#she is not a lizard! She doesn't sit on warm rocks!

[randomnameless]

Remember how in its first years of existence, FEH tried to shoehorn some link between characters by having them by drawn by the same artists?

Like Seliph and Siggy, Julia and Deedee, Arvis and Saias, Lewyn and Ced etc etc (wait it's only for Jugdral characters?)

Now :

The New Supreme Leader alt is drawn by teffish...

Who also made the evil lizard lady's evil alt !

And let's not forget cuboon, who made Brave Supreme Leader's padded armor, and also designed a milktruck F!Billy and Rhea's swimsuit alt!

Also, Supreme Leader's swimsuit alt has flowers for some reason... placed where Rhea usually put lilies in her own hair.

it only means one thing to the feh devs : Supreme Leader could have been born with pointy ears!

[blarsh]

Ambrosine's confessions to Milo Jr (the bear in stalker manipulation Milo's route)! (It's literally their son) (maybe a little suggestive?)

"You know, I want to sit in his lap, but your daddy wouldn't like how bony my ass is. No one does."

"If, no, when we get married, if I get a diamond of all things for my ring, I'm going to actually lose it."

(After he meets Morgana) "What, are her tits better than mine?! Don't answer, I know they are, Jr. But...does he prefer hers? No, you know what, doesn't matter! He loves me, and only me! But, Desmond was able to get him to ignore me that time, and she's much smarter, so what if..."

"My backkkk :(" (and knees, and shoulders, and feet, and-)

"Okay, Jr, which color do you think would look better on Milo? He was really good today so when I see him tomorrow, I'm going to kiss him until he's absolutely covered in my lip gloss. I would base it on flavor, but I only use like three flavors."

"Do you think I'm crazy? I mean, you're a stuffed bear, and I literally spill my guts to you all the time...nah, I'm totally sane."

"If Morgana and Ryan don't suffer, I'm going to suffer, and I don't want to suffer."

"I love Milo, but if he doesn't stop sleeping with me and letting me practically beat the shit out of him, people are going to start thinking I abuse him."

"You know...if Milo was here, you might end up getting a sibling...ha, kidding. Real kids suck. But you know what I mean."

(It's a coolio little way to get him to do and say the things she wants)

No drawing today :<

But here, more things since I don't know where else to put them!

She's very susceptible to temperature changes. She can go from freezing to sweating her ass off in seconds

That said, where she lives is always cold so she can get cozy under blankets

She doesn't want to be warm, she wants to be made warm

Geology major (and in case you couldn't tell from my previous stuff, yes, she IS unbelievably obsessed with rocks)

She likes to just...float

When swimming, she wouldn't want to freeze, but she does want the water to be really cold. Especially if she can just get out and lay on a rock or piece of cement in the sun to warm up like a lizard

Does not apply to baths. That is burn off skin time

Her love language is gift giving. And receiving (especially receiving)

She like to be spoiled a bit

Nail biter to the max

It's not uncommon for her fingers to be bleeding

[liecoris]

— BG3!Mukuro's thoughts on fellow camp members!! ( alphabetical order and includes thoughts on both those who can be party members and then those who can be invited to camp and just hang out lmao )

Astarion - Mukuro and her curse to always have a crush on a white-haired character lmao so from the start she's just like ' Oh~♡ teehee♡ '. THANKFULLY Mukuro is quite good at masking the fact that she has a crush on someone, but there are still tells. ( he'll be someone she converses with often and she's absolutely guilty of looking away quickly when locking eyes with someone ) Other than that, she does find him quite interesting, especially when he introduces himself to her. Because she's heard his name before, having been in Baldur's Gate during his time as a magistrate ( and well before that too ), but the mental image of Astarion the Magistrate she knew of ( and no doubt had a lot of job requests to kill him - but none of them never paid enough ) and the man standing before her are so vastly different. This would be something that she will comment on in later interactions, especially after it's revealed that he's a vampire and Mukuro's just like: "OH! That makes so much sense now..." And honestly, a part of her would love to see how he reacts to her blood given that she's a dragon because if he gets drunk off of a bear imagine what a dragon's blood could do lmao He's probably one of the companions that Mukuro would get along with most I feel since she also knows the thirst for power and want to overpower those above her ( granted not on the same level as him, but she can relate to some extent )

Gale - She likes him... sort of? Kind of? He talks a little bit too much for her tastes, but she'll listen politely even if he gets too technical in his speech. In her mind, he also gives off a bit of a goody-two-shoes vibe so because of that, she'll always be a little adverse about being in the party with him because that'll mean she'll have to be on her best behavior ( because she honestly hates the thought of someone disliking her - so she's a bit of a people pleaser in a way ) Her opinion of him would probably forever be on the fence unless he says something totally out of pocket that would gain her interest/give her entertainment or try to reprimand her for some of the decisions she's made in her life and her mood on him is just absolutely soured.

Halsin - There's an interest there, Mukuro doesn't interact with many druids ( as far as she's aware anyway ) especially the very devoted to nature type. So she does wonder if he's so in tune with nature that he could pick up on what she truly is without telling him. Which, admittedly to her, is a bit of a scary thought. Considering how closely guarded that secret is, so she probably would keep her distance for the most part.

Jaheria - She's... indifferent towards her, Mukuro knows of her exploits of course ( who hasn't ) but much like anyone who's done a good amount of good deeds, Mukuro is just so indifferent. So long as she's nice to Mukuro, she'll be the same in return. Mukuro would probably be a bit skeptical about her because that's just how Mukuro acts with the hero type.

Karlach - Mukuro is a #1 Karlach stan lmao. When she spotted her, Mukuro's first thought was ' Oh she looks rad as fuck ' Then she speaks, and when Mukuro sees how she acts, Mukuro's just even more enthused about her. Mukuro just thinks she's so much fun and a joy to be around. And I assume she gives off quite a good amount of warmth so the same part of Mukuro's lizard brain of ' sit on hot rock and get warm ' would activate and she'd want to sit nearby and just get warm. it's not like she runs cold or anything, she just likes the heat she gives off.

Lae'zel - It'd be Mukuro's first time seeing a githyanki. She's heard of them but hadn't ever seen one up until recently. And honestly, Mukuro's just so entertained by her and how intense Lae'zel is. Outside of Astarion, Mukuro would probably talk to Lae'zel the most simply because she's just so interested in learning about her culture, Mukuro's always been hungry for knowledge so this is a perfect opportunity.

Minsc - Another individual she's rather indifferent about, she likes Boo because well... hampter, but that's about all the opinion she has on him.

Minthara - As much as Mukuro is very pro evil women, there's just something about Minthara's attitude that she just doesn't mesh with. Probably because she's sided with The Absolute and that seems to be the source of this tadpole business and so Mukuro is automatically just pissed off lol like she won't be nasty to her right away unless treated so first, but she'll absolutely mad dog her.

Shadowheart - Mukuro loves the sass that Shadowheart gives, to be honest. She'd be another one in the camp that Mukuro would probably clique really well with. Mukuro also wouldn't care that she worships Shar ( honestly if she did mind, it wasn't like Mukuro would have any room to talk considering she worships Tiamat lol ) and Mukuro would ask any and all questions she could about Shar, and in turn answer questions about Tiamat. ( mukuro vc: haha ya she tells me to treat y'all like chew toys but I ignore her... for the most part... sometimes it's tempting :3 )

Wyll - She knows him of course, both because he's the Blade of the Frontiers but she's also been to the same parties the Wyll has had attended before, since she had been married to a noble. Mukuro had spoken to his father a few times and therefore had exchanged words with him before, but they had never been long conversations so she wouldn't be too upset if he didn't remember her. But she's also on the fence a bit about him, he's a sweet guy, sure, but again the ' hero ' type. However, when she learns he's made a pact with a demon, her interest spikes a little because now he's a bit more interesting than before. I don't see them getting along super well, mainly just for the sake of not compromising the vibe but since Mukuro would absolutely sleep with Mizora with no hesitation and she'd probably urge Wyll to be like ' ya dude get more power just go ham '

Zarina ( @zorkaya ) - Also hailing from Baldur's Gate, Mukuro would have seen her around, especially given that they run in similar circles so the chances that they're paths have crossed more than once is likely. Zarina is also the type that would pique Mukuro's interest quite a bit ( also have a bit of a crush on b/c of her silver hair ahdklfj ) because they're very similar in some ways in terms of what their stances are on a lot of things and since if/when Mukuro senses that Zarina probably isn't really telling them everything ( which honestly she wouldn't be mad at given what mukuro is and all lmaooo ). Zarina is also one Mukuro would get along most with and sing at the campire together and do their makeup together while the rest of the camp sleeps/rests up lmao

Arabella - Mukuro would be one of the companions that would urge Tav to be like, ' yeah she should stay at camp with us ' when that moment arises. And back at the druid camp when you first meet her, Mukuro would be entertained by her since she tried to steal the druid's idol ( and honestly would probably try to yoink it for her later on especially with how Kagha treated Arabella )

Dame Aylin & Isobel - Mukuro adores having them in camp, she thinks that not only are they just a super cute couple but she's also just happy to have some pretty powerful allies.

Duke Ravengard - Honestly when/if he's at camp Mukuro would do her best to avoid him simply because he'd probably point out that she's a noble at some point or ask about what happened to her late partner and Mukuro just... doesn't want to answer any questions from anyone that would follow such a revelation. But other than that, Mukuro finds him pleasant to talk to.

Mizora - Again, Mukuro is very much team evil women, so the moment Mizora showed up she was like; tucks hair behind ear oh hello~ ABSOLUTELY sleeps with her at some point because there's no way she's passing that up.

Owlbear Cub - her son, her little baby boy. She holds him like a teddy bear, cuddles him, and gives him all sorts of pets and little smooches. nevermind the fact that they had killed his mom to get him

Scratch - her other son, her other little baby boy. Loves him to pieces and should anything happen to him or the owlbear cub she'll kill everyone in camp and then herself.

Thaniel - She isn't sure of what he is but if Halsin says he'll help with the shadowcurse then who's Mukuro to say he's wrong or question it.

Withers - Will absolutely refer to him as ' grandpa ' and will not elaborate why.

Yenna - Another instance where when Yenna asks to stay at camp, Mukuro urges Tav to agree even if Yenna just seems a little off to her.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Important thought: a bunch of manaketes laying on a rock to bask in the sunshine. That is all.

