The Life of a Slave

Chapter 2: Where It Started

Author's Note: It has come to my attention that I gained very few reviews on my first chapter. I would like to ask that if you visit this story that you leave a review. I work very hard on my chapters and would prefer that you give me advice, criticism, or compliments on my work. I'm not commanding you to do so. I'm just asking in a very commanding tone. Enjoy, and may the Force be with you.

"There will always be a reason that you meet people. Either you need them to change your life or you will change theirs."
-Anonymous

Well, when I was still a slave, there really wasn't much to my life. I was nineteen years old and trained for the arena everyday. I had two sisters, Jadella and Jacinda, and three brothers, Jace, Jaakan and Jaden.

I had black hair and gold eyes and was a pretty silent and calculating guy. I was about six feet and two inches, with the body of a god, or at least that's what the girls in 1313 said.

My parents were killed in front of me when I was ten years old at a slave trade when my mother was separated from us. My dad tried to rescue her and… let's just say that they tried to escape and didn't succeed.

My oldest sister, Jadella, had become the leader of our family. She worked as a mechanic for our master and maintained a very calm and collected personality.

But there were times when she was in an emotional crisis. One of those said times was when we discovered that my younger brother, Jaakan, had been cutting himself since he was ten years old. He was twelve when we found out and we had relieved him of his knife and depression when we found out.

Another time was when my other brother, Jace, Jaakan's twin, lost his arm when he was helping out Jadella in the shop. He was restoring an old swoop bike engine when it turned on and shredded Jace's arm. It was rough on us because he couldn't work in the shop anymore and that meant that our master didn't give us as much food or clothing. Jace built a cybernetic arm a two years later though, when he was eleven.

But the biggest toll on everyone was when my youngest sister, Jacinda, was raped in an alley at the age of thirteen by five men. A month later, we had found out that she was pregnant and our master helped us in no way at all. He didn't even give us any baby clothes or formula when the child was born. Anyway, the baby was named Kael, after our father.

So, my family was pretty messed up. I say was because that's all in the past now. It was like that a couple months ago, before the Jedi came and turned my life upside down.

I suppose I'll tell you. After all, you don't get to hear a story as interesting as mine everyday, now do you?

Anyway, it started when Barriss encountered a cranky vendor in Slaver's Square.

Three Months Earlier

"Hey, big brother. Can we get some chocolate at the candy store?" Jaden asked me as we walked along the streets of the slave quarters. The little guy was practically the spitting image of our father, just like the rest of us, excluding me of course. He had brown hair that was starting to grow down into his eyes, blue eyes that had the look of innocence in them, and of course, tan skin.

I gave him a sad smile and replied, "Sorry, Jaden. We don't have enough credits to get any chocolate today."

"Why not?"

I grimaced. "Why not" was the phrase that every slave child to ever live in 1313 used when they didn't get something they wanted. I should know. I used it everyday of my life when I still had my innocence and virginity. "Killing virginity", that is. There's a difference between that and... the sexual kind.

"Because we don't make enough money," I replied, still walking and not meeting my brother's pleading eyes.

He humphed and crossed his arms over his chest and said, "When are we going to get paid more?"

I sighed. "I wish I knew the answer to that, buddy. I wish I knew."

We walked in silence for the rest of the way until we got to the vendor's. I grabbed the groceries while Jaden talked to the smugglers by the club. I overheard him asking about the angels on Iego and chuckled a little. "Jaden, it's time to go!"

He groaned in disappointment and said, "Bye, Mr. Smugglers!" and walked off. I saw the smugglers laugh and wave goodbye to him.

I smiled when he returned to my side and asked, "Did you find out anything about the angels?"

"Well, they're actually called Diathim and they live on the moons of Iego! Did you know that they can actually grow to be nine feet tall? And they have six wings!"

Laughing, we talked about the Diathim until I heard arguing in a dim corner of an abandoned square. Well, more like someone was yelling at someone and the other person trying to get them to calm down. "Hey, Jaden. Stay here for a minute."

He complied without argument, allowing me to peek behind a corner and spot a Besalisk arguing with a Mirialan female, obviously a teenager that was far away from home. She wore black robes with a dark blue cloak that had the hood pulled up. From what I could see, she had a slender body and was about eight inches shorter than me.

"Sir, I didn't take anything from you," she said in a calm voice. Her accent sounded kind of Coruscanti like my friend, Yolanda. She was a Mirialan, too.

The Besalisk gave a laugh. "You little bitch, I know that you stole food from me! And down here in 1313, we don't take kindly to thieves like you!" His tone was becoming dangerously tight, indicating a threat.

"But I didn't take anything from you!" The Mirialan's voice seemed to raise an octave and she started taking a defensive position.

