met Kiya's gaze with swollen ones of her own and cried harder, her rounded blue cheeks smeared with moisture and dust. If she continued to cry, she was lost already. The only way Kiya had survived as long as she had was by sheer force of will. Sentiment could all too easily make you weak.

Within another minute, Kiya found herself stepping onto the sled. Four rows of bench seats sat in the middle of the sled for her and the others to sit on. The back row was full; Kiya took the first seat in the third. The girl sat down beside her. It wasn't long, and the others were loaded and one of Ordo's Gamorrean guards was piloting the craft away from Mos Eisley.

Kiya carefully opened her bundle. She broke off half of her crust of bread, handing it to the girl. "Don't let them see," she advised softly as she watched the droid out the corner of her eye. Kiya tried so hard not to engage with the others. She had learned early on that it only made this experience so much more difficult.

She watched the girl as she tucked the crust inside her hand and broke a small piece off, shoved it into her mouth, and swallowed. The girl couldn't be past sixteen. Kiya almost asked but decided not to.

"What is your name?" Kiya whispered.

"Sarita." The girl's attention shifted to the scar on the left side of Kiya's face.

"Sarita," Kiya said, weighing the sound of the name on her tongue. "If you want to survive, you have to be strong." It was true. Kiya still thought about her parents and her grandfather, but she drew strength from them. It was altogether too easy to let the memories take you in the other direction. "It's the only way you will make it."

Sarita nodded, her attention dropping back the thin webbing of white scar tissue on Kiya's face from just above her left ear to her jaw. It covered nearly half of her cheek; some of the tendrils just caught the edge of her mouth and her bottom lip. "Did they do that?" Sarita asked.

Kiya shook her head. "No." It had happened so long ago. In another life, just after Fenni escaped on Batuu. They had just returned to the Smugglers Moon. The scar seemed to pull tighter with the thought.

"How long have you been here?" The girl asked next, bringing Kiya back to the present. She met Sarita's gaze.

"Quiet!" one of the guards barked.

Xxx

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