Chapter 2 – Departure and Arrival

Alright, the second chapter for my new story. Ahsoka finds a ship and leaves for Shili. On Shili, she tries to make her way through the city, but in her bad condition, she doesn't make it too far.

I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Let's hope 2017 will be a good year. If you celebrate something else, I hope you have a good time with that as well.

All speech in this chapter will be in Togruti. If more languages are used I'll mention it here.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

The hangar was empty.

"Good," Ahsoka thought with relief. She looked around the place just to be safe. There was no one in sight. The only thing in the hangar was the freighter she had seen in her vision. From the looks of it, the repairs on the ship had just been completed and all of the workers or droids had left.

For some reason she wouldn't know but was glad for, the ramp of the ship was still open. She slowly started making her way towards it. She was incredibly tired. Travelling to this hangar had worn her out more than she was willing to admit. She knew she was in a terrible condition after what happened, but she had no idea what exactly happened to her, how she was alive.

"Those are questions for later, first I want to get out of here," she thought as she walked. "I just want to get away from Coruscant."

After boarding the freighter, she made her way to the engine room. These types of ships generally had large engine rooms with plenty of little nooks and crannies that she could easily hide in. She hoped it was the same for this ship.

She reached the engine room and gave a light smile of relief. It was just the kind of design she was hoping for. It would be easy to find someplace to hide in here. After looking around for a few minutes, she settled on hiding in a small corner between a larger part of the engine and a bunch of pipes and thick cables. It was a safe place to sit, she knew that from Anakin's lessons about ship engines, and it was also difficult to get into for those larger than her.

She settled herself into the hiding spot, trying to get as comfortable as possible on the hard metal. She rested her head against the wall next to her. Try as she might, she couldn't prevent her eyes from closing. For now, she drifted to sleep.

;-

A lot of tremors and sounds woke her up. A little startled, she very carefully peaked out from her hiding spot. The engine was activating, meaning that the ship's crew was back on board and that they would be leaving Coruscant soon. She was glad for that.

After about ten minutes, she could feel the ship lifting off. She kept quiet and didn't try to do anything until she felt the ship enter hyperspace. Only once she was certain that they were going away from Coruscant, did she dare to reach out with the Force very gently.

She could sense six people on board the ship. Five of them were in different areas of the ship, but one of them was close to the engine room and obviously making his way towards it. A little scared, Ahsoka tried to push herself a bit further into her hiding place.

She could hear the door open and someone walked in. He moved around the room, pausing several times at different places. She then heard the sound of a comm-transmission. "Riyec, how's the engine holding up?" a voice asked in Togruti.

"Captain, They seem to be working well," the man she assumed was Riyec replied in Togruti as well. "They had better be, especially with the prices those Coruscant pigs charged us. Just about our entire payment for this shipment is gone."

"Yeah, I hear that," the captain replied over the intercom. "Never mind it, let's just get home. We'll worry about it all later."

"Sounds good to me," Riyec said. "I could do with a break." The intercom shut down and the room was silent again, save for the humming of the engine and the footsteps of the man.

She assumed that both the man in the engine room and the captain were Togruta, seeing how they both spoke fluent Togruti.

She quietly tried to move up a bit, to see this man for herself. Her foot slipped and hit one of the smaller pipes next to her. Startled, she pulled her leg back and hugged her knees, hoping that the man walking in the engine room hadn't heard. Any other person probably wouldn't have, but she did see that the man walking around was indeed a Togruta like her and from the way he turned his head, he had obviously heard it.

He made his way close to where she was hiding. "Who is in here?" he asked in Togruti.

Ahsoka tried her best to remain silent, but she was breathing a bit heavily from the sudden scare. She was a stowaway on a ship, she had no weapons nor was she even in any fit state to put up even the slightest fight.

She shakily looked up to see a red-skinned Togrutan man looking at her from between the pipes. "Now who are you supposed to be child?" he asked her.

Riyec looked at the shivering girl hiding in the corner. She was a Togruta like him, in her early teens, probably sixteen at the most, but he could easily tell that there was something wrong with her. Her skin was a very pale orange, it was obvious that this wasn't her natural skin color. He speculated that it should probably be a deep orange or perhaps a shade of red. It was clear that she was scared, from the way she was looking at him.

"Did you sneak on board on Coruscant?" he asked her gently, trying not to frighten the girl any further. "I can understand why you would want to leave that rotting cesspool of a planet. Why don't you come on out from that hole? We'll go to the captain and see if we can't get you some place more comfy?"

