The Imprisoned

Prologue

  The air was dry in the late afternoon heat under the Jedha sun. The sun shone down on a small group of people standing outside a city near dusty fields. It shone especially brightly on a young girl with long, black hair and deep brown eyes.

Cautiously, young Yukiri Doesine peeked out from around her mother's legs towards the strangers in front of her.

"Yukiri, why don't you go play while Calian and I speak." Said Deira Doesine, nudging her daughter out towards the young boy and elderly man.

Yukiri reluctantly emerged, and advancing shyly, raised her hand in greeting.

"Hello. My name's Yukiri." She addressed the boy.

He had brown hair and brilliant emerald green eyes that were filled to the brim with anticipation.

"I'm Rin." Said the boy, taking her proffered hand. "We should probably leave so that they can talk." He said, jerking his head in the direction of the adults. When Yukiri nodded, he pulled her by her hand at a dead run out into the dry fields.

"Ow! Hey!! You're going too fast!" Gasped Yukiri, trying to keep pace with his longer strides.

"You're going too slow! C'mon, you can go faster than that!" He replied laughingly.

The two children sprinted across the field, soon arriving tired and panting at a broken-down shed at the crossroads. Rin opened the door and collapsed inside.

"You're pretty fast. Not many here can keep up with me. Yukiri, right?"

Yukiri nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

"Soooo....What does your mom do?" Rin asked after a moment of awkward silence. "My parents are just farmers".

"I think Mother does a lot of papers and boring things. She has a lot of protocol droids, and she always makes lots of charts." Replied Yukiri thoughtfully."Something to do with the planet."

"Right." Nodded Rin. "Da said a 'government official' was going to come over, so I guess that's your mom."

They lapsed into silence for several more uncomfortable minutes before Yukiri decided to break the silence.

"I like you. Let's be friends."

Rin jumped up, almost as if he had been waiting for her to say that. "Yeah! We'll be best friends!"

Yukiri couldn't help but laugh at his exaggerated antics.

For a while longer, they asked each other questions, their six-year-old minds already building a bridge of unconditional trust.

"Rin, what do you want to be when you grow up? A farmer?"

Rin grimaced at the thought. "Farming is boring." He said in a plaintive tone. "What I want to do-" here, he beckoned Yukiri closer, and whispered, "I want to be a Jedi."

Yukiri's face broke into a grin, her eyes widening in surprise. "A Jedi? Me too! Being able to fly around the entire galaxy, and lift things with your mind? Awesome!"

" I know, right?" He was jumping up and down in excitement now. "And fighting with a laser sword?"

"I know!! We could be Jedi together!" Interrupted Yukiri, forgetting all her previous shyness in the light of Rin's smile. He was her age AND he had the same goal? Has she finally found a real friend?

"Yeah! We could both be Jedi and fight bad guys and space pirates!" Agreed Rin, still jumping.

Suddenly, Yukiri's face fell. "Mother once told me you have to take a special test to be a Jedi, and that maybe I can't be one." She said mournfully.

Rin thought for a moment, his small mind quickly coming up with a solution.

"Then we could be bounty hunters, with jet packs like on the Holonet Shows! The ones who catch bad guys and give them to the Republic! Problem solved!"

Yukiri's smile returned with Rin's absurdly simple solution."Alright, it's agreed. If we can't be Jedi, we'll be bounty hunters together."

"Agreed."

They formed plans to meet and train together, and before they knew it the sun was setting over the horizon.

"Yukiri!! Time to go home!" Someone shouted.

Deira's voice sounded from across the fields.

"I have to go, but I'll try to get out tomorrow, ok?" Said Yukiri regretfully. "Maybe I can bring a Meluran or something to eat."

"Sure. I'll see you then. Remember, Jedi training at noon!" Replied Rin. Already he was looking forward to it.

Rin watched her go with sparkling eyes. She was fun to be around and seemed like she genuinely believed he could become a Jedi. And she was his friend! He really couldn't wait to train with her.