Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, but here is the next chapter! Sorry that this one is on the short side, but it's sort of a "between" chapter if that makes sense. Since we are hitting the next part of the story this is pretty much just the bridge. But yeah, the next chapter should be longer. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy it!
Ezra twisted in his bunk, his back facing the door. His whole body felt cold, like every bit of heat within him was being sucked away by some unknown force. He shivered and curled into himself, seeking warmth from wherever he could get it. He felt a pain in his gut as well as his mouth. His whole body just felt cold and empty, and all he could feel was pain.
He pressed his head against his bunk, hoping that maybe the pressure would somehow assuage his pain. It was then that he noticed he could feel everyone's presence through the force, not that this was new, but now when he sensed them there was something else. It was as if the way he was interpreting it was different.
He couldn't recognize the feeling he was having. He knew what hunger felt like, he knew what thirst felt like, but this felt different. It felt primal.
He could sense Zeb and Kanan's unease and he senses them coming back towards his cabin. It was as if all his senses were honed in on what the two were doing.
Ezra closed his eyes, letting out a soft whimper. His body felt like it was on fire yet freezing at the same time. It hurt. There was so much pain. Too much pain.
He just wanted it to stop. Anything to make it stop.
Ezra gasped in pain when he felt a severe pain in his back, his breathing becoming ragged. He balled his hands into fists only to feel something different about them. No longer were they normal, but now he felt claws that had pierced through his glove.
When the door slid open Ezra's eyes snapped open. Everything felt hyper focused. All he could concentrate was on the two that had entered and the pain, everything else ebbed away from his mind.
"Ezra-" Kanan began, concern painted over his face as he saw Ezra's appearance.
Maybe it was the breaking of the silence, maybe Ezra had reached his threshold for the pain, maybe it was the primal feeling, it could have been many different reasons, but in that moment Ezra lunged from his bunk tackling Kanan. Kanan had been so started that he had to chance to attempt to block Ezra's advance.
Ezra's mouth hovered Kanan's neck as he pressed him against the wall. It was almost by pure instinct, but in those few moments Ezra knew how to stop the pain.
"Kanan, it hurts so much…" He said as he pressed his head closer, but before Ezra could bite down he felt someone grab him and push him back.
"Kid! What is wrong with you!" Zeb yelled, slightly placing himself between the padawan and the confused Jedi.
Ezra covered his face with his hands, as if somehow blocking his vision would stop him. He wanted everything to just stop.
"It hurts. It hurts…" Ezra said, taking a few steps back. When he removed his hands the two were surprised to see that the padawan's pupils had become more slits and were almost feline. Not only that but the kid's hands had black claws, and more startling was what was on his back.
Sprouting from his back were black wings that almost seemed like they were made of darkness if the blackest shadows could become tangible. They appeared to have the main frame of wings, but the actual sail that would be on them was far too close and ripped to support flight.
"Make it stop!" Ezra cried out, although his voice sounded different this time. Almost like two people were talking at the same time, but the second voice sounding more like a screech. At that Kanan seemed to grab his bearings, standing up and signaling Zeb to watch his back if something went wrong.
"Ezra?" Kanan asked, using the voice that people used when talking to frightened, near panicked, people. When Ezra didn't respond, he asked the question a little louder. Ezra flinched before responding.
"Everything. Everything hurts." He said, his voice still sounding strange. Kanan tried not to react to how Ezra's voice sounded. Ezra's eyes traced over to Kanan's neck, staring for a moment.
"Please it'll make the pain stop. Just let me drink some, please." Ezra said. Kanan felt his heard twist at hearing Ezra beg like this. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Ezra was asking for. Kanan looked at his padawan, noticing that Ezra's skin had also paled. He could feel his padawan's force signature changing in front of him. Manipulating itself into something else. Kanan did not want to see what would become of his padawan if he kept changing.
"Zeb, watch and make sure that the kid stops when I tell him to." Kanan said, moving towards Ezra.
"Kanan, what are you planning?" Zeb asked, then his widened and he nodded in confirmation, keeping on a keen eye on the kid.
