A/N: Hello everyone, I'm really sorry that it took so long getting this chapter out. But it's here now and just in time for spooky season too. I really hope this makes up for the long wait.
Chapter 28 - Haunted
Their guide had stopped just before reaching the base of the mountain and refused to go any further. She gave the coordinates while looking fearfully over Mando's shoulder at the silent forest, and as soon as they knew where to go, she'd turned on her heels and jogged back towards the camp.
As they stepped down from the mountain, what little wildlife had vanished and left the air charged with an eerie thunderous silence. Sinead looked up at the sun glinting through the thick canopy. The path their guide had given led around the village, walking along game trails that wound through the forest, sometimes doubling back on itself until eventually turning towards the center of the woods.
"What do you think it is?" Sinead asked, stepping around a root that had burst out of the ground.
"Don't know."
"C'mon! You don't have any theories at all?"
Mando shrugged. "Not spirits."
"Thank you. That only leaves everything else."
"You really think it's ghosts?" His skepticism came clearly through the voice modulator.
"I don't know what I think it is, but it's not impossible. If there's one thing I've learned is that there are forces beyond me and you. Or do you have a logical explanation for the kid's hand thing?" She wiggled her hand at him and let the silence stretch for a moment. "Didn't think so."
"Could be something in the water."
"I don't think it is." Because then why did she feel like someone was watching them back in the village?
The same purple flowers Sinead had seen shooting up between the undergrowth covered the ground in some spaces, crowding under the trees that seemed to grow taller and taller until they reached the sky. The sweet smell of decaying wood and decomposing leaves filled her nose.
It wasn't until they reached a small clearing and stopped for a break that Sinead realized how cold it had gotten; the sweat on the back of her neck had cooled, and she pulled her jacket back on. High above, the treetops seemed to shift and change, the leaves turning to catch the sunlight regardless of the lack of wind, and the forest floor was left in shadows. They walked on as more flowers grew up around the trees. It took them passing through the same clearing three times before they stopped.
"Uh, Mando?"
"I know. We're walking in circles."
Above, the treetops rustled in a faint breeze.
"I thought you had the coordinates." Something sour and scared sat at the back of Sinead's mouth, forcing the words out before she had a chance to stop. "How can we get lost when you have the coordinates?"
Mando glared at her, and she could feel the heat through his helmet. "Something is messing with the signal. We should've been there by now, but it's like ..."
"Like what?"
He rolled his shoulders and looked away. "Nevermind. We need to find out where we are. Can you climb?"
Her eyes fell on the nearest tree. The branches looked sturdy enough. "Yeah, I think so."
"Good. Find out where the sun is compared to us. If we can't find a way forward, we need to go back. I don't want to be out here when the sun sets."
"Copy that." Suddenly, with the prospect of a task that didn't include mindlessly walking, her mind felt clearer. "Just make sure to catch me if I fall."
"I will."
She glanced at him for half a second before hauling herself up on the lowest branch. It let out a creak but held her weight, and she carefully made her way up the coarse trunk. The branches were sticky with sap, and now and again there was a crackling noise that made her pause and wait with bated breath. She didn't look down. She slowed the further up she got as the branches became thinner. A faint wind rustled the leaves, and slivers of sunlight dabbled across her face. Then she broke through the top layer and her breath caught in her throat.
The forest blanketed the valley like a vast rolling sea bathed in buttery light from the setting sun. Streaks of red and pink tinted the sky, but a nagging thought kept her from being taken entirely by the view.
It was too early for the sun to be setting. How long had they been gone?
She looked down, glimpsing Mando between the leaves, but he was too far away to hear her, and even if he wasn't, it felt wrong to break the silence of the forest. Carefully, she shifted her weight and started the climb back down. The last glimpse of the valley slipped away, and she concentrated on making it down in one piece. As she descended so did the darkness.
Mando waited until she had both feet firmly on the ground before asking. "So?"
"The sun is setting." She brushed her sap-sticky hands on her thighs.
"That's not possible. We've only been walking for a couple of hours."
"I know, but that's what I saw. We should go back to the villagers, try again tomorrow." Now she was back on the ground, she noticed the gloom that had fallen and how the shadows grew darker. "If the sun's this way, we need to go this way." She pointed to the left of Mando. "We probably won't make it back before dark."
Mando made a noise and glanced around at the quiet trees. "You sure it's the right way?"
