So I got a few questions so I'll go ahead and answer them!
Some people asked when this takes place, I'm going to say that this during season 2, up to Legacy. I also was asked what planet this was on, and to be honest I couldn't find any planets that matched what I was looking for so I just kept it general. If you want me to give the planet a name I can, or better yet, I'll let you guys name it. Best name will get put in the story. (Need a name for both planets I guess)
The next update might not be for a bit, so I thought I would update sooner with this chapter so we could get deeper in the plot.
Kanan tapped his hands on the table. It was dark out and Ezra still wasn't back. He knew that the kid may have taken some time to blow off some steam, but now Kanan was getting worried. Ezra had not been picking up his com either, despite Kanan having tried to get in contact several times. At first Kanan thought it was because he still angry, but now Kanan was getting fearful. He pulled his comlink from his pocket.
"Zeb. Sabine. Come to the cargo hold." He said, making his way there to meet them.
Once there were all there the two of them looked at Kanan.
"So Kanan what's up?" Sabine asked.
"Have either of you heard from Ezra?" he asked. Zeb and Sabine both looked at each other before shaking their heads. Kanan scratched his chin for a minute before looking up at them.
"Come on. Let's go search the town for him." He said.
Sabine and Zeb nodded their heads and the three of them walked out the ship's hold.
"Hera, we are going to look for Ezra. Tell us if he comes back." Kanan said into his com.
"Will do." Hera responded.
Where could he have gone?
The three of them searched the town. Kanan even attempted to connect with Ezra through the force, however he couldn't sense him. Was Ezra shutting him out? As the night continued the rest of the crew was growing visibly worried.
"You don't think something happened to him?" Sabine asked.
"It's starting to look that way." Kanan said, though he hoped he was wrong. They started making their way back to the ship, it seemed that nothing would get accomplished by wandering through the streets. If they were going to find Ezra they needed a better plan than this it seemed.
Once they were back at the ship, Hera was waiting for them.
"No sign of him." She said. They all stayed silent for a minute, no one quite sure what to say. Zeb was the first to break the silence.
"You think the Imperials got him?" he asked.
"If they took him off world, it could maybe explain why I couldn't sense him. He would be too far." Kanan said.
"So then what's our next move? How are we supposed to find him?" Sabine said.
"The rebellion has have some kind of contact to figure out what ships have left this planet today right?" Kanan asked, turning to Hera. She touched his shoulder as she walked past him.
"Already on it." She answered leaving. Everyone dispersed and Kanan followed Hera to the cockpit. He sat in his chair with a sigh and held his head.
"Do you think the inquisitors got him?" Kanan asked. Hera turned to him, taking his hand in hers.
"Don't worry Kanan. We'll find him."
Ezra awoke in a bed that was far too comfortable for him to be back on the ghost. He slowly began to sit and immediately realized his clothes were different. Rather than his usual clothing he now wore more formal wear that was pitch black and blue embroidery. He also had black knee high boots and a dark blue cape that he noted had a hood. What made him uneasy was the fact that his lightsaber was nowhere on him.
Ezra looked around to realize he was on a large bed with plush pillows. The room he was in had two doors, one that led to the bathroom, and large doors that led to probably the rest of wherever he was. Based on the layout of this place, Ezra doubted he was on a ship. There were red curtains over the window, maybe if he looked out the window he could figure out where he was? He walked towards the window and pulled back the curtains only to find that there was a simply a wall there.
"Huh?" He said. He dashed towards to bathroom to find it only had a sink and toilet. No windows. He ran to the door and attempted to open it, only to find it locked.
He stopped thought back to what had happened. All he remembered was a woman and then eating an apple…
Panic rose in Ezra's throat and he started banging his hand on the door yelling out hoping that maybe someone was outside. If it was Stormtroopers, he could trick them. I mean he always could. He started banging his whole body against the door until his shoulder was sore.
He turned back towards the room, now that he thought about this place didn't look like somewhere the empire would keep him. Normally he would just be a cell, and it would never have a bed like that. The question was raised. Who had him captive? And why?
"Okay. Okay." Ezra stepped back. Maybe he could try and contact Kanan through the force. He sat back on his bed, closing his eyes and concentrating like Kanan had taught him. Nothing. Ezra steadied his breath and kept trying to what felt like hours to try and contact Kanan, it could have been hours for all Ezra knew. He had no way of telling time. Maybe he was just too far?
Ezra jumped when the door was opened, a man walked into the room. Ezra stood up, but the door was closed before he could make a dash for it.
Ezra looked at the man in front of him. He could already tell that this man was from a higher standing just from a glance at his clothes and way he held himself. The man had dark brown hair, a bit of stubble, and green eyes that seemed to be calculating him.
"Well my servants weren't lying when they mentioned your eyes." He said, peering at Ezra as he approached him. Ezra opted for saying nothing since he wasn't exactly sure what was going on, however his mind flashed to the two strangers that had complimented him earlier.
"You're a bit younger than what I wanted, but in time I'm sure you'll grow into a handsome young man." What? Ezra was immediately on edge, leaning away from the man in front of him.
"Oh don't worry. So long as you behave no harm will come to you. You should be glad in fact," the man said. Ezra's eyes narrowed at that, he wasn't the biggest fan of being told what to do.
"You see," the man began, "I am the ruler of this planet, King Amare. I had struck up a deal with the neighboring planet that would form an alliance, and this would be solidified by a marriage. I ran into one problem though, I lack an heir. That's where you come in."
Ezra stared up at the man, not liking where this was going. Amare got closer until he was standing right in front of Ezra, and Ezra had to crane his neck to look at him. Pride kept him from backing away.