Kanan led Ezra to the bunk, sitting down next to him.
"When I tell you to stop, you have to stop. Do you understand?" Kanan said, hoping that Ezra was at least coherent enough to understand him. Ezra nodded, however his eyes remained in Kanan's neck. Once Kanan gave him the okay, Ezra was quick to sink his teeth in, and he lunged at the chance.
It wasn't exactly comfortable, but Kanan was relieved to feel Ezra's signature return to a more normal state, and to see the color return to him. The wings slowly disintegrated and claws on Ezra's fingertips receded.
It was about a minute later when Kanan asked him to stop, and he let out a breath of relief when Ezra did. He would be lying if he said that he didn't think he would need Zeb's help on this one. Ezra's pupils were no longer slits, however Kanan did note that the kid still have fangs.
Ezra on the other hand felt nothing but shame. True, he was no longer in pain, but he had just attacked his master and drank his blood, but how long would this peace last? When would he need blood again? When would he start to turn into that…thing? He felt like a monster, no, he was a monster.
Questions swirled around his head like a storm. Then Ezra thought back to Amare.
"He wasn't lying," Ezra said, looking down at his hands, "I am cursed."
Not knowing that else to do, Kanan pulled Ezra in as an attempt for comfort.
"Don't worry. We'll figure this out." Kanan said as he rubbed Ezra's back.
Although Ezra knew Kanan would try his hardest, he had a feeling in his gut that things would not be so easy. He thought back to the tower he was trapped in, but now he felt trapped within his own body. He felt his heart drop at the thought that even though he was far away, Amare still had him in his clutches.
Amare tapped his desk impatiently, waiting for the arrival of his backup plan. He had really been hoping to avoid this, but it appeared that the child had left him no alternatives.
He glanced over at his holopad, only to see that he was unable to track Ezra while he was in hyperspace. No matter, the crew he was with would have to stop eventually.
The door to his office opened and one of his guards gave a curt bow.
"Your Highness, he has arrived." He said.
"Good. Send him in." Amare answered.
In walked in a man in full armor that was a dark crimson. It was so dark that if the lighting was right it could be mistaken for black. To finish it off he wore a helmet of the same color that hid his face, except it was adorned with bright red designs that almost looked like warrior paint. Despite his menacing appearance the man had a slender frame, which lead Amare to assume that this individual was very agile.
"I hear you have a job for me." The man said.
"Yes, and I hear that you are one of the best out there, Huntsman."
The Huntsman nodded before taking a seat. He crossed his legs and placed his hands on his lap.
"So who's the target?" he inquired.
"The target is a boy named Ezra Bridger," Amare said, pushing a holopad towards the Huntsman that displayed an image of the boy in question, "and I want him back alive and relatively unharmed."
"Relatively?" The Huntsman questioned.
"I don't want anything that will leave a scar." Amare clarified.
The Huntsman nodded in confirmation, taking the holopad that would track the child's movements once he left hyperspace.
"There is one last thing you should know." Amare said to him as he walked away.
"And that is?"
"He's cursed. He requires blood to maintain his normal form, but as his thirst grows his humanity diminishes. I mean that both visually and metaphorically. When he returns here, the curse is broken. Or if you take the necklace off, but I doubt you would want to do that." Amare said.
"So I'll bring a blood bag," The man said with a wave of his hand, "Consider the job done."
"That's what I like to hear." Amare said. It pleased him to know that Ezra would be in his domain again. Once the boy was back, he would make sure that he would never leave again.
I edited this chapter a lot in terms of how Ezra would be the "beast". At first I made him more like a vampire, but I felt like there wasn't enough of a beast appearance to it for it to be based on Beauty and the Beast. Then when I made it pure beast I felt like there was not enough at stake. Anyways, while I have this Beauty and Beast reference going, I guess I can give a hint as to what fairy tale will be coming next. The next one coming up in is Red Riding Hood. I wonder if you guys will figure out how it works into this story. Anyways, till next time!