Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.

Shin startled awake, overwhelmed by a sudden sense of urgency. She had learned to trust her instincts, and the Force, quite some time ago. She hastily packed up her few belongings and slipped out of her room. "Hey," Sairi said, "Where are you going?"

"I have to leave," Shin replied as she made her way out, taking the backdoor in the kitchen. She tried to move quickly without looking suspicious, but pretty much everyone on the lower levels was suspicious and shady, so she didn't really have to worry too much. Of course, nothing was ever easy. Shin didn't get very far before finding herself surrounded Vince Hawk and his gang.

"Look what the tooka dragged in."

"I don't have time for this, Vince, I have to leave."

The boy scoffed, "Oh really, why's that? What's got you in such a hurry?"

Shin locked eyes with him, "A feeling."

Vince stared her down for a moment, then looked to his gang, "Take her." Shin huffed in annoyance as she began dodging attacks. She didn't have the time, or patience, for a fight today. She glimpsed an opening and darted for it. She ran, knowing they wouldn't chase her for too long. The pounding footsteps behind her eventually ceased, but she kept going anyway. She stopped near a docking bay to catch her breath and overheard two workers.

"Come on, you know he hates to be kept waiting," the one worker said.

"Yeah," the other replied, "The sooner we get to Corelia, the better."

Corelia would be a perfect place to hide out, so Shin snuck aboard the ship. She huddled in a small corner between some boxes. It wasn't the greatest hiding spot, but looking for a different one was to risky, so it would have to do.

Shin did not sleep, she did not move, and she did not make a noise. None of that mattered though, because she wasn't the only stowaway. A small beige blur lept from one stack of crates to the one right next to Shin, causing both to topple over. Shin glared at the creature, a tooka cat, as it scrambled between two other stacks of crates. There was no time for her to get to hiding place. Two men, a weequay and a human, burst in with their blasters raised. Shin made the wise decision and held her hands up in surrender. "A stowaway," the weequay sneered, "Let's go see what the Captain has to say about you." He grabbed Shin's arm and hauled her up, roughly pulling her along to the bridge. The captain ended up being a surprisingly well dressed human man, likely in his mid thirties.

"A stowaway?" he said, "How very interesting."

"Should we throw her out the airlock?" the weequay asked.

"Of course not, she's only a child," the captain said, "Launch her in an escape pod, that way she'll at least have a small chance of surviving." Shin fought against the weequay's grip, trying not to show any fear as he shoved her into the escape pod and closed the door. Shin sat down and strapped herself in. This was it. She would not survive being launched in escape pod while in hyperspace. Even if she did, there were still countless other ways she would likely die. Drifting in space with no supplies, coming out of hyperspace in an asteroid field or heading straight for a star, crash landing on a planet, the possibilities were endless. The pod launched and Shin closed her eyes. There was a great deal of shaking, then the feeling of plummeting. She opened her eyes and saw clouds flying by the viewport. The pod, having somehow survived dropping out of hyperspace, must've dropped near enough to a planet to be pulled by its gravitational field. Death was still very imminent, the pod was going to crash. Shin braced for it as best as she could, but she supposed it wouldn't really matter. The crash was a complete blur. A harsh, jolting impact, and then nothing. Shin opened her eyes. Her vision was blurring in and out of focus, her whole body ached, and she felt like throwing up. She tried to undo the harness keeping her strapped in, but she couldn't seem to make her fingers cooperate. A reddish orange laser of some kind pierced through the edge of the viewport, wielded by a blurry figure clad in black. Trying to focus only made Shin's vision blur even more before going completely black.

Baylan had not been sure why the Force had led him to such a remote, frigid planet, but he knew there was a reason. When he saw the escape pod crash, he felt a strange pull towards it. When he arrived, he peered through the viewport, and saw a child inside. He cut through the viewport, pulled it away, and felt as though all the air left his lungs when he got a clear view of the child. A girl, with light skin and light blonde hair. She was noticeably skinny too. He could feel that she was strong in the Force, and he could see her resemblance to Runa. It couldn't be...but then again, perhaps it was. Moving carefully, he freed the girl from her restraints and lifted her into his arms. She was unconscious, as one might be after surviving a crash like that. When he returned to the lodge he was staying at, with the girl in his arms and a request for some medical supplies, no one asked any questions. Alone in his room, Baylan laid the girl on the sofa. He didn't dare to think of her as Shin, not yet.

A/N: I apologize for any grammar mistakes. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.