writingsofestella - Tumblr blog

writingsofestella · 5 months

Text

vespera - ch. 4

Apostate!Din Djarin x Ex!Jedi!OC -(no use of Y/N) Canon Divergent - some plot changed for sake of story, the razor crest lives )

tws // general canon violence, usage of blasters and weapons, mentions of death, minors DNI 18+ only, angst, mature content, more tags to be added later on

a/n: sorry for such the long wait!!! i got my inspiration back for writing, so i hope you all like these next few chapter!! we finally get lore, and the reason Din has tracked her down once again.

wc: 2437

previous chapter: [here]

The walk back to her home was tense, quiet, filled with an uneasy silence that made the hairs on her neck stand straight up. However, the rest of the village was much like this too. The uneasy quietness that fell upon the village after the raid was not something she thought she'd ever feel here.

The Mandalorian's steps were silent in the dirt, despite his size, his armor. He kept in step with her pace, walking next to her, as if he hadn't chased her down half the galaxy. He was silent, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see how his helmet constantly surveyed his surroundings. Waiting for another attack or a trap.

As if he wasn't walking her into what was most likely a trap.

Grogu was making small noises, held in his father's arms. He was trying to reach out her, trying to get her attention. She had to ignore it, trying to focus on her surroundings, keep her guard up.

The adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, her body, the Force keeping her hyperaware. It helped her ignore the lingering pain in her leg.

They approached her little home, on the outskirts of the village. Standing in front of her door, she could feel the Mandalorian standing behind her. She shifted her feet, as if half prepared to slip inside and lock him out. Or run. Or both.

But she would be lying if she said she had the energy to outrun a Mandalorian.

Sighing internally, she shook her head, finally opening the door for the both of them to come in. "Can't believe I'm letting a Mandalorian bounty hunter into my home." She half muttered to herself.

"This isn't how I imagined our reunion going either, if it's any consolation." The Mandalorian quipped back, his voice dry.

She simply gave a deadpan look, watching as the bounty hunter walked past her as she held the door open, shutting it behind him and Grogu both. "Right, because your idea of a reunion would be me in cuffs being handed over to your employer." She said, her eyes watching him, analyzing him as he stood there.

He almost looked out of place in her home, all metal and leather, a trained fighter and killer. While her home was built out of natural stone, with plants and fruits, a healer's home. The only thing that stood out, that made the armored killer look even slightly less intimidating, was the tiny green child. One who seemed to be holding onto him, happy to be in his arms again.

"More or less." He responded, his helmet finally looking back down at her, tilting slightly. "Things changed."

"So you mentioned. What is this common interest of ours, then?" She asked him, crossing her arms, putting her weight on her good leg.

"Why don't we sit down?" He commented. "Can't imagine that blaster shot of yours is feeling too good right now." He added on, with a tilt of his head.

Her eyes narrowed at him. She didn't take orders from anyone, let alone a bounty hunter. But only because her leg was hurting, she decided to sit at the table she had. She watched as he followed suit, sitting across from her. Grogu's head barely made it above the table, she took note of.

There was an uneasy silence that grew between the both of them. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, staring him down. Trying to summon some of that exaggerated courage she had once, when facing down too many bounty hunters to count. None of them had saved her though, and none of them had a Force sensitive child.

"I don't suppose our common interest is your child." She spoke first, taking control of the conversation.

"Partially." He answered with, and his helmet tilted down to look at Grogu, sitting on his lap. After listening to Grogu babble something or another, his head looked back up to her. "I was sent to find you."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "By your employers, I presume."

She would defend herself if need be. He would not drag her back. She would not go with him, would not be taken in as a bounty.

"No." He answered, surprising her. "An… acquaintance, you could say."

She stared at him, both confused and on edge, not quite sure if he was lying or not. The Force inside of her told her that he was telling the truth, mostly. "An acquaintance."

He gave a nod of his helmet, and then was reaching into his satchel. On instinct, she jerked from her position, a hand gripping onto the table, ready to bolt.

"Calm, Jetii." He said, pausing in his movements, helmet staring her down. His voice a low rumble. "I swore I would not harm you."

She bristled at the name he called her. She was smart enough to know the word he spoke, and it took everything in her power to run just from that. She was already on edge. Last time he had pulled something from his satchel, from a prior meeting, it had been cuffs, intending on taking her hostage, to cash in on her bounty.

"You do not have the most trustworthy track record, Mandalorian." She finally responded.

He stared her down, only a table separating them, really. She was already weakened from her work in the clinic, from getting shot. How easy would it be for him to take her down, capture her now?

It was only Grogu's cooing that made her tear her gaze from his father.

The child looked up at her with his big eyes, ears tilted downwards. His little clawed hand reached out to her, as if trying to reach for her.

Help?

"It's only because of your child I even let you in my home." She finally spoke, leaning back in her seat again, but still ready to bolt if need be.

"Then perhaps this will convince you."

He pulled out a small holo-device, barely larger than his gloved palm. It looked like it had seen better days, old and probably from during the war. He set it down on the table, sliding it to the middle and pressing a button on it.

At first, she saw nothing, as the old thing made noises that sounded like it was struggling to turn on. Then, a small, blue, flickering hologram appeared. A young man, she thought, with light colored hair. Wearing all dark. Her eyes narrowed as she saw what looked like a lightsaber at his hip.

"Hello Mandalorian. This is Luke Skywalker. I have a request for you." The hologram started.

Her eyes widened, eyebrows furrowing.

Faintly, she could hear Grogu cooing in interest, but she sat there, mind racing.

Luke Skywalker?

