Serena & Din

Chapter 13: Cinders and New Flames

Author's Note: Hey guys! So sorry I have been neglecting you, I was going write but I decided to save my mental health .Anyways, here you go! And though the song doesn't exactly fit, I thought it would be nice for you! Enjoy!
FIY if you see new bits it means I've added more since I've published.

§Two weeks later§

t wasn't long before everyone was ready to leave. The farmers were promised they would return soon.A permanent track had been left in the ground beyond where they were by the Imperial Walker.As a result, Serena, Din, and Skylar decided to follow these tracks and look for signs of imperial presence (like a camp or base).

Skylar winced as previous events scarred his skin. He swore that he felt her cold fingers sometimes. He gazed ahead at her chatting with one of his men. Bothlaughed.A feeling he had never experienced washed over him like a tidal wave. It was a mix of envy and...

Heartache?!

'Pull your shit together Skylar!' He scolded himself 'This will all be over eventually,'

Much to his dismay, he felt his heart sink at the prospect. What happened to him?

It was then Din broke his thought. "You've been very quiet," he said coolly.

"I was thinking of a way to make up for her for saving my men's lives," Skylar lied through his teeth.

Din saw right through it but said "I've been talking to Serena, and she seems she wanted to apologize for the punch in the gut back in Nevarro, so that's why she patched you up" he chuckles "she may seem tough as nails, but she's still a kid."

Skylar only knew how true that was. But then again he thought there wasn't that much gap between them. He was sixteen? Seventeen?

Din broke his thought by asking, "So how long have you been doing this?"

"What? Mercenary work?"

"If that's what you call it yeah,"

Skylar thought about it. It's been about three years since his father was captured and killed by local mercenaries (funnily enough).

"Since I was fourteen," he replied. "How long have you been in the Guild? I can tell because we've heard stories about the child."

Behind the mask, Din began to form a view of Skylar. The kid knows his stuff, and he's a fierce fighter. And he was also very bad at hiding his crush on Serena; it's incredible how fast a guy can fall for someone. He could relate, but that was an old flame that died long ago.

"I'm about to tell you something. I don't know if you'll value it but it would be wise to say you should. There are times when you-"

"It's gone!" Serena shouted. Skylar and Din jogged ahead to join her, and were surprised to find the tracks stop at the top of the hill. It wasn't a hill, but rather a small slope that dipped down to meadows and eventually the forest began at the bottom.

"What the-" Skylar said...

"THOSE (#+$;_)!" Serena screamed. "We should have left last week! Maybe we could've caught them in the act. GAH!" She kicked at the ground in frustration.

" Welp," Din said soothingly, "I wouldn't lose hope just yet..." Then suddenly he sniffed something in the breeze that passed by and muttered "Something is smoking."

And this time he was serious, for Skylar too could see blackness rising in the distance. At its sight, Serena ran down the hill slope. The rest followed suit (except Din and the Nite Owls; they had jetpacks), tumbling down the hill at a clumsy pace, making Serena look like Artemis being pursued by drunken fae. As the rest of the group regained their breath at the bottom of the hill, they turned their attention to the strangely small pile of wreckage that was smoldering.