FACADE

DISCLAIMER: want to own it, but don't.

"Well,"Ezra thought as he looked over the fields of Lothal below his tower, "today is a new day... time to get to work." He went down his tower, hopped on his scooter, and headed toward town. The slowly rising sun sent rays of pink, purple, and orange across the sky, painting the new day with possibilities. the fresh air filled his lungs as he drove to the soothing rhythm of the road, making him relax ever so slightly. The air rushing past him whipped his blue hair and numbed his face and his mind. The ride and the stinging air made him forget the he was alone, trapped, striving to survive. He was so caught up in the nothingness of it all that he didn't even notice the dip in the ground right in front of him. Ezra hissed in surprise as the uneven ground made him jerk forward on his scooter. He came to a stop and sighed with annoyance as he slowly and carefully lifted up his shirt. There on his right side, through the clear gauze, he could see the wound that looked to be in the process of healing. Ezra gingerly touched the wound and bit his lip in pain, cringing at the memory of how he got that wound only days before.

FLASHBACK...

Ezra was running through the town's alleys panting as he was trying to escape his pursuers. "Great just great," Ezra thought as he jumped from wooden crates onto a roof, "today of all days just had to be the day the Black Ice Dealer Gang came to town to, no doubt, steal supplies." Ezra was knocked out of his thoughts from shouts behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see his shouting pursuers were quickly catching up to him. "I need to lose these guys." Ezra thought as his eyes darted around frantically searching for a way to escape. Finally, he saw an opening in one of the rooftops ahead. He ran straight for it and just before he could get grabbed, he dove down the hole in the roof. Ezra rolled on the ground three times before stopping and dizzily getting up. "Ow... that's going to be a lovely bruise in the morning," he thought sarcastically while he lightly rubbed his arm.

Before Ezra could do anything more, his pursuers jump through the the same hole he used as an entrance. He was trapped in an abandoned warehouse with one of the most dangerous gangs on Lothal and worst of all there was no way out. Ezra slowly backed up from the group, his eyes darting back and forth looking for something anything to give him the upper hand. they advanced towards him matching each of his steps blocking any and every path, that could give him the slightest hope of getting away. He finally took one last step back only to hit a stack of cold, metal crates.

Now that Ezra wasn't running he was able to get a good look at his attackers. There were five of them all dressed in black with knives somewhere on their person. The three at the back of the group were the only ones who had blasters loosely secured on their belts ready to fire at a moments notice. They were pretty normal looking for a gang of teenage guys about to, more or less, make you wish that you had a broken leg, instead of being trapped in a warehouse with them about to get your butt kicked into the next system... yeah... they looked pretty normal.

One of the teens in the back who was obviously the leader stepped forward and began to speak.

"Well, well, well... looks like you are lost," his voice was laced with venom as he smiled wickedly, his cold brown eyes glimmering with malevolence under his blood red hair.

Ezra glared at the boy with spite in his blue, electrifying, eyes, never glancing away from him as the boy spoke. He knew what they were capable of and he was determined to give them as much trouble as possible.

The leader seemed slightly annoyed that Ezra did not react to his words, so he continued"I mean you must be lost, for you tried to steal the shipment we were after," he said shrugging his shoulders as if that was the only explanation. "I mean, you wouldn't dare try to steal the shipment we were stealing... now would you?" he asked with fake confusion, all the while slowly walking towards Ezra as he spoke. He came to a stop 5 feet away from Ezra and smiled savagely.

Ezra stayed silent never changing his determined expression, he stubbornly stood his ground in a fighting stance. He would not show fear and give them the pleasure of making him feel helpless.

The boy's eyes hardened in anger, he clenched his fists as fury coursed through his body, his rough dirty nails digging into his skin, his fists slightly shaking in frustration that he could not get emotional reaction from Ezra's face. The leader unclenched his fists slowly and he continued with anger "'you would be an idiot if that was your intention, every one knows that the Black Ice Dealer gang does not take kindly with weaklings who cause us trouble." with that the boy smiled wickedly and snap his fingers signaling the rest of the gang to make their move.

Ezra eyes widened as The gang lunged at him, he tried to dodge their attack but it was useless, they grabbed him by the arms forcing him to stumble to his knees. Ezra struggled in their grip, trying his best not to wince as their hands gripped his arms harder. He could feel the heat radiating off his skin were it was being held by callused hands. Ezra continued to struggle as they bound his hands and legs till he could no longer move even if he tried. His arms and legs ached from the uncomfortable position behind his back, the ropes rubbing up against his wrists made it even more uncomfortable as he squirmed.

The leader just smirked at Ezra on the ground as he made his way over to a bag on the ground. He rummaged in the bag, searching for his desired object. His face lit up with a vicious smile, when he found the object he was looking for. He pulled two items out of his bag and handed them to a member near by.

Ezra watched him, his face unmoving while on the inside his mind was running a million miles per hour, thoughts filled his mind torturing him with endless questions, whats in the bag? What are they going to do to him? Will he make it out alive? He snapped out of his thoughts and returned to observing what was happening around him. The leader had retrieved the item from the boy he had handed it to earlier, now Ezra could clearly see what it was, it was a syringe filled with neon green liquid.

The leader slowly approached Ezra, continually turning the syringe fondly in his hand as he moved closer to Ezra. He was enjoying the thought... no he was enjoying what was about to happen. He could see it running through his head, what this green drug was going to do. The Xylenium drug was his favorite of all drugs he used on his victims, how it made them helpless, the pain it cause, the horror on the face of his prey as the effects of the drug took place. He made sure they never forgot him, never caused him trouble or got in his way again. He loved the power, relished in the fear of his enemies, he broke them till they were nothing useless pathetic beings of existence. He made them believed it, the reminder he gave them of what they are so they will never forget. It could never be erased, it would follow them where ever they go and it would haunt them till the day they died.

