I'll Do The Same { Din Djarin x OC}

Chapter Twenty Five: Snowfall

wow thank you so much for the responses on my last chapter, i'm so amazed i was actually able to pull off a twist like that!! i hope you guys enjoy this next segment.... it was one of my favorite chapters to write. :)))

cw//: violence/death threats/peril towards oc and others

. . . .

"Shoot him, Thell."

Thell felt her heart stop. "... What?"

"Shoot him," Theldar growled, and Thell looked from the corner of her eye to see his own blaster pointed directly at her face, her eyeline directly down the barrel of the weapon. "Or I'll kill you myself."

Thell swallowed hard, debating the options that she knew she only had mere seconds to do.

"Father," was the first word out of her mouth, and pain exploded in her face. Hard.

She tasted blood in her mouth even before she caught herself on her hands, keeling over in the dirt. Rocks scraped against her hands, and the snow covering the ground didn't help the throbbing in her palms. Pain was shooting through the right side of her face, and she had only realized Theldar had struck her with his blaster when she looked back at him. He was hovering over her, having her look straight down the barrel of his weapon. His face was contorted, features wild as his hair frayed over his face. Thell could only look back at him in confusion and deep, deep pain.

"Father, what are you doing?" She cried, holding her face. Her blaster had dropped somewhere beyond her hands, and she didn't want to risk scuffling around to look for it.

"Stop calling me that!" Theldar yelled, pointing his blaster closer to her. "I'm not your father, I never was!"

And suddenly everything clicked. The weird glances when Thell would mention something about her mother to him. Returning out of nowhere Din's hesitancy and growing suspicion of who just exactly who Theldar was. Her real father had been dead the whole time... and the man looking down at her was only a stranger, a stranger with crazed eyes that made every bone in Thell's body shake. The face she had once found comfort in was contrasted starkly against the falling snow; she didn't even recognize him anymore.

Thell fell on her backside, too overwhelmed to hold herself up, and scooted back up against the rocks as Theldar prowled forward.

"I... I don't understand," Thell sobbed, kicking her legs out. "You were helping us, you wanted us to get the kid back!"

"Insolent child... I was using you to get to him!" He pointed in the Mandalorian's direction, and Thell's blood ran cold. "I knew I could never kill a Mandalorian in my state, especially one from the Watch. One that the Empire has been hunting for months. He's been causing them a lot of trouble, you know, and his head is worth a lot. So, I thought to myself, hey? Why not get myself a few extra credits and work for the Empire while I'm at it? That's why I was in that base, as a spy, because I knew you had already been taken there. But I knew in my state... At my age, I couldn't defeat him. So I knew I needed to get to someone close to him to kill him for me. He would never see it coming."

He bent down, pressing the butt of his rifle into her thigh, making Thell whimper in pain as the electrocution came rushing back to her.

"And who comes running along but the daughter of my oldest friend, one who happened to be in love with just the specific Mandalorian I had been looking for. I knew I could get close to you, and if I got close to you, that would just lead me closer to him."

Thell shook her head, frantic. "I... I don't understand, you cared about us! About me!"

"Aren't you listening, girl?" Theldar yelled again, smacking her knee with his weapon and making Thell cry out in pain. "I knew your father. We grew up in the same Clan, on the same road to greatness, except when your darling mother came along. He broke rules, oh, so many rules, just to be with her. And yet, he was still offered every position I wasn't. He rose through the ranks when I should have been the one leading the charge!" He bent down in front of her, gripping her chin hard. "I knew every detail about him... because he shared everything with me. I knew your mother, and I knew you before she whisked you away to Kriff knows where. Your father was kind, Thell, a people person, and everyone loved him. But he took everything from me. All the glory that should have been mine... He was cheating the system by being with that... scum."