Hyperspace still shone out through the windows of the cockpit. Ezra dimly wondered how long he had been sitting there, but soon lost himself once again in the stars outside, watching as they sped past them.
He wasn't waiting for too long until another pirate came into the cockpit, claiming it was his turn for watch and instructing him to meet Vizago in his room. Having been given rough directions, Ezra headed out, feeling somewhat nervous.
The door to Vizago's room was already cracked open slightly when Ezra approached.
"Vizago?" He called out uncertainly, starting to doubt if he had the right room. He knocked lightly on the door, which slowly swung open, revealing an empty captain's quarters.
Timidly, Ezra stepped inside, trying to make as little noise as possible. Unsurprisingly, his curiosity soon got the better of him and he started to poke around the room.
Vizago, needless to say, had a lot of stuff. The walls were lined with various trinkets: a rusty gun on the wall there, a strange-looking digital painting hung at a jaunty angle. Boxes and chests were littered around the floor. Ezra could see various oddities inside each; sometimes just different pieces of cloth, and other times gems and stones that looked rather expensive- could this be the mysterious cargo that Vizago needed protection for? The room was dimly lit, and had an almost… ancient vibe; strange, considering they were on a spaceship.
Ezra was in the middle of the room now, where a small table displayed more of Vizago's collectables; papers and maps acted like a tablecloth against its surface, dotted with various signed documents and deals…
Hang on.
He was halted in his browsing when he saw a piece of paper with a familiar name on it- that was Zeb! He scanned the text on it quickly, but the more he read, the more he realised how vague and unsure the knowledge was. Yes, the papers had Zeb's (and, with a bit more looking, Hera's) name, but no photos like Vizago had claimed. This had to be the same information Vizago had threatened he'd release to the empire, but Ezra recognised the logo on the paper right away. Shock distorted his face as he realised Vizago had actually gotten this information from the empire, so the pirate couldn't threaten him with it; he didn't actually have any more information on them than the empire did! Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. He was grateful his friends weren't in any more possible danger, yet at the same time that meant that Vizago had lied to him just to get him on board.
"I see you found my quarters." Vizago's voice made Ezra jump. He spun round to face him, paper still in hand.
"You lied! You don't know anything-"
"Of course I lied… child, I don't understand how you haven't realised this, but it's what I do! You would've never come if I didn't have something over you... But you owe me, Ezra. Nobody gets out of a favour that easily."
"Vizago, I'm here now… I wouldn't- I know I owe you—" Ezra tried to object, sensing something was wrong.
"Too right you do, and I'm going to make sure you go through with this." Vizago's tone darkened, and it was then that Ezra noticed two men lurking in the doorway. Vizago jerked his head and they stalked forward at his signal. Ezra backed away, scared as to what Vizago's threat could mean.
"I don't think there's any need- I'll go through with it I'll-"
"Oh yeah you're going through with it. Get him, boys!" Vizago ordered, and they pounced. Ezra leapt out of the way of the first grab, but the duo weren't put off. He ducked and twisted, restricted in the confines of the room, but, for a moment, confident he could make it to the door. That was before the hands had wrapped around his ankle and he was pulled roughly to the floor. He hit the ground with a thud and the promise of several interesting bruises to come. He groaned, tried to push himself up, before discovering that it was very hard to do so with an unnervingly strong arms pinning him to the floor.
"There we go. Thank you, Xevin" Vizago smiled at the man. "Now Ezra, I know you want to help me out and get back to your crew, but this is just going to be a very small measure to ensure that you do exactly as I ask, and come with me right to my dealer." As Vizago was talking, he started to unlock a metal cuff from around his belt. It was fairly small in size and grey in colour, besides the small lights flickering from it. Ezra's heart was pounding- this could not be good. He was speechless as he squirmed in the guard's grasp, trying to get away as Vizago approached.
