Star Wars Tales

Light in the Dark

This was an idea suggested by @VmCdReAmEr who offered two fun ideas, and I thought I'd do this one best tbh; an AU type short tale where Ezra meets somebody when he was still back on Lothal rather than the Ghost crew at first. This might have a couple parts in the future if people take enough interest. Hope you enjoy :) 💙
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          Something called out. It wasn't a cry of help, at least, not exactly. It wasn't even a dictionary defined sound. So few, especially in the current day and age had the ability to recognize such calls. Little ripples shaking the focus of the energy.

        Ezra Bridger, a witty 14 year old con artist living in the capital city on Lothal, had lived half his life on the streets. Everything was great till the Empire showed up across the galaxy. His parents were among the few that bravely spoke out against the Empire, and they faced the consequences.

        Ezra found himself alone with no real friends, just trying to survive. Having some form of fun where he could, including teasing imperials. He loved making them go on wild goose chases while he looked for trinkets or credits to collect. Today, Ezra kept on getting weird twinges in his gut. He didn't know how to describe it. Brushing it off since he's gotten it before, the teen hopped up a garbage bin and onto a low roof, seeing what else he could get into.

"I wonder what these bucketheads plan on doing today," Ezra snickered. "Really wish I could drive them away." The boy caught sight of a pair of storm troopers standing by and watching the crowd with an interest. He was drawn away when another feeling tugged at him.

         Many people walked through the towns to buy stuff or to enjoy the outdoors. At least, as much as they could with the Empire bringing their shadow over the universe every day. It's not totally uncommon to see people wearing cloaks, but one was fully hooded and was trying to keep attention off of their person.

         Ezra spotted the dark covered figure and squinted to make something of the person. Ezra felt the weird pull. The cloaked person glanced up at Ezra and he rushed behind a chimney. Had they seen him? Ezra sighed and looked again. The person was gone, so he reappeared and headed to where the speeder bike he'd stolen was safely hidden from everyone.

The boy walked a little ways out of town and pulled his bike out from the rocks. Before he could jump on it to go to his tower, Ezra felt the pull again. This time, it was quite strong. He looked around and saw nothing. He noticed that the pull was concentrated in one direction, and decided to follow it.

         "This is so weird..." Ezra muttered as he walked the path the feeling was offering. Then, through the waving grass, the sun reflected off something and caught Ezra's eye. When he got to it, he leaned down and found a material that Ezra figured must belong to somebody. A small, shiny and clear crystal just sat there in the middle of the field. With a quick glance around, Ezra took the crystal and put it in his bag.

         He was calmly turning to leave, when a voice came out of nowhere. "I think you might have found something of mine." Ezra turned quickly. It was the same person who had been eyeing him in town shortly before. Despite the phrase they used, they weren't threatening.

"What might that be?" Ezra replied, shifting his backpack.

"Take a guess," The person gestures to Ezra, smirking under their hood.

"Was it the antique blaster?" Ezra tried to play it off. He realized he wouldn't get away with it when the person shook their head. The boy sighed. "Well, I can't help you. That's all I found today."

"Hm," the person mumbled. "Alright then, I have some searching to do. Good day." and the person turned in the other direction. Ezra ran back to his speeder bike and immediately jumped on to go back to his tower.

As soon as Ezra made it to the main room, he placed his bag on a table and spilled its contents. A few wrenches, an imperial comlink, the blaster he mentioned earlier, some other miscellaneous pieces, and finally, the small clear crystal he had grabbed. He picked it up between two fingers and studied it.

"It's like it wanted me to find it..." Ezra muttered to himself. "The woman said it's hers, why would she leave it? There's no way anyone would take bad care of something valuable."

"You're right," the person Ezra had found twice earlier was standing in the doorway. "I wanted you to find the crystal."

"Woah," Ezra stood up quickly. "How'd you find me?"

"I have ways," the woman replied. "May I have that crystal back, please?" she extended her hand calmly. Ezra pondered for a moment, but then handed back the small crystal.

"Listen, I was offering a test by leaving this in the field." The woman explained.

"A test?" Ezra raised his eyebrow.

"Yes. You have potential, a dangerous potential. You are very strong with the force."

"The Force? Like, like a... jedi?" She nodded to his question. Ezra glanced away for a moment. "What's the Force?"

"It's an energy field that surrounds, penetrates and binds the galaxy together. Some things have deep connection to it. You're one of them."

"So what's in it for me?"

"You could come with me, be trained in the Jedi arts. My own teaching is limited, but I'd be willing to show you in good time. For now, there's a bigger picture being painted. One where the Empire no longer exists."

"You're a rebel." Ezra assumed. "and a Jedi."

"Yes, of sorts. I feel you've been a rebel for a while too."

"I guess I have been. You know what, I'll join you. If I can stick it to the Empire and help Lothal, I'm in."

"We will be able to help everybody. What's your name?"

"Ezra Bridger." He felt he could trust her.

"Ahsoka Tano." She smiled. "Come on, I'll get us out of here." They both knew trials and tribulations were ahead, but they could handle it. Every little bit would help bring peace to the galaxy.