Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.
Ten year old Shin walked home quickly. She wasn't sure what had her so on edge. Maybe it was the bitter cold, which seemed more bitterly cold than usual, or maybe it was the stormtroopers patrolling the streets. The Empire had been slowly establishing its presence on Viek over the years, and now it had made its way to her little town. Maybe she was kn edge because of what she had done. It had been show and tell at school that day, and her mother had let her bring a very pretty and very fragile piece of crystal. At the end of the day, Shin had made a mistake. She dropped the crystal...almost. She had reached out to try and catch it, and it stopped. She snatched it out of mid-air and looked around to make sure no one saw her. She was alone, or so it seemed. Shin just couldn't shake the feeling that she had been seen. Brushing these thoughts aside, she hastened as her home came into sight, and hurried through the door when she got there. She greeted her mother with a kiss on the cheek, returned the crystal to her, then went upstairs to do her homework. She sat down at her small desk, about to get started, but then she felt something strange. She had sinking feeling in her stomach, and it felt as though there were warning bells going off in her head. Someone knocked on the door downstairs and she heard her mother go to answer it. Shin crept out of her room and down the first two stairs, peering around the corner to see what was going on. Two stormtroopers stood at the door, along with an officer. "We know you have a child and we know she has certain...abilities, hand her over!" The officer ordered.
"No!" Runa said defiantly. The officer made a motion with his hand, the two troopers raised their blasters, and they fired. Runa dropped to the floor, and Shin felt her dying. There was nothing she could do.
"No," she whispered.
The officer looked straight at her and said calmly to the troopers, "Get her." Shin turned and ran back upstairs, closing and locking the door behind her. It wouldn't keep the troopers out for long. She panicked for a moment, then her eyes locked onto the window. The troopers were trying to break down the wooden door, it wouldn't take them long. Shin opend the window and stuck her upper body out, grabbed onto either side of the peaked roof, and carefully climbed out of the window and onto the roof. The roof was icy, and Shin found herself sliding down. She slid of the edge and landed in a considerably large snow drift. The fall knocked the wind out of her and she had to take a moment to catch her breath. She forced herself up when she heard the sound of the stormtroopers exiting the house, and she ran. She ran through back alleys and side streets with the troopers chasing her all the way. Many houses on the outer edge of the town had small walls built in the gaps between them as a way to keep animals out. As Shin approached one such wall, she knew she'd found a way to lose her pursuers, at least temporarily. Using two conveniently placed containers like stairs, she jumped, catching the edge of the wall. The troopers were quick to fire, but she managed to get over the wall before they could hit her. She started running again as soon as her feet hit the ground on the other side. She kept running. She ran until she was surrounded on all sides by a vast expanse of snow. The town was still visible, but very far behind her, and quite far ahead of her were the mountains. She fell to the ground, her limbs numb with exhaustion. She couldn't catch her breath. Her vision became blurry, then went from blurry to black.
On the other side of the galaxy, Baylan Skoll felt Runa's death. He felt awash with grief for only a moment, then something occurred to him. Shin. If Runa was dead, that meant that Shin could be alone. Baylan had to go to Viek. He had to find his daughter.
A/N: Yeah, I feel like the end isn't that great, but it's all I've got. Anyway, I apologize for any grammar mistakes. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.