Welcome Back Everyone!
I wasn't supposed to write again so soon, but I really liked Magic's idea of opening the box during the 25th December XD
Plus, for the votes, it ended with... Nope! I shouldn't say it now! In fact, I'll let you the pleasure to discover the result within the chapter ;3
Have a nice reading time! :D
P.s. I own Nothing!
Chapter 14
The Inquisitor relaxed, releasing his hold over Ezra's heart with a light smile. He had wondered for a moment where he could have been, but he was right there before him now.
No need to worry for now...
The Pau'an raised his chin. He needed to stay calm, to be an exampe for the boy. He couldn't be careless about his teaching, teenagers were hard to bend to your liking, but he was sure having that young man as an ally would be worth the trouble. After all, his potential was incredible, but, like a diamond in the rough, it needed to be polished a little... and, even, to be taken care when needed.
Ezra had almost recovered his breathing and was beginning to wonder what had been this urging.
The Inquisitor made a side step, motioning his hand toward the boy's bed. -"I wanted to show you something." his movement revealing a cardbox on the mattress.
The box moved on its own with a brushing sound from inside it, automatically catching the boy's curiosity.
Ezra looked forth and back between it and the Inquisitor. The latter nodded to him, encouraging him to go, his serious eyes softening, and the boy started walking slowly toward the mysterious gift.
Every time is rustled, Ezra lightly jolted, excited by the anticipation of discovering what it could hold. Reaching his shivering hands for the cover, he removed it in one swift move and the content leaped right at him! Startled, he fell on his back, and the little animal spat, all hair raised on it, before running back to hide behind the bed!
-"It's a..." Started Ezra, completely astounded.
-"Yes, my boy." Answered the Grand Inquisitor, amused to see the young man approach the bed and raise the blanket to look again at the small furry form. "It's a Lothcat."
Ezra's blue iris locked into the green one's of the little feline. It spat again, ears arched back, looking frightened.
-"I don't think he likes me..." Commented the boy, a little disappointed.
-"It's normal, it is wild." Replied the Inquisitor, posing a knee on the floor and reaching in his pocket to take a treat in his hand. Raising it toward the little cat, he used the Force to make the food levitate to the small animal and land it just a few inches away. Then, he motioned at Ezra to release the blanket and, a short moment after it was left alone, the sound of the treat being eaten was heard. "But, if you feed and tend to it, it will eventually start to like you."
Ezra looked at the Inquisitor, even more surprised by his behavior than the gift itself, and turned back his sight at the bed when he heard the blanket rustle. He smiled, looking at the Lothcat poking his head in search for another treat. The inquisitor emptied the content of his pocket, giving the food to the boy who tried to approach it without any success.
-"It can smell you, and it isn't a scent it is used too. Try with the Force."
Concentrating, it took a moment, but Ezra made a little treat levitate hesitantly. He had to focus all his thoughts on it, but he felt motivated to pull off that trick and, when the food reached under the blanket and the happy eating sound was heard again for the delight of the kid, he happily chuckled.
The Inquisitor leaned a warm hand on the boy's shoulder, smiling at him. -"This will make a good practice for you until that little creature gets used to you. Don't hesitate to rub your fingers on the food before giving it to him. He will associate your scent to the act of being fed and will find it reassuring after a while."
The tall Pau'an stood up again to walk away, stopped only by the unsure voice of Ezra.
-"Can I... Are you really letting me keep him?"
-"For some times now, you looked like you were feeling... home sick. I assumed having a memento of your home planet would help you acclimate to your new life more... smoothly."
He looked a moment at the smiling boy before turning to exit the room. -"I will close the door. I don't want it wandering inside the ship."
Ezra nodded his understanding, and the Grand Inquisitor left with a light smile.
...
In the adjacent corridor, Kallus was leaning himself on the wall, arms crossed. He had followed the Grand Inquisitor and, after listening to their conversation, their voices easily heard with the open door and the empty corridors, he pushed himself back on his feet to walk away, pondering.
-'This child is smart, Inquisitor.' Thought the Agent. 'How long do you think he will need to understand he is your Lothcat?'
Shooking his head, sadly, he then raised his chin and continued on. Only time would prove him right, and he would await that moment, looking from far away at the fall of whatever plan he had fomented for the kid to crumble down.
He smirked at the thought. After that, he would take that promising child under his wing. He could already envisage what formidable soldier he would make...
...
Ezra stayed sitting on the floor for a moment, so focused on the task at hand he didn't see the time pass. After successfully sending the fourth treat to the little Lothcat, he didn't hear him eating and deduced he must have been full.
