Mild warning: mention of injury/blood. Doesn't get gory, but it's best to warn you guys of just in case.
The girl in dark clothing continued to lead them around the market, getting a few nuts, some bread, a couple of snack foods, and a little meat. The group was no help, however. Every time she asked their preference, they kept saying that she got to choose. They put most of their stuff in Ezra's satchel and Athena's backpack. Then she led them down the vegetable and fruit aisles of an L-shaped building right next to the main Market building. They were wide eyed at the sight they beheld.
Lines and layers of neatly stacked fruits of all sorts of colors and shapes. Pieces of paper strung on string overhead of each stack, informing the buyer of the price and name of the fruit or vegetable. Athena continued to pry some kind of opinion of food from these people, but each time was met with the same thing. "It doesn't matter. You probably know better than us."
Finally, she thought of a plan to get them to start picking some produce. As she held up a pear in one hand, a peach in the other, she questioned the group. "Okay. Which one? Peach or pear?"
"Whichever-"
"Pick! For the love of Christ! Pick!" Athena snapped. "Have an opinion!"
"Uh, this one," Kanan pointed to the pear.
"What's it called?" Athena questioned, holding up the pear a little higher. As more and more people bustled through the market, the four were forced to condense a little and stand close to one another.
"A peach," Ezra figured that he had a 50/50 shot anyhow.
The market worker even rolled their eyes with Athena.
"You guys can't be from this planet. That, or you guys are really messin' with me," she grumbled.
The girl picked up a couple of pears and soon exchanged money with the man who shared that previous eye roll with her.
"You look like you're having fun," the worker commented as he rang up the purchase.
"You don't know the half of it," Athena huffed. "I think I accidentally got myself abducted by aliens from outer space."
Kanan, Sabine and Ezra shared a look. Well, they thought, at least the news won't be as jarring to her.
The girl waved for them to follow as she finished putting the pears in her backpack and Ezra's satchel. They followed her out of the building and out to the sidewalk. They crossed the street and walked to the previously mentioned Family Dollar. Athena quickly put her hoodie back on before they entered the store. She knew they were running low on cash, so maybe she could snag a couple things in secret. Maybe she could get some cigarettes again.
She didn't want these guys to know about her habits. Her stealing. But, that's who she was. It's all she knew.
Since the store was small enough and near empty, they split up for the moment, mostly perusing around. This store had just opened, it now being 8 AM - meaning they spent about an hour in the West Side Market. It was like they were hitting every spot the very second they opened, and boy was this girl good at it.
When she passed by the front counter, the girl in the black hoodie glanced over to see an old man purchasing some cigarettes, the cashier having just gotten a couple boxes out of the case for him to view better.
Bingo.
She pretended to look at the candy bars right next to him as he looked over the packets of cigarettes, putting a hand on his chin.
"All these darn new brands! I hate how they can't just keep it plain and simple!" the old man grumbled as he held up a box, pulling it towards and away from him as he did his best to see them. He turned to the girl. "Hun, can you read this for me? My eyes are too old and these fonts make the words to darn skinny."
The cashier could not care less. He was not paid enough.
She gave a smile and obliged. She held one carton in one hand, two cartons in the next. Her dark sleeve high up on her wrist. Just enough for her to swiftly drop the back one down in her sleeve with no one noticing. After reading the labels and such on the cartons left on the counter, the man thanked her and warned her: "Now young lady, don't you ever get yourself all wrapped up in this crap. You're too young and pretty. These things do nothing but kill ya faster."
"Noted." she smiled, putting both of her hands in her hoodie pocket, letting the carton rest in there for now. She turned and walked away, soon joining with Kanan to pick out some cheap snacks.
Kanan looked down at the girl as he reached up to the top shelf of chips. "Hey, if you're going with us, do you have everything you need? Clothes? Hygiene stuff?"
She shrugged, "I got everything I need in here. Some clothes, hairbrush, toothbrush, and deodorant. I've lived out of bags my whole life."
"Maybe we should buy another backpack. One to store all of the supplies," Kanan suggested.
Athena nodded, "Yeah. Okay. I'll go get a cheap one real quick." and she left. She passed Sabine in the hair-care isle, looking angry and kinda disappointed as she stared at all the wild colored dyes.
Sabine now regretted wasting a good portion of her temporary brown hair dye on going down here if that meant these guys dyed their hair too. She glanced over to Athena as the girl approached her.
