Star Wars: The Apprentice

II

"I can't take it anymore, Sakaan," she said, holding her head in her hands. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her heart refused to calm down.

  "Takara, I'm here, you know that. What did you see?"

  Her heart clenched and her voice quivered as she said, "War." She swallowed audibly, small beads sweat trickling down her face. "Death and war. The Imperials...and the Rebels..."

  Sakaan pulled her into a hug. "We should avoid conflict then. I'll help you--"

  "No," Takara said suddenly. She stood up, tearing herself from Sakaan's embrace. "Whatever is coming for me, you cannot face with me. I forbid it."

  Sakaan laughed and tugged at her hand to sit back down. "You forbid it for me? Are you even listening to yourself?"

  She pulled her hand away from his. "I don't know what to think right now. It could be many things. From when I was ambushed, to the Underworld just playing with my mind--"

  "Starkiller!" a woman's voice pierced through her mind. "Galen! Help me! Please!" The image of a very beautiful blond woman falling into a dark abyss was vivid through her mind.

  "Oh my God." Takara dropped to one knee.

  "Juno!" a man screamed. "Juno I'm sorry!" A man stood at the lip of the abyss, shaking from silent tears. "I'm so sorry..."

  "Make it stop," Takara moaned, covering her ears.

  "Takara, what's wrong?" Sakaan knelt down next to her. She unconsciously tensed up at his presence.

  "Visions," she whispered.

  "Of?"

  "I have to go," she said, shaking her head from the mental fog she was in. She had to move.

  "Where? Perhaps I can help," said Sakaan.

  "No. This is has to be done alone, Sakaan," she said.

  "It wasn't really a question. I'm coming whether you like it or not."

  "And I wasn't asking for your help. I appreciate it but what I'm seeing is too dangerous for you."

  "Taki," Sakaan teased, using the nickname he gave her, "dangerous is practically my name."

  "Sakaan--"

  "Takara."

  "Go to sleep!" She exasperatedly waved her hand in front of his face. She felt a small tug of weak resistance and Sakaan's eyes rolled into the back of his head. He let out a soft snore and collapsed. Takara softened his fall, using the Force, before his head could collide with the hard concrete ground.

  She waited, examining his handsome features. He let out another soft snore. That was her cue. She stuffed in all her spare clothes and her two lightsabers into duffel bag and threw a cloak over herself. She jotted down a quick note to Sakaan from a napkin she found in her pocket a pen she had stolen from the bar, and stuffed the note in his shirt. The nearest club was her next destination.

  The Force would guide her. And Takara only partially knew that. She took off, using the Force to silence her footfalls as she made her way towards the club.

  The clubs were bustling, the neon lights pulsating through the tangle of bodies dancing, grinding, or simply conversing. The speeders parked along the landing platform caught her attention. This was a plus. And since there was a habit of owning the best, the fastest, and the best looking speeders in this waste dump, she'd surely find the speeder that would fit her...standards...