The Child's Keeper: A Mandalorian FanFiction

Episode 1: The Meeting

Lys' eyes were blinded by the bright light of the hot sun overhead, her arms still clasped together by the cuffs. She was thankful for the cover she had been given in the form of an old, dirty scarf, shrouding her skin just enough that the burn of the sun didn't hurt her too badly.

She trudged along, following the groups of people who were being herded towards the slave market. Lys kept her head down, knowing better than to speak or move in the wrong way. She had been through a few of these days, transferred from one buyer to another, auctioned off like nothing more than a piece of dirt. But most of the time, she was used in gambling, and with each loss, she was moved once more.

Lys was moved out of the sun and down into a cell with a handful of other women. She noticed a few women carrying infants, and she looked away, knowing that they were not products of a happy family.

Suddenly, one of them began to wail, and its mother tried to hush it by placing it at her breast, but it did not take. Lys realized that the woman was too weak and small to have produced milk, and she hesitated.

She had seen women killed in front of her for not being able to calm their own children, and she did not want that same fate for this woman.

"QUIET! The buyers are about to come through here," A guard's whip thrashed against the bars, just barely clipping the woman's shoulder, causing her to tumble to the ground, the infant wailing even louder now.

No one else seemed to want to help them, and so Lys finally made a move. She could see that the buyers were rounding the corner, and she went over, helping the woman stand, and taking the child from her.

She pulled the child up against her chest, quieting it, taking deep breaths so that it could feel the calm that she exuded. All the while, she looked out from the bars, her eyes making eye contact with one of the buyers as he passed, a mercenary who seemed to scan her, whispering to another hunter beside him, and they both nodded before continuing.

She knew right then and there that they would be the ones she would be returning with.

The woman stood, thanking her as she took the now-quiet child from Lys' arms before moving away to the back of the cage.

Lys waited in hushed silence for her turn to be brought out to be sold. And soon enough, she was pulled from the cell and brought to the block. She trudged along, knowing that she would be bought for about 1000 credits, no more than the price of a couple of good blasters.

As she was brought out, she scanned the small crowd. It was a less formal place than she had been in before, with the crowd forming no more than 100 buyers and their agents or bodyguards. She could feel their eyes scouring her, and she kept a neutral expression on her face as she too scanned the crowd back.

She watched as the mercenaries bid on her, a few others raising the price until she was finally sold and escorted away.

Normally, she would be brought to a holding cell, but she could sense the urgency in the mercenaries, and she was brought directly to a waiting transport ship. When she arrived, they were standing there, looking over her with dark eyes before handing off the credits and taking her chains.

"You're sure she'll do?" One of the mercenaries asked the other. "She looks-"

"Weak. It's what we need," the main mercenary said. "Come on, you," he said roughly, yanking her chain.

Lys followed silently, her eyes constantly looking around as they boarded a small ship, and she was moved to the corner before they disappeared to the cockpit, leaving a third mercenary to guard her.

She could feel his gaze on her as the ship took off, and while she felt unnerved, she instead raised her head, taking on a curious look, and stared right back. It was enough to make him look away, but not enough to make him angry.