"You wanna color your hair?" Athena asked.
Sabine shook her head, "Nah, we don't need to buy any right now."
"I think you would look nice with blue or purple," Athena said. "I always wanted to color my hair, but never could. Foster parents never wanted a 'wild child' in their house."
Sabine smiled and looked to her, "Hey, when we get back to our place, I can dye your hair if you want. How about pink?"
Athena chuckled, "Ew. Pink? Do I look like someone who likes pink?" she gestured to her dark outfit.
"Purple?" Sabine suggested.
"I'm good, thanks," Athena assured. "So...where exactly are you guys from?"
"Uh...we kinda are from everywhere," Sabine shrugged, unsure on how to articulate their situation. "But, I gotta admit. This place you got here is kinda scary."
"Hey, at least we're not Detroit," Athena joked. Sabine felt like that was an inside joke between Clevlanders. "We got a slightly better football team and better food."
Sabine chuckled. She had no clue what the heck this girl just said.
"Hey, and if you thought the West Side was bad, where I mugged you guys, wait until you see East Cleveland!" she laughed. "Trust me, I knew not to go down there. Even I'm scared of the East Side."
Sabine let out a nervous chuckle.
What was wrong with these people?
Eventually, the group made it to the register with everything they were purchasing. Some chips, the green backpack, granola bars, a couple candy bars, and some waters.
As Athena was giving the cash to the man behind the counter, the automatic doors opened in the store once again. Everyone's heart dropped once they laid eyes on the two men in ski masks. They held up their guns and waved them around the store, yelling out commands.
"This is a hold up! Ain't nobody move!"
The cashier let out an exasperated sigh and yelled, "Come on, man! It's too early for this crap!"
"Shut up!" the man barked. He looked at the young girl and pointed his gun at her. "You, come here!"
Athena sighed and walked over to the guy with the gun. She knew the drill. Young blonde girl gets to be the hostage.
Damn you, King Kong movies.
He put his arm around her neck and held the gun to the side of her head. "Anybody move and I'll kill her."
The group looked at them in confusion. Why did Athena look slightly inconvenienced rather than terrified? What was wrong with this kid?
The group backed up a little as his partner went over to the cash register and pointed the gun at the worker, demanding the money. Athena made eye contact with the worried eyes of Sabine and smirked. It was like she was saying 'Watch this' to the Mandalorian.
She brought her fist up and swung it back into the man's crotch with an immense blunt force. The man in the ski mask let go as he fell to his knees. She grabbed his gun and gave a swift kick to his face, sending him to the ground with blood splattering out of his nose. She was about to shoot, gun in hand, barrel pointed at the robber's head.
But she hesitated.
Did she want to kill again? In front of these new people?
Big mistake.
His partner saw. He shot first. It tore through her left shoulder, almost her neck. It was so quick.
Kanan slammed the guy into the counter, knocking the shooter unconscious.
His gun clattered to the ground.
It discharged.
Another bullet flew.
It tore through her stomach.
She was frozen. What just happened? It didn't hurt. It felt cold. Wet. Cold and wet on her shoulder and stomach. Athena slowly turned to the group, locking eyes with Kanan.
He had teal eyes. Bright teal. Strange. She had never seen those colored eyes anywhere else other than in the mirror.
Time wasn't real. It was so fast yet so slow. It was warped.
Then it went dark.
She first fell to her knees as she faced them. Then her head slammed into the ground. The cold, hard ground. She laid on top of her shadow now. Her eyes were shut.
Ezra and Sabine dove for the girl, picking her up and holding her. Kanan knelt down next to the girl and held her. He looked to Ezra.
"Go find a medical kit! Now!"
So Ezra dashed off to the section he remembered having a bunch of band-aids and creams. Kanan looked to Sabine.
"Put all of our stuff in the bag we just bought. We gotta get out of here quickly. She needs medical attention."
Sabine nodded and did as told, shoving all of their snacks and waters into the green backpack they had just purchased. The cashier was on the phone.
"Wait! I'm calling the police and an ambulance! They should be here any minute!"
Ezra dove over to Kanan and Athena with a handful of gauzes in his hands. Kanan froze, remembering the first time he sat down to talk with the girl. She was a runaway. She mugged people. They would arrest her. Throw her back into those foster homes.
