Left Behind

Chapter 1: The Bounty Hunter

It's been around three standard Coruscanti years since my jedi master Tairnair left me behind on the sandy planet of Tatooine. And to be quite honest... Those three years were everything but pleasant. I got robbed, beaten up and nearly murdered at least three times. That was until a bounty hunter named Zabru found me and took me under his wing.

"Roccha! It's time to get up. We've got a job to do!", he repeated for a second time and I finally decided to get up. We were currently camping under a small cliff on Tatooine. What were we looking for? A bounty of course! "Ok, ok. I'm awake now." "Did it take you this long to wake up when you were still in the temple?", he cackled and extinguished the fire. "I mean... sometimes it took even longer", I replied sheepishly and got up. I sighed and quickly got the rest of my stuff into my backpack. "You ready?" "I was born ready", I responded and wiped some dust off my lekkus and montrals. "I hate sand, Zabru." "I know you do. After this job we'll finally have enough credits for a decent ship. Then we'll leave this sandy planet once and for all. What about it?" "That sounds wonderful. Where do you want to go?", I asked him as I put my backpack onto my back and stretched hastily. "I don't know yet. But before we plan our future, we should focus on the present." I nodded and we headed off.

Our target was a middle-aged human man named Osla. He killed two guards the Hutts had stationed in front of Mos Espa and ran away into the desert. We walked for what felt like an eternity. The sun was burning my light blue skin and my montrals were heating up as well. "How far is it?", I asked my mentor as I looked at him from behind. "Not too far. Maybe one or two more parsecs." "Alright." The sand was still annoying me, even after three years of living here. Had my master not left me here and told me to die, I would be near my exams to become a Jedi-Knight now. I miss the temple and the other Jedi, but I sure as hell don't miss being a part of this war. The Clone Wars already started about a year ago but I still haven't met a single clone. I mean.. Why would they be on a planet like Tatooine? It's not a republican planet after all.

We left the small hills and rocky cliffs into the open desert. Zabru put on his hood hoping not to get a hefty sunburn on his forehead head again. I also put on my hood that was getting smaller and smaller. Or were my montrals growing this fast? "I think I may need a new hood" "Again? I already bought you that one just three months ago!" "I know, I know... But my montrals are still growing." He turned around to look at me and put his left hand on my right montral to inspect it. "Damn... They're growing rather fast... How do poor Togrutas afford that much clothing?" "They don't." "Fair enough"

We were walking for another thirty minutes when the bounty tracker started beeping. "Looks like we're close, Roccha. Stay behind me and be quiet." I acknowledged his request by nodding at him and we headed forward nearly crouching. Behind the sand dune we saw our target. The middle-aged man, Osla, was riding on an old looking Bantha towards the planet's twin suns. "Where is he going? There is literally nothing in that direction", I whispered over to Zabru who was looking at the man through it binoculars. "I have no idea. Do you wanna shoot his Bantha or is it my time to shine?" "It's your time, Mr. Sniper." He grinned from ear to ear when he got his Valken-38x sniper gun from his back. It's the same one the republic used and this one was a bit older. But it was still Zabru's favourite gun of all time. He positioned himself on the dune and was ready to take the shot. "Don't kill Osla. If he's still alive we'll get paid double", I hinted at him and now looked at the target through Zabru's binoculars. "I know, I know. I've been in business for thirty years. And now be quiet. I've got to concentrate." I sighed and smirked. I knew that he would hit the Bantha perfectly. In the nearly three years I've travelled with him, he hadn't missed a single shot. With a loud blast he shot the Bantha killing it instantly with a headshot. Zabru's way of hunting wasn't the cleanest, but it was effective.