Ezra eyed the liquid in fear, little beads of sweat formed on his brow from struggling with his bonds. He did not know what the liquid was or what it did, but he knew that it was not good. He glared as the leader approached, his intense blue eyes filled with hatred. Ezra did not flinch, he never blinked, he just sat there glaring, using his eyes as his voice to speak his scorn for them. He wanted to scream at them, tell them of his resentment for them, shout to them of how they would regret this, but he stayed silent. Silence was his greatest weapon, it has been his defense for years. Silence protected him from being caught, it kept all of his secrets locked away, his weaknesses, his pain, his strength, and his fear. Ezra knew that it would not fail him, it would protect his mind from all his foes. He had never spoken unless he needed to, because he knew that the eyes are the window to the soul, but the mouth is the door to the mind.

The leader bent down in front of Ezra and smiled with hostility. He held the syringe in front of Ezra's face eying it and running his fingers up and down it as he spoke in a low voice, " I'm going to mark you" he paused and looked Ezra in the eyes and then continued, his voice hard and cold "so you will know what you are, and what you will forever be."

Ezra eyes widened at these words, he knew what he meant and knew what was coming. To be marked was one of the most horrid and painful things in the world. It destroyed people physically and mentally, making them hate and be ashamed themselves so they didn't care anymore. Life wasn't worth living after being marked, it made you a target, an object to capture and break into a million pieces. It is torture to know that you are marked, if someone doesn't destroy you first, you destroy yourself. The knowledge is unbearable, you would search for peace and comfort, an escape of any kind but never find it. You start dying on the inside, sorrow and pain becomes your life, the only escape, is death. Ezra did not want to be marked, it would be a forever reminder of shame saying that he was, useless, weak, trash, nothing, and broken. It is the mark of victims of slavery, abuse, abandonment, and broken souls with no hope of freedom.

Ezra had no time to react before the needle was in his neck. His vision went red as he gasped from the sharp pain. His breath became ragged as the cold liquid entered his veins. His body began to tremble as the drug moved through his veins, freezing his blood. He wanted to move... do anything to stop, to make the pain go away, but his body wouldn't respond, his muscles only twitched in pain.

Ezra couldn't think straight, his mind was clouded. The world around him moved in and out of focus,the constant turning of the room was making Ezra nauseous. he could hear muffled sounds, as if some one was talking, but he couldn't understand it. it sounded as if he was under water, but that's not right, he in a warehouse wasn't he? He tried to move but he couldn't, his whole body hurt and his head ached from pulsing throbs. Ezra focused really hard and tried to remember what was going on. He remembered that he was running from something, he was sure it was someone, but could he be wrong? But the real question was... why had he been running? And why from someone? Ezra was confused by these thoughts when he remembered, it was as if lightning had struck, he was in danger! He needed to escape! And that's when the knife hit. His right side burst with pain, he screamed from the fiery torture in his flesh, his vision was red fading in and out of blackness. He could feel liquid on his side, it was sticky and warm. Ezra realized that the liquid was blood... his blood... the stench of blood filled the room suffocating his throat with the bitter taste. It was agony, the sharp blade slowly carved his side, ripping his soft, smooth, tender flesh. His lungs screamed for air, but were denied and replaced with screams. Ezra could feel hot tears run down his face mixing with the sweat from his brow, his once healthy skin was now a sickly white, making the blood pooling from his side stand out.

The leader smiled as he wiped the blood of the blade as looking proudly at his work. He had made sure to take his time in carving his art into Ezra's side. He had taken great pleasure in the raw screams of agony that had passed the boys lips. The blade had cut deeply, making the wound bleed profusely, the wound would defiantly scar into the shape he had cut. Fortunately for him but unfortunately for the boy the wound would not heal easily, especially if the boy moved around a lot. Another bonus was the wound would hurt for weeks maybe months if the wound opens. The boy would not forget him, he would never be able to forget this experience, he was sure of that. The leader now stood in front of Ezra, looking at the pathetic being in front of him, it was obvious that he was losing consciousness, so he leaned in close and said his parting words with a cold voice and then he left, without another word or look back.

Ezra squeezed his eyes tight, trying to block out the pain, he could tell that he was about to lose consciousness. he saw a blurry figure in front of his face, he would have squinted his eyes but it was too much effort, all he could do was look and listen. "Remember me and never forget what you are, you are nothing but trash and you always will be." Those words made his heart ache with sorrow, anger, and shame he didn't want to believe it, but...he knew they were true. These were his last thoughts before the world went black...

END OF FLASHBACK

AAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNDDDDDD ALSO END OF CHAPTER

AUTHOR NOTE TIME :)

Hey so tell me what you think? This is my first fic so I would really appreciate any kind of feedback. Please criticize my work in detail so I can make it better. I apologies for any mistakes, and there will be a lot. If there is a sentence that does not make sense please let me know, I have Dyslexia and ADHD so I mix up sentences sometimes and I get easily distracted so I might make a mistake and not notice even if I double check, so please feel free to tell me where or how I could do better. Also any ideas are welcome. So sorry if this is super short, it just felt like a good place to end. There are some things that are not fully clear now but will be answered later. Sssssssooooooo tune in next time for

" THE ADVENTURES OF STAR WARS REBELS!"

oh wait wrong intro... oops... .. REDO. Tune in next time for

" CHAPTER 2 OF FACADE!"