"He's so young."

"…Boss said he is a Jedi."

"Half-Jedi, still in training."

"Will he recover?"

"He will, trust me. This kid is strong."

"Ugh…" Ezra groaned as he gained his consciousness back. He heard voices, unfamiliar voices. The first voice was deep, while the other was quiet and hoarse.

Where am I? Ezra wondered. He remembered that the last thing he remembered were the whole building coming down from explosive and two Force wielders fighting; Maul and Darious.

It took Ezra several seconds to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was a grey metal celling. He took a deep breath and turned his head slowly to the side. His body was still hurt, but not as bad as before.

Ezra took in his surroundings slowly. The first thing he noticed was a large table with several artificial lights that looked like those in a hospital. There were another bed next from the table and an automatic door. Two people – Zabraks - were standing near it, one was dark yellow while the other was light orange. These two Zabraks had light-colour horns on their head and dark tattoos, which reminded Ezra of someone.

Both of them were reading something on their data-pads, clearly didn't notice that Ezra had awaken. The boy considered trying to sneak out or letting those two knew he was up. Yet when he tried to move, his body protested with pain shooting up from his wounds. Ezra mentally sighed; it seemed like he had only one option. Besides, those two Zabraks didn't chain him to the bed; maybe they could be friends.

"Hey." Ezra spoke weakly, surprised by how hoarse he sounded. Both Zabraks immediately turned. The one with dark-yellow skin had a stern look on his face, while the light-orange just smiled.

"I will tell Boss." The yellow-skin Zabrak said before he walked out, leaving the orange-skin Zabrak with Ezra.

"Hello," The orange skin Zabrak moved toward him. Ezra could see a faint scar on his face; it was a small cut from his left cheek down to his jawline. "How are you feeling?" The Zabrak asked. His voice was warm and made Ezra slightly relaxed.

"Better?" Ezra said, looking around and still had no clue of where he was. "Where am I?" He tried to act as casually as he could, as if every day he would wake up to a different place after an explosive.

"Aboard a ship," The Zabrak replied, pulling a chair out from under the bed Ezra was on before sitting down. "My name is Theo. I am a medic. Our boss brought you here. You're lucky to survive with all those wounds, Ezra."

"You know my name?" Ezra frowned, suddenly feeling unsecured to have a stranger knowing his true identity. "And where exactly am I? Which sector? Which system? And why am I here?" If he was on the planet, Ezra was sure he would be able to find his way back to his friend, yet now he was somewhere in space, where he had no clue of how to get back.

"Whoa, easy there." Theo held both his hands up. "Calm down, you're safe here. You're aboard a ship called the 'Shadows', which is travelling in a hyperspace. You're here because our boss brought you in, telling us to take the best care of you. And, on my opinion, you recovered quickly than I thought."

"Who is this 'boss'?" Ezra asked; he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like whom the Zabrak was talking about. "Can I meet him?"

"Yes." Theo nodded. "If boss wants to meet you now, Zek will inform us."

"Zek?"

"My brother, he left the room shortly after you woke up." Theo replied, and Ezra remembered that dark yellow skin Zabrak. Okay, Theo and Zek. He didn't know what the other Zabrak was like, but Theo seemed alright to him. Even that both of them reminded him of Maul.

"Theo." Ezra said, carefully. "Am I a prisoner?"

To Ezra's surprise, Theo seemed to be confused.

"Prisoner?" Theo frowned. "No, no, if you're the prisoner you won't be in here." He said. "And our boss wouldn't have carried you here himself. He cares a lot about you."

"Really…?" Ezra frowned, he still had no idea who the boss was. He tried to reach out with the force, but the injuries kept distracting him. He couldn't focus very well when his sensory still noticed only the pain from all over his body. And speaking of which, Ezra looked down to see how it was doing.

Someone had taken his jacket and shirt off, but Ezra didn't feel like being naked because there were bandages all over his chest, stomach, and upper arms. His forearms seemed fine, but there were bruises around his wrists. They're probably from the chain Darious had kept him in. The memory made Ezra grimaced, which Theo noticed.

"What's wrong?" Theo asked, leaning closer. "Are you in pain?"

"No, just…" Ezra shook his head. The bruises didn't hurt as long as someone didn't touch it. He would be fine. "Um…do you have a mirror? I want to see how my neck and face are doing."

