-Kidnapped-
"Thank you very much for dinner Senator," I said.
"Yes, Padmé, the food was amazing as always," Ahsoka told her graciously.
"If it is alright with everyone else here, Tokrin and I need to get some rest before we get going tonight," Master Otarri said.
"Of course. Allow me to show you to your rooms," Padmé said empathetically.
We all stood as our hostess did, and followed her up the grand staircase. It split in two directions; we went right. It seemed apparent that for Ahsoka and Anakin, this was not the first time they had stayed in Theed Palace. We walked up the stairs and disappeared down a long marbled corridor. I found that Theed Palace had a warm air about it, even though it was mostly made of rock and cold hard materials. Our footsteps echoed across the floor and over the walls until Padmé finally halted in front a tall, ornate door.
"Master Jedi, this is where you will be staying for tonight, and for whenever you return," she said.
My master bowed, "You are too kind Senator."
"It is the least that I could do, especially since you are heading this investigation with Master Skywalker to protect me," she said smiling looking from him to Anakin.
He smiled and nodded humbly, "It is my pleasure to help. Sleep well everyone. Oh, and Tokrin," he said turning to me. "I will come get you in about an hour to head down to the streets to look around there."
"Yes, Master."
"This way Padawan Helturus," Padmé said.
I walked next to Ahsoka as Padmé led us down the hall until we came across another tall door that was just as intricate.
"This is your room young Padawan."
"Thank you very much Senator. I hope tonight reveals some information about this changeling character."
She nodded, "Me too. I shudder just thinking about what nefarious plans Dooku has cooked up this time."
"Well, all I know is that the four of us will be able to stop it," I turned to Ahsoka and Anakin. "Goodnight Master; Ahsoka. We will comm you if we run into any trouble."
Ahsoka nodded, but her master spoke for the both of them, "Be sure to do that. We are going to be in the rooms around Pa- the senator's. Guards will be at the door and inside, so we shouldn't have any problems; if we do, well, just keep your comlink on."
"Will do Master."
I opened the door and stopped in the entryway to try and take everything in. I entered my suite. I had a large bed, at least a king, with pillows galore laying on top and a refresher connected to my room. Extravagant didn't quite give the suite justice. It was much more than that. Chairs, a small living room, handcrafted furniture, and a fireplace were just a few features of the room. The towels alone could make a person want to stay; they were softer than anything I had ever felt. Grabbing one, and some robes that were already laid out on my bed, I headed into the 'fresher for a shower. A short while later I re-entered my room feeling refreshed and ready to explore Theed. I wandered around the room, examining every inch of my space. My eyes wandered out the windows to the copper-topped city below. I found the balcony and leaned forward on the stone railing. The view overlooking Theed and the countryside beyond was worthy of note; the sun was going down and the sunlight glanced off of the rooftops of the great city. Yes, I could easily get used to living here for a long time. This place made the Jedi Temple look like a bantha sty! A knock on the door drew me out of my trance.
"Come in," I called out, my eyes still pouring over the city, trying to watch all the people milling around.
"Good evening Tokrin," Master Otarri called out from my room, only to join me on the balcony. "What do you think of Theed and Naboo?"
"It's beautiful Master. I'm amazed by the buildings, and the food, and the scenery...It's all incredible! I never knew that you had come here before."
He didn't say anything for a moment, and I thought I heard him whisper, "There's a lot you don't know," but I could've been mistaken. "I grew up here in fact."
"Really? How-?" I cut myself off trying to form the words in my head. "I thought that younglings were chosen before they were too old to- what I mean is, how old were you when you were found to be Force using?"
"I was 7."
We were quiet for a while after he said that. I knew he didn't have any desire to talk about his childhood, and I didn't want to talk about something that made him feel uncomfortable. However, I felt that things were different; almost that he wanted me to ask.
"Was it hard to leave?" I asked him cautiously.
He answered me quickly, "Just ask Master Skywalker; he was taken away at a young age too. He almost wasn't accepted into the Order. I-" He sighed heavily, but then started again, "I knew my parents and it was hard to leave them knowing that I would probably never see them again. I'd like to see them while we're here..."
"Where did you live?"
"Out in the country. My parents were poor. I think that's why they let me leave when I got recruited. They wanted me to have a better life than they could give me, so I'm thankful for that at least."
"Maybe you can ask them when we visit!" I said trying to give him some hope. Typically Jedi never saw their parents again and very few ever knew them. I certainly didn't know mine.
"Yeah, maybe," he trailed off obviously deep in thought. "Ready to go?"
"Yes, Master."
We straightened up and I followed him off of the balcony, back into the room, and out the door. We walked back to the stairs and down to the landing where the two staircases joined to one. The dark presence returned and I stopped. It crawled all over my skin making the hair on the back of my head turn up, sending a chill down my spine.
"Master, do you sense that too?"
"Yes Tokrin, I think we should check on-"
A loud crash came from down the hallway that the other staircase led to and interrupted him. He and I sprinted up the steps to the corridor above.
