Y/n had never been more relieved than when she saw the familiar copper blur of Cal Kestis crash landing beside her. She hadn't been able to revel in it when she saw just why he crashed. Seeing the giant head of Gorgara, which is what Cal told her the animal was called, took all her attention until she felt Cal's arms surrounding her in a reunion hug. She could barely even hear BD-1's joyful buzzing past the ringing in her ears at seeing Cal again.
Finally, she felt safe once again. Not even Nightsister Merrin calling off her walkers made Y/n feel as safe as she was when around Cal. He had told her that where he had crashed was familiar to him, being the spot where he had fallen when they separated, and BD-1 lit up the map to show them the way back to Kujet's Tomb. It wasn't an easy trek, given that the undead walkers were still out to kill Cal. But Y/n didn't care. She was back where she belonged.
She didn't know when she started to think that being by his side was where she belonged, or even where she felt safest even when she wasn't. But it just felt right to her. Like something was reaching out and telling her that she was meant to be right here. She stopped those thoughts almost as soon as they came on, not wanting to jump to anything in her mind. But it was hard. It kept coming back to her. It wasn't like the devil whispering there when she was weakest. It was like an angel smiling there when she was strongest.
But she knew now wasn't the time to dwell on this. They were on a mission, one that every life in the galaxy depended on if they wanted the Empire to loose its power. There was no time for anything else right now. Y/n didn't want to have to tell herself to focus on the mission, but that was where she found herself when she glanced over to Cal. BD's light gently illuminated his face as he examined the map in front of him, casting a lighter glow on this dark planet. She was knocked out of her stupor of thought when BD shut off the map and Cal started to speak.
"So, what did you find out there? You already saw what I did," Cal asked, gesturing slightly to the defeated animal a ways behind them.
Y/n blinked. She debated whether or not she should tell him about running into Nightsister Merrin. She doubted he would take it lightly, considering that Merrin was actively trying to kill Cal, despite excusing Y/n from her wrath. Deciding telling him was the better option, she let out a light sigh and said, "Nothing much. Just some more killer plants and spiders and... I ran into the Nightsister."
Cal paused in his stride. He turned to her with a sudden face of concern and... anger? "The Nightsister found you? She didn't hurt you, did she?"
"No, she didn't," Y/n answered back, trying to calm him.
"She didn't put you under any sort of spell?"
She raised her brow at him. "Would I really tell you that if she did? And no, she didn't. We just talked."
Cal's tense stature lessened, but only slightly. She could see in his eyes that he was alarmed by her news, especially after the attacks from the Nightbrothers that Merrin kept sending and her sisters coming back just to kill him. BD-1 trilled from behind as Cal put his hands on his hips and asked, "What did she say?"
"You know, the usual. Hating you, wanting you to die because you're a Jedi, you're a liar," Y/n pretended to check off on her fingers. "She was trying to turn me against you, Cal. She really hates the Jedi."
"She didn't try to attack you with her walkers?" Cal questioned as they started moving forward once again.
"She didn't. Actually, she called them off from me," Y/n said, and Cal's eyes widened in surprise. She almost laughed at how bewildered he was right now. "I know. It surprised me too. But she did say she wouldn't help me, she just wouldn't harm me."
"Why did the Nightsister do that?" Cal wondered, to which Y/n shrugged gently.
"I'm not entirely sure, but Merrin said-"
"Merrin?" Cal repeated the name, and Y/n realized he hadn't known the name of his attacker. He could've only referred to her as 'the Nightsister'.
"That's her name. Merrin. I wanted to talk to her peacefully so I wouldn't die, and I thought calling her by her name was the first step in doing that," Y/n explained, although Cal bristled slightly in his step. He was clearly disturbed by the thought of Merrin finding Y/n without him there. "She told me that because I was a doctor and I only followed you as a friend she wouldn't harm me. Because I was poisoned by your lies and didn't know what I was following you into."
She spoke with an air of sarcasm on her tongue, but Y/n could see where Merrin was coming from. She had believed her entire life that it was the Jedi responsible for the massacre of her people and the destruction of her home. You can't erase a belief like that in one day. She heard Cal let out a small sigh. Shaking his head, he said, "I wish she would listen. The Jedi had no hand in the massacre of the Nightsisters."