Ahsoka shook her head at that. While this man seemed kind enough, she didn't really have any intention to get out. She didn't want to take the chance of any of them recognizing her and turning her over to the Republic.

Riyec sighed a bit. He could tell that whatever happened to this girl, it probably wasn't good. "You just trying to get back to Shili?" he then asked her. She did nod at that. "Alright, you just sit tight. Lemme see what I can do."

He got up and moved back to the intercom. "Cap'n, come in," he said through the intercom.

"What's going on Riyec?" the captain asked over the intercom. "Don't tell me that we have another problem with the engine."

Riyec laughed a bit at the question. Their previous engine issue had set them back immensely and they almost hadn't made it to Coruscant. "No, the engine is holding up nicely," he replied, hopefully reassuring the captain.

"Then what is going on?" the captain asked.

"We have a stowaway on board," Riyec replied as he gazed over to where the girl was hiding.

The intercom was silent for a moment. "Are you sure? Do you know what they're after?" the captain asked with some concern.

"Ah, don't worry cap'n," Riyec replied. "She's just a teenage girl, Togruta, like us. Trying to get home, I guess."

"They why didn't she just approach us instead of sneaking onboard?" the captain asked a moment later.

"Well, she doesn't look too good cap'n," Riyec replied. "She doesn't want to come out from her little hiding hole and she's pretty scared. Her skin is paler than Shili's moons, so I'm pretty sure she's ill. Something bad obviously happened to her, so she's just trying to get away from that corrupt planet."

"Well, can't say that I blame her," the captain said. "I don't see why anyone would want to live on that metal hulk of a planet. I'll take the open plains of home any day." The intercom was silent, then the captain sighed. "Go to the storage a moment. If she doesn't want to come out, see if you can't make her a bit more comfortable."

"I'll be glad to do so cap'n," Riyec replied. He was that the whole mess on Coruscant with repairing the ship hadn't put the captain in such a sour mood that he would forget his usual compassion.

"Oh, and Riyec," the captain continued. "Tell her to leave the ship after we all do. You know how things are now, sadly."

"Aye, that I do," Riyed replied a little saddened. He shut down the intercom and left the engine chamber.

;-

Ahsoka still sat in her spot on the ship. Thankfully, the man that had found her earlier seemed nice enough and it didn't look like him and his crew worked for any Republic company, so they hopefully wouldn't question her too much.

The door to the engine room opened again and someone walked in again. Whoever it was made their way straight towards her hiding spot. She held her breath, but then relaxed slightly as the man call Riyec appeared again.

"All right young lady," he said with a gentle smile. "If you don't want to come out, then we will at least make you a bit more comfortable."

At that point she noticed that he had some things with him. He placed down a small pillow and a thick blanket and shoved them a bit closer to her underneath the pipes. He also placed a closed bowl of sorts next to them. A bit of steam was coming from it. It was obviously a meal of sorts. The mere thought of food made her stomach growl.

Riyec smiled a bit at the look this girl was giving towards the bowl of food. "Also, take this," he said as he placed an old chrono on the floor. "Listen carefully now, when we reach Shili, after we have all left the ship, wait about 45 minutes before you make your way out. Trust me, you don't want to have to deal with the new immigration rules on Shili. Wait, then quietly leave the spaceport." With those words, he got up again and went to leave the engine room.

Ahsoka waited until she heard the door close again, then she quickly picked up the bowl of food. She opened it and found it was full of some form of stew, a dish she recalled was a recipe from Shili. The sight of it made her mouth water instantly. "How long has it even been since I last ate?" she asked herself. She had no answer as she dived into the meal.

After she had finished the meal she had taken the thick blanket and wrapped it around her, its warmth was very welcome. The pillow was also very much appreciated as she placed it against the wall and rested her head against it.

She smiled lightly as she sat there. She felt a little bit better now that she had been able to eat something and had this blanket to warm her body up. She still felt cold, but it was better now, especially with the warmth coming from the engines.

Looking at the chrono that the engineer called Riyec had placed on the floor, she couldn't help but frown slightly. "Why do I need to sneak away after they've landed?" she wondered. She figured that she would be able to seek out maybe some government officials and see about perhaps finding a lead on her family or something, but from the way he said it, it didn't seem like a good idea anymore. "Does Shili have a different immigration system than the Republic does?" It seemed like the only logical explanation to her.

