𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄 » 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖽𝖺𝗅𝗈𝗋𝗂𝖺𝗇

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

THE COLD was something Faeyth could never say she loved. In fact, she despised it. Maybe it was because it reminded her of her home, how there was always a chilling draught. The cold resonated the feeling of unease. Something just made her scared of it, it unsettled her.

She didn't know how long she had been out for, but she can feel the chill of something against her arms, something stone? A floor? A table?

Vaguely, she remembered being drowned, a surge of fear surging through her as she thought about it, but couldn't remember anything else. Her leg ached, as if someone had dragged a knife through it (which they had) the feeling of blood pouring out of it. Where was she? Was she going to get drowned again?

"Faeyth, can you hear me?"

The girl couldn't make out the voice, for it sounded like was under water still, her head pounding with nausea, the smell of blood entering her senses. That was probably from her leg.

Her body was trembling, like a leaf caught in the harsh wind, her body not accustomed to the temperatures. It was weird considering only a few days ago she had been too warm under all the armour, but now she yearned for the armour so make her warmer.

Two hands were placed on her shoulders, shaking her gingerly yet with a desperate fashion to them. Faeyth wanted to scream to kick them away in desperation, for the girl didn't want to be hurt or manipulated anymore, she didn't want anyone's hands on her body when she couldn't say no or move.

"Wake up, I need you to open your eyes, okay?"

It sounded quite familiar, modulated yet the fear and anxiety was clear in it. She wanted to reply, but she couldn't will herself too, her muscles sore and laden with pain mixed with tiredness, her eyelids feeling heavy with sleep.

"Please wake up, Faye, you just have to open your eyes!"

It was almost unbearable listening to their voice shouting, laced with fear and anxiety, the girl trying to wake herself up, after begging her body to make some kind of movement to show that she was in fact, alive.

Faeyth suddenly shot up, her eyes wide, coughing up the water she had inhaled and spluttering, breathing heavily. Her body shook as tears rolled down her flushed cheeks. Her vision was still blurred, face pale and sickly; clammy but she was freezing.

The faint, rhythmic sounds of the machinery scratched her nerves like raw sandpaper.

There is a sigh of relief, but she was too bewildered, too confused to see who it was, too busy trying to gasp for breath.

She was grabbed- no, no, the touch is too warm, too comforting to be a bad thing- she can't breathe, she can't breathe—

"It's okay, you're safe, you're safe, just breathe." It was him; Mando, talking soothingly to her, in a voice she had never heard, from anyone, much less a tight-lipped person like him, "I've got you now, they're not going to get you again. It's okay, Faye, just take deep breaths."

Arms wrapped around her, gentle but firm. He wiped the remaining droplets of water off her visor, trying everything he could to make her feel comfortable in the cell they were residing in for the moment. He took off her restraints, throwing them away from them, cradling her closer into his chest.

"Are they gone?" A whisper between the hitched gasps; scared that they would hear her and come and take him away from her again.

He nodded, "They're gone for good."

"T-They drowned me," Faeyth choked out, shuddering with the effort to restrain her tears, overwhelmed with the whole situation, and to top it off, the fact that she was safe, protected by him. So many emotions swirled through her, it was hard to compute it all. For a moment, she craved the touch, grasping his hand tightly, like it was the only thing from keeping her afloat in the ocean of fear, "I couldn't—"

"It's okay," he shushed her gently, "It's not your fault, okay?"

She was held as tears flooded down her face, her gut-wrenching sobs filling the cold air around them, he was a point of stability as Faeyth shook apart. She was held as her teeth chattered and she trembled, too exhausted to be afraid. She was held until the warmth broke through her apathy, until the comfort was too much. 

If it was a different situation, then she would never be crying in the arms of a man she had know for a week and a bit, but she would trust Yoda's judgment and trust him. She found an odd comfort in him, perhaps it was because he was a Mandalorian too.

The girl felt numb and empty, finally relaxing, her head resting against his chest, limp and wrung-out. Comfort and protection surrounded her, cocooned her, and she heard nothing but her own hitched breaths, not even the whirring of machinery.

Faeyth didn't want to move. She didn't want to leave the warm embrace.

Mando just sat there for a little, holding her, mumbling soothing words when she needed it — although he was quite certain that she was only half-listening, his words falling on deaf ears. 

"Faye, we've got to go," he said, gently squeezing her shoulders, knowing more reinforcements would be coming anytime soon, "Can you stand?"

She shrugged wordlessly, before getting up, starting to walk forward, her legs giving way under her. He pulled her up, steadying her, "You alright?"

"Hopefully," she replied, taking a deep breath. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, to stop her from falling over, and also to provide comfort.

Now time to save the other child.