Rising to his feet, he walked to lay on the bed and jumped back when he was almost hit by the clawed paw! The Lothcat had made the 'under bed' his territory and he wasn't ready to share... Now, Ezra wondered how would go the night if he could not approach his own bed...
Posing the rest of the cat food on the table, he sat backward on the chair, leaning his forearms and chin on the backrest. With a sight, he looked at the bed, searching a solution to this new dilemma, when a curious thought invaded his mind.
Kanan.
He had almost forgot about him... Not that he really wanted to see him again right now... or was he? His face just popped in his mind so naturally... maybe he could give him a call, only to give him the chance to finish what he was saying so he could leave before being caught...
-"Kanan..."
The warm voice answered almost immediately. -"I hear you, Ezra. Are you alone?"
-"Mostly." Replied the kid, uncertain how to explain the situation.
-"What do you mean?"
-"You can come, I'll show you."
It only took a minute, but soon the door opened again, revealing Kanan with his white disguise.
-"Chopper isn't with you?" Inquired Ezra, surprised.
Kanan swiftly closed the door before removing his helmet. -"No. He'll be monitoring the corridor with the ship's computer to warn me if someone comes this way."
Ezra nodded, understanding the plan, but not that man's taste for the risk. Even more, it completely ignored every survival logic! And that was unbearable for the street kid.
-"Why couldn't you leave?" He asked, frowning.
-"Because you didn't report my presence." Replied Kanan without hesitation. He walked beside Ezra, posing a hand on his shoulder. "If you're not totally on their side, that mean you're still on mine and, from where I stand, we don't leave a friend behind without a fight."
Ezra stayed voiceless, his mouth half-opened like a fish. Kanan laughed, before walking to the bed.
-"Don't!"
But the kid's warning came too late. The little clawed paw scratched the white armor, startling Kanan!
-"What the!" He stepped back, looking at this ankle. "Those stupid armors, they really protect from nothing."
It was Ezra's turn to laugh, easing the atmosphere. Kanan smiled back, then knelt, trying to look under the blanket.
-"What did you hide under that bed?"
And the kid focused, slowly raising the sheet with the Force to unveil the frightened feline.
-"A Lothcat?" Exclaimed the Jedi, not knowing if that was what surprised him the most. That or Ezra controlling the Force.
-"I just got him, but he don't seems to appreciate sharing this room with me." Answered the kid, releasing his hold to give back some sense of security to the little cat.
Kanan thought for a moment, then an idea made him grin. -"You just need to tell him you don't want to harm him. If you explain, I'm sure he'll understand."
-"Kanan, it's a Lothcat." Replied Ezra, looking as if the answer was obvious. "I don't speak Lothcat."
-"It's because you didn't try. Come closer, I'll show you."
The kid raised a brow, but still stood to kneel beside Kanan. The man took the small hand with his, raising it toward the bed, and closed his eyes.
-"Focus on the Lothcat. Picture him in your mind. Picture him being safe and confident."
It didn't take a minute that Ezra opened his eyes back, yanking his hand close to himself. -"Kanan, nothing's happening."
The Jedi sighed, concentrating on his own raised hand. -"You need to be ready for him. To open yourself to him."
Only a second after, the little Lothcat pointed his nose from under the bed, walking cautiously toward Kanan. It smelled his knee, under the stupefied look of Ezra, before climbing on Kanan's shoulder.
-"How..."
-"If you feel safe enough to open yourself to him, he will sense it and will feel safe beside you too."
Ezra leaned himself back, posing his palm behind him to look at Kanan petting the little feline purring on his shoulder. He felt something tightened in his heart, maybe it was envy, but he also felt regret for how he treated the caring man. He looked seriously concerned for others, being human or not, and his solicitude toward the kid was genuine.
Feeling ashamed of his own selfish behavior, thinking back how he had shoved away this man's kindness. Ezra lowered his head, talking with a low voice. -"I can't say I don't appreciate having you with me, but you shouldn't stay here any longer. You're not safe and... I don't deserve to be saved by you."
-"Ezra..." Started Kanan, but he was immediately interrupted.
-"So, if you really want to save someone, free my parents."
-"Your parents?" He lost his focus, and the little Lothcat jumped on the floor, taking cover once again under the bed. "Didn't you say to Hera they were dead?"
-"And I really thought they were!" Explained the kid, looking at Kanan with a desperate look carved on his face. "Until the Inquisitor showed me they were imprisoned in an Imperial prison..."
