A dark figure…. A man wearing a mask, and a gun pointed directly at me. "Saoirse Jinn, consider this a death sentence by the order of the Imperial Empire. I don't like killing girls, but for your bounty, I'll make an exception." Fear- paralyzing fear. I'd never felt that way before….
My eyes shot open as I let out a scream. My upper half immediately rose up in a panic. It took me a second to realize that it was only a dream… a nightmare. The door to my compact bedroom was closed… for some reason. I opened it and listened. Quiet murmurs from the front dock. Seriously, didn't any of these men ever need any sleep. Too awake now to go back to sleep, I climbed out from my hole and approached them. A blanket was wrapped around me for extra warmth and comfort.
They all looked surprised to see me. What's more, it appeared as if I had interrupted an argument; specifically, a spat between Kuiill and Carl. "Saoirse, did we wait you up?" Carl asked me mildly concerned. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. "Couldn't sleep," I half-lied, not in the mood to relay the details of my bad dream. Mando turned to Kuiil.
"Tell you what. I could really use your craftwork right now. Can you pad that bed so Saoirse can sleep better?" Kuill went over to peer into my little room; his eyes scanned all over it. "I shall fabricate a better one. Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skills of one's hands." Oh, shots fired! Why would he say something like that to Carl? Just what were they fighting about before I got up?
"Are you unable to sleep, Master?" We all glanced behind us to see the droid approach me. Wait, is it referring to me? Did it just call me "master"? Carl's arms stiffened and Mando also tensed. "Saoirse," the Mandalorian called me to his side. The robot obviously wasn't able to read the mood of the room, continuing to speak to me. "Shall I prepare you a warm beverage?" It inquired to me. "She's not thirsty," Mando answered for me. While Carl and I gazed over at Mando, the bot finally left us. But the Mandalorian was having none of it; his head spun so to face all of us.
"Under no circumstances does that thing leave the ship." "You got a real thing for droids, don't you?" Carl asked, though he also wasn't smiling. "I got a real thing for "that" droid," the Mandalorian fired back. "The Ugnaught said he rewired it," Carl countered his rebuttal. "That droid was designed to kill things. I don't care how much wiring he replaced; it goes against its nature." "Is that true?" I asked no one in particular. I didn't know droids worked that way; I thought they could be programmed this way and that. I was unaware that they had "natures".
Carl glanced my way then back at Mando. "Oh, it shouldn't be a long job anyway. You take out the head and the rest will run like rats." Mando… My mouth opened slightly as I stared at the back of the Mandalorian's helmet. That's when Carl looked at me again. A grin grew across his lips after a moment. It was my turn for my eyes to grow wide as a hand reached across my back; it rested on my shoulder gently. I blinked to see Carl grinning at me in this tender way. "You're tired, aren't you? You can sleep here like this, if you like….. Just until Kuiil's done with your bed," I felt the side of Carl's body press into mine. My mouth opened to politely decline but no words came out. I think I was too stunned and embarrassed at the moment. It didn't help either that Mando was watching…..
"There's a cot you can sleep on," the Mandalorian pointed off to the side were my fold-out cot was currently being stored. Carl's grin began to fade as I got up to go fetch it. "Here, I'll help," the ex-shock trooper followed me, pulling the cart out and setting it up for me. I laid down on it and smiled warmly at the two men. "Good night." "Sleep well, Saoirse," Carl sighed. Mando didn't say anything but I knew… I already knew. With one last look at them, I gently shut my eyes and drifted off into a safer, denser world. And I didn't wake up until the next morning when we landed.
To my horror, the scary man from the hologram was already there waiting for us to arrive; him and his cronies. Mando gave me my dark blue cloak to wear; with the hood up, of course. Kuiil got the three blurrgs he had brought ready and we mounted them. Mando helped me up onto it's back first, then climbed on in front of me; Carl and Kuiil were riding the other two. I blushed as the Mandalorian's helmet darted around to face me. "Hold on," he instructed. Hold on… to Mando? Like put my arms around his waist? I did as I was told, slowly wrapped both arms around his armoured exterior. My cheeks sizzled even redder when I pulled myself up into his back. Aside from the couple of times we've held each other, this was the closest we'd ever been together. I was practically hugging him from behind! Ok, that fact alone made me feel better about this whole scenario…. a bit.
