Her stomach growled an angry rumble. Her head ached at every blink. The bitter taste of cigarettes lingered in her mouth. Sure her appetite was down, but her gut didn't care. It rumbled and growled as if she hadn't eaten in days - which was partially true if you count a couple of granola bars and a bag of Doritos good enough nutrition for the last few days. Her cigarettes were gone as of last night, so she had nothing to keep her appetite down and her nerves calm.

Every police siren. Every shadow around the corner. Even every person walking too close on the sidewalk was enough to send her running and hiding. She probably killed that girl in the cafeteria. She'll be thrown in jail for who knows how long. She'll never get out of the system. No one will ever want to open their house up to her again. No one wants a juvenile delinquent, let alone a juvenile murderer. The girl didn't know what to do now. She had no one who would take her in. Nowhere to go. It's not like she can go running into mommy and daddy's arms. Mommy and daddy didn't exist. They just left her on the doorstep of a police station in a cardboard box with nothing more than a weird looking bracelet and a note written in a language no one on Earth had ever seen before.

She needed money. She needed to get out of Cleveland. Find a new town. New people. A new life.

The girl lurked at a corner of an old, abandoned building somewhere in her hometown. Yes, she had lived in Cleveland for years, but that doesn't mean she knows every neighborhood and every street and every building. It's a large city. And, frankly, she didn't care. She didn't care where she was, she was concerned about where she was going. Anywhere but here. Somewhere far away.

It was barely dawn now. The sun took its good ol' time to creep up into the sky today. The remnants of the night still strong in the air. She hid the black water pistol in her hoodie pocket as she scanned her eyes around. Almost no one was out yet. Most of the city was still asleep. That meant there was no one to see anything.

When she saw a boy in white clothing, the girl had to squint to see if she was correct. He was in what looked like pajamas. Weird. She glanced ahead of her one more time at the boy in white. He had a small bag on him. A man purse? Man how weird was this kid? Oh well. Worth the try.

The boy with dark hair passed her and didn't get more than two steps before the girl turned around and wrapped her arm around his neck. He felt something poking his back, between his shoulders The girl was smaller than him, but she managed to drag him into an alleyway. She let him go and he turned around to face her. She pointed the gun at his head as she barked in a hushed voice.

"Give me your money! Now!"

He seemed stunned. Understandable. This was her first mugging, but it wasn't her first time threatening someone. She knew how to seem serious and dangerous, though still small and unassuming.

He hesitated, holding up his hands in a surrendering motion. Ezra couldn't speak he was so stunned.

"Are you deaf?! Give me your money or I'll kill you!"

Then he started to laugh. The girl was stunned. She was threatening to kill him, and he was laughing. She got angry. She was hungry and desperate.

"You're trying to mug me? You're just a little girl!"

She kicked him in the groin. Her foot flying through the air, fueled by anger. The boy let out a squeal of pain as he fell to his knees, gripping his crotch in pain. The girl in the dark hoodie placed the end of the gun between his eyes as she barked.

"I'm not joking! I'll kill you! Now give me your money!"

Ezra looked at the girl through the tears of pain welling up in his eyes. She couldn't be any older than him. Her eyes reeked of desperation and anger. He knew that look from the streets of Lothal. She reeked of a stench he couldn't describe other than burnt and toxic.

There was something else about her.

In the Force.

The rest of this planet was like a blurry fuzz. The static buzz filling the void of what was supposed to be the Force. A sense of emptiness. It was numbing. Her - she burned like a bright yellow flame in the middle of a dark field. He couldn't sense anything but her presence. The glowing fire in the middle of a deserted arctic tundra. The one lone star burning, all alone in her galaxy.

"Do you want to die, boy?" she barked. "Give me your money!"

So they did speak Basic here. Weird. Why were all of their signs unreadable?

Ezra slowly reached to the bag Kanan had entrusted him with. His third of the credits. He had no pockets, so he carried the brown satchel. He reached in and clicked his com to send out a distress signal. Then, he held out the couple of credits he had. Her eyes went wide with disbelief and anger.

