𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖊, 𝔡𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔧𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

AT SOME POINT during their trip, Sevara had fallen into a fitful sleep. Her dreams were plagued with snapping jaws, beady eyes and white-hot pain. She stirred, feeling suffocated as memories of a toxic gas clouded her mind, of the explosions that occurred deep within caverns, collapsing and burying her beneath the rubble. In the Mines, Sevara often wondered if she would live to see another day.

Awaking with a start, Sevara's eyes snapped open. As her gaze flitted around the room, her thumping heart slowed as she caught sight of Mando, raising a brow as she watched him lift the child in the air by the collar of it's beige overcoat and placed it back in the pod. She gingerly brought a hand to her temple, easing away the pounding headache that had started to trickle in.

Subconsciously, Sevara felt her hand move to her side, her fingertips grazing the deep indentations of the bite that beset her skin, through the fabric of her shirt. Although Mando had seen the small scars imprinted all over her arms and shoulder, a result of an explosion she had been caught in, she was determined to keep the etchings of teeth hidden. And though Sevara had made it a point to no longer be ashamed of her markings, the bite still evoked a sense of discomfort due to the size, curving in a half moon from her hipbone to her lower rib. As she caught Mando glance her way, she quickly retracted her touch.

"When we land, we need to drop off the bounty first thing," he said, eyeing her side and the absent-minded look Sevara had masked over her features.

She nodded, looking to the child who simply stared back at her. "These people," she asked, "they won't... hurt it, will they?"

Mando remained silent, pausing a moment before replying, "I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?" Sevara turned to him, eyes wide as she said, "Mando, it's a child. You can't let them take it! Who knows what they'll do to it?"

"This Is The Way," was all he said, returning his gaze to the stars before them.

Their journey continued in silence, save for the occasional cooing made by the child. Goodness, the child. Sevara had grown attached to the small creature, no matter how hard she tried to resist. For her, the child was a symbol of all she had lost, a beacon of light in the darkness of her memory. Sevara leant across the cockpit to the pod, placing her hands under the child's arms as she lifted it up, cradling it to her chest.

It cooed and smiled, reaching it's small hands up in the air and grazing her jaw with it's blunt claws. She ran a gentle finger over the apples of it's cheek, feeling Mando's eyes on the two of them as she bent her head to press a soft kiss to the wisps of it's hair. Sevara thought to say her goodbyes then, as she may not be granted a chance to do so when they dropped the child off to whoever wanted it so desperately.

With a final hug goodbye, nuzzling her cheek to the top of the child's head, Sevara gingerly lowered it back into the pod. Her heart was heavy as she took in the child's perplexed expression but she understood it needed to be done. Just as Mando had said, this was the way.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

AS THE THREE of them stepped from the landing deck, Sevara's ears perked up at the busy chatter that came from the streets of the town. Around them, the terrain was rocky— though, unlike Arvala-7, this planet was a covered in a deep grey hue. As she stepped onto the rocks, Sevara dug the toe of her boot into the scattered pebbles, kicking them around.

With the pod between them, she and Mando approached the bustling markets. The child looked around wildly, it's lower lip trembling as it's ears flapped in the wind that had been generated by the landing of a ship nearby. Instinctively, Sevara reached out, allowing the child to take her finger in it's hand as a means to comfort it. Mando glanced at her, but didn't say a word.