Hi followers and new readers. it was about time for an update- I'm so sorry. I had a busy month, but i've got a few prepared for you so hold onto your feels because this fic isn't for the fluff-hearted. Tell me what you think.

Much love for Unfathomablefandoms- who pushes me to write a little everyday and is a wonderful Beta and friend 3

The Survival Trial

Chapter 2

Ezra threw himself onto the floor behind the crate just as a buzzsaw broke through the jammed door. It roared loudly as it ate through the steelum, the echo and vibration bouncing around the small room, putting Ezra's teeth on edge. He really, really, hoped they put the buzz saw down before dealing with him.

He prayed to the Force they wouldn't check on their bounty well before they got to port either.
He put his hands down to the floor, intending to push himself up, when his grip slipped in something slick. He looked to his hand, it was covered in thick engine grease.

An idea occurred to Ezra, and he quickly slicked a thick smear over his left cheek and a little down his suit, rubbing his palms down his knees. He hoped the defining saber scars were effectively covered. The effect succeeded in making him look plebeian, and hopefully, insignificant. Maybe, he would get out of this yet. He'd been in tighter spaces, which didn't just include vents.

A section of the door fell out of the frame with a heavy clang, and the hatch finally admitted the crew.

A heavy voice barked out something garbled and Ezra assumed it was the equivalent of a warning, something close to the threat of "come out before I shoot"- because the speaker almost immediately began to shoot up the place with a rather large two handed blaster. The laser blasts shot around the room, and the crate Ezra was ducking behind took a hit and, was both exploded, and pushed back a foot all at once.
Ezra leapt to the side in time to avoid the destruction, but directly into the path of the gunner.

He threw his hands out, buried his face into the dirty floor and shouted, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" He didn't need to force any extra panic into his voice to sell the image.

The laser stream ceased firing over his head, but Ezra stayed splayed out on the dirty floor, breathing hard, his eyes squeezed shut.

A pair of heavy boots approached him, and Ezra thought it was the gunner. A huge weight stepped onto his back and pressed him deep into the gritty floor, Ezra clenched his teeth as he was squashed like a vice. The gruff voice suddenly boomed right above him, making Ezra jump. Even in the jerky language full of sudden stops and hacking that Ezra couldn't understand, he could tell he was angry.
It sounded like he was asking questions.

Ezra shook his head furiously, scraping his cheek on the floor.

The boots growled, and the foot in his back dug into his kidney a little further. Something round was pressed against the back of Ezra's skull and he felt his whole body go cold.

The voice repeated the same few hacking sounds, and to emphasis the point, the blaster nose was twisted into the skin on the back of his head- the pistol was still hot from blasting the room apart and the back of his head began to burn.

Ezra, very carefully, spread his fingers apart on the ground, and gave himself just enough leverage to turn his face to the side. "Basic! Basic!" he shouted out, still squeezing his eyes shut. "I only speak basic!"

The boots let out a low rumble, and Ezra thought it sounded annoyed more than anything now. The creature let out a stream of jerky sounds and judging by the way two of the other figures Ezra could sense in the doorway went running, Ezra assumed this particular pair of boots was in charge.

Ezra opened first one eye, very narrowly, then the other, and surveyed everything he could without lifting his face away from the floor.
The creature above him had an angular humanoid face, with two wide bat like ears on either side on his head. His jaw and crown were edged with a stubby set of horns, and his face was set in the most hateful scowl Ezra had ever seen set his way.

He closed his eyes again, squeezing them shut and hoping maybe, he could get some tears flowing. No one liked to deal with crying children.

Suddenly the boot in his back was removed and he was ripped off the floor by a hand that knotted into his hair. He was pulled against the chest of the horned man and the blaster was jabbed hard into his ribs. Ezra grunted, but stayed silent.

