The Twilights: The Basics of Secrets

Chapter 7

Azura

Upon returning to the Spirit, I barricaded myself in my new room. I sat cross legged on the bed, my pack sitting comfortably in my lap. I sifted through the few belongings I was able to bring with me before I was surprisingly swept away from Sugloria.

Most of it was random bits of metal and broken pieces of equipment, plus a random roll of tape and string. There was small bag with mushy berries and soggy bread in it. I had my favorite blaster tucked away. It was silver and slick with a golden design on the handle. I hooked it to my side. I had my money pouch and several knives. I placed them neatly next to each other on the empty shelving unit.

Lastly, I had a small and dirty rag doll tucked in the bottom of the bag. I forgot I had left it in there. It was a girl with long brown hair and wore a dirty blue dress. I bought this doll with my parents in one of the Sugloria markets when I was younger. I had clutched it to my chest the night the Zarion Empire came after my parents. I was eight and didn't fully understand the oppression the galaxy faced due to the Empire. I didn't realize my parents were smuggling illegal contraband and rebels around Sugloria. So, when out little hut was set ablaze and we had to run, I only had my doll by my side. I laid back on the bed and held the doll the way I did eight years ago.

With the thick woods of Sugloria, it's hard to navigate if you aren't familiar with moving through tight spaces. It gave us a head start against the Empire. My father took my mother into her arms and told her to get me to safety, that the two of us needed to leave the planet. My mother didn't want to leave him behind, but she nodded in acceptance. I cried and threw my arms around my father's legs. He bent down and kissed my forehead. The last thing he said to me was to be brave and that if I ever felt lonely, all I needed to do was look towards the stars.

He ran west and we ran east. We must have hiked a mile before the local militia caught up with us. I was tired and the sweat and dirt on my skin was slowing me down. My mom took me into her arms, like my father had done with her. She told me to hide under a fallen tree. As I did, the militia came by. She tried to run. Tried. Gun fire. I saw her body fall to the ground a few feet away from my hiding place. I hushed my screams and scooted away. I ran deeper into the woods. I ran until I had nothing left to do besides fall to my knees and cry. I had hoped my mom had lived, but as time passed, I knew she hadn't. I still had hope for my father.

I went to the nearest town and asked around if anyone had seen my parents. Nothing. They were lost to me forever. I was starving and dirty. The only food I got was pity scraps thrown to me from vendors. After the first week on my own, I ached for more than a few tossed aside berries. A man wearing expensive clothes flaunted his heavy money bag that swung from his side. I couldn't help but sneak around him and snatch it.

With only my dirty doll, torn up clothes, and a stole money pouch, I began to survive on my own.

I was brought out of my dark dream with a slight knock on the door. I hadn't even realized I was sleep and had started leaking tears over my lost parents until I sat up on the bed. I placed my doll on the shelf next to the knives.

Luna was waiting outside the door. She had a small smile on her face and a bunch of papers collected in her hands. "Sorry to bother you. It's just, well, I don't know how much you know about the galaxy and all, so I thought I'd bring you some star maps."

I took the rolls of paper out of her hands. She continued to stand there. I didn't know if it looked like I had obviously been crying, but I didn't want to stand out if it had. I thanked her quietly for the maps, turned, and closed the door.

I spread them out across my floor. The largest one showed where all the galaxies were in retrospective of each other. They all were labeled and an imaginary line had been drawn to show which galaxies fell within the inner systems or outer systems. The systems were different shapes and different colors. I located the Haitov System and it's green spiral. Below the main map were smaller maps of each of the eleven systems. In the systems, each of the planets had been drawn and labeled in the formation in which they rotated around the sun. I sifted through them till I find the Haitov system. I saw the green and brown planet of Sugloria.