Two

Chapter 19

Even when they returned to their planet in the middle of nowhere, they didn’t speak. They didn’t speak as they walked to the hut and they didn’t speak when Maul left.

Nima frowned and moved to cook herself something. She debated on whether or not to cook something for Maul too. She wanted to apologise for being so mean about whoever his Master is. She should have just taken his word for it, or at least not continued talking about it.

Once she finished cooking and eating her own meal, made with some of the new spices she had paid for, she started on cooking Maul something to eat. It was made with a spice that was a lot less strong than the ones she usually put on her food. Nima could only hope that he would like it.

He returned when it was dark and thankfully, the food was still warm.
“I made this for you,” she said as she held out the pan she cooked it in. They still didn’t have any proper plates. “And I’m sorry for earlier, I was being irritating, I know.”
“Don’t be,” he said as he took the pan.
“What?”
“Don’t be,” he repeated. “I shouldn’t have responded how I did. I’ve been wanting and helping you be less meek and timid, I should have expected you would speak up. I still don’t agree with you but I am glad you did what you did.”

Nima’s eyes widened. He was… happy that she had insisted he was basically a slave? He didn’t believe he was, which was understandable, but he wasn’t angry with her for talking back to him. She supposed that made sense too.

“The food is nice,” he said as he ate it with his fingers. “I like this more than the other spices, what is it?”
“Lo… loafr…'' She tried to read the label. “Lofrak or something? It’s not one I’ve used before. The man who sold it to me said it’s quite mild and even told me how best to use it.” Maul nodded.
“It’s good.”
“Thank you,” Nima said, a smile spreading across her face.

Training the next day continued as usual, with meditation and practising stances and moves with the stick. Target practice was a little different, as Maul had given her a different blaster to try. He had shown her the basics and then let her try shooting the targets which were trees marked by lightsaber cuts and burns.

After a light lunch of some small berries and nuts, Nima continued training. Except he had no blasters, nor the stick that mimicked his lightsaber combat.
“What are we doing?” she asked quietly.
“Hand to hand, for now. Without weapons,” he said as he moved into a stance with his feet apart and his arms in front of him. Nima copied it and he gestured for her to move closer.

Maul kicked at her and she managed to narrowly avoid it, only for her to lose her balance while trying to evade a hit to the face. She narrowed her eyes at him as he towered over her. Then she saw his outstretched hand and she smiled as he helped pull her to her feet.
“You can use your arms to block if you cannot dodge,” he said as he showed her the specific actions. “And if you manage to learn how to block without a weapon and avoid getting hit, I can perhaps show you how to use a knife too.”
Nima furrowed her brow but nodded. “Alright, but why now?”
“Because if you have any sense you will carry a weapon with you. But you might still lose it, because of something like an explosion or a thief, or getting it taken by an opponent. It is useful to know in these cases.”

Nodding, Nima stood in a stance she was more comfortable dodging in, one that she’d learnt while practising with the sticks before. He almost smiled again.