Chapter 4: Abandoned

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The young eight-year-old Palpatine was in his room until Maree entered with a smile…

"Brother, what are you doing?" He asked curiously. But Palpatine ignored him and continued reading his datapad "Better leave that, I'm going to take you to a place you'll love" said Maree with a smile. "I always go to a secret place Sheev".

Palpatine intrigued left his datapad and fixed his gaze on Maree "a secret place? Where?".

"It's in a place outside the mansion, there's a beautiful tree where you can see the nests of different birds, there are even butterflies" Maree commented with a smile.

But Palpatine only limited himself to nodding with a frown and Maree pulled him by the arm insistently "Come on, you'll love it, it's a magical place Sheev"

The two walked away from Convergence to the place where Maree said. Palpatine realized that it was not a lie, in that tree there were many bird nests and butterflies of different colors fluttering.

Maree was the first to climb the tree and asked Palpatine to accompany him but he did not want to climb because he had a bad feeling.

I was scared to climb but he just kept insisting. He clearly had bad intentions, but I finally agreed to climb, without trusting him even a little. I remember when he offered me his hand to help me, a false act of kindness. I simply did not accept it, not knowing what was coming next.

"Come on buddy give me your hand, don't be a party pooper" said Maree. "Get up so I can push you," he thought with a smile.

Palpatine finally reaches out his hand to Maree and the two hold hands.

"That's it, I like it that way" said Maree and Palpatine began to feel his brother pulling his hand to throw him to the ground but he did not want to let go. "Come on, don't be afraid kid" Maree said with a fake smile trying to push Palpatine to the ground.

He just wouldn't give up, he tried to push me off the branch over and over again. My only response to that was simply to grab on tighter every time he tried to make me fall. I remember how scared I was, my body stiff as if frozen, my palms sweaty from the effort. My mind just couldn't believe what was happening.

Little Palpatine was slowly losing his strength, he was already starting to feel like he would fall off the branch to the ground very soon, his mind and emotions were totally altered, the desperation to not fall off the tree, the tiredness to hold on to the branch, the surprise of what Maree was trying to do to him.

Then he felt something growing inside him. He didn't know how to control it… it just happened. He somehow used this power, even if he wasn't aware of what it was or what it was called… and he gave his brother a force push, making him fall off the tree.

Maree screamed in horror as he fell from the tree and Palpatine looked at his brother, unconscious, his face covered in blood from the fall.

"Maree! Maree! Help!" Palpatine screamed worriedly, his mind could barely process what he had done, he had pushed him, using an inexplicable power, though with no intention of using it, and what had just happened was spinning in circles in his mind.

He simply looked at him, his body unconscious, blood pouring from his face due to the impact of the fall. Palpatine simply did not know how to react, his entire body was stiff, in shock. And then help arrived to get him out of that place, but the little boy… he simply stood there, frozen.

He had not done it on purpose. He could never have predicted what had just happened. It was too late to undo the horror that had occurred.

Of course, sometimes his brother Maree's behavior irritated him deeply, to the point of wishing him dead, or at least his nonexistence. But it had always seemed unimaginable to her that he would one day retaliate.

Now Cosinga blamed him for his ineffective action. The house was wounded, the servants wept silently and the eldest son was abused by his own father. The young man, already filled with remorse, would have preferred some comfort instead of this execution. Although Cosinga was grieving, he had no right to attack his son, apparently the doctors indicated that Maree was in an indefinite coma, she could wake up in a few months or perhaps years.

"You are a cursed boy! You are an absolute and endless source of shame for this family!" Cosinga screamed.

"Cosinga, please," Bremé implored timidly. "He is only eight years old. He had no idea what he was doing."

"ISN'T THAT BAD!?" Cosinga repeated, his voice was a mixture of rage and surprise at my mother's naivety. He turned his anger on me. "What do you have to say, boy?"

"Maree invited me up the tree, and he tried to push me to the ground from above." I said calmly. "I should have taken the fall, not him."

"Yet you threw him off the tree branch, causing my brother to fall to the ground." His seven-year-old sister Nadmé whispered, angry and horrified at what had happened.