She smacked the credits away. Before Ezra could even react, the girl smacked him in the face. Hard.

He bent over in pain, clutching his face in pain. It stung. For a girl her size, she delivered some harsh blows. His nose felt like it was on fire and his eyes watered some more.

"What the hell do you take me for? An idiot? Money! Mulah! Cash!" she snapped.

"That's all I have!" he said. "I don't have anything else!"

"Ezra!"

The two turned to see a teenage girl running towards them. Before the girl could point her weapon at the Mandalorian, she already had grabbed onto her. The Mandalorian held her from the back in a bear hug. Sabine let go as the girl's skull rammed into her nose. She gripped her nose as she stumbled back and was wide eyed when she got a better look at the girl in the black hoodie who now pointed her weapon at her.

She wasn't even Ezra's height and probably younger than him. She was desperate.

"Give me your money!" she cried out. "I'll kill you both!"

As Sabine slowly reached for the credits in her pocket, the girl barked out another order.

"It better not be the same crap that he pulled out of his purse! Those stupid metal rectangles are worthless!"

Sabine was wide eyed. "You...don't take credits?"

"What are you people on?" the girl looked at them both. "Are you from the moon or something?"

Sabine and Ezra shared a glance. That meant that they couldn't get supplies even if they wanted to. Their credits were worthless and this girl was desperate enough to kill.

Ezra spoke as calmly as he could, still on his knees. "Hey, hey, look we don't have any money, okay? Can you let us go? Our family is going to get worried about us."

The girl scoffed. It looked like she was ready to snap out of either sadness, desperation, or anger. "Ha! Must be nice. Having a family and all… you have to have some money then! You got a family!"

"You don't have a family?" Sabine knew talking to this girl was their best chance. She heard about Earthling 'blasters'. They weren't as accurate nor as effective on machines and ships, but were brutal on organic flesh. It was like shrapnel, their ammo. It took forever to recover from a hit if you lived.

The girl rolled her eyes. "No. What? Do you idiots think I got a mommy and daddy to go to for any kind of money? Food? Why do you think I'm mugging you?! For fun?!"

"We're looking for food too," Ezra said.

She scoffed once more. "Aw...poor babies are looking for food! Why don't you go back to your mommy and daddy to ask them for a sucker?"

"Hey, what are you guys-"

The girl put her arm around Ezra's neck once more, forcing him to stand as she held the gun to the side of his head. She looked over the boy's shoulder to the tall man in a green sweater who entered the alley.

"Take another step and I'll kill him!" she stated.

Kanan froze. He slowly stepped in front of Sabine to shield her as he kept an eye on the girl who held a gun to his Padawan's head. Ezra grasped at the girl's arm, trying to get any sort of air.

"Give me your money!" she ordered. "Cash!"

"Kanan...they don't take credits here," Sabine murmured. "I don't think they even know what they are."

Kanan gulped. He could sense this girl wasn't kidding. He...he sensed something. This girl. He blinked a few times. No other words could describe her other than 'fire' and 'light'. It was like a match in a dark room that burned hotter than it was supposed to. She was angry. Desperate.

"Now!" she yelled.

"We...don't have any," Kanan said.

"No money?" she questioned. The girl knew no sane person would lie in this position, with, what she assumed to be his son, at the end of her 'gun'. She saw the sincerity in his eyes and she shook her head. "This is a waste of time then."

She dropped Ezra and took off running. Back into the cover of the dark, further into the alleyways.

Ezra fell down, gripping at his throat as he gasped for air. Kanan and Sabine rushed to his side. He was okay. Mostly just startled. Ezra locked eyes with Kanan.

"I-I could sense her. She...I could-"

Kanan nodded as he stood, bringing Ezra up with him. "I sensed it too. It was...strange."

As Sabine stood again, she questioned, "What? So is that kid like Force-sensitive?"

