Oops it's me with another story idea again! For all you Star Wars fans out there, I have been unable to think of anything else except Din Djarin for the past couple weeks and IT FINALLY MOTIVATED ME to start this story. This is a Din/OC and it's a huge slowburn, as you can see from the very beginning. I'm so happy I was able to get this out before the end of the year and it's a great way to end it!
Prologue: The Fall
Her fingers drummed against the table of the booth she had been sat in, grey eyes narrowing at the patrons of the bar. Nira's jaw clenched as she scanned the area, looking for the man who had summoned her here. Who had promised her safety.
Supposedly, someone her father had known. Someone her mother had begged her to look for before entering an early grave.
She took a large gulp of her drink and scanned the room once again, her shoulders tensing as time continued to tick by.
The Outer Rim was not a place she liked to visit, especially after her little scourge in Tattooine a few years ago.
Although now she was on a different planet, a lot colder than the binary sun system and far less welcoming as well. Most inhabitants were cozied up in furs or fighting each other to feel the smallest bit of the fire on their faces. Nira was bundled up along with them, her thermals sticking to her body from all the sweat she had begun to accumulate, the rough furs damp against what bare skin she was showing.
The clouds were rolling in, no doubt bringing a blizzard with them. Nira's grey eyes narrowed again.
Too much time had passed.
Where was he?
The doors to the bar hissed open, the constant chatter coming to a halt as heavy footsteps clanked against the floor. Nira's hand tightened on her blaster, ready to draw it at any moment.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
She inhaled deeply.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
She willed herself to be anywhere but here. To have just a bit more time.
The clanking stopped. She slowly opened her eyes and brought them to meet the harsh helmet obscuring her captor's face.
His fob was pointed directly at her, and his head tilted slightly. Her fingers stopped drumming, clenching themselves into a fist as she kept her hand firmly on her blaster.
She stared into the dark glass of the Mandalorian's helmet, where his eyes would be if he took off the damn thing. She wondered what they were looking at. What color they were. She wondered what they felt.
Eyes give everything away. Her mother had told her once.
It made sense for a Mandalorian to never remove his helmet, she realized. A strong tactical advantage. Their opponent could never know what was coming.
"Let me guess," She spoke first, her voice tight and almost monotone, "You're here to bring me in cold?"
The Mandalorian said nothing.
Nira was not afraid of him. She jutted her chin out with a hard look on her face, eyebrow raised in a challenge.
Her heart began to beat faster and faster.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
The Mandalorian's hand fell to his side.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
She gripped the table tightly.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
A blaster shot off.
Dodging the red beam, Nira slid out of the booth, her foot colliding with the hunter's gut, where his armor left just the tiniest bit of exposure. He doubled over slightly before standing up again. Nira sprinted toward the door, but her feet were pulled underneath her, wrapped in the Mandalorian's wire.
She shot a few rounds off her blaster, severing the cord and forcing the bounty hunter back. She scrambled up and her boots slapped the snowy ground, almost slipping out underneath her as she pushed through the door, wind slapping her in the face while snow flurried around her. Her skin erupted into goosebumps even with the thick furs on, scanning the horizon quickly for any means of escape.
Catching sight of what she was looking for, she bolted toward a lone speeder, tossing the disgruntled owner out of the cockpit and snatching the starter from him. Without wasting any more time, she kicked the machine into gear, ducking the blaster fire coming from the bounty hunter as she weaved through the streets of the desolate planet, waving people out of the way as she did.
The sound of his blaster echoed in her mind, her grip white-knuckled on the speeder. Nira turned harshly down one of the alleys, almost clipping a nice couple who were coming out of a cantina. The wind turned her face red, stinging her cheeks as she flew against it.
She slammed on the breaks as she came face to face with the edge of the cliffside, leaving her no choice but to face the bounty hunter herself.
Nira ditched the speeder and rushed down the snowy terrain, boots slipping and sliding as she tried to find another way out.
Red flew past her ear and nicked the building beside her, the heat of the laser snipping off a lock of her hair.
"That was a warning shot." The bounty hunter warned. "The next one won't be."
Her boots teetered against the edge of the cliffside, the sound of bouncing rocks landing on the large sheet of ice below. The river wasn't even breaking apart. It was too cold for it.
Nira froze, her hand resting on her hip, where that dreaded weapon awaited, asking to be used for the first time in a long time. It had called to her all those years ago, and she had never sold it, despite the numerous times it would fetch a higher price than her own kills.
Was it worth it?
The empire was falling. She'd heard the whispers. Of a hero from Tattooine. A general from Alderaan. A smuggler from Corellia.
But how much of it were whispers? How much of it was truth?
All of it or none of it, her mother's voice hissed in her mind.
The footsteps grew closer, and Nira realized she didn't have a choice. If she wanted to live, she needed to act now.
Her breath was a condensed cloud of determination, and before she could even activate the weapon, something burned through the center of her chest, and for a moment she thought she caught the slightest bit of remorse coming from the Mandalorian. But she knew it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. There was nothing behind that helmet.
Nothing human anyway.
Her gaze fell to the gaping hole where her chest had once been, the sound of her heartbeat disappearing, breath cut short as she met the Mandalorian's helmet once more.
"Help—"
The word slipped past her lips and she fell.
White and grey and blue mixed together as a series of flashes moved across her vision, moments too fleeting and too fast to count them all. She saw her mother. The bare silhouette of her father, and the blaster fire that had taken them out too.
It burns.
It burns.
It burns.
A loud crack! filled her ears and she descended into darkness.
