Chapter 2: 『Dune Sea II』
Padmé as a handmaiden returned to their side with metal cup of water in hand.
Ento went to open his mouth to speak, until he felt her arm under his head. Without warning he felt the cold rim of the cup against his lips. Water, he could taste it, smell it, and feel it.
Despite being healed by the Jedi Master, his throat burned at the sensation of water going down his throat. He continued to drink it, especially as she made him take small sips.
When he finished the cup, he began to cough a bit before sitting up and hitting his chest with a closed fist. Some sand literally came out of his mouth before he groaned slightly. His attention moving back towards the Jedi Master who had been waiting patiently.
Padmé smiled weakly seeing his attention move from person to person. The four of them were all in the room, looking at the boy they saved from near-death, waiting for his name.
Mimicking Obiwan's Coruscanti accent he decided to speak, "M...My na-name is Ento, Ento Rhade." As he got around to getting used to words being formed in his mouth once more, he only stuttered in the beginning before mastering his speech quite quickly.
Jin cracked a smile as he scratched his chin, "It seems he's taken to your voice Obiwan," the wise Master Jedi couldn't help but quip.
Obiwan shook his head slightly with a faint smile of his own.
"My name is Qui Gon Jin, I am a Jedi Master..." He gestured to himself respectively before shifting his posture and gesturing towards Obiwan. "This is my Padawan, Obiwan Kenobi."
Ento just sat there blinking at them, seemingly jaded from the days that had come to past. His eyes then shifted to the girl who was standing there with a guard beside her, waiting for her name.
"My name is Padmé, I am a Handmaiden to the Queen of Naboo."
The boy squinted at her, she had pale skin and brown hair. Her brown eyes were big, making him want to protect her. Yet, the words she had spoken to him, they sounded like a blatant lie that everyone else in the room was either knowledgable of, or had fallen for the guise.
Even though he didn't know what the Queen of Naboo looked like, he was sure this Handmaiden was actually that person.
"Nice to meet you all," Ento uttered under his breath as he rested his eyes on Panaka.
"...My name is Panaka, I am Head of the Royal Security Forces." He gave a decent wave before looking at everyone else, then back to the kid.
This man was telling the truth, but if he was the head of the Royal Security Forces, then why was he here and not with the 'Queen.' His eyes then flickered to the young girl in the room who was subtly keen on his good looks.
He couldn't say it was love, but it was definitely some form of admiration, yet he could tell that she cared about him just a bit more than everyone else here. Was it because he looked like a young boy? Or was it because of how he looked? He couldn't quite tell, but her eyes were teeming with determination.
"So... What happened to you? Where are your parents?" These questions randomly blurted from her mouth, putting her nose where it generally didn't belong.
The boy looked to the Jedi, then back to her for a moment. "Our farm was attacked by Tusken Raiders," he let out a sigh, "My parents are dead."
She rubbed his back sympathetically, though she found it strange that he could have said it so calmly. It was almost as if he was speaking a matter-a-factly.
Ento's gaze encompassed all of them, "Why is there a Queen of Naboo on this dust ball...?"
Padmé couldn't help but giggle at the reference to the planet, though at the same time she was reminded of the reason she was here and her heart sank into a hidden depression.
Jin looked to her, sensing her emotions before looking to the boy with a faint smile across his lips. "We are here on an urgent mission to escort the Queen to Coruscant. However, our ship has been damaged and its in need of a new hyperdrive and some parts. Would you by any chance know of a place near here?"
Blinking a few times, he thought about it. Snapping his fingers a few times as something came to mind, he nodded to himself as he did, "Mos Espa. There's a shop is Mos Espa owned by a Toydarian named Watto... My... My father used to do business with the man."
Panaka's eyes seemed to be more sympathetic than the rest of his body language. He knew what it was like to loose a family member. Though seeing that this boy was so young, it must've been worse. His own older sister died during a training exercise when he was absent from Naboo.
The powerlessness was something he could relate to.
