Here's another chapter! I know it's very slow to start off with, but the excitement is coming! I need to establish her personality for you readers so the effect of the story is long lasting! :D

.._~_

Boba could almost smell the fear from the Jedi-wanna-be. The girl's blue eyes were wide and she said nothing. Jango's armored hand clamped harder on the girl's wrist and she gritted her teeth. His other hand trailed up to her throat and cut off what breath the Padawan was breathing. Boba was about to step in when a blaster shot landed at Jango's feet. Kaiyo twisted her hand and broke loose. She fell to the ground as a Jedi and a Clone ran onto the ship pad. The Jedi lighted his Saber and ran for Jango. Jango fired up his jet pack and soared around the landing pad; Kenobi followed on a catwalk that wound its way through and around the Cloning Facility. The Clone ran after Boba as he headed up the plank to enter Slave I. As Boba passed the downed padawan she reached out a slender hand and grabbed him around his ankle. Boba tripped forward, catching himself as he fell.

"Stupid!" Boba cried out, reaching backward to pry off the strange girl's hand. But she wasn't going easy! Boba struggled with the girl; she dug her nails into his skin; Boba cried out and continued to try and pry the girl's hand off. The Clone was moving in slowly. Boba could taste the fear in his mouth; he had never been so scared. He knew his father was nearby, battling his own.

.._~_

Kaiyo's head and back hurt from slamming onto the metal ground; she couldn't breathe very well either. But she was still strong enough to reach forward and grab the boy's ankle. Kaiyo could see he was scared; she was scared herself. She dug her nails into Fett's ankle out of fear. He tried to pry her hand off. The Clone was closing in. Kaiyo and Boba's eyes met, amber on blue, and Kaiyo released the ankle. Boba scrambled up the plank and closed it.

Kaiyo moaned as the air lock shut on the ship. The Clone knelt next to Kaiyo. The ship moved and aimed at Jango and Obi-Wan who were finally in sight. Kaiyo groaned and, with the help of the Clone, stood up. Using the Force, Kaiyo was able to move the ship's guns. The blast that would have killed Obi-Wan was redirected and Kenobi was thrown backwards. Jango came running toward the ship.

The Clone pulled Kaiyo back as Jango raced by and climbed through a cargo hold. Kaiyo could have tried to stop Jango, but she was more worried about Master Kenobi who had fallen off the platform. Kaiyo ran to the railing and peered over. Obi-Wan was hanging on by a thread – literally! Throwing off her robe, Kaiyo leapt to a lower level of the walkways and closer to Kenobi.

"Reach, Master! Reach!" Kaiyo stretched and the Jedi hefted himself up the wire. Within a few seconds, the master was on safe ground. Kaiyo breathed heavily and rested against the railing. It had been one busy night and they still had to hyperjump back to Curascant. Not to mention having to finish on Kamino! Kaiyo couldn't wait to get back to the busy place of Curascant….

.._~_

"-And I heard you also let Fett get away. Now, before I continue, is there anything you have to say for yourself?" Auria had her arms crossed and stared down at Kaiyo who was eating a Bantha biscuit and drinking Kuul milk. Auria didn't give Kaiyo a chance to reply. "Did you know, I even heard that you nearly got Obi-Wan Kenobi killed? Killed! Killed! And you couldn't even keep a hand on the young Fett… You are a sorry excuse for a padawan, Kaiyo; a sorry excuse!"

Kaiyo licked her fingers of the bread crumbs and tossed her tray in the retrieval bin. A person walked into the cafeteria. He looked like Jango Fett, but was not Jango Fett; it was the Clone that had assisted Kaiyo and the master Jedi on Kamino. He walked in and stood a few feet behind the pacing Auria.

Auria took a deep breath and sat down. "Okay, Kaiyo. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything of what I said… I'm sorry."

Kaiyo smiled. "It's ok; I know you get stressed and frustrated when you can't come with me and keep an eye on things."

"You know I just worry about you…" Auria took a sip of her own Kuul milk.

"You two are really hilarious: you can't work together and when you're split up, you can't stop wondering and worrying about the other!" The Clone laughed and Kaiyo made room for him to sit.

"How ya doing, Rex?" Kaiyo asked.

"I'm well. And I can see you two are doing fine." The three laughed again and exited the cafeteria, out into the Jedi Temple. Kaiyo looked around at the faces of her friends and smiled. She had a good life and had no intention of leaving it soon!

