Imperial times- Coruscant

Tarik woke the next morning to the wonderful smell of someone cooking breakfast. He chirruped from his place curled-up under the table, yawning and stretching his claws. A muttered oath of surprise at the sight of his claws woke him completely, making him look out from under the table to see who else was in the room.

The girl rebel, Mina, sat closest to him. The one called Steve was the one who�d spoken up at the realization he was under the table. Tarik flicked one pointed ear sleepily, stretching again as he climbed out from under the table and onto a chair.

"Well, you look like something the house-feline dragged in," Mina said teasingly as Tarik scratched at his curly mop of hair. He squinted at her past his snout with a snort, then yawned widely, making Minero drop his turner onto the stove in surprise. Tarik turned to look at him strangely, twisting one ear up curiously.

"Wrong?" Tarik asked, curious.

"Uh, nothing�s wrong," Minero said, picking up the turner before the pancakes burned. "I just never noticed how.. big.. those teeth were before," he said, looking unnerved.

"One�s broken too," Mina said, leaning closer to Tarik. He chirruped and covered his snout with his clawed hands.

"Teeth no broke!" he said from under his hands defensively.

"Yes it is, I saw it," she said, "Open up," she said, pointing at his mouth. He shook his head no, orange eyes glimmering nervously.

"Can�t believe you actually want to see those things, Mina," Steve said, picking up a cup of a warm beverage from the table. Tarik glared at him with a growl, keeping his snout covered.

"Come on, there�s no one else awake yet," she said. Tarik glanced over at Minero, who was busying himself with the pancakes so he wouldn�t think about those teeth.

"No hurt, just broke" he muttered, pulling his hands away. "Bit Drathan, tooth broke on light-thing," Tarik said, shrugging as she tried to watch for the broken tooth while he talked.

"Drathan?" Steve asked, setting down his mug.

"N�ke Drathan," Tarik muttered, hissing to himself.

"What�s a Drathan?" Mina asked, glancing from Tarik to Minero.

"Dunno, I heard him use it before, it means someone who was chasing him, I think, maybe their name," Minero said with a shrug.

"No, Drathan, bad magic," Tarik tried to explain, at a loss for the right word.

"Magic? oh good grief," Steve muttered, picking up his mug again.

"Drath..."Mina said, thinking, then paused as a thought occurred. "Darth? Do you mean Darth, like a Dark Jedi, or a Sith?" she asked. Tarik nodded vehemently.

"You bit a Dark Jedi�s lightsaber?" Steve said, disbelieving. Tarik nodded. "Was it on at the time?" Steve said, "if it was, I think it fried your brain," he added, bringing a growl from Tarik.

"Steve!" Mina protested, "That�s not nice," she finished, looking over at Tarik as he hissed at Steve.

"Drathan hunt, Drathan no kill, I here, no dead," Tarik insisted. "I run, hide, fight, bite trooper, bite Drathan, cut with these," he said, extending his claws to their full length to make his point. "Drathan no kill mees," he said, snarling as he retracted his claws.

"Point taken," Steve said softly as he stared at the lethal claws as they retracted.

"You really fought a Dark-side Jedi?" Mina said quietly in awe. Tarik nodded, growling an affirmative.

"There�s no way something like him would have survived a fight with one of the emperor�s pets," another rebel said from the doorway.

The blue skinned alien looked down at Tarik with disdain, arms crossed over his chest. Tarik cringed under the glare of a fourth person watching him. He didn�t like being around people as it was, he suddenly wanted to be back alone on the streets.

"Did fight," he defended.

"And you expect us to believe that some hybrid street-freak defeated some great dark side Jedi, trained by the emperor?" the blue alien said coldly. Tarik cringed under the disbelieving gaze.

"Did fight, lost tooth, man in black came and chase," he muttered, curling his tail around the chair leg.

"Don�t you even tell me this man in black was Darth Vader, or I�ll ram that chair down your throat, you lying little..." the blue alien began.

"Nyan!" Mina interrupted, defending Tarik.

"Oh come on, why would the empire be after some hybrid freak?" Nyan, the blue alien said viciously.

Tarik growled, hopping off the chair and standing to his full height. Nyan backed up a step, even though he was more than a foot taller than the green being.

"Not a freak," he hissed menacingly, swishing his scaly tail angrily. "No freak, no accident, made like this!" Tarik snarled, hissing at Nyan.

"Here, see," he said angrily, loosening the lacing that held his wristband on. He pushed the loosened band far enough up his arm for them to see the numbers tattooed on his wrist.

"Made like this," he snarled, showing them the imperial code numbers etched in black against his mottled green skin. Everyone in the room stared in disturbed silence at the numbers, with Steve swearing again softly. Minero was pulled out of his trance by the smoke starting to drift from the skillet on the stove. He muttered a curse of his own, turning off the stove and scraping at the burning pancake in a futile attempt to save it.

"Minnie, I�m suddenly not very hungry," Mina said quietly, turning her eyes away from Tarik. Tarik chirruped miserably, fighting off tears. He tightened the wristband over the hated numbers again, sniffling.

"No my fault," he whimpered, a tear rolling down a green cheek.

"Food done?" Tarik suddenly asked, looking toward Minero. Minero laughed weakly.

"Just about," he said, "Unless you want this one" he added, scraping the last of the burnt batter off the skillet. Tarik snorted, turning back to look at the others. A look of disgust and uneasiness was prevalent on everyone�s faces.

Tarik chirruped sadly, realizing he�d ruined any chance he had of being welcome again.

"Eat, then mees go, no see" he said, curling his tail around the chair leg and pulling it closer to him. "No see again, no want Drathan find you," he said, sitting down with a sniffle.

"Tarik," Mina began, but couldn�t find the words she wanted.

"Mees go," Tarik said quietly, dropping his head to the table sadly. "Alone before, be safer alone," he muttered, more to himself than them. Mina reached out hesitantly, patting him on the head and pushing a curly lock of hair away from his orange-gold eyes. He closed his eyes, chirping softly. He kept crying, trying to hide behind his crossed arms on the table.

This was quickly turning into the worst week of his short life.

----on to Part 6 of Chapter 2---

© 2000 Michelle Petrosky

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