As he felt the fire starting to flicker and struggle to stay alive in his arms, Kanan looked to Ezra. "We gotta get her out of her before the authorities get here. She's on the run. They'll arrest her."
"So, take the kid?" Sabine questioned, strapping the new backpack on her back, standing now. "We better hurry. Better chance we can get her to the others and heal her."
"Let's put the gauze on her first. She's losing too much blood," Kanan said.
They took off her black backpack then her hoodie, quickly stuffing the black hoodie in her bag and strapping the bag to Ezra's back.
They lifted her shirt and saw the gushing hole on the left side of her stomach. Her blood was so dark, it was near black. Kanan put the large gauze there, slowing the blood on that side for now. They turned her and put another on her back, the entry point of the bullet that passed through her stomach. They did the same for her shoulder, moving her shirt collar slightly to the side to do what they needed to do.
The cashier tried yelling to them to wait, but they had no intentions on getting involved with the authorities or letting this girl die. Sabine picked up the gun that had shot Athena and put it on her belt. Better safe than sorry. Better armed than unarmed
So they ran. They ran as far as they physically could. Somehow, no one bothered to question a group of weird looking folks carrying an unconscious girl through the busy city.
What was wrong with these people?
Then they got lost. After about a mile of running northwards, they got lost somewhere in a shipyard. Some kind of ship yard with large trucks and huge piles of stones and coal. At least they knew they were near the lake they landed the Phantom on the shores of. A lake with almost 800 miles of shoreline in total. 1286 Kilometers of shoreline.
They were out of breath and out of roads. They couldn't run forever looking for the Phantom.
"What are we going to do?!" Sabine questioned. "She's going to die!"
"I know! I know!" Kanan said as he shook his head in frustration.
"Do we even have a map? Coordinates?" Ezra questioned. "Maybe Hera can come down here with the Ghost."
"No. The Ghost would be spotted too easy. These Earthlings would shoot it down," Kanan shook his head. "There- just- ah!" he ran out of ideas. Sweat dripped down his face. His whole body was hot. Exhausted. Clueless.
Then, there was a call. A hoot.
The three looked up to see a white owl sitting atop a pile of stones. It's eyes an even brighter green than before. It locked eyes with Kanan once again. This time it didn't lift just one wing. It lifted both and began to fly.
"Follow that bird," Kanan said, taking off running again. "Come on!"
"Aw come on! Not this crap again!" Sabine exasperated as she ran. "I hate chasing after your Jedi stuff!"
"Hey, it works just about every time," Ezra pointed out.
The owl soared not too far above their heads and just ahead of them. They followed its every turn until they hit a patch of foliage after a little less than 3 and a half miles of running. They finally got back to the pile of leaves they had buried the Phantom under. They quickly uncovered just the hatch and entered. Kanan gently handed Athena off to Sabine who laid the girl on the ground, Ezra crouching next to them. Kanan got in the pilot seat, quickly picking the Phantom up and flying over the water.
After about two kilometers on the water, Kanan was sure no one was close enough to see them from land. He pointed the nose upwards and made course for the Ghost. He pressed the Phantom's com as they began to exit the atmosphere.
"Specter 2, we have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"A shot kid. I'll explain when we get there."
"Specter 1, what are you talking about? Was it Specter 5 or 6?"
"Well...no. It's a new kid."
"You kidnapped an Earthling!" she yelled in anger.
"Well...kinda. It doesn't matter. We just gotta help her. She's in bad shape. Get the medical supplies ready."
"Will do."
When they docked onto the Ghost, there was no delay. Sabine and Ezra carried the girl to the common room, Hera got out their medkit, Chopper got the rags for the blood.
"You guys get out of here, I can't work with all of you on top of me," Hera ordered as she looked to her crew. "Kanan, you stay. You're going to explain to me what happened."
The others left as told. Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra went to the cockpit. Zeb had a questioning look for the two teens.
"So...why did Kanan drag in another one of yous?" Zeb questioned. "I thought we had enough pipsqueaks on this ship."
"She's Force-sensitive, we think," Ezra explained. "She's got no family, anyway. She's a runaway."
"She was actually trying to mug us while we were down there," Sabine said, taking off the green backpack filled with snacks. "She was desperate for food and money. They didn't even know what credits were on Earth, so she ran off and pick-pocketed some other guy. Kanan ran after her and she bought us some food"
Ezra took off Athena's black backpack then his brown satchel. He sat down the black bag and held up the satchel filled with fruits, opening it and displaying the colorful fruits. "We got a bunch of fruits. I have no idea what any of their names are, though."
