Ahsoka POV:

My body is small enough to fit comfortably in the vents. Although they are burning in agony in this position, I endure it for the sake of the laughs. If Skyguy knew, he'd pity me. And I hated pity. He'd look down on me, and my only friend (besides Plo) would be gone.

I have two fog bombs which trigger a few seconds after I pull the cord, so I prepare to drop them onto some unsuspecting clones chatting near their bunks.

"Okay Snips, on the count of three." A voice beeps from my comlink. I grin. "One...Two... ThrEeeeEEEEeeeEeEEE--

Something cuts him off, and the comlink crackles. I drop the bomb, scamper out of the vents, and relish the shrieks of annoyance. Then, I head to Skyguy's assumed location, right outside of the temple, at the port where cargo is unloaded.

He isn't there.

My heart starts to pound. What happened? What was that crackling noise at the end? As I whip around, I see a man in rough, dirty clothes, firing with his blaster and attacking Skyguy with a Magna Guard staff. He's accompanied by five other scoundrels, who are brandishing staffs, with one even holding a green lightsaber. I squint. There's one Twi'lek, a Clawdite, two Duros, and a Trandoshan.They simultaneously attack, and he is cornered. I have my lightsaber right at my belt.

How nice.

I jump on one of the shipments, tied neatly within sheets of metal. I peer inside, and stifle a gasp. There's a bunch of slaves-- Togrutas, to be exact-- tied up in there! I want to murder whoever did this, but anger isn't the Jedi way. So, I crawl to the tallest metal container, and leap down, causing three of the scoundrels to stumble. For a moment, all the attention is on me, and they fire. I deflect the bolts, while Skyguy jumps up from behind and lops off the head of the nearest, which happens to be the unfortunate Twi'lek.

"Losing to a child, I see." I taunt the Trandoshan. He snarls and shoots me, before I knock his gun out of his hand.

The duel is short. I injure him, and he growls in pain. His reptilian mouth curls into a grimace and he leaps at me, surprising me for a moment, before I use the Force to push him back. It's weak, but he's caught off balance for just a few seconds, allowing me to make a swing to hit him. However, he ducks, and shoots his blaster. The red hot bolt glazes my side, and I feel an agonizing burn. He lunges at me, forcing me to hit the ground with a sickening thud, my head landing with excruciating pain. He growls and cracks his knuckles, before he throws agonizing punches at my body. Suddenly, something turns away my tormentor's attention.

My head is swimming and black dots dance before my eyes. I feel the pain of being punched into old wounds and healing abuse. I hear a roar from the Trandoshan before I get up, feeling wobbly and weak. I swing, almost drunkenly, but I miss. I muster my energy, run to the nearest wall, and backflip off to give me a burst of speed before I stab my saber into his chest. His body is almost frozen in time for just a few short moments, before he sinks to the ground, devoid of his life.

Skyguy seems to have killed all the other hunters, but three more appear from almost nowhere. We back up to each other.

"Always attracting attention, huh, Skyguy?" I shout teasingly. "They just keep coming!"

"I am, of course, the most fabulous Jedi here." He jokes, before slashing his saber to deflect a bolt. The hunters are accompanied by some guards.

"Why are they here?" I ask, trying to be as loud as possible so he could hear me over the ruckus.

"They," He pauses, panting. "Are really skilled bounty hunters or dealers. One saw me look at his shipments. I suppose something bad is there, since I didn't have time to look closely before they shot me."

I struggle to deflect the numerous blaster bolts; Skyguy seems to effortlessly block them while simultaneously Force pushing a scoundrel into the wall. I lunge at another scoundrel,who had inched closer to me without me noticing. He has picked up his friend's precious saber and has now ignited it, using it as self defense. His moves are rough, uncalculated, and predictable, but he has enormous strength. I am a pretty skilled youngling, but he seems to have some previous experience. As I'm just about to swing at him, he aims his arm at me, and something shoots out. A bright, fiery rope latches around my ankle, and he pulls me to the ground.

Dirty move.

He hits, and I deflect with my saber. I Force push him back before using my lightsaber to cut the rope into pieces. I pick up the blaster he drops, and hold it to his neck, but he snarls at me and pulls out another. I quickly deflect them before swinging at him, cutting off lower arm. He shrieks in pain before I stab him in the chest.

I dust myself off. I'm bleeding a bit, nothing else. And, I'm a bit woozy.

"Hey Snips, that was real impressive." Skyguy grins. I feel tears of happiness well in my eyes.

"Thanks, Skyguy." I say gratefully.

'Why don't we get you checked up at the Healing centre? I can check on your wounds." He suggests gently.

I back away, using my arms to cover up my wounds. I DON'T want him to know. I don't want pity. And most of all, if he pities me, he might see me as weak. Then he might look at me differently. Or he'll stop being my friend. I really needed someone who I could rest on. Most of all, if Kina knows... well, after detention, she would make sure my blood was all over the ground that night.

"I-I-I'm fine," I stammer woozily, trying to sound confident. "Just a couple scratches. That's all."

He looks at me oddly, and says, "Well, Snips, if I were you, I'd go look for a medical droid, or at least a few bacta patches."

I nod, smiling. Oh my Force, how my head throbbed. I thought at best I had a concussion; at worst maybe some brain injury. I headed off to find some bacta patches and bandages, before limping off to bed.

At least he doesn't know yet.