I Choose You ( discontinued )

Chapter 1: Traded Away

Al hugged onto her sister Cassi as the Zygerian slave ship flew into the atmosphere. Al was shaking. Cassi held her grip a little firmer around her sister. "It's okay," the teal skinned Twi'lek said softly. "Everything is going to be okay."

Al buried her face in Cassi's side and tried her hardest not to cry. The cage the girls were in rattled as the ship emerged from hyperspace. The guards walked by their cage and whipped the bars, sending crackles of electricity through the bars. "Quiet!" he snarled. "Unless you want your back full of whiplashes."

Cassi nodded and Al whimpered. The guard walked away and kept monitoring the slaves. The ship landed on Zygeria, a hidden slave empire. Cassi pulled Al into the darkness and pulled out a necklace. "Take this," she said, putting it around her younger sister's neck and tucking it into her small ripped dress. "In case we get separated, you can think of me."

"What do you mean?" asked Al.

Cassi didn't respond and threw her arms around her three-year-old sister. "Don't you worry. Everything will be alright." She let go and smiled. "May the force be with us."

Al nodded, knowing what the phrase meant. "What if we are separated?"

"It will be fine," said Cassi, stroking her sister's lekkus. "Even if we are, we will be together in spirit. Trust me. Do you?"

Al nodded. "Yes Cassi."

Cassi smiled. "Good."

A blinding light filled the dimly lit room. Zygerians opened cages and pulled out slaves they chose to sell that day on the market. Cassi pushed Al behind her. The wails of mothers who's children were being taken from them filled the air. Al pressed her hands over her ears firmly, to drown out the sound. A guard walked over to their cage and opened it, firmly grabbing Cassi's arm. The young girl flinched, but went with him. Al made to follow, but the guard shoved her down. "We don't take weaklings," he spat, shoving Cassi foreword. "Move slut."

Al felt tears spring into her eyes.

"Remember the necklace," said Cassi, as the guard pulled her away. "I love you little sister!"

"Cassi!" Al yelled, shaking the bars of the cage. "Come back! Cassi!" But it was too late. Her sister was gone. As the dim light returned, Al curled up in a corner and cried softly, so the guards wouldn't see her. Her stomach rumbled, and the small child fell into a deep, sad sleep.

~

Al woke up even more hungry then she was before. She half expected Cassi to be there, but then remembered her sister was gone. She looked at the necklace she had given her. It was a piece of wood carved into a half moon with a small diamond hanging from the top. It glimmered in the light. The guard looked at it skeptically. "What'chu got there?"

"Nothing," said Al, tucking it back into her dress.

The guard opened the cage and reached back to Al. "Give it to me."

"No!" said Al, retreating to the back of the cage. "It's mine."

"Now there child," said the Zygerrian. "I won't hurt you."

Al held out her hands in front of her face, to shield from any attempted whipping. There was a yelp and Al looked up to see the guard crash into cages, sprawled on the ground. When the others went to help him up, he pointed at Al with a shaky finger. "Witch! She's a witch!"

"Oh shut up," said his fellow guard. "You're delusional. She's just a kid. And a Twi'lek."

The first guard shook his head. "She almost killed me!"

"You're being dramatic," said a third guard. He walked over to Al's cage and slashed at her then closed the door. "No more, you hear me?"

But Al was too frightened to respond.