"There's something alive in here," Luke said, eyes trained on the trash-ridden water in front of him.
The strange growls continued, not quite as loud as they had been initially - but still very worrying.
"That's your imagination," Han tried to dismiss, but Mara caught him eyeing the murky pool with unease.
Without warning, a slimy tentacle slid by Mara's feet, causing her to jerk back. "What the hell?"
"Something just moved past my leg," Luke exclaimed, looking around. "Look!" He pointed at something closer to Han. "Did you see that?"
Mara's hand rested on her blaster as she looked around, Han questioning what exactly it was that Luke was 'seeing'. The entire group was inching closer to solid ground, all wondering exactly how deep the water actually was; and none of them really wanting to find out.
Luke suddenly let out a yelp, which was cut off as the garbage chute creature coiled a tentacle around his ankles, dragging him into the water. Mara shouted out his name, lunging for him just as he disappeared below the surface.
"Luke!" Leia screamed.
"Luke! Kid!" Han waved his arm through the water, trying to shove the floating trash out of the way so he could get a better look - which proved to be useless. The water was just too brown to see anything.
Mara stared at the water, panicked. "Luke!"
Finally, Luke resurfaced with a loud gasp for air, violently struggling against the animal holding him. Mara jumped forward, straining her arm towards him, but missing his hand by a few mere inches. Han tried to grab him as well, but neither were successful. The tentacle monster was too strong and refused to relinquish it's catch.
"Blast it, will ya? My gun's jammed!" Luke choked out, clawing at the tentacle coiled around his neck.
"Where?" Han demanded.
"Anywhere!"
Both Mara and Han fired their blasters at the massive limb, finally getting the chance to pull Luke towards them. Mara was backing them away when the tentacle seized Luke again, and he disappeared under the muck. They all yelled for him again, but it made no difference. The water went still, the space growing deathly quiet.
Mara stared at the water, and then breathed out a quiet, "Damn it, Skywalker."
Then, she proceeded to execute what was possibly her least-thought-out plan of her life so far, and dove headfirst into the water.
She heard Han and Leia's muffled voices as they yelled her name, but even those noises faded away. Her senses seemed to dull, leaving her with only the sickeningly-vivid sensation of the lukewarm water soaking every inch of her. She dared to open her eyes, but the sting from the contaminated water proved it to be a horrible decision. It was too filthy to see anything, anyways.
Her sense of direction was muddled at best, but Mara swam, hopefully closer to wherever her Luke was. Each movement seemed to grow more and more futile. For all she knew, Luke could already be dead.
Please don't be dead, she pleaded to herself. Please don't be dead.
She thrashed about, stretching in every direction to try and locate her friend under the water. But she was no Jedi. She couldn't just divine where he was.
Her mind spun back to the Millennium Falcon, training with her mother's lightsaber. She'd felt like a Jedi, if even for a moment. What was it that Ben had said, again?
Let go your conscious self, and act on instinct...
Stretch out with your feelings.
It worked then, it had work now, when it really mattered.
She relaxed her muscles, allowing herself to drift in the water. How long had it been? She couldn't hold her breath for much longer.
She imagined somewhere calmer. Somewhere safe. The Falcon.
Before she'd even realized, Mara moved her arm to the right. Her fingers grazed something solid.
It was Luke. She could sense it.
Right behind him, she could sense a giant, hulking mass - the creature that had pulled him under.
She found his hand, grabbing it. Luke? Come on, come on.
Luke's hand twitched, his fingers slotting together with Mara's like holding onto a lifeline. Mara?
That was Luke's voice in her head, not just her own. But, how-?
I'm here, she managed replies, speaking without words.
However they were communicating confused her - more than that, it bewildered her out of her mind - but she accepted it, for now. She could ask when they weren't about to die.
I'm here, she said again. I've got you.
She began to wildly kick and paddle with her free arm, struggling to pull Luke away from the garbage creature's hold. They didn't move an inch. The creature was too strong for her to try and pull them both out.
Still clinging to Luke's hand, she grappled her belt for her lightsaber. She pulled it free, fumbling for the button before clicking it on. An electric hum pulsed through the water, and Mara could faintly see a golden glow through her closed eyes.
The creature gave away, releasing Luke before vanishing from Mara's sense. Perhaps it swam further down - which made her wonder once again just how deep the water went. But there was no time for pondering. She swam desperately towards the surface, lungs burning, still mindlessly clutching Luke's hand. She wasn't going to lose him.
The second they broke the surface - coughing, spluttering, gasping for air - Mara felt someone heard Leia and Han shout at them. Chewbacca roared somewhere distant.
"Luke!"
"Mar'!"
Someone grabbed Mara around the middle, pulling her from the water and hauling her onto the trash heap. She was grateful for that; she wasn't sure she would have had the strength to climb out, herself.
She was barely able to comprehend Han, at first, as he yelled at her.
"What the hell was that, Mar'?" He had a steady arm wrapped around her shoulder as she wheezed, doubled over. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
She didn't reply. Her lungs burned far too much for her to manage any words. Next to her, Luke was in a similar state, fallen to his knees. For a moment, he glanced over at Mara, and somehow gave her a little smile. The two of them looked so horrendous, Mara could almost laugh. They were absolutely filthy, covered in garbage and soaking wet. But both still alive. She just hoped their luck didn't get any thinner than that in the future.
"What happened?" Leia was asking, helping Luke up to his feet.
"I don't know, it just let us go!" Luke said between breaths.
Mara glanced back at the water. "Why? It could have- easily pulled us both down."
"Maybe your lightsaber scared it off," Luke said, but his tone carried the same nervous edge as Mara's. That just seemed too easy.
Mara glanced around with a grave expression. "Or maybe something else did."
Just then, a mechanic rumble sounded from the walls - as if they were vibrating. An even more ominous feeling fell over the group.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Han said, looking around skeptically.
Mara nodded slowly, beginning to creep away from the edges of the chute. "Yeah, I'm with you on that one."
And with that, the walls began to close in on them.
A/N:
A bit of a short chapter, I know, and I'm sorry, but hey! At least we got some Mara and Luke action and some Force experience.
Love you all!
Imaginary hugs,
Lily_Jasmine