User blog:Aryn Tarra/No Chains Too Tight, Introduction and Chapter 1

I wrote this story a while ago, and I have it all finished. If you want more, drop me a message, and I will post it.

PROLOGUE- It was a dark, bleak day on Byss the day that I met my best friend. It happened on accident, really. I was sitting down, trying to sleep, when the door to my cell opened. S’cyck had put me there because I was causing a disturbance when I was in with the rest of the slaves. A disturbance, as S’cyck had said, was evidently telling stories to the young ones that were having nightmares. A Weequay pushed open the door and shoved a young girl in. She looked to be about seven years old. I was around nine. “Can you dance?” He asked me, roughly. I shifted uneasily. “Yes.” I replied, turning my eyes to the floor. The young girl looked up at me with large, blue eyes. Her hair was matted, falling limply like dead gray-moss at her thin neck. My lek twitched as I knelt down to help her onto my bed of leaves and thatch. She smiled as I ran my hand down her young, soft cheeks. “Then teach her.” He slammed the door in my face.

Chapter 1- I sat up from the cold, wet ground and shivered. “Serinii?” I called to my best friend. We usually sat close to each other in order to stay warm. “I am here, Skitch. What is it?” She was a human-like girl that had blonde hair cropped close to her head. Her face always had a smile on it and her eyes were a bright blue that lit up whenever they looked at me. She was all that I had. Even though I was two years older than her, the fact that she was Force- sensitive often made me feel inferior to her quick-witted ideas and instructions. I depended on her, relied on her, and trusted her. She knew it, too. The Weequay guard that was over us poked his head inside of our cell. I jumped at the sight of his grisly, wrinkled face. “Get dancing, girls.” He reminded us. “Sale day is coming up faster than you expect.” With that, he turned and trudged away. “I am too hungry to dance.” I feebly admitted. Serinii smiled at me, wanly, and ran her hand down my lek. “I know you are, Skitch. Trust me, I feel the same.” A tear fell down her cheek. “But some day, we are going to get out of here. And then there will be food enough for all of us, right?” I licked my lips in anticipation, and I suddenly felt warmer. “Thanks, Ser.” “Let’s just think about the food together, shall we? It will make you less hungry.” I laid my head back down on my hands, trying to ignore the heavy shackles that trussed up our feet. She continued running her hands down my red-colored T’chin. “Rycrit stew… and, Naboo pudding. Jube fruit, yes… lots and lots of Jube fruit.” Serinii Dawn, as I had known for a long time, had always hated Rycrit meat. That was my favorite food. Her stomach grumbled as she tried to continue. “I guess I am hungry too.” Suddenly, one of our slave owner’s Gammorean guards came up and slapped her upside the face. She cowered, rubbing her cheek. He grunted a reply and walked off, leaving her with me to finish. She lay down next to me and whispered something into my ear cone. “Someday, Skitch.” Her blue eyes closed as she tried to go back to sleep. “Someday.”