"I know, Cal. Nothing she said was going to make me think that," Y/n assured him, and she could tell that actually saying those words seemed to ease his conscience. Wishing to remove the thoughts from his mind, she looked to him with a small smile and said, "Let's get moving. We can't waste any more time than we already have."
Cal gave her a grin back, however strained it was, and nodded his head along with her as he led them on BD's path. "I'm just glad you're safe," he told her, although it was very quiet. As if he didn't want Dathomir to hear what he had said. The small sentiment made her grow warm inside her chest and swell up with glee for a short moment. She didn't know why, but Y/n was joyous to hear him say those words.
Their journey continued, BD-1 buzzing and beeping every now and then whenever a heavy silence came over the two of them. He was recognizing more and more the awkward looks and strange talks they were having as they became closer and closer. He was starting to get giddy, the droid hoping that they were recognizing their shared feelings, although he knew it was a long shot. Especially for these two broken humans. But they were his broken humans, and like Cal always fixed him up, BD felt he needed to fix them up. Preferably with each other. Maybe after they got off of this horrible red planet they'd confess, although he felt that Y/n was still in the peak denial stage. Cal had already accepted, he told BD himself he was feeling a connection with her. Now all that was left was for BD to trick Y/n into confessing to herself.
Or she would just accept it. That was another option. But BD liked the first one better. It gave him a chance to be perfectly mischievous.
They soon reached a cliff covered in fire lichen, which Y/n let out a sigh for when she saw it. "We could get up there if my grappling mechanism on my blaster wasn't busted. How are we going to scale that?" she questioned, more to herself than to Cal until she saw him messing with something along his knuckles. "What are you doing?"
"I found these in Gorgara's cave," he told her, taking out a pair of strange looking claws. He showed her his own pair and said, "They're climbing claws. The Nightbrothers use them to get up this lichen. I managed to find a pair for both of us."
Y/n's eyebrows raised in surprised, taking the claws from his grasp. "Wow, thanks, Cal," she said, and looked them over with a befuddled expression.
"Here. Let me help," Cal spoke up, taking the claws and surprising her as he fitted them over her knuckles. She wasn't looking at his hands, though. She couldn't keep her eyes off of his face as he concentrated on attaching the claws over her hands.
When he finished, their eyes met, and BD watched as Cal forgot to take his grip away from her hands. He accidentally made an excited noise, knocking them both from their stupor. He cursed himself in his central processing unit for making such a mistake. They were having a moment! Y/n cleared her throat and took her hands into herself, saying, "Thanks."
Cal nodded, and turned to the fire lichen as he activated his own claws, Y/n copying his movements before they started to climb. It was much harder to climb, she discovered, than to simply use her grappling hook, but she had no choice if she wanted to keep up with Cal. He moved swift and fast, causing Y/n to try and catch up with him, which the Jedi noticed halfway up. He slowed down his climbing to allow her to meet him, which she gave him a thankful look for as they neared the top of the cliff.
They dropped a few levels down to reach a familiar looking edge of the ruins, Cal looking around and saying, "That's the bridge into their village."
Boo bee wooo BD let out as Y/n let out a breath.
"I doubt they thought they'd be seeing us again," she commented, looking at the blocked gate.
"There's gotta be a stealthier way in," Cal murmured, more to himself than out loud. He turned, seeing more fire lichen on the side of the cliff leading downward. "Here. We can sneak under the gate and into the village. They won't even see us coming."
"Great. More climbing," Y/n sighed out, readying her climbing claws as BD whirred.
They followed the path of lichen, finding a small cave right under the gate that allowed then to climb on the bridge itself right under the Nightbrothers' noses. Bee boo beep trill boo beep! BD-1 said in an impressive tone as Cal looked at the easy climb to the caves underneath the village.
"Honestly, I had no idea this was here when I pulled the bridge down," he spoke back once they dropped to the other side of the caves. "I just wanted to see what would happen. Like you and the cutter on Kashyyyk."
Beeee! Boop bee! BD trilled in a laugh as Y/n dropped down behind them.
"You two are seriously made for each other, you know that?" Y/n grinned, letting out a quiet laugh in case any Nightbrothers were lurking nearby.
"It's like you said yourself. We're both kissed by fire," Cal smirked, looking from her to BD and giving the droid a light fist bump.
