BOOK ONE: SEARCH

AHSOKA TANO

“I’m sorry, Master, but I’m not coming back.” Those words resonated in Ahsoka Tano’s mind, along with an image that had stayed in her mind, as if it had been branded there. Her hand, closing her Master’s around her silka beads, then the soft padding of her feet as she walked away from the Jedi Temple, and the only life she had ever known.

 Now, a few hours later, shivering in a dark alleyway, completely alone, the fallen Jedi tried to fall asleep. She twisted one way, curling herself up into a ball so to best use her body heat to keep herself warm, but then saw the tall spires of the Temple standing out against the sky over the buildings around her.

  Blinking away tears, she curled up tighter, and willed herself to fall asleep. But it just wasn’t working. She was too cold, hungry and emotionally and physically spent to slide into a more peaceful state of consciousness. She was going to have to try to satisfy one of the above if she were to have any chance at feeling fulfilled.

  Something fulfilling would be to get something to eat, which she would have done gladly, but she didn’t have any credits whatsoever. Her stomach growled, and the tasty smells from a nearby eatery were proving to be too much. She sighed, breaking the vigil of silence that she had been holding ever since she left, and got up.

  “Hey, kid, wanna buy some death sticks?” asked a strange man with an almost rusty-sounding accent just outside the small restaurant. He flipped some of his merchandise out of a small satchel with a flare.

  “You don’t want to sell me death sticks,” Ahsoka said, waving her hand slightly. She was going to help someone tonight, even if it wasn’t she herself.

  He flipped the death stick out of sight again. “I don’t want to sell you death sticks.”

  “You want to go home and rethink your life.” She waved her hand again.

  “I want to go home and rethink my life.” He turned and shambled off down the street. Feeling as pleased with herself as she could in her current depressed mood, Ahsoka walked into the restaurant.

  She looked around. Shady characters from various star systems were seated or standing around the place, sipping drinks or eating the day’s special. Faded posters plastered the walls, and moving lights would either leave her blinded or in the dark. Suddenly a little afraid of the looks that they were giving her, she reached a hand down to pat her lightsabers, an exercise that had always reassured her. But then she remembered that they weren’t there.

  “Get out of here,” said a voice. She turned around to see the place’s owner, a Besalisk, towel-drying a plate and looking at her. “We’re closing in a few minutes, and I’m not going to get you anything.”

 She strolled over casually. “Then why are all of these people not moving?”

  He didn’t answer, clearly understanding that she was not going to go away so easily. She sat down on the stool in front of him, looked straight into his eyes, and, for the third time that night, waved her hand discreetly. “You will get me the special to go, free of charge, then forget that you ever saw me.”

  He repeated what she had said, then went into the back room, emerging a few minutes later with her meal. Dinner’s served, she thought as she took the container, but she still didn’t like having to rely on her Jedi – she cringed to think the word – training to get her stomach full.

 Well, I won’t make it a habit, she consoled herself, and sat down on an old crate outside to eat. I’ll find work somewhere, maybe as a mechanic, and then I’ll be able to make an honest living for myself and earn my dinner.

  Feeling better after having ate, she walked back to her alleyway. Throwing the empty container inside a large dumpster, she curled back up in her previous place. It had been inside a crate that she had found filled with shredded cloth, and underneath the steps of an old, abandoned housing development.

 Tucking her hands underneath her arms so that they wouldn’t get cold enough to wake her up, she drifted into an uneasy and fitful sleep.