The creature pulled Ezra's head back, exposing his neck, and for a brief flash of panic Ezra though the man was going to slit his throat or possibly bite him. Instead he put his sharp teeth close to Ezra's ear and hissed a series of low sounds. The blaster in his ribs was twisted at a painful angle and Ezra squirmed, only to be jerked hard in punishment for moving.

Ezra, correctly assumed this was a warning, that if he so much as put a toe out of line, he was as good as dead. So he slowly released his fingers on the humanoids arm, stood a little straighter, showing defeat and nodding weakly.

The creature grumbled and gave Ezra a hard shove forward. Ezra managed to catch himself on his knees and quickly got to his feet in time for the blaster to be jabbed into the small of his back.

The other Black Market dealers in the doorway, another humanoid species Ezra didn't know and another horned alien, stepped aside, their faces set into filthy sneers.

The blaster nudged Ezra, none too gently and Ezra got the hint. 'Walk'

He raised his arms out above his head and began to walk.

Hera's heart was hammering in her chest and her hands tightened on the helm.

The freighter hovered in the blackness for half a second- and then it pulled away, disappeared into the void of space and leaving a gaping hole in the galaxy where it had been.

And taking Ezra way with it.

The Ghost crew were inconsolable, but professional.

So before anything else was done, Zeb re-docked the TIE at the station and the Phantom collected him and Sabine.

The short flight back to the Ghost was conducted in heavy silence, no one was willing to be the first to break it.

Ezra's parting words still echoing in their mind.

The sound of him closing the lockbox and shoving into the chute. A hiss of a pressurizer.
A muffled but clear murmur.

"I'll miss you guys."
Something they probably weren't supposed to hear.

And then lockbox was shot out into the vacuum of space with a loud hiss, leaving Ezra unarmed and without anyway to contact them, and then nothing.

Ezra had said he knew they would come, without so much as a twinge of fault in his voice.

He had complete, and infallible faith in them- something Ezra did not have a lot of.
They would not let him down.

The Phantom docked with the Ghost.

Chopper greeted them at the hatch and gave an unusually competent string of notes. He had already determined the velocity of the lockbox and had begun scanning the large area of space for the communicators signal.

Hera lay a hand on Kanan's shoulder and turned him to meet her eyes. "There is no force that will keep us from him." she told him sternly.

"I know." he said, nodding, but his eye did not show the confidence he had in his voice. "Let's get to work."

Sabine stood to attention and turned to Chopper. "Let's go get that Holocron. The sooner we do, the sooner we can go after them."

Hera pulled away towards the cockpit. "I've got to go inform Ahsoka." she said quietly and withdrew.

"I'll join you", Kanan added in a voice that left no room for argument. "I have some things I'd like to say to her."

Hera looked like she wanted to disagree, but decided against it, turned and let him follow.

Sabine, Chopper and Zeb wordlessly got moving.

They found the com beacon floating in space and Chopper was sent to retrieve it. For once he didn't argue, not even about going into the cold of space that made his joins rust. He did however made a show of waving the lockbox around when the cargo hold doors shut behind him and the cabin filled with oxygen.

"Yes, you're very brave." Sabine told him with a tight smile.

She and Zeb set about trying to undo the simple combo lock, but the box wouldn't depressurize.

"How-ugh does the kid get into these things?" Zeb grunted, failing to pull the box's two halves apart.

Sabine smirked, "He uses his brain, not his brawn."

"What brawn?" Zeb chided with a crooked smile. "For that matter, what brain?"

The box suddenly gave under the Lasat's pressure and snapped open.

Sabine leant forward, and the smile slipped right off her face at the sight of the lightsaber, the slingshot, and the communicator, sitting beside the bronze cube. Then her pupils dilated, and she dipped her hand into the box of treasures and pulled out a burnt out holodisk.

"Whats that?" Zeb asked, thinking perhaps the kid had found information on his jaunt through the ship.

"Its... just something I gave Ezra once." Sabine answered lamely, and after few seconds, she slipped it carefully into her belt.

