Contracted - Part 1
The trip was relatively uneventful, and the planet came into view after only a short time, she found herself anxious, feeling trepidation at the journey to come. Her fingers flexed on the controls as she took a deep breath, clearing her mind as her training had taught her, there was no reason for fear. She was trained for this.
The atmosphere entry was a little bumpy and as she drew closer and Sheena instructed her to put on her safety harness.
"Prepare for descent." Sheena muttered, taking over the landing protocols. Zaiya would be glad when she was gone, the woman didn't trust her to do anything! She might be young, only 13 standard years of age, but she was a fully fledged Nightsister and Mother Talzin at least, treated her as one.
A voice came over the intercom, asking for registry details. Sheena supplied them promptly, although a purposefully vague answer, and shortly after, they were given permission to dock in Hangar J27.
The hangar was bustling with noise and activity, so many different species and droids moving back and forth talking, working and seeing to their own cargo or ships. Zaiya had never seen so many people before! It was… amazing.
"This is only a small outpost, put your eyes back in your head." Sheene muttered gruffly as she stomped past the girl. A frowning pout crossed Zaiya's face, glowering into the back of Sheena's head. "Hurry up." The battlemaster snapped, gesturing with a flick of her wrist. The younger of the two had to nearly run to keep up, seeing as her short legs were no match for the adult's pace.
Anger bubbled up in her chest, stupid woman, she was making a fool of her! Zaiya huffed as she raced after the Nightsister, turning through alleys, taking turns, down a road. Eyes watched them, curious and some sinister as they passed through the pathways. Finally, after what seemed like an age they arrived at their targeted destination: a dank little cantina known as the Wayfarer.
Sheena pushed the doors open and the two stepped inside. There was chatter, likely some people knew what the crimson robes they wore meant. Sheena approached the bartender, muttering the name of the man they were here to see. The besalisk bartender used one of his four arms to point at a distant part of the cantina, past a droid where a Weequay stood beside a… Mandalorian? The armour was unmistakable, the dark haired man's helmet on the table between the two. Sheena headed over, a frown visible even from where Zaiya stood. The weequay was telling some wild tale, his gravelly voice animated as he waved his arms about, the Mandalorian just chuckled.
"Hondo Ohnaka?" Sheena asked as she approached. Clearly she had been hoping it was the Mandalorian, but when the weequay faced them, brightly addressing the nightsister, her expression soured.
"Ah! You must be the lovely poison flower we are to escort. I must say, it is not everyday a beautiful woman pays me so much to keep her company!" He chuckled, glancing at the Mandalorian.
"The contract was just for you, who is this?" Sheena jerked her head to the armoured man beside them.
"Do not worry, since you are paying me so much, I figured… a little extra security does not go astray." He grinned, "can I buy you a drink before we set off?" His voice got low as he leant forward, a smug grin on his lips. Zaiya rolled her eyes, males here were worse than the Nightbrothers at home.
"I am not staying." Sheena interjected coldly. "Your 'company' is this one." Sheena stepped aside and finally the two men laid eyes on the barely teenage Zaiya.
"What." Hondo blurted.
"Are you serious?" The mandalorian raised a brow, both confused.
"Now hold on-!" Hondo exclaimed, slamming his cup down on the table, spilling it a little. "Do I look like a babysitter?" He scoffed, "No deal! This is ridiculous! I am in transport, not child care!"
"The deal was to take a Nightsister and escort her where she needs to go." Sheena replied through grit teeth.
"Are all your Nightsisters so… miniature?" Asked the human, leaning on the table with one elbow, looking at the girl.
Sheena was losing her patience; "If you want to be paid, then you will do as the contract states-"
Hondo was not convinced. "And get myself killed in the process? That is hardly profitable and besides, what kind of Nightsister can't look after herself-"
"I can kill a rancor." Zaiya stated suddenly, cutting through the conversation. She met Hondo's eyes with her own and he seemed a little unsettled.
"She can." Sheena agreed, "by herself. I have seen it, though… she tends to prefer to tame them." Zaiya didn't know if that was a compliment or an insult.
Hondo's mouth flapped open and closed for a moment, weighing up his option in his head. The man beside him peered more closely at the girl.
"A rancor huh? Sure you're not of mandalorian blood?" he grinned with a chuckle.