"Yes, I think we have it around here somewhere." Theo nodded and stood up, walking to a box in the corner of the room. It took him several seconds to return with a mirror. And the Zabrak kindly held it up for Ezra to inspect himself.

Ezra looked into the mirror and sighed. There was a large bruise circled his neck, surely from that shock-collar. His face seemed to be fine, except for the bacta-bandage on both his cheeks. There were bruises on his forehead and his jaws, he guessed the causes were the explosions he had survived.

"Thank you." Ezra nodded, settling back to sit against the wall behind him. He pulled the blanket covering his lower half away and sighed. Someone had taken off his boots too, and the bruises around his ankles were revealed, as same as bandages on his feet. The pants he was wearing wasn't his. It was a thin blue pants, long enough to cover just his knees. There were bandages and bruises covering his calves too.

"Wow," Ezra said. "It seemed like I was stomped over by Fyrnocks."

"No, no, it seems like you had survived an explosion." Theo chuckled, and his statement startled Ezra. "I might not be there, but I can see the explosive from where I was."

"Wait, you're in Nacile?" Ezra asked, recalling the event on Nacile, a city he and Sabine were assigned to meet their ally – who had betrayed them.

"Yes, I was shopping for supplies." Theo nodded. "You arrived unconscious after I got back to the ship. We took off and I had been tending to your wounds since then."

I have a bad feeling about this. Ezra thought as he took in what Theo said. Half of him was sure that it was Maul who brought him here. But since Maul had shown his true colour, the Zabrak still wanted to be-friend him? Knowing that Ezra knew his true intention, there was no way Ezra wasn't going to be in the same side with Maul again.

If it is truly him, will he try to trick me again? Ezra thought, looking away in Theo. The Zabrak looked at him and walked away, knowing that Ezra was silently asking for some times alone. What does he want? Me as his apprentice? No, I will not follow him. Not again.

Yet…I use his advice to open the Sith Holocron…

One of his inner voices sneered back at him and Ezra gulped. It was true; he was able to open the Sith Holocron after he let the pain, mostly mental pain, of the event flew through and overwhelmed him. Yet it was just briefly. Ezra felt bad with himself from letting his dark emotions took over, so he stopped. Then Kanan walked in, silently holding out his hand and Ezra gave the Holocron to his Master without a question. He was ashamed of himself, and Kanan didn't say anything as the older man left. Ezra knew there was going to be a serious conversation between them after Kanan had fully recovered. However, after that he was on a mission with Sabine – and this was where he ended up.

One must be a Sith, or think like one.

Maul's voice was still haunting Ezra, kicking him in the face with the truth that he had used the darkness. That he had darkness in his mind and was willingly to use it.

A soft shuffle sound of door opening nearly startled Ezra. The boy turned toward the source of the sound and saw the dark yellow Zabrak walked in.

"Boss wants to meet you." He simply said with an emotionless voice, Ezra raised his eyebrows and said nothing. He swung his legs out of the bed and followed the other Zabrak out of the room.

As they walked through the passage, Ezra took in his surroundings. This ship looked old, but cleaned and received well maintenance. There were many doors and passages leaded to another section of the ship; Ezra assumed that 'the Shadows' should be very big indeed.

Zek leaded him through several passages before he stopped in front of a simple automatic door you could find in any ship large enough to house at least three people. Ezra stopped too, and looked at the Zabrak.

"Boss is in there." Zek said, making no move to enter the room. So, Ezra walked toward the door. It slid opened softly, with little to no sound. Ezra tried to look, but the room was dark with a hint of dim lights somewhere.

The boy risked a glance back at Zek, who was still watching him with emotionless eyes. Seeing that Zek wasn't going to give him any clues, Ezra sighed. He felt like walking into an execution room. Nevertheless, Ezra entered and the door slid shut softly.

The room was dark, with very dim red lights shining weakly from two corners of the room. Ezra could make out a bed, a desk with something he could not identify because it was too dark, and a small glassed window showing the outside of the ship. True to Theo's words, they're in a hyperspace.

"Okay." Ezra heard himself making a sound, but as far as he could see there was no one in the room. He looked around again, yet still didn't see anyone. And as he reached out with the Force, all he could feel was a present of Zek walking away.

Well, no one is here.

Ezra thought, walking back to the door to ask if Zek had leaded him to a wrong room. However, the door didn't open. Ezra frowned, trying to push it but the metal wouldn't bulge.

