Chapter 2

Jacen Solo had never seen the temple as busy as it was today. The closest he could remember was when the Second Imperium had attacked. Preparing for that had everyone busy, but it was an organized preparation. This was just chaos.

Since Tenel Ka had been kidnapped earlier that morning, parents of every Jedi student, who were either wealthy or politicians, sent bodyguards for their child or children. His friend Raynar now was constantly accompanied by a bodyguard droid and a Sullustian dressed in dark bodyarmor. Even Lusa was accompanies by someone carrying a blaster. About the only students to escape the torture were Jaina, Lowie, and himself. They only managed that, because his uncle Luke Skywalker convinced President Organa-Solo -- Jacen's mother and Luke Skywalker's Sister -- that the three were in no danger; he felt the attack was directed at Tenel Ka directly.

Even being free from a constant watch didn't help Jacen's feelings. He hadn't left his room since his mother had called when she was trying to acquire a bodyguard for him. Something in him simply hurt whenever he thought of his friend being kidnapped.

"I should have been there!" he chided himself and flopped back down on his bed. How many times had Tenel Ka saved his life? One of the latest times included when they both nearly froze on the dark half of Ryloth. Alone, he would never had made it out, but Tenel Ka's strength and determination kept him going.

Now he hurt worse than before. Thinking about her only made it worse, much worse.

Jacen stood up from his bed and went to go feed his collection -- menagerie as most called it -- of pets he had. He reached into the small cage that held his baby gort. Little Nicta made a soft purring sound as he gently stroked the animal. When it's master's hand came close to its mouth, Nicta nipped at it.

"Hungry?" Jacen asked absently and went about feeding the animal its meal, a small handful of small insects. He gave the gort a half-smile when it began to munch hungrily on the bugs. "There you go." He lowered the lid back on Nicta's home, then wandered back to his bed.

Nothing felt right.

Jacen's fears began creep into his mind like one of the spiders in his collection. Images of Tenel Ka being held prisoner by the Night Sisters flashed through his mind. He could see them doing horrible, tortuous acts upon the girl for no ther reason than her parentage. Jacen's could also imagine someone like Darth Vader kidnapping his friend, trying to change her to the Darkside. He had had enough of the worrisome daydreams!

The Solo twin shook his head. Sitting around in his room, letting crazy dreams make him feel worse, wasn't going to help his captured friend any. He thought about Tenel Ka again. No, she wouldn't want him to mope around feeling sorry for her. When her arm was lost, she had gone so far as to return home for a short while to escape any pity.

He knew his friend was alright, Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo was to tough and too strong of a warrior! No matter if it were the Night Sisters, Darth Vader, or Emperor Palpatine himself, Jacen was certain that his friend was alright. She had to be! After all, Tenel Ka had done too many things much more dangerous than this, and she'd been fine. The Force was with her.

Jacen smiled as he became more confident of her. He knew in the depths of himself she was safe, for now. "This is a fact!" he said, since the usual speaker of the phrase wasn't here.

With his confidence back, began thinking of what he could do to help. He reconstructed what he had been told had happened. Tenel Ka was returning to the temple from her morning exercise when the droid-ship had captured her. It was obvious she had run into it before, because her lightsaber was active when Jaina retrieved it.

Jacen walked over to the window in his room and looked down. Everywhere people, aliens, and droids were running like a nerf without it's head. They too busy arguing over who was the blame for a breach of security, how to protect everyone else, and other things that weren't searching for Tenel Ka. He doubted that anyone had bothered to search the forest for a clue.

"That's it," he snapped his fingers. If no one had bothered to look for any clues, assuming there was nothing more than the imprints left by the titanic droid, then that's what he would do. The twin had to try something. "She would."

He headed for his room's door, but stopped. If anyone saw him headed for the forest, they may stop him or worse, join him. He knew a whole fleet of security guards scanning the forest was liable to bury more clues that it would turn up. No, Jacen knew, if he went alone he'd have more success.

The Jedi walked over to his window and looked out. If he scaled the wall down to the base of the pyramid he would have the same trouble. Jacen rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I'll have to go up-and-over." He decided to use his training in the Force to get hit to the top of the temple. Then he could take a back route to where Tenel Ka had been kidnapped earlier.

"Here goes," he sighed, trying to relax himself. The twin stepped onto his window ledge. He felt a breeze blow against his face, but ignored it. He concentrated on summoning enough of his strength to lift himself to the top of the temple. Jacen, his eyes closed, but not clenched, stepped out into nothing.

Instinct, primal knowledge, caused Jacen's stomach to tighten slightly, the laws of physics dictated he must fall. Fortunately, his Jedi training was a deafening roar compared to the whimper of animal instinct. Instead of plummeting like a stone Jacen felt himself being lifted by the Force up to the top of the pyramid.

Just as his feet lifted above the window frame, there was a knock at Jacen's door. After a moment of silence, time for Jacen to answer the door, if he had been in the room, the knocker knocked again. The knocker still received no response.

"Jacen?" his sister, Jaina said as she pushed the door open. "Hello? Are you in here?" She stuck her head through the opening to search for her brother. When she saw the room was empty, the twin walked in so those behind her could see the same. "I thought for sure he'd be in here."