"She might be half." Sheena muttered, then paused, looking at the confused expression on the child's face. "What? Your mother didn't tell you?" Zaiya just blinked. Why was this the moment her lineage was coming to light?
"Well, that is… very touching but if you would like us to take this… uh… miniature sister with us, we will need something upfront… at least half." He laced his fingers together as he looked at Sheena.
"There's some in the ship, but I warn you, a double cross to a Nightsister will end badly for you." Sheena hissed warningly. Hondo held a hand over his chest.
"I solemnly swear, the child will not come to harm whilst I am being paid to keep her alive." He grinned innocently, beling the words out of his mouth. Zaiya raised a brow. This guy was… kind of weird.
Eventually they seemed to come to an agreement and Sheena guided them all back to the hangar, there were a few cases of some substance that Hondo and the Mandalorian seemed to take great interest in. Hondo quickly called for droids to take the cases to his own, larger ship in another hangar.
This was all very unusual for her, but her curiosity was winning out, looking the man over, wondering about him. Did his skin feel like a rough hide? Was he uncomfortable like that? Did he have to use special brushes to clean the horns on either side of his face? Her head tilted to the side, a slight frown on her face as she looked at him. Sheena and he spoke a while until he eventually noticed her staring and seemed startled.
"Why is she looking at me like that?" he asked nervously.
"Maybe she wants to cook and eat you." Sheena laughed, "we are carnivores after all." a cruel grin crossed her face, making Hondo shiver. Zaiya restrained from rolling her eyes and turned her attention to the helmet under the mandalorian's arm. "I will take my leave." Sheena stated suddenly, drawing her gaze to the older Sister. "Don't die Zaiya." was all the Battlemaster stated, before turning on her heel and returning to the small shuttle, taking off a few minutes later.
"Well, are you all so… emotional?" Hondo asked raising a brow.
"That was practically weeping for her." Zaiya replied in a deadpan manner. The weequay suddenly let out a bark of laughter.
"Oh so you do have a sense of humour!" He chuckled, grinning. "I take it back, I think I like this one." he gestured at her while looking at the Mandalorian. Which prompted another curiousity from the girl.
"What's your name?" She asked, looking at the warrior. The man blinked, having not been expecting the question.
"Adaji Treslan." He stated simply.
"I am called Zaiya Valessa." Zaiya responded, and after a moment of appraisal, the strap to her bag found her hand and she hoisted it over her shoulder. "They say your people are warriors." It was more a statement than a question, but it seemed he felt compelled to answer.
"The best warriors, our people even learned to take down Jedi." He grinned wickedly, as though trying to scare her.
"Interesting. Have you?" she asked with a sly smile. The look on the warriors face faltered.
"Not personally, but it's not-"
"Maybe I will kill one before you?" Zaiya asked with raised brows and a sweet smile. Adaji looked perturbed.
"We will not be messing with Jedi if we can help it!" Hondo exclaimed, "Now, come come, we will get underway." he waved his hands, clapping them together as he directed them to his ship.
It was a more mid-size, and at least three times the size of the single person pod-like ship she had arrived in. It seemed to be in decent repair, though there were a few blast marks along one side, and some of the panels and visible parts were mismatched.
Likely stolen or salvaged. Zaiya thought to herself as she followed Hondo and Adaji up the ramp. It seemed the little droids had loaded everything and were waiting inside, prepping the ship for take off. Zaiya looked around curiously, the place looked like organised chaos. Various parts and junk scattered about. Were all smugglers and bounty hunters so… dirty? Her nose crinkled slightly at the strange smell and messy conditions. Maybe it was just because they were men?
Laughter from the mandalorian broke her from her thought, he seemed to find her expression amusing.
"Well, you can handle a rancor but not a little mess?" He grinned, heading to the cockpit. Zaiya was directed to her temporary quarters by the droid and given a brief tour of the ship. She was not overly impressed, telling the droid he needed to clean the areas she would use immediately.
"Hey, hey!" Hondo grumbled as she returned to the main living quarters. "You have been here for five minutes and think you can command my droids? Did the witches not teach you manners while you were killing those beasties?"
"Did your mother not teach you that it's only manners to tidy up when you have a guest?" Zaiya retorted sharply. They could hear Adaji laughing from the cockpit at that. Hondo paused, then held up his hands, seemingly deeming this fight not worth his time.
"Fine, fine fair enough. But don't think you can do as you like on my ship!" He huffed. Zaiya smiled sweetly, tilting her head slightly.
"I wouldn't dream of it… Captain." She spoke so kindly, though it had the desired effect, Hondo looking at her with a disturbed expression.
"I don't know if I prefer you being cute or creepy." he muttered. Zaiya suppressed a laugh as she headed into the cockpit herself, leaving Hondo muttering to himself. The cockpit was roomy and there was plenty of space for her to sit in the co-pilot's seat and watch the mandalorian with interest. He ignored her at first, continuing with his tasks, beginning the takeoff sequence, and bringing the ship out of the hangar carefully. Her eyes watched intently, trying to remember which buttons he pressed and switches he flicked as he navigated the control panel. Once they were out of the hangar and in the atmosphere, he finally seemed to decide he was tired of her gaze.
"Alright, why are you staring at me?" he asked with a sigh.
"I have not flown many ships, I am learning." She stated, as if it were obvious. The bounty hunter tilted his head, his helmet still by his side. It was curious, didn't most mandalorians keep their helmets on at all times?
"You… can't fly?" He asked, frowning.
"I can, but I have not flown such a large ship before and I will take any opportunity to increase my skills." She responded calmly. The mando just shrugged.
"Alright, well just keep out of my way then." he muttered, shaking his head and returning to piloting.
"So where are we going?" She asked finally, having waited long enough for them to ask.
"Huh? It's your escort, why wouldn't you know?" He grunted with a confused look.
"Well, neither of you have asked where I want to go yet. Was the money that good that you forgot about the destination?" She asked, a grin crossing her mouth. The side of Adaji's mouth twitched and he turned to look at her.
"Fine. I'll bite, where is it you would like to go, little one?" He retorted smugly, reminding her that she needed them as her way to get around without being stopped due to her age. Not many would take a little girl seriously. Her grin dropped, seemed he was not so stupid after all.
"Coruscant." She told him.
"Coruscant?" he almost laughed, "You planning on getting a senator's autograph? There's nothing there for a pint-sized rancor killer like you." Adaji rolled his eyes, "Why would you want to go there?" Zaiya paused, there was no way she was planning on revealing her true intentions to these men, the less they knew, the less they could use against her. She would not reveal to them the truth about her friend, or about his connection to Mother Talzin.
"I have to meet a contact." She lied, stone faced as she locked gazes with their pilot.
He frowned, "You have made a lot of effort for the sake of meeting a contact."
"That's not really your business is it?" She shrugged in response. The mercenary stared her down for a moment, then shrugged himself.
"Fair enough, no questions then." He muttered, "To Coruscant then-" he began to punch in the information when Hondo's… dulcet voice crashed through the cockpit.
"No no no! We have to get back to Florrum to drop off the goods before we go anywhere!" he cried dramatically, waving his hands about. "Besides, what is the rush, you have to be somewhere immediately, do you?" He paused on seeing Zaiya in the co-pilots seat. "What are you doing? This is my chair! Go go go go!" he waved his hands in a 'shooing' motion as he approached. The Nightsister rolled her eyes and hopped up quickly, leaving the seat free for the strange weequay. She perched beside them, still watching curiously. "Why do you insist on sitting there like some kind of Rakhawk?" Hondo sighed, exasperated.
"She's learning." Adaji explained sardonically.
"Do I look like a preschool teacher?" Hondo groaned.
"I am right here." Zaiya frowned, crossing her arms.
"Oh good, you have self-awareness, now go sit down if you must stay here, I do not enjoy being watched like that." Hondo was so casual, considering he knew what she could do. She supposed that it was likely because he had not seen for himself… or perhaps he simply had not gotten over her size, seeing as she only reached past his shoulder. She huffed to herself as she sat in the passenger seat behind Hondo. She was actually tall for her age. Stupid smuggler.
They jumped to lightspeed a short time later, heading for Florrum. Zaiya chose patience in this matter, though she was anxious to find that weasel, Sidious and liberate her friend, she had to ensure that these two were not in the mood to betray her. That would be… inconvenient. Though she was aware it was risky… her curiosity won out. She had never been off-world before, and she wanted to learn more about it's working first hand, before she had to infiltrate Coruscant. She would not be able to afford slip-ups, and so she rationalised that in order to best gain success. She remained silent for the majority of the take off just watching and listening to the two banter back and forth. She learned a little about the two of them by observing, Hondo was a part of the 'Ohnaka transport company', one he had begun a short time ago, if anything he was saying was correct. She suspected it was more than simply transport and more in the way of piracy. Though, as he talked she watched his mannerisms and listened to the way he spoke. He knew she was there so it was likely that he was measuring his words and being careful… though he seemed so… flippant about everything.
After reaching hyperspace, the rough, brown skinned weequay stood up again, seemingly pleased that the take off was successful. Waving a hand about, mentioning getting himself a drink.
"Does that not impede your ability?" Zaiya spoke up, tilting her head, blue eyes following him.
"Ugh, whaaat, are you going to lecture me as well?" he huffed.
"No, it's not my senses that will be clouded." she shrugged, "I am just curious as to why, when you may have to fight."
"Fight? Why would I have to fight when we are only going home and back?" he scoffed.
"You never know."
"Kid, listen, no one likes a buzzkill." Adaji added, turning in his chair to face her.
"A what?" Zaiya asked, tilting her head the other way.
"Are you telling me, your people do not drink to have fun?" The Pirate asked, leaning on the back of his chair with one arm. He looked a little confused.
"Hm…" Zaiya touched a hand to her chin in thought, "Not… really?" she thought to the celebrations and there was drink there but it was not like the ones he had been drinking at the bar. "What's it taste like?"
"Hah-! You think you can trick me into giving you some! You are practically an infant!" Hondo cried, laughing, seemingly thinking she was just trying to play him. He chuckled as he headed off to the back.
"So…" Adaji started, once Hondo had departed. "What do your people do for fun?" he asked. Zaiya frowned, her cheeks puffing out slightly. The mercenary chuckled, "I get it , no questions. I only asked because I have a friend with kids about your age, they go to school, read, play with their friends, go out to watch holos…" He glanced at her confused face, the things he described catching her off guard and her expression became unguarded. Play with friends? Watch holos? They had time for such useless frivolity? "You… didn't have any of that, did you kid?" Adaji asked quietly, and he seemed… sad? Was he feeling sorry for her or something? She frowned harshly, and fixed him with a glare.
"So because I didn't have holos to watch, I was underprivileged?" She asked, "Not all of us live in crowded cities on Mandalore." She huffed, though he didn't seem bothered by her barb.
"I never said that, you did." He chuckled, making the girl's frown deeper. "But it seems that you don't have the same experiences is all."
"I had more important things to focus on." She stated.
"You sound like some sort of Jedi." That comment had her lip curl. Them she did know about, self-righteous, stuck-up and inflated egos, as they apparently knew better than anyone else in the galaxy, anything outside their beliefs they wanted changed or destroyed, so she had been told.
"Can't say I am a fan of their kind." She replied coolly, folding her arms.
"Heh, I'm Mandalorian, so neither am I." He grinned.
"Your people used to hunt them, did they not?" She asked, curiosity overpowering her frustration.
"We did, and we were good at it." He paused, "Are you really half Mandalorian?"
"I… don't know. I have never heard any mention of my father before." she shrugged, looking away finally. She shook her head suddenly, shooting a glare at him as though she had just thought of something. "You ask too many questions." she huffed, turning her body away, arms folded sulkily. There was a quiet moment before Adaji spoke up again.
"So… did you want to see how to drive this thing or what?" He sounded a little awkward, making Zaiya pause as she turned back to look at him suspiciously.
"What, are you being nice to me now?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
"No." He replied a little too fast, "I just think it would be useful if say, an event occurred and neither of us could pilot... " He shrugged again, "You never know." Her own words back at her, not to mention he was actually willing to teach her. Whether he found her existence novel or whether he pitied her. Either way, she would not look a gift rancor in the mouth. She hopped up, and stole the weequay's seat once more. She leant forward, watching with a curious look and to the Mandalorian, she actually looked like a regular child. She wasn't so scary.
"So… which one is self-destruct?" She asked suddenly.
On second thought…
-+ Notes +-
This chapter is a bit longer. Zaiya is finally off world and has met a familiar face, and a new one!
Feedback is always appreciated, I would love to hear what you all think!