I lied that's not all

Big ol' Grima basking on the Dragon Table

Robin and Morgan basking with the manaketes, the Shepherds take years to figure out why

Seteth buying Flayn a sun lamp so she's not basking all over the monastery

I just need these lizards enjoying some sunshine on a bigass rock

Tiki joins up with the gang and is immediately like "point me to the manakete nap pile" and she finds Robin and Morgan in it and knowing full well about their Fell blood she's just like. "yeah. napping on the rocks in the sun is nice isn't it" and just flops into the pile and doesn't bring it up again.

I feel like Flayn could get away with chilling all over the monastery because like - I remember being in college and the first semi-nice day you get in spring, everyone emerged to just lounge everywhere in whatever shitty bits of March sunlight we could glean, so Flayn would pop out to find some warm stones to sit on, and she'd find that Petra and Dorothea and Linhardt already there.

Lewyn only basks in part 2, much to the confusion of the other carryovers

Or maybe everyone with Major blood basks too

Shannan, Oifey: "What, your old bones get creaky without enough sun to warm you up?"

Lewyn, only like 10 years older than them, and also possessed: "You two are hilarious."

(I know a fic that's kind of in this vein - the Twelve Crusaders discover some side effects to drinking dragon blood, including turning cold-blooded. Might be up your alley?)

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

For a prompt, maybe Bobby having a job in high school where he teaches guitar to kids and Emily and Mitch mistakenly sign Luke up for lessons? (Bobby just doesn't sound like a teenager on the phone) Belated congratulations on the 500 milestone, btw ✨

Here you go, friend! I hope you like it! My first jatp AU fic lol :)

Read on ao3 here:

--

Here’s the thing: Luke already knows how to play the guitar.

Has he ever taken a lesson? Officially? No, of course not, because he’s not a nerd. But he’s been learning from YouTube tutorials for almost six years now, been writing his own stuff for four, been the lead singer and guitarist of an epic, legendary rock band for two. He’d say he’s pretty well covered in the “knowing how to play the guitar” department, without some crusty old guy showing him the chords to songs no one’s listened to since the 60s in the grimy basement of a church two hours a week.

And yet, here he stands, on the sidewalk outside said church, guitar case in hand and a truly menacing grimace on his face, staring up at the hand-painted sign on the door detailing “Guitar lessons for kids! Room B38” in big block letters.

“Well?” Alex, who drove Luke here because Luke is currently not on speaking terms with his mother and father out of pure unadulterated spite, claps a hand on his shoulder, already stifling giggles. “You ready for your lesson, kiddo?”

“I will kick you out of the band,” Luke threatens.

“Then you can walk home.” Alex jingles his keys teasingly, then tugs Luke into a quick hug. “Come on, man, I think it was a nice gesture. Try to make the most of it, at least your parents are trying.”

Right, because the whole reason Luke’s here is because his mom thought the lessons would be a good reward for Luke passing all his classes this semester. Because she heard him complaining that Sunset Curve needed a rhythm guitarist to fill out their sound and decided that meant he needed to learn how to do it himself, even though Luke tried to explain to her that he couldn’t play rhythm guitar and face-melting solos at the same time.

Of course, she didn’t listen, and then his dad found a flyer for this guy Robert giving lessons out of the local church, and before Luke could say no, the first month’s worth were already paid for and he didn’t have a choice.

And he supposes Alex is sort of right. At least his parents know what a guitar is. At least they’re trying to be somewhat, relatively supportive of his music, instead of pushing him to apply to college or get a job over the summer like they did constantly until he ran away for six months after Christmas and almost died (he’s fine now, but that near-death experience really changed his parents’ tune).

At least they actually acknowledge that he’s in a band at all, unlike Alex’s folks, whose friends think Alex volunteers at homeless shelters in his free time, or Reggie’s, who just don’t care.

Luke knows he’s got it good, compared to his friends, compared to himself a year ago. But that doesn’t mean he’s gotta be happy about it.

“All right, I’ll pick you up in an hour,” Alex says, giving Luke’s shoulder another friendly squeeze. “Try not to pout so much, it’s unbecoming.”

Luke gives him the finger, and Alex’s laughter echoes behind him as he heads back toward his car.

And then Luke sighs, grips his guitar a little tighter, and heads inside. He’s already here, he might as well get it over with.

Room B38 is a tiny classroom deep in the bowels of the church, reserved for Sunday School or daycare or some other such activity. The door’s closed, so Luke knocks, and a voice from inside calls, “Come in!”

A voice that does not sound like it belongs to the crusty old man Luke had been picturing.

He frowns, wondering if maybe he’s in the wrong place, but tugs the door open anyway and maneuvers himself and his guitar inside.

There’s no crusty old man waiting for him. There is, however, a handsome (Luke can’t help noticing and then feels stupid for noticing), young man, no more than a year or two older than Luke at most, sitting in a comically small plastic chair and tuning an acoustic guitar.

“Hey,” Luke greets him, raising an awkward hand. “You’re… Robert?”

“Please—Bobby,” the guy corrects, laying his guitar down on the carpeted floor next to him so he can stand and shake Luke’s hand. There’s a gleam of confusion in his eyes, and he glances over Luke’s shoulder like he’s looking for something as he says, “You must be Luke’s… older brother?”

Oh, Luke is going to kill his parents. “Uh, no,” he says, clears his throat awkwardly. “No, um… I’m Luke.”

Bobby lets out an undignified snort, and then claps his hand over his mouth. “Sorry, sorry,” he says, still sort of giggling. “I shouldn’t laugh, it’s just—most of my students are in the four to twelve age range? I thought you’d be, like, eight.”

Luke rolls his eyes. “Well, I thought you’d be, like, sixty, so I guess we’re both disappointed.”

“Not disappointed,” Bobby corrects, and his smile makes Luke’s stomach flip in a way he’d really rather not analyze too closely right now. Bobby nods down at the guitar case in Luke’s hand. “Should we get started?”

Luke’s tongue feels dumb and thick in his mouth, but he manages to stammer something vaguely affirmative, and Bobby grins at him.

They settle into the kiddy chairs across from each other, and Bobby picks his guitar back up while Luke pulls his own out of its case.

He briefly considers pretending to actually need guitar lessons so that Bobby will have a chance to show off, because Bobby’s cute and funny and clearly cares about music, and Luke doesn’t know how to flirt.

But Luke also doesn’t know how to play guitar badly. So they only get about twenty minutes into the lesson before Bobby stops and says, “You don’t need me, do you?”

“I really don’t,” Luke apologizes. “I play lead guitar in a band, I’ve been teaching myself since I was twelve, my parents are just—” he starts to say stupid, then remembers Alex’s words and amends—“a little clueless about this kind of thing.”

Bobby puts his guitar aside and leans forward in his chair. “What, have they never heard you play before?”

Luke resists the urge to roll his eyes. “No, they have, they just. We’re looking for someone—my band and me—to play rhythm guitar for us? My parents asked why I couldn’t do it, and when I explained it to them, they thought ‘I can’t play lead and rhythm at the same time’ meant I couldn’t play rhythm at all. I don’t know.” He shrugs a little, busies himself with putting his guitar back in its case.

“I could.”

Luke looks up, frowning. “You could what?”

Bobby raises his eyebrows pointedly, nods at the guitar lying at his feet. “Play with you guys. If you’re still looking for someone, I mean.”

Luke’s heart skips a beat, and a warm smile spreads across his face without his permission. “Seriously, man? That’d be amazing! Here, let me give you my number and you can come over sometime and meet the band.”

They exchange information, and Luke spends a little too long staring stupidly at the contact in his phone that Bobby has named “Guitar Teacher <3”.

“Plus,” Bobby says, and Luke looks back up to see him smirking as he returns his own phone to his pocket. “Now I get an excuse to see you again. Since you obviously don’t need the lessons.”

“Yeah,” Luke agrees. “Yeah, I’d really like that.”

“But, uh, maybe don’t tell your parents that. Cause I can’t give them a refund.”

--

Taglist: @whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @apples-bees @reggiescrookedteeth @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @shrimp-colours @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas @shellydominique @julieandthequeers @joyandthephantoms @it-tastes-like-lizard

[ceapa-mica]

GEHAT’IK BE ALIIT | Chapter 6

{cross-posted on ao3}   {masterlist}

← previous chapter   next chapter →

pairing: Din Djarin x Original Female Character

warnings: angst, violence

words: 8306

summary: Elora sets out for the Dune Sea to meet with another Jawa tribe. Of course this journey doesn't go according to plan, and she has to face the harsh conditions and inhabitants of Tatooine.

a/n: Hello and Happy Halloween everybody! 🎃

I'm back from the dead with a new exciting chapter for y'all.

Enjoy! ♥️

                                   Chapter 6: The Dune Sea

Mando threw his hand of cards onto the small crate in front of him with a frustrated grunt. How Elora managed to win every single game of sabacc was a mystery to him. Was she secretly cheating? He had no idea. Unlike most people in this Galaxy, he didn't enjoy gambling, and it showed. What had turned out as a triple loss for him had started as just another petty argument between them. There were no stakes, as they considered their game as nothing more but a very competitive distraction from hours of hyperspace travel.

“With your luck be glad you didn't stake the  Crest . You always catch the wrong moment, and you had some pretty good hands.”

“Where did you learn to play sabacc so well?”

“My uncle Toc is the best sabacc player of my tribe and all of Arvala-7. He taught me and my siblings how to play sabacc whenever he could. When I was around ten he taught me how to shoot a blaster. An actual blaster, not just an ion blaster. My parents criticized him for that, because Jawas traditionally use only ion blasters. My uncle may be an oddball, but he knows how to handle a blaster and when to use a good hand at sabacc.”

“You miss your clan.” Mando concluded.

“Of course I miss them, but they get along without me. The kid needs me more than they do right now.” She looked to Mando’s sleeping nook where the child was napping in a small makeshift hammock Mando had made for him.

“Elora, the reason you left your clan was to find out more about yourself and to find your human relatives. Just... don't get too attached to the kid. I'm gonna bring him back to his kind. He belongs to people who understand him, including his powers. All our ways will separate one day. It's for the best.”