For now, she would settle on getting some much needed and desired rest. Then later, she would follow Riyec's advice and leave the ship after them. She would later see how to go from there, seeing as she could already feel herself drifting off to sleep.

;-

Several hours later

Ahsoka sat in her corner, quietly watching the chrono in her hands. The freighter had landed on Shili about forty minutes earlier. Just before they had landed, Riyec had visited her again to remind her that she should wait before leaving the ship.

From the way he said it, it seemed that he was quite unhappy with the way things went on Shili now. It made her wonder just what had changed. She had never really followed political developments and because of the war, she hadn't been able to visit Shili since she had earned her headdress.

A trace of sadness flickered through her as she felt her forehead where her headdress used to sit. The fact that it wasn't there was a nasty reminder of what had just happened to her. She tried to shake the thoughts off for now. Worrying about that wouldn't help her right now. First, she needed to get somewhere safe.

She glanced at the chrono again. She figured that enough time had passed now. She climbed out of her hiding spot and stood up. She placed the borrowed blanket back on the floor and pulled up the hood of her robe. With that, she began to make her way out of the ship.

;-

Ahsoka slowly walked through the streets of Corvala, the capital city of Shili. The area of the spaceport where the freighter had docked had been quiet. She had been able to leave there without encountering anyone, thankfully.

She looked up at the sky. It was rapidly approaching nightfall on Shili. The light of the sun would soon be gone. She would need to find some place to spend the night and soon.

Thankfully, the Force was still guiding her like it did on Coruscant. She followed the path it seemed to have set out for her. She just hoped that it would lead her somewhere safe.

While walking through the residential area she was in, she felt her strength starting to drain again. "Yet another reminder of what happened and in what kind of poor shape I am right now," she thought with sadness.

After several more minutes of walking she started to feel incredibly tired. She stopped and leaned on the small fence next to her to catch her breath. As she waited there, she suddenly heard a door open.

;-

"Where have the old days gone?" the red skinned Togrutan woman asked herself with a sigh. She could still picture it all vividly, but chances of things returning to those days were pretty much non-existent, all because of him.

She shook her head and placed the last of the dishes away. Getting angry wouldn't help, it would only make things worse. Which is exactly why she was living her sister's family now instead of in her own home.

She walked away and let her gaze drift out the window next to her. She frowned as she saw a hooded figure leaning on the fence of the small front garden. She immediately made her made to the door. Just because this wasn't her house wouldn't mean that she won't defend it if necessary.

She stepped out the door and walked up a bit to the figure. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked firmly.

The figure looked at her and stood up slightly. She could tell that she was a young girl, in her early teens probably. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to…" a series of coughs interrupted her. Her voice sounded pretty weak too. "I'll…just be…on…" the girl stuttered out as she tried to walk away. She took a few shaky steps, then collapsed to the ground.

"H-hey!" the woman uttered in shock as she quickly made her way to the young girl. She kneeled down next to her. "Are you alright?" she asked concerned. She rolled the girl over and her worry immediately increased. This girl looked dreadfully pale. She was breathing heavily, there was no doubt that she was ill. Making a quick decision, she picked the girl up and carried her inside.

"Krystah, can you bring me a blanket or something?" she called to her sister as she placed the girl on the couch. She was barely conscious.

Her sister walked in. "Silara? What's going on?" she asked as she walked a bit closer. Then she spotted the pale girl on the couch. "What happened? Who is she?"

Silara shook her head. "I don't know, she just collapsed right out the door. I couldn't just leave her lying there," she quickly explained. "She's very ill and she feels really cold. We need to try and warm her up a bit. Who knows what happened to her."

"Poor thing, she looks awful," Krystah replied. She shivered, imagining her own children in such a condition. "Let's try and get her a bit more comfortable."

"Let's put her in my room for now," Silara said as she looked at her sister. "We can't just leave her like this." Krystah nodded and they worked together to move the girl upstairs.

;-

Ahsoka felt something stir around her and she slowly returned to consciousness. She hadn't even realized that she had passed out. There was a hand close to her face and something in front of her face.

"Here, try to drink some water," an unknown voice said. It sounded female to her though.

She could feel a cup of sorts being placed to her mouth and the feeling of water flowing against her lips. She opened her mouth slightly and drank it. Feeling the refreshing liquid flow down her throat was very welcome.

The cup moved away again after a short moment. The drink had cleared her mind up quite a bit. She opened her eyes fully and looked around a bit. She was inside somewhere, in a bed of sorts with a thick blanket over her. Eventually, her eyes settled on the figure next to her. She was a Togrutan woman with red skin.