"Great." Ezra shook his head. "Now I'm actually a prisoner." He could feel his anger rising, but trying his best to subdue it. It wouldn't help him escape.

So, instead of trying the door, Ezra searched for a switch to turn the light on. He scrambled in the dark or a while until he found a tiny switch besides the door. The boy pressed it, and the room was lightened by an artificial light on the ceiling.

Ezra looked around the room again. Now he could see what was on the desk, which seemed to be arrange into a small workshop for tinkering with metals and many small parts of some engines. On his right, in the opposite side from the desk, was a bed. And there were still artificial red lights glowing, but a lot weaker when the light on the ceiling was on. This had Ezra frowning as he took a better look at the lights. They actually looked like tiny pyramids covered with thin white fabric.

No, they're tiny pyramid covered in thin white fabric… no, they looked like Sith Holocrons. Ezra gasped because he knew he was right without taking a closer look. They were Sith Holocrons.

"Shit…" Ezra immediately backed away from the dim red lights. It's not because he was scared of them, no, it's because he felt a pull toward them. Ezra knew he could open them, and even that he knew that everything about the Sith was always dangerous and tempting – Ezra still wanted to know more. He wanted to know about them, wanted to study the forbidden knowledge about the Sith – the kind of knowledge that all Jedis weren't supposed to study.

"…to defeat your enemy, you have to understand them."

"To defeat your enemy, you must know your enemy. Even…practice their beliefs."

Yet there were two voices, Ahsoka's and Maul's, echoing in his head. Ezra tried to shake them out, try to think of what Kanan would say if he knew. Try to think of what Master Yoda would say if he knew.

Well, isn't Master Yoda the one who sent us to Malachor? To retrieve the Holocron?

One of his inner voices sneered again, and Ezra shook his head. There was no use trying to argue with himself right now. He had to find a way out.

Why Zek left me here? With two Sith Holocrons? Why? Is this some kind of tests? Ezra thought, looking around the room. He wanted to try using Force-push to open the door, but decided to save it for later. He might not be strong enough yet.

Ezra tried to look around the room again, and this time notice a small panel hidden almost behind the workshop. It had two buttons. He pressed the red one, and the wall next to him just slid up to reveal a hidden entrance.

A secret room, great. Ezra grinned, immediately entered it. Well, it's not actually a room, more of a passage leaded to somewhere else. And since going back meant he would be alone with two Sith Holocrons, Ezra chose to follow the passage down.

At the end of the passage was an automatic door. Ezra entered and found himself in a small hanger full with many types of small Starships and freighters.

"Okay, this ship is a lot bigger than I thought." Ezra said, looking around. He didn't recognize most of the ships here, and most of them seemed to be very old. "Yeah, and I haven't seen any of these ships before." He added, knocking an old dusky yellow freighter with his knuckles.

"That's a G9 Rigger Freighter, manufactured by Corellian Engineering Corporation. Its last owner called it 'the Twilight'."

A familiar voice spoke from behind him, and Ezra turned back to see Maul sitting on an unfamiliar dusky white ship. The Zabrak smiled at him, but Ezra didn't smile back. He felt his anger rising, he wouldn't forgive Maul for what the Zabrak did to Kanan.

"What do you want?" Ezra asked, stepping back and prepared to fight. His torso protest as he changed his posture into a ready to fight or flee, but Maul made no move to advance him.

"To show you my ship collections." Maul simply said, sliding down from the ship he was on and landed gracefully on the metal floor of the chamber. "You know, when you get old you might eventually pick up a habit of collecting stuffs. I mostly collect what reminds me of my past." He said, turning his back to Ezra and pointed at the ship he had sat on before. "This is a Republic's gunship – a LAAT/I Repulsorlift Gunship designed by Rothana Heavy Engineering."

Ezra did not know what to do. He wanted to strike Maul - yet he had a feeling that, even with his back to Ezra, Maul would have easily defeated him in a fight. This Zabrak had tricked him before, and nothing could guarantee that he would not do it again.

"Oh yeah, but I'm not in a mood to listen to you." Ezra said, carefully stepped away as Maul turned to face him. "Why am I here? No, you're the boss, right? Why did you bring me here? I'm not going to be your apprentice. Never." Ezra growled, thinking of what Maul had done to Kanan. It angered him, yet Maul showed no sign that he was affected by Ezra's anger.