Mando stood up and ascended the ladder to the cockpit, leaving Elora speechless in the hull. Just when she'd thought he was opening up a bit he did the contrary. Sensing his inner turmoil in the Force didn't make it easier. As much as she wanted to talk to him about it, she knew how uncomfortable it made him, knowing the beskar couldn't hide his emotions completely from her. After she put away his old sabacc game she looked after the child, waking him by gently rocking his little makeshift hammock.

“Did you take a sweet nap, little sleepyhead?” The child cooed tiredly and yawned, showing his baby teeth. “Aww yes you did. Now let's find you something to eat.” She picked him up and kissed the tip of his tiny button nose before warming up a meal consisting of meat and veggies. As usual the child had to be bribed to eat his veggies and he was constantly planting images of frogs, lizards and bugs in Elora's mind.

“How about you show me something useful? How can I connect with you like this anyway?”

The child gestured to the floor in front of him, putting the little tray aside. Elora had noticed before that she had a different way of understanding him than Mando. She watched the child close his eyes as he relaxed where he was sitting. He put the image of her sitting on the floor in front of him into her mind.

“I can't believe this.” She did exactly as he'd shown her, and closed her eyes. Her breath became calm. For a while she waited for any sign. Nothing happened. “I don't know what you want from me, kid.” she murmured, shifting slightly on the floor. That's when a light feeling from outside nudged her soul. She knew right away the child was reaching out to her. In her attempt to reply she felt how her mind and feelings reached out. First thing she thought about was riding her speeder bike through the valley on Arvala-7 and her family. In return the child showed her images of bright hallways with large columns and people of many other kinds, other children among them – a happy memory of his. Elora didn't know what to make of it. She didn't recognize that beautiful place in his memory. Was this his home? His family? Her thoughts found their way to the child through the mental connection they'd just built. Several images of Jedi flooded her mind. Before anything else could transpire the  Razor Crest  was hit by several shots. The peaceful moment they had shared was over.

“Come up here!” Mando called from the cockpit. Elora grabbed the child and went to sit down in one of the co-pilot seats, clutching the child firmly against her chest. She gritted her teeth in fear while the little one didn't seem to mind the turbulences at all.

“Hand over the child, Mando.” a voice spoke on the intercom. The following shot hit one of the  Crest's engines. The turbulences and risky maneuvers made Elora's stomach turn. Mando tried to get out of the attacker's crosshair. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt increasingly more lightheaded with each turbulence.

“I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold” the attacker mocked.

“Get us out of here!” Elora yelled, barely keeping herself from throwing up. She let out a high pitched scream when he suddenly pulled the brakes. The attacker didn’t expect this reckless maneuver. His ship overflew the  Crest  and Mando managed to shoot it to bits.

“That's my line.” he muttered and checked on his companions. “Are you alright?”

“Just great, Mando. Really...” It took everything in her to not throw up.

“Losing fuel. We'll need to do an emergency landing.” he informed her. “The closest planet's Tatooine. A good place to look for a job and for you to visit your people. Maybe they have what you require to build your weapon.”

The feeling of nausea didn't falter. As soon as the Razor Crest touched the sandy grounds of Mos Eisley’s Hangar 3-5, Elora stumbled down the hatch and threw up noisily into an empty plant pot.

“You there! Didn't your parents ever tell you not to throw up into other people's properties?” The woman who called her out got instantly distracted by a shot. “Hey! You damage one of my droids, you pay for it!”

Elora sat down on the solid ground and took a few deep breaths of the warm dry desert air.

“Is she ok?” the mechanic asked.

“She'll be fine. Keep your droids away from my ship!” While Mando and the mechanic went to inspect the damage on the  Crest , the child waddled down the hatch and climbed on Elora's lap. She wiped the corners of her mouth and put the child in her bag.

“Nothing feels better than solid ground under my feet, little one. All this space stuff is not my cup of tea anyway. You know what I'm talking about, right?” The child babbled and then looked around with curious eyes. Elora had heard a lot about Tatooine. Jawas originated from this world and most of her tribe's stories took place in this world’s vast desert. What she hadn't considered was the heat. Tatooine with its twin suns was completely dry, unlike Arvala-7 where a little downpour here and there was possible and the temperature wasn't as high. First thing she pulled up her hood to protect her scalp from the excessive amount of sunlight and considered covering her face again, but decided against it...  at least for the moment.

“What do you think you're doing?” Mando stood behind her, arms crossed.

“I go looking for my people. Trading for the parts I require.”

“Leave the kid here.” He gestured at the child in Elora's bag.

“You wanna take him on your hunting trip? Bad idea, he's safer with me.”

“I could take him. That'll cost you extra, but he'll be safe here. The outskirts of the city are no place for a little womp rat like him.” the mechanic, who'd introduced herself as Peli Motto, offered. Mando and Elora exchanged a look. Elora nodded, signifying she couldn't sense any ill intentions in this woman. Mando agreed to Peli's offer and Elora handed the child over to her.

“Good luck on your hunt, Mando. I'll try to be back by tomorrow and I'll comm you in case it takes longer.”

“Good luck to you, too.”

It felt strange leaving the child with somebody they'd just met. Mando trusted Elora regarding the judging of someone's character. After all, Tatooine could be a very dangerous place, especially when there was a large bounty on your head.

Armed with two blasters and a handful of credits in her bag she walked the busy roads of Mos Eisley. Vendors were yelling their best offers. Fruits and vegetables imported from throughout the Galaxy, handcrafted jewelry, and second hand blasters to name a few of the offered goods. Though the market was incredibly noisy, it wasn't hard for her to filter distinctive little voices in her language out of said noise. She soon found two Jawas arguing over a landspeeder fuel line.

“Excuse my interruption, I’m looking for a diatium power cell, a power regulation chamber and a power conversion cone.” She showed the Jawas her list which she'd jotted down in her native writing on a piece of flimsi.

  “Foreign friend speaks and writes Jawa as if you were raised Jawa. You should visit our tribe in the Dune Sea. Maybe our tribe has what you are looking for. Beware, desert walking is dangerous. Better rent a speeder or dewback.”

She thanked the Jawas for their advice and went looking for a mode of transport.

If she had noticed one thing about the locals, it was their roughness. They were as rough and resilient as the desert itself and worked very hard to get by. It didn't take long until she could sense somebody's enormous greed. That somebody was a dewback dealer. A Devaronian with multiple scars across his face and a whip in his hands which he used on a chained up dewback who growled in agony.

“Stop hurting this magnificent creature!” Elora yelled without a second thought.

“Mind your own business, child of a bantha!” he bellowed, continuing the torture, hitting the gentle beast twice as hard. Far beyond tense, she focused on the whip in his hand until she had the Force around it in her grip. She pulled and the whip flew out of the Devaronian's hand over to her. Her anger caused the whip to splinter into tiny pieces in her Force grip.

“What have you done?! Looks like I need to teach you a lesson!” As he approached her she focused on the chains that captured the poor dewback. Again, she pulled and let the Force take the chains and used them to tie up the dealer around a fence post faster than he could react.

“You're gonna regret this, you filthy little-”

“Aw really? I'd love to stay and have a chat with you, but look at the time, I gotta go!”

Elora approached the dewback. She could sense its fear. Slowly she reached out to touch it. Closing her eyes she tried to build a connection to the creature, just like she had with the child earlier. She was able to sense the dewback in the Force and sent reassuring images and feelings its way. She opened her eyes when she felt thick scaly skin under her palm. The dewback faced her and gently licked her palm with its sticky tongue. She sensed the creature's gratitude. While the Devaronian still yelled all kinds of expletives at her while writhing in the chains, she climbed up into the saddle and gently patted the beast, then used the Force to show it an image of a sandcrawler and Jawas. The creature groaned gently and set off towards the endless horizon.

Elora was puzzled at how well she had handled this situation. Reaching out through the Force into the mind of another had turned out to be very useful, despite this being only the second time she'd done so. The child had taught her a very valuable lesson with this and probably didn't even know it, she thought. This time she hadn't been afraid of her abilities, just like on Nevarro when saving the child from the clutches of the Imps. It was exactly like Maz had told her - the more she got to know the Force, the less her insecurities would become.

The twin suns burned down on Elora's covered head. Not long after mounting the dewback she'd put on her Jawa face mask to keep the sand out of her eyes and to protect her from the bright twin suns' light. The creature apparently knew the way. She realized Tatooine wasn't like her home world at all. There was no familiar valley. In the Dune Sea everything looked the same. Sometimes she noticed bones or wreckage parts sticking out of the sand, like the desert decided who lived and who died traveling through it. The longer she was exposed to the heat, the more unbearable it became. Even someone like her, who'd lived almost all her life in a desert world, had problems with Tatooine.

Suddenly a strange feeling made itself known in her gut. The dewback became quite nervous and pulled on the bridle. Elora could sense its fear of something. That's when their connection broke off and the creature came to a halt, only to lay down in the shadow of a tall dune.

“What is it, my friend?” She got out of the saddle and climbed up the dune to take a look around. A low rumbling sound in the distance caught her ear. When she reached the dune's peak, she noticed a gigantic cloud of sand coming their way. The wind already blew a fair amount of sand in her face. She stumbled back down to the dewback. Now she understood. The creature wasn't scared of the nearing sandstorm, but for her safety. It gingerly pulled on Elora's leg, yet strong enough for her to lose her balance. The dewback pulled her under its belly and relaxed. Elora just knew everything would be alright. She pulled off her face cover, closed her eyes and waited under the creature’s belly for the storm to be over.

Something wet and sticky tickled her cheek, waking her up.

“Mando... Mmm... Mando, that tickles... EW!” She looked up to the dewback who waited next to her, sticky saliva dripping down on her face. The storm had passed and the binary sunset gave the sky a purple hue. She sat up and wiped her face. Surprised, she noticed the dune that'd protected them from the storm was now almost completely gone. Those winds were what changed the Dune Sea, turning it into a maze of death for those unfamiliar with it. Fortunately Elora was used to the dry climate and knew how to survive for days without any civilization in sight. The storm had cost her several hours, she knew there was no time to catch a break if she wanted to be back in time. She climbed back into the saddle and the dewback began to move in a slow trot in the opposite direction of the beautiful sunset.

“Without you the sand would have buried me alive. We saved each other's lives today. I guess we're even.”

