𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖊, 𝔡𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔧𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

FOOTSTEPS DISSOLVED INTO the sand strewn streets as Sevara and Din wandered through the space port side by side. Her dark hair, which had inched its way past her collarbones in the time she'd been travelling with Din and the child, ruffled in the slight breeze that blew their way. Tucking a strand behind her ear, Sevara marvelled at the similarities the planet, which she had come to know as Tatooine, had with Arvala-7.

The moisture vaporators that lined the streets seemed to draw her in, blindly straying from Din's path as she beckoned him towards the milky-white mechanism. With a tilt of his head, Din asked, "What're you doing?"

"Just look at these," she said reaching out a hand and tracing her fingertips across the buttons and panels of the vaporators. "Their designs are so much more complex than ours."

"Ours?"

"Well, Kuiil and I's," said Sevara, eyes trained on the slight differences of the mechanism. "I should tell him about these, maybe we could update ours to match them— or. . ." her voice trailed off as she slowly shook her head. Heaving a sigh, Sevara drew back from it, shifting her gaze to Din. "Never mind, come on. We should probably keep moving."

He simply nodded, falling into step beside her as they continued down the streets. They wandered down the path with a comforting silence between them as Din's arm brushed against Sevara's.

Tilting her head back slightly as the sun beamed across her cheeks, her thoughts drifted back to the brazened terrain of her former home.

The whisper of a memory swirled in her mind; of a tattered ship and burst of flames, kind eyes and a warm smile as a stranger offered her a helping hand. Sevara's heart ached at the thought of the Ugnaught, for Kuiil had been there for her when no one else was.

Rounding a corner, her step faltered as her eyes fell upon a group of pikes that held the remains of tarnished Stormtrooper helmets. Subconsciously, Sevara's free hand drifted to the indentations at her waist, a crease forming in her brows as she pushed inklings of strangled screams and splatters of crimson from her mind.

She felt Din's gaze on her, her spine stiffening slightly as he asked, "Is everything okay?"

Plastering a smile upon her lips, she turned to him, saying, "Of course. Everything's. . . everything's fine." Sevara's mouth was bitter as the lie slipped from her with ease, having told the same one many times to Kuiil when she got caught up in her thoughts. She wrapped a hand around Din's armoured bicep, tugging him from the helmets as she told him, "We should keep going, we don't have all day."

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

DUCKING BENEATH THE arched doorway, Sevara squinted through the dim light at the sparse crowd that mulled about Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina. Shifting her gaze to Din, she couldn't help but wonder if there'd be any work he could undertake due to the lack of patrons in the place, thought she guessed the cantina used to be a hotspot for many as her eyes drifted to the scuffed boot-prints and scratches in the sandstone tiles.

As they descended the shallow steps, Sevara's pace slowed as she allowed Din to take the lead, trailing him towards the bar and listening as he told the droid before them, "Hey, droid. I'm a hunter. I'm looking for some work."

"Unfortunately the Bounty Guild no longer operates from Tatooine," it said, pausing for a moment as it cleaned a glass.

"I'm not looking for Guild work."