Just turn left. Ignore the screams and cries of the people around you. Those thoughts kept running through Iko’s head as he ducked and weaved through the various slithering streets and alleys of Coruscant, trying to find his way back to his house. The air was far more polluted than he was ever used to, smoke and soot clogging his lungs as explosions, screams, and artillery strikes rang out through the air. This was everything he had been wanting to avoid. The reason why he felt like he could never have been a Jedi. Whilst innocents suffered and burned around him, he didn’t care. Whilst the innocents around him rushed off to try and find evacuation, Iko did not care. All he cared about was finding his father. The father who passed him off like he was some kind of antique with no use to him.
He wasn’t alone in this endeavour of course. The droid, Thirty-Seven had been leant to him. Iko could hear the whirring of the droid’s limbs behind him as the lad rushed through the familiar alleyways. Various flashes of memories running through his mind with every step. Childhood memories, seen in a new light. The late nights of him running around, rummaging through other people’s trash for things to play with or for metal that he could use in his own little miniature forge he had made. The stores he offered to help out with, alongside the windows he had shattered by accident tripping over his own two feet. The amount of times he was always told to just grin and bear it when it came to the injuries he picked up. It was only now that Iko realised how so alone he had been when he lived with his father. Yet, here he was, running through an active warzone to try and find the man. It wasn’t in Iko’s nature to abandon people he knew at the very least.
As he reached the corner, Iko’s pace faltered. The flames ahead of him flickering in his eyes as the light in them dulled as Iko stepped closer towards the flames. The home he had spent so much time inside of, the restaurant he had helped fix and worked in was ahead of him. It looked fine! It was safe. The heat from working in the kitchen coming in waves, warming his cold bones. The neon lights stared back at him, with the usual letters flashing from faulty wiring, and the familiar shape of his father’s hand held out in front of him. Heh…You’d have thought his father would have figured out how to fix that. As he stepped forward however, the mirage in front of him would slowly but surely start breaking in front of him. The heat was the flames roaring ahead of him, the lights staring back at him being that of the fire destroying his childhood home, the flashing letter being exposed wires sparking out and the familiar hand being buried under a pile of rubble ahead of him.
Before he could realise what he was even doing, Iko burst out into a sprint towards the rubble and debris ahead of him. The tears running down his face stinging away at his skin as the acidic smoke and soot played havoc on his eyes. If he was more aware of his surroundings, Iko might have noticed the leaking oil spreading closer and closer towards the exposed cabling. Instead he was too busy trying to push the metal and rocks off the hand reaching out to him. Come on! The Force wouldn’t come to him when he needed it! Why couldn’t he just push it all away! Iko shoved and pushed as hard as he could, digging his hands into the rubble, causing various scrapes, cuts and more as he tried his hardest to dig his father out of the rubble…Though before he knew it, a pair of cold metal arms wrapped itself around Iko, starting to drag him away from the destruction. The warnings of the oil and potential incident from the droid being lost on the boy as he screamed and cried, slamming his hands into Thirty-Seven, demanding to be released! His dad was there! He’d be fine! At least…he would have been, up until his childhood home went up in a blast of fire and smoke as the oil was lit ablaze, covering the entire thing in burning hot flames.
Even as he was dragged back through the alleyways so that Thirty-Seven could get them off the planet, Iko was still slamming against the droid, sobbing his little heart out to the point of exhaustion and beyond. Passing out in the arms of the droid, and only waking when they were far from Coruscant and back on their way to the Daishell family.
He wasn’t alone in this endeavour of course. The droid, Thirty-Seven had been leant to him. Iko could hear the whirring of the droid’s limbs behind him as the lad rushed through the familiar alleyways. Various flashes of memories running through his mind with every step. Childhood memories, seen in a new light. The late nights of him running around, rummaging through other people’s trash for things to play with or for metal that he could use in his own little miniature forge he had made. The stores he offered to help out with, alongside the windows he had shattered by accident tripping over his own two feet. The amount of times he was always told to just grin and bear it when it came to the injuries he picked up. It was only now that Iko realised how so alone he had been when he lived with his father. Yet, here he was, running through an active warzone to try and find the man. It wasn’t in Iko’s nature to abandon people he knew at the very least.
As he reached the corner, Iko’s pace faltered. The flames ahead of him flickering in his eyes as the light in them dulled as Iko stepped closer towards the flames. The home he had spent so much time inside of, the restaurant he had helped fix and worked in was ahead of him. It looked fine! It was safe. The heat from working in the kitchen coming in waves, warming his cold bones. The neon lights stared back at him, with the usual letters flashing from faulty wiring, and the familiar shape of his father’s hand held out in front of him. Heh…You’d have thought his father would have figured out how to fix that. As he stepped forward however, the mirage in front of him would slowly but surely start breaking in front of him. The heat was the flames roaring ahead of him, the lights staring back at him being that of the fire destroying his childhood home, the flashing letter being exposed wires sparking out and the familiar hand being buried under a pile of rubble ahead of him.
Before he could realise what he was even doing, Iko burst out into a sprint towards the rubble and debris ahead of him. The tears running down his face stinging away at his skin as the acidic smoke and soot played havoc on his eyes. If he was more aware of his surroundings, Iko might have noticed the leaking oil spreading closer and closer towards the exposed cabling. Instead he was too busy trying to push the metal and rocks off the hand reaching out to him. Come on! The Force wouldn’t come to him when he needed it! Why couldn’t he just push it all away! Iko shoved and pushed as hard as he could, digging his hands into the rubble, causing various scrapes, cuts and more as he tried his hardest to dig his father out of the rubble…Though before he knew it, a pair of cold metal arms wrapped itself around Iko, starting to drag him away from the destruction. The warnings of the oil and potential incident from the droid being lost on the boy as he screamed and cried, slamming his hands into Thirty-Seven, demanding to be released! His dad was there! He’d be fine! At least…he would have been, up until his childhood home went up in a blast of fire and smoke as the oil was lit ablaze, covering the entire thing in burning hot flames.
Even as he was dragged back through the alleyways so that Thirty-Seven could get them off the planet, Iko was still slamming against the droid, sobbing his little heart out to the point of exhaustion and beyond. Passing out in the arms of the droid, and only waking when they were far from Coruscant and back on their way to the Daishell family.