Night had fallen hours ago. After having eaten a ration bar dryer than the desert itself, Elora wrapped herself tightly into her grey Jawa robe turned cloak which had always protected her from the cold air during countless desert nights. It almost felt like home to her. But every time she looked at the starry skies above, she was reminded that she was nowhere near close to home. Foreign constellations of stars and planets were shining down on the sands of Tatooine. To her they were like a foreign map she had never learned to read, contrary to the loyal beast on whose back she rode, who seemed to know exactly where it was going.

A sandcrawler appeared as a black silhouette on a dune ridge. This one was much bigger than the one Elora called her home. When the Jawas noticed their mutual on the dewback arriving, they halted the sandcrawler and let down the hatch.

Elora got off the dewback and patted its scaly neck. “Thanks for the ride, my friend.” She took off the saddle and bridle. “You may go. Roam the dunes like you used to before they caught you.”

The gentle creature turned its head and licked her with its sticky tongue one last time before slowly trotting away. She turned towards the hatch where she was welcomed by the tribe’s chief.

“Welcome, offworld friend. What leads you back here to our world of origin?”  he asked.

  “I’m looking for something. A diatium power cell, a power regulation chamber and a power conversion cone. I have several starship parts and tools in my pockets to trade.”

The Jawas who had gathered around their leader screeched at Elora’s human voice, despite her speaking Jawa Trade like a native.

  “How many Jawas did you kill to wear our robes?!”

“My tribe’s chief Bako adopted me. Jawa lives are precious and must be protected at all costs.”  she recited.

The Jawas fell silent at her words as only tribe members usually knew about the Jawa codex.

  “We do not recognize humans as one of us, adopted or not. Yet I grant you the permission to be our guest.”

So that’s why nobody’s ever heard of Jawas adopting foundlings, because they don’t , Elora thought. It made her wonder why her family had decided to adopt her. Was it just because of her Force sensitivity? No, they had taught her the Jawa way of life and had always treated her as one of their own. If it had been for their own personal gain they would have treated her like one of the droids in the sandcrawler storage unit.

It felt good to reconnect with her culture after traveling through space for so long. Being able to speak her language and be understood made her homesickness subside a little. They offered her water, rations and a blanket while listening when she talked about her tribe, her homeworld and their apparent cultural differences, like adopting a foundling.

After they were done exchanging stories they went straight to business.

  “I bring you small starship parts and some tools to trade for the parts I require.”

She took the items she offered and put them on the table in front of her.

  “You said you’re looking for a power regulation chamber and a power conversion cone, correct? We can offer both, but the only power cells we have are not made from diatium as the material is rare, even more so on Tatooine.”

  “The power cell I need must be made from diatium, I’m afraid. But I’ll gladly take the regulation chamber and conversion cone off your hands.”

They shook hands and the deal was complete. The Jawas took most of the stolen tools and starship parts.

All of a sudden a wild scream came from the upper levels of the sandcrawler.

“My cousin got bitten by Jundland fleas yesterday. The venom makes him hallucinate.”  the chief explained. Another scream followed, together with what sounded like scrap metal being thrown around.

  “I- I should leave. My companion will be waiting for me by the time I’ll be back.”

That’s when it hit her. She had sent the dewback off. Unless it was still nearby and she was able to find it, she would have to walk all the way back.

  Stupid, stupid me!

She offered the remaining starship parts and tools to rent one of the tribe’s speeder bikes, but apparently it wasn’t enough. She wouldn’t be able to bring it back once she was back in Mos Eisley. She knew Mando well enough by now that he would want to leave the planet as soon as his job was done. So there was no deal.

She stepped out of the sandcrawler and took a look around. The dewback was gone.

“Dank farrik!” she cussed. The sandcrawler was slowly beginning to move.

“Dank farrik!” a loud Jawa voice yelled.

Elora noticed a Jawa looking out of an open hatch at the upper levels.

  Probably the chief’s sick cousin.

Then all of a sudden he started throwing scrap metal and droid parts at her.

“Hey! Stop it!” she yelled and tried to avoid getting hit with junk. What she didn’t expect was the Jawa taking it one step further. She sensed the mass of the object in the Force milliseconds before it was about to crash on her. She jumped aside and landed in the sand, just like the object the hallucinating Jawa had thrown at her.

The sandcrawler was moving fast enough into the opposite direction now and somebody had pulled the sick tribe member back in, Elora realized with a sigh of relief.

She got up and wiped the sand off her clothing when a troubled whistling sound came from the object in the sand right next to her.

Elora frowned and dug the object out only to find it was a very distraught astromech droid.

“Hey, hold on! Let me pull you out!” Its cone shaped head was still stuck in the sand.

It was heavier than it looked, but Elora was used to getting droids out of unfortunate circumstances.

Bounty hunters and mercenaries who’d gotten killed by the Niktos on Arvala-7 had left enough droids behind in the past couple months.

The droid shuddered at her touch. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I’m pulling in one… two… three!”

She pulled him out using her entire physical strength, then plopped down on the sand, out of breath. In the early light of dawn she could make out the droid’s cone shaped head of worn yellow color.

“You’re an R4 unit! Do you have a restraining bolt?” She got back up and pulled the droid on its wheels. The restraining bolt was adjusted right on its front side.

“I'll remove this, but no funny business, ok.”

The droid beeped in agreement.

She pulled the restraining bolt off and wiped some coarse sand off the R4 unit who told her in droidspeak that he was used to getting called Arfour or, more officially, R4-A1.

“Finders keepers. That’s how the saying goes, right? It’s unfortunate that I happen to travel with a very stubborn person who strongly dislikes droids at the moment. But I’ll find a good home for you, I promise.” She looked to where the twin suns would be rising in about thirty minutes. She had learned very early on how to find her way home by looking at the sun and the stars. Finding back to Mos Eisley wouldn’t be a problem, it would just take much longer than in the saddle of a dewback.  At least I’m not all alone. The jittery droid followed her, keeping a little distance. If droids were able to have trust issues, this one sure seemed to have them.

  However he ended up here, his story cannot be good.

As the suns rose, the cool night air warmed up unsurprisingly quickly. Around noon Elora noticed she had hardly any water left. She felt as if there were more beads of sweat running down her body than drops of water in her bottle.

Exhaustion gnawed on her bones. Her feet hurt and walking for so long on uneven terrain was taking a toll on her. Arvala-7's rocky surface couldn't have prepared her for the hot and seemingly endless maze of sand that was Tatooine.

A sudden feeling of several hostile presences made itself known in her gut.

She took a look around. Arfour and her were the only beings in this part of the Dune Sea at least that's what she’d thought. A mistake on her behalf.

A wild battle cry sounded from behind her. On the ridge of a dune three beings had appeared, they were wielding strange looking sticks and looked like they were part of the landscape itself. From the stories she’d been told they had to be Tusken Raiders.

“Sorry for trespassing on your land. Really, I mean no harm, I-”

More raiders appeared on the ridges of the surrounding dunes. She was trapped. After taking a deep breath she pulled out her blasters in the matter of a second and began stunning the Tuskens. They were defending their land, killing them would be wrong as they had every right to do what they did. She was the intruder and therefore an enemy in their eyes. Using the Force was too much of a risk as she didn't want to accidentally end the lives of simple people who tried to protect their land.

The Tuskens came running towards her, gaffi sticks ready to strike. She couldn’t react fast enough and stun all of them before they hit her. Before she knew it, one of the sticks struck her hand, knocking the blaster out of it. She clenched her jaw in pain and attempted to smack her other blaster in a Tusken’s face.. But before she could do so she sensed a sudden pain on the back of her skull. Her vision went black and a scream of the R4 unit was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness.

Shooting that bastard had been the only option. Nobody threatens the kid and lives! It had been a close call. Of course, it hadn’t been the first time somebody had betrayed him. What changed was that he now was responsible for this kid, and Elora as well, at least as long as she was a guest aboard his ship. It was afternoon and Mando waited in the shadow of Peli’s workshop, expecting Elora to show up any moment…

He waited for hours. Meanwhile Peli was spoiling the child, completely enraptured by him. Mando was ok with it, as long as those pit droids stayed far away from the kid.

In the late afternoon Mando commed Elora, wondering where she was. He wanted to get off Tatooine as soon as possible after this mission had gone wrong. Staying in one place too long wasn’t ideal, especially not when you're wanted by the Bounty Hunter Guild and the Empire.

When Elora didn’t answer the comm, Mando became somewhat nervous. He paced around the hangar. Something didn’t feel right.

“You’re making the droids nervous, Mando. What is it? I assume your friend hasn’t returned yet?”

“She doesn’t answer the comm.” He shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about this. Something must have gone wrong. She told me she would call me in case it would take longer.”

“Well, you told me enough about her. What if she just decided to stay with those she regards as her kind?”

Mando considered her words for a moment, but he remembered Elora’s steadfastness and stubborn attitude when it came to finding her relatives. No way she would just leave her dreams and aspirations behind to stay with a tribe of strangers. She wouldn’t leave just like that, especially not without telling him, that was unlike her.

“Dank farrik, I hope these Jawas aren’t holding her captive for being human. I- I promised to take her to a world with a higher population density where she can start the search for her family. I’m bound to keep the promises I make. I need to go find her. Would you mind looking after the kid for a little longer?”

“Go and find your friend, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Thank you… and she’s not my friend.”

Mando left the hangar and used the speeder which had belonged to Toro Calican to make his way out into the Dune Sea. He needed to find this Jawa tribe despite his disdain towards these creatures. There was a long way ahead of him...

        “Wake up. Elora, you must wake up! You're in danger!”

Eventually her vision became less blurry. She looked around what she assumed was a tent. Her body had been tied to a post with a thick rope and her satchel was gone.

“Dank kriffing farrik! Let me go!” she screamed - to no avail.

A sad whistle came from her left. Arfour, who was held in place with another restraining bolt, tried to get her attention.

First thing she felt was a throbbing headache. Her eyelids fluttered open, her surroundings a blur. All she felt was that she wasn’t wearing her face cover anymore and there was something around her wrists. She looked down and noticed a somewhat blurry pair of handcuffs. She tried to reach out though the Force to determine her surroundings, but there was nothing. To her it felt as if something had cut her connection to the Force. The cuffs? And what was that voice she’d heard before she had regained consciousness? It sounded clear and warm, almost inviting.  How strange...

