Chapter 6: Bind...

I felt my eyes snap open, along with my body jerking upwards into a sitting position. I gave a startled gasp as my eyes frantically gazed around. I recognized the tall rock walls and the clay-like ground. My chest heaved up and down as I tried to move my body. Immediately, I felt something digging into my wrist and looked down at a thick pair of metal cuffs. I frowned in response, but it quickly vanished when I noticed I was finally wearing clothes.

(Thank God.)

I was grateful to whoever clothed me but still a little bit irked about the bindings. I also noticed a pair of bindings around my ankles, which was overkill, in my opinion. Sighing, I brought my gaze back to my clothes. I was wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt, along with black pants and black boots. I turned away from my clothes and peered up into the sky. The ravine was darker, but rays of lights still touched the tops of the rock walls.

"You're awake."

I felt my body tense up as I slowly craned my head around. To my surprise, I noticed two white-armored figures a few feet away. I felt my eyes widen in surprise.

They were sitting a few away, with bindings on their hands and feet.

Were in fact, two stormtroopers.

Their once gleaming armor was now stained with clay and covered in soot. They had their helmets on, but I could see singed marks along with their visors cracked. One on the right was gazing at me, while the one on the left was up against a boulder. His body slumped over as if he was unconscious. I turned my attention to the awake trooper. He raised his bonded hands and gave me a finger salute.

"Nice to mee ya, name's Cain."

I felt the corner of my mouth curl upwards, "Brett...My name is Brett." Cain nodded his head and said, "Cool name...Where you from?"

I turned away from the talkative stormtrooper and said, "Somewhere."

"Where is somewhere?"

"Somewhere in the galaxy."

"Where at in the galaxy?"

"Close..."

"Close where?"

"...."

At this point, I completely turned away from the trooper. The trooper went silent as well, and the only noise was the howling of the wind as I continued to sit there and gaze around at the dirt. I heard the sounds of movement. I perked up in response and turned my head to my left. A familiar, green-skinned creature was peaking around a smaller rock with long pointed ears and wispy white hair.

It's a goblin!

No.

It's just Grogu.

I felt myself smiling as the miniature Yoda gazed at me with curiosity. I raised my hands out toward him and said, "C'mon, I won't hurt you." Grogu ears waved around as he steadily walked out from behind the rock. Slowly, he walked over toward me. His tiny green feet would appear underneath his robes every step he took.

"Whose, the baby?"

I glanced over at the stormtrooper with a 'really' expression. The stormtrooper shrugged and pointed the finger at Grogu.

"Seriously, he's the size of a baby."

I rolled my eyes and looked back over at Grogu. He was now standing beside me, his eyes staring up at me, as he raised both of his arms to me. I smiled and gently reached down; despite being tied up, I could lift Grogu and place him upon my lap. He made a noise as he sat down and leaned his head against my stomach, his head curiously glancing around as his ears flapped around.

I chuckled in response and gently rubbed my finger against his scalp. He made another noise as his head bobbed back and forth from my finger.

"Can I hold him?"

"No."

"Tch...Selfish bastard."

I raised an eyebrow at the stormtrooper's words, but I ignored him and continued to play around with Grogu. At this point, I had my hand palm up and watched as Grogu placed his small three-fingered hand upon mine.

That's when I suddenly felt it.

I felt my whole body seize up as my field of vision suddenly contorted. Everything warped around me as an image suddenly played before my very eyes. I was in what appeared to be a large room; to my left, I could see a sizeable, windowed wall. Outside, I could see tall buildings, along with flying ships and vehicles. My gaze slowly went back towards the room; with little to no light, I could hear the sounds of hushed voices. Slowly, my vision seemed to contort again, and I quickly found myself peeking out from behind a chair.

A few feet away, I could see children that appeared no older than 10. They each dressed in what looked like Jedi-garbs. I noticed a blonde-haired child standing a few feet away from the group, his gaze looking into the darkest part of the room. I found my gaze traveling towards the darkness before I heard the sound of hissing, followed by the emitting of a long blue lightsaber. I felt my heart spike as a robed figure slowly emerged into view, their face obscured by darkness. I could hear the children start to cry in terror as the figure continued forward with slow steps.