"Do you have any idea what you've done brat?!" Father spat, his face now turning from red to purple. "The doctors said he had a broken arm and a fractured skull. My son nearly died! For your own sake pray for my son to wake up from that coma… or you'll see what I'm capable of."

Palpatine blinked back the tears that were forming. He didn't know why, but deep down he knew he shouldn't give in, not show that he was in pain. He knew he shouldn't show weakness. His father was trying to shape his mind and bend to his will. She was trying to use fear and anger to overpower him.

Bremé had her eyes covered. She was crying. Not once had she tried to come between Cosinga and her son Sheev. She was so incapable of rebelling against him out of fear.

Cosinga ordered his guards to take his eldest son to his room and make sure he does not come out until he is dealt with.

As Palpatine was led by the guards back to his room and his brother and sisters returned to their bedrooms he could hear the argument between Cosinga and Bremé.

"The boy is a demon," she said softly. "Where did he get it? Certainly not me. This is your fault!"

Palpatine could hear his mother's inarticulate babbling, but his father's voice gained strength once more.

"Something happened during the pregnancy!" He shouted. "I always knew your family was strange in the head, but my father insisted that

I marry you. "Think of the social position, son," she said. "Think of the money, rather that child is a burden to me and a constant headache. He will be the death of me."

"Please don't say that dear, it's not my fault." Bremé replied and her eldest son could hear her crying louder now as she tried to defend me in her weak way.

"Oh, so it's my fault?" She asked grimly.

Bremé tried to protest saying it wasn't his fault either, but Cosinga was advancing on Bremé.

His mother was trying to protest saying it wasn't either of their faults. Cosinga wouldn't hear any of it. Bremé's protests and cries for mercy turned into screams and cries for mercy, Cosinga slapped her back and forth.

As a result of that Cosinga took Palpatine away from Convergence, into the jungle regions outside of Theed.

Little Palpatine was scared "I want to go back to my mom" he begged but Cosinga just growled.

"You will never see your mother again brat" Cosinga said angrily.

He just took me away from my home. I felt confused, scared… I was still in shock from what I had done, I was still trying to process what had happened. I wanted to go back to my mother, I wanted to explain to her what had happened, but Cosinga wouldn't let me go back simply because I had pushed my brother by accident.

Right now they were in the swamps, Cosinga got off his speeder and grabbed Palpatine roughly by the arm.

"Leave me alone! You're hurting me!" Palpatine said trying to get out of his father's grip.

"Shut up and keep walking!" Cosinga shouted as he continued to pull on Sheev's arm.

After a few moments Cosinga stopped and stared at his son threateningly "Now you're going to stay here, it's going to be useless for you to call for help, no one will be able to hear you"

But Palpatine felt a great and dark threat in the air, a sense of immediate danger, perhaps due to some subtle change in the environment or in Cosinga's behavior which he perceived as threatening.

And then it happened, a threatening movement on Cosinga's part, and his instincts simply took over, and he began to run as far away and as fast as he could.

Cosinga raised a large wooden stick to hit his eldest son on the head but when he saw him moving away from him he simply let out a growl of frustration and ran after Sheev. "Come here! Come back or I swear I'll kill you Sheev!" He shouted as he chased Palpatine through the swamps.

Palpatine was exhausted, and simply could not run any further. So she hid in the bushes, in great desperation, listening to Cosinga's screams threatening her life.

"Damn brat! I will kill you with my own hands! No one will find out about this!" Cosinga said as he searched for his son.

Palpatine was full of panic, his breathing was rapid, his heart was beating rapidly. He stayed as still as he could, trying to stay as calm as possible while holding on to the hope that his father would not find him.

A few moments passed and Cosinga reflected on the fact that if he did not return with Sheev he could be the prime suspect in his disappearance.

"Listen to me very well, if you leave right now I will not do anything to you, but if not, you will stay here all night with the animals to eat you" Cosinga threatened.

Palpatine simply stood still, without moving, his eyes still filled with tears from the fear of facing the man who tried to kill him.

Four hours later Palpatine had lost sight of his father and now he didn't know where to go, he was lost in this swamp and it would soon be night.

