Heart Of Darkness (Star Wars)

Chapter 22: Ice Spiders

"Delmira, cyar'ika..."

I let out a groan as my eyes fluttered open to see Din standing in front of me with a hand on my shoulder. I felt my entire body shivering as the air around us grew colder. Din placed his other hand on my cheek.

"Din..." I croaked out.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, but I'm freezing..."

"I'll find some blankets." He informed me.

The frog lady let out a croak.

"I'll find your eggs. Don't worry." Din assured her.

"I'll come with you." I offered.

I stood up, but as soon as I stood up, taking a step towards Din, my legs gave out. Din was quick though, he grabbed me, wrapping his arms around me before helping me back on my seat.

"You stay here." Din advised. "Gotta get you both some blankets, keep you warm."

Once Din returned, he gave the frog lady and me some blankets. He then helped me down the ladder and into the cargo hold, where I saw Ani, Selba, and Kaytia all bundled up in blankets. As soon as the frog lady sat down, she grabbed her container filled with her eggs.

"I'm hungry." Kaytia said.

"I'll get some ration packs." Din informed us.

With that, Din went up the ladder, searching for ration packs. Once Din left, Kaytia spoke up. "Mom...I had a nightmare."

"Another one? What was it about this time?" I inquired. 

"Several clone troopers dragging me away into their ship." She revealed. "They called me Lady Jinx, but I never understood why. That's not my name, right?"

I was fortunate that Kaytia didn't remember of what her life was like during the Empire. I shook my head. "No, that's not your name, min turhaya. You're name is Kaytia."

Kaytia gave me a smile before she wrapped her arms around me, giving me a hug. Not long after, Din returned, handing us ration packs for us to eat along with some warm blankets. As we ate in silence, Din then turned to face the frog lady.

"If you hadn't guessed, we're in a tight spot." Din pointed out.

"Is anything working?" I questioned.

"The main power drive is not responding, and the hull has lost its integrity." Din explained. "I suspect the temperature will drop significantly when night falls. I'll have a better idea of our prospects at that time."

Din then sat down on the ground beside me. The frog lady let out a croak before pointing to her container of eggs. I furrowed my brows. Din shook his head. "I'm sorry, lady. don't know understand frog. Whatever it is, it can wait until the morning. I recommend you get some sleep."

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out." I assured her.

Selba sat in Din's lap, while Kaytia sat beside me on my other side. Ani placed his head on Kaytia's lap before closing his eyes. I gently placed my head against Din's shoulder, while he wrapped an arm around my waist. Despite the immense cold I felt, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

•••

"Wake up, Mandalorian, and wife of Mandalorian!"

My eyes shot open upon hearing the voice of Zero. Din shot up, pointing a blaster at the droid's head, which lied in the pile with the rest of Din's stuff. I glanced over to see the frog lady, using the droid's vocabulator to communicate with us. Those words that she uttered were barely sinking in. Wife of the Mandalorian, of Din? My heart couldn't help but flutter at that thought.