The Little One watched her mother from the corner of the room. It was dingier than she had remembered, and there were no windows to let any light in. No, there was but a single light bulb barely hanging from the low ceiling.
And there was a man behind her mother, looming over her, a pair of scissors in his hands. He was different this time too. Still, the Little One's breath shook as she saw him grab a clump of her mother's hair and opened the scissors up to expose their blades. A sudden stroke of courage washed over her like the spring waters that she and her mother bathed in back on Naboo.
"Mother!" She screamed, running from her corner of the room that the men had dragged her to after they….
The Little One's hand flew to her hair. Pulling several locks of red in front of her face, she sighed in relief to know it was still there. Maybe she could stop it this time?
"Go back and wait, girl." He spat, but a wide grin soon reached his face. "It'll be your turn soon."
"Don't speak to her like that,"
The man's smile was lost once he heard the older woman hiss those words at him. Carefully, he grazed his fingertips over her neck, and the jarring grin was soon back again. The Little One could hear every beat of her heart as she watched her mother try to fight back any ounce of fear on her face as he touched her. The man moved a strand of hair from in front of her ear and began to twirl it around his finger. He leaned into her ear, whispering something.
An audible gasp escaped the mother's lips, and the Little One saw fresh tears course down her cheeks.
"Mother," she spoke softly.
"QUIET!"
The Little One cowered under his yell, and she backed away as his eyes pierced into her. She then looked back at her mother; begging, pleading.
She took a shaking breath. "Close your eyes, baby. Just close them."
Shaking her head, she said, "No,"
The man slowly ran his fingers through the mother's hair. "I would listen to the pretty woman if I were you, girl."
Swallowing, the Little One blinked back her tears, and returned her look back to her mother. The woman smiled sadly, mouthing "I love you,"
So, the Little One closed her eyes, being the obedient daughter.
The sounds of her mother's breath hitching every few moments haunted her ears like a constant ringing bell. Yet, she did not open her eyes; for the first minute that is.
She had only meant to peek at what was going on for a second, but once she opened her eyes, she felt as if she could never close them again. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes as she witnessed in horror at the sight.
He was cutting her mother's hair.
The Little One flung her body at the man, releasing a scream deep within her. She did everything in her power; pulled his hair, scratch his face, kicking her legs into his body with all her might. Anything to stop him from laying a hand on her mother again.
But, he was much stronger than her.
The man threw her off him with ease and pinned her to the floor. Her eyes followed his movements; one moment, he was holding her down, the next, he swiftly grabbed the scissors from the ground, aiming it above her. She let out a small scream in surprise and could only close her eyes.
Then, a stabbing pain was felt in her abdomen.
The Little One's eyes opened gently; being met with the dark interior of the storage room she was being held in. Slowly, she sat up, running her hand over the top of her head; the floral head scarf was still there, and her hair was still hidden from the world.
Hearing a gentle cooing sound from right next to her, she stood up on her feet, and gently slid the blanket off the baby that was before her. She placed her finger into the bassinet for him to grab.
The Child giggled softly as he squeezed her finger, and the Little One wanted to desperately smile at him; but, her lips did not move one bit. As she watched the Child continue to play with her finger, she leaned down and whispered.
"I shall get us out of here, I swear it."
She felt the baby's small giggle tickle her ear, and that was when her lips upturned just a little. That is, until the sound of the one door to the room opening, and heavy footsteps were heard. Letting out a small gasp, the Little One pressed one of the buttons on the center of the bassinet, and the top of it closed, shielding the Child away from danger.
The Little One rushed around the room, and went behind the crates. She got on her hands and knees, beginning to dig the sand away. The footsteps belonging to a Nikto, were getting louder and louder, causing the Little One's hands to move faster. Soon, she picked up the hand blaster she managed to keep a hold of with her from long ago; long after those men stole away her red hair.
Taking one last breath, she readied herself as the footsteps came closer. She hugged the wall of crates, and could basically feel the breath of the Nikto on her neck, and the low growl in her ears.
A scream was heard from above her, and she whipped her head around, firing the blaster without taking another look. The Nikto let out a cry in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. The Little One dropped her arms, holding the blaster to her side, and she panted heavily.
Standing up, she cradled one of her ears, and winced at the sound of the Nikto wailing at the pain in his shoulder. Still, the Little One couldn't even bare to think about ending its life. Her eyes soon fell to the blaster, that had belonged to the Nikto, on the floor just a few feet away from him.
Dropping her own blaster, she slowly made her way to it, keeping her eyes on the Nikto. When she looked away for just a moment to pick up the gun, a hand roughly grabbed her wrist. She shrieked in surprise, being pulled face to face with the Nikto's look of rage; to this day, she swore she could see red in his eyes.
"Let go," She groaned, trying to pull away from his grip.
The Nikto's hold only tightened, and growled in her ear.
"Stop it!" She rose her voice, now beginning to struggle. She fell onto the floor, cementing her feet into the ground and leaning back to pull away. The Nikto's other hand latched around her wrist, digging his nails into her skin.
The Little One let out a scream of pain, and the Nikto began dragging her across the ground. After only a few seconds, she saw the blaster she had been carrying right beside her. In the blink of an eye, the Little One picked it up with her free hand, and fired at the Nikto's head.
The creature limply fell; thankfully, his hands had loosened around her wrist, and she pulled away just in time before he could take her down with him.
And she sat there, on the sand, her mouth agape at the sight of the now dead Nikto in front of her. Slowly, without taking her eyes off the body, she scooted away, and, at a safe distance, got back onto her feet. She felt lightheaded once she stood up, and leaned against the crates to steady herself.
