~*~
She's hunched over the vacctube, clutching her stomach as she vomits for the second time since they've left. She wipes her mouth, takes a sip of water from her canteen, and gently presses her forehead against the wall behind it with a soft groan.
She had to get over this cold. She shuts her eyes as another wave of dizziness over comes her and slowly lifts herself back up, and makes her way back to the cockpit where the Mandalorian and child were.
The child turns to stare at her with its wide eyes, and lifts an ear up as she passes by. She smiles, and gives his forehead a fond pat.
"You look and smell like bantha fodder," the Mandalorian throws her own words back at her.
She manages a quick glare his way before sitting beside him. She ignores his gaze on her, and focuses on the dark, starry sky in front of them instead. The difference between staring up at the stars on land, and being amongst them absolutely baffles her. It's like she can just reach out and take one out of the sky.
"I take it you've never been on a space cruiser before," the mandalorian says, and she can detect the amusement in his voice.
"Of course the moment I leave that godforsaken desert, I catch a cold," she rolls her eyes. "That's just my luck, really."
"I don't think that's a cold," he muses. "I think you just aren't used to your space legs."
"The jump to hyperspace didn't help all that much either," she agrees.
"And you wanted to fly the ship," he scoffs. "We'd be dead in a second."
"Just for that, I'm gonna learn how to fly it one day," she huffs, and childishly turns away from him, and folds her arms together. "so I can rub it in your face."
"Kuiil said you were great company," he tilts his head over at her. "I don't see it."
"This how you treat all your guests?"
"I'm not generally known for my friendly hospitality," he says. "thought you would have figured it out when you were down there."
"I'm not a snooper," she says quietly.
She shakes her head at him, and glances at the kid wandering around the ship. It walks in front of them, softly giggling as it plays with one of the control switches.
"I told you before that isn't a toy," the mandalorian sighs, and grabs the broken handle. "Great, another thing I have to fix."
She crosses her eyes and puffs up her cheeks, which the creature laughs at.
"You're making faces at it again," he comments.
"Am not," she denies. Her cheeks warm as she turns away from the kid, and sighs softly at the kid's whine. It raises its arms up in the air as if it wanted to sit on her lap, "everytime I look away it does that."
"Better you than me," he says with amusement.
"Makes me feel terrible when I don't pay attention to it," she says, waving her index finger near the child's small fingers.
"Just don't get attached," he warns her. "It's not staying with us for long."
"I should be telling you that," she reminds him gently. "You two were attached to the hip when you came back to the camp with it."
The child coos as it tries to reach for the switch once more.
"Look at it," he says with incredulity, "it doesn't even consider me an enemy."
"You did rescue it," she points out, and reaches over to finally allow the child to sit on her lap, "Sorry, kid, the mean Mandalorian says no."
She can see him glare over at her from the corner of her eyes, and she grins.
"We're here," he announces.
From above, the town is small, and hidden in the desert, which, she has to admit, she isn't that thrilled about. He lands outside of the town, just right near the entrance, and shuts off the engine.
She notices that the Mandalorian is still sitting in his seat, having a staring contest with the child.
"Having second thoughts?" She asks. He jumps slightly at her voice as if he'd forgotten she was there.
"Stay on the ship," he tells her.
"Wha--? Are you --!?" Her jaw drops as she splutters.
"These kinds of people don't hesitate to kill," he reminds her. "even if they saw you with me. It's dangerous."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but danger seems to follow you wherever you go," she reminds him.
"Which is why it's just better for you to stay on the ship," he says.
"What if you need back up?"
"I've dealt with higher odds," he sighs with exasperation, "just stay on the ship, please?"
"Fine," she scoffs. It's still a little strange to hear a Mandalorian say please.
That's that. Her eyes meet the child's confused ones, and her chest tightens at its small whimper as it disappears on the other side of the door.
