𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖊, 𝔡𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔧𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

THEY TRAVELLED DOWN the steep slopes that plagued the rocky terrain, Sevara being careful not to stumble in case Mando thought bringing her along was a bad idea after all. They walked in silence for the most part, with the child occasionally cooing as it's pod trailed closely beside them. Sevara knew she shouldn't, but she was getting attached to the small creature. The it's tiny nose that scrunched in delight, or how smiled at her each time she turned to it, made her heart melt.

And though she understood that the child wasn't going to stay, and that as soon as they retrieved the parts for Mando's shop and repaired it, that the child would have to leave, she couldn't help but find herself wanting for it to stay. For both of them to stay.

For the first time on their trek, Mando turned to her, his head tilted in curiosity as he said, "Can I ask you something?"

Sevara halted, slightly taken aback, "Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"What did you mean by 'you've dealt with worse'?"

"Oh," said Sevara, wrapping her arms around her body, hugging herself tight, "that. Well, I actually used to be a member of the Rebel Alliance."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I wasn't anyone special though— just fixing up ships and helping out on the occasional mission, you know, simple stuff. But, uh— something happened and now I'm... here, I guess." Sevara turned the cool metal of the blaster over in her hands, adding, "Don't worry though, I know how to use one of these."

Mando nodded, "That's good. We wouldn't want you accidentally blasting off my foot, would we?"

"Who knows," said Sevara, a smile playing on her lips, "maybe after all this time, I've forgotten how to turn the safety on."

Mando hummed, "Yeah, that'd be too bad. Hey," he said, laying a hand on her arm, "you know, even if you don't consider yourself to be one of the greats, you still aided in a good cause and fought for what you believed was right. In the end, that's all that really matters."

Sevara's heart fluttered at his words. Once again, she forced down her childish emotions, feeling like a teenager as her heart thrummed and faint whispers of electricity hummed in her veins each time Mando talked to her. All of it reminded her of...

No, she thought, pushing away the memories of bright blue eyes, wild black hair and a charisma like no other. Sevara wasn't willing to undergo the pain that resulted each time she recalled her first love and the broken pieces he left behind. She couldn't bear it, choosing to instead shrug off Mando's gentle touch and quicken her pace, putting unnecessary distance between the two of them in an attempt to guard her once shattered heart.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

EVENTUALLY, SEVARA SLOWED to a stop and paused before a gaping cave mouth, seeing nothing but darkness inside. As Mando made his way beside her, she noted he had stationed himself a metre or two further than he previously had. Sevara couldn't blame him though, after all, she did take off without an explanation, he might've thought he had upset her, perhaps. She made a mental note to reassure Mando that it wasn't his fault if they made out of this minor mission alive.

Mando began tightening his armour, ensuring all his weapons were in place and at an easy access point. It was a routine completed in a fluent and sufficient manner, so much so that Sevara felt the need to follow suit, crouching down to tighten the laces of her boots and check the amount of ammunition in her blaster.

As she rose, Mando's gaze was fixed on her as he asked, "You think you're coming into the cave, right?"

"Of course I am," she said. "I thought we already established this."

Mando started, "Look, about before— I," but he paused, shaking his head and instead continuing with, "You know what, never mind. It's not important. Let's just get in and out as quick as we can, alright?

Though Sevara nodded, she still felt guilt creeping into the pit of her stomach, gnawing at her all over. She hadn't meant to make him feel bad— if he even did at all, but he was right. Whatever happened with them earlier wasn't important, getting the Egg was. Sevara glanced back to the child, who had it's eyes on the two of them, watching expectantly from it's pod. After ensuring the child was safe, she walked alongside Mando, both with their chosen weapons in hand and descended into the black, fathomless cave mouth.

Water dripped from above, creating a soft chorus of drip, drop, drip, drop, that sent a shiver down Sevara's spine. The two walked side by side with slow movements, their weapons aimed high in the event of a sudden advancement on them. In the pitch black of the cave, Sevara couldn't help but shuffle towards Mando as her palms grew clammy and her breath began to quicken.

With the stone walls, eerie environment and lack of life, Sevara couldn't help but recall her time when she was imprisoned, resulting from her capture by the Empire during an attack on her rebel base. A time when Sevara thought she would never see the sun again, a time when darkness was all she knew. Shaking her head, Sevara closed her eyes momentarily as she willed the thoughts from her mind. She had to refocus and find the Egg, not dwell on her past experiences.

Mando brought a hand to the side of his helmet, switching on a small flashlight and scanning the ground for any sign that indicated the Egg's whereabouts. Like the water droplets before, a chorus of chirps echoed throughout the cave and Sevara's grip on her blaster grew tighter, her knuckles turning white.

Mando glanced at her, illuminating her face in the white glow from his torch. He must have noticed her wide eyes and pale lips as he briefly hesitated before extending out his free hand, offering it to her in support. Wasting no time, Sevara laced her fingers with his, understanding that it was all he could do in that moment as they had to keep quiet, not knowing if something lurked within the depths of the darkness.

He lead her to a small patch of dirt on the floor, the both of them crouching down as Mando observed the ground for a clue of some sort. Sevara had to admit, she didn't have the slightest idea of what they were looking for, at least in terms of a sign about the Egg. But, Mando seemed to know what he was doing as he analysed their surroundings, though Sevara supposed that searching for clues was a large part of his job description.

A deep growl erupted from within the shadows. Tightening her grip on his hand, Sevara clutched her blaster close to her chest as she squinted through the darkness that surrounded them. Mando took a half step forward, pushing Sevara behind him as he surveyed the mud-crusted mound before them, the light from his flashlight moving across it. The light passed a slit among the mud, and Sevara bit down hard on her lip as it split open, revealing a large, pink iris lined with blue.

Something in the shadows was alive, and it was staring right at them.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

thank you all for reading!

also, i don't know how much i'll be able to write tomorrow because i have to do something at school for about two days, but then i'm off for the summer holidays so i'll have plenty of time to write!

i also wanted to ask how are you all finding the story so far? don't hesitate to let me know, i'd love to know what you think about mando and sevara because personally i just think they're really cute, but i'm kind of biased, haha

ps. i just saw frozen 2 and omggg it was so good and i cried, definitely recommend it!!