She had just murdered a living thing in cold blood.
Placing her hands on her face, she quickly wiped away any oncoming tears, and took deep, even breaths. The Little One was just beginning to feel her heart returning to normal when several shots from outside the storage room caused her to jump.
The Little One whipped her head to the large gate that was the one thing between her and death, her breath beginning to waver once again. Looking back at the open door, she saw several Niktos rush past it, and she gasped, backing away. There was no way she and the Child could make it out unscathed.
So, without trying to look at the body, now beginning to smell, she rushed around the room, finding something to cover the Child's bassinet. She settled on a fishing net, and laid it over gently. The shooting from outside continued, and her mind was moving faster and faster, trying desperately to figure out what to do next. But, that was the thing.
She had no idea what do to next. The Little One couldn't walk out with the bassinet and a hand blaster without being attacked by several Niktos.
The Little One subconsciously moved her hand to the back of her shoulder, feeling the gash beginning to scab over; graciously given by the Niktos when she had tried escaping after the first few days. That is when she met the Child, and it hadn't taken long for her to become attached to him.
So, the Little One stood in the middle of the room she had been held prisoner in for weeks on end. Staring solely at the gate, and standing with her feet planted in front of the Child's bassinet.
Then, there was silence.
The blaster fire had stopped, and her curiosity peaked. Approaching the gate with caution, she pressed her ear up against it.
Her face dropped once she could hear voices muffled behind it. It was the first time in weeks she heard voices that were similar to hers; the Niktos didn't really speak much to her, and even then, they did not sound kind.
Then, they stopped. The Little One pulled away from the gate, and something inside of her told her to get out of the way. Following it, she dashed behind the crates, snatching up her own hand blaster as she ran.
The moment she hid behind those crates, the shots of blasters ricocheting off the walls flooded her ears, along with an explosion she had heard from earlier outside of the room. All the sounds promptly stopped, until the loud crash! of the huge gate collapsed onto the sand.
The sound of something beeping rhythmically caused her ears to perk up, and a voice, obviously belonging to a droid was heard.
"The tracking fob is still active. My sensors indicate there are two life forms present."
With one hand, the Little One covered her mouth to silence her breathing, and the other was used to clutch her blaster tightly; ready to use it if she absolutely had to. She could hear them walk around a little more, and then they stopped. Tempting fate, she peeked around the crates, and pulled away, biting her tongue to not make a sound.
That is when she heard the bassinet open, and she quietly set her blaster down to cover her mouth with both hands.
"Wait," a new voice spoke over her panicking thoughts. "they said fifty years old."
The droid said. "Species age differently. Perhaps it could live many centuries…Sadly, we will never know."
The Little One's eyes nearly popped out of her head once she heard the monotonic voice say those words. Still, she did not even move to peek out from the crates she hid behind.
"No," the man spoke up. "we'll bring it in alive."
"The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated."
She listened as the droid brought his blaster up to the Child's bassinet, and that was when the Little One finally acted. She picked up her hand blaster, and took several deep breaths before revealing herself.
Then, a shot echoed throughout the room, and she felt her world slowing down when the sound of something crashing to the floor met her ears. Instead of looking around the corner, the Little One slowly began to stand up from where she was hiding.
It was a tall, armored man who was staring down at the baby. Her eyes trailed to the droid, who was now lying on the ground, unmoving. The stranger had killed it to protect the Child. Still, the Little One's look of fear was now of spite. Standing taller, she aimed her blaster at him.
But, she couldn't pull the trigger.
He gave her no reason to shoot him, and he could not even see her at all. Before she could ponder in whether to end his life or not, he spun around to face her; his own blaster aimed at her.
Once he saw her, his stance lessened just a little, but he still kept the blaster on her.
"Hey," he said to her. "just take it easy, and put the gun down."
She didn't hesitate one bit. If anything, she tightened her hold on blaster, and darkened her eyes at the armored man just a few feet in front of her. What he did next, nearly made her completely disoriented.
The man slowly crouched to the ground, and placed his blaster on the floor, his face never leaving hers. His tone sounded gentler as he spoke.
"I'm not going to hurt you, or the kid in the carrier. You don't have to be afraid of me."
Her eyes softened just a little at his tone, but she quickly hardened them again as she slowly came out from behind the boxes, still keeping the blaster on him. She nearly let out a noise of surprise when she saw him gradually raise his hands up in surrender.
She could have shot him then and there; he knew where she was, and she had no reason at all to believe that he wouldn't hurt her nor the Child.
Then, she took one long look at the bassinet, and the Child that was inside of it. Looking back at the man in armor, who had indeed saved the Child's life, she sunk to the ground, and placed her own blaster down.
He gave her a nod. "What is your name?"
No response. Only her lips in a thin line, and her eyes practically trying to bore into his soul. Sighing, the man stood up and held his hand out for her to take. She got up on her own, now avoiding his gaze at all cost.
He sighed, grabbing onto the bassinet and pulling it gently behind him. The Little One tensed at this, and he almost knew immediately; letting go of it to turn around and say.
"Stick close to me,"
###
Well, hello there everyone! It's been quite some time since I've been on , but I'm happy to be back for a while! I got Disney+ for Christmas, and instantly fell in love with "The Mandalorian". So much so, I had decided to write a small "what if" story where there was another child who was with "Baby Yoda". I hope you will enjoy what I have planned for these three characters, and the path I will take this story.