Looking into the caves they had found, they discovered multiple different caged rooms around them, water dripping from the ceiling and landing upon their heads. "It looks like some sort of dungeon," Y/n commented, looking into one of the cages to find a skeleton staring back at her. She reeled back a little, saying, "Let's hope we don't end up like that guy."
"As long as we stay low and quiet, we'll be fine," Cal assured her, and motioned for her to follow him deeper into the caves. He gave a strange look to a deceased Nightbrother laying upon the ground, drawing Y/n's attention as he reached out his hand. In his mind's eye, he saw through this Brother's memory. "We have sacrificed too many. He's too dangerous. We should kill him!" the brother said, and Cal saw another one shaking his horned head at the deceased brother.
"No. We take him to Brother Viscus," The other replied back, and Cal couldn't help but wonder who they were talking about. Although a certain hooded wanderer came to mind. "Cal, what's wrong?" Y/n asked, gaining his attention back to the dungeons they were in.
"I've been finding more and more echoes in the Force here, almost warning me," he began, unsure how to describe these feelings he was getting. His distrust of the cloaked wanderer was growing with each minute. "The hooded man. There's more to him than he let on."
"If we hurry and get to Kujet's Tomb, we won't have to run into him again," Y/n claimed, almost pulling Cal up from his kneeling position.
It wasn't difficult to find their way through the dungeon given that there was only one straight path they could take to the exit, but it was still eerie being there surrounding by countless corpses and skeletons. It reminded Y/n of the Haxion Brood's prison, a memory she would rather not revisit. The red walls, the locked doors, the dead cadavers surrounding them. It was almost enough to push her back to that panicked state she was trapped in during their stay at the Haxion Brood's hideout.
Cal could feel it. He could feel the panicked and frightened emotions swirling inside Y/n as they navigated through the dungeons. The Force willed her mind towards his, and the fear she felt in her gut started forming in his too. But he knew it wasn't his own, and his mind knew that as well. But it tugged at his heart. He reached a hand out beside him and placed it comfortably on her shoulder. Just a single touch, and all of a sudden, he felt relief. Her relief. Just knowing that they were together and she wasn't alone was enough to urge her forward without fear. He grinned slightly, hiding it from her as they exited the dungeons, simply glad he could have such a calming effect for her.
They found a quick path up to wooden ledges that sat above the Nightbrother village, finally finding the way in. They had both hoped to avoid this village before, but now they knew it was the only way to get to Kujet's Tomb, thanks to the Nightbrothers themselves cutting off their path just as they were about to reach their quarry. When Y/n looked down, her anxiety spiked once again as she saw the village was teeming with Nightbrothers, swarming around their homes with weapons ready. Y/n grabbed her own blaster from her belt to ready for battle.
"Okay, you stay up here," Cal looked to her, to which she raised her brows in certain defiance. "I'll take care of them on the ground. You snipe them with your blaster."
"Like hell, Cal!" Y/n shook her head, and the Jedi let out a sigh. "I'm not letting you go down there by yourself while I stay up here all nice and safe."
"Please. Just take care of the archers and watch my back, but stay here," Cal ordered her, pointing a finger as he did. "I'll call for you when it's safe."
Before she could get another word in, Cal jumped down on top of a wandering Nightbrother, taking him out with his lightsaber. The sudden burst of light and cry from the brother tipped the others off to the intruder. Y/n watched as the archers readied their weapons to fire at Cal, but Y/n was quicker. People down in Coruscant would say she was a natural excellent shot, and each time she fired she proved them right as she hit bullseye every time. Now, her bullseye was the Nightbrothers' heads, firing dead on as Cal took down the Brothers in his own Niman and Shii-Cho fighting style of the saber.
Y/n fired upon a rouge bane-back spider that had almost snuck up on Cal, which soon tipped the Nightbrothers off to her position. "There's the other one!" she heard them shout, and let out a small curse as the archers turned their bows on her. Quickly, she made to dispose of them as Cal used the Force to drag one to his position, running them through with his lightsaber. Y/n missed her first shot while trying to dodge the Nightbrother's, but managed to land true on the second, ridding them of the Nightbrothers in the area.
"Y/n, they're all gone," Cal called to her, and she clipped her blaster back onto her belt as she looked down to see him standing beneath her wooden ledge. "Come on down."