"Yeah." As she said it, a tiny seed of doubt grew in her mind and sprouted into dread once they started walking. The trees seemed to grow even taller and the air felt damp, making her clothes feel cold against her skin. Moss hung in thick carpets from dead branches. Something moved out of the corner of her eye, but there was nothing when she turned, only flower buds emerging from the deep shadows. Slowly, one of them started to open.
There was a sickly sweet smell on the wind.
Mando stopped before a fallen tree, the trunk almost as wide as Sinead was tall, and turned, hand on the grip of his blaster. "This isn't right."
"I don't know what happened, I was so sure ..." Her eyes darted round for any movement between the trees. More flowers had opened, revealing long purple petals. She jammed a thumb into the crook of her elbow until her fingers twitched and took a deep breath to clear her muddled mind.
"We need to find somewhere safe for the night." Mando's voice was tight. "We'll keep going tomorrow until we get to the mountains, then we can find the way ... wait, do you hear that?"
Sinead turned her head, but the forest was as eerily silent as it had always been. "I don't—"
With a crash, an animal burst through the undergrowth, a blur of legs and gnashing teeth, matted fur that hung in knots down its side. Its eyes were crazed, rooting Sinead to the ground.
Something slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her lungs
The beast opened its mouth and released a blood-curdling scream that shook the silent forest. It thrashed, smashing against a tree until leaves rained down, then bolted in the opposite direction of where it had come from.
Sinead couldn't breathe. She stared wide-eyed at where the beast had appeared, waiting for an eternity with Mando crouched over her. The hand holding his blaster shook imperceptibly.
Slowly he got up and helped Sinead to her feet. The world was still spinning.
"What was that?" It came out in a croak.
Mando didn't take his eyes off the path of destruction the beast had left; broken branches and torn up earth in the direction they were heading. "I don't know."
"It was-" she swallowed hard—" it was crazed with ... with something. Fear, maybe, or hunger?"
Mando moved to where the creature had broken through and peered into the gloom. "I don't think it was being chased."
"Not by anything we can see." She could taste it again, that tangy, sweet taste on the tip of her tongue, a burning sensation at the back of her throat. She coughed. "Konna was right. We should never have come here." Her skin had been stripped away, exposing her nerves to the world and every single sound or change made her heart speed up until she felt it in her fingertips.
"It can't be far now," Mando said. "If we keep walking we're bound to hit the other side." He gestured in the direction the creature had appeared. "Konna said the things couldn't reach up on the mountain."
"Are you crazy? Never go in the direction of-of whatever that was!" It was getting harder to breathe.
Mando rounded on her. "If we start changing course that'll just get us more lost than we already are. There's nothing out there." But even as he said it, Sinead's skin prickled as unseen eyes watched from every shadow. "Stick close to me." He started walking, and for one heart-stopping moment, she was frozen to the ground in fear before running to follow him as closely as she could without stepping on his heels.
It was a struggle to breathe, like the air was too thin. The ground grew soggy as if they had wandered into a hidden marsh that threatened to drag her down if she stopped for even a moment. It was all so wrong! Her vision blurred as tendrils of mist unfurled from behind the trees, reaching out to grab her.
Then she heard it: a howl on the wind that waned and waxed until it reached a crescendo, a single word that made her stop in her tracks.
Sinead!
She recognized the voice who was calling.
"Kyen?" She felt her lips move, but the sound was a warbled echo. There was only Kyen calling her name.
Whatever force holding her in place disappeared, and she stumbled towards the sound. The forest shifted in front of her eyes, trees moving out of her way even though she felt the sting of invisible branches rip her hair and slap her across the face. All thoughts of Mando or getting to safety had been replaced by a single repeating chant: I need to find him, I need to find him, I need to—
The ground disappeared under her feet, world turning into a jumble of shadowy trees and mist as she tumbled down, down, down, ending up with her face pressed into soft and sweet-smelling moss.
As she lay there, breathing through nausea and pain, more voices joined Kyen's call, strange and hollow as if she was hearing them through a damaged comlink, getting louder until they filled the air, drowning out the sound of Sinead's own labored breathing.
She lifted her head and mist filled her eyes, mouth, ears until she choked. Then, scrabbling to her knees, she lifted herself out of the mist that blanketed the hollow. It felt sticky like it was clinging to her even as she got to her feet.
