That won't happen to you

Chapter 17

There was someone.

Someone she knew.

She was freezing cold when that someone showed up.

He was dark.

Pitch-black.

She kept cleaning the floor, hoping he would just ignore her.

Keep moving.

Ignoring the small, clumsy, malnourished slave on the edge.

But he did not.

He stopped. "Why so slow?" he asked, cold and calculating.

His voice made it clear who it was.

Her master.

The master.

She had only heard him when she was given instructions about the com-system of the watchmen.

"Ryak" she whispered the word that came into her head.

"Master to you, dirty child," he said.

Something stirred in her.

Something almost forgotten.

A spark. A small wheezing spark of fighting spirit that grew in seconds to a wild flame.

"I know your name is Ryak idiot. And I also know that whatever you did to me. Whatever you took from me. I still have some fire in me you can't get to. I don't know who I was. But I know that I can fight back" and with that the man landed on the opposite wall with a violent power.

The blow was so strong that you could hear some ribs breaking.

In the eyes of the young Togruta was something that could never quite fade away, even if it sometimes seemed buried.

A sparkle of hope.

Then she realized what she had done. Frightened, she fell to her knees.

The moment of strength was over. Gone.

Weakness remained behind.

Weakness and fear.

"I'm so sorry, Master. I don't know what got into me. It will never happen again. I swear it," she said hastily.

But unrestrained anger was rising in Ryak. He pulled something out.

Something from which a soft indistinct song sounded.

He did not seem to hear it. 

"Do you know what this is, child? They call it a lightsaber. I kept it, and the Jedi who owned it I broke under my hands. If you do not want to die by this sword, I advise you not to do this again," he said.

The Togruta flinched slightly at every word.

"So now for your punishment," Ryak said and activated the elegant blue shimmering blade.

The girl in front of him almost cried in fear.

But then she bit her lip and decided not to do him this favor.

When the terribly hot blade cut into her lekku, she did not scream.

She couldn't put the pain into words, it was so strong, but instead of screaming she gritted her teeth and thought of the last shred of memory she had left.

The soft, warm piece of bread with the words 'together'.

Spoken by a strange friend.

Then blackness enveloped her mind and she collapsed on the floor.

Ryak was not satisfied with himself at all. Even though the young Jedi was later obedient, she kept her fire.