My nerves completely shattered however, when I saw his face again. Him- that man who kept calling Mando; the one who tried to kill us. My arms instinctively tightened around the Mandalorian's waist. I'll admit, I was scared of him; not so much that he wanted to kill me but Mando…. Our two sides met halfway: him and his thugs walking on foot while we rode towards them. We all stopped just some feet ahead of each other.
"Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando, but things have gotten….. complicated since you were last here." Mando's helmet merely turned to the men accompanying the scary man; I could feel by the swell of his muscles that he was not pleased with them. I, meanwhile, tried to be as low, meek, and most of all hidden from their line of view. I sure Carl and Kuiil caught notice of this but they graciously did everything in their power not to draw attention to me.
Scary man planted his hands firmly on his hips. "It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we've both provided a security detail." No one said anything to this; the atmosphere was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. When nobody replied, scary man pointed to Carl. "I recommend the shock trooper guards the ship. These lava fields are lousy with Jawas." More of these "Jawa" creatures- I remember what they did to that guy's leg back at the tavern. I don't think I'd like to meet a Jawa anytime soon.
"He's coming with me," Mando affirmed. This didn't seem to please scary man over here. "But the town is now run by ex-Empire. If a rebel Dropper is with us, they'll all get their hackles up." "She's coming," I think the Mandalorian was losing his patience; not that I blame him. Carl simply peered to his side at Mando, then back at scary man. "Fine… fine. At least cover your tattoo; no need to flaunt it. Now, where's the girl?" Both scary man's hands flew out at his sides.
My heart skipped a beat as I held onto Mando tighter- if that were even possible. Kuiil and Carl silently glanced to Mando at the same time, then back to me. Scary man's head leaned to the left side so to spot me; his face lit up. "There you are!" I felt like I was going to cry when he came over to us. He beamed up at me with an elated expression. "So, you're what all the fuss is about?" He sized me once over and then held out his hand for me. "May I?" Scary man asked.
Everything and everyone were on pins and needles; the mood was so tense and dangerous, I hated it. I didn't do or say anything; just kept moving my frightened stare between his hand and his eyes. "Now, now; there's nothing to be afraid of," he cooed like he didn't comprehend how terrifying this was for me. Against my better judgement, I took his hand and let him help me to my feet. Ok, that's when things got real. Mando ran his hand over his blaster; Carl looked like he was about to deck scary man in the face; and one of scary man's goons gripped his spear. One wrong move and a fight would break out- we were merely a hair away.
Scary man's eyes kept scanning me up and down, getting more intense each time. "Well now, look at you. You're a lot… smaller than I remember you being," his gaze narrowed menacingly. "She's pretty," one of his cronies had the misfortunate to say. I'm pretty sure all of them wanted to kill each other in at the moment. I leaned back, pressing myself into the side of the blurrg when scary man's head moved slightly forward. Our eyes locked for a second and I swore I was seconds away from breaking out into tears. "What a precious creature you are… I can see why you didn't want to harm a hair on her lovely head, Mando."
I think that's when Mando reached his breaking point; he decided that enough was enough. I suddenly felt two arms grab me from behind and hoist me up. All present at the meeting watched as the Mandalorian lifted me back onto the blurrg safely behind him. Scary guy eyed Mando, obviously unimpressed and somewhat upset by this sudden act of mistrust. But Mando stayed firm and I wrapped my arms around his waist again. It was only like this that I felt truly secure here with all of them.
Back onto his hips scary man's hands went. The atmosphere was still suffocating, despite me being near Mando again. "Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all," scary man announced. No one replied yet again- I think that was common when this guy talked. "The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, then camp out on the riverbank. And we can make our way into town at first light."