Kanan approached to lean a comforting hand on the kid's shoulder. Thinking his parents were dead for so long must have been hard, but discovering they were still alive and kept away from him for all this time must have been completely destabilizing.
-"He said he would not use them against me," Continued Ezra. "but... if I was to escape, nothing could stop him to change his mind... and maybe even hurt them."
Kanan understood immediately. He couldn't run if his parents were still under the Empire's clutch. The Inquisitor, even saying he was doing it for the kid's own good, was making him dance in the palm of his hand.
-"Ezra, no matter what that Inquisitor made you think, you still have good in you. If not, you wouldn't worry for your parents' safety. Or even less for mine." He wrapped his arms around the frail frame, gently firming his hold when he felt the kid shiver from unshed tears. "We'll help them."
Ezra raised his head in a split second, locking his blue iris with the teal ones. -"You'd really do that for me?"
-"For you, anytime." Answered Kanan, confidently. "Where are they?"
-"I... They didn't inform me on their localization, but I'm allowed to talk to them once a day. Chopper could hack the database and trace the call to know where it's send."
Kanan nodded, taking the slender arms in his hands. -"I will return to my crew, and we will free your parents. You have my words, Ezra."
Chopper beeped, informing them the Inquisitor was on his way back!
-"Are you sure, Chop?!" Asked abruptly Kanan.
-"He's right." Confirmed Ezra, placid.
The Jedi turned to look at him, and his heart twinged when he saw the kid reach for the fabric before his chest.
Was their fake bond becoming stronger? He could not see it well last time, with the mist rageously swirling around the kid...
-"You can tell it?" He asked, worriedly.
-"Yeah, I sense him coming closer." Answered the kid, calmly. This was now part of his life for a long time, and he looked like he was resigned to it.
But, deep inside, he also didn't want the Grand Inquisitor to find them together. Last time, he was almost choked to death...
And Kanan felt that through their bond, painfully. He sensed the kid's fear and felt anger rise in his being.
No bond should ever feel like that.
He barely knew the kid, but he already felt so close to him, and, every time he felt this boy's heart twinge, it was like his own was squeezing too... He leaned a hand on the small shoulder, locking his sight into the blue iris. -"Ezra, do you really think you belong here?"
-"I..." He hesitated. It's not that he really thought his place was within the Empire... but he still somewhat felt like it was okay to be by the Grand Inquisitor's side... "For now, Yes."
-"Alright." Kanan rose up, frowning with determination. "Force push me."
-"What?!"
-"Until we can free your parents, you need to make him trust you. So, don't argue. I know you can do it, so do it now!"
Understanding the plan, Ezra didn't wait to be asked another time. He raised his hand and Force pushed Kanan with strength. The man flew across the room and hit the wall with a loud thud, landing hard on the floor.
Ezra walked to his doorway, looking severely at him. -"Stop Pestering Me! I said I'd stay here!"
-"You're making a big mistake, Kid." Growled Kanan, rising carefully to his feet.
-"Well, well. Looks like it's a good thing I needed to return to my own room."
Kanan turned to see the Grand Inquisitor on the other side of the corridor and faked being surprised by his presence. Turning his frowning look back and forth between the tall Pau'an and the kid, he looked like he refused to engage a two against one fight and started to run!
The Inquisitor laughed, raising his hand toward the sky. -"Did you really think you could come and go as you wished without consequences?" And Kanan was Force grabbed upward, shoved against the ceiling! The Inquisitor walked forward, smirking. "Well, time to pay for your arrogance."
Kanan was strongly pressed against the ceiling, his limbs feeling too heavy to move because of the pressure. His enemy was almost on him, taking his red lightsaber in hand, and he saw the kid make a step back inside his room, as if he feared what was coming...
Reaching at the last second for his blaster, Kanan shoot at the Inquisitor! He lost his focus for a split-second, just enough for the rebel to fall on the floor and assemble the two parts of his own saber!
Grunting, the Inquisitor lunged his blade forward, but his smirk quickly came back when he analysed how the Rebel blocked his attacks.
-"Interesting. It seems you trained with Jedi Master Depa Billaba."
-"How?"
-"The temple records are quite complete." Explained the Inquisitor with a false concern. "In close quarter fighting, Billaba's emphasis was always on form 3, which you favor to a ridiculous degree." The revelation destabilized Kanan, giving advantage to the Pau'an. "Clearly, you were a poor student."