“You should be more optimistic. If they’d wanted to kill me, don’t you think they would have already done so? The real question is, why am I still alive? Ugh, I wonder how long I was knocked out.”

Arfour beeped in response.

"32 hours?! You gotta be kidding! I need to get back to Mando!" Her voice was raspy and her throat as dry as the planet itself. She struggled against the thick rope that kept her from moving.

Why couldn't she reach out to the Force? Were it the cuffs? That could only mean one thing: Her captors knew about her Force sensitivity.

Panic rose in her chest. What would the Tuskens do with her?

Her attempt to twist her wrists out of the handcuffs only resulted in raw and partially bloody skin. She hissed in pain.

Damnit, somebody really wants to make sure I can't escape.

It was like her thoughts had betrayed her when she heard footsteps approaching the tent.

  Should I pretend I'm still unconscious and defend myself when they least expect it?  

Her choice was taken from her when a small figure entered the tent - a Tusken child who held a bowl of water in their hands. They cocked their head when they noticed Elora had woken up, as if they were eyeing her curiously under their face mask.

"I mean no harm, kid." Elora rasped.

They walked up to her warily, eyed her once more before kneeling down in front of her and pressing the bowl of water against her lips.

Elora drank greedily, gulping the water down as if her life depended on it - because it did.

She drank up and let her head fall back against the post in relief. If the Tuskens wanted her dead they wouldn't send one of their children to bring her water.

"Th-thank you."

Outside an adult Tusken yelled, causing the child to avert their gaze from her and run out of the tent, forgetting the now empty bowl.

"What in the name of the Maker was that?"

Arfour whistled and trembled.

"Wow, I've never met a droid with anxiety issues before. Let me guess, you have no idea how we could get out of here either, huh buddy?"

He bleeped sadly.

"I wish I could use my senses. These kriffing… argh… handcuffs." She bit back tears at the pain where the metal met her raw skin. Would Mando become suspicious? Would he come looking for her? Or perhaps he assumed she would stay with her people in the Dune Sea and leave Tatooine without her? More often than not he’d said that he would much rather leave her behind on some asteroid than keep her on his ship any longer.  He's probably glad to be rid of me.

Elora waited, but nobody else came looking after her. The water the child had brought her hadn't been enough to quench her thirst, and her stomach was making sounds she’d rather not hear, not to mention the sand that was making her skin itch.

  Kriff! I hate this place!

It was dark when Elora opened her eyes. She didn't notice when she'd been drifting off to sleep. Her throbbing headache had gotten worse while she had been out and her neck was stiff from sitting in an unhealthy position for way too long.

She groaned, trying to reach Arfour with her cuffed hands to remove the restraining bolt.

If her arms were only four centimeters longer she would have succeeded.

"Kriffing hell!" she yelled, in the hope somebody would come and tell her why she was here, and why they didn't kill her in the first place. "Need to get back to Mos Eisley..." With each word she struggled against the rope.

Finally she heard footsteps approaching the tent, and by the sound of it, they belonged to an adult.

A dark silhouette pushed the fabric aside and entered the tent.

"What do you want with me? I was on my way to Mos Eisley. Please, I don’t want any trouble."

She expected the grunts of a Tusken Raider, but instead the dark figure responded in a rough human voice.

"Easy there, little one."

"You're human? Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here."

She noticed he held her satchel in his hand.

"That belongs to me! Give it back or-"

"Or what? I know what you are. The question is what is someone like you doing on Tatooine?"

"You don't know shit about me!" Elora snapped, struggling against her restraints.

He stepped out of the shadows, revealing a scarred face and eyes with a depth unlike she had ever seen. He looked intimidating, but she glared back at him, unfazed.

"If I were you I'd watch that smart mouth of yours."

"Yeah? Well, I don't like people who keep me tied up to a post on this hot dustball of a planet! As soon as I'm out of here I'd watch your back if I were you."

"Careful princess, I don't take kindly to threats."

He had noticed her raspy voice and went to get a canister of water that was hidden in a crate under the cover of several bantha furs.

"Here, drink." he put the canister in her lap.

She grabbed it despite her raw cuffed wrists, gulping the water down. There was nothing more satisfying to her than the cool water running down her dry throat.

"Thank you. Now, how about you untie me?"

"First I demand answers to my questions. I looked inside that satchel of yours and found lightsaber parts. What is a  Jetii  doing on Tatooine? And why did you dress up as a Jawa?"

"I don't owe you an explanation! The Tuskens kidnapped me and you're in possession of my stuff, which happens to be none of your business, stranger!"

"We can do this the easy way…" he took the gaffi stick he carried on his back and lifted her chin with its tip so she was forced to look him in the eyes. "...or the hard way."

"Untie me and I’ll answer your questions. Bring me some food and I'll answer half of them."

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to untie a Jedi just so you can Force choke me to death?"

"Force choke?"

The stranger cocked his head. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"I'm still learning ok."

The stranger sighed and left the tent, leaving Elora behind, who then, again, tried reaching for Arfours restraining bolt.

"Just a little closer. Are you sure you can't move or lean forward?" The droid let out a sound that resembled a mechanical whine. "C'mon!"

She breathed heavily. Exhausted, she let her arms sink.

"You are a persistent lady, I’ll give you that." The stranger had returned without her realizing.

"You! Don't sneak up on me like that again! Karking cuffs…! Keeping me from feeling my surroundings! How do you live like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like basically being completely blind to your surroundings. You're able to see and hear, yet you can't… feel anything. The world just feels lifeless when you can’t feel the Force. It's like an important part of me is missing."

The stranger considered her answer and held out a bowl to her, which contained dried chunks of meat

"Eat. You'll need your strength on your way back to Mos Eisley."

She looked up at him, slightly confused, while wolfing down the meat, ignoring the few grains of sand it contained.

"You- you let me go?" she asked in between bites.

He shrugged. "You're young. You're nothing like the Jedi back in the days of the Old Republic. There's nothing I can blame you for. Still, I don't like you and you better not cross my path again."

"I don't like you either. Now that we got this straight, how about you untie me? I'm gonna leave this dustball and will not disturb the Tuskens again."

"Don't make me regret this." He pulled a vibroblade out of his robe to cut through the ropes, then removed her Force restraining handcuffs. The feeling of the Force crashed down on her, it was almost overwhelming. She felt like herself again. Like a temporarily blind person being able to see again. The village and its inhabitants, the banthas roaming the southern dunes, tiny lizards searching for food under the cover of night - Elora felt all of it. The desert may looked lifeless, but in fact it was buzzing with life, sentient and non sentient. And then there was the stranger in front of her whose mind felt like an impenetrable wall. She was able to sense his presence in the Force, and that was it. Despite her powers she wasn't able to sense his emotions, or his thoughts. She'd never met someone like him and she wasn't sure if this should scare her.

"Why did you hold me captive anyway? You're letting me go, just like that?" she asked, trying not to let her mixed feelings show.

The stranger nodded. "The Tuskens showed me your satchel. I recognized the lightsaber parts, and I asked the Tuskens to keep you alive. I needed answers. First I thought you would be a Jedi from the Old Republic. When I saw you I changed my mind. Like I said, there's nothing I can blame you for. You're free to leave."

He handed her the satchel.

"You knew that these parts belong to a lightsaber. Now I have questions. Are you a Jedi? Or do you know someone who is?"

He huffed. "Your assumptions are insulting. The  Jetiise  are my enemies. I just learned a lot about them in order to defeat them."

"Do- do you know where I can find a Jedi?"

The stranger sighed. "Last time I encountered a Jedi was five years ago. I don't wanna talk about this day."

"Why? Did they kick your ass?"

"No. Enough questions. I don't know where to find this Jedi. If he's still alive, I assume you and he are the last remaining Jedi in the Galaxy. Their kind is extinct… Well, almost."

There were so many things she wanted to ask, but the night would soon be over. As much as she wanted to sit by a campfire and ask him all the questions burning on her tongue, she knew she should get going. The unforgiving heat of the suns would make the way back much more arduous. She took her face cover from her satchel and put it back on.

It was time for her and the mysterious stranger to say their goodbyes. Relieved to have gotten away with her life, she left the Tusken village with Arfour on her heels.

  I never want to set foot on this planet again.

Mando had his issues with the Jawas. Although the tribe he'd found in the Dune Sea after a long search and asking two Tuskens for directions wasn't the same one who scrapped his beloved  Razor Crest , he couldn't help but be completely tense. Neither Elora nor Kuiil were there to help him talk to these people.

His Jawa Trade was limited to a few words. He'd never had any actual business with their kind until Arvala-7, so the need to learn some basics had never arisen. Elora wasn't on the sandcrawler, at least he assumed she wasn't.

When he mentioned her name though, the Jawa he spoke to, who he guessed was their chief, became excited and pointed towards the horizon outside. That could only mean one thing. She'd been there and was on her way back. It shouldn't have taken her so long, so he came to the conclusion that something must have gone wrong.

He promised her a safe passage to a world with a higher population density. There was nothing safe about getting lost in the Dune Sea. He had to find her. Though he hated to admit it to himself, his honor depended on it.

He left the sandcrawler in a haste when a Jawa started yelling what he guessed were expletives at him. The chief had to hold the hysterically screeching tribe member back, and shoved him out of view into a closet.

The chief bowed to apologize for the incident.

Mando sighed at the Jawas' antics. He jumped out of the fortress, watching the sandcrawler disappear behind a large dune. He was all alone again, and at this moment it didn't feel right. Due to his line of work he was used to solitude - and he liked it. But his honor was at stake and his foundling was waiting for him in Mos Eisley.

  I never should have let her go alone.

He got back on his speeder bike and was about to rev the engine when suddenly his comlink beeped. His heart skipped a beat.

  It has to be her.

He accepted the comm and…

"Mando? Hello, can you hear me?"

He sighed in relief when he heard her thick accent.

"Yes. What happened? Are you alright?"

"Tuskens happened. They let me go. I'm fine. Sorry if I'm late. I know you prefer not staying in one place for too long in our current situation."

"No need to apologize. You sound out of breath. Where are you?"

"Near Mos Eisley. Are you waiting at the hangar?"

"No, actually I went looking for you. Figured something must have gone wrong."

