BETWEEN SITH AND JEDI, BOOK ONE: FORGOTTEN

A lone figure stands slouched up against a wall in a dark alleyway. A hood covers half of her face, and leaves the rest in shadow. Her cloak is tattered and dusty, but a casual passer-by, if they chose to look closely, would notice that this person had a strange air about them. It was as if she had fallen from grace.

She looked around her, her eyes making the briefest of skims over her surroundings. Moisture dripped from a vent of the building across from her, its pattering against a stone puncturing the air in sharp, staccato beat. Some bird – she didn’t care to remember its name or species – cawed above her, then fluttered away.

 She glanced to the side, then saw why the bird had left its rooftop perch. Three men were coming towards her from the street. She didn’t bother to move, knowing that she could kill them in ten seconds at the most if she wanted to. But, it was best to keep a low profile somewhere as corrupt as Tatooine. Three people lying dead in a gutter by lightsaber wounds would certainly catch someone’s eye.

 The leading one, a Rodian male, stopped in front of her, and the others went to surround her on the other sides. She recognized them all: they were all part of Jabba the Hutt’s gang. The leader here was named Greedo.

“What are you doing around here, stranger?” he asked spitefully in Huttese. “Anyone who lives in Hutt-controlled space has to pay taxes to Jabba, and you haven’t been paying yours.”

 “I don’t pay that sleemo Jabba anything,” she said, standing up straighter. She had hoped that no one would find out about her illegal apartment nearby. With a casual tug, she took off her hood, showing them her tan Togruta face, with its simple white markings and intense blue eyes.

 Greedo didn’t take her defiance well. “You will pay with credits or with your life!”

 “No,” she said, as coolly as ever. The Rodian pushed a button on his comlink, and three more bounty hunters walked into the alleyway. Suddenly, she didn’t like her odds.

 A dirty little girl woke up, curled up behind a trashcan. Like any other Tatooine street urchin, her light blond hair was sandy and dirty, and she was dressed in ill-fitting, ragged clothing.

She scratched her elbow, and looked to the left. A heated conversation between two people was going on next to her. She watched as six people – bounty hunters – drew guns, and pointed them at a woman in her mid-twenties or so.

 The woman must have heard her shift, and their eyes met for a moment. The girl saw something in her eyes, an odd spark that she had never seen before, and was drawn to her. She knew that she had to do something.

She stepped out of her hiding place. “Stop!” she yelled.

 The woman watched as the bounty hunters turned towards the small girl. “And what are you going to do about it, little girl?” asked Greedo mockingly, and the others chuckled. “How old are you, anyway? Five, six?”

“I’m doing this,” she said, and raised her hand. Beads of sweat appeared on the child’s face.

 “You will leave this lady alone,” she said. A blank expression came over their faces, and they repeated what she had said exactly. The woman jumped, startled. She hadn’t seen anything like this in almost ten years. “And now you will leave.”

 The same thing happened. Once the bounty hunters had left, the woman walked over to the little girl, and bent to her height. She was tiny little thing, with messy, short hair and violet eyes. There was something special about her.

 “Do you know how you did that?” she asked her, her eyes shining.

 “No,” said the pixie-like child. “I’ve always been able to do it, ma’am.”

 At least the girl was polite to her. “Well now, young one, that was a Jedi mind trick. But it usually only works with one person at a time.”

 “What’s a Jedi?”

 “They were peacekeepers, in the time before the Emperor took control of the galaxy. Now they’re all but extinct. They had powers like you, that they channeled through the Force.”

 “Are you a Jedi?”

 “Yes, in a way. I can teach you to become one, if your parents say it’s okay.” She took out her lightsaber and turned it on for the girl, who stared, wonderstruck. Her expression read that she was dying to try to use it.

 “I have no parents. I’m called Kaylira, and I’m eight years old. I’ve always wanted to leave Tatooine, so… can I go with you?” she asked hopefully.

 “Sure. I’m Ahsoka Tano. Come with me to Cialone, and I’ll teach you how to become a Jedi Master.”