A/N: Hi guys! This is the first Rogue One fanfiction that I've written so please be patient. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please try to avoid be plain rude. Thank you and happy New Year!
Cassian sighed. Why did this keep on happening, and why was it always him? He had, yet again, found himself in a damp cell with no one for company. After his daring escape from Scarif, the Rebel Alliances had assigned him to explore new or unclear parts of the universe in search of locations for new rebel bases or possible allies to the rebellion.
Along with Chirru, Baze, Bodhi, K-2SO, and Jyn, Cassian had been exploring the universe for almost a year now. Usually, encounters with foreign life forms go reasonable well, but occasionally someone gets captured, which is exactly what happened this time. They had sent Cassian ahead as a scout when they first arrived on the planet. The Rebel's databases had no recorded life forms on this planet, so Cassian was not as careful as he could have been. This slight lack of watchfulness resulted in his being surprised by a couple of slave traders, promptly knocked out, and carted back to their base, where he now lay.
The slave trading base was simply a hollowed out cave with its only inhabitants at the moment being the three humanoids who had captured Cassian and a couple of other slave traders. It was dark, dank, and had a slightly musty smell about it. The only light came from the entrance and a small window outside of Cassian's cell.
Cassian was wrenched out of his self pity by a small whimper and the sound of someone entering the cave. When Cassian lifted his head, he could see another humanoid similar to the ones that captured him enter pushing a small girl in front of him.
She was young, probably only 10 or 11, and even for her age, she was very small. Cassian estimated her to be no more than four and a half feet tall. She wasn't only short, but she was very skinny and overall just petite. It looked like a gust of wind or a hard blow could break her. It was strange, but even in the dim light and dirt of the cave, it seemed as if she were glowing. She had thin and very straight white blonde hair that had a silver tint to it. Her eyes were the same greyish silver and even her skin was very pale. She was wearing a simple white cotton t-shirt that was a bit too big for her and hung loosely of her frame and a pair of plain gray pants. As she was led in, Cassian noticed that she seemed to have an injured foot and was trying to avoid putting any weight on it at all.
He watched quietly as the man leading the girl threw her at the feet of the man who Cassian assumed to be in charge.
"She'll trade well," the man growled out in a cold and hard voice. "Just throw her in the back, you can deal with her ankle later." With one last appraising look from the leader, one of the slave traders threw her into the cell with Cassian.
As the trader opened the cell door to put the girl in, Cassian briefly considered trying to make a run for it but decided it would be too risky. He was well outnumbered, didn't have a weapon, and, truthfully, was interested in his new cellmate. So, lingering at the back of the cell, he watched the trader throw the girl into the cell. Cassian wasn't sure that she knew that he was there, but still as soon as the door of the cell was closed, she moved herself so that she was in a corner and pulled her knees up to her chest.
Slowly, so as not to scare her, Cassian brought himself into the light and started moving toward her. On seeing him, she pushed herself even further into the corner and cowered back slightly. Cassian let out a small shhh noise to try to calm her a little and tell her that he didn't mean her any harm. When she made no move to get away from him, Cassian continued very slowly shuffling toward her. He could feel her large, pale eyes watching him cautiously, tracking every move he made.
Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, Cassian reached her side. He gently lowered himself so that he was sitting in front of her and their eyes were about level. Now that he was so close to her, Cassian could see the tears slipping down her face and making tracks in the dust on her cheeks. He also noticed that there was definitely a slight silver glow emanating from her. Making sure to make his movements slow and smooth so that he wouldn't frighten her, Cassian reached out, and gently wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumb.
The girl flinched slightly when Cassian first touched her, but once she realized that he was not going to hurt her, she softened slightly into the touch. Taking this as a good sign, Cassian smiled slightly at her and, in a soft and gentle voice, asked her what her name was. Cassian had to strain to hear the slight whisper of "Calla" that slipped out of her slightly parted lips. He smiled. "Hi Calla. I'm Cassian."
Just as Cassian finished his sentence, he heard the sound of a blaster and watched as within the matter of a few seconds, every person in the cave had been hit by a blaster ray. He felt Calla flinch at the noise and instinctively shielded her in his arms in case a stray shot from a blaster were to enter the cell. It was a slightly pointless gesture, but Calla seemed to find reassurance in it because her body's shaking lessened a little.
As soon as the sound of blasters stopped, Cassian rushed to the door of the cell just as Jyn pried it open. They embraced quickly before Cassian led her back into the cell where Calla was sitting. He watched as Jyn's face softened and a kind of gentleness appeared there that he was not accustomed to seeing on her face. Deciding that they should go before anyone else arrived to respond to the sound of blasters, Cassian quickly walked over to Calla and gently scooped her up into his arms. He felt a burst of surprise at just how light she was when he picked her up and made a silent resolution to at least get a little bit of meat on her bones. Calla let out a small whimper of fright when he picked her up and weakly tried to struggle against Cassian, but after a couple of reassuring words from him, she relaxed and let her face rest in the crook of his neck.
Jyn and Blaze had taken a small transport vehicle from Rogue One to the slave trader's base, and their trip back to the ship was completely uneventful. Cassian introduced Calla to Jyn and Blaze. She seemed rather intimidated by Blaze's immense size, but she she gave Jyn a sort of faint smile. This thought brought a strange feeling of warmth to Cassian's chest. He had tried asking Calla if she had family or a home planet to which they could return her, but the slight whimper and the slightly frantic movement of her head shaking no expelled any doubt in Cassian's mind that she had a loving family waiting back for her at home, wherever that was.
Within a matter of minutes, the group of them had reached the ship. Cassian's return was met with much relief, though some question as to Calla, whom he briefly introduced to everyone. Deciding that now was not the time to explain, Cassian, followed by Jyn, carried Calla off to a somewhat isolated corner of the ship to check on her wounds. After a couple of soothing words from both Cassian and Jyn, Calla reluctantly allowed them to address her injuries. It seemed that her ankle was broken, and she had a shallow, but still painful, cut on her side. In no time Jyn disinfected and bandaged the cut and applied a temporary cast to Calla's leg. Jyn had by far the most expertise in matters of healing, so Cassian decided that any attempt of his to help would only be counterproductive.
Once Jyn had finished, she quickly got some blankets and made a bed in which Calla could get some rest while still being close to the rest of them. It didn't take much prompting on their part because Calla was obviously exhausted, and within no more than a minute of her head hitting the pillow, she was out like a light. Throughout all of this, Cassian had observed the faint glow about Calla that he had noticed earlier growing brighter and brighter the more relaxed and at home she felt.
While Jyn and Cassian were taking care of Calla, Blaze was explaining, to the best of his ability, what had happened in the base. Within a short period of time after Blaze finished his story, Jyn and Cassian returned to the rest of the crew. Once they had all gathered, Kay informed them that he had scanned Calla, and she was a member of the Scinan race of humanoids who inhabited some of the less populated planets of the Outer Rim. According to the droid, the most common way of identifying them was by the silvery light that they emitted when they were happy or relaxed.
Cassian nodded. This information made sense with everything that he had thus far observed about Calla. Cassian also noticed that even in the short time that she had been on board, Calla seemed to be acting as a unifying force for the crew, who had been having a couple of problems getting along. He smiled.
"It seems that we have a new member of our crew. Our very own little star to guide us through the darkness."
A/N: Well, there you go. I hope you guys liked it. I might leave this as a oneshot, but I might also continue it. I'm not sure yet. Reviews are very greatly appreciated! :)