"Easier said than done," she muttered. She moved down a few ledges until she reached a distance to the ground that wouldn't completely break her ankles.
Cal noticed her plight. Given that her grappling hook was broken, she couldn't zip down to him. He ran towards her ledge and looked up at her, meeting her eyes as he said, "Jump."
"Cal, I'm not gonna jump. I'll break my leg or my ankle," she told him, looking away from his gaze to measure the distance.
"I promise you won't break anything," he laughed slightly. "I'll catch you." When she gave him a reluctant look, causing him to ease his own eyes on hers. "I promise."
Y/n let out a breath, nodding her head. She stepped near the edge of the platform, unable to meet Cal's eyes as she looked down to the long drop. It was simple for a Jedi. Just use to Force to cushion your fall. But Y/n wasn't a Jedi, and she didn't have the Force. She would just have to hope that Cal knew what he was doing. She forced her eyes to stay open, and jumped. The fall was just long enough to make her feel like she was going to break each bone in her body, but suddenly the fall slowed. She looked down to see Cal's eyes set in firm concentration with his hand out to her. She could almost feel the Force surrounding her as she lowered down until she dropped into Cal's arms.
His arms supported under her back and legs. When she felt the drop, she had instinctively put her arms around his neck. "Told you," Cal shrugged slightly, although his heart was pounding.
She nodded, until she said, "You can put me down now."
Cal realized he was still holding her. "Oh, sorry," he managed out while gently setting her feet on the ground. His hand remained behind her back. He turned to look at the now closed gate, seeing an opening above it they could sneak through. "Now we've just got to figure out how to get up to that lookout."
They approached the gate, but they were lucky when BD pointed out the large square cage they could use to climb up to the top. Cal moved it into position using the Force, and they jumped up to grab the edge of the lookout before pulling themselves up, Cal reaching down to grab Y/n's hand to pull her up the last few inches. Dropping down, he took care of a rouge Nightbrother, searching the area for any remaining only to come up empty. They snuck through the paths of the village, defeating any Brother that came their way.
Along the way, Cal kept finding remnants of old Nightbrothers that had been slain, seeing in their memories the worry they fought over with an intruder on their lands. He even heard the laments of the Nightsister Merrin, for they were all worried about the hooded man on their lands, whom Cal knew it was undoubtably him. He voiced his concerns to Y/n, knowing that if they were to run into the wanderer once again, they would have to deal with him in an unpleasant way.
There was a lot more climbing up into the Nightbrother's mountain than Y/n cared to do, but it was necessary, and with the climbing claws it was much easier than simply relying on her hands alone. Although she wished she still had her trusted grappling line. They reached an outlook where they had a wonderful view of the Mantis, and luckily for Cal, he heard Cere over the comms. "Cal, Y/n, have you found the tomb?"
Y/n heard only a small portion of her question, furrowing her brows as she tried to figure out the words as Cal said, "Close, but got a little sidetracked. Y/n's comm is damaged."
Cal heard Cere let out a sigh and say, "Keep her close. Greez is acting strange. He swears he saw someone outside the Mantis. Dathomir's getting to him."
"Pretty sure that's who he is," Cal joked, and Y/n could tell it was getting easier for him to talk to Cere after their fight. Although she couldn't hear their conversation, she knew he wouldn't be saying things so leisurely unless he was comfortable with it again.
"Are you alright?" Cere questioned.
Cal hesitated on answering. Cere knew about his feelings for Y/n, but he couldn't talk about it in front of the girl herself. He couldn't say how he was struggling not to abandon the mission and take her back to the Mantis to keep her safe so he could tell her just how hard he had fallen for her. He settled on simply saying, "I'm not seeing things, so, yes? We're coming out of a Nightbrother village now. Hoping to get back on track."
"Sounds like you're handling yourself," Cere commented. Cal noticed Y/n was looking around with a jittery look, and knew they needed to get back on track.
"Yeah. We got this," Cal finished, and shut off the comms. He gently tapped Y/n's shoulder and said, "Here. Give me your comm." She handed it over to him with a shrug and a raise of her brow as he started gently taking it apart. A part of it was cracked, but it was an easy fix. She watched as he worked with the comm in his hands, eyes focused harshly on the tech. After a few moments, he handed it back to her, saying, "Should be good as new. Well... good enough, at least."
