Stardust ━━ Star Wars

━ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝘅

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chapter sixty: up in flames
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      THE LOW HUM OF THE FALCON'S engines makes it difficult for Indira to keep herself awake, lulling her into a heavy-eyed trance. Her head bobs, dipping downwards before snapping back up as she blinks rapidly to chase away the ebbing tides of sleep that have been threatening to wash over her for the past several hours. They're still soaring through the abyss of hyperspace, fleeing from the sanctuary that Yavin IV had provided for the Resistance and leaving the little jungle moon behind; a prospect that saddens Indira more than she had thought it would. It shouldn't come as a surprise to her — she has learned over time to anticipate all things good and nice in her life coming to an abrupt end — but this loss stings, nonetheless. Even in her grief-stricken state, Yavin IV had felt like a safe place to land; a hurricane's eye in the raging storm of an endless war. More than that, though, Yavin had felt like home.

      Indira hasn't felt that way in a very long time.

      From her place at the Dejarik table, she can see the grim expressions of her fellow Resistance fighters as they fill in the empty spaces left in the freighter's main hold. Only a few people aren't amongst them — Snap and Karé, Snap's parents, and a few others who'd taken separate ships — and with their allies from Yavin IV no longer mixed in with their ranks, Indira is reminded of just how few of them there are left. Hours ago, the sullen faces surrounding her had been smiling, laughing, dancing — the happiest she'd seen most of them in months — but all that joy had seemingly vanished, going up in flames with the Yavin colony.

     Her eyes burn as she tries to blink the memories away, flames flickering across her vision. Indira can still smell the smoke and it makes her shiver before she pulls the blanket around her shoulders tighter and rests her head on Kali's shoulder, doing her best not to jostle her friend, who had fallen asleep with a hand in Jessika's hair as the other girl snored quietly in her lap.

      Part of Indira wants to join them in the oblivion that unconsciousness would surely provide, yet she can't allow herself to rest; not when she still doesn't know if they're actually safe. They should be, now that they're in hyperspace, but Indira is hesitant to believe that. After all, Yavin IV had seemed safe and they'd allowed themselves to get too comfortable there. That was a mistake that the Resistance couldn't afford to make again. Not when their numbers are so scarce and they'd barely managed to escape with their lives.