"Hello there young lady, are you feeling a bit better?" the woman asked.

Ahsoka blinked and stared at the woman dumbfounded for a moment. "Y-yeah, I think so," she replied softly. "W-what happened? Who are you?" she asked the woman.

"My name is Silara Triball," she replied. "You're at my sister's house. You collapsed right out the door. I couldn't just leave you lying there, so I brought you inside."

"Thank you," Ahsoka replied softly, a little stunned. She tried to sit upright but Silara stopped her.

"Don't try to move," she said quickly. "You're not well, that's pretty obvious. You should rest." She sat down on the side of the bed. "Now, what happened to you?"

Ahsoka looked away. She really didn't want to talk about what happened. She felt her eyes stung and her head throbbed from the memories.

Silara noticed the look on the girl's face. "It's okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she said gently. "Is there someone I can contact for you?"

Ahsoka just stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know," she replied softly.

Silara studied the girl a moment. "Did you have fight or something? Do you not want to see them?" she asked gently. "Something bad has obviously happened to her."

"N-no," Ahsoka replied as she turned back to her slightly. "I… I just don't know. I only just got to Shili. I wouldn't know where…"

As she said that, Silara couldn't help but wonder what her story was, but she figured that she shouldn't pressure her right now. "Well, maybe I can help you," she offered. "I have a few friends around the city, maybe they can find your family. Can you tell me your name?" That question suddenly left her scared, she could instantly tell that from the look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Silara asked. "Why don't you want to tell me your name? I can help you and look for people while you rest."

Ahsoka looked at her with worried eyes. "I… I can't," she replied softly.

"Why not?" Silara asked. "Don't worry, we will look after you. You'll be fine."

Ahsoka shook her head slightly and looked away again. "They'll come after me again…" she replied softly.

Silara's eyes widened a bit at her words, but it also made things a bit clearer. "So something bad did happen to her, but what? Pirates? Slavers? Other criminals?" she mused as she looked over the girl. "Don't worry, I won't let anyone take you," she told her. The girl looked at her again with worry in her eyes. Silara gave her a confident smile. "I was a member of the royal guard before. I am still a very capable warrior. Anyone that tries to come in here uninvited will deeply regret it."

Ahsoka looked at this woman in surprise. She tried to study her a bit closer, as much as her tired mind would allow. This woman, Silara, did look pretty well trained now that she gave her a closer look. She very gently reached out with the Force. It confirmed that she was a pretty strong warrior indeed. That put her more at ease. She tried not to, but she could already feel herself drift off to sleep again.

Silara could tell that the girl was ready to pass out again. "She really does need to rest," she thought as she studied her a bit. "Don't worry, I'll help you, if you'll let me," she said reassuringly.

Ahsoka could sense through the Force that this woman meant it and would really try to help her. The Force told her that she could trust her. She struggled to stay awake as she answered. "I'm… A-Ahsoka… Ahsoka T-Tano…" With that, her mind went blank and she fell into a deep sleep again.

Silara's eyes went wide with shock when she heard her name. "H-hey," she stuttered out. "D-did you say your last name was Tano? Did you really?" she asked as she shook the girl's shoulder a bit. "Hey!" It was no use, she was out cold.

Still in slight shock, Silara made sure the girl was tucked in properly under the thick blanket before she left the room. She made her way downstairs and through the living room where her sister and her family was. Her sister asked her a question, but her mind didn't register it.

She made her way to the garage where she had stored some of her old belongings of her previous life. She quickly looked through them and found her old photo album. Flipping through the pages, she found the photo she was looking for.

It was an old photo of her, her dear old friend and her newborn baby girl, Ahsoka.

She nearly dropped the book in shock. She carefully placed it aside and picked up the communicator that was also among her things. She activated it and dialed one of her old friends.

"This is Shaden," a voice replied over the connection.

With her voice shaking, she replied: "Shaden, It's Silara. I think we have an heir."

;-

That's the end of this chapter.

Several names and characters will be the same as in my other stories. Their roles will be somewhat the same, but this story is quite different from my other ones.

Ahsoka is on Shili, but her condition is draining her strength immensely. Fortunately, she seems to have run into someone that will be able to help her. The Force still seems to be with her. In the next chapter, she will learn quite some mixed things about herself and her family.

I'm going to work on a new chapter for Barriss first. After that I'll pick up Ahsoka's story again, then return to this story.

Until next time.