Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 3

Chapter Thirty-Three

They were playing with fire by keeping the two of them locked up. Pressure building up within like a shaken canister of soda. Just one little slip up, one small opening, one little mistake...and the people keeping them captive would sorely regret ever being born. They were bombs. And when you play with a bomb, it explodes in your face.

Denali was ready.

"This silence is deafening, little sister." Danik continued to coo from within his restraints across the way. This side of him she was witnessing was definitely more annoying than what she was used to. How his words came out dark, twisted, coated in something she didn't understand and probably never would. Hopefully, she never would. "I appreciate the vulgar gesture from earlier; at least it was a response of some sort  that showed me a small window of what's exactly on your mind. But, now I don't mean to be picky or sound spoiled, I'd much rather have a word or two."

They thought she was dead. She knew it, deep down. Sekhmi. Chewie. Boba. Anakin. Obi-Wan. She didn't know how much time had passed since the battle on Alderaan, but it couldn't have happened yesterday. Or even within that week if she was already healed from being blown up by a tank. It was impossible, regardless of whether or not she'd been put in a bacta tank to speed up the process. Even then, it would've taken days of soaking for her wounds to fully heal.

And that wasn't even including the bones she'd broken. Bacta couldn't heal shattered bones.

How long had she been out before waking to see her enemy alive and just across the hall? How long had the people she loved most been living without her? How would they react when she returned to them? And not only her...

...but Obi-Wan's child as well?

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The people who held Danik most dear went first when showing memories. There were three stones; three people given one per perished loved one. Danik's chosen three had been Gerg, obviously, Aurra Sing, which Anakin found to be a little interested and wondered what the story there was, and Boba Fett. The three for Denali had been himself, Obi-Wan, and Chewie. It could've been either padawan, but Sekhmi didn't want to show the galaxy the times she held closest with her former master. They were hers and hers alone.

Everyone was silent and the crowd's eyes never left Gerg's back as he stepped up to the platform and pulled a small, sparkling stone from the pocket of his coat. No one said a word, not even a whimper, and the seconds slowly went by as he held the stone in his hand, staring at it. Looking at the rock as the fire glimmered in its reflection. Then, without a second glance, he dropped the small, oval-like object into the flames.

Immediately after the deed was done, the fire turned blue and smoke overflowed from the rim of the bowl. It remained low to the ground, rising slightly below Gerg's knees, and fanned out in all directions. It passed the pews, one by one, and slithered down the aisles between them, and didn't stop until the entire sanctuary floor was layered in a carpet of light gray.

Then the interesting part began.

At the base of the platform, right in front of the seated bounty hunters to the left of Anakin and the other Jedi, the smoke began to rise and form seven pillars. They weren't all standing in a straight line or anything like that; some of them were scattered to the side, while one stood alone. Silence filled the room once more, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Then the echo of a blaster going off shattered the moment of soundless peace. Everyone seemed to jump at the noise, but it didn't take long for people to realize it wasn't a real gun. The pillars of smoke retreated back to the floor and revealed ghost-like holograms of young teenagers standing in their place.

The one who'd been standing alone turned out to be a little girl holding a blaster rifle, aiming across the room to an invisible target no one could see. The others were a human boy who looked similar to the girl, a Twi-lek girl, and a Nautolan boy. The remaining ones weren't clear enough to tell what exactly they looked like or what species they were.

The ghostly little girl took a deep breath of relief and set the nearly transparent weapon down at her feet.

"Wow, great job, Sis. I'm impressed." The similar-looking boy stated happily as he patted her on the back and the surrounding ghost clapped enthusiastically. All except one- the twi-lek. Anakin could felt Obi-Wan's emotions shift from anger to recollection, then to sadness as the memory progressed. The clapping stopped was replaced with an eerie feeling when the twi-lek stepped forward, her face stoic.

"Zendy-"

"Silence, Gerg." The twi-lek cut off the Nautolan boy as he spoke. Then the pieces began to fall into place as Anakin suddenly knew what exactly he was watching. He was watching Denali's initiation into the Rancor Slayers. The twi-lek was Zendara, the first leader of the Rancor Slayers that Anakin had heard Denali mention once. The Nautolan was Gerg, the human boy must've been Danik, and the little girl...

Zendy lifted her hand, as if preparing to smack Denali across the face, and held it there as the suspense built up. Gerg wrapped an arm around Danik's nervous shoulders and glared at their leader.

"Zendara, if you're going to punish her, get it over with. Stop torturing Danik and Denali with this suspense." Gerg snapped. Danik looked away and it really appeared like the teenager was going to hit the small child. Anakin held his breath and braced himself for what he was about to witness, then slowly let it out when Zendara's hand dropped by her side and a smile appeared on her face.

It continued on to show the ragtag group of misfits clap one last time as the twi-lek tied a necklace around Denali's throat with a charm in the exact same shape of the gun at her feet, then Danik ran to her and wrapped her tightly in a loving embrace. From the expression on his face, his pride for his little sister was pouring from his heart.

"We have a family now." Little Denali squeaked gleefully.

"Yes, Denali, we do." Her big brother grinned and the ghosts disappeared.

Anakin felt his heart constrict, then looked around the sanctuary to see how everyone else was reacting to the sight of this little girl. This little girl, no older than ten and already an excellent shot with a sniper rifle, say that they'd found a family in a group of mercenaries. Many of the senators were teary-eyed, all except for Bail. Bultar Swan appeared as if she was using everything in her power not to cry, while many of the other Jedi just looked guilty. And the only individual showing any emotion at all on the bounty hunter side of the room was Sekhmi, who let the floodgates open soundlessly, tears dripping down her cheeks like waterfalls. He let out an inner-sigh and held his stone tightly in his grip.

This was going to be a long and painful funeral service.

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Sorry for the calm before the storm, guys. I know the story is pretty irritable right now, but when the end of the book comes around, you'll wish I'd kept the boring stuff going. Hang in there. Trust me. The feels are coming.

~Madness