"Hold still now." He cooed, opening a metal attachment as the human guard roughly grabbed his arm and held it out straight. Ezra was in full-throttled panic, hands sweating, struggling with all his might. There was a sharp hiss and then pure pain as the cuff seemed to burn itself into his skin. Ezra bit the inside of his cheek so that a pained whimper was the only sound he made. He slowly looked around to his wrist to see the bulky metal cuff embedded there. Immediately, the guard's grip was gone and Ezra slumped. Vizago crouched down to look right into Ezra's eyes.
"Listen carefully. This little gadget of mine will ensure you stick to orders. I have this remote here-" He held up a small device "-and I can do two things with it. The first…"
Vizago pressed a button and suddenly Ezra was gasping in pain as currents of electricity surged through him, blood replaced by pure lightning. "Not too extreme, that one. The second one… Ooh, well, I won't be able to demonstrate it, but to put it simply- it's a bomb. You think you've got away from us- well, you won't get far alive. You try to remove the cuff without this remote, you die. Doesn't matter how far you get. I could activate it- or you could." Vizago laughed.
Ezra sat up on the floor. The shock had ripped right through him and pain was pulsing through his body. He didn't want to be weak or show how scared he was in front of Vizago, but his body just wasn't co-operating. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself back up to standing again, still not feeling ready to talk but giving the best glare he could muster. Vizago smirked, evidently seeing right through Ezra's façade.
"There, there, young Jedi. Just follow orders and you'll be back with your crew before you know it." Vizago promised with a sneer. He pointed Ezra towards the door and a pat on the back sent him outside in the empty corridor, breathing harshly as he stared down at the metal gripping his wrist.
The Ghost crew hadn't done much in Ezra's absence; they were still aboard the rebel base. Supplies needed to be stocked up, so it had been a quiet day. Hera had distributed lists of tasks to be done to each crew member, and once complete, they had the rest of the day off. These instructions from Hera were very vague, reflecting how distracted she already was.
Finishing her list quickly, Sabine had managed to get a couple of extra credits to spend on some more paints without too much hassle. She couldn't help her worry for Ezra but was confident in his abilities and knew he'd be able to handle himself.
Zeb was much the same, and frequently reassured himself that Ezra had spent most of his life alone, and knew how to with almost any situation; still, that didn't mean he could just forget about the kit that had become much like his younger brother. It had been strange for the Lasat to wake up without no one sleeping in the bunk above his. He'd collected his supplies quickly, then used the rest of the day taking his weapons out for a practise; with all their missions lately he hadn't been able to work on his technique.
Kanan had spent his day doing all the odd jobs he had been putting off over the past months; he fixed the pipe in the engine room, re-adjusted his lightsabre, looked over old maps… Anything to keep him happily distracted. Ezra kept floating back into his mind, but in by doing simple tasks he was able to keep himself at peace. He had faith in his young one's abilities.
His faith wavered, however, when, in the middle of studying an old Jedi book, a sharp spike of pain tore through his skull. He cradled his head in his hands, but the strain only lasted a few moment before residing completely
…What the-?
He was hesitant at first to reach out into the force, ready for the pain again, but as he eased into it he found nothing. He tried stretching out, before catching onto a familiar thread- his and Ezra's bond… But that would mean-
Oh karabast, something had definitely gone wrong.
The kid was in some kind of pain and where was he? Halfway across the galaxy from his padawan. Not knowing what else to do, Kanan latched onto the thread of their bond and tried to follow it back to Ezra. He sat there, keeping his mind open, for what felt like hours, but had no success. With worry now corrupting all his thoughts, Kanan paced his room, hoping that if Ezra really was in trouble he would at least contact them on their comms.
With night falling, Kanan met the crew for a quiet dinner before returning back to his room. He didn't mention the headache to any of them, not wanting to cause concern, but now that he was back in his bunk, concern filled his mind for his padawan and he drifted off into a restless sleep.
Author's note: Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far, I really appreciate the comments! Updates for this story should continue regularly because I've got my plans laid out for the rest of the chapters :) Thanks again