They walked in silence down the dark corridor. Echoes of laughter could be heard occasionally. The feeling that something was not right kept crawling up Ezra's spine; he had to stop himself from shivering. It was almost done though: they were finally here, and once they'd dropped off the cargo Ezra could be done with this forever. He had taken the hood off now that they were out of the public eye, and had his sabre strapped back into the safety of his belt. He hadn't noticed at first but only two of the five guards had actually come in with them; he assumed the other three were waiting outside. Glancing around, he recognised the guard who was still holding the cargo- that was the one who had thanked him for saving his life. Xevin! The man's eyes drifted over to meet Ezra's. He gave no smile, no sign of recognition before looking away again.
The crate didn't look too big. Maybe it contained some of those diamonds Ezra remembered seeing on Vizago's ship, or a rare plant- maybe even a living creature.
"Wait here." A rough voice broke his thoughts. Ezra realised they had come to a stop outside a rather grand looking door. This was it.
"You can go in now." The same voice came again. With a nod Vizago stepped through, followed by Ezra and then the guard.
The room's decor was extensive. Gold and silver plating covered intricately painted walls and ceilings. This place had the interior of a palace- it was strange that a building that looked so dull on the outside could hide this inside. Whoever owned this room had riches and clearly wasn't afraid to show it. Ezra couldn't help but gape slightly.
He looked up from the miniscule carvings on the marble floor at the sound of footsteps approaching from the other end of the room. They finally came face to face with their dealer.
Ezra had to do a double take. Their dealer was unlike any species he had seen before: a fairly average height, but with green scaly skin and weird clipped mouth, odd sections of hair stuck on end. What really caught his attention was the one beady eye that seemed to follow each and every one of his movements. The yellow pupil glued him to the spot.
"Ahh, Vizago- finally made it I see…" The dealer's voice was silky, but edged with an ominous hiss.
"Yes. Sorry about the delay." Vizago apologised.
Wait- apologised? Ezra gaped again; this dealer was clearly someone of importance if Vizago was being polite.
"It is of no matter… I see you have the cargo with you now- and in one piece. I am impressed." The dealer chuckled "You have done well."
"Thank you," Vizago replied politely. Even some of the guards looked surprised.
"Come. Let me get a closer look." The dealer snapped his fingers. Ezra looked to the side towards the brown crate, ready to see what this cargo actually was.
He was rather taken by surprise, then, when two sets of hands were suddenly pulling his arms and dragging him towards this dealer.
"Wait- what? The cargo's back…" Ezra tried, too confused to put his thoughts into words.
"I present to you- your cargo." Vizago announced, smirking at Ezra's shock.
"Oh Vizago, isn't he wonderful? You even tricked the little boy too- look, how quaint." The dealer laughed. Dread slowly dawned on Ezra's face. This had all been a trick.
"No. No, I'm not-" Ezra started, struggling to get free. His words were cut off as an oily hand came to grip his face, squashing his mouth.
"I'm afraid, boy, you are. I have heard many a whisper about a young Jedi, and now here you are- and all mine too!" The dealer smiled, gripping Ezra's face harder "You should be privileged. Not many make it to my collection."
Ezra shuddered. No. No- he was not going to become some piece in a stupid collection. This was wrong, this was so wrong. His mind raced, coming up with a thousand scenarios that could come from being stuck with this dealer, and his struggles increased with panic. His eyes darted about the room. There's had to be a way out, somewhere over-
There!
His eyes landed upon a narrow ledge. It was risky, but if he could jump up there, maybe he would be able to reach the roof. With an almighty push, he shoved the guards off him (aided somewhat by the force), and with no more thinking he leapt right up, roughly landing on the ledge. This was it. He could run, he could-
"STOP!" Vizago's ordered. Then there was the horrible, familiar pain of electricity ripping through his body. Ezra gasped, collapsing to his knees. The pain had definitely increased since last time. He was struggling to think straight. He had to… had to reach the roof…
He struggled to his feet, but a sudden wave of dizziness hit him. He felt a prick in his neck, and lifted a shaking hand to it. It came away holding a small dart…
Oh karabast.
His final thoughts flew around his fear of the dealer. His last thought cried out for Kanan.
KANAN!
A jolt of fear hit Kanan so strongly that it winded him. No, no, no…
That was Ezra. That had come from Ezra.
Ezra was definitely in trouble. Never before had he had such a prominent blast of fear from his apprentice. He should never have let him go off on his own. He had to hurry. With his stomach tying in knots, he quickly yelled for the crew before racing off. He had a padawan to find.
Ezra awoke groggily. Remembering how he had been knocked out, he dragged his hands down to his neck again, but felt no dart there, only the small incision of where it had made his mark. He was too afraid to move at first, worried that he had been out for days and would look up to find himself in amongst the dealers other antiques. His eyes cracked open, only to see a dull grey ceiling above him. He looked around, and quickly noticed metal bars.
He was in a cell? He sat up slowly, wary of the drug he could still feel in his system. He could dimly hear voices.
"I said this would be my set price."
"Yes, but now you've got to pay for the crew and ship that I lost…"
"Really Vizago? I thought better of you."
"Well- how about I make it worth your while- throw in a few extra who are just as valuable?"