Feeling anger rising in him, Kanan launched a series of strikes, one after another, until he Force Pushed with strength his opponent! The Inquisitor fell hard on the floor, his lightsaber switching off, and Ezra ran to the Pau'an, helping him back on his feet while looking at the rebel taking this chance to run away.
Somewhere inside him, deep inside his heart, the kid faintly felt a warm wave. At the same time, the icy hand of the Grand Inquisitor dropped above his, holding it back.
-"Boy, if you were a Rebel, where would you be running off right now?" Inquired the Pau'an, looking stern.
Ezra felt as if a cold shower had washed away the early warmth. He looked inside the golden iris, into the severe eyes of his Master, and the Grand Inquisitor knew he would not lie to him right now. He wouldn't dare to angry him once more...
He also felt that disgusting bond shared by his Apprentice and that Rebel. Although, he could not interfere with it, he could still use it to his advantage...
-"I..." Began Ezra, hesitantly, the answer coming almost instinctively. "I would run to the docking bay... 4. Where I would have hidden a stolen Tie..."
The Grand Inquisitor ruffled the boy's hair, smiling lightly. -"Good, now go back to your room and lock the door."
-"But..."
-"No arguing. You are not ready to engage a real fight with a Jedi." He leaned his big hand on the small shoulder. "Stay put for now, I'll take care of him."
Ezra could only nod, returning to his room unwillingly, the last thing he saw before closing his door being the Grand Inquisitor running as fast as his long leg could take him...
...
Kanan was almost at the landing dock where was his stolen ship, running so fast, he was out of breath.
As he passed beside a huge door, it opened and the sound of a lightsaber igniting made him turn just in time to block a blow that would have proved fatal if not stopped! The red blade, interlocked with his blue one, kept pushing toward him, making him bent backward while recoiling.
-"How did you know..."
-"There is so much things you don't know about the Force." Answered the Inquisitor, condescending, before smirking. "What a shame that you need to die before learning them!"
He pushed on his blade, shoving Kanan behind, and lunged to hit again and again! All strokes being precise and rapid, the Jedi pained to block them, each one coming closer and closer to his vital organs each time.
-"I will break that putrid bond between you two, Jedi." Spat the Grand Inquisitor. "I will make it so you will suffer an infinite pain and, then, I will kill you before picking up the broken pieces of my Apprentice to rebuild him again, stronger and merciless."
Kanan was forced to back off under the relentless attacks, his sore body beginning to pain following the deadly hits, when one mighty strike threw his lightsaber far away!
Disarmed, he raised his hands, recoiling while searching fast for another option, for anything to make him survive the next attack.
As the red blade rose high in the sky, a shock passed in the rebel's whole being, paralysing him! He fell on his knee, then on the floor, unveiling Kallus walking slowly behind him toward the Grand Inquisitor!
-"Agent..." Hissed the Inquisitor.
-"I recommend you to postpone the execution of this man, Inquisitor. After all, it is hard to interrogate a dead Rebel."
-"The life and the death of a Jedi is under the Inquisitors' jurisdiction." Growled the Pau'an.
-"And you will have his head... After he has revealed the localisation of the others Rebels..."
Frowning, the Grand Inquisitor threw one last glance at the Jedi's limp body, hissing between his gritted teeth before leaving the prisoner to the Imperial Agent.
...
In his room, Ezra was sitting on the floor, incapable of standing while all kinds of emotions were overflowing inside his turmoiled brain.
They were mostly feelings of insecurity and fear, but they quickly grew to become panic and dread inside him and, when everything finally ended with one last painful heart twinge... he understood it has been Kanan's emotions all along, not his...
It has been his friend's struggling, and now it was gone... and it was all his fault.
He tried to reach for him, wishing from the deepest part of his being for Kanan's wellbeing, but he only met the silence.
Wrapping his arms around his bent legs, tears rolled free on his cheeks, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably with each cry.
As he felt completely helpless, one little warm presence leaned its furry coat against his uncovered ankle. When he looked over his arm, Ezra saw the little Lothcat rolled against him, emitting a low comforting purr. He took it in his arms, holding him while his cries slowly subdued into silent sobs.
The little Lothcat curled itself against Ezra's chest, comforting him through the night and even after the kid had fallen asleep...
...
And, yes, for a total of 12 votes, it ended with... drum rolls... 7 Caught VS 5 Uncaught!
I hope everyone will still appreciate what will be coming next, and don't hesitate to comment and share ideas with me! :D I always love so much to read your reaction :3
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :3