Star Wars: A New Change

Chapter 38.

The next few weeks went by fast. With the help of the people of Korith Mazi we were able to build a hut for me and Anakin on the outskirts of the village.

Anakin put up a curtain wall through the middle of the room to separate the sides. One was his and one was mine.

Anakin didn't bring up anything that we had talked about that one night, which I was glad for. I was already dealing with so much, I couldn't take any more.

The village people were very kind and were teaching us some of their language, or at least trying, so that we could understand each other.

There were only about fifty people that lived in the village altogether. I assumed they were the only humans that inhabited the planet. It was a very small planet from what I was learning. Anakin and I were lucky to even have landed on it.

One of the things I admired about Korith Mazi was that everyone was treated equally. The women weren't assigned to domestic tasks while the men did farm work and stuff. Everyone helped out with everything. You were just placed where they thought you could be the most help.

Anakin was good with his hands and so he was assigned to building things, like tools, furniture, and other various things. I watched the children, but there were men that watched children too and women who built things.

The more time I spent there, the more thankful I was that we landed somewhere like this. If we were stuck here forever, it was one of the best places to be stuck. It was so peaceful and quiet. Everyone got along, and even though Anakin and I were complete strangers, they took us in with open arms.

Even though the place was almost perfect, Anakin and I didn't stop trying to get back home. Anakin had made a trip back to our crashed ship now that everything has probably cooled off. He brought back a bunch of various parts to mess with in his spare time.

I also tried to make him meditate. See if he could call out with the force. He wasn't as confident as I was, but he still tried.

Every day I questioned what was happening between us more and more. Even without him doing anything, I was getting pulled in more and more.

I was starting to second guess myself. What if he was right? What if we were stuck here and keeping apart was for nothing?

I tried to remind myself that it wasn't for nothing, but I just couldn't see him turning to the dark side while we were trapped on this planet with no way off.

Everything about him seemed to make my heart race. We didn't even spend a lot of time together anymore, but when we did I could barely stand it. The memory of our second kiss and his words were haunting me. They replayed over and over in my head every day, making it hard to concentrate on anything.

He was taking this all really well. He got along great with the people, and even more with the children. I was surprised at that, because I knew he was not a 'kid' person. He hated watching younglings at the temple. He had told me several times, but watching him build kites with the children was heartwarming. The kids adored him as well.

"How's it coming? Anything?" I asked coming to his side of the room one day.

"Nothing yet. These parts aren't exactly very useful together. Anything that could have really helped was destroyed." Anakin said messing with some wires.

"Have you felt anything through the force?" I asked hopefully, but he just shook his head.

"How long have we been here now?" he asked rubbing his face tiredly.

"About three weeks." I had been keeping track by scratching lines into the wall every day.

He saw my crestfallen look and have my hand an assuring squeeze. "Hey, I'm not giving up. We're still going to try every day. Even if it's been three years."

I smiled at him gratefully.

Just then, we heard shouting coming from the village and we looked at each other worriedly before running out.

The people were gathered around a young man whose name was Carto. He was horribly wounded. His shirt was removed to reveal deep claw marks on his side and chest. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it. There was so much blood.

"What happened?" I tried to ask in their dialect.

"Bagir Monva." they all muttered.

I had no idea what that was, but I knew it wasn't good. They immediately carried off Carto to the medical hut.

I saw that even Bona Droon had come out to see what the commotion was. Anakin and I made our way to him.

"What happened to him?" I asked the old man.

"Bagir Monva." he replied grimly.

"What is Bagir Monva?" Anakin asked.

"Monster. Hurt our people. More and more now." he said sadly.

"Has anyone fought this thing?" Anakin asked.

"No! No use fighting Bagir Monva. Too strong. Kill you." Bona Droon said quickly.

"What does this thing look like?" Anakin asked curiously.

"Huge! Claws kill. Most don't come back. Promise you won't go look for Bagir Monva." the old man grabbed Anakin by the shirt pleadingly.

Anakin looked at him uneasily. "Fine. Okay I won't look for it."

This seemed to calm the old man down and he continued on his way to see Carto.

"I wonder what that monster is." Anakin said later that night.

"Obviously a really bad one." I said.

Why don't they have any protection against it? I assumed that they didn't have weapons because there was no need. I had no idea there was a giant monster thing that killed people. They don't even know how to defend themselves." Anakin said angrily.

"Anakin, you promised that you wouldn't look for it." I reminded him. I didn't need Anakin getting killed too.

"I know, but they're just okay with losing a person every once in awhile? What if there are more than one of those things? What if they attack the village?" Anakin worried aloud.

"Anakin, these people have been here far longer than we have. I'm sure they know what they're talking about." I told him.

"They know nothing about anything outside their planet, how do I expect them to know what to do. They don't even defend themselves." Anakin argued.

"Please don't do anything rash." I begged him.

"Who, me?" Anakin smirked and I glared at him.

"I won't, but I'm going to make some weapons tomorrow that they can use, and then teach them how to use them." Anakin told me.

"I guess that wouldn't hurt." I shrugged.