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"Luke, where are you going?" Leia cried as Luke and R2-D2 disappeared into the jungle.

"To find Div!" Luke called back. And then he was gone.

Leia couldn't believe it. She glared at Han.

"What?" he asked.

"Why didn't you stop him?" she said.

" Me? Why didn't you stop him?"

Leia scowled. "Do I have to do everything?"

"Hey, maybe the kid knows what he's doing," Han said.

"Or maybe he—"

"Shhh!" Han urged her suddenly.

Chewbacca growled softly. "Yeah, buddy, I hear it, too," Han whispered.

A loud rustling came from the jungle. It sounded like it was only a few meters to the west. Han drew his blaster. Leia tightened her grip on her blaster pistol, still in its holster.

Without speaking, they positioned themselves back to back so they could cover all sides of the clearing.

The rustling grew louder. Now it was coming from both the east and the west.

"They've got us surrounded," Han whispered. "Stay behind me, Princess. I'll protect you."

"Since when do I need you to protect me?" Leia asked irritably. The noise was close now. Close and…familiar. "Besides, I don't think—"

"Shhh!" Han hissed. "Just follow my lead and no one will—aaaaaagh!"

A flock of kitehawks erupted out of the trees. They swarmed the clearing. Han started beating them back with his blaster. But that only made them angry. The kitehawks began to emit a high keening noise, and extended their claws. Then, as one, they dive-bombed him. More and more flowed out of the jungle, all heading straight for Han. "Get 'em off me!" Han shouted, nearly vanishing in the dark cloud of kitehawks.

Leia burst into laughter. Kitehawks were harmless. Back on Alderaan, many children kept them as pets. But Han was flailing and shouting as if he were being attacked by a horde of angry clawbirds.

"All right, Chewie," Leia said to the Wookiee, whose hairy shoulders were shaking with laughter. "Should we put him out of his misery?"

In response, Chewbacca threw back his head and let loose an echoing roar. The terrified kitehawks took off as one, vanishing into the trees.

Han's eyes were squeezed shut, his arms waving wildly in an effort to fend off his attackers. It took him a moment to realize they were gone. Finally, he dropped his arms and opened his eyes. "Told you I'd protect you, Your Worshipfulness," he said.

Leia plucked a feather out of his scruffy hair. "Lucky me."

Thorny branches slapped at his face and legs. Luke hacked through them with his lightsaber, forcing his way deeper and deeper into the dense jungle growth. Massassi trees towered overhead, their canopy of leaves blocking out the sun. His feet sank into a soft bed of mud and leaves, and when he passed, it sprang back into place, obliterating his footsteps—as it had obliterated any traces of Div and his captors.

This was pointless. The jungle stretched on for miles in all directions. Luke had picked up a few tracking skills back on Tatooine. But following Jawa tracks across the desert was a lot different from tracking mysterious kidnappers through a jungle. He had no idea where to start.

"What do you think, little guy?" Luke asked R2-D2. The droid beeped at him helplessly.

Luke sighed. "I know. But we have to find him."

R2-D2 beeped again, pointing at Luke's lightsaber with his manipulator arm.

"I don't think this is going to help," Luke said, confused. The astromech droid trilled a long series of beeps and whistles, obviously frustrated. Suddenly, Luke understood. "You don't mean that I should use the lightsaber, do you? You mean I should use the Force! "

R2-D2 beeped excitedly. His domed head spun in a circle.

Luke shook his head. "I wish I could. I know that's what Ben would have done. But I don't know how."

The astromech droid just pointed to the lightsaber again, insistent.

"I guess I could try," Luke agreed. "What's the worst that could happen?"

He wasn't sure how to start. So he just stood, waiting. Feeling somewhat silly, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of distractions. He focused intently on Div.

Nothing happened.

Come on, Ben, he thought. Help me out.

It