Chapter Text
The ropes felt like they burnt, every struggling movement another red mark left on Leon’s skin. Part of his arm was bleeding from the way the rough material had scratched off his skin. He felt like crying out; like begging for freedom.
“I do not know why you were even sent to catch me.” It was true, in a sense. There were reasons people might be hunting him, but he had no clue which reason this woman hunting him for.
“Heh. Like I believe that,” she replied. “But I’ll humour you. Your family is important.”
“I… I haven’t spoken to my family in years. They no longer care about me.”
“Once again, you’re a terrible liar. Ash Kinro, having had never spoken to anyone important for years? You’ve always been worming your way around the politicians of your species, from what I’ve heard. Spying is a dangerous profession, and you clearly aren’t an expert.”
“I am not Ash,” he said. Perhaps she’d let him go if she knew he wasn’t actually her target. Perhaps he still had a chance. Perhaps there was still way he could survive this.
“You look exactly like them. Are you going to try and tell me that you’re their identical twin or something? I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“You may have called them an amateur spy, but you’re no pro bounty hunter,” he sighed. “Knowing one of the most well-known facts about your target’s species might have been helpful.”
“Don’t be sarcastic to me,” she said. She tugged the ropes against the injury on his arm. He screamed again as the ropes tore more flesh from the bleeding cuts. He didn’t have the courage to look at the rope, but he knew it would be stained with blood. Even if he survived this, that wound would probably be infected. Even if he survived this. “So, what is the fact?”
“Echani siblings look very similar. If said siblings were both assigned male or assigned female, they would look identical.” He tried to explain calmly, but his voice was shaky and pained. He could hear the rasp of his breathing on the last words.
“You’re trying to tell me that you’re Ash Kinro’s sibling? I’ve only heard of a sister and brother of his, both of who are dead,” she responded. He could tell she was still suspicious, but here was a hint of recognition in her eyes.
“Yes. I am Leon, their brother.”
“The records say that they have two siblings – Astri and Lirin. Both of who are dead, killed by Mandos.” The doubt creeped over her eyes again, and he could hear her placing the datapad on the floor and picking up her blaster.
“Search for Zurel Kinro. Zurel spelt as Z for Zeltros, U for Umbara, R for Ryloth, E for Eshan and L for Loronar,” he had spelt his name for people many times as a child, but he almost forgot the spelling as he tried to speak this time. Perhaps it was the feeling of the ropes touching his neck which made him distracted.
“There are records of a Zurel Kinro. They say that he is no longer considered part of the Kinro family, as he abandoned his duties to them. That he is worthless to them.”
He took a deep breath in like someone had punched him in the stomach. The thought of his family, having given up on him completely. Was he that useless? Did they really consider him to be an outsider? Or worse, a shameful being who was best forgotten about?
The bounty hunter could be lying to him, only looking for ways to hurt him more. And it had hurt, almost more than the physical pain. But there was no reason for her to, unless she simply enjoyed watching him suffer. And from her face, it was clear she wasn’t lying. There was almost pity in the way she looked at him now, close to sympathy but clearly not enough to save him.
“Heh, I’m sorry about that. I know the feeling. But I can’t let myself be known as a useless bounty hunter. So you’re better off disappearing, with it being quite unknown who tied you up in some maze of a dead street on Nar Shaddaa. If they even find and recognise your body, that is. Sorry about that.” She picked up both the blaster and the datapad, and walked away. He was left there, with no hope of escape or survival.
Time was lost to him eventually. There was no natural light down here, only a broken neon sign which someone had abandoned. It could have been minutes, hours or even days since she had left, and he had no way to tell.
It felt like he was waiting endlessly. It was hard to accept quite how hopeless it was. And if he did accept that, he dreaded the thought of himself crying. Better to have a somewhat dignified death, even if no one would see him die.
Perhaps no one would even know he’d died. He hadn’t had many friends ever, not ones who would notice his absence. Not anyone he was close to, only a few acquaintances. And he was so flighty, always running from one planet to another, that anyone he could count as a friend would probably assume he’d run off somewhere and forgotten them.
And it wasn’t like what remained of his family would care. He didn’t even know if his parents and Ash were still alive, and he hadn’t talked to any of them for years. Astri, the one who promised she’d always come to save him, was long since dead. His fault, of course. He’d forgotten his family, made them to hate him, and gotten one of them killed. Two really, considering how Astri’s death had caused Lirin’s. A murderer of his own family, what a monster.
He gave up later, when the physical pain began to mean almost nothing to him. He became apathetic to the blood dripping from his skin, to the bruises on every part of his body, to the friction burns from the times he’d tried to escape.
His thoughts began to circle, everything he’d heard echoing in his brain. His family casting him out was one of the main ones, one he remembered again and again and again.
It wasn’t hard to believe that they’d done that. He was the least favourite. He wasn’t Astri, a talented warrior and duellist; he wasn’t Lirin, who had incredible knowledge of technology and he wasn’t Ash, the one who collected information about others just for fun. He was talentless, just another generic failure. At the best, he had average skill at a few things.
He wasn’t hated because he was rebellious or because he disagreed with his parents over some major thing. He was hated because he’d gotten in the way of his better sister and so had caused her to die. They’d never said it, but he knew they’d have preferred it was him who had been killed. At least then they’d have been left with a child they could be proud of.
Then he’d ran away. A choice which was only semi-spontaneous. Gone, and stolen what the family’s ship. Become a pathetic excuse for a smuggler, who was about as charismatic as a rock.
And then been forgotten. Left to die on some street on Nar Shaddaa.