ʙᴏᴏᴋ 1: ᴡʜɪꜱᴘᴇʀꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴇꜱᴛɪɴʏ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 9: ʀᴇꜱɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ

"We all need help, even if we don't realize it."

An acquaintance tries to offer assistance.

______________________________________________________________

Three days.

Three days since I had run away from the only life I ever knew, three days of trying hundreds of weapons to break the chain. Each ending in the same result, failure.

I was on one of the lower levels of Coruscant. I had no money with me when I had run away. I was running on fumes at this point. I had no food, no water, and no home. I only had my freedom. It was all I had left, and the one thing I could never lose. I approached an empty alleyway, looking in all directions. It was clear, and my limbs were screaming out in pain. I pressed my back against the wall and let my body slide down. Sobs racked my body. I brought my knees to my chest and rested my forehead against them. I was truly alone.

~~~

After Moira had run away from the Temple, all of the Coruscant police  and news stations were reporting on her, even offering a reward if she was returned to the Temple safely. Three days had passed, not one sighting of her since she had boarded the transport to the lower levels.

The Council called an emergency meeting.

"There have been no reports of her movements in the last three days." Master Mundi said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"She is in the lower levels of Coruscant, and with her skills she will be hard to find" Master Windu added.

"The longer it takes to find her, the more danger she poses to herself and others. The Crystal has already shown signs of giving her it's power. She may be... unstable." Master Ti said, agreeing.

"Two teams we will send, Master Kenobi and Master Plo Koon. With clones you will go. But swiftly you must, and bring back this lost child, before it is too late."

Master Koon and Master Kenobi rose from their seats, and headed to the hanger.

"Set all weapons to stun." Master Kenobi said. "Remember, she is not an enemy! She is just scared and confused. Do not hurt her." Master Koon added, as he stepped into the other gunship. The two gunships rose from the ground before lowering into the lower levels of Coruscant.

~~~

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was waking up to the sounds of shouting.

"She has been spotted in the East Alleyway. All units move in."

I froze. They found me!

I jumped up from my current position, looking around. On one of the sides of the alley was a ramp leading to a flat side of  roofs. I gathered up all my strength and force jumped just as a squad of clones moved into the alley. They looked around before one of them spotted me, pointing in my direction.

"There she is!" I mentally cursed myself for staying in the open for too long as I started leaping rooftop to rooftop, the clones in hot pursuit. I heard the familiar sound of two gunships closing in behind me. Someone was barking out orders because the next thing I knew, stun bolts were shot in my direction. I brought out my lightsaber, deflecting and dodging all of them that came my way. I continued this to no end, the exhaustion was starting to kick in. I looked to the right and saw the entrance to a crowded plaza, filled with several alleyways. I twisted in the air before landing and bolting in the other direction, the gunships falling behind slightly at the change of direction. At the last roof top I jumped down, landing on the ground. I  dove into the crowd as I heard the frustrated sighs from the clones, who were still trying to get off the rooftop. I continued walking causally with the crowd, until I noticed another small alleyway connected to an abandoned space port. Weighing my options carefully, I decided I needed to find a new hiding spot, and fast. I ran into the alleyway hiding behind a trash can, looking behind me to make sure I hadn't been followed.

After a few more minutes of waiting, I rose from my crouched position, and started walking to the opposite end of the alleyway. It had a little ramp on it, probably for a small transport to land on to take someone to another level. I sighed before plopping myself down on the edge of the platform, letting my legs dangle off the edge. I could see ships taking off and landing on all levels. I looked below me and realized just how far down Coruscant went. No wonder a trillion people live here. I continued to watch the transports move up and down, until I felt another lightness in my stomach.

I looked down and the Crystal was glowing again. It hadn't glowed since I had used it to push the doors to the Temple open. I still had no idea how this Crystal thing worked. All I knew is that it had to come off. I wanted nothing to do with this thing.

The crystal continued to glow brighter with every second until it lifted off my chest slightly. I continued to ignore it, until I heard light footsteps hit the platform. I turned my head so fast, I almost gave myself whiplash. I scrambled to my feet, before taking a defensive position. At the other end of the platform stood Master Plo Koon.

"Moira." he said softly, taking a step towards me.

"Stay back!" I yelled at him, causing him to freeze in place. Good.

"I am not here to hurt you." he explained calmly. "I just want to help take you back home."

He was now standing about 10 feet from me. Hands resting against his back. I glared at him slightly before speaking, "I am not going back there! I want nothing to do with this! I just want to get this Crystal off and leave! It's all too much!" I said, taking one step closer to the edge.

Master Plo stared for a moment before speaking. "I understand that this is a lot to take in," he said carefully, taking another two steps closer before pausing. "I know you're scared and confused right now. You have every reason to be. I can help you, but we need to go back to the Temple." he said, trying to reason with me.

I shook my head at this. "I can't do what they want me to do. I don't know what is happening to me! I just want to get this Crystal off of me!" I said, holding back tears.

He took another step closer, looking  at me, thoughtfully. Considering his next words carefully as my heels reached the edge of the platform.

"I cannot remove the Crystal, but if you come back, I am sure we can find some way to make this work. You have an amazing gift you can learn to control. We only want to help you, Little One. Can you at least believe that?" I looked at him for a long moment, analyzing his words. It wasn't that I thought anyone was going to hurt me. But I couldn't do what they wanted. I just couldn't.

"I believe you, Master Koon." I said softly, "But I won't allow myself to be forced to harness something I can't control. I can't! Even if the whole Order believes I can, I can't do it! It's too much!" I said, staring at the ground.

"Even if Master Di believed you could?"

Now that grabbed my attention. Master Di? He knew about this? Why would he never tell me this himself? How did-

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I failed to notice Master Plo coming closer to me and signaling to someone behind me until It was too late. I felt a sudden jolt go through my body.

"I am sorry, Little One." he said softly. I looked at him, with slight betrayal in my eyes. Everything went limp, as I fell to the ground, Master Plo catching me moments before my head hit the ground. I tried to fight off the exhaustion that overwhelmed me. Master Plo propped me up against his lap before bringing his claw to rest on my forehead.

"Rest Little One," he said whispering, sending me a sleep suggestion through the Force. I continued to struggle against him weakly. He moved his other hand to rest on my shoulder, efficiently stopping my struggles.

"Don't fight it. Everything is going to be fine, Little One. Rest now." he said, whispering into my ear. His tone sent a soothing wave of comfort through my body. And with one final sleep suggestion, my world went dark.

Author Notes: I am enjoying writing this story, should I continue?