"You mean- another Jedi?"
"The child had his com on him. It would be easy to contact his master- and his, *ahem* Lasat friend- and lead them here."
That was Vizago and the dealer. Did that mean he was still on Tatooine? In the strange building? With a growing sense of hope, he realised he still had a chance. Clearly the drugs were meant to have put him out for longer, but now that he was awake he could try to ignore the sluggish feeling and work on how exactly he was going to escape. Ezra would not let them lead his crew into a trap.
This was it- this was the building. Kanan was sure. Ezra's force signature was strong and seemed to be residing in there somewhere.
It was worrying- he had tried communicating with his apprentice ever since he heard Ezra's cry, but there had been nothing. He nodded towards Zeb, Sabine and Chopper before they swiftly took out the couple of guards standing watch out side. Trying to stay stealthy, they made their way through the building.
He kept following Ezra's signature. It was leading them further and further in, before they finally came to a halt outside some very grand-looking doors.
"This is it." Kanan supplied helpfully after stopping for a good few seconds.
"I can hear voices inside. One sounds familiar, but it's not Ezra." Zeb narrowed his eyes in concentration, using his sensitive Lasat hearing to give them all the information he could.
"Want me to blow it open?" Sabine grinned when they realised the doors were locked.
"Go for it… Hera," Kanan opened his com line, "We're about to go in. Be ready for a speedy pick up."
"Got it, Spectre one. I'm standing by." Hera replied.
With a nod in Sabine's direction, the four Ghost members took a step back and watched as Sabine's device blew open the doors, sending them flying. As the smoke cleared, the Ghost crew sprinted into the room, coming face to face with Vizago and a specimen of what Kanan recognised as the alien species 'abyssin'.
Kanan ignited his sabre while the other sides got their bearing back.
"Where's Ezra?" He demanded, looking every bit the threatening Jedi.
"Ezra?" The Abyssin creature faced him, his one eye glaring "You mean the boy? I'm afraid you've had a wasted journey. He belongs to me now." The cruel smirk that formed on this dealer's face did nothing to help Kanan's anger.
"You're the one mistaken. He's a member of our crew, and we will not be leaving without him." Kanan stood strong, glad to have his crew behind him.
"Then we are at a disagreement." Vizago cut in.
"Appears we are," Zeb agreed, grinning slightly. "Good thing I know how to resolve it."
He shoved his bow staff down, knocking Vizago to the floor and beginning an all-out war.
Ezra's head snapped up as rapid gunfire could suddenly be heard from down the hall. That couldn't be good. He needed to move, right now.
Hang on- was that…
Yes! That was the sound of a lightsabre, and he only knew one other person who wielded a lightsabre and would be stupid enough to find him- Kanan was here!
How he was here, Ezra didn't know, but all that mattered was that now he actually stood a chance at getting out of here.
He glanced up hopefully, but with no luck- no grates. But that lock- he recognised it. This cell had to be really old, because Ezra had picked a dozen of these over his years. He quickly located the pocket that held his smaller tools and took out the best one for picking locks. It took him longer than he would've wanted, but eventually the lock clicked and the door swung open. The security in this place- fortunately for Ezra, rather less so for that creepy dealer guy - was not very tight. Without glancing back, Ezra raced down the hall, ready to reunite with his family.
As the battle begun, Vizago's guards flooded the room. Sabine wrestled one quickly to the floor, kicking her leg out as some fool tried to jump her from behind. Chopper was having the time of his life- with his speed, he was able to fly around the battle, zapping people here and there, to give the rebels the advantage they needed.
Zeb's training was obvious. He was an unstoppable warrior, cutting guards down before him as he wielded his bow staff- a true Lasat. Kanan went at the dealer and Vizago with his lightsabre, confident that Zeb was backing him up whilst keeping the troopers at bay. He slashed again at Vizago, knocking the man to the floor where he lay there groggily. He circled Vizago, ready to give the pirate his just desserts for taking his padawan.
"Kanan! Look out!" A familiar voice yelled. Kanan turned quickly, weapon at the ready, only to find his apprentice right in front of him, blocking the sword of the dealer- who had just been about to stab Kanan in the back- with his lightsabre. With a little grappling, Ezra pushed the sword off his sabre and the dealer hit the ground hard. He didn't get up.
"Ezra!" Kanan cried, over the moon to see his apprentice in one piece. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." They both knew it was a lie, but Ezra didn't really want to get into things until they were out of danger. Besides- he couldn't help but smile at being side by side with his master again.
"We need to get out of here, Kanan." Ezra said while blocking a round of shots from the guards.
"Hera should be waiting. Make for the door!" Kanan called out, alerting the other crew members to their exit. Most of the guards were on the floor by now anyway. The few that remained clearly realised their odds and fled before they too met their end. The crew ran for the door, so close, at last to freedom.
"STOP RIGHT THERE." Vizago barked. Kanan instantly regretted not ending him when he had the chance.
"You, Jedi, aren't going anywhere." He pointed to Ezra.
Author's note : Hope this story is living up to people's expectations so far- now we know that, yes Ezra was the cargo all along. Also I did research on star wars species and the "abyssin" is a genuine species from the universe. So if you want to know what he looks like, give it a google :) Thanks everyone !