Zeb lay a hand on her armored shoulder and pulled her a little closer.
"Won't be long, and you can give it back to him."

Sabine nodded and pulled away, moving to go inform Hera and Kanan of the Holocron's retrieval.

Zeb watched her go and then reached into the lock box. He switched off the communicator, it had long lost its power charge but it had done the job Ezra had wanted it to do.

He pocketed the com, slingshot and the saber, intending to pass them on to Kanan for safe keeping later. He picked up the Holocron and passed the twice broken lockbox to Chopper.

"Dispose of this me, yeah?" he asked absently, studying the bronze surface of the cube.

Ahsoka, Kanan and Ezra had all seemed quite desperate to get their hands on it. Ezra seemingly most of all. Sometimes, Zeb just couldn't understand Jedi, with their tarditions and tenacity. Their rituals and riddles. Zeb shook his head.

Chopper let out a low hum.

"Yeah this is it." Zeb answered the droid. He passed the Holocron down to the mechanical hands, unwilling to look at it any deeper, when all he could see was a pretty cut of metal that might've cost his friend his life.

Chopper inspected the little cube carefully, then surprised Zeb by opening a little panel in the back of him, pulling out a little compartment where he placed the Holocron and closed the drawer. It disappeared into the seams of the droid like it was never there.

"What's this?" Zeb asked with a grin. "You been letting the kid give you upgrades?"

Chopper spun his head and indicated 'No!' then the droid shrugged his arms and withdrew them, exuding a few bashful notes, 'well okay, maybe a few.'

Zeb nodded, smiling wryly and followed Sabine through to the common room.

"You said 'any cost'!" Kanan shouted, pacing around the holo display.

Ahsoka's cloaked, lovely face showed little affront, a masterful display of contol. But the Crew could see the very corners of her mouth draw down in the shadows of her hood.

"I was pressing the importance of the mission, not suggesting Ezra trade himself for the Holocron." she said with a hard edge to her voice. "We are in exactly the same position as before, only now Ezra's life is at risk. Why did you allow him to make such a reckless move in the first place? You should have aborted the mission the moment your preparation was compromised."

Kanan grit his teeth. "We tried to tell him that, but he didn't want to let you down!"

Ahsoka frowned. "Are you sure it is me he didn't want to disappoint?"

Kanans eyes flashed. Hera chose that moment to step in.

"Throwing blame gets us no closer to getting Ezra back." her sharp tone cut through the tension. Her words reverberated through the two force sensitive beings.
After a moment Kanan dropped his shoulders and sank into the copilot's seat with a huff. He ran a hand down his face, tugging at his goatee.

"His priorities are all screwed up." He told Ahsoka with a heavy voice. He looked at the floor, "I ordered him to get out of there."

"Some of the most insightful Jedi, began as rebellious Padawans."

Kanan lifted his eyes for half a glance, his face an unreadble wall, and the returned to starting at the floor.
"I'm sure he will find a way to make this work, Kanan." Ahsoka continued, her voice much gentler than before. "Ezra is much smarter than we give him credit for."

Hera nodded along with the Togruta.
"He is, and he knows we're on the way." Kanan said nothing. "Now tell us, what do you know about the Invisible Markets?"

Ahsoka's face turned a little sour again, like theirs had the first time Ezra mentioned what he'd overheard.

"The Invisible is possibly one of the worst collections of scum in the galaxy." Ahsoka spoke and her voice didn't waver. "It's dismantled and moved every other week. I will need time to find the current one."

"Time isn't something Ezra has. If they realize who he is-" Kanan started, but he stopped when he saw Ahsoka's face.

"I realise we cannot afford to sit on this Kanan, but if I send you in with the wrong information or to the wrong location, We may waste what little time we do have." She turned her attention back to Hera, "Give me a time to confer with my informants, and I will contact you as soon as I can."
Hera nodded once over her folded arms, and Ahsoka glanced once at Kanan taut from, before disabled the connection.