I watched with bated breath as the figure raised his lightsaber, the glow from his saber, finally revealing his features. His face grew distorted, and the only thing he showed was a pair of crazed-looking golden pupils. Then his lightsaber descended, and my vision blackened; the only thing that lingered were the sounds of children screaming in horror.

Quickly, my vision returned, and I was suddenly hyperventilating. I could feel my heart hammering within my chest as I frantically looked around, the wind cooling the sweat now coating my body. I took deep, ragged breaths, and my body shuddered in fright before a small hand suddenly touched my chest.

Instantly, a wave of warmth and calm overtook me, my heart rate slowly diminished as my body relaxed. I glanced down at Grogu to see him gazing up at me. His ears drooped down as if expressing his concern for me. I gently rubbed his head with my hand, causing him to make a noise, which I could only assume indicated that he was happy.

"Hey?"

I glanced up and noticed the stormtrooper staring at me.

"Are you okay...You kind of zoned out and started twitching?"

I sighed and nodded my head, "Yeah," I said, wiping the sweat from my brow, "I was just thinking of stuff?" The stormtrooper grunted in response, "Must have been some 'thoughts'?" He finished his sentence by using quotation motions with his fingers. I turned away from him and looked back down at Grogu.

(What had he showed me? It must have been when he was at the Jedi Temple during Order 66?)

I felt a pang in my chest as the phantom sound of screaming children echoed in my head.

(Anakin...He killed all those children, it was a terrible scene in the movies, but now that I'm experiencing it, it could give anyone nightmares.)

As I tried to sort out my thoughts, the sound of approaching footsteps drew my attention as I moved my gaze to my left. I watched as Din (The Mandalorian) walked from behind a large boulder. He had a purpose in his steps, and by the way, his visor directed toward me; it wasn't for a pleasant visit. I remained silent as he finally stood beside me, his arms crossed as he spoke in a slightly authoritative voice, "Grogu?"

Grogu looked up from my lap and cocked his head to the side.

"Why did you wander off?"

Grogu raised his hand before placing it against my chest and looking back at Din. The Mandalorian voice was filled with suspicion as he spoke to me, "Why is he so attached to you?" I gulped and shrugged my shoulders, which caused Din to grumble and reach behind him. I felt my breath hitch as he removed two familiar lightsabers.

"I assume it's he's like this since you're a Jedi."

I watched as he pressed the side of one of my grey lightsaber, causing the familiar muted grey to spring out in life. It hummed in the night air as he gently waved it around. Yet, he quickly deactivated my lightsaber before lifting the other one.

"Yet," He activated the Sith's saber, causing a red glow to bounce off his visor, "I don't think any Jedi would willingly make physical contact with a Sith's saber." I felt slightly unnerved, possibly from the ominous red glow on Din's visor and the way the blade was narrowly close to my head. I heard a noise that sounded like disapproval from Grogu, which caused Din to sigh and deactivate the Sith's saber. I breathed out in relief and watched as Din placed the lightsabers back behind him.

"Well, until I figure out if you're a threat or not," He kicked the bindings on my feet and continued, "You're staying in these bindings." I gave off a wry smile and replied, "Um, when will that be?" Din was silent for a moment before bluntly saying, "Probably never." I felt my eye twitch in annoyance as he leaned down and scooped up Grogu from my lap.

"C'mon Grogu...It's nap time for you anyway." As Din turned away and continued back toward the large boulder, I watched as Grogu peeked from over his shoulder and gave off a small wave. I waved in response and watched as they both disappeared behind the boulder. I groaned in annoyance and slowly laid my body against the ground. I tried to adjust my body to get into a comfortable position, but with its flat surface, along with occasional rock, it was a tedious task.

Finally, I found a somewhat comfortable position and closed my eyes. The silence slowly calmed my mind, and after a few minutes, I could feel myself start to drift off into sleep.

"Hey."

(Fuck.)

"What?" I said, my voice laced with irritation.

"Goodnight."

I scraped my teeth together as I reluctantly replied, "Goodnight." After that, everything was silent, and I was now drifting back off to sleep. Thankfully, the stormtrooper was quiet, and I could finally let sleep overtake me.