The purple flowers had completely overtaken the hollow, and they had opened in the dusk, revealing wide purple petals with black veins that twisted and writhed in a dizzying pattern.
Her mouth was dry. Why was her mouth dry when everything else was sticky and wrong?
In the haze of the mist, the trees pulsed. The bark changed, swirling across the surface until a thousand eyes stared down at her as she took a shaky step and nearly crumpled to the ground; hot blood ran down her leg from a jagged gash. How did that happen? There was no pain, only a dull pressure that made her leg shake when she put weight on it.
A path opened up before her. With every step, the voices became louder.
Then she saw them.
Translucent shapes appeared between the trees, and a tremor ran through her body. She stumbled and hit the ground. The beings, the Lost reached out to her, mouth hanging slack-jawed while the howl rose to a scream that tore through Sinead's head and burned down her throat, into her chest until she couldn't breathe.
She tried to get up, but the ground had gone soft, trapping her. The apparitions moved closer, and she trashed against the force that held her down. A dull light glinted in their eyes.
Her hand closed around something burning hot, arm spasming by its own accord. The whip cut through the murk. The specters recoiled long enough for her to get to her feet.
"Back! Stay back!" The scream spilled from her lips like burning blood. She clutched the whip to her chest with a shaking hand.
Sinead!
The sound had been so close. Kyen was close!
She ran, lungs burning too fiercely for her to call out. The Lost followed, a cold presence that grabbed at her hair and tried to pull her back. The forest changed all around her, pulsing and twisting. Unblinking eyes stared at her from the shadows.
Sinead!
Her legs burned, but the Lost closed in around her no matter how fast she ran. A scream tore through her throat, but the sound came out dull and faded.
Suddenly the trees parted, and she found him.
Kyen stood bathed in shadow and mist, but she would have known him anywhere; dark curly hair framed a pale face, freckles dusting his cheeks in a familiar pattern that she could pick out in her sleep. He wore the palace garb just like the last time she saw him. The dark red fabric rustled in an invisible wind.
"K ...Kyen?" she reached out to him.
At the sound of her voice, he moved. Sudden icy realization made her heart seize to a halt.
This was wrong. It was all so wrong.
Kyen moved like a puppet on a string. Like a dead man.
She tried to back away, but the Lost had pinned her in. Kyen's hands closed around her upper arms and pulled her to her feet. When had she fallen? His hands were so cold. This close, his skin was grey and smooth as marble. Eyes stared at her without seeing.
"No! NO!" She trashed against him, placing both hands on his chest to push away, but his grip was like a vice, and he was so, so cold.
"Kyen! Kyen, come back! I promise I'll find you!" the world spun, and Sinead fought her body to keep standing. "I-I ..." everything grew dark except Kyen's glowing, dead eyes ... "promise .."
Then everything went black.
…
Din swallowed hard and wet his lips. There was something wrong besides the obvious sudden nightfall, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The forest, despite the concerning lack of wildlife, felt alive. His instincts screamed at him to get out, find shelter and regroup, but the more he walked, the deeper the forest seemed to get. And then there was Sinead ...
He glanced back to where she was walking behind him, head swiveling like she was listening to something far away, mouth moving in a silent stream of words. Was she praying? She had never mentioned believing in anything. Then again, there were a lot of things she didn't mention. He didn't really know her.
There was the smell again! It coated his tongue and thoughts and sent his brain into a dizzying spin; every stray thought threatened to pull him in the wrong direction. A pillar of moonlight shooting down through the canopy, an old bird-nest, long abandoned, the sound of Sinead walking right behind him. He activated the atmospheric processor in his helmet, letting the filter clean the worst of the smell out.
He bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to break the skin, and the pain and taste of blood lifted the mist in his mind just long enough for him to notice the actual mist gathering around the tree roots. It moved like water across the ground and seemed to cling to his leg when it finally reached him. The cold sent a shock through his system.
The flowers had opened during their walk, and bursts of purple covered the ground, peeking up from the mist.
"You seen anything like this?" He turned around to face Sinead, and his heart shuddered in his chest.
She was gone.
Din's lungs seized as he tried to breathe in. The mist swirled slowly where she should have been. "Sinead?" his voice echoed between the trees until it petered out into nothing. "Sinead!"