There was a long silence at the other end of the comm. Elora took a deep breath and swallowed down some tears. He cared. Her sworn enemy cared. The only people who would have done the same for her were her family. He cared with no superior motives. She wondered if there were other Mandalorians like him.

"Meet me at the hangar. Let's get off this shithole!"

"The  Crest  is repaired and refueled. I'll make good on my promise."

His promise… That meant they would go separate paths sooner than expected.

She felt bad for the child. They had built a connection. She was able to understand him in ways Mando couldn't. What would become of him when she wasn't around anymore?

"See you later, Mando." She ended the comm and tried to suppress her emotions.

Arfour whistled sadly at the few sniffles that escaped her.

"I'm fine, really. Just got some grains of sand in my eye, that's all."

The droid didn't believe her, but decided to remain silent on the matter. He was no protocol droid and his ability to comfort his sad new master was very limited. That didn't keep him from moving a bit closer to her, reminding her of his company and that she wasn't alone.

Elora was sleeping on a bench at Peli's hangar when Mando returned. She looked exhausted and he instantly noticed the marks on her wrists.

Peli came out of her workshop, the babbling child in her arms, when her pit droids got all nervous, which was always the case when the Mandalorian was around.

"You're back! Looks like she never got lost out there. She told me about her unfortunate encounter with the sand people."

"I'm sure if the encounter would have been unfortunate, she wouldn't be here with only a few scratches. Did he behave?" Mando took the child from her arms and checked on him.

"Yes, he seems worried about your companion though. When she fell asleep he refused to leave her side at first. I had to bribe him with some dried lizards."

Mando went to Elora's sleeping figure, pushing the droid in his way roughly aside.

Arfour became jittery, yet he reached out to where armor didn't cover Mando's body and sent a strong electric shock through him.

Mando grunted at the pain. In a matter of seconds he raised his blaster at the white and yellow R4 unit.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Peli interrupted. "She brought this droid here and not once has he left her side. Even refused an oil bath."

"I don't care, I don't want it near her!"

Elora woke up slowly when she heard familiar voices. When she saw a blaster pointed at Arfour she jumped up and grabbed Mando's arm tightly.

"Don't you dare!"

"Let go of my arm!" Mando tried to pull his arm out of her tight grip - to no avail.

"Drop the blaster first!"

He sighed and did as she told him. She let go and kicked the blaster away from him.

"Let me explain! This droid needs a good home. I promised to care for him until I found one. In the Dune Sea we looked out for each other. Please. You're gonna drop me off at the next stop anyway, so you don't have to be around him for long."

"I have a strict no droid policy for my ship. Either you travel with me without the droid, or you stay here with him."

Elora huffed. "You're kidding, right?"

Mando stepped closer to her. "Do I look like I am?"

"Hard to tell with that bucket on your head. You told me you want to make good on your promise. Keeping a promise means a lot to you, I figured that out."

They glared at each other until Peli cleared her throat.

"I don't know about your issues with droids, Mando, but I can assure you R4 astromechs are harmless and do a better job than this R5 unit of mine."

"Why don't you keep it then?"

"I'm currently in no need for another droid."

The child reached out with his little hands, wanting to touch the flat top of Arfours cone shaped head.

"I get it, you're all conspiring against me behind my back." he huffed. "If this droid causes any destruction or becomes a threat to the kid I'm gonna-"

"He won't, Mando! You will behave, right?"

Arfour beeped in agreement.

Mando hated the idea of a droid aboard the  Razor Crest . To him all droids were soulless tin skeletons. He hated them all, no matter which function they had or how much they spoke like sentient lifeforms.

  Calm down, it's just an astromech, no battle droid.

They thanked Peli for the repairs, the babysitting and overall hospitality.

Elora rushed up the hatch, Arfour on her heels. She couldn't wait to get off this planet and hoped she would never have to see it again. It may have been her people's homeworld, but the conditions had been a bit too harsh, even for her.

Her thoughts drifted to the mysterious stranger. She didn't understand how a mind could have such a strong resistance to the Force. Also what he'd told her about the Jedi on Tatooine from all those years ago. If he was still around she was sure she would have sensed it. But the news alone that there was at least one other person out there with the same powers she and the child possessed made her very happy for some reason.

Mando ascended to the cockpit. Again he shoved Arfour out of his way. This time the droid knew better than to electroshock him and remained idly by Elora's side.

Mando chose the next destination on the nav computer.

"You said you remember a city in the clouds. I'm taking you to Bespin. Cloud City has access to intergalactic archives. If you were born there, it's probably documented somewhere."

Elora nodded and watched how the  Crest  broke out of Tatooine's atmosphere. Billions of stars welcomed them back in space.

So this was it. Her last ride on the old  Razor Crest . She'd gotten used to the ancient ship. The thought of wandering around on a foreign planet in a city full of foreign people of strange species scared her.  At least Arfour will be by my side. She knew she had to start looking for her relatives, if she had any, somewhere. Searching for her family was what she wanted and there was no going back now. Perhaps she would find a diatium power cell and finally be able to build her lightsaber.

The child sensed her worries and sent reassuring feelings her way she felt coming at her in waves.

If he would only know that our paths will separate soon.

← previous chapter   next chapter →

She would miss them both. The child which she had let into her heart, and the Mandalorian who made this journey possible for her. She was grateful for them as they had both taught her so much she would never have learned at home with her tribe. This goodbye would hurt. The trip to Bespin would take almost an entire day. With 22 hours of quality time left to be exact, and she didn't plan on wasting a single minute of it.

[rockin-monster]

HEY FUCKERS!!!! Since it's Valentines Day, I figured I'd write how the Rock Squad would show love/affection to you! This is both potential fan service, minor character lore, and me being very sappy and silly.

ok LET'S GET STARTED

Keith/Rock Monster

Keith's love language or whatever it's called is physical affection.

He's a stage 5 clinger. Not in the "hates it when you go out with your friends on a saturday night" way, but in the literal sense. He'll wrap all his limbs around your torso and get his stupid lizard head right next to yours and be like "hi :)"

A minor stim of his (as in one he doesn't do that much) is repeat a single word multiple times, either out loud or in his head. He often doe this with Addie's name. If you hear him say your name multiple times, it means he probably likes you.

He will probably cuddle up next to you and purr. It's like being next to a Samsung TV with vibrate on.

He's a total sucker for getting any sort of physical attention. If you idk caress his jaw or cuddle with him he'll either melt or spontaneously combust and set you couch on fire.

he likes being carried around lol (he's 4'7" can you blame him)

Addie Blair

Addie's love language is also physical affection but to a lesser extent than their boyfriend Keith.

They absolutely LOVE holding someone close in their arms and hugging/cuddling/embracing them.

They wag their tail anytime they're around someone they like.

They will sit in your lap and play on their Switch. probbly wants to show you the politoad they caught idk

Also loves giving/getting kisses, or at least the closest thing they can do without lips.

Mary/Fame Monster

Believe it or not, Mary is not very experienced/interested in romance!

However, she does have a few ways of showing affection.

Normally she's very blunt yet polite, but if she likes you she will probably compliment you and be nicer to you.

She might also be a little more vulnerable with you, and/or open up with you more.

She actually really likes the small gestures of love and affection-- holding hands gently, a flower left by your bedside cuz she had to work early, adding your favourite little side dishes/spices/foods to a meal, etc

A teensy bit ironic since she's usually cast in romance movies

Virgil/Party Monster

Virgil isn't very experienced in romance either, but he can be his own brand of romantic.

He talks a little loudly, but if he's interested in you he'll talk more softly.

He often likes taking others out to see movies. In his mind, if you willing to sit down with him and watch something for an hour and a half, you obviously think he's cool and awesome.

He doesn't cook very often but if you were coming over for dinner, he'd go to the ends of the earth to found out what kinda food you like.

He'll DEFINITELY send you a romantic test at least every other morning.

Kendall

Kendall is a certified doofus when it comes to love.

His love language is being a total sap.

With physical stuff, they will pick you up and hold you, bounce their leg up and down when sitting with you, do a lot of putting their arm round you, and draw little shapes on your palm/back of your hand with their finger.

He also loves telling you nice things about yourself every 5 damn minutes and holding you close while softly chirping.

(they are very soft and warm)

Sometimes, he might lay his head on your lap (after asking of course) and just... nap. For like 10 minutes. He was so happy he fell asleep.

(it would probably feel weird since he's nine feet tall)

Ferrel (I know he's technically not part of the blog but whatever)

Ferrel is kind of emotionally constipated but that isn't gonna stop him lmao

If you are someone he likes, he will definitely be happier/laugh more with you.

He's also kinda tired all the time because of his job and his med stuff, so if you were ok with just hanging out at his apartment and playing video games and watching Netflix theres a 54% chance he would think you're so hot and want to kiss you on the mouth afterwards.

He does regular cat affection things too, like purr if you're hanging out with him, fall asleep on your shoulder, or do the slow blink thing at you.

[lovelybigjellyfish]

Medusa and the blind girl

The whole cave shuddered in remorse with the emptiness, the crippling solitude of the stone figures. Covered with the spider webs and insects, warming up the lovely decorations of her home. The queen sitting in the throne alone with no one to rule over, but the endless hordes of stone frozen in fear. Visitors rarely come by, but whenever they came, she tends to them personally for always it's a queens job to be hospitable.

Poor visitors that never leave once greeted by her majesty. Without ringing the bell, nor wiping their shoes on the mat, what ill-mannered souls, but the lovely queen doesn't discriminate. Wearing her most extravagant dress, with her hair flowing and hissing happily. Those sea-green beautiful eyes shining brightly, enhancing all her features.

"Welcome my dear guests", she greeted. All she got in response was screaming and disgust from those dishonorable souls, weak fragile humans. So weak yet their actions are the only thing able to hurt the queen deeply, as their faces filled with fear and anguish at the sight of her eyes, her hair and just her in all her glory. The bodies slowly petrifying into stone statues to add to her lonely furniture.

More faces that remind her, of her sad lonely life as the spiders cob their webs on the new statutes trying to hide their face to soothe their queen just a little. A beautiful necklace laced with their still web flowed on to her neck so ironically majestic. As the snakes slithered in melancholy.

"Umm is a-anyone there?", a frail voice echoed in the empty room of statues.