Little did the man know, Ento wasn't raised to depend on his parents. He was designed to be mentally and emotionally independent, every little bit of him, at least for the most part. Tatooine wasn't a safe place, death was always lurking.
Jin nodded at this before turning his head towards Padmé, who was still eying the boy. "You should stay here with the boy, while myself and Jar Jar go to this Watto's Shop and purchase some parts..."
"Okeeday?" The creature seemed to chime, with a question in its tone. Though it seemed rather joyful to go just about anywhere the Jedi Master went.
What was this? Ento wondered.
Ento looked towards the Gungan who had been quiet for a long time up until recently, who still keeping a concerned gaze on him. He couldn't help but give the clumsy creature a lighter than faint smile, followed by a nod.
However, he then looked to Jin. "They don't accept Republic Credits," his eyes shifted towards his robes. "You'll need at least one hundred Peggat to purchase a hyperdrive alone."
Wupiupi was Hutt Currency, and it was worth only sixty two point five percent of a galactic standard credit. Peggat however was Gold and worth forty standard credits a piece. It was likely he knew of the currency exchange rate through his parents, mostly his father. On top of that, a typical hyperdrive cost around four thousand republic standard credits if not more.
"Ooooh, hesa smart~!" Jar Jar seemed to be pointing out the obvious, though the boy showed little to no care about the obnoxious being.
Then there was all the replacement parts they needed for the other bits and pieces of the ship which had been damaged. Letting out a sigh, Jin's gaze rested on the boy for a moment before pausing, sensing that he had something else on his mind.
"There's a Podrace going on, a tournament, sometime this week if I remember correctly..." Ento slowly laid back on the makeshift bed, squirming a bit as he could feel the crates underneath the material. "Gambling might help."
Jin narrowed his eyes on the young boy before nodding, gesturing for R2-D2, a silver and blue Astromech droid, to follow him and Jar Jar off the ship.
As the Jedi Padawan Obiwan Kenobi seemingly left the starship's hold along with the head of security, Padmé placed a hand on his forehead. "Do you need more water?"
With other absent she seemed more upfront with her concern, if not even more direct. He enjoyed the feeling of her cool hand on his warm forehead. It allowed him to relax a bit, but he wasn't about to grab onto it to keep it there as she let it slip off onto the crate surface beside his head.
"Wa-water would be nice..." He'd suddenly stutter quietly under his breath as he looked over her dark grey vest which was over her dark blue tunic and black trousers.
Seeing that he wasn't talking straight as they were left alone, caused the Queen to smile faintly towards him in a comforting manner before going to step away. However as she went to leave, she felt his hand around her wrist.
Taking a step back as to not pull him off the crates, she turned to face him, only to find he was sitting up and leaning towards her. His eyes which traveled along the contours of her face, were interested.
"Um..." She started, only to blink as he shook his head slightly.
"You don't smell like a handmaiden," Ento didn't know what a handmaiden smelled like, but he wanted to see if his suspicions were true. If this was indeed the Queen, he was curious as to why she was hiding amongst her own people.
"I... I am a handmaiden, my name is Padmé..." She said in a stern tone as she tried to pull her wrist free, yet he held tighter now that she tried to leave his grasp.
Through the force, he could still sense that she was lying, at least about the part of being a handmaiden. Her name was really Padmé, so now he was curious as to why no one seemed to notice.
"No one knows your first name, do they?"
Padmé narrowed her eyes on him, furrowing her brows at him. "You are a strange boy. Strangely insightful at that," a coy smile formed over her lips as she placed her free hand on his wrist. "Let me go so I can get yo some water."
As he let go of her wrist, she seemed to be nice to him even after he was able to figure out her guise. That and she didn't seem to panic. So he was sure that Head of Security was in someway in on what she was doing. Perhaps he was the one who devised such a plan as making doubles and playing a different role as to keep their identity hidden from assassins.
Ento watched as she left the hold in order to get the promised water. As he reached out with the force, he could feel the movement of those around and inside the ship.
Pursing his lips however, he felt a disturbance in the force, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone