Chapter 2
Ezra's P.O.V.
After the check up in the med bay I went to my shared quarters. I wanted to figure this out now, but, Hera said we should all sleep on it, and well, I can't disagree with her when she is in mother mode, as Sabine and I like to call it.
Tomorrow will surely be a long day.
As soon as I hit the bed I was out! I had a calm sleep until…
"Whoa! Where am I?", I asked out loud.
"Who's there?", replied a familiar, yet distant, voice. It sounded like a woman, around her 30's.
"Is it you again? You better not be playing any more tricks on me!", she screamed.
I swear I've heard that voice before, but I just can't think of anyone she could be.
Deciding to answer her question, I said, "I don't know who you are talking about or if this is all a dream, but I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Ezra. Maybe I could help you?".
Why did I just tell her my name!? For all I know she could be an inquisitor trying to trick me.
"Ezra! Where are you?", asked the woman.
"Hey, I answered your question, it's my turn, who are YOU?
"My name is Ashla", Ashla answered.
"How do I know I can trust you?", I asked her.
"Well, I am the one that turned you around on Malachor"-"WHAT!?", I interrupted.
I couldn't help it! This woman was the reason we couldn't get to Malachor!
"Why did you do that?! We were there looking for a friend. She could be dead!", I shouted at her.
"Ezra! You don't understand… There is something on Malachor that you are not ready to face. A monster your crew cannot encounter", she said sadly.
A monster. Ahsoka must be dead. Especially if there is a monster not even my crew could withstand.
My crew… How does Ashla know about my crew?!
"That isn't important… Now are you and your friends far away from Malachor?", Ashla asked.
"Yeah, thanks to you. Our friend is probably dead because of you!", I said.
This was all my fault! If I had gone to help her, and if I hadn't trusted Maul, Kanan would still see and Ahsoka would be here with us!
"Kid, I need to go! Remember to have fun and enjoy life! Bye", said Ashla quickly.
Huh… I'll tell Kanan in the morning…
—
Hera's P.O.V.
I was sleeping when I finally made contact with her.
"Man Hera, you should help Ezra. I'm afraid he's going down a dark path", she told me.
"I know it's just that, helping Kanan and getting new missions from the Rebellion… It's hard to get some time with him to just talk about this", I told her.
"Well hurry up because he's going to start isolating himself from the crew soon", she said.
"I know. But now we need to talk about why you didn't let the Phantom at least land on Malachor. Why would you manipulate my ship just so they wouldn't find you?", I asked.
"Hera, you don't understand"-"What I don't understand is why you wouldn't just pretend to be dead or hide if you didn't want to be found", I demanded.
I'm stressed ok!
"He is here and he is trying to manipulate me. I can't tell the difference between hallucinations and reality and I couldn't risk your crew getting possessed or tricked", she answered.
"I guess I can understand that logic. What did you want to talk about?", I asked. At this point I just want to get this over with.
"One: I'll only talk to you on emergencies. Two. Watch your back and be careful. There is something coming, it won't be good and you can't tell your crew. If I'm right, you're going to keep it a secret. Any ways your journey will probably begin soon. Don't worry it's going to be fun. You'll have to tell me how it all started. Goodbye", she finished.
"Wait!", I shouted before I woke up in a sweat.
I quickly went outside my room to see if there was anyone around. Good, no one was there.
I went back into my room and sat on the bed. I understood part of what she was talking about but what journey?
I'm assuming it's a mission for the Rebellion, but weird things have happened before. She probably got a vision or something.
What time is it?
4:00 am
Might as well start my day.
—
Ezra's P.O.V.
6:00 am
Time to wake up. I need to go talk to Kanan!
I quickly got ready and went looking for Kanan. I found him sitting in the common room.
"Hi kid. How are you feeling?", he asked.
"I'm well…", I started.
"Don't lie to me Ezra. Some thing's bothering you", he said.
"I had a vision last night. There was this woman called Ashla. She said she's the reason we couldn't get to Malachor", I said.
Kanan started to think this over when Hera came walking in.
"Ezra, could you get the rest of the crew. We have a new mission", said Hera.
—
Hera's P.O.V.
This is what we needed. After everything that has been happening we needed a simple mission to calm down for a bit.
I don't know how everyone will react to this, but I can mask my emotions really well, even from Kanan. So I'm ready for anything.
I waited in the common room with Kanan for the rest of my crew. In a matter of minutes they came into the room.
"The Alliance has given us a mission, as Ezra probably told you. It's going to be a simple mission. We are going to steal some supplies from an Imperial base on Shili and take them to Raada", I said.
"So we are just giving up on Ahsoka for a simple mission?", asked Sabine.
"No, we aren't going to give up on Ahsoka but"-"Would Ahsoka give up on us so easily?", interrupted Ezra.
"Well when I was captured", started Kanan.
"But in the end she came to help us. To help you!", said Ezra.
"That might be a little exaggerated", answered Kanan.
"Stop it both of you", I interrupted before this would become an argument, "What matters right now is that we need to get supplies to the people on Raada. Now get ready, we are leaving in a few hours", I finished before going to the cockpit with Chopper.
—
Sabine's P.O.V.
Well… This is definitely weird.
When Hera briefed us on the mission, I was confused. She was on board with our plan to rescue Ahsoka. I know what she said didn't necessarily mean she gave up but, her body language seemed to be hiding something.
I was starting to head for my room, like everyone else was, when Ezra pulled me aside.
"Hey Sabine, what happened to Rex?", he asked.
"He left when you were in the MedBay", I answered.
I know he wants to talk about something else but I just want to paint while I can. We can talk while in hyperspace.
Luckily he didn't have the chance to talk more, because Kanan came and took him away. Hopefully I can make it to my room without any interruptions.
I almost made it when I heard a noise from Hera's room. I would usually just walk past without acknowledging weird sounds from my crew's quarters, but I knew that Hera was in the cockpit with Chopper and I've never seen her room. Maybe I should check it out…
When I was about to open the door I heard footsteps. If Hera saw I was going into her room without permission I would be… hmm I actually don't know what would happen. No one has gone into her quarters, except for maybe Kanan and Chopper.
But I don't want to find out. I bolted to my room just when the person was coming into the hallway.
—
Ezra's P.O.V.
"Hey Sabine, what happened to Rex?", I asked.
"He left when you were in the MedBay", she answered.
I wanted to talk to her about the mission so, I tried starting a conversation. I didn't want to be alone since I, messed up on Malachor, but I feel like everyone is drifting away.
Maybe it's just me… Well anyways, our 'conversation', didn't last long since Kanan called me over back to the common room.
Well here comes another opportunity.
"Hey kid, don't feel guilty about my eyes. It wasn't your fault", he said.
Was that really his attempt at making me feel better? Well, I wonder what he will do next?
"Umm, about your vision. Did you see this 'Ashla' woman?", he asked.
"No. I only heard her. She sounded scared and nervous. She was hiding something", I said.
"Well,", he started, when Hera came in with a holopad.
"Ezra, I need you to help me… Am I interrupting something?", she said looking up from her holopad.
"No. Ezra you should go help Hera. We can talk later", said Kanan.
I stood up and went to help Hera. But I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong and that something or someone in the ship is clouded in the force.
—
Sabine's P.O.V.
It had been a few days since we entered hyperspace and things have been calm. I'm just so curious about what was in Hera's room.
I was in the kitchen when Ezra came in. Maybe I should ask him about this.
"Hi Sabine", he said.
"Hi Ezra. How have you been?", I said, sitting down at the table.
"Well, honestly… strange. I had this weird dream a few days ago, but I haven't been able to talk to Kanan about it. Something always comes up", he said.
"Hmm. What kind of stuff?", I asked curiously.
"It's usually Chopper coming to ask for help because of something he broke. Hera also needs help sometimes. The Ghost really needs some maintenance", he answered.
"Maybe Chop knows something about your dream… or maybe he's just messing with you. But I was wondering, have you ever been in Hera's room?", I said.
"No. Now that I think about it, I've never seen a glimpse of it", he said and started thinking of something.
"Well, Hera and Kanan are working on something in the cargo hold, and I don't think Zeb would pay any attention to us. Maybe we should check it out", he said.
"I like that plan, but what about Chopper?", I answered.
"I doubt he'll catch us. We can turn him off if it comes to it", he answered.
We both casually walked into the hallway that led to Hera's quarters. When we saw that the coast was clear, we both ran into the room and closed the door behind us.
Well… this is boring. The room was just that, a room. There is a made bed, a closet a shelf and a few drawers. It's also very clean.
"Wasn't this underwhelming?", said Ezra, expressing my exact thoughts.
"Lets look around. Maybe there is something we aren't seeing", I said, starting to look through the shelves.
This couldn't be it!