Lowbacca barked a reply, which expressed his disappointment to the empty room. He, Jaina, Zekk and even Anja spent the last hour searching the temple for their friend. Now, though they had no idea where he was. The Wookie grumbled a question for his droid to translate.

The small droids lights flashed with surprise at the question. "I don't think he would be in the forest, Master Lowbacca. You know we've all been ordered to remain in the temple until security is finished being upgraded."

Zekk, the last to enter the room heard what the droid said and chuckled. He remembered many times before when the young Jedi had been ordered to stay somewhere. He also recalled how they never quite seemed to do so either. "Since when would something like an official order keep one of you guys here?"

Jaina's brandy colored eyes flashed with concern for her brother. She had seen him that morning when he heard about the kidnapping. For her usually easy-going, bad-joke-making brother, the news of Tenel Ka being abducted really seemed to upset him. The idea he might go looking for something to do that would help her in the forest made perfect sense to her.

She nodded as she thought. "I think Lowie and Zekk are right," she said. "We'd better go see if we can catch up with him." The five adolescents and droid swiftly exited the room to continue their search for the other Solo twin.

After Jacen had landed on the roof of the Jedi Academy, it had been simple to lower himself down to an area that was less crowded, and easier to sneak away from. Then it had just been a matter or circling around through the Massassi trees until he could see where the Z-85 had captured Tenel Ka. Once there, his task became much more simple.

Using the lessons he had been taught my his Uncle Luke, Jacen opened his mind up and let the Force guide him. Right before his eyes, the Jedi thought he could make out a redish-gold ribbon forming. He knew what it was immediately; the ribbon was the path his friend had taken while fleeing from the droid. He was emmencely grateful that he was able to still sense the warrior girl through the Force.

Just feeling where she had been eased the ache in the twin's stomach.

Jacen walked over to where the ribbon was. As soon as he stepped into the ribbon, he could feel exactly what his friend felt as she fled. He knew that the Hapan princess would never panic, no matter how bad the situation was. The feeling that washed over him was a cross between excitement and urgency. His friend must have known she couldn't defeat the droid alone, but was confident she and the other Jedi might.

It was that confidence that he felt that made him sure Tenel Ka was alright. She wasn't even afraid of a twenty foot robot!

Following the ribbon through the maze of trees, Jacen slowly plodded through. He wondered how long it had taken his friend to run through the forest. Probably not too long, he decided, Tenel Ka was a very athletic person. This was most likely a lot easier for her.

In a about half an hour of walking, the Solo twin reached a clearing in all the trees. He estimated the clearing it self was only about a few hundred meters wide. It was definitely large enough for a Z-85 Headhunter to land. He proceeded into the clearing, still following the ribbon that represented his friend's path.

"This is definitely where it first showed up," Jacen realized when he sensed a pocket of shock in the ribbon. Tenel Ka must have been quite surprised when she first saw the ship transform into a droid.

As he walked along the trail, Jacen noticed something snagged on a limb that had fallen to the ground. The fluttering object became clearer when he got closer to it. As the Jedi knelt to retrieve it, he saw the emblem of Hapan royalty stitched in one of the upper corners. It was the kerchief that Tenel Ka's grandmother had given her. Jacen remembered how his friend had later commented on how she thought it strange for a Jedi to have such a frivolity.

While Jacen was holding the piece of cloth, which he knew had been spun from only the best genetically bred silkworms the Hapan Kingdom had to offer, thought he felt something odd about it. He stretched his senses out to get a better idea of what else he felt. At first all he could tell was something had been carried in the kerchief. Then he decided that whatever it was held in it was alive. After a minute of sifting through his memories of all the living things he had found, Jacen best matched what he felt in his friends kerchief with the little praying beetle back in his room. The feeling was so close, yet different; he ventured that it was probably a female.

"Why would she be carrying a female praying beetle?" Jacen wondered aloud. Then it struck him like a meteorite. "For me." The warrior girl must have remembered that he was looking for one and decided to bring it to him.

Jacen winced and felt the ache in his gut grow again. He pushed it back down, though. Right now he had to find something that would lead him to her. There would be no need to feel sorrow if he could find her.

If this was where the battle had taken place, and he felt like it was, then the clearing was the best place to search for a clue. The Jedi closed his eyes half-way and looked through the Force. If there was anything here from the battle, he was sure to find it. He had to.

With all of his senses attuned to the area, Jacen could almost feel everything that happened. He felt the leaves of a bush shake as the wind blew through them. He could almost count the footsteps as an arachnid crawled across its web. He could feel the entire area working together as only a forest could. The Jedi felt everything, including the metallic sphere that didn't belong in the wooded clearing.

Jacen jogged over to where he felt the small sphere lying. "A recorder droid?" he mumbled. He stared at the small device for a minute before he even touched it. What was a seemingly undamaged droid doing lying on the ground? When his fingers made contact with the ball, he smiled. He felt a snippet of Tenel Ka on the droid. She had disabled it somehow.

He picked up the droid and tucked it safely in one of his outfit's pockets, right next to the kerchief. With the two pieces of evidence safely tucked away, the young Jedi continued his search for anything else. After about an hour of finding nothing., he decided it was best to head back to the pyramid.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Jacen jogged back toward his home. He knew that the droid he had found had a definite connection with the one who kidnapped his friend. Something inside the twin told him it wouldn't be long before his friend was safely home again listening to his jokes.