The vendor laughed again and said, "We also don't like liars, girl! And do you know what we do with scum like you?"

He started to pull out a vibroblade and the girl started to reach for something on her belt, but she didn't need to do so because I had already sprung into action. Grabbing the man's wrist, I twisted it, making him release the blade. He hissed in pain and tried to punch me with his lower right arm, but I kneed him in the groin. He roared in pain and tried to grab his blade again, but I used all of my strength to heave him into his stand. He practically went through it and he landed with a crash.

The entire thing had probably lasted about six seconds.

I turned to look at the Mirialan, who was speechless. Her face held the look of someone who had just seen a ghost, which she probably thought she had, considering I had been moving very fast.

I smirked and said, "You're welcome."

She closed her open mouth and gave a nervous laugh. "Thank you. It's just... you seemed to come out of the shadows. I didn't see you coming when you did... this." She gestured to the broken Besalisk.

"Yeah well, you're welcome again," I replied. She gave a soft smile and started looking around like she was nervous. "You're a Jedi, aren't you?"

She whipped around and asked, "How did you know?"

"When the Besalisk started to attack you, you reached for something on your belt. Also, I can see a padawan braid near your ear, despite your hood." I smirked again, admiring the fact that I had been able to identify a Jedi... well, at least an apprentice.

She looked around and said in a hushed tone, "Listen, you can't tell any-"

"I wasn't planning on it, Mirialan," I said, chuckling a little. The Mirialan seemed to relax a little and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, what were you doing around here, anyway?" she asked, her deep blue eyes looking up to meet my gold ones. "Stalking teenage girls?"

"No, I only do that on the weekends!" I said in mock anger. "Nah, I was getting groceries with my little brother, Jaden."

As if on cue, Jaden poked his head around the corner and asked in a loud whisper, "Can I come out, now?"

I smiled and said, "Bring the groceries."

Jaden came around the corner, arms holding the bags and smile on his face. "Did you kick the bad man's butt?"

Smirking, I nodded and took the groceries from Jaden. "So, what would a Jedi be doing in this part of 1313?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for my master. She went out to find a suite of some kind, but she was due back here a few minutes ago." The Mirialan checked her com watch and sighed. "I honestly don't know what's holding her up."

"Barriss, I'm sorry for being late. I ran into some thugs..." An older Mirialan had just rounded a corner and she had trailed off when she saw Jaden and I talking to the other Mirialan, who I presumed to be Barriss.

The older Mirialan had black robes like Barriss and a black headdress that had two thick black strips of cloth running down either side of the headdress. She spoke in the same Coruscanti accent as Barriss did, but her tone held more of a confident and patient zing to it.

"It's alright, Master," Barriss replied, her master drawing closer to our little group. "I was just talking to..."

I realized that she needed a name so I replied, "Dabria. Ethan Dabria." I held out a hand to the older Mirialan. She took it and shook it. "And you are?"

"Luminara Unduli. This is Barriss Offee. I'm assuming that you've figured out that we're Jedi?" She released my hand.

I nodded. "Yes, Ms. Unduli."

"Might I inquire how you and my padawan met?"

Barriss opened her mouth to answer, but I answered, "Your padawan had a misunderstanding with a local vendor." I gestured to the Besalisk that was still lying unconscious amidst the rubble of his stand. "The Besalisk was about to attack your padawan when I detained him. Though, I am positive that Ms. Offee could've taken him down by herself. After all, she is a Jedi."

"In training," Barriss added, looking at her master.

Ms. Unduli seemed content with this answer and said, "Well, come on, Barriss. We must find a place to sleep."

"But you can't go!" Jaden piped up, his voice an octave higher than normal. Ms. Unduli and Barriss both raised their eyebrows and got ready to cover Jaden's mouth if he said anything stupid. "We're having red gourd soup tonight and my sisters make it very good! We're having uj'alayi, too!"

"What's uj'alayi?" Barriss asked, curiosity evident in her tone.

"It's a type of Mandalorian cake. Jaden, I'm sorry, but the Jedi probably have important Republic business to tend to." I placed a hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged it off and exclaimed, "Jadella said to never leave pretty girls on the street or they might get hurt!" I saw the Jedi turn a dark shade of green at this comment. "Can't we keep them? Please!"

I opened my mouth to protest, but by the look on his face I knew that he had me beat. His eyes held a determined look and I knew that he would be mad with me if I didn't at least try to get the Jedi to come over for dinner. I sighed and replied, "That depends." I turned around and met Ms. Unduli's gaze. "Do the Jedi want to be kept?"

Ms. Unduli seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "I suppose that dinner would be fine. Padawan, do you want to join them?"

"I would be delighted, Master," Barriss said, smiling softly as she followed us down the alley towards our quarters.