"There is a Jedi that I would like you to find. If my sources are to be believed, she is on the planet of Amia. It is of utmost importance that she comes here. She may be the last Jedi healer ever taught before the Order fell, and we need to preserve whatever teachings we can find. For the next Jedi."

Her grip was so tight on the table, but she didn't even notice, as she stared at the hologram, watching as the image flickered in and out. Her mind and heart racing, trying to understand this all. She had never met Luke Skywalker. She knew of him only from the rumors and reports that spread through the galaxy of his actions to take down the Empire. Of his power.

Yet he seemed to know everything about her.

"She goes by Fyra Thane now."

Fyra, as she was now called, stopped hearing the words he spoke after that. Staring at the hologram, lost in thought. Still as a statue. Eventually the hologram fizzled out, as the recording finishing. And there was an uneasy silence that filled her home afterwords.

Someone here knew what she was. They knew. Who? Who could have known? Who knew Luke Skywalker, a Jedi himself? Who was feeding him this information?

How did a Mandalorian bounty hunter even know a Jedi? Something told her that the small green child, who looked so much like a Jedi Master of her past, was the reason for all of this.

"What is in this for you?" She finally broke the silence, tearing her gaze from the holo-device to stare back up at him. Her voice was a controlled calm, her hand holding onto the table so tightly. "I am sure my bounty would give you more credits than he would."

"As satisfying as it would be to bring you in after you have evaded me time and time again," he started, "I believe it is in both of our best interests to not hand you over."

"And why is that?" She dared to ask.

"Considering the bounty on his head was imperial scientists, I don't think it's too hard of a guess as to who put the bounty on you." He spoke, his voice even and short.

She felt her heart stutter, in both fear and anger. Her eyes glanced from the Mandalorian down to Grogu. He had been hunted, too? Already, at such a young age? It made her angry, that she had failed in her actions that had caused the bounty to be placed on her head in the first place. Disappointed in herself, that she couldn't do what had been needed. Surely, it had caused him to be hunted.

She shook her head, once. "No. It's not." Her voice quiet. She thought for a moment, trying to process all of this. "And if you turned me in-"

"They would come after him, again." He finished with, his voice steely with resolve. The type of voice she had come to expect from a faceless bounty hunter, trained to kill and hunt from childhood. "They know I have him. So if I turned you in, they would-"

"I know what they are capable of, Mandalorian." She shot back, cutting him off before he could continue on that comment. "I know what they would do, and what they have done." She spoke, voice low and even, staring him down.

She let out a tense sigh, closing her eyes for just a moment, trying to let the Force wash over her, to calm her once more. This was a lot to take in.

"What if I don't go with you to see Skywalker?" She dared to ask, opening her eyes once again. She couldn't help the curious nature inside of her, to see what he would say.

He just stared at her, impassive through the helmet, but she could almost sense his annoyance through his beskar. For wearing such impressive armor, it seemed to be too easy to get under his skin.

"You could stay here and have another attempt made at your life." He finally retorted.

She hadn't even had the chance to process that. That Henry had truly, willfully, shot at her. For the first time in months, she felt that danger, lingering around her like a curse, a shadow that would not leave.

She had been foolish to think that she could ever have a home.

"How do I know you won't do the same to me while we're traveling to wherever Skywalker is at?" She countered, but she knew she was in a situation with only one clear answer. "Even if you don't turn me in for that bounty, you haven't exactly been cordial in the past."

Perhaps it wasn't fair to hold his attempts to capture her in front of them. He had been doing a job, and she understood that. But how could she possibly begin to even believe him?

"You saved Grogu." Was the response that finally came. "And he seems to trust you."

Grogu let out a cooing noise, looking from his buir to her once more. His big eyes staring at her. As if trying to convince her to come with them, to go to Luke. She could almost hear him, his tiny little voice, trying to speak to her through the Force.

It was a stupid idea, really. To go with the Mandalorian and his child. His force-sensitive child, who was already so strong and powerful in the Force. All because a rumored hero of the galaxy wanted to learn what she knew for future generations of jedi.

"Would I save you from that sniper if I had just planned on killing you later?" He challenged her, yet she could hear the genuine curiosity in his voice.

"For personal satisfaction? I wouldn't blame you if you did." She retorted dryly.

A noise almost like a huff came from his helmet, as he tilted his head to look at her. It was almost comical, seeing him sitting in the chair. He was not short nor narrow by any means, she took note of. He was broad and tall, and he seemed so out of place in her home. All metal and fight, of battle, in her home of nature and healing. She supposed there were two sides to every battle.

"You saved Grogu." He repeated out. "He is part of my… clan." She could hear the care in his voice, despite how much he might have tried to hide it. Yet the struggle too, as if he could not accept that Grogu was with him again. "You saved him, so you have my word no harm will come to you by my hand."

A life for a life, then.

She rubbed her face, all of this too much for her to truly think through right now. She couldn't stay here. With the sudden appearance of Grogu, and how he instantly latched himself onto her, the other villagers suspected her. Add on his hunter of a father and Henry's attack, she knew it was only a matter of time before she got hurt even worse than today. She suspected people already knew she wasn't normal, especially Jir.

She dropped her hand to stare at the both of them. Taking in who would be her traveling companion for however long it would take, if she agreed. A Mandalorian bounty hunter she had evaded time and time again, who had once been coldhearted and ruthless, willing to hand her over to Imperials. And his child, a creature with eyes so big and wide, full of so much innocence but so much hurt already, who had wormed his way into the stone cold hunter. A child with powers like her own, a creature also hunted.

"When do we leave?"

all writing is my own. please do not redistribute, repost, or share on other platforms. thank you

[ taglist: @znerac @dinwifey - to be added to the taglist, feel free to ask!]

#queue

12 notes · View notes