"She's something. That's all I know," he said. "I'm gonna go follow her. Maybe she can get us some Earth money. Pick up these credits. I'll contact you in a bit."

So he took off running in the same direction the girl had. It was like chasing a piece of paper in the wind. No matter how close he could sense that he's catching up to her, that he's getting warmer, she suddenly takes a turn.

What was with this kid? What was with this planet?

Kanan had to take a breather after a few good minutes of running. The sun had risen now. Gold light pouring out onto the concrete town. He was at the mouth of some metal bridge. More and more cars started to roam on the streets. The town was starting to wake up. He scanned his eyes around. No sight of the girl. The Force when numb again. He let out a large sigh. What was he thinking? Running after a kid with no Force, no lightsaber, and no blaster?

When he turned around to head back to Sabine and Ezra, he stopped in his tracks. On top of a light pole sat a white owl. Its eyes, though far away, were a visible emerald green. Those eyes stared into his soul. Kanan believed in the Force connecting everything, even animals, to everyone. This owl was no exception. It looked deadly, but calm. Intuitive. Decisive.

Kanan met eyes with the bird for a few more moments. That's when the bird of prey lifted its wing. Just its one wing. Kanan looked up to where the white feathers pointed. Up to the white bridge just beyond the green bridge he stood at. She was running up on the RTA tracks. Smart.

He followed, side-by-side with her from the green bridge below. He watched as the girl leapt from the bridge to a building just below it. He slowed down, interested in what her next move would be. As he slowly walked out of the other side of that green bridge, Kanan watched that girl in the black hoodie, with a black backpack on her back, leap from the brick building down to the ground. A three story building. Like it was a stepping stool. She scanned her eyes around and Kanan hid behind a parked car. She walked down the sidewalk.

He watched as she bumped into a man who was walking down the sidewalk, apologizing like a scared little girl. The guy bought it and continued on his way. As soon as he turned the corner, a smile grew on the girl's face as she quickly shoved a wallet into her hoodie pocket. She looked to the fenced in little patio next to her and shrugged. She jumped the metal fence, maybe waist high, and pulled up one of the chairs. She flung her backpack off her back and underneath the picnic table under the white umbrella. She sat down and let out a large sigh. Running this long would do that to anyone. The girl allowed herself to rest her eyes and leaned her head back a little.

Kanan stepped out from behind the car and looked at the girl, her back to him now. Out of breath. Tired. Probably hungry. No kid her age should have to steal money for food. He looked up and saw that white owl sore over his head, soon landing on that building the girl had just jumped off of and was now resting next to. The owl's eyes were pointed at him before gesturing to the resting girl. He nodded and the owl flew away.

The male Jedi quietly walked over to the fenced area. It must have been some kind of restaurant. Flags mounted on the side of the brick walls, white umbrellas over a couple of the tables, black and white striped awnings over a few lower-level windows. He quietly jumped over the little fence. He sat in the chair across from the one she sat in, still resting her eyes without a clue.

Kanan finally could feel the Force again. The girl cleared the fog for a simple moment. He looked below the table to see that 'blaster' of hers slightly hanging out of her pocket. He used the Force to bring it into his hand. It was suspiciously light. Suddenly the girl snapped out of her restful state and looked at Kanan with worried eyes.

He held the hollow, plastic gun in his hand nonchalantly as he looked at the girl, "It was fake the whole time, wasn't it?"

Her breath was hitched in her throat. She froze. "What- what do you want? Look, I'm sorry! I just-" a grumbled erupted from her stomach.

"You're hungry. I get it," Kanan assured. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"What do you want? I don't have anything!" she questioned.

"You have money. I know that," Kanan said. The girl blinked a few times and Kanan nodded. "Yeah, I saw that pick-pocketing. Classic shoulder-bump."

The girl rolled her eyes and sighed. She threw the wallet on the table and huffed, "Fine. Here. Take it. I'll just get some money somewhere else."

"Do you have a family?"

She sneered, "Why?"

"I recognized that look you had back there. You were scared. Hungry. Desperate," Kanan said. "Alone."