"Be careful there young one. Or you might knock your head with that ARC-170 Starfighter." Maul said with a calm voice instead. Ezra looked back on reflex. True to Maul's words, a few more steps and he would have knocked his head with an old rusty gun of a Starfighter. And when Ezra turned back to Maul, the Zabrak was already on another Starfighter with a tool box in his hand.

"What do you want?" Ezra asked again, stepped closer. He absolutely had no idea of what Maul was planning. "I'm sick of your game." He added, walking until he was in front of the old Starfighter.

"That's bad." Maul shrugged, turning to face Ezra. His voice was so soft and warm, just like on Malachor - before he showed his true colour. "Okay, I'm going to tell you then." Maul moved until he was fully faced Ezra, and Ezra moved away. "Just like I've told you, I collect things. You should have seen what's in my quarter."

"The Holocrons?" Ezra frowned. "Yeah, and what do they have anything to do with this?" Ezra asked, before something in his head click. On Malachor, it took them both to retrieve the Holocron.

"You want me to help you collect the Holocron?!" Ezra backed away, looking at Maul with all his hate he got. "I'm not going to help you!"

"Why not?" Maul chuckled and it sent chills down Ezra's spine. "What make you think you're not going to help me?"

"Because I'm not going to be your apprentice." Ezra growled back. His posture told Maul that he was ready to fight whether he would win or lose. "I'm not going to help you with anything."

"Oh, dear child." Maul laughed, and it very unsettled Ezra. "This is too funny to be true. I sense the darkness in you, I know you have opened the Holocron you got from Malachor."

"I didn't!" Now Ezra panicked. How does he know? His mind was screaming in shock. The only ones who knew about the Holocron were he and Kanan, okay, maybe Chopper too. But it's impossible that any of them would sell this out. And Maul probably wasn't aboard the Ghost when Ezra opened the Holocron.

"You shouldn't lie, young Jedi." Maul said, sliding down from the Starfighter. "I sense it in you. I sense your emotions. You Force signature is darker than the first time we met."

"You're lying." Ezra said. He could still feel his anger rising.

"Keep telling yourself that." Maul chuckled, crossing his arms behind his back. "But you should know one thing, unless you have your use here, you're going to be destroyed." The Zabrak spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, and Ezra's eyes widened in confusion mixed with anger.

"Don't you need anyone to help you find your Holocrons?" Ezra retorted, glaring at Maul. The Zabrak was still calm, and even smiling at him.

"I can always find a replacement." Maul replied with his velvet voice and a smile filled with darkness and somethings Ezra truly did not want to explore. "Oh, and since you really want to be perished, it makes me curious of why you have no desire to see Lady Tano's old quarter first. I still keep it just likes before she left to join the Rebels."

"What?" Ezra stuttered. "Ahsoka had lived here? I…I don't believe you." He said, knowing that his voice had betrayed him.

"Oh, but you seem to be half curious already." Maul smirked, and Ezra felt like whipping it off the Zabrak's face with his fist. "Come then, I will take you to her old quarter. Don't be afraid, Lady Tano isn't a type of person who set traps in her bedroom." He immediately turned and walked away. Eventually, still keeping a distance, Ezra followed him.

Ahsoka's quarter was in the corner of the hanger, near an entrance to the rest of the ship. Maul keyed in the password and the door open. Ezra could tell as he stepped in to the smaller space that Maul wasn't lie. This place was once belonged to Ahsoka. He could feel a faint presence of her here.

The quarter had a personal fresher and a small workshop - just like Maul's. There was still tools lying around on the desk full of dust. The bed was still messy, as if Ahsoka had left in a hurry. And there was still clothes in her closet.

"Lady Tano left as soon as she received a Force-message from her fellow Jedi who survive the Clone War." Maul said, sitting down on a chair next to a small window that show what was outside the ship. "Well, she requested that this quarter should be a place for any Jedi to stay, in case I am kind enough to pick up one." Maul added, standing up and walked pass Ezra to the door. Ezra made no move to follow, and Maul made no sign that he wanted Ezra to follow him.

The door slid shut, and Ezra was left alone in a dusty quarter.

Maul went back to tinkering with the Starship. He decided to leave Ezra alone for a while. He knew the boy needed time to get himself together.

Maul successfully got the hatch to the engine opened, and get down to work. Ezra's reaction was as he had expected. Maul had learnt that the more he concealed his Force signature, the more he could sense others'. It was true that he wanted Ezra to help him find other Sith Holocrons which had been lost since the ancient wars, but that's not his true reason of why he brought Ezra with him after killing that Zeltron Jedi.