The cockpit was suddenly left in a tense silence. While Hera was avoiding putting too much thought into where Ezra might be right now and in what condition, Kanan on the other hand was letting his mind wallow in an alleyway consuming stream of images focusing on his Padawan. He had not been able to sense the boy since the ship had pulled away from them, and it put his blood pressure through the atmosphere.

"Kanan, Hera." Sabine appeared in the doorway, her face looked drawn. "We have the Holocron. We're ready to move when you are."

Hera offered the Mando girl a weak smile. "Thankyou Sabine. We're waiting for Fulcrum to contact us with a lead."

Sabine nodded tensely, moved to leave and then hesitated. Her eyes over to Kanan, slumped in his chair. "Kanan?"

He lifted his chin but his eyes remained distant. "mmmh?" he asked.

"We'll find him." Sabine said. Her voice more decided then she looked, but her eyes shone with fire. "We got you out Mustafar. We can get Ezra out of whatever mess he's gotten himself into."

Kanan lifted his eyes in time to share one long moment studying the girl, her mouth pursed into an unmoving line.

"I know Sabine," he said quietly, coming to his feet. "Thankyou."

She nodded to Hera and then pulled away from the door.

Kanan watched the Mandalorian girl go and then frowned at space long after she'd disappeared .
"Did she say for my benefit, or hers?" he asked quietly.

Hera came to stand at his side, unconsciously leaning against his arm a little. "She and Ezra are close." she offered in a soft voice. "She's as worried as you are."

Kanan grimaced.
They were all worried. The Ghost was practically filled with a heavy cloud of dread.
The worst part would be the waiting.

Something occurred to Kanan, Hera saw his eyes widen and the narrow.

"What?" she demanded.

Kanan stepped away from her side, his jaw set. "Set a course for Lothal." he told her firmly.

"What? Why?" Hera demanded, lurching to the controls and began to punch in the familiar coordinates.

"Because if the Invisible Markets are filled with the scum of the galaxy, then I think we might know someone with an idea of where to find it."

Ezra was marched through all six levels of the freighter ship. The big guy with the blaster stopped him with a hard yank of his suit outside the door to the main cabin.

Ezra swallowed hard. He'd only just been inside this room and robbed it blind. Had they already realized who he was? No, surely they would have searched him for the Holocron already.

What if they know you shunted it out into space? A cold voicing the back of his mind whispered. Then I'm already dead, so there's no point worrying about it, he answered it firmly.

Ezra was jolted from his thoughts as his arms were roughly pulled behind him. He felt the cuffs circle his wrists and clamp down tightly. The hands gripped him much harder than necessary, but Ezra was sure to say and do nothing. If the worst thing that happened to him on board this ship was a couple of bruises; he was more than lucky.

The blaster was withdrawn from the middle of his back and the ache suddenly intensified without the pressure, But Ezra didn't have time to dwell on his aches because the main cabin doors were swung open and he was pushed inside.

Ezra landed on his kneecaps and fell to his side without his hands to catch him.

I'm small, I'm weak, you don't even notice me, he willed, squeezing his eyes shut and overselling the shudders that ran through his shoulders.

Boots stepped into the room behind him and gave him a hard nudge in the ribs with his left shoe as he passed.

Ezra felt two rough hands pull him to his feet by his upper arms and he struggled to find his feet.

He looked up for the first time, careful not to let his eyes drift to the corner of the room where he knew the safe sat, intact and undisturbed.
Instead Ezra put all his focus into making his eyes wide and his mouth quiver. He'd failed at forcing any tears to appear but at least he looked convincingly exhausted. The muck down his suit would only help sell the street-rat image.

The guards holding him up dragged him towards the head of the room, where the horned man Ezra had christened Boots, was leaning down a little to spit sounds to the alien seated behind the desk.

This was another horned alien, only his features seemed a little sharper, the spurs along his jaw certainly did, and his face was narrower than Boots'. His wide cat ears twitched passively as Boots spat low words at his side, but not once did his yellow eyes so much as flicker away from Ezra.