"What's it to ya?" she growled.

"Look, ya know that kid you were holding hostage back there? He's not actually my kid. Neither is that girl. We took them both in. The girl ran away from home and the boy was a street rat," Kanan said. "I was even a kid with no home for the longest time."

She chuckled, "So what? Are you guys like a band of misfit orphans?"

He shrugged, "Sort of. Look, me and my friends need food and so do you. And...I have a feeling you need something else."

"A ride out of town would be nice," the girl admitted. "You guys got a ride?"

Kanan nodded, "Yeah. We got a ride. So, how about it? You can buy us some food and we'll get you a ride out of town."

She nodded, "Alright. But, if this is some kind of ring you guys are trying to enlist me in, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"You don't exactly have the weapon," Kanan waved around the plastic water gun.

She went solemn, staring at him with dead eyes. "I never needed a weapon to beat someone's ass."

"What's your name?" Kanan asked.

"Call me Athena," she said. "What about you? Got a name?"

"Kanan. That boy back there was Ezra. The girl is Sabine," Kanan told. "So...you gonna tell me what your situation is?"

"I'm a foster kid, to begin with," the girl called Athena started. "I ran away. Not much to it."

"Foster kid?"

"Yeah. Ya know, like little orphan Annie?" Athena said. "My parents abandoned me as an infant with nothing more than a note in an unknown language and a weird bracelet and now I bounce around house-to-house in hopes some poor soul will adopt me. Haven't had much luck, though. I've been in the system for more than thirteen years now. So, here I am. Sitting in front of ol' Sainato's with a strange man I tried to mug."

"Well, let me contact my friends and maybe we can all get something to eat together," Kanan said. "Your choice."

The girl nodded, grabbed her bag and stood. The two jumped back over the fence and walked back towards the green bridge.

"So you gonna call your friends?" Athena questioned.

Kanan had to think for a moment. How was he going to contact Sabine and Ezra without showing this girl his com? Well, she's going to be seeing a lot more technology if they took her with them, so why not?

He dug his com out of his pocket and spoke into it, "Hey guys, listen the girl agreed to help get us some food. Rendezvous…" Kanan realized he had no idea where they were.

"How about we meet where I ran into you guys?" Athena suggested.

"Okay, great," Sabine said over the com. "See you there, Specter one."

Kanan put the com away and saw Athena giving him an inquisitive look. "That's a weird walkie-talkie. And why'd she call you that? Specter one?"

"It- it's kind of a code name," Kanan said. He wasn't exactly sure how to get this kid onboard with going to space. She was from a planet isolated from all others. Unbeknownst to the rest of the universe.

Athena did her best to retrace her steps back to the neighborhood she had attempted that mugging on the group. It wasn't a neighborhood she often visited, but it wasn't too far from the Irish Town Bend. That part of Cleveland she knew well. Thankfully Kanan remembered the turns Athena was a little fuzzy on and they eventually made it back to that alleyway. They shared greetings, Athena apologizing for the violence.

Kanan explained to them that Athena was just a scared girl who needed food and the gun was fake anyhow. They decided to all get food together with the money the girl had stolen.

She led them to the Wendy's just down the street from the West Side Market, knowing that she needed a snack now or she'd pass out shopping for long-term food from the market. It was off putting when the group she tried to mug then gave her full reins as to what they ate there, but she obliged.

"I swear to Lord Jesus himself you guys are from the moon," Athena shook her head as she looked around the table they sat at. Ezra was peeling a chicken nugget, Sabine was sipping and wincing at her cup of pop like it was strong tequila, and Kanan was examining his hamburger like it was a labyrinth. "Have you people ever eaten at Wendy's?"

"Who's Wendy?" Ezra questioned. "Does she own this place?"

Athena slammed her head against the table so hard, there was an audible thump. "I tried to mug frickin' aliens. That's it. You guys are from the moon."

