THE ARC OF SKYWALKER | a star wars story✔️

6 | arvala-7

—DIN DIDN'T KNOW IF HE SHOULD TRUST THE UGNAUGHT.

After arriving on Arvala and being greeted by wild blurrgs, he and Asa were met by the small alien being. He sat upon a blurrg and examined the two, his eyes landing on Asa's cuffs and then on the Mandalorian who stared suspiciously.

'I will help you,' the Ugnaught had stated to them before turning away to lead them to wherever he lived.

Asa seemed to be on edge two as she followed them along, her wrists cuffed to keep her from doing something foolish. Din glanced to her any second he saw her wander farther away but he would relax when he'd realize she was examining a lizard on a boulder or trying to catch a frog. Whenever she caught him staring or if he was being controlling, Asa would glare or use her sorcery to inconvenience him. For instance, she would make him trip over nothing or shape her hand like a claw and create a suffocating, squeezing feeling erupt in his ribs. Din wanted to shoot her every time.

The woman was just like how the client had described her. She was evil. She was dangerous. She was life threatening. Hell, he could see how she was the type of individual people feared for decades. Watching Asa interact begrudgingly with the Ugnaught almost made him order her to shut up. Of course, Din knew she wouldn't listen even if he threatened her.

After a few moments, the brunette fell into step with him. Din looked away to make it seem like he wasn't staring at her before. She moved any stray strands of dark hair out of her face and adjusted the cuffs around her wrists.

"I want to know who hired you." She demanded quietly so the Ugnaught would not overhear them.

Din felt his chest tighten as he looked down at her. He could see the silent hope in her eyes and he knew she was in denial being delivered to the worst. In this case, she was. The client who wanted her was a part of the very thing she wanted to get away from.

"He's Imperial." He told her, his tone stiff.

"No shit, detective, but I want to know who it is." Asa replied, her onyx-colored eyes narrowed. She kicked at the dirt with her boots and wiggled her wrists in the cuffs. The skin beneath them was turning red with irritation.

"How much is he paying you?"

The bounty hunter stopped in his steps and grabbed her arm with a harsh grip. Asa's arm muscles tensed from feeling him touch her, a dark expression flitting across her features as she stared at his hand with a murderous gaze. The Mandalorian quickly let go, not wanting to piss her off more.

"He won't pay unless I bring you and the other individual--who we're here for--in. You don't need to know how much he's paying nor need to know when I'll deliver you. All you need to know is that you're going to be getting what you deserve."

Her face hardened into a glare as she kicked the rocks on the ground. Asa's eyes flickered a sickly yellow for a moment, making him tense. Even without touching her, the Mandalorian could feel the hot anger and dark power radiating off of her.

"I don't want to hear anything about me deserving anything! I saw your carbon freezer. I saw the bounties frozen in carbonite. If anything, you deserve punishment just as much as I do. How many families have you broken up because of your job, hm?"

He stayed quiet, not wanting to answer her as a feeling of guilt surfaced in his gut.

"Thats what I thought." Asa growled. "I'm not the only one here who destroyed families."

Din and Asa continued to follow the Ugnaught who was up farther. The Mandalorian grabbed her arm again and pulled Asa along with him. Electricity seemed to spark against her skin, making him grimace from feeling the painful volts.

After another hour or so, the trio arrived at a small farm. Asa wandered away from them as Din and Ugnaught walked into a tent to speak with one another. The hunter kept his gaze on the woman who approached a pen of the creatures called blurrgs. She picked up a frog from the ground using her sorcery and fed the beast the small animal.

"Your unusual companion, she seems to like the blurrgs." The Ugnaught spoke as he gazed at the brunette. There was a hint of a smile on his aged faced.

"She's not my companion." The Mandalorian replied stiffly. "She's a bounty."

The Ugnaught raised an eyebrow, his gaze questioning.

"A bounty?" He repeated, not believing it. "I'm surprised she has not used her abilities against you."

If only you knew, Din thought as he remembered what Asa did to him hours ago.

"I've seen what many are capable of with a power like hers. They are destroyers, manipulators, killers; but, others with her power can be warriors and saviors of a people. Who is this one you call your bounty?"

Din shifted his gaze to the Ugnaught, drumming his fingers on his armored leg as he pondered the question for a moment. He looked back to Asa, watching her sit cross-legged on a rock and closing her eyes to meditate. She looked so peaceful--beautiful, even--as she calmed herself. This was the first time he had seen her without a scowl or glare on her face.

He could tell the Ugnaught the truth about her. Tell him how she's Darth Axcia and a user of Dark Sorcery. Tell him that she's used her abilities on him already. He could probably manage to convince the small alien being to feed her to the blurrgs. He would if he didn't need the woman for money. Instead, he opted to keep it to himself.

"She's no one." The Mandalorian finally replied, his tone cold. "Now, where is the quarry? Where is he being held?"

~*~

*EDITED AND SLIGHTLY REWRITTEN*