A weak dirty girl in rags and chains on the ground still sitting in her knees scraped and bleeding. The queen scared to see another face scream, ran to her throne room. A lonely abode yet away from all those reminders of her sole purpose in life to be lonely, to be companionless. The spiders still amazed at the girl in taters, they prepared a bed with their finest silk, softer than the roses of Athena's garden. A tray of assorted delicacies fancied by her majesty and escorted to a stream of water by the faithful lizards.

The scorpions so freely unlocked her shackles as the girl not scared of all the anomalies thanked them all with the kindest most sweetest Melody.

Taking off her clothes in the stream of water heated by the lava rocks fallen from Hades's tantrums, a Melody echoing around the caves. Till they knocked at the Queen's door, so soothing, Bewitched by the voice, the queen awoke from her crumbled abode. Peeking through the hole in the roof above the stream, a sight so beautiful yet so normal.

A poor girl, filled with wounds dirty and torn, disgusting and not even a face to boast, but just that elegance that kept on knocking the queen out of her shoes. Why is she still here, she taunted her servants, who all but one cowered in fear?

"Oh my queen, my dear lonely queen this girl is one not like the others, she feared not our touch nor holds a grudge. All the visitors had never, stayed so long, but this girl has been coming along.", The queen curiously observed the girl, as the servant spoke. Her hand clutched her chest and let out a frightful roar. The serpents on her head hissed with red eyes as she jumped down below in front of the girl splashing the water all around.

"You little miscreant", she screamed at the poor girl, who had suddenly lost all composure in fear, but wait there was something different this fear was not against the queen, but fear of overstepping her bounds.

"Oh my lords, please don't hurt this filthy servant, I overstepped my bounds I repent please forgive me for this atrocity", she pleaded while begging the queen, who was in shock. The girls back layout exposed and the make of a slave engraved deep till her bones. The queen shook as she calmed down and informed the poor raggedy girl that her captors were no more, and she was free now.

The girl still begging, the queen still stuck on the question of why? Just why is she not turning into stone?

Like a hit of fear from the last treacheries she had faced, her face boiled as she had to know, is she being deceived.

"Do you know who I am, little human!!!", She spoke with her strongest voice, "I am Medusa the queen of this land, the ruler of the serpents, you dare lie to me!!!".

As Medusa reached for the girl and grabbed her face, she looked her straight in the eye, her hissing hair, slithering slowly around her head.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't know, I-I cannot see y-your highness", she explained as Medusa Expression shifted from anger to confusion, as the grey dead eyes stared into her eyes, without fear, without hatred those beautiful eyes that seemingly dead had more life than every statue in her fortress.

*Drip* *drip* the queen snapped back to her senses as the grey eyes filled with tears looked at her, Medusa's eyes all the more aware saw all the wounds and scars on that little feeble human. For the first time in forever, Medusa was incapable of being hospitable.

"All my servants, heed the call of your queen!!! Take care of my guest and tend to her wounds at once", she ordered.

The girl still begging for her life, opened her eyes wider as if she wanted to look at her, just look at that voice that for the first time scared her, yet still managed to make her feel warm. Shaking and tired she fell unconscious on to the white scaly arms of her majesty.

*Crack a dent on a stone was barely heard.*

The girl awoke in a beautifully decorated room with robes of the finest fabric, hair neatly tied and an entrancing scent lingering around. Fresh from her rest, the girl felt her surroundings and started to tear up. Her instinct to express her happiness and gratitude seeped in the form of a beautiful melody, that all the servants rushed to hear. The bewitching voice of this kindred soul, knocked on the Queen's door yet again as she appeared in front of her, dressed in a beautiful gown, and the finest lipstick in the land of the mortals. All to which she remembered on facing the girl was not needed.

"Oh, my humble queen is that you?", The poor girl spoke.

Medusa traced her hand through her hair, onto her face affirming her query. Never had she felt such a soft and delicate sensation of another person's skin. She humbly asked the girl's name, at which the girl suddenly went quiet.

"I'm sorry your highness, but I don't remember my name", she muttered. Disheartened, medusa grabbed her hand and helped her stand up.

"Call me Medusa please", The queen calmly exclaimed. The servants brought a stick for the blind girl, but Medusa hinted them to stop as she wanted to help her walk herself. Moving pass the rooms in the hall, in the great castle, another slight sound of stone cracking still left unheard. Sitting alone in the room, no one had touched the food as one was busy admiring the girl in front, and the other was busy feeling the sensation of a very warm hand that she had never felt before. The servants in the hallways rejoicing at the happy queen who had for once found a companion, a feeling she had never felt. All the scared statues in the castle were now all of a sudden unable to make the queen sad, for now, she had found a human worthy of looking at her and not cower into a statue of fear.

Hours passed by in the coped up room as the two talked and talked and talked till they were tired, and yet it was still not enough. Never have the two ever felt much happier than they did with each other. It was night time, and time to retire to their rooms as it was the girls' time to sleep and the Queen's time to work, the servants cannot get supplied themselves. Escorted to her room by her majesty the girl oh so very slightly leaned in for a kiss on the cheek of the dazzled queen. Now red all over, even the slithering hair, going away with her heart pounding hard. The girl lay down to sleep with a very warm smile.

"Goodnight", Medusa said with her hand still on her cheek.

"Goodnight my queen", replied the half-asleep tired maiden.

As the queen departed for her daily duty, the girl just remembered something, something she wishes to tell the queen next time she met. A giggling little girl slept soundly.

*Crack* *crack* a huge thud echoed as the sound alarmed everyone, the servants scared at the sight of the source, a huge spike from the ceiling, had slowly begun to crack. A figure woke up from the sound, walking slowly in the dark, just the sound of weeping servants was all that guided the figure. Running the figure stepped into a snake and got bitten, but that did not stop her from finding the source of that sound. A feeling was stuck in her chest that she wanted to rid herself of.

So dark as the figure finally reached the source and felt a warm touch as she trembled onto the ground with her hands grabbing everything they could. Her hands moving slowly from her hands to the Queen's weeping face, then down to her stomach, pierced by a spike. The girl began crying in sadness as she realized that her queen lay there on the ground bleeding, not uttering a word as the servants frozen still.

"Leave me and go, there's nothing that we can do now", the queen uttered as her mouth filled with blood. The girl still weeping grasped her closer, "you can't leave me like this my majesty, you were so kind to me, so loving I cannot lose you like this".

As the room went silent Medusa lay her head on the girls' lap as she talked to her to keep her from feeling pain. hand in hand, the girl asked the queen, "do you want to know my name, my queen".

The queen nodded while barely speaking," call me Medusa please".

The girl grasped her closer while holding her breath, "my name w-was h-hope".

As the queen smirked, the name eched into her heart.

As the silence grew even more Hope, gripped her tighter, and felt herself growing weaker, even the queen realized as both of them near the end of their lights, Medusa placed her hand on hopes face and hope pressed her forehead against Medusa's.

As the servants now left at the wish of the queen the empty room with the two souls in the center, slowly the hair on Medusa started to petrify as the girls' hands started to turn to stone as well.

The night reached it's prime as the moon shined down brightly through a hole, on the beautifully sad stone figure left in the middle of the room, with the monster no one could look at and the girl that was able to see nothing, but the monster.

[mg-cg-me-cx]

*poster covered walls, bright 90’s pop art, Caroline sits crisscross on her bed with a red electric guitar in her lap, her bright, multi-colored quilt draped across her bed, clothes strewn along the floor. Fairy lights outlining her vanity and various makeup and hair brushes scattered on the desk. A brown box peaks out from under the cover of her blanket underneath her bed. *

Caroline’s Mom: *shouts* Dinner!

*bright yellow and warm red striped sock hop of the bed and Caroline starts down stairs. Her brothers pile down the stairs at the same time pushing and shoving each other without effecting Caroline. Caroline, with a disconnected look upon her face isn’t bothered by her brothers' rowdiness. *

Caroline’s Mom: *a casserole dish lands in the middle of the filled table* Caroline take those ear phones how you’re at the dinner table.

Caroline: *with a straight face, gently removes her ear buds* sorry

Austin: what the hell is up with you

Caroline’s Mom: Austin Michael! Watch your mouth! A nice family dinner means nothing to you people!

Caroline’s Dad: give it up Leila that never works can you pass the carrots please?

Leila: *Handing Randall a steaming bowl of carrots* I want some order in this family Randall!

Jackson: can I have some carrots too dad?

Randall: sure, Jack one second and I want some carrots Leila have a seat please

*with an annoyed sigh Leila struts back into the kitchen. the dining room table in empty of conversation but filled with the desire to communicate. The boys fight over bright orange carrots and fill their plate to the point of over flowing. Caroline has a neat plate green beans, orange carrots, red beats, white creamy potatoes, bright white chicken breast separated into thinner pieces.The dad is much like the boys to the mothers disappointment. Caroline is just Caroline. the enigma of the family. neat but not obsessive. determined but not competitive. Caroline is a balance, but to two completely opposite sides of the spectrum like Randall and Lelia she is impossible to crack.*

Randall: how's guitar practice going Armadillo

Caroline: *slight smile* good thank you

*Armadillo has always been his nick named for her. it meant a lot to her, like her one connection to something meaningful. Guitar was another portal to reality, but only because it came from him. She loved her dad.*

Leila: *walks back into the kitchen to see the boys rough housing and making a mess* Randall!

Randall: *fed up with her constant stress* what

Leila: tell the boys to stop making such a mess!

Randall: boys! listen to your mother for once she's had a rough day.

*Leila sits down finally as the boys removed their intertwined forks from their fork battle.*

Austin and Jackson: sorry mom

Leila: it's okay boys so how was everyone's day?

*Austin and Jackson at the same time*

Austin: good in class today Mr. Jarvis talk about reptiles

Caroline: good

and how they shed their skin and gross bigger and i know i think i want a lizard.

Jackson: awesome i saw a rocket launch into space and

Caroline: good

i wanted eat astronaut food and meet the alien king and rule my own planet

*all three smiling after their descriptions of their days, Randall looks down at his food with big eyes attempting to absorb all the information.*

Leila: well good i'm glad everyone is happy and learning.

Randall: Armadillo? How was your day?

*Caroline glances up at here father. the table is quiet, a waiting her answer.*

Caroline: i said it was good.