This man was clearly the one in charge, he sat with his broad shoulders set back, ad his long hands folded neatly in front of him. His a dark red suit had accentuated shoulders a subtle gold trims. He dressed like someone who knew they had power.

Ezra deduced, Boots must only be a second. Is he the captain? Ezra thought. Then who was the man Kanan met?

All while Boots was hissing in his ear, the seated alien stared at Ezra with a calculating look and Ezra did his best to let his face show anything other then fear and confusion. Ezra focused on making every other part of his body tremble and avoided the aliens studious gaze.

Boots finally fell quiet and took one step back, his wide and brutish face was smug and Ezra dearly wished he might one day have the opportunity to spit in it.

"So," the Captain in charge said, surprising Ezra with a formal and clean accented basic. He narrowed his glinting eyes. "You were found smuggling away in my disposal hold."

Ezra said nothing. He swallowed hard and heaved a very shallow shudder in his breath, but said nothing.

The man narrowed his eyes even further, and suddenly came to his feet, folding his hands behind his back.
Ezra spotted a coiled electrowhip strapped to his belt as he drew level with the desk, and immediately decided not to test this man,
The Capitan approached slowly, because everyone here was on his time. He came to a stop in front of the boy, a mere two feet away. Ezra ducked his head and let out a whimper that he didn't have to fake.

"Why are you on my ship?"

"I-I-"

The man had the whip out almost as fast as Sabine could draw her blaster. Ezra felt his heart skip in fear- only just managing to keep the warning shudder that ran up his back withheld.

"Do not make me repeat myself in your filthy tongue again, Child." His voice was picked clean of anything that might have resembled anything but barely withheld fury.

Ezra licked his lips once and took a deep gasp of air.
"I- I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I just wanted to hide and the attendants were turned around and- I was running away- from the academy. I didn't know this was your ship! I'm very sorry! My family is rich. You can ask them for money! They'll pay you for your time an-"

The creature held up a single finger to signal silence and Ezra obeyed with a jerk, clamping down on his words.

"Enough of your prattle, Child. I have heard enough."
There was no softness here, not that Ezra expected any. But if he could assure them, that he was no threat to them in anyway... It was time to pull out the big guns.

Ezra, very quietly began to sob into his chest, hanging limp between the Guards. Through his down turned eyes, he saw the narrower, yet still sharp, captain's boots facing him, step away with a crisp turn of the heels.

The horned man in charge sank back into his seat and lay his hands on the arms rests. He inclined his head very slightly towards Boots. They began to talk between themselves in the jerky tongue Ezra was quickly growing to dislike hearing. The Captain clearly asking questions and Boots responding in short, sharp sentences.

Ezra didn't feel safe yet, especially hearing a clipped and unhappy quick passing of words between Captain and Boots.

Ezra could read faces pretty well, but the additional features and the stoic manner of the two threw him off. Not to mention Ezra was trying to study them through a thick curtain of his own hair and bleary eyes. Boots was easier to read then the Captain, first he looked irritable, then he looked mad, then annoyed, and finally placated. The captains expressions remained firm and stony expect for a very slight, distasteful, down turn at the corner of his mouth. The captain said one finally piece, and indicated towards Ezra with a flick of his hand. Boot's smiled thinly.

Ezra did not like that Boots looked contented with whatever had been decided about him, nor that the guards hands holding him by the shoulders suddenly tightened, like they expected him to start struggling.

But he had no time to act on any plans that might've come to mind, because Boots approached him suddenly, in four quick strides across the room. He pulled back his blaster off his back, and butt first began to bring it down. Ezra had half a moment to flick his eyes up to the Captain, who was sitting upright at his desk and meeting his gaze with a small and cold smile on his sharp face.

The blaster came down, hard- and Ezra was knocked into pain and out of consciousness.

R&R for another update and to send Ezra some help.