Vibrant Eyes | Din Djarin

Bonus 1: More

Ira usually wasn't unsure.

Almost everything she did felt like it had a purpose and everywhere she went, too, for that matter. Guided by the Force around her and her confidence in it, there wasn't much she didn't know. But she did know that she didn't like this planet. Or… whatever it was.

She knew why they were there but this place in general was baffling. Not even the combination of Din's explanations and the whispers of the force could hope to make it make sense. All she knew was that it wasn't a planet but it functioned as one. The stars existed within reach and yet its people still lived, apparently watching the giant circle of metal upon which they lived rotate from day to night with the ease of any working planet.

What mattered was that it threw her off as not many things could. It made her uncomfortable. Safe to say, Ira didn't like it. But they had something like an errand to run and they would stay until their work was done.

Of course, that included teaching Din a thing or two more about sabers. About the one she owned and the very one, though different, that had come into his possession. Luckily, Ira had some experience on the matter. So too, it seemed, did the Mandalorian Armorer she'd met once before. The very woman whom they'd searched to find, hiding away in the depths.

Unfortunately that meant staying on the giant metal circle of death a while longer.

A shallow thud of metal echoed into space when Ira dared tap her toes to the edge of the platform. They stood on the lowest levels of the settlement, where there were only platforms and pillars between them and endless space. Looking down, Ira could see the glimmer of whirling stars stretching indirectly.

She relished in the shiver that rolled over her skin and shuffled a step forward. With the toes of her boots she felt for where the platform ended. Even when the metal shook beneath her feet as another passed behind her, Ira remained steady. She could feel the force grounded through her limbs and holding her still. Could feel its whispers, telling her everything she needed to know about the world around her.

It warned about the man standing behind her, just as he slowed to a halt and hovered at her back.

“Who is this?” he asked, voice gruff.

Ira realized, in hearing yet another, that she rather liked the sound of the modulators on their voices. Just as their armor likely did, it made them seem larger. Larger, stronger, more intimidating. Some had the soul beneath that armor to back it up, as the Armorer did, as her husband did. Ira didn't feel nearly as intimidated as she did inspired.

This man could not intimidate her.

Ira let her eyes fall closed, trusting in the Force, and withdrew her foot from the edge. “Those who lack sight often hear even the whisper of distant worlds.”

Din's voice followed hers. “Riduur,” he warned, but she could feel the humor in his thoughts. “You're speaking in tongues again.”

Ira smiled and turned with a small huff to face the Mandalorian behind her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and studied the patterns of the force around him in the silence. He was more disconnected from it than many she had seen as those wisps of purple hovered hesitantly around his large form. It was likely the endless wells of anger she sensed in his soul.

She knew from experience the way that everything fled from a person like that. Everything and everyone.

“I know,” she finally said in a soft, drifting voice. To the man before her she added, “I am Ira Venusta of Clan Djarin. Once, I was a Jedi. Now, I am more.”

Instability raced through the man's thoughts. “But the Creed.”

“Has not been broken,” interjected another voice. Ira turned in the direction of the Armorer and inclined her head. “Leave us.”