I was about to open a cabinet when I had second thoughts. Hera wouldn't do this to me. What was I thinking invading her privacy! I should tell Ezra to leave. Yeah, that would be the right thing to do.
"Hey Sabine! Look at this!", yelled Ezra.
I walked over to him to see a secret panel on the floor in the closet.
"Should we open it?", he asked. I really wanted to but, it would be wrong.
"Everyone get ready for landing", said Hera through the inter com.
"Guess we should get out. We can check it out when we come back", I said and left the room followed by Ezra.
—
Ezra's P.O.V.
We finally arrived on Shili. Turns out the reason we were on this planet was because one of the villages had more than enough food and wanted to donate some to the cause.
They seem to be pretty anti-empire. It's cool to see these people that seem to have kept their primitive traditions, but still be informed over what was going on in the galaxy.
We were on our way to the village, being led by one of the male natives named Juga.
It was a very relaxing walk so far until…
"Everyone duck!", screamed Juga, as he fell on the floor, everyone else doing the same.
We were being shot at by a group of togrutas that all had the same mark on their shoulder. We followed Juga and ran trying to stay clear of the arrows they were using.
"I'm sorry, but we didn't expect to be attacked by our enemies", he said.
He was then called for in a whistle by one of his friends (I think) and turned to us.
"My men need me. Quickly! Hide in that cave and don't leave until I come get you", he then ran back in the direction he came from.
We ran in the direction of the cave. When we got there, we hid on the side of the cave where the shadows covered us but, we could still see outside.
"I think we should go help them. With us they'd have a better chance!", said Sabine.
"We can't. This is their fight and they honor that. If they didn't they would have asked for help. We can't disrespect their wishes", said Kanan.
After that we remained silent, waiting for Juga to come and get us.
We were going to see if there was still a fight when we heard footsteps approaching. We held our breaths and got ready to defend ourselves when… nothing came. I was already relaxing when an arrow nearly got Zeb.
Since I don't think they really know we're here because they didn't continue firing. It was probably just a rogue arrow. Kanan signaled us to go deeper into the cave just in case.
I started moving backwards when a light was shown in my direction. I was caught.
The enemy togrutas started closing in on us and blocked the entrance to the cave. Deciding it was best not to engage and hide, in hopes they would give up the search if they didn't find us, I shouted, "Run!" , to my crew and went into the back of the cave in hopes to find another exit or hiding spot.
My crew followed closely behind me, but so did the togrutas. I ran until I hit a dead end, literally.
"Are you okay Ezra?", asked Hera, giving me a hand.
"Yeah I'm good. Are they still chasing us?", I asked.
"Well they have us cornered, no thanks to you", said Zeb. Kanan and Hera gave him a quick glare before turning in the direction we came from.
"Sorry to interrupt, but why haven't they come here yet?", said Sabine, "I'm pretty sure they should've caught up to us by now".
"Maybe they realized we didn't want to hurt them and left us alone", said Kanan.
"Unlikely. There may be something here they're afraid of", Hera said as she looked at some markings on the wall, "We should get out of here ASAP", she finished.
—
Hera's P.O.V.
We were stuck in between a cave and group of angry togrutas. To pass the time I was looking at some markings in the wall. Ahsoka taught me how to interpret many different markings including these ones.
These ones read: 'The great monster that lives in this area of the cave kills anyone who comes into it's territory. Anyone who reads this is doomed to die unless they know exactly what they wish to know to survive'- well that is definitely strange-'This monster is like no other. It eats up its victims and spits them out into a time of dread or joy. The monster's territory is marked by a black line in the corner of the cave you are reading this in. Back to the time of darkness I go, into the night of light and black. To the balance of life we shall go!'
That was concerning. It was pretty quiet until my crew started arguing.
"Maybe they realized we didn't want to hurt them and left us alone", said Kanan.
"Unlikely. There may be something here they're afraid of", I said as I gave a quick glance at the wall, "We should get out of here ASAP", I said heading towards the exit.
"Why the sudden evacuation?", asked Kanan, following me.
"I'll explain-", I was caught off by a spear being pointed in our direction. I looked around and noticed the black lines the markings warned us about.
"They seem to be afraid of something", Ezra pointed out.
"We should wait until they leave. We seem to be safe on this side of the cave", said Sabine.
In that moment I noticed my crew faint behind me. I tried to run to them, but a small earthquake prevented me from doing so. A weird force field formed around us and I soon joined my crew and blacked out.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review.
Have a great day! :)