.._~_

Kaiyo left the Jedi Archives Temple on her hover-cycle Padme had purchased for her: it wasn't a normal two-seater speeder, but took on the form of what we earthlings call 'motorcycles'. But the vehicle was enclosed from the elements. Kaiyo had received the vehicle when she had been a padawan for a year, as a sort of reward.

She had spent the rainy morning in the Archives room, scrolling through profiles of bounty hunters that frequented the Underworld, where she herself was headed. It was a routine: Get up on a rainy Wednesday, brush up on bounty hunters, head to the Underworld; there, Kaiyo would mingle about, meeting new people, learning what they knew and where they were from. She wasn't a threat if she didn't have her saber with her, so most Underlings enjoyed her company.

Kaiyo was towing a C3-PO along, unfortunately. Padme allowed her young charge to visit the Underworld only if she was accompanied by the golden droid. Even though Kaiyo could easily ditch the annoying robot, she knew that if she did so it probably wouldn't be long before he was sold off on the black-market. And Anikan would kill Kaiyo if anything happened to the annoying droid that everyone loved so much.

Return to present, with Kaiyo speeding through the lower highways of Curascant, C3-PO strapped behind her. She wore a pair of black pants with a dark brown shirt and a dirty torso length cloak. She parked her motor-speeder in the station and untied the grumbling droid.

"You should really learn how to drive at the normal speed limit, Young Schut. You know you violated three traffic laws, and nearly crashed four times; twice almost into an inanimate object!" The droid rattled on. Kaiyo ignored the overactive, motor mouth and instead boarded a transporter that would bring her to the Underworld. A droidlina's voice filtered over the PA in different languages. The transporter moved and slowly lowered the pair into the Underworld.

The lift came to a stop and the duo exited; the Underworld was a dark and sinister place, the only light coming from the sun stories above and the signs below. Most were signs to bars that Kaiyo would steer clear of. Partially for the fact that she didn't drink and for the fact that there were always Twi'Lek dancers and Kaiyo hated to see her race used in such a manner. She tended to frequent the interior of the Underworld, where the Black Markets and little cafes were more abundant. She ignored C3-PO's complaint about 'lack of sanitary air' and led the way through the throng of drunken men.

Kaiyo merrily rolled her eyes and pulled her hood up. Her hair was almost touching the ground, over mid-calf length. The longest it had ever been, and the longest Padme was going to let her grow it out to. Kaiyo had rarely cut it, so it had grown at almost the same speed of a Twi'Lek's lekkus. Her hair was plastered against her back under the cloak and small wisps graced her face under the hood. Her eyes glanced in dark corners and alley ways carefully. A teen age girl walking in the Underworld with a golden droid following her was normally a pretty good hit target…

But no one appeared to want to mug her today, so she reached the Central with no mishaps. She dashed through the small amount of people, leaving her droid behind and making a beeline for Salim's Lover. She pushed the door open and entered the dark dwelling. Some Rodians and Biths looked up from a game of cards at her entrance. Kaiyo quickly tucked her chin to her chest and made her way to the counter. Salim made his way over, drying a shot glass on his way.

"Good afternoon, Kaiyo. What'll it be today?" Salim questioned cheerily.

"I'll take some pallies and a cup of ruby bliel." She leaned on the counter and watched as Salim prepared her meager meal.

"Tatooine today? I thought you had that last time, darlin'…" the Trandoshin set Kaiyo's order on the counter.

"Nope, last time it was Rylotj, my home food." She eagerly started eating the pallies.

"Was it now? And before that?" Salim wiped the counter with his rag.

"Before that, it was Rodian." A drink of the ruby bliel convinced Kaiyo to grin at her waiter.

But before the Trandoshin could answer, the door burst open with a clap of thunder from outside. Standing in the doorway was C3-PO. Kaiyo's face fell and she ducked under her hood, begging the Force that the droid hadn't seen her. But luck wasn't on her side today…

"I say, Mistress Kaiyo! Senator Amidala will not like to hear about this. You should not be eating that! You should be having Bantha biscuits and steak with the senators right now!" C3-PO's outburst caught the attention of the Rodians and Biths. They casually, dangerously, got out of their chairs as the droid hovered over Kaiyo's shoulder.

"Senator Amidala? That pretty lady, eh?" A Rodian questioned.

Kaiyo bit her cheek as the five species drew closer. "This just isn't my day…" she muttered.

