Hello! I hope you like this chapter!
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Chapter 4 – Lie
Kanan was sitting cross legged on the floor of his bunk. His back was slightly slouched, leaning forward and watching his padawan. Ezra sat across from him, adjusting his position to make himself comfortable. It always took a while with him, but Kanan had learned to wait it out. It was better than Ezra having to constantly fidget throughout the whole meditation time. It always threw off Kanan's focus, and Ezra's.
Once Ezra had found his spot, he looked up at Kanan. He straightened his back and leveled his shoulders, taking a deep breath.
"Alright Ezra, this is how it will work. You have to open up the memory and let it flow through the force. I will have to probe a bit to find it, but if your mind is open, and if you are focused, I won't need to probe more than I usually do."
"Wait, you've probed my mind before?"
"That's not important," Kanan deflected.
"No, I think it is. I'm not willing to open up the memory unless you answer me." Kanan rolled his eyes. Out of all the teens to be stuck with as a padawan, he got this one.
"I don't probe much – only emotions that are strong enough to be admitted and that I can easily sense." Ezra looked a bit unconvinced. "Like when you were driving the landspeeder – I could feel your pain."
"Oh," Ezra mused. "That makes sense, I guess."
"Since we're on the subject – how do you know how to hotwire a landspeeder?" Ezra shrugged.
"It's just one of the skills you pick up when you need to make a quick getaway."
"And how many times have you needed to make a quick getaway?" Kanan prodded, before shaking his head. "Never mind, we're off topic. Now, take a deep breath," he instructed. "And let the memory flow."
It took a few moments, but Kanan was soon swept into Ezra's memory. Opening his eyes, he found himself standing in the middle of a busy Lothal street. People hustled around him, not paying any attention to his presence. Kanan stood still for a moment, trying to find his padawan.
"Get back here!" Kanan turned towards the voice and saw none other than his wide eyed padawan racing through the crowd, arms full of fruit. "Filthy Loth-rat!" the man shouted once more, before slowing down and giving up the chase. Kanan followed Ezra's trail closely, slowing down as he turned into the alley.
The image before him tugged at his heart.
Ezra sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, his clothes torn and dirty, munching on the fruit he had just stolen. His hair was a bit longer and his body was skinny and frail, probably from malnourishment. Kanan wanted nothing more than to reach out to him and hold him in his arms. He wanted to tell him that he was going to be okay. He wanted to make sure that he did not have to go through any more pain than he had already experienced.
But he knew he could not. He was merely an observer in Ezra's memory, unable to interfere no matter how much he wanted to.
Kanan watched as Ezra's gaze shot up and looked right at him. Or rather, right through him. Kanan turned around and came face to face with the same sleek black helmet that the bounty hunter wore.
"Ezra Bridger," the gruff voice said. Kanan watched as the bounty hunter took a few steps forward. Ezra was frozen in the spot, dribbles of fruit juice still on his chin. The man pulled out his blaster, one somewhat similar to Kanan's, and aimed.
Ezra jumped up at the sight of the blaster, his fruit spilling onto the ground. The man shot, but Ezra was able to dodge it. He scrambled behind the frame of a door, as there was nothing else to offer him protection. The bounty hunter stayed where he was and continued firing shots that marked the alley in black spots.
But instead of moving to a different angle to get a shot, he put his gun back into his holster. He rushed forward as Ezra peered out from behind the edge, and had no time to react. The bounty hunter had him by the neck, pushed up against the door. Ezra gasped for breath, and each time it sent stabs through Kanan's mind.
It was the worst feeling, to be powerless. He knew that Ezra would survive through this, but it seemed as if the bounty hunter had him in his grasp.
But Ezra, through some unknown strength, managed to land a kick to the bounty hunter's chest. He let go of his neck and Ezra fell to the floor with a gasp. The man was the first to recover, bolting upright as Ezra was still trying to catch his breath. With a strong kick to his side, Ezra was rammed into the side of the building.
Kanan saw a flash of metal in the man's hand, and as he held it above his head, Kanan's stomach flipped. A long piercing blade reflected the dim light of the setting sun. It felt as if time had slowed, the knife suspended above his head, his padawan staring up in fear. But as the knife descended, it seemed as if time had sped up.
Ezra let out a mangled cry that shot through Kanan's heart, the pain bruising him more than any blaster shot could. He watched as the blade came down again, and again; slashing and slicing the child who was screaming with each tear at his skin. The blade was now coated with red, as was the ground underneath them.
The man took a step back, his knife resting at his side, revealing the torn and bloodied boy. He whimpered in pain, and Kanan thought for sure that the bounty hunter would have killed him right there. But instead, he spoke, his helmet masking the sound of his voice.