"Tokrin, go that way!" he directed, pointing right. "If you feel the presence get stronger, call out to me."
"Yes, Master!" I said running off down the right part of the corridor. As I ran, looking and listening for anything suspicious, the presence got weaker. I stopped near the end of the hallway when I heard my comlink beep. I hit the receiver and heard Master Otarri.
"Tokrin, come quickly!"
Without answering I turned on my heel and bolted back down the way I'd come. I came across the staircase quickly and blew past it. The darkness I felt got more oppressive and much stronger than before. A blue glow was visible at the end of the hall. I saw Master Otarri outside of a hefty door, his lightsaber in hand. Sounds of a scuffle on the inside could be heard out in the hall.
"It's locked," he told me. "We'll need to force it open."
I nodded in response and he put his saber away. I closed my eyes; in my mind I saw the door opening, but as I manipulated the Force to do it, the door exploded outwards from the center. The body of a guard had been thrown through the door and out into the hall. He slammed up against the opposite wall before slumping down to the ground. For a split second I saw his face change into something liquid black with a long snout, before it turned back. The "guard" glanced up at us, surprisingly unharmed and stood, only to run towards the staircase. Anakin jogged through the hole that he had made, Ahsoka right behind him. Both of them looked pretty rough; Ahsoka had a horrible looking cut on her cheek and Anakin had a purple bruise the size of a nerf steak on his neck. Both of them were covered in dust and bits of debris.
"After him! Padmé was kidnapped!" Anakin shouted running after the suspicious guard. Master Otarri, Ahsoka, and I quickly gave chase to him as well, falling right behind Anakin.
"Sorry we didn't comm you," Ahsoka said between breaths as we chased after the guard. "We had just left Padmé in her room with a handful of guards, when we heard a scream. Next thing we knew, Padmé was being taken away in a speeder with what looked like a Mandalorian bounty hunter. All of her guards are dead. We found this guy though. He attacked us as soon as we entered the room. It all happened pretty fast and I don't think that he was planning on us seeing him take her away."
The guard stopped at the staircase and began to change. He grew shorter as he morphed from a man into a bizarre, black, oily liquid like creature. He looked up at the four of us chasing after him and leaped out into the air over the tall staircase. We arrived at the stairs to see him land heavily on the landing. To catch up, we also leaped into the air. Anakin landed first and without skipping a beat he jumped the next flight of stairs as well. We each repeated this action to keep the speed and momentum from slowing. Some guards on the inside of the large door had just let in some politicians to visit the queen when the creature landed in the main hall. He saw his opening and took off towards the door. We looked on in dismay as he dashed out into the city. The guards opened the door for us to run through and then closed it to secure the area.
Anakin mumbled under his breath, "Please don't change. Please don't change. Please don't change."
The sound of a starting repulsorlift pulled my searching eyes to the right, where we saw speeder lights not 60 meters away in an alleyway pierce the darkness.
"There!" I called out pointing to the light. We tore after the speeder before it could fly away. "Ahsoka and I'll take the roofs! Come on!"
Our masters kept running, intending to confront the speeder head on. Ahsoka followed me hood up as I jumped and landed on a small two story home. I quickly scrambled up a sloped part of the roof and jumped up to another story. Now I was high enough to leap to the building with the alleyway and the speeder. I quickly took a few steps back for more room, ran to the edge of the building, and jumped. The air rushed through my hair and robes and before I knew it I was thudding down on the target roof Ahsoka mere seconds behind me.
"Over here!" she said, calling me over to the edge of the roof. The sound of the speeder was almost overwhelming at the top of that small alleyway; the noise was channeled up the walls of the adjacent buildings and into our ears, deafening them. We looked down to see the craft rising slowly to get above the rooftops. A large device of some kind was modified into the back of the speeder. That wasn't anything that I had seen before and it seemed to be humming.
"Hey! What's that?" I yelled to Ahsoka over the noise, pointing to the thing in the back of the speeder.
The humming intensified.
"I don't know!" she hollered back. "Should we put a tracking device on it?"
The humming got louder and began a tumult of repetitive humming waves, almost like it was charging.
At this point, talking was irrelevant because we couldn't hear each other anyway. I nodded my agreement, but used my hands to show that I didn't have a homing beacon. She pointed to herself and shook her head.
'I don't have one either.'
Our masters were looking ready to jump up to the speeder, but their expressions changed. They looked perplexed, as if trying to comprehend something. I saw Master Skywalker mutter something inaudible to Master Otarri before he threw a small item at the speeder and they crouched, preparing to spring at it.
Now we've got him! I thought.
Unfortunately, as soon as that thought passed through my brain I was suddenly thrown through the air and blasted through shrubs and a rooftop garden. I stopped moving when I slammed into a wall; pain shot through me from my head to my feet.
My eyes opened for one last moment, and I saw the speeder flying away into the night before everything went black.