*Author's note: Sorry this took so long to update. The trailer for season 3 put me back a week because it was so good and I had to analyze everything in it. And just so you know, nothing from the trailer will affect this story. I had a plan before seeing the trailer and I'm sticking to that plan. But dude. That trailer was amazing. Whoever makes their trailers is a genius.*

Ezra looked on in horror. The carnage before him was terrifying. Maul was slaughtering everyone in the building; slaves, black sun soldiers, everyone was dying. There would be no one left by the end. Maul's lightsaber looked like a flame ripping through the bodies of each one he killed, dark smoke rising from their scorched flesh. The smoke reminded him of something else he had seen. Something that he had caused.

Tarkin town.

"There's a cost for any action we take now, Ezra."

Kanan was right. He was right all along. He was right about Maul from the beginning. He was right about not trusting him. He was right about not using anger. He was right about everything.

Ezra took a step back, horrified by the look he saw on Maul's face. It was one of excitement and glee. He was enjoying this.

Ezra ran. He ran as fast as he could and didn't look back. Nothing was worth this. This wasn't right. Maul's way was horrifying and terrible. He should have seen it before. He killed the Seventh Sister when she couldn't defend herself. He killed the Fifth Brother. He blinded Kanan.

Maul was ruthless. He was still a Sith even though he didn't call himself one. Ezra was trying to destroy the Sith, not join them. Ezra kept running.

Ezra was outside of the Black Sun compound before he looked behind him. Maul hadn't followed him. It didn't mean he wasn't going to come after him once he finished killing everyone in the compound, however. Ezra slowed to a stop and caught his breath. Maul wanted him as an apprentice and Ezra assumed that he wouldn't let him leave. He turned to the marketplace and began to look for someplace to hide. By living on the streets Ezra had discovered that hiding in plain sight was the best way to avoid the watchful eyes of the Empire. But he wasn't dealing with the Empire. He was dealing with a Sith Lord, and this Sith Lord would be desperate to find him.

Ezra tried to act casually as he passed through the market. He pulled a cloak from a vendor's table and continued walking. He slung it around his shoulders and pulled the hood over his face. It would help disguise him, but Maul would eventually find him hidden among the people in the town.

He walked farther through the town, trying to think of where he could go. The marketplace where he had crafted his lightsaber was nearby and the spaceport was on the other side of that. He could find another ship and stow away. But then how would he be able to contact Kanan and the others? If he contacted the fleet he would put their new base in jeopardy of being found by the Empire. No, he needed to go through Ketsu Onyo. He needed to get a message to her.

"This datacrystal came straight from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant!"

Ezra stopped and peered down the alley toward the marketplace. The vendor he had met before was still trying to sell the datacrystal that could be only be seen through a holocron. Only Ezra and Kanan had a holocron. Ezra turned into the alley and came upon the vendor's booth.

"How much for the datacrystal?" he asked.

"Taking an interest are you?" the vendor asked with a smile. "My starting price is fifty thousand credits."

"I don't have any credits," Ezra admitted. "But… maybe a trade?"

"It would have to be something extremely rare," the vendor said. It took me a long time to get this crystal." Ezra thought about what he had. He had the Sith Holocron, electro-sling shot, commlink, and his lightsaber.

Lightsaber.

Ezra pulled the lightsaber from his side pouch and examined it. It was roughly put together and had never been used. He didn't even know for sure if it would have worked. He pulled the Kyber Crystal from the mechanism and put the saber back into his pouch.

"This is a kyber crystal," he told the vendor. "The Jedi used them to make-"

"Lightsabers," the vendor said in awe. "It's a fair trade." He smiled and held out the datacrystal. Ezra grabbed the crystal and placed his kyber crystal into the vendor's hand slowly. He found that crystal when he willingly left his master. Now he would willingly give it up to find his master again, even if it meant never being able to use his new lightsaber.

Ezra placed the datacrystal into his pouch and turned away from the vendor. He walked away, not staying to hear the thanks he received. He needed to get a message to Kanan. Kanan would know what the datacrystal was and how to use it. Ezra began to run as fast as he could toward the spaceport. Maul would be looking for him and he needed to find a way off of Ord Mantell.