Most of the eight year old Naboo knew not to brave the jungle lands beyond the borders of Theed. Most of the eight year old Naboo feared the mysterious Gungan warriors that roamed these swamps.

Sheev Palpatine found himself at that moment, stumbling over the thick roots of the sprawling trees, and he shook a sticky, slimy plant from his sleeve and his arm still ached.

The swamps were not the safest places to be on Naboo. Narglatches and a host of other nasty creatures lurked within, not even considering the wild and uncultured Gungans. Small and thin for his age, Sheev knew he was not imposing even among his own kind, so he knew he would make a tasty snack for any enterprising swamp creature.

Something called to him in the shadows of his mind, and he snorted to his left and leaped forward just in time to avoid a large body crashing into his own. Spinning and half-crouching, Sheev stared at the newcomer. A large creature mirrored his pose just a few feet away, reminding him of the gualamas back home, but somehow different.

It lacked tall, broad horns, but grimaced with a collection of thick, powerful molar-like teeth. Its tail, which whipped through the underbrush behind it, was much longer and broader than a gualama's, as if the creature swam rather than ran.

Sheev literally screamed as the creature lunged at him and caught him on the shoulder. He rolled desperately, avoiding the outstretched hooves and teeth, and in the middle of the spin he realized what was snarling and hissing above him.

A Zalaaca, one of the sigils of House Palpatine. He saw it every day on the shield in the main hall of Convergence.

How ironic that it was doing everything it could to kill him. Sheev twisted and frowned as a claw sank deep into his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.

Ignoring the pain, the pain was nothing, he curled in on himself and bit the creature's leg as hard as he could through the fur.

The Zalaaca screamed and leaped, circling a few feet away as the young human didn't move to attack immediately, looking unsure and nervous, and Sheev blinked. It was a child, like him. The size was still much smaller than a gualama. A youngster… thinking it could eat him!

The Zalaaca responded with a hiss and its wide red mouth opened in a defiant display.

Then the strangest thing happened. The colt stopped dead and looked at the human, and for a brief moment Sheev felt like he had been insulted. He looked into its eyes and did not look away, and something told him it was very important to do so.

The creature lowered its head and snorted loudly. It hissed again.

Kill it… the cold voice in Sheev's mind told him. Kill it and you can be on your way.

But the colt's eyes were squarely on its sights. The zaalaca was powerful, beautiful and strong like nothing he had encountered in the Lake Country, and he was fascinated.

He found his arm slowly lowering and the zalaaca sniffing the air with its large nostrils, shuffling forward on its wide hooves, snorting in warning.

But Sheev felt no danger to himself and that encouraged him to stand his ground. The nose that greeted his fingers was soft, very soft, and he almost recoiled in surprise at the sensation. Like the finest silk imported from Alderaan. The skin beneath was firm, warm, and dry. He nuzzled her nose between her nostrils, and the Zalaaca hummed beneath his hand.

"You have a family?" he broke the silence, feeling both awkward and foolish for asking, because a Zalaaca couldn't talk, but feeling like he might suffocate if he didn't say anything for too long in those swamps.

The Zalaaca rumbled and squeaked and nudged his hand, drawing a half-smile across her thin lips. "They should keep a closer eye on you. You never know what you might run into here, huh?"

It shifted in agreement, most likely looking for him as a possible food source. It turned its head away when he hit its narrow chest.

"I am not your family or your food."

"Hurrruuuppp.." it protested and sniffed at his face. His vision filled with a wide, curious expression, unnaturally intelligent and scrutinizing him closely.

It tensed, never liking anything so close to it. It was easy to get hurt when living things got this close. But Zalaaca didn't hurt him, and the shadows in its mind remained still, and it knew it had nothing to fear, at least not from this creature.

It placed a slender hand between its eyes and stared into the red orbs, "You are magnificent," it whispered. Its father had once used that word to describe the view from Convergence. This was better, much better. It was alive and real, and it was strong enough to eat it, but it didn't.

Instead, it bowed to the pressure of his hand, sliding on its bony knees into the mud and sinking its long head. He touched its slightly yellow ears in wonder.

