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Chapter Two
The sleek Nubian starship rested among the broken trees as if it were a large, wounded bird. Its silver pelt was covered with scratches and gashes, although none were too grave or too deep. The landing had at least been merciful, if not perfect. As if one could call it perfect.
Inside the starship, Sabé, lead handmaiden and royal decoy to the Queen of Naboo, lifted her head, gingerly testing all her joints to see if anything was damaged. She had been lucky; by getting trapped under a fallen cupboard in the Queen's personal chambers she had avoided direct collision with the large bed that had slid to one side of the cruiser. Quickly Sabé scrambled out and stood, arms outstretched as to not lose ballance, for the ship was angled slightly, and the floors were made of a material that resembled ice quite a lot. Her brown eyes glanced around the rooms, trying do see if there was anyone else here.
"Your Highness?" she called out, but was met with only an echo of her voice. The young girl shifted her weight carefully and slowly made her way to the doors of the chambers. Luckily, they were partly open, for the mechanism that guided them was out-of-order, and would need fixing. Nothing Yané couldn't handle. But she needed to find her first. Sabé cursed slightly as one of her feet slipped and she hit her knee against the stone-hard floor. The royal decoy bit her lower lip and hoisted herself up again, coming out into the hallway. This was cleaner and tidier than the Queen's bedchamber; there was only one of the astrodroids in it. The poor thing had been turned upside-down amid the process of collision. Sabé slowly made her way to it and placed it back on its feet, giving it a pat on the metal head. She then looked around and tried to peer through the dim lighting in the hallway.
"Rabé? Eirtaé? Saché?" she called out, trying to locate any of her co-handmaidens. The Queen was also out of sight, and Sabé was worried.
Then she heard something collide with the hanging doors to the refreshers, and a dishelved Eirtaé climbed out of it, her long blonde hair having fallen out from under the hood of her cloak. Relieved, Sabé quickly rushed to her friend's side and helped her out into the hallway.
"Where are the others?" asked the tall handmaiden. Sabé shrugged her shoulders.
"I have no idea. I've called their names several times, but have heard nothing in response. I am worried for the Queen."
"Then let us find Panaka and see if we can locate Her Highness," responded Eirtaé firmly and made her way down the whole length of the hallway, Sabé following behind. There seeemd to be no one else upon the ship, which was strange and creepy. The two handmaidens located Rabé stuck between two large suitcases, and found Saché and Yané in the cockpit with Panaka. All of them seemed to be alright…but where was the Queen?
"I'll climb out of the ship and see where we landed," suggested Yané, and the others agreed, then spread out to locate their Queen.
Yané, the youngest of the handmaidens, slowly made her way to the exit of the cruiser. The main doors weren't working, and she had to go and locate the emergency exit. Luckily, this had remained untouched through the landing process, and she was able to climb out of the ship. Using her hands she hoisted herself up and readjusted her cloak around her, although she pushed the hood from her face. Brown eyes looked across the scenery with wonder; there were trees everywhere, tall trees, and lush green grass. She could hear water rushing across the rocks somewhere near their landing place, and the tweets of birds seemed like the sound of angels to her ears. The whole image seemed to perfect to be real, but it was as real as it could be, and Yané didn't have time to guess if they had strayed into a dream or something else entirely. She had to figure out what was their current location and then try and contact Coruscant or Naboo.
The sound of snorting met her ears and the young girl turned sharply, only to be met by a most peculiar sight: two riders, one male and one female, sat upon large four-legged creatures, watching the ship, and Yané herself. The female had long black hair and was the most beautiful creature the young handmaiden had ever seen, and she was mesmerised by the sight. The male wasn't far behind in beauty either, although he sported long hair, like the female, which wasn't something you saw everyday on Naboo, though it was normal in other races. They didn't seem dangerous, so Yané decided to find out who they were and where the Nabooan team had landed.
Swiftly she descended onto the ground, thankful to feel solid earth under her feet again, and quickly walked to the pair. She stopped short, however, when she heard a strange sound, and found herself staring at the tip of what seemed to be a large version of a table-knife, or perhaps a metalised version of a lightsaber that the Jedi carried, though it didn't give out any light of its own. Yané was at loss at what to do, and she was scared. The object seemed dangerous enough, but with the male holding it, who seemed capable enough to chop almost anything, the situation was more dangerous still.
She was saved by the female, who stretched her hand and gently pushed the male's arm down, shaking her head and saying something in a language that was unknown to Yané. She didn't really care, though, as the female looked at her then, and she was captivated by the brilliant blue-gray eyes that shone with the light of a thousand stars, and held a depth to them that she couldn't even begin to fanthom. Hesitantly, she smiled, feeling even more nervous than before, but to her relief, the woman smiled back warmly, and it sent a wave of reassurance through the young girl.
There was suddenly noise from behind, and before Yané could turn properly to see what was going on, she heard Panaka's voice: "Yané! Get back, girl!" Then came the familiar sound of a blaster being readied and charged. She could see the male's eyes narrow, anger blazing within, but the female looked frightened.
"Noooo!" cried the handmaiden and turned, but it was too late – Panaka had already shot, thinking that the male posed a threat to Yané, completely missing the scene with the female. The distinguishing sound of a blaster rang through the air, and Yané imagined she could see the flash of light as it travelled past her. With horror she watched as the white creature the male sat upon rose on its hind legs, trying to save its master; it failed, though not completely. The shot only grazed across the golden-haired male's left shoulder. He let out a cry of pain and anger, and tried to regain control over his mount.
"Panaka you idiot!" cried Yané and rushed forward, only to be met by the towering form of the white beast. The last thing she saw was a flash of silver as it bore down upon her, thinking she was a threat to its master, then she felt a soaring pain in her shoulder, and passed out.
TBC
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