Wonderful. Now what? She sits back down in her chair, quietly watching the Mandalorian and child disappear into the crowd from the windows. And she jumps as another space cruiser lands not too far away from theirs.
Dessa frowns, and leans forward, careful not to mess with any of the switches as she did. People in strange armor stepped down and into the town. And the bad feeling's coming back. It could explain why the Mandalorian wasn't back yet.
Sorry, Mandalorian. She covers her face with her hood, and walks out of the ship, eyeing the ship that lands beside them with distrust before heading into the town.
It's a marketplace. There were all sorts of creatures, and people alike walking around, trading food and clothing.
She frowns when she notices a Kowaken monkey lizard shivering in a cage, watching another of its kind being roasted over a fire.
"Fresh monkey lizards!" The man hollers as she passes by. She jumps at his voice, "we catch them, you buy them!"
"Oh, no, I don't think so," she smiles sheepishly, and slowly backs away from the stand.
Her eyes wander over behind it, and she catches sight of people walking around, dressed in strange armor like her Mandalorian companion. And in the back, were a few stormtroopers, guarding a building as if their life depended on it.
"What's going on, mama?" She hears her younger self cry, and she stops in her tracks to listen. She, the woman who she called her mother, and a man were all running.
People were screaming, scrambling to get away from the strangers in white armor, and the loud, booming noises as buildings came tumbling down were startling her.
--- ! Her eyes widen as she remembers her friend. She's telling her mother that she needed to find ---. Her mother's screaming after her, but she couldn't hear.
"I thought I told you to stay on the ship," she yelps as the Mandalorian appears out of nowhere behind her.
Wait, his armor is different. It's made of steel, unlike the rusty chestplate he had before, and glistening in the sunlight, and definitely stands out against the wear and tear of everyone else's clothes. She eyes it over with a small frown, before their eyes meet once more.
"Where's the kid?" She asks warily.
"Where he belongs," he says as he walks away.
Right. She stiffens, and glances back at the direction the Mandalorian came from. What were they planning on doing with it?
"You got the reward you were looking for?" She asks. She notices his odd, tense behavior but doesn't comment on it.
"Yes," he answers stiffly. "Let's go. We have another mission to get to."
"So that's it?" She scoffs in disbelief, and follows after him out of the city,"you turn the kid in, and get fancy armor in return?"
"The armor is part of our way of life," the mandalorian argues as they reach the ship. "You wouldn't understand."
"I would if you'd just tell me," she says, as they climb aboard the ship. "I'm not like Kuiil, I've never heard of the Mandolarian stories."
"I won't be able to," he says, in a much quieter tone than earlier as he takes a seat in the middle, "it's just part of the code."
"Not even your name?' She asks, both annoyed and exasperated with him at the same time, which she didn't even know could be possible, "I still don't know it."
"And you're not going to," he answers with finality.
She tenses as she takes a seat beside him. It's already strange, not hearing the child's soft cries. She was just starting to get used to having it around.
"Why weren't you in the ship?" The Mandalorian's voice brings her back to reality, and she realizes that they haven't even left the planet yet.
"Saw something strange going on back there," she answers softly. "There were others dressed like you."
"There's always something strange going on in that town," he sighs tiredly, "I don't question it."
"Why were there stormtroopers here?"
"They were helping the client," he says, as they make their way back to the cockpit. "Probably were there just to intimidate me too."
It's quiet for a few minutes. He's not even starting up the engine, despite his gaze focusing straight ahead. He reaches for one of the broken switches, and he freezes. His hand hovers over it.
"Are you sure you're doing the right thing here?" she asks him softly.
He tenses at her voice, and his hand falls against his side as he leans back in his seat as if he were thinking it over.
"I'm going after the kid," he takes off his seat-belt, and shuts the controls down as he stands up.
"And I can come with you this time, right?" She asks, hopeful.
"Don't make me regret it," he agrees.
And she follows after him without hesitation.
~*~