To be honest, Maul wasn't sure if he would achieve his now final and only goal. He could only hope that, with Ezra, he would.

Ezra sat down and whipped the dust away from Ahsoka's old desk. He found many pieces of machine and some rough drafting of engines. Unlike Kanan and him, Ahsoka was talented in engineering – something she took after her former master; Kanan told him. Ezra was more of an 'animal-friendly' type.

Ezra also found many data-pads under the desk and in the dressers under Ahsoka's bed. He laid them on the table and slowly activated them one by one. To his surprise, they all contained data from the Clone Wars. There were militaries information, Jedi information, photos of Ahsoka in her youth, and photos of the place called a Jedi temple on the planet Coruscant.

Then, he found many hologram videos. Most of them contained knowledge of the Jedi, and Ezra watched them briefly to see what all of them were about. Some were about fighting styles – video for lightsaber training. Some were about the Force, which he decided not to watch it now. Some were about planets, and overall knowledge about the galaxy. And the last one, which was not for education, was a video of Ahsoka in her present day – or what she looked like when Ezra met her.

'Hi'

Ahsoka in the video smile. She was sitting on a chair, and Ezra had a feeling that she had been filming this video here – in her quarter.

'I am Ahsoka Tano. If you're seeing this video it means that you're a Jedi, and Maul has picked you up.'

Ezra saw no grimace on her face. He wondered of what Ahsoka was feeling about living under Maul's care.

'This video is made to give you advices of how to get on his 'good' side. You might have heard that Maul is evil, that he's a Sith, but not anymore. Do not conclude that he is a Sith, it's going to piss him off.'

"Yeah, he had told me." Ezra nodded, continued to watch the video.

'Maul's crews are not evil. They might be rough with you at first, but they're very kind and protective on the inside. It's not hard to get on their good side, but you must be patient. Moreover, the more his brothers like you, the more Maul would be…easier to deal with…too.'

She seemed to be hesitated of the words to use, and Ezra understand. Maul was a very complex person.

'Maul can be…generous in some occasions. Be careful about them. Most of the time it's because he wants something from you. Yet there is also times that Maul being generous because he feels like it. Remember, he is not a Sith anymore - but more of a dark grey. He is not completely dark; there is still goodness in him. Water it, do not let it dies.'

Ahsoka said, and she was very serious as she said this. Ezra grimaced, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Ahsoka might be true about Maul could truly be good because he wanted to be good, but Ezra wasn't sure he could separate the truly good one from the ones and Maul being good because he wanted something in return.

'Lastly; if you're watching this videos it means I've gone to join the Rebels, or die trying to find a way to stop the Empire. Whether we will meet or not, be brave and do what is right. May the Force be with you.'

The video ended and Ezra was alone again. He re-watched the video a few more times, before deciding that he had to get out of this quarter at some point. He needed food; his stomach started to growl. Also, his body was protesting him for overworked it. His torso was throbbing and Ezra had a feeling that he must had been given a painkiller before, and now it was wearing off.

As he went out of the quarter, Maul was still tinkering with one of the ships. Ezra slowly walked toward him, carefully not to let it show on his face of how painful he actually felt.

"What is this ship?" Ezra asked when he was close enough, and Maul looked up from where he was tinkering with what seemed to be its laser generator.

"V-19 Torrent Starfighter" Maul said, standing up. His voice was smooth and soft. "Manufactured by Slayn & Korpil. Its purpose was to protect the gunships from enemy Starfighters during planetary assaults." Maul looked toward the quarter, then back to Ezra. "Finish searching through Lady Tano's stuffs?"

"Yes." Ezra shrugged, and found himself ran out of things to say. Maul just kept looking at him, and Ezra felt like he had to come up with something. However, his stomach decided to growl, and Ezra had never felt so relieved to have someone hearing this kind of embarrassing sound before.

"I'm hungry." He bluntly stated and waited for the response. Maul just looked at him, then nodded.

"This way Ezra." Maul said, leading the way toward the passage Ezra had come in. "By the way, you're free to have Lady Tano's quarter, if you have your use."

"And what kind of 'use' do you mean?" Ezra asked, deciding that he had to play Maul's game if he wanted to know more about Maul's true intention. On the corner of his eyes, Ezra saw Maul grinned.

And he had a bad feeling about it.