Randall: yeah, but what did you do?

Caroline: *swallows* oh hm, i practice guitar *smiles* that's going well. there was salisbury steak for lunch today and that was kinda gross. uhh that's kinda it.

Leila: that's it? what about your classes? how are your gra-

Randall: sounds like a pretty average day huh?

Caroline: *smiles* yea pretty average

*Lelia shakily drops her fork on her plate, the room shutters.*

Lelia: Randall can i talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?

*Lelia stands and walks into the kitchen.*

Jackson: is mommy okay daddy

Randall: *standing* she's fine honey just finish those beans for me and i'll be down to play wars with you and your brother in just a minute.

*Austin puts his hand on Jackson's back to comfort him.*

Jackson: okay

*Randall pushes in the chairs and enters the kitchen*

Caroline: it's okay guys, they love each other and sometimes when people love each other they fight because they think it's too good to be true.

Jackson: what does that mean

Austin: *making eye contact with Caroline* it means they love each other a lot and love makes you do really strange things.

Jackson: *sadly shoving the last bean into his mouth* oh

Austin: cm'on Jack let's go play space wars

Jackson: *jumping down from his chair* okay

*Caroline sits for a beat longer and stands, there is a silence in the kitchen which indicated to Caroline that her parents were waiting for her to exit the dining room. she pushes in her chair and walks upstairs into her room*

*In the kitchen*

*Leila is leaning on the counter with a hand on her forehead. Randall in standing across from her at a short distance. Randall lean to see into the dining room*

Randall: okay they're gone

Leila: why do you constantly take her away from me

Randall: you know that she doesn't like to talk much, you bombarding her with questions isn't gonna help you too bond

Leila: but she never talks to me why won't she just connect with me she doesn't feel like my daughter

Randall: Lelia please stop you just have to find other ways to connect to her she likes music, she likes a challenge, she likes to learn new things. She doesn't like gossip and reality tv shoes and school dances. She just not that type of girl.

Leila: *picking up plate* why can't i connect with my own children *plate clashing against the floor, Leila slides down the cabinet to the floor in tears.*

Randall: Jesus Leila *running to her side, holding her close* shhhh breathe, breathe you're okay, you're okay

*shot pans out to the whole kitchen with Leila and Randall on the tile floor, Leila shaking in Randall's arms, rocking back and forth, surrounded by glass. fades out*

[randomnameless]

Random Rhea HC : Nap time.

Back when she was a wee litle thing, she used to nap, like her siblings, in both human or lizard form, on Zanado's warm benches when there was some sun or anywhere, even if she prefered, as always, to sit next Sothis who would always find a way to hum her lullaby and have her sleep on her lap.

When it was cloudy and Sothis wasn't available, Cichol had to put her to "sleep" for naps, and while she always refused to, listening to his stories always did the trick (helped by Cichol tucking her to bed first), to the point where putting Cethleann to sleep was very easy for him, because he had to deal with Rhea for years previously (something he often teases her about when she pretends she's alright and doesn't need to sleep when she's Archbishop Rhea).

As Seiros the Warrior, Rhea has trouble sleeping, because even if she is Seiros the Warrior, whenever she falls asleep, she becomes the Rhea who couldn't do a thing in Zanado again, and her nightmares/memories are so frightening that she refuses to sleep.

Whenever she feels like she has too - else she will collapse - at first, when she still cannot trust humans, she escapes to the most secluded place she can find (a mountain, the top of a tree, a forest, some secluded place where no human can find her, or a cave) to rest but her nightmares mean she cannot really rest/sleep.

When she trusts them a little more (but still not that much!) she allows herself to rest for a few hours, but always alone, in a closed space, and with her weapons at hand. When she "rests" like this, she is a very light sleeper and, coupled to her nightmares, it means she cannot get effective sleep.

Willy does his thing, and while she still has some nightmares she finally manages to get some sleep, even if Willy is annoying because while he may be as warm, or even warmer, as the warm rocks from her childhood, he snores and his heartbeat is loud.

Besides, they rarely sleep when they're together because he has to polish his sword or whatnot.

When Cichol'n'co join her quest, she finally feels "safe" enough to sleep in Enbarr's palace without Willy. It's thus a common occurence during the sunny days, to see Saint Seiros sitting on a bench, or against a column, or even in the gardens, "meditating" for the most devouts. Her nightmares are still there, but knowing some of the others survived "lessens" them.

Lycaon and his friends of course pretend to "meditate with Saint Seiros" whenever they want to escape their tutors, they bring their toys and play next to her, until they fall asleep. Rhea was always puzzled to see those children sleeping next to her when she woke up, but was so amused and touched, because it reminded her of her younger days with Sothis, that she never told them to, uh, stop "missing" their lessons.

(To Cichol's great disarray, why are they always running away from his important "philosophy and life lessons" classes? To which his wife would often reply that to a bunch of 5 years old his classes are way too boring.)

Post War of Heroes, once the monastery is built, Rhea isn't "afraid" anymore to sleep because of humans, but her nightmares came back in full force, "updated" with the WoH and her "new" losses, her brothers, Cichol's wife, Lycaon, Willy, etc etc.

Jeralt once spot her asleep at her desk, he tried to wake her up gently by pushing her shoulder, but she broke his jaw as a "reflex" startled.

Sitri worries about her sleep schedule, so she arranges some time in her planning when she would be free to nap, especially when there's sun outside! However, she later discovers that Rhea's sleeping issues are caused by "nightmares" and while she never prays, she introduces her "not mom" to chamomille, maybe it can help her relax, if not sleep?

Cichol returns and while he knows she has nightmares (even since her Seiros the Warrior days) she refuses to talk about them. Ultimately Seteth, with his years of experience, pulls out the same tricks he used in his youth, giving her his reports at night, while she's tucked in bed, and making sure she drank her chamomille.

It's an old method, but it works.

Hanneman once surprised him with a book about nightmares, and asked him if he needed help, which of course attracted Manuela who gave the advice to "drink so much that you pass out and don't remember what happened when you fell asleep".

Cyril refuses to "nap" next to Rhea, or put his head on her lap despite her insistence, because that's way too embarassing and damn, he's not a kid anymore! Catherine doesn't mind at all though, and takes his turn, which annoys him even more, but for some weird reason, Lady Rhea doesn't seem to mind.

AG!Wise, Shamir catches her, Seteth and Flayn (and even that new merc who joined?) sleep in the Camulus Cathedral, when there'd be a ray of sun peering through the windows.

"They are all in deep religious meditation", says a random monk. Shamir knows better though, they're having a nap.

[randomnameless]

Something you’ll find interesting: if permadeath is enabled and a recruited jeralt dies, byleth says they’re sad they lost him, but at the same time say that now that he’s gone, they’re going to seek out rhea themselves because they want to know why jeralt was avoiding her, they want to find out the truth. So azure gleam does have that even if it’s a crumb at least, and sothis was still fucked writing wise. But it does give weight to the fact that byleth has a stronger family with the church than they did with jeralt. Who knows? Rhea obviously recognised them as Sitri’s (in golden piss but still) so she’ll likely take them in and tell them the truth they want to hear.

This also made me like Byleth more (i didn’t hate them in houses, but i was more indifferent) and it makes me mad that they have a genuinely interesting character aside from backstory that houses shafted for whatever reason. Because we get information like them being curious about the world, getting along with rhea and liking her (she’s the only character to have a pre time skip a support), and even being quite soft spoken and gentle instead of the energetic protagonist types. I’m just disappointed that was only shown in three holes and feh instead of their actual debut game. Is Koei to blame to try to force us as players to want to woo edelgard or why did they make them mute? I would’ve loved to hear them voiced talking to rhea about sitri and the nabateans and having tea and fishing with Seteth and flayn.

Oh really???

AG can possibly still end with Billy at the monastery, becoming a teacher, and maybe Worst Mom having to interact with her children (lel) - it really is the best route lol

Pretty sure Rhea knows who they are, and if Billy's already green, she might even think they're Sothis and come to the realisation that they're 2 different persons earlier than in FE16 too!

I think @renisfan pointed it out earlier, but JP!F!Billy is also more soft-spoken and gentle than what is the "western depiction" that tried to maker her appear more "Badass".

But yeah, as I suspect, the reason why Billy couldn't be more "themselves" or "interesting" in FE16 was because Billy must be able to woo Supreme Leader - thus they cannot really get to know their lizard fam - and also because both games are allergic to Nabatean content - bcs Hresvelg Tea - so Billy being a half-nabatean like being cannot be under the spotlight.

I know I joke a lot about poor Jerry, but the fact that FE16 really tried to hammer the "best dad uwu feel sad for him uwu look we made two mouthpieces to tell you how awesome he was" angle when it also didn't erase the dramatic implications that Jerry effectively ran away with his kid because the kid was "abnormal" - as a result of the heart transplant Sitri asked Rhea to perform/or because Billy is biracial - but never developed about it, bar some half-assed reheated ravioli can "maybe it was a mistake to leave the monastery" before his death...

Only for Nopes to add more on the "deadbeat dad" angle and highly suggesting Jerry, as much as the crest stone, is the reason why Billy was so emotionally stunted...

But we couldn't have a resolution with Rhea and Jerry and Billy, where it would be more or less revealed that Jerry loves Billy and ran away to protect them from Rhea, even if what Jerry feared was only a result of Billy, just like Sitri and Rhea herself, not being human.

And we of course couldn't have Jerry, after learning the truth, feeling like a watermelon because even if Sitri wasn't a human, he still loved/s her, ultimately apologising to Billy and to Sitri to have shat on her last choice - with Billy telling him that he doesn't need to apologise, but maybe from now on they can all live together and be a real family, regardless of their race because they love each other, and sit on warm rocks together -

Why?

Because the game dgaf about nabateans, and coexistence between humans and nabateans directly contradicts Supreme Leader's motto, and Supreme Leader can never look bad or be contradicted, because everyone has to learn to love her, so even if she says Nabateans are incapable of human feelings, shouldn't rule over the people because they are nabateans, have no regard for human life or are cruel beasts - we can't have anyone's arc go frontally against her mindset and say that despite the shape of their ears, Nabateans and Humans aren't so different, they have the same feelings and can ultimately live together, hell, through Billy, love each other.

Now, I'm going to drink a cup of Earl Grey.