"You have something that belongs to the Empire. The data chip. You will give it to me, or suffer the consequences."
Kanan was relieved that he, and his padawan, did not have to experience this horrible memory for nothing. With those few words, Kanan had deduced information that would be valuable to figuring out his identity. One, he was in search of a data chip and two; he was working for the Empire. It did number down the list of suspects. Kanan had first presumed it was someone from his past that held a grudge, or someone from Ezra's past.
But it did give rise to more worries. If the Empire had hired this man, that meant whatever this data chip was, it was of high importance; especially if they would be willing to injure a ten year old kid to get it.
"Hand over the data chip," the masked voice asked again. Ezra appeared not to hear the man, and Kanan suspected it was from a knock to the head that occurred at some point in the scuffle. The man, growing angry at Ezra's silence, decided to try and convince him to speak.
He pulled out his blaster and aimed it at Ezra. He was still lying on the ground, but seemed to be coming to. But not fast enough. The man somehow had no idea that Ezra was not coherent, and began shouting.
"The data chip!"
Ezra seemed to recognize the noise and turned to the man. His eyes, however glassy, widened at the sight of the gun. He opened his mouth to speak, but the bounty hunter had run out of patience. His finger rested on the trigger, ready to pull.
But before he could, Ezra did something that stunned Kanan. He raised his hands in self-defense, eyes closed as if accepting that the final strike would come.
But it did not.
Instead, the bounty hunter flew across the alley, his body slamming into the wall and his gun clattering to the ground. Ezra, stunned by the sudden outburst (and probably having no idea what had just happened), wasted no time in taking advantage of it. Taking mind of his injuries, he stood up and stumbled out of the alleyway.
The bounty hunter stood as well, but made no move to chase after Ezra. He seemed content with letting him get away, which worried Kanan even more. If he was letting him go, that could only mean that he knew where he would end up.
The sky began to fade. Ezra's memory ended there, but the image still lingered. Kanan could feel Ezra's presence tugging on his, beckoning to see if he was alright. But Kanan focused on the memory. He needed to get any information that he could.
And when the blackness was almost covering the entire world, the bounty hunter reached up, and took off his helmet.
No.
Kanan opened his eyes, inhaling a deep breath. Across from him, Ezra held himself close, his hands grasping onto the opposite arm, his form looking smaller than normal. Kanan moved himself over to his padawan, wrapping an arm over Ezra. As soon as his arm came into contact with his shoulder, Ezra turned and held onto his teacher. Kanan pushed his surprise away.
"It's alright, Ezra. You're going to be alright. He can't hurt you anymore." Kanan's words seemed to calm the teen, however his grip did not falter. Sniffling echoed in the room, but Kanan made no comment; he continued to whisper words of assurance. After a bit, the sniffling stopped, and Ezra spoke.
"What did you see?" Kanan waited a beat before answering.
"The man is working for the Empire, and he wants some sort of data chip," Kanan explained. "Does that mean anything to you?"
"No, not at all," Ezra said. He broke away from Kanan, and he could not help but feel cold without his padawan nestled against his chest. "It could be something I stole, or something I stole for someone else, or-"
"Okay, so that does not narrow it down." Kanan pondered for a moment. "Do you keep everything you stole somewhere?" Ezra's eyes shifted around. "Ezra?"
"I usually just stole food and stuff, cause… well, you know. I had to eat somehow," Ezra explained. Kanan nodded. "But sometimes I would steal the wrong crate, and just be left with a bunch of Imperial wiring equipment or tech. I kept it, obviously, it would be wrong to give it back after I took it fair and square."
Kanan raised an eyebrow about this, but since it was regarding the Empire, he made no move to argue.
"And sometimes I would just take things because I was bored," Ezra admitted with a shrug.
"What?" Kanan questioned.
"It was funny to watch them fumble around, looking for something they had just put down," Ezra smirked. Kanan flashed back to the times when random appliances had vanished from him, and narrowed his eyes.
"And you would never do that to us, right?" Kanan threatened, half teasing.
"Of course not," Ezra said, displaying an innocent look on his face. Kanan could not resist the small smile on his own. Ezra was truly unique. "But anyway, anything that I took and didn't eat, I hid in my tower."
"Then that's where we'll go. If we can find this data chip, we can figure out what information the Empire wants back so badly." Kanan stood, as did Ezra. Their legs tingled as they tried to walk it off.
"Kanan?" Ezra asked.
"Yeah?"
"Did… did you see the man's face?" Kanan took a deep breath before responding, flashing back to the image.
"No… no, I did not."
Ezra nodded, his mind still too focused on his past scars to detect Kanan's lie.
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R & R
~ Kavella ~