Sabine picked up the pear sitting at the top of the bag, and displayed it, "This is either a peach or a pear she said."
"A pear," Ezra nodded. "Peach was the wrong answer."
"She figured out we weren't Earthlings pretty quick," Sabine admitted. "She was already convinced we were from space. I guess Earth customs are quite different."
Zeb rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah...me and Hera were actually able to pull up some information about this place. Apparently they think that there's no possibility of other planets having any life and, what they think of other beings, is kinda strange."
"Yeah, she said 'aliens' a lot for us even. I guess that's their term for literally anyone from off-world. Not just non-humans," Ezra sighed. He knew the word 'alien' was offensive. It was a derogatory term to describe anyone who wasn't human in their galaxy, from their planet or not. It was meant to shame any other species. On Earth, apparently it was different.
In the common room, Hera was doing a quick stitching job on the wounds of the small girl. She seemed skinny. Starved. There was barely enough stretch in her skin to create a proper close. Chopper acted as her light and assistant. Kanan was explaining himself.
"Do you not realize what Earthlings think about other life-forms?" Hera said, keeping her focus on the girl lying unconscious on the floor covered in blood. "They think of off-worlders as little green aliens that abduct people. They made every other life form off Earth into a myth. A joke."
"Look, Hera, I'm sure we can teach her differently. She's a kid who needs our help," Kanan said. "She's got no family. Her parents abandoned her as a baby."
"And that was a good enough reason to befriend this kid?!" Hera questioned. "She threatened to kill you guys in a dark alley."
"She also helped us a lot down there," Kanan said. "She helped us get food. They don't have credits here. She got money and she got us food because she felt guilty."
Hera paused for a moment. "Does she have a name?"
"Athena," Kanan said.
"And you said that she can fight well?" Hera asked. "She's got a lot of bruises all over her. Looks like she was beaten a lot."
"She's a girl who's smaller than Ezra living on the streets of a dangerous city," Kanan said. "And I got a feeling she's Force sensitive."
"Why do you say that?" Hera asked. "You said it yourself: no one can sense anything there. No Jedi nor Sith can use the Force down there."
"That's why I am so sure she's Force sensitive. I couldn't sense a single thing down there other than her," Kanan stated. " She...also has a shadow that is surreally dark."
"A shadow?" Hera questioned, wiping away the last of the blood on the top of her stomach, now done with one of the four holes. "What are you-" she was at a loss for words as she glanced down to see what Kanan was referring to. What seemed like a deep abyss was casted from the girl's body. A tiny void right under her.
"Yeah. That's not normal," Kanan said. "I have a theory, though."
Hera shook her head out of the mini-trance that the deep shadow had temporarily casted on her. She got to work on the bullet wound on her shoulder. "...What's your theory?"
"She's a little younger than when the Empire took over; I think her parents were refugees. At least one of them was from our galaxy and that's why she's the only Force-sensitive from here. They could have passed down their midi-chlorians to her."
She looked back down to the girl and finished up the hole on her front shoulder. Hera asked for some help, and Kanan assisted her in gently flipping the girl over so she laid on her stomach. There was so much blood.
Earth was so brutal to this girl.
Scars and bruises riddled the girl's back. Signs of beatings. Abuse.
Hera finished with her make-shift temporary stitches and looked to Kanan once again after she cleaned off the last of the blood. "Help me put her on the couch. She lost too much blood, she's not going to wake up for a while. She needs more medical attention."
They picked her up and lied her down on that orange couch in the common room. She looked lifeless. She was so pale. So quiet.
Hera looked to the droid, "Chop, clean all this blood up. Kanan, stay here and watch over her. I'm going to see if the coordinates system finished rebooting and maybe we can get back to the fleet."
For those not familiar with Athena's "At least were not Detroit" phrase- it is a common joke/phrase stemmed from the "Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video" - a parody tourism video song about Cleveland. Check it out on YouTube. Though, if you haven't visited Cleveland, trust me, the town is nicer than what the video portrays it as - hence the reason it's called "hastily made". :)
If you want to know more about the story or Cleveland itself, don't be afraid to ask! I spent a bit of time there back when I was younger, so I know a little :)