He started running back the way they'd come, but it felt like he wasn't moving even as the trees rushed past him. Time and space stood still while the forest moved. His lungs burned with fetid air despite the atmospheric processor.
Finally reason broke through the panic, and he slowed to a halt. Running blindly through the forest wouldn't help. He had to think, but his mind wouldn't cooperate. Something was doing this, something that had also gotten to Sinead.
He looked around the shadowy forest at the mist that swirled between the trees. The way it moved didn't look natural. He reached out and watched as strange particles landed on his gloved hand, like pollen. Realization hit and something hard and icy dropped into the pit of his stomach.
A sudden scream broke the silence of the forest, and Din ran. Black spots appeared at the edge of his vision.
Outside his helmet, the mist swirled. He forced himself to breathe evenly, blood pounding in his ears drowning out everything else. The trees shifted and grew closer.
His lungs were burning.
Finally, he found her.
"Sinead?"
She stood in the middle of a small clearing, swaying back and forth like a pendulum, and she started at the sound of his voice, turning around so fast she nearly lost her balance. Clumps of dirt were stuck in her hair, and he could see the whites of her eyes. His breath caught when his eyes fell on the whip clutched in her hand. It glinted in the moonlight. Her thumb hovered over the button.
"Sinead …" It came out as a croak. He held his hands, palms up like he was approaching a wild animal. "Put down the whip, okay? You're safe." He took a careful step toward her. She flinched. "Listen to me. There's something in the air. This isn't real. Whatever you're seeing isn't real."
Sinead's darting eyes finally landed on him, and her face morphed into a sudden, blood-curdling terror that made Din's muscles tense as if ready for a fight.
The whip fell from her hands, and she stumbled back. Din moved without a second thought, crossed the space between them, and grabbed her by the arm, keeping her upright. All her strength had gone out of her, and she shivered.
"No! No!" she shrieked, beating her fists against his chest plate, the words running together into an incomprehensible scream.
"Calm down! I got you …" He needed to get her out of there before it was too late.
"I … I'm—"
Then she folded up with a strangled gasp.
"No!" He couldn't breathe. Sinead hung limply in his arms. He shook her, and her head lolled from side to side. "Sinead! C'mon…" but her shallow breaths were the only sign of life.
He had to get out of there.
He lifted her with a grunt, throwing her over his shoulder. Something glinted by his feet. The whip was lying on the ground nearly obscured by the thick mist. He grabbed it and hooked it on his belt.
With the weight of Sinead literally resting on his shoulder, Din set off running. He didn't care where he was going as long as Sinead got out of there. The mist reached out to grab at him.
Using the dim moonlight, he navigated the forest. He didn't have time to stop and take out the light. He didn't have time for anything. Every second, Sinead was exposed to more of whatever was in the air. She hung limply across his shoulder, completely lifeless. If only she spoke, made some noise to reassure him that she was alright, was going to be alright, the nauseating, burning feeling in his chest would lessen and he could breathe again.
Sweat dripped into his eyes, making them sting. His whole body was on fire and freezing at the same time.
And then, the ground started to rise. Din scrambled up the slope, keeping one arm wrapped around Sinead's thighs and the other grappling for anything to help him keep momentum. Dead leaves slid beneath his feet, and he let out a frustrated grunt.
The terrain evened out a little, and the trees became sparse enough that the stars were visible between the leaves. Silver moonlight dappled the ground, and Din's knees nearly buckled when his eyes fell on a cave set into the cliffside.
It was more hollow than a cave, but it was better than nothing; it was deep enough to provide shelter from the wind. Din could see the valley unfurling through a gap in the trees, glowing with moonlight. Konna had said that the apparitions never went up on the mountain. This had to be high enough.
He knelt on the rock floor and carefully pulled Sinead off his shoulder, laying her on the ground. Her breathing was too shallow. Fear wrapped around his chest, and he brushed some dirty strands of hair away from her face. His hands were shaking. It had to be the toxin still in his system.
Din didn't notice the discomfort from crouching on the ground for so long. He watched in the darkness as a shadow passed over her face, and she frowned, a line appearing between her brows. Unthinking, Din reached out and pressed a finger to her forehead as if he could smooth out the frown. Her lips parted and she made a sound, barely more than an exhale, and relaxed into his hand. It only took him a second to realize what he was doing and snatch his hand back, gritting his teeth in an attempt to distract himself from the flush creeping up his neck. He was too old for something like that.
