The Mandalorian Chronicles

Elodie: Well, We're Screwed

I trudged through the dimly lit streets of the underground, Gwen by my side. I kept the hood of my cloak up, feeling like a complete failure. I screwed up big time. I told my secret one to many times and to the wrong person. My parents are probably going to disown me now. Good job, Elodie. 

"You've been silent for this whole... trip of sorts. What's on your mind?" Gwen asked, attempting to make small talk. I shook my head, holding the edges of ny cloak tightly. Gwen had found it on the coatrack in a diner, so she... maybe she did steal it. 

"Elodie, this is like Lucy not trying her best to get into trouble 24/7." Gwen sighed. I squeezed my eyes shut, not ready to deal with the loss of Lucy again. Gwen groaned loudly. 

"I command you to speak." 

I didn't answer, but my lips twitched.

"Fine then. I'll tell you about the time I sat at my desk for eight hours straight—"

"Okay, okay!" I groaned. 

"—and then got in trouble for watching funny tooka videos because I had nothing else to do. The client liked the videos too, so I don't know why the boss was yelling at me." Gwen said, smiling fondly at the memory.  I couldn't help but laugh. 

"I'll talk, I'll talk." I burst out, smiling. 

"Good. I don't want to have to bore you with more work stories."

"I feel guilty."

"Why? It's your parents that should feel guilty—"

"Gwennith Shipley, don't you dare go there."

"Jeez, did you really think I'd say that to a minor?" 

"Oh my Force." 

"Anyway, continue."

"I feel guilty for—"

"Again, no reason you should—"

"Ahem."

"Sorry."

"Because I told Corey, you quit your job to run with me. Aileen has so much stress because of me. I left my friends behind without... without saying goodbye." I realized. "And you had to leave Aileen because of my... my stupid kriffing big mouth!" 

"Elodie—"

"This is all my fault!"

"Elodie!"

"It is all my fault."

"Run!"

My head snapped up. A gang of reporters had spotted us. Ah, kriff. My hood had also dropped. Way to go, Elodie. Team Reporter: 2. Team Elodie: 0. 

"There she is!"

"After her!"

Then a more sinister feeling made its way into my gut. A creepy looking figure jumped down from the roof and raised a blaster. 

"You're coming with me, kid."

I froze, life flashing before my eyes. Someone yanked me into an alley just before the man fired. 

"Come on, 'Lodie! We have to move!" Gwen yelled, nailing the man in the shoulder with a trash can lid. Team Elodie now has 1 point. My feet unfroze and I ran after her, tossing my cloak aside so I could move freely. I leapt over a crate, trying so hard not to scream and pee my pants. 

Okay, the screaming part I failed. Other than that, I was good. But holy Force, this guy is after me. 

Team Elodie now has 4 points. Gwen has a seriously good arm. 

"How do you do that?" I yelled, sprinting down the street. Gwen hurled the piece of fruit at the bounty hunter's face. It smashed all over his wonderful, scary grin. 5 points to Team Elodie!

"Improvised Grav-Ball. We were a poor school, so we had to make due with hands instead of racket things." Gwen explained, chucking a broken board at the man. Maybe she could teach me how to throw like that. I skidded to a stop, turning and running down a dead-end alley. Gwen followed, cursing every deity she knew. Mostly the Jedi. I ran up the board leaning on the wall, springing from the end onto the roof. Gwen copied me, landing next to the edge. We had a few seconds head start, so we brought the board up onto the roof with us. I dropped to the... roof ground and laid flat on my chest. Gwen did the same. We couldn't see over the other side, so we just waited. 

"Come out, come out wherever you are!"

I held my breath. 

"There you are, girlies." 

I looked up to see the man. Not pausing to think, I punched him in the face. It hurt to punch people, but it was enough to shock him. I screamed loudly in his ear, elbowing his stomach. Then I turned tail and ran for my life, hopping from roof to roof. Gwen was way ahead of me. We have to get to the surface. Then they won't be able to track us down as easily. I caught up to Gwen (somehow) and we made it to the elevator. Lucky for us, it had arrived. We squished in and  frantically pressed the Ground Level button. The doors dinged shut and we let out a breath of relief in unison. Never mind that the whole lift car was staring at us. 

"Gwanda and Kohli! There you are!" Veda exclaimed. I'd recognize her silvery hair and glasses anywhere. Gwen looked revolted for a second like, Gwanda??!

"Auntie Veda!" I exclaimed, playing along. 

"Where have you girls been? I've been looking for you." 

"Um, we got lost. It's easy to do that down here." Gwen said, understanding what we were doing. I wrapped my arms around Veda, ready to pass out from fear and exhaustion. 

"Gi, don't take your sister down here for a bit. She looks like she's seen a ghost." 

"It's not my fault she's a scaredy cat!" Gwen protested. 

"I am not." I fired back. 

"Don't argue. Just respond like this, yes Aunt Veda."

"Yes Aunt Veda." I sighed. 

"Fine. Whatever."

Gwen is doing a really good job of acting like a self-centered teenager. Not that she is in real life. 

"Gwanda."

"Okay! Yes, Aunt Veda! Happy?"

"Yes." 

The elevator opened to Ground Level. I immediately regretted my decision to come here. My face  and my parents' faces are literally plastered over every billboard.

"Quickly. We don't have much time before they see us." Veda hissed, leading us out of the commotion. I panicked, stuck in the crowd as Veda and Gwen moved ahead. 

"Veda! Gwen!" I yelled, too short to see over everyone's heads. Elodie, run. So I ran. Right into a lady. I bounced backwards, landing painfully on my butt. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She said gently, helping me up. 

Just my luck. It's Padmé Amidala. 

"Are you alright? You look a bit dazed." Padmé Amidala asked me.

"Yeah. I'm okay." I brushed off, trying to yank my arm away. 

"Wait! Stop!" Padmé exclaimed as I sprinted away. I caught up to Gwen and Veda, checking over my shoulder every so often. This is not going to go well. I have bounty hunters, Padmé, a bunch of Jedi (probably), Palpatine (maybe), and Death Watch (definitely) after me. 

Well, we're screwed now.