"Thanks, Cal," Y/n grinned, and put her comm back on her belt.
They ran towards a new pathway, squeezing into a small passage that led them to a closed door. Cal used the Force to open it, and they found themselves right back where they started. Finally, they knew they were getting close to the Tomb. Unfortunately, there was still Nightbrothers around them actively trying to murder Cal, so they had to dispose of the enemy before they could move on. The words of the Nightbrothers as they attacked were beginning to bore Y/n, given that most of them said the same thing about death, fear, and the Nightbrothers being better than all of them. She tuned it out as she blocked an attack from a mace before activating her electrobaton and swinging it at a Nightbrother's face.
They came upon the same broken bridge they had found before, and yet this time it was empty. No Nightbrothers in sight. Nor the mysterious wanderer from before. "No sign of that old man," Cal commented seeing the exact spot in which he had stood. "I wonder if the Nightbrothers got him."
Woooo... BD skeptically said, and Y/n nodded in agreement.
"If what you saw is true, then hopefully so," Y/n spoke, climbing up to the next leg of the bridge. "But luckily for us, we won't have to worry about it soon. We're almost there."
The end of the bridge was gone, causing them both to have to jump the distance to the fire lichen on the cliff wall. They both managed to hold on, Y/n almost slipping off, but she managed to make it to the top soon after Cal. Finally, they could see the their destination. "This must be the tomb," Cal said, looking at the statues of Zeffo that lay among Dathomir's ruins. It almost looked like it didn't belong, but there was something dark inside that showed its claim.
As soon as they walked inside, the door behind them closed. The two of them, including BD, looked to the door in confusion and trepidation. Cal and Y/n's eyes met, both of them knowing this Tomb was not going to be like any of the others they had encountered before. Y/n could feel it, even without a connection to the Force. The darkness that loomed over this place was worse than that of Dathomir itself. It was almost amplified here because of the connection the Zeffo had with the Force.
"Cal, do you... feel it?" Y/n questioned, almost afraid to ask by the shaking of her voice. "It's like a... pit filled with nothing but despair."
"Yeah. I do," Cal spoke back, blinking away the thoughts that riddled his mind. He didn't have time for this. He had to move forward with Y/n by his side. BD-1 beeped into his ear, sending words of encouragement towards him. "Thanks, bud. I need it."
"The way is shut," Y/n said as she looked back to the door once again. Now she really wanted to leave. "I guess the only way to go is forward."
They approached a large door at the end of the great hall they were in, seeing the intricate designs upon the stone. Cal put a hand out in front of Y/n, keeping her away from it as he said, "I'll go ahead. I don't want anything to happen to you in case this goes sideways."
"Cal, I-"
"Please," he urged, looking back towards her. His eyes roamed her face. "I can't risk it. This isn't like the other tombs. It's too dangerous. Just stay on these steps."
She couldn't argue with him. She knew it would be in vain. Watching him carefully step towards the door, she picked at her nails in anxiety. Y/n felt the shadow of the tomb covering them both, and her eyes closed for a mere second when a pain rushed through her head. She squeezed them shut to try and ease it, feeling it ebb away as she shook her head. "What the hell..." she muttered, looking around the tomb.
A wave of anguish fall over her within a mere second. It was almost painful in her chest, but it wasn't hers. Y/n clutched her chest in pain as she raised her eyes to see Cal kneeling on the ground, his own eyes squeezed shut as he whimpered with tears falling down his cheeks. "No... No... Master..." he kept saying, BD-1 screeching at his side to try an wake him. Y/n realized then it wasn't her fear she was feeling.
It was Cal's.
"Cal? Cal!" Y/n called to him as she kneeled by his side. She gripped his shoulders and shook him gently, before trying harder when it didn't work. "Cal, wake up! It's not real!" she cried out, cupping his cheeks in her hand when he dipped his head to retreat deeper into whatever nightmare the tomb was showing him. Somehow he had gotten his lightsaber into his grip, tightly holding it as she tried to brush away the tears on his cheeks. "Cal, please! CAL!!"
"NOO!!"
Burning pain blossomed in her gut, and she gasped in tandem with his scream when she realized she had a blue lightsaber going through her.