Heart Of Darkness (Star Wars)

Chapter 3: Training The Villagers

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Later that day, I was in my lodging eating a bowl of bone broth with Ani by my side. As we ate, Winta appeared at the doorframe with a shy smile. As soon as Ani saw her, he wagged his tail.

"Can I play with him?" Winta inquired.

I nodded. "Sure, he seems to like you."

I watched as Ani followed Winta out towards the doorframe. Before they left, she turned towards me before speaking up. "Do you want to join us?"

I was taken back by her request. Usually on other planets when I came across families, the children would take one look at me before running to their parents. But here...things were different.

"You want me to join?" I asked.

She nodded. A smile formed on my face. "Of course."

I then followed Winta and Ani towards the middle of the village where the child and the rest of the children of the village where. And it wasn't long until I joined the children, allowing myself to laugh, something I hadn't done in years. Little did I know that someone was watching us. A few days past, and the Mandalorian and I began to talk more often. There were times where the child snuck into my lodging and stayed with Ani and me for the night, which frightened the Mandalorian the first time he did it. Once he saw the child with me, he was relieved.

The child loved spending time with me, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love being around him. Currently the child was playing with Ani and the children of the village. I lied down in my losing in an attempt to get some rest. Lately I was having trouble sleeping due to my nightmares, yet I refused to speak them to anyone. After a while of staring at the ceiling, I felt my eyes grow heavy and I began to drift off.

I tried to control myself as the Pau'an slowly made his way towards us. However I couldn't help it as my legs began to tremble and soon my body felt numb. Nala sensed my fear and without waiting for any order, she lunged towards the Pau'an. My eyes widened. "Nala no!"

The Pau'an took out a disc and turned it on, revealing a red blade. In one movement, he killed Nala. Once he had killed her, my fear turned into something else...anger. I was furious with the Empire, they took everything from me. I grabbed a staff amongst the junk around me. The Pau'an let out a laugh as he finally approached me. "This should be fun."

"Leave me alone!" I snapped.

I then raised my staff, swinging it towards the Pau'an. The Pau'an took his weapon and used his red blade, disarming me in a heartbeat. My eyes widened in horror as I stumbled back in an attempt to get away. He then threw his disc, catching me off guard. My body stood still as the spinning blade flew towards me. The blade sliced my right cheek and my side of the neck as well. I collapsed on the ground as I felt pain surge through my entire body. My body felt as though it was on fire. My eyelids grew heavy as I the Pau'an knelt beside me with a grin on his face. "My Master will be pleased to meet you."

"Hey, are you all right?"

My eyes fluttered open as I let out a gasp. I glanced over to see the Mandalorian knelt beside me. Despite having his helmet on, I knew he was worried.

"Yeah, just a nightmare." I assured him.

"Same one as the one you had days ago in the cart?" He asked.

I was shocked that he remembered, but nevertheless I nodded. Not wanting to talk more about the subject at hand, I spoke up. "You're always wearing that helmet. Do you ever take it off?"

"Every day." He replied.

I raised an eyebrow. "How about when someone else is around?"

"The last time that happened was when I was a kid. My parents were killed and the Mandalorians took care of me." He explained.