Salim glared at the trouble makers and slipped his tongue over his reptilian lips. "Hey, don't you be going around and wrecking my place here, alright?"

"Get back to your work, old man…" one of the Biths retorted.

All together, there were five thugs: three Rodians and two Biths. The Bith that had just spoken was tall and slender; Kaiyo dubbed him Skinny. There was a bald Rodian-Baldy. The two last Rodians were fat and short-Muffin and Stubby. And the final one, the second Bith, had larger eyes than a normal Bith-thus, Goggles was his name.

Kaiyo grinned at her names, which earned her a sneer from Goggles who then ended up yelling in Bithian. Unlucky for Kaiyo…

"I believe he said 'you can't look at us like that; get her, that lousy, scum-filled, pus-boil of a-'…Oh…Oh, my!" C3-PO seemed totally appalled at what the Bith had said, which got Kaiyo angry.

"So, he's calling me names, huh?" Kaiyo stood from her stool. Salim groaned.

"At least take it outside, Kaiyo! I don't want blood marring my perfectly good polished floor boards!" Complained the reptilian owner.

"Sure, no problem, bud…"

As soon as Kaiyo finished her sentence, Stubby and Muffin grabbed her arms, pinning them to her side. She struggled, thrashing from side to side. C3-PO started freaking out.

Remind me never to bring him on a mission as backup…

Skinny took C3-PO's arm against his protests. Kaiyo's hood fell down around her shoulders, reveling messed up blue hair. After some struggling from the droid, C3-PO was slung over Baldy's shoulder. Kaiyo had had enough when Stubby and Muffin dragged her to the door.

"Man, we'll get millions of credits in ransom for these two!" Baldy bragged.

"That's the truth!" Skinny muttered, bringing up the rear. Goggles had the front, followed by Baldy and the droid, closely by Stubby and Muffin and Kaiyo. Kaiyo was held above the ground, giving her the leg room she needed for what was to come.

In one swift motion, Kaiyo had lifted her legs up, booted feet connecting with the two Rodians faces. Their grip immediately released and they crumpled to the ground. Kaiyo landed in a crouch, swinging her legs behind her and making contact with Skinny's knees. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, Kaiyo landed back in a crouch, and the Bith gave a cry of astonishment. This called the attention of Goggles and Baldy. To make sure Skinny stayed down, Kaiyo brought her elbow down upon his breast bone, causing the air to rush from his lungs.

C3-PO was questioned what was going on, but Kaiyo ignored him. Instead, she stood up and thrust her foot behind her, catching Baldy in the gut and making him drop the droid. C3-PO clanged to the ground as Goggles advanced on the Padawan. Unfortunately for Kaiyo, she didn't notice the Bith drawing nearer. She was helping the heavy golden droid up.

"Jeez, 3-PO! You gotta lose some weight…" Kaiyo muttered.

"I'm sorry, Mistress…" 3-PO apologized.

Kaiyo merrily nodded while dusting the droid off. Goggles was upon her in an instance, locking an arm around her pale, thin throat. She gasped as they tumbled backwards. The Bith tightened his hold on her throat, chocking off all air supply. Kaiyo struggled against the grip as memories of Kamino filtered through her hazy mind.

The streets, filled with on lookers, did nothing. Kaiyo, in a final act of defiance, drove her elbow into the Bith's ribcage. There was a resounding crack and the Bith took a face plant to the ground. Kaiyo, free from the restraint on her windpipe, stumbled forwards and leaned over. Her hands upon her knees and gasping for breath, Kaiyo quickly scanned over the five unconscious or pain-filled bodies to see if there was anyone else who wanted to quarrel. Thankfully for her, the black dots were disappearing and there appeared to be no more rebels. Her hair was a mess, pulled from under her cloak that was askew upon her shoulders.

"Mistress! Mistress!" 3-PO found his way to her. "Are you alright, Mistress Kaiyo? We must head back before this thugs come to!"

Kaiyo straightened slowly, fixed her cloak and hair, and nodded. "For once, 3-PO, I don't mind you ordering me around." She quickly paid Salim and followed C3-PO to the lift. She would have unexplainable bruising tomorrow that Padme would learn about soon; Anikan, on the other hand, would be harder to keep the secret from…

Well, lies could be woven if that droid could be kept away from the Master Jedi.

Neither one noticed the dark shadow that had been following them all night; nor did they see him enter Salim's Lover to send word to his master...