Child of Balance

Premonition

The Ghost was already on Lothal by the time they landed. They headed into the comm tower to brief the others. Ania paused, turning towards the Gray Jedi Temple. The mountains rose in the distance.

"Is everything all right?" Ahsoka asked, pausing beside her.

Ania furrowed her brows and shook her head. "It's fine." She turned and followed Ahsoka in with the others.

Hera switched on the holotable as they entered the main room. A few star charts appeared above the table. "For once, I think I'm beginning to understand the Empire's frustration," she said. "Tracking down small cells across the galaxy is no easy task."

    "Thankfully, Leia gave us a list to start with," Ania said. She hooked her datapad into the holotable and a few of the planets turned red. "Those planets are confirmed to have Imperial activity. If we encounter a larger cell, we're supposed to contact Leia immediately and let the New Republic handle those. This mission is unsanctioned, so we can't expect too much help."

    The others nodded their understanding. "Rex and I are going to be looking for surviving Jedi," Ahsoka added. "Luke Skywalker is going to rebuild the Order and we might be able to convince the survivors to come out of hiding."

    "It sounds like we're splitting up then," Hera said.

"For now, anyway," Ania said. Her gaze flickered to Ezra. His jaw clenched for a moment, then relaxed.

"I'm going to stay with Kit and Ania," he said. "We'll be looking for Jedi while we're hunting down Imperials."

    Hera glanced at Sabine, then nodded. "All right. We'll see you soon, hopefully." She hugged Ezra tightly, then Ania as well.

    "Leave some bucket heads for the rest of us," Sabine laughed, punching Ezra's arm.

    He grimaced, rubbing his arm. "We'll try."

    The two of them headed out of the tower and to the Ghost. Ahsoka and Rex began looking through lists of missing Jedi, recovered from the Imperial Archives. Ania furrowed her brow as a strange feeling began to pull at her mind. Her gaze fell on the mountains in the distance. She broke away from the others and stepped out onto the balcony again.

Kit tapped Ezra's shoulder and pointed after her. Ania closed her mind to them, even as she felt Ezra call through their bond. The feeling grew stronger, pointing towards the Temple. She shut her eyes, letting herself connect with the Force. In an instant, she was standing before the Temple.

    A hand fell on her shoulder and she blinked her eyes open, expecting to see Ezra. Instead, it was Ahsoka. "What is it?" She asked.

    "I'm not sure." Ania glanced back towards the Temple. "I can't tell if it's Ro or not."

    "I'll come with you."

    "You want me to go to the Temple?" Ania raised an eyebrow.

    "You're being called there. You might as well see what's going on."

    Ania turned to Ezra and Kit. "Get the ship ready to leave and decide where you want to go first." The two boys nodded and returned their attention to the holotable.

    Ahsoka followed Ania back to the ground. They grabbed two of the extendable speeders from the ship and were soon soaring across the Lothal grasslands. The feeling returned as they drew closer to the Temple. She let her senses spread again. Ro was nearby. She could feel the wolf chasing after them.

At last, they reached the mountains. They slowed the bikes to a stop and jumped off. "Ro!" Ania called. After a few minutes, the white Loth wolf emerged from the mountains.