Chapter Text
I finally sat up and looked around. It was night time, so I couldn’t see anything but the stars. I stood and slowly spun around, looking for the north star like Momma had taught me, but I couldn’t find it. I tried looking for other things in the sky, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Scorpio, the Pleiades, anything that I would recognise. Nothing. I couldn't recognise a single pattern. I started to panic. Where am I? What do I do? Where do I go? I spun around quickly, trying to look for anything that could be out there, and something in the pocket of the jacket hit my arm. I pulled my mother’s phone. She must have left it in her jacket! Relief flooded me. I wasn’t stuck here! I happily turned it on and tried to call someone, but it didn’t work. I tried several other people in the contact list, but none worked. I opened the maps app, but it wouldn’t load either. My eyes darted to the top corner. There was no data, and the battery was at seventy three percent. I started to slip into despair again, sinking to my knees and holding my stuffed animal close.
Suddenly, I heard grass rustle behind me and I whirled around to face three giant wolves. Two of them were gray colored while the one in the middle was white. Their eyes were solely focused on me. I froze like a deer in headlights. How had they gotten that close without me realizing? I tried to think of what to do. I couldn’t run, they would just chase me down. Maybe I could play dead? No, they would still eat me.
Out of the blue, a voice filled my head. “Are you lost?” I looked around for the voice. Where did that come from? The white wolf took a step forward, but somehow I didn’t feel threatened by it. Why wasn’t I scared of it? It’s a literal wolf! The voice sounded again from the wolf, ”We will not hurt you. Come with us.”
I didn’t feel as shocked as I should be, considering a wolf was talking to me, but something in my gut was telling me to go with it. “Okay,” I said slowly. The wolf came closer, then laid on the ground in front of me. I climbed onto his back, and the wolves started to run. I closed my eyes against the wind and held on tight.
The wolf slowed down sooner than expected, and I opened my eyes. We were in a completely different place! Around us were a bunch of small hills covered in the same golden-colored grass. In front of us was a tall cliff with a cave in it. Stopping in front of the cave, the wolf let me down and led me in. Inside, a waterfall cascaded from the wall, falling into a stream that flowed across the cavern into a gap that I assumed led farther into the earth. The cave was also filled with more wolves gathered in groups.
The white wolf brought me to the water and I crouched down to drink from it. “We will find someone to take care of you. You cannot stay here.” the wolf said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“The force tells us you have an important role in the future. You will not be able to fulfill it here.”
“Oh… okay.” I said, confused. The wolf and a few others left the cave, and I sat against the wall, waiting for them to come back.
I woke up to something nudging the side of my head. I opened my eyes to the white wolf standing over me while I was in the middle of a pile of sleeping wolves.
“It is time. Come with me.” he said. I reluctantly climbed out of the pile and onto his back. He slowly walked out of the cave and began running over the hills. This time I kept my eyes open. The wolf ran, and the world began to blur around us. He was running at what felt like a normal speed, but the ground passed by so fast, it was unnatural.
He started to slow down as we got close to a field of giant boulders. In a small clearing, I could see a sci-fi looking ship. Climbing up the ramp was someone wearing a strange set of armor and what looked like a jetpack. Suddenly, they spun around pulling out two guns I hadn’t noticed from their waist. Five wolves surrounded the clearing, and the person in armor slowly turned, trying to keep all of the wolves in their sight. When the white wolf walked into the clearing, they stopped turning, aiming their blasters at the wolf. He got as close as he dared, then crouched down, revealing me on his back. The person immediately lowered their guns, taking a few slow steps closer. I slipped off the back of the wolf, but didn’t move from its side.
“Hello, ad’ika , what are you doing here?” they asked, putting their guns back in their holsters.
“I… um,” I stuttered.
The wolf spoke up, startling the person. ”Will you be able to take her? Find someone to care for her?” he asked.
“I - err,” they stuttered,”I will take care of her.”
The wolf nodded once, then looked at me. I slowly walked over to the person, and they knelt down, taking their helmet off. She had light blue skin with yellow markings on her face. Her hair was in a braid wrapped around her head and she looked to be in her early twenties. As her helmet came off, I was bombarded by her thoughts and my head started to hurt. She’s an alien! I thought, backing away from her.
“ Ad’ika -”
I stopped. “What are you?”
She tilted her head at me.”I am a Pantoran, from the moon Pantora.”
“Moon?” I asked.
“Yes,” she responded,”a moon of the planet Orto Plutonia.”
“Planet?” I asked, “I thought there were only eight.”
Her eyebrows furrowed.”Where are you from?”
“I’m from the United States.” I said cautiously, not wanting to reveal too much.
“I’ve never heard of that system. Where is it?”
I looked up at her confused.”It's not a system, it’s a country.” I paused, then added,”It’s on planet Earth.”
“I've never heard of that planet either.” she said.
Dread hit me.”Isn’t this Earth?” I asked, looking around.
She closed the distance between us, looking worried, and her thoughts suddenly became louder, making my headache worse. I grabbed my head and groaned at the pain. “Are you alright?” she asked, panic in her voice.
