The Survivor

Six

Dumb Decisions

"Now I'll never get to meet who I'd turned into"

"What are we doing on Pantora?"  I asked as Shadow landed the ship.  

He was back in his Mandalorian armor, his helmet on his head again.  It was both better and worse that way.  Better because now I couldn't see his face, and worse because I couldn't see his face.  That makes total sense, right?  

For some reason I couldn't stop looking at him without his helmet, noticing every little detail on his face.  The light freckles that blended in with his tan skin, his dark eyes that didn't match his mysterious exterior.  His mischievous smirk.  It made my stomach flutter in a way it had never fluttered before in my life.  

I was glad he had the helmet on.  

"Well, my lovely partner," he said, and my cheeks unwillingly flushed.  "I'm so glad you asked.  I'm going to teach you how to blend in, since the senator back there recognized you in five seconds flat.  If you want to start over, you gotta be unrecognizable.  At least, you gotta look unrecognizable."  

I crossed my arms.  "I never agreed to be your partner."  

He turned and stood to face me.  "Like you could say no."  

I cleared my throat, looking at the details on his helmet.  "Whatever."  

Shadow chuckled and moved past me, opening the ramp.  I followed him down and we walked out of the public hangars to the city.  Though it was in the middle of the day, the city seemed darker than it had been in the hangar.  

We walked for a while in silence, just observing the place.  It seemed normal, safe but not somewhere you should travel alone.  It was different from Coruscant, I kind of liked it better.  There wasn't anything to remind me of the Jedi or anything from my past.  

"This is where I leave you," Shadow said abruptly, turning around.  

"Wha-"  I grabbed his arm.  "You can't leave me!  I thought we were partners, partners don't abandon each other."  

"Awe, you called us partners."  I swear he was smirking under his helmet.  "Relax, I'm not abandoning you.  I'll be back at the ship.  You are going to get a disguise.  Do what you want, probably get some different clothes, something suitable for work.  I mean, I don't have a problem with your clothes, you look great, in my opinion, I just figured you'd probably want something else-" he sighed and handed me a pouch.  "Just take this, don't spend all of it."  

With that he turned and walked away, leaving me to process what the heck had just happened.  I could see him talking to himself about what he'd just said.  It was amusing.  I would be doing the same thing in his position.  

For a solid five minutes I just stood there, looking around, trying to figure out what to do with myself.  People passed by, not giving me a second glance.  After a little walking, I found a clothes store and stepped inside.  

I wasn't used to shopping, especially for clothes.  My Jedi clothes had been provided by the Temple and I hadn't had much say in what I'd get.  So, to have to pick out clothes on my own was kind of... overwhelming.  Somewhat.  

After going through every piece of clothing the store had, I ended up with fitted black leather pants, a utility belt, a black tank top, and brown leather jacket.  I kept my boots and gloves, putting my old clothes away in my satchel and buying a couple extra pieces of clothing before exiting the store.  

As I was headed out, I caught sight of another building.  A hair salon.  I wasn't sure how I felt about that.  I liked my hair.  A lot.  The last time I'd had it cut was when I was a youngling, and I'd hated having it short.  But it was well past my hips, and without it in braids anymore, it was a hassle to keep up with.  

Reluctantly, I stepped into the store.  

"We have a customer!"  The lady at the front desk called, not even glancing at me as she fingered her tentacle hair.  

A large man came from the back of the store, grinning at me and gesturing for me to take a seat with his many arms.  "How can I style for you today?  Or a haircut?  Color?  Bangs?  Layers?"  H e looked excited, as if he rarely had any customers.  

"Uh..." I hesitated, glancing warily at a large pair of scissors hanging on the wall.  I clutched my satchel as I sat in the chair.  "Just something... different, not too drastic.  Something new."  

He nodded.  "Yes, I've got just the idea!"  He spun my chair away from the mirror and draped a cloth over me, clipping it in the back.  "It will only take a few minutes."  

I tapped my foot anxiously as I heard scissors snapping, my head feeling lighter.  After too much scissor snapping for my liking, he walked in front of me and cut long bangs around my face, which I had to close my eyes for.  

"A masterpiece!"  He announced, and I opened my eyes.  

He spun my chair back to face the mirror, and my jaw dropped.  I was too shocked to speak.  My hair was gone.  It was cut just a little bit above my shoulders, with long curtain bangs curving around my face.  

The one thought pounding through my brain:  My hair's gone.  

I swallowed.  "Thanks."  

The hair stylist bowed, grinning.  "My pleasure, madam."  

I paid him and quickly got out of the store, clutching my short hair the whole time.  When I got back to Shadow's ship, he was leaning against it as if he was a model or something.  His head looked at me as I came closer.  

"What happened to your hair?"  He asked, sounding appalled under his helmet.  

"This is your fault," I told him.  

"How is this my fault?!"  He asked.  "I didn't tell you to cut your hair!  I said get a change of clothes, maybe a mask or something.  Not chop off your hair!"  

I crossed my arms, frowning.  "You put it in my head.  You said to become completely unrecognizable-"  

"Not completely!"  He sighed.  "I'm not winning this argument.  I got chocolate croissants."  

I raised my eyebrow, not forgiving him but getting suspicious.  "A what now?"  

"You poor thing," was all he said.  "You have much to learn.  

1079 Words 

Written September 14th, 2024 

Published October 5th, 2024