"I promised them I would give them the fairest one of all in exchange, and your eyes," Amare said as his hand lashed out and grabbed Ezra's face, "They fit the ticket."
Ezra tried to pull his face away, but Amare's grip was too strong. He turned Ezra's head in his hand, which angered Ezra further since he felt like he was object to this man. The man's eyes landed on Ezra's scar.
"Many would find your scar displeasing, but it only appears to add to you." After looking at Ezra for a few moments longer he released him.
"I won't be your pawn!" Ezra growled as soon as he was released.
"Well it's not really your choice at this point." Amare said before turning to leave. Whoever was outside he asked to open the door, and as soon as the door was opened Ezra used the force to throw it open all the way. He ran past Amare and the man that was waiting outside the door, who just so happened to the male stranger from before, and started running down the hall.
Ezra made erratic turns, hoping that one of them would lead to an exit. He stumbled upon some stairs and started running down, normally he would want to find his lightsaber but at this point he needed to get out of here. The crew had no idea what had happened, where he was, he didn't even know where he was! If he stayed here there was almost no hope of him being found.
Ezra turned down another hall way when he ran straight into someone. They made a grab for him and Ezra jumped back to avoid the hands. He turned to run the other direction and take a different path when someone appeared behind him.
They grabbed one of Ezra's arms, and Ezra began squirming in the man's grip trying to break free. Then his other arm was grabbed by the other man and Ezra yelled out in frustration. They dragged him back up to his room, Ezra kicking and yelling the whole time.
Once they were back in the room they pinned Ezra to the bed.
"Put a restraint on him," Amare said, "We can't have him getting out of here."
Ezra struggled harder when he felt his hands pressed together in front of him. He felt the cold metal go around his wrists, and in pure instinct he bit the hand that had put them on. Even though they were already locked there was no way Ezra was letting this guy just put restraints on him unscathed.
The man yelled out and punched Ezra in the face, Ezra's head fell against the pillows in a daze.
"Hey!" Amare yelled, "I don't want anything that will leave a mark!"
Ezra glared at Amare, eyes filled fire. The men moved back from Ezra, and gave one bow to Amare before exiting the room. Amare watched the door close behind him before turning to Ezra.
"I knew that you were a diamond in the rough, but I had no idea how rare you really were. I assumed that the saber you held was something you had stolen. A relic you had been lucky enough to find."
"I would be happy to show you how it works." Ezra hissed.
Amare gave a small laugh, which only further angered Ezra.
"You should consider yourself lucky. I could turn you in to the Empire, but instead I am giving you a chance to live a good life." Amare said.
"Yeah some good life. I don't think my Master will be very happy when he finds me locked here you know." Ezra said. Granted Kanan would probably be furious with him for being so naïve.
"Your Master?" Amare asked before really starting to laugh. Ezra got a pit in his stomach as he felt confusion and fear for why Amare was acting this way. Was there something he didn't know?
"If you Master cares for you, where is he?" Amare asked, a smirk in his voice.
Ezra hesitated, "What do you mean?"
"Do you know how long you've been asleep?" When Ezra didn't answer Amare continued, "Over a week. And not once have I seen any sign of ianyone/i looking for you. Let alone a Jedi."
He watched Ezra's face pale. Well it had only been a week. The crew had to be looking for him. Right? He thought back to when he was trying to connect with Kanan. What if they had left? What if they left and Kanan was too far to detect? Ezra felt his eyes water at the idea of being abandoned again.
No. No! That couldn't be right. The crew wouldn't just abandon him! They had to be looking for him!
Amare watched with a mild amusement at Ezra's inner dilemma. He made his way towards the door, but at the last second turned back towards Ezra.
"You know you'll have to be punished for your behavior today, but I'll be easy on you today. All I want you to do is bow down and beg for forgiveness." Amare said with an arrogant smile hat Ezra wanted to wipe from his face. When Ezra made no movement to move, Amare's face took a darker tone.
"I. Said. Bow. Down." He said through gritted teeth. Ezra instead spat in his direction, no way he was going to bow to this guy.
"Guards!" Amare called. The two men entered once more, having heard the entire conversation and roughly grabbed Ezra's shoulders and pushed him towards the ground. One of them pressed down on Ezra's head until Ezra had to actually turn his head so his face wasn't pressed as harshly into the ground.
"Beg." Amare commanded.
"No!" Ezra yelled.
"Beg!" Amare yelled.
When Ezra simply growled in response. Amare sighed like he was disappointed.
"I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." He pulled out a vial and Ezra's eyes grew wide when he realized what it was. Amare smiled at Ezra's reaction.
"I see you know what death sticks are. I hear that they take chunks off your life. That after each dose, the desire for more grows, and that they are nearly impossible to shake an addiction without medical assistance." Amare said as he pulled the cork from the bottle.
Ezra had heard stories about death sticks. People would become so addicted even after one dose. He had once heard of a man killing his brother for that stuff.
"You wouldn't." Ezra said.
"Though I don't want you to have scars, I think some withdrawl after this would be sufficient punishment enough." Amare answered.
Ezra may have had pride, but he wasn't an idiot.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"I didn't hear that." Amare taunted.
"I said I was sorry." Ezra said, his eyes meeting Amare's.
"And?"
Ezra had to hold back the growl in the back of his throat.
"Forgive me. Please." Ezra closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to look that man in the eye right now.
"That's a good boy." Amare said, standing up. The two men released Ezra, and they all left the room. Leaving Ezra alone with his thoughts. Ezra made his way back towards the bed and held one of the pillows against his chest, granted it was difficult to get his hands around with the restraints.
He had to think of a plan. There was no way he was going down without a fight. He just had to find a way, he had to.