He swiftly strapped the rifle on his back and we both jumped up. Osla was stunned as his Bantha fell over and rolled on top of him. "Oh", I mumbled as we sprinted down the dune as fast as we could. Large clouds of sand were forming behind us as we ran up to the deceased Bantha. "Get me out of here", we could hear the man scream in our ears. When we reached the Bantha both Zabru and I walked over to the other side quietly and saw the middle-aged man fixed under the big creature with his legs. "It hurts! Get me out of here!" But before we did anything of that sort Zabru pulled the handcuffs from his pockets on his belt and put it on the man's hands. "Hey! What's the meaning of this?" "Hello Mr. Osla. My name is Roccha. And that is Zabru. We're here to collect your bounty", I introduced us and earned a stern look from Zabru. "B-Bounty? What bounty? I'm a law abiding citizen of Tatooine! I didn't kill any guards or anythi- Oh shit." I laughed with all my heart as he just confessed his crimes without thinking about it beforehand. "Let's get this idiot out of there, huh?", planned Zabru as he held onto Osla's arms. "Alright." It had been months since I used the force and I sure as hell didn't expect to use it to lift a dead Bantha. I concentrated as I held my right arm in front of me. "What's that girl tryna do? Be a Jedi or whatever those wizards are called?", howled the bounty target like a Krayt dragon in heat. After a few seconds and a lot of concentrating I managed to lift the body enough for Zabru to pull out Osla. Said Osla just gave me a weird look. "Now we gotta get him back to Mos Espa.", frowned Zabru and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

With a quick motion he kicked the middle-aged man in the ribs. "Get up, old man." "Pretty sure we're around the same age, Mr. Bounty Hunter." "I doubt it, you old geezer." I chuckled. Of course Zabru wasn't the youngest anymore, but seeing him get worked up over something as trivial as this was funny, even for me. He kicked the target once again but this time into his calves. "Get moving!" "Alright, Alright. I'm doing my best", Osla sighed and rolled his eyes.

After about 8 hours of consecutive walking through the merciless deserts of Tatooine we finally reached another cliff. "We're gonna set camp up here. And since we don't want you walking away grandpa, we're gonna tie you up", smiled Zabru as he pulled out some sturdy and dirty looking ropes from my backpack, that I had just put down. With tears in his eyes Osla begged to not be tied up but Zabru didn't care. As the bounty hunter was tying up his old bounty, I started gathering some dead dry wood in order to start a fire for tonight. The skin on my hands was dry as it was not made for weather like this. My homeworld, Shili, was the opposite of a desert planet after all. I don't remember it from my early childhood, but I was there once with my old master to talk about the planet joining the republic. They declined ofcourse.

As I was gathering firewood Osla was still yelling for us to either release him or to put him out of his misery. Since the bounty was made by the Hutts, Osla will probably be eaten by their rancor anyway. The bounty hunter Zabru stood up and stretched his arms a little before he put a piece of cloth in his bounty's mouth and secured it. "Shut up, old man." I quickly put down the firewood and started a nice little flame, enough for us to not freeze to death this night. During the day a desert's heat was merciless but the night's cold wasn't any better. "You hungry?", asked Zabru as he pulled out some dried dewback meat from the backpack. "Sure. Is it the spicy kind or the normal one?" "The spicy one. I know that's your favourite." "Yeah, because unlike the normal one it doesn't taste like leather." "Fair point", said he as he tossed over a piece of dried meat. I caught it, ofcourse, sat down by the fire and bit into the spicy piece of meat, that didn't taste like leather but still had the same consistency. When I was done eating both of us laid down simultaneously. Zabru used his right arm to lay his head on while I used the backpack I had previously carried. Our bounty, Osla, was tied to a rock pillar and had to sleep while sitting. Makes you feel sorry for the guy. On the other hand... he did kill two guards and who knows how many more people. "Goodnight Zabru and grandpa", I said before I noticed that Zabru was already fast asleep. Osla on the other hand was squirming around slowly, with a piece of cloth in his mouth in order to keep him quiet, as he was also already tired and ready to doze off. I was looking into the fire as I slowly, but surely... fell asleep.