“Are you-” I cringed at the pain,”Are you transmitting your thoughts to me or something?” Her eyes widened and I heard an unfamiliar word in her thoughts. “What is ka’ra -touched?”
“I… don't really know how to explain it.” she said. “People who are ka’ra -touched are… very special people. The stories say that they can move things with their minds, use a jetii kad , and read minds and emotions." She paused for a moment, then picked up her helmet and held it out to me. “Here, put this on.”
I took the helmet from her hands and placed it on my head. Instantly, her thoughts went silent. I sighed in relief, my headache vanishing. “How…” I trailed off.
“It’s made of Beskar,” she explained.”It muffles jetii powers, or so I’ve been told.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but I shook my head. There are more important things right now! ”If this isn’t Earth, then where are we?”
“This is the planet Lothal.” She frowned.”How did you get here, ad’ika ?”
I furrowed my eyebrows under the helmet.”I don’t… know.” her eyebrows furrowed, and I explained the whole story, tears running down my cheeks by the end. She pulled me into a hug, which was made slightly uncomfortable by her armor.
She pulled away.”What’s your name, ad’ika ?”
“Oh,” I said.”my name is Astra Young.”
“I am Jaina Madon,”She said smiling at me, then added sadly,”Clan Fett, House Mereel.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Her eyebrows knitted, “A clan is a small, close family of mandalorians, while a house is a group of many clans.” She explained.
“Mandalorian?”
“I am a Mandalorian,” she said,”we follow the Resol’nare , or the six actions. It includes wearing this armor.” she said, gesturing to herself. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but Jaina looked around, then back at me.”We should go, are you coming with me, ad’ika ?” she asked, holding her hand out to me. I turned to the wolf, realizing that they had all left except for the white one. He nodded, then stood up and left. I turned back to Jaina, gave a tentative smile, and took her hand.
***
I followed Obi-wan through the temple as he pointed out different things, telling me what they were. I wasn’t listening. I was too busy stewing in my anger. God I hate this place. Why did they have to bring me here? Ba’vodu was right about these people.
Obi-wan suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. “If you are going to be living in this temple, you are going to need better shields.”
I bristle. “I have shields.”
“Then why can I feel every emotion you are having?” I glare at him as he turns back around to continue the tour. He’s so annoying, I think and I hold up the finger behind his back. Anakin, who I had forgotten was walking behind me, snickers, and I lower my hand in embarrassment. Oops.
Obi-wan stops in front of an unassuming door and says,”This will be your quarters until you become a padawan.” The room was just big enough to fit a bed, a small table, and a closet. There was a door to the right which seemed to lead to a bathroom. “This room has clothes for you in the closet and that door over there leads to the refresher. All of your necessities are here, except for food which will be in the cafeteria that I showed you earlier.”
“How long until I become a padawan?” I ask.
“Padawans are chosen before they turn eighteen. That should be in… two years for you, correct?” Two years?! How am I supposed to learn enough about being a Jedi to be chosen by a master? It took me years to learn to be a Mandalorian, and now I have to learn all this three times as fast?!
He turns to leave. ”I will get my armor back, right?” I ask.
I watch him turn back around with pity in his eyes. “I'm sorry,” he says,”I understand how much your armor means to you, but unfortunately, it is out of my control.”
I fume.”How do you know how much my armor means to me? As far as I know, Jedi hate Mandalorians.”
“My master and I,” pain flashed in his eyes,”took a mission on Mandalore once when I was a padawan. I truly am sorry about your armor, but I cannot help you.”
The door whooshes closed as they leave, and I lock the door, looking around at the small room. Inside the closet were five sets of Jedi robes, a cloak, and a set of boots. I start to empty all of my pockets and take stock of what I was able to sneak into the temple. I had two blasters, a few knives, my mother’s phone,which had been modified, and my boots, which still had some beskar plating that they didn’t bother taking. I can work with this, I thought.
The next day, I was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch. The morning classes were all horrible. All the other initiates avoided me, and I didn’t understand half of what the teachers were talking about. Now, I was sitting at a completely empty table eating. This is just like those high school movies my mother would watch with me when I was younger.
A lunch tray was suddenly placed right next to me and an alien girl who looked around my age sat next to me.”Hello!” She said, smiling at me. She had bright orange skin with white markings on her face and when she smiled I could see that she had fangs. Instead of hair on her head, there were three montrals that were striped blue and white.
“Hello,” I said timidly.
She stuck out her hand for me to shake.”I’m Ahsoka, what’s your name?”
“Astra,” I said, shaking her hand.
“I saw that you were alone over here, so I thought I would give you some company.”
I look around.”You have heard who I am, right?” I asked.
“Of course I have! The whole temple is talking about it.”
“Oh,” I said looking around. I could see some people whispering. Probably about me.”Are you sure that your friends won’t hate you?”
She laughed,”I only have one friend, and ever since she got a master, she has been away doing missions most of the time. Maybe we could be friends?”
I startled at the sudden question. “That would be amazing,” I answered.
She beamed at me and I thought,
maybe this place won't be so bad.