Sinead's face drew into another frown, and a shiver went through her body, making her curl in on herself. She looked so small. With slow, almost hesitant movements, he pulled off his cloak and covered the sleeping form. She made a sound, and one hand gripped the fabric and drew it closer to her chest. It felt wrong seeing her so weak and defenseless.
Leaving behind a canteen filled with water, he went out to gather wood for a fire. He couldn't just sit there and wait for her to wake up by herself. This planet's moon was large, and its silver light illuminated the ground and turned everything black and white. When he got back to the cave, he found Sinead curled up on the floor where he left her, still sleeping. Now and again, her face would twitch, eyes moving under her eyelids.
Once the fire was going at the mouth of the cave, there wasn't anything else to do, so Din leaned back against the wall and tried not to think about Sinead.
The mountain was silent except for the crackling of the fire and the faint sound of wind rustling the leaves just outside the cave. He could feel the warmth through his armor, and he cleared his throat, fighting the urge to close his eyes.
A hand landed on his thigh, and his eyes flew open; Sinead looked up at him with dark, confused eyes. "What happened?" It came out in a croak.
"You ..." For a moment, he didn't know what to say, the words jumbling together until his mind went blank. Then, finally, he swallowed around a lump in his throat. "How're you feeling?"
Her lips twitched into an approximation of a smile, and Din's chest felt tight.
"Never better." She struggled to sit up, and Din grabbed her shoulders, gently pulling her to sit against the rock wall. "Water?"
He handed her the canteen, and he fed the fire while she drank. The canteen made a hollow thud as she set it down on the hard floor. "Where are we?" Her voice was still weak, but it sounded clearer.
"Somewhere on the mountain. I had to find higher ground." He sat back against the wall when the tinder caught and the cave lit up with flickering light. "There is some sort of toxin in the air. I don't know where it's coming from, but I think it's what drove the villagers away."
"Great, so Yvinne was right. I was almost hoping it really was ghosts." Sinead pulled the cloak closer around herself, wincing as she stretched her legs out towards the fire.
"Does it hurt?"
"My chest is ... I'll be okay."
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Sinead wet her lips and stared into the fire. "I remember falling down." Her brows knitted. "There was this ... thing in the air. Like mist, almost? But it didn't move like real mist."
"The toxin."
"Yeah." An unreadable emotion crossed her face. "How come you didn't get affected?"
"My helmet. The atmospheric processor bought us enough time to get out of there."
She yawned and leaned her head back against the wall. "You Mandalorians really do think of everything."
For some reason, her comment made his heart beat faster, and he stared intently at his right knee where the beskar flickered in the firelight.
He started when Sinead suddenly leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. There was silence for a beat, then "is this okay?"
"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "S' fine." The fire crackled and sent a cloud of sparks into the night. It couldn't be comfortable resting against the cold beskar. "Uh, do you want me to …"
Sinead lifted her head. "Huh?"
Instead of answering, Din removed the pauldron before he had time to think it through. It made a definite clank that seemed to echo as he placed it on the ground. He tried not to move when Sinead rested her head back on his shoulder, curling her legs up and resting most of her weight against him. Was it his imagination or could he feel the heat from her through his clothes?
He was watching a mass of mushrooms growing in the cracks in the wall, sure that Sinead had fallen asleep when she spoke. "Will you tell me something?"
"What do you wanna know?" He spoke softly as if the mere sound of his voice would push her away.
"I don't really know." She shifted against him. "I just need to hear your voice. I don't... I had a nightmare ... before I woke up."
Heat pricked up his neck, and his mind was completely blank except for the acute realization that she wanted to hear his voice.
"Okay ... so how'd you get the Crest?"
"It's not a very interesting story."
She yawned. "Tell me anyway."
He did. He was halfway through the story of Sorgan and the people there when he noticed her breathing had gotten deeper and more regular and that her head felt heavier on his shoulder. "Sinead?" He whispered, but there was no answer. Her hand had slipped out from under the cloak and was lying limply in her lap, illuminated by the dying fire. Din's own hand curled into a fist and he forced himself to look away.
The night stretched out endlessly before him, and he tried to relax into his armor, eyes on the smoldering embers that were all that remained of the fire. He could feel Sinead breathe against his side, and he closed his eyes and tried to match it with his own.