tritanopia | The Mandalorian

sixteen

Apparently Mando wasn't wasting time when it came to the Raiders problem; after all, that was the reason they were there in the first place. Which was why the trio ended up trekking through the forest mere hours after first arriving. It was Mando first, Cara following shortly after him, and then Fae trailing after them — the Child being left in the village with Omera. Unlike the two adults, Fae wasn't really looking for anything, the main reason she even tagged along being because she didn't want to hang around with all the strangers...especially the children. 

Fae wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to act around Mando. It was only the night before where she had made clear her intense distaste for him, and he himself returning the gesture. But it was rather strange how, after that, the pair of them acted as if it hadn't ever happened. Which would have been great, as it avoided the awkward tension that would have ensued, but Fae couldn't help but fear that the words she had said hadn't sunk in for him at all. That he still believed he was such a good guy in the situation. Nonetheless, she decided she'd just have to shout at him again to ensure the message got across.

Suddenly, Fae thought she had walked directly into a tree, reaching up to cup her nose since it was the first thing to connect with the solid structure.  However, trees don't tend to reach out to steady people when they teeter backwards from the force of smacking their face against them — which was exactly what happened practically immediately afterwards. Mando had stopped walking seconds earlier, after having spotted some heat spots with his visor, and jolted when he felt the girl walk full force into his back — her head barely reaching his shoulders — and, as a reflex, turned to grab her bicep and keep her on her feet.

"You good?" Perhaps it was unfair of Fae to have expected some sort of snide comment, a scolding telling her to 'watch where you're going'. And perhaps, when you get down to it, she was just as cynical as he was; always assuming the worst of people.

"I- ugh, yeah...thanks," Fae replied rather ungracefully, offering up a small smile, which she would never know he actually returned for once. All she saw was the slight nod he gave, before he turned around and started inspecting the ground again.

"About fifteen or twenty of them came through here on foot," Mando said, while gesturing in front of them. He then looked up, seeing having seen something, before pointing higher up, "And something sheared off those branches."

While he had been talking, Fae decided to finally be productive and have a look around — although she doubted she'd find anything he couldn't, or already had. So when she stumbled across a petrifyingly large, mechanical footprint, she was rather pleased with herself. But then the realisation sunk in of what she was actually looking at. Of course, there was no definite answer at that point in time of what made that footprint, as it could have been several things. Unfortunately, not one of those things was anywhere near good. Fae's right hand began to tremble, a thick fog of dread settling over her; but she decided to wait, to not say anything, incase the footprint was unrelated. Reason being a mix of two things, one being denial, and two being that she didn't want to make a fool of herself by overreacting.

So, when Cara and Mando eventually noticed the clear dent in the forest floor, along with Fae standing motionless above it, she remained quiet. Perhaps hoping that either one of them would come up with another theory, a preferable reason, that they were seeing what they were seeing — but unfortunately, they knew exactly what they were looking at.

"AT-ST," Cara stated, an undertone of rage peaking through her observation. And simply at hearing the name, Fae's uneasiness evolved into borderline panic; bringing her shaking hand up so she could bite on the nail of her thumb, the pinpricks of tears beginning on the edges of her vision. She was supposed to be away from it all — everything to do with the Empire. But apparently, it was following her. And maybe it always would, like a shadow — but to be fair, shadows do tend to follow you.