Why did it submit to him?

It raised its head at a strange cry coming from the direction from which the Zalaaca had appeared. It tensed under his hand and rose, already towering two feet above him. The cry split into half a dozen high-pitched, peculiarly accented voices as it came closer.

Sheev placed a hand on Zalaaca's nose to calm her, and the bond between them hit him like a physical shock. Several meters ahead, on the animal path, a group of Gungan warriors and youths burst onto the scene, stopping their Kaduus in surprise and wariness at the sight before them. One of the more prominent youths cried out in defeated anger. Sheev stood stock-still. He had certainly seen Gungans before, but only one or two in the city, and there they were tame and silent.

It was some sort of raiding party, replete with sharp weapons and energy bonds. He mentally searched for the latest news from the school regarding the tentative peace agreements between Gungans and humans. Surely they would not risk war for a young invader.

He couldn't help the apprehension that closed in the back of his throat as two of the Gungans dismounted and walked in his direction, with that supple way they had.

The first Gungan to arrive was taller than the others and somehow also looked thinner. His eyes sat wide on the top of his head, but Sheev only had eyes for the long spear gripped in his pink and grey mottled left hand. "Hello, Dalee! Who are you?" The spear remained pointed at the sky.

Sheev didn't answer, his head bowed.

The Gungan's face, which finally split into a wide grin. "Mesa Tharpas. Yousa lost? Strayed," he admitted, keeping his tone and words polite.

"I got lost in this swamp, got separated from my father and now I can't find him."

The other Gungan came closer and stopped when Zalaaca's colt hissed at him. "Tharpas, hesa bonded very fast with the pup." Tarpas looked at the other Gungan and then back at Sheev. "How are you doing?"

Sheev blinked as he interpreted the Gungan's strange speech patterns. "Doing what?"

"Yousa is forming the bond with him. Hiser is not supposed to do that."

Sheev tensed. "I'm sorry… I wasn't trying to."

The Zalaaca pushed her broad head back into his chest. Why was she really fixated on him? He hadn't asked for this, at all.

The other Gungan snorted. "Hesa is so small. Tiny Hisen."

Sheev turned to Tharpas. "I apologize if I trespassed. I'll leave immediately."

Tharpas nudged the other Gungan. "It's not size that concerns us, but ability. Hesa got a pup of her own."

"It was Par Nap's pup! Now stolen?" the other grumbled.

Not liking the look that was directed at him, Sheev looked at the more distant Gungans and gulped when he noticed the gaze of the young man who had shouted angrily just a moment before.

"I didn't mean to. You can have it back, and gladly." This was not a fight he could hope to win. The Zalaaca rumbled against his chest, almost in protest.

Tharpas exchanged solemn glances with the other Gungan, then shook his head, ears drooping forward. "Too late for that. You are now bound to him, and nothing can break it except the great sleep."

Sheev cocked his head. "You mean death?"

Tarpas nodded. "Hesa, you are a pup now."

Dismay washed over him along with a faint sense of excitement. "He can't be mine, I can't do anything with him, I certainly can't take him with me."

"Hesa will be pining for you," Tharpas warned. "The pups survive thanks to the good will of the master."

"I can't… He can't come with me. Even if I wanted to."

Tharpas nodded, seeming to understand. "Then Hesa has to stay, but you must come back to visit us and often, you know. This one, now, is tied to you. Withering without you, playing table."

Sheev didn't answer, for he had no home to return to, after his father tried to kill him in this swamp.

When Tharpas asked little Sheev Palpatine where he lived, he refused to answer, for he was still scared and feared for his safety. His recent experience with his father had left him deeply frightened and distrustful, so he wanted to protect my privacy and keep my location hidden.

But Tharpas, seeing the little one so alone and frightened in the swamps, offered to let me stay in the city of O'to Gunga for a few days, while he searched for his family. Little Sheev was grateful for his offer, as he was in a very vulnerable state and desperately needed some security and support. He accepted Tharpas' offer despite the other Gungans' scowls of jealousy.

Tharpas smiled. "We helped you find the best feet to get back. Mui is a big jungle, it is, for such a small hisen."