The next morning I woke up with the hard feel of someone kicking me in the back. I tried to stand up, but my feet were still chained to the floor with heavy metal shackles. “Get up, Skitch. The Master wants his breakfast.” I blinked and rubbed my open back. It was that Weequay that beat up Serinii last week. He undid the pin that held my chains to the floor and forced me to my feet with a gaffi stick. I walked over to where the Weequay had left a platter of food and picked it up, gingerly. I was weak from the lack of hydration. I was one of the few Twi’lek slaves that S’cyck, our Master, had to offer. I was the only Lethan in his band of poorly fed slaves, which made me almost invaluable to him. Red twi’leks were rare, but red twi’lek females were rarer. His hope was to sell me for a high price at an auction to Jabba the Hutt’s major-domo, Bib Fortuna. It was my fault we were headed to Tatooine. So that I could be sold. As I trudged across the long hallway to get to S’cyck’s private room, I started to feel queasy. I stopped walking for a minute. The Weequay pushed me with his gaffi and muttered a curse. “Get moving, Skitch. S’cyck won’t wait forever.” I nodded and kept walking. The smell of the food, whatever it was, was intoxicating me with every step. I tried to keep walking. I stepped through an opening and turned around. S’cyck, a Trandoshan that was fluent in Huttese, stared back at me with glowing red eyes. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He sat up from his bed. I had walked back into his private quarters, the only place in his slave prison that had a bed, table, and decent clothing in an immaculate closet. It was black, the same as the whole underground setup that S’cyck kept and tortured all of his stock. I set the tray down on the table and sat down next to it. He walked over to where I sat, kneeling by his food. I kept my eyes averted to the ground. He smiled, showing me all of his yellow teeth. I didn’t dare respond. He picked up a strip of meat and ate it. My stomach grumbled, loudly. I smacked my lips to keep from becoming too thirsty. S’cyck looked over at me. “Hungry?” He mused, picking up his cup to take a drink of his sweet water. I nodded. “I haven’t eaten much these past few years.” I had been a slave for as long as I can remember. Once, a female that was a Lethan like me, but many years older, had told me that all twi’leks were native to Ryloth. I could only dream of visiting that planet one day. I didn’t even know how old I was. “Get her out of my sight.” S’cyck snarled with rage. The Weequay that had escorted me there thwacked me with his gaffi stick again. This time, instead of the head, I was hit on the back. I stood up as quickly as I could. I turned and tried to run out of the room, but I was so hungry that I didn’t have enough power to do it. I stumbled on the chains that bonded my feet closely together. I picked myself up and continued walking for the room where Serinii was. It was a long hallway, and my head was spinning. By the time I reached the holding room, I was out of breath. Serinii sat up as I approached her. “Ser…” I fell on my face. Undaunted, the Weequay kicked me on my back. I didn’t stand up. Serinii jumped from her seat on the floor and ran to help me. “Skitch!” She tripped over her shackles. I sat up, weakly, and reached for Ser’s hand. The slave keeper kicked me again. She reached out her arm, trying to touch my fingers. I sat up and then vomited on the floor. I think it was everything that made me react like this. No food, the kicking at my back, and the so-close-but-yet-so-far concept that every slave had felt at one time or other. I crawled back to my place next to Serinii and laid my head down on her lap again, just like I had last night. The Weequay, evidently satisfied at his work, walked away. The ship jolted violently, and I heard a voice from the other end of the ship call out for assistance. “We have landed!” Serinii ran her hands down my lek as gently as she could. “You look pale.” She informed me. Then, suddenly, her face light up with an idea. She inhaled deeply and looked over at a platter of food that was meant for the Weequay. She smiled, mischievously, and put out her hands. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Getting you some food.” I watched, in awe, as the piece of bread and a small strip of meat floated in the air towards her, through the cell bars. “How do you do that!?” My eyes widened as the savory pieces fell into my lap. I picked the bread up and devoured it like a reek on payday. Serinii smiled as I passed her the meat. “You are the one that needs it most.” She tucked it back into my hand. I looked at the meat, then back at her. She turned her eyes away from me. “I can find food elsewhere.” I ate what there was of the small strip and swallowed, happily. “Thank you.” I had just finished eating the few small slices of food when the guard walked back in, this time it was a big, ugly Gammorean. He hobbled over to where the food tray was, now only full of a cup of black liquid. He grunted in surprise at the empty tray. I cowered behind Serinii as he picked up the platter and sauntered out of the room. “We are so dead.” I breathed into Serinii’s ear. “We shouldn’t have touched it at all.” Serinii turned to look at me, putting her hands on my face. “Listen, Skitch.” Her blue eyes flashed. “I did it. Okay?” She had courage written all over her face. “I stole the food, and it is my fault that you ate it. If they take you and ask you, tell them it is all my fault.” Here I was, listening to a friend that was two years younger than me, and letting her tell me what to do and say. That is what Force-sensitivity does for us that are counted out of the gig. We look up to and admire it. I shook my head. That wasn’t fair to her. “Serinii… I can’t do that.” The Weequay walked back into the room, holding heavy metal shackles. “I can’t lie for myself.” He stomped over to where me and Serinii sat, the only two in the cell. “Put out your hands.” He growled at us. We obeyed, and he locked Serinii into a chain over her wrists. For me, he tied me up with rope. “S’cyck doesn’t want me to damage your beautiful skin.” I sighed. The softie treatment because I was a Twi’lek. With that, he dragged us down the hallway that I had walked down only moments before. He was taking us to S’cyck for punishment. I tried to keep in step with his wide, long footsteps. Serinii kept up with him perfectly. The gray skinned slaver pushed open the door, as his long, beaded hair braids flicked across his strong back. “Master,” His deep voice addressed the Dosh that was sitting on a padded couch. “We have landed successfully, but,” The Weequay motioned to both of us. “I found two slaves stealing food.” “Very good, Kaze.” The green lizard drew itself up to its full height. “Set them to be whipped.” The ‘quay nodded and led us into a small, black room behind where our cell was. The Gammorean entered as Kaze tied us to a pole. The ugly, pig-like creature wiped away drool from his green chops and passed Kaze an Acklay whip. Serinii looked up from where she was tied, nervously. She had heard that sound before, but only as a threat. Kaze raised the whip and tossed it down on Serinii’s back, but missed it, cutting her left shoulder harshly. Serinii screamed out in pain, and I looked away from her. It was too cruel to watch. The Weequay raised the knife-like cord a second time and brought it down on her arm in the same place. Blood streamed down her arm, mixing with the tears that fell from her face. I panicked, straining my weight against the rope that held me to the bar next to Serinii. The Gammorean took the whip out of the hands of Kaze and thwacked it on the floor, enjoying my reaction. “You can’t use this on a Twi’lek!” Kaze took the weapon out of his hand and shook his head. Serinii lurched, her body shuddering with sobs. “It will ruin her value! Come,” Kaze took the guards arm to lead him away. “We need a belt instead.” As they left the room, I saw a knife from the Gammorean’s sheathe suspend itself in mid-air. “What are you doing?” Serinii had her hands open, pulling the chain sharply around her wrists. The knife floated over to where my ropes were holding me to the bar. “When these fall,” she sniffed, “You run.” I nodded in confusion as the ropes fell off of my arms. I caught the knife as she dropped it. Was she ever ‘holding’ it? “Serinii…” I rushed over to where she was bound up, trying to use the dagger to frantically pick the lock on her hand cuffs. “Come with me.” The sound of the Gammorean and the Weequay echoed down the hallway. They were coming for me. “No!” Her head rolled to her shoulder. “Don’t waste your time on me!” I turned to face the door, and then looked back at Serinii. “I won’t leave you!” She stared at me with a determined look in her deep, blue eyes. “Skitch.” She called. “Skitch, look at me.” A tear rolled down my face as the steps of the guards grew closer. “I will be fine.” She lied to me. “Go, save yourself. And someday, when you least expect it, we will meet again.” I ran outside the door, rushing the guards and making a mad run for it. “Run, Skitch!” I heard her yell from behind me. “Run as fast as you can!” I took off, sprinting past the slavers, soaring like a bird, giving all that I had for that last break for freedom. No one will ever own me again. I shot straight off of the landing platform, falling into the sand. “So this is freedom.” I sat up, weakly.