Calamity || The Mandalorian

prologue

The day that Kasia met the Mandalorian, she was sitting at a lone booth in one of Canto Bight's larger casinos, nursing a bottle of Spotchka, and minding her own damn business. 

From around the massive room, she could feel numerous eyes on her, though Kasia found she couldn't say which were pinned on her the right reasons (she did look particularly breathtaking in this particular dress), and which were pinned on her for... far more disagreeable reasons.

She had to admit, she had been sloppy the last couple of nights. Beating the house the first night in town? Completely fine, half the time the casinos even let you win, if only to lure you into the drawl of coming back. Beating the house a second night? Sure, okay; one might call that luck. 

But beating the house a third and forth night? And by the margin that she did? Well, she couldn't blame them for their scrutiny. Not that it would amount to anything. Well, anything they could prove anyway.

Sighing, Kasia took another swig of her glass, wincing slightly as the alcohol went down. Frowning, she glanced down at the almost empty drink. 

Probably good to stop soon, she told herself bringing a hand to massage her forehead. Gods she was tired. Tired in the natural way people get tired from multiple days of little to no sleep—and tired in the unnatural way that an Eulentian gets when he or she used his or her telepathic ability too much in a single night.

An instinctive wave of pain washed over her as she briefly thought of her people, hunted down by Imps when she was scarcely seven years old. The few survivors had scattered to the wind, and after she had been saved from the attack, she hadn't seen a single one of her species since.

Wow Kasia, she thought shaking her head at herself, way to put a damper on a relatively lucrative and successful evening.

Letting out a huff of air, Kasia let her eyes languidly roam around the room, willing her features to remain bored and unmoved as she searched for her next victim. She was leaving after today anyway, so might as well make the most profit that she could all at once.

But as her eyes scanned the room lazily, they latched onto a tall figure that she most certainly was not expecting to see. Her breath caught as she gawked unabashedly at the Beskar helmet and for a moment she let herself stare at it, fascinated. The way that the moonlight gleamed as it reflected from the crown of the helmet and the metal which swooped downwards on both sides like a raven's wings as it let out a crow of triumph... she might have thought it beautiful if the sight of it didn't fill her with such dread.

Kasia had never met a Mandalorian before, but she had certainly heard stories. Stories of famed Mandalorian bounty hunters and legendary warriors.

Shit, she thought freezing, her mind instantly racing to the worst possible conclusion, he's here for me.

Wrenching her eyes away from the tall figure as he started making his way through the massive crowd, she tried to calm herself. We don't know that he's here for me. Canto Bight is a shithole filled with some of the galaxy's utmost scum. There are hundreds of others whom he could be after.

Still, the thought didn't soothe her nerves.

Taking a breath, Kasia leaned back in her seat faced away from the Mandalorian and closed her eyes. She let her gift wander through the maze of minds in the room, pausing every so often to prod at a particular mind in hopes that she had found the Mandalorian's. But alas, he was too far away and there were too many people between them for her to effectively latch onto his thoughts.

Opening her eyes, she absentmindedly swished her drink in the cup. Finally, she sighed.

Fuck it, I'm just going to leave. No amount of money is worth getting caught.

Tossing a few credits on the table to cover her drink, Kasia slipped from the booth in a fluid motion, making sure to keep her limbs loose and walk as unhurriedly as she could to avoid drawing attention. She ignored passersby eyes as they took her in and, as smoothly as a wraith under a midnight moon, she slipped out one of the numerous entryways.

For a moment, Kasia bristled at the wintry cold of the nefarious planet and wrapped her arms around herself. Though this particular black dress was perfect for distracting patrons of the casinos as she read their minds and took them for all that they were worth, it was certainly not intended to be worn in such frigid weather.

As she made her way to the staircase at the end of the balcony, she allowed herself to look out into the landscape of the casino planet. Dusk was breaking on the horizon, and if Kasia hadn't already known what sort of illicit activities occurred on an hourly basis across the planet, she might have thought it a beautiful place to live.

Shaking her head, she started her descent down the staircase. But when her feet finally touched solid ground and she began making her way back to her hotel room, the soft clank of metal and the sound of a modulated voice from behind her made her body go rigid.

"Stop right there."

*.*.*

Note: And we're off! If you're reading this, I just want to thank you for taking the time to do so! This is my first fanfiction, so if any of you guys see any inconsistencies with the Star Wars universe or spelling mistakes feel free to let me know. Hope you enjoy!