Kanan glared at Sabine and Ezra. The two teens sat next to each other while he sat next to the young girl. He did his best to scream "GUYS! WE NEED TO BE MORE INCONSPICUOUS!" via eye contact. It was already obvious to this Athena that they weren't from here.

Athena picked up her head and glared at the boy, "Ezra, right? You don't peel off the skin. Just shove them in your mouth. Dip them in your sauce if you want."

"Oh...okay."

She turned to Sabine, "Do you want me to dump that and get you some water? It looks like that Sprite is a little much for you."

"It's okay," Sabine assured. "Just...sugary."

"This is America. What'd you expect?" Athena joked.

"So...how long until this market opens up?" Kanan asked.

Athena took another bite of her hamburger, speaking with a mouth full of food, "About twenty minutes. It's about a five minute walk there, so we'll just eat here until it opens. The place is usually packed, but since it's early, there shouldn't be too many people. It's really big and bustling, do you guys think you can handle it?"

"Uh...we were actually hoping you would show us around? Show us the best foods to get for a trip we're taking," Sabine said. "You know this place well, right?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I guess I'll help ya."

After a few moments, the girl stopped eating. She put down her hamburger and stood, grabbing onto her bag. "I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back."

The group shared a glance, figuring bathroom was another word for refresher. They waited until she entered the 'bathroom' until they began to talk. The restaurant was completely empty. The fast food establishment had just opened their doors when they arrived. The food servers were on the other side of the restaurant, behind the counter. Too far to hear, let alone care, about their conversation. It was now 6:40 in the morning.

"Okay you guys suck at this whole blending in thing," Kanan stated. "She already knows we're from off-world."

"Us?" Ezra was offended. "You showed her your com!"

"Yeah, Kanan, how are we even going to convince her to go back with us? Just say 'hey kid who threatened to kill us, you wanna go to space and be a Jedi'?" Sabine questioned. "This whole thing is crazy! We should just go our separate ways. Earthlings don't even believe in other life-forms off-world. She would have a heart-attack the second she even sees the Phantom."

"I know...but we have to try," Kanan sighed. "I don't know what it is about this kid...but I just got a feeling we need to take her with us. She's got no family anyhow."

"Hey, we already got a street rat orphan in the family," Ezra complained. "We really don't need another, especially one that kicks me in my sensitives."

Sabine chuckled, "Hey, maybe we should just replace you with her."

"Will you two be quiet? I'm trying to think of a plan," Kanan stated.

Suddenly, the little bell rang at the door. A little chime. Being faced away from the door, Kanan had to glance behind him to see whoever went through the door. Though he only made a small glance over the shoulder, he immediately made eye contact with the stranger. A blond man with mean eyes. Somewhere between the age of forty, maybe fifty. He seemed to scowl at the group. His careful eyes looking at all of them for only a second, but it felt like forever. He went to the counter, placed down some crumbled up money and said something to the cashier. After a couple moments, she handed him a cup of coffee. He took it without a sound and walked away, glancing once more at the group before leaving.

The three had wide eyes as they glanced at each other.

"What was with that guy? He looked like he wanted to kill us," Sabine said.

Ezra shrugged, "Earthlings, man."

"He was probably just a cranky, older man," Kanan said. "But still...I didn't like the look on his face."

"It was like...he knew us," Ezra said.

"Who?" they turned to see Athena returning from the 'bathroom', her hood now down. Her ponytail resting on her chest.

"Just some guy who passed through here," Kanan said.

"Blond?" she sat down.

Ezra knitted his eyebrows together. "Yeah. How-"

"I've been seeing him all over. I think he's a private investigator or something looking for me," Athena shrugged. "Let's hurry up and finish. I don't want any trouble."

And so they finished up their meals and threw away their wrappers and napkins and cups. Athena led them once more down the streets of Cleveland, her blanket of shadows following her every step on the cement, attached to the soles of her shoes. Kanan noticed this shadow following her was darker than any shadow he had ever seen.

He'd seen dark before, but not like this. This was cold. This was empty. This was numb.

Just like the Force on this planet.