˗ˏˋ Tira ˎˊ˗

As one of the very few humