The Art of Chaos and Darkness

Chapter Nineteen

"What the fuck?"

Valda spit out the words, moving up from the chair so swiftly Din, didn't even have time to react.  She was panting, her eyes on him.  She pressed a hand to her chest.  "What- what did you do?  How did you see that?"

Din barely heard the words, his mind still trying to register the scene, trying to comprehend.  

"Hey!"  Valda suddenly had a grip on his armor and forced him back, up against the wall of the ship.  He reached for his blaster but found his arm pinned by an unseen force.  

"Fucking don't," she hissed.  "Tell me- how did you do that?"

He stared at her face through his helmet, inches away.  "You mutilated them."  

Her grip tightened.  "I did what I had to."

"You could have just left."  Din's voice was low.

"So they could continue to live, unchecked for what they had done?  So they could go find another innocent girl to torture?"  Valda snarled at him.  "You have no fucking idea what it was like to live in that hell hole."  She used a hand to yank down the neckline of her shirt, exposing her collar bone.  Imprinted into the skin was a symbol.  "They branded me.  Like an animal.  And when we lost our value, when we could no longer perform they took us out back and killed us.  Like animals."  She let go of her shirt and slammed her hand into the panel beside his head, almost screaming the words.  "So you don't get to fucking judge me for what I've done!  For who I've killed and how I've lived." 

She was panting, one hand imprinted into the panel next to his head, the other gripping his arm.  Din let out a breath as he felt her anger and pain rippling through him.  It was agonizing, like having his insides sliced open.  So much rage and hurt.  Without thinking, he reached for her wrist, to remove it from his armor or to just touch her- he didn't know.

But Valda backed away.  "Don't fucking touch me." 

Din raised his palms.  "Okay.  Okay, I'm sorry, Valda.  I'm sorry."  

Her shoulders rose and fell in uneven breaths.  He sensed her rage slowly dimming, as if she knew she had let too much out and was slowly trying to spool it back into herself.

"I can feel your pain.  You're right, I have no place to judge or condemn you for anything you've done."

Valda shuddered but didn't answer.  She closed her eyes and Din felt her emotions receding, like a wave on a beach being swept back out into the ocean.  He took a slow step forward.  "Valda, those feelings will tear you apart."

"I don't care."  She kept her eyes closed.  

"Yes, you do.  You don't want to die."  He drew closer and she opened her eyes.  She didn't back away.  She watched him in silence, mere inches from her face.  Din towered over her by at least a foot.  His eyes marked the shock collar still around her neck.  

"Let me take it off."  

He knew Valda understood what he was talking about.  He also knew that she understood this was a show of trust.  The final thing that separated them, the kept him as the hunter and her as his bounty.  Once the collar came off, everything  would change.

"Why?"  She breathed.

"Because I should have taken it off a long time ago."

"I could kill you." 

"You could kill me with it on.  But you won't."

She looked away from him, out the window.  "You don't know that."  

"Yes, I do." 

She didn't answer him.

"You saved my life.  Willingly.  You sacrificed your own freedom for me.  Please, let me."

Valda swallowed.  "Alright," she said softly.  "Okay."

Din reached for the remote at his belt and she stiffened slightly.  He withdrew it and slowly entered the code into the small keypad on the back.  There was a soft beep and then a click as the collar around her neck unfastened. 

When she made no move to remove it herself, Din slowly reached for it and pulled it away from her neck.  It left a necklace of scars around her throat, deep marks drawn into her flesh.  He held the collar up and Valda raised a hand.  The metal bent inwards, shrinking and crumbling until it was mangled beyond recognition.  She squeezed her fist and the remote was crushed instantly in his other palm.  

After a few heartbeats of silence she looked at him.  "Thank you, Mandalorian." 

He waited a couple seconds and then said, "My name is Din."

She looked at him.  "I know."

He was surprised.  "How?  You never said anything."

"The bond.  And it was not something you willingly showed me.  So there was no need for me to use it.  It goes against your creed."

Din didn't know what to say.  "Thank you."

One of her hands flitted to her bare neck, feeling the deep scars.  "It seems we both have things we can teach each other."

Din faced the stars, staring out into space.  "It would seem so." 

She followed his gaze out the window.  "When we reach Moraband I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety.  I do not know what my master's plans are for you but most people who breach the surface of Moraband are not allowed to leave alive."

"Thanks for the warning." 

"You are different.  Perhaps my master will honor the centuries old alliance between our people.  Your best chance for survival is to embrace who you truly are, Din."

"And what's that?"  

She turned to face him again.  "A Child of the Watch.  And ruler of Mandalore."  

The ship gave a series of beeps as it exploded from hyperspace.  A planet filled the space in front of them, red and orange and yellow.  Valda sucked in a breath as Din took in the sheer size of it.

"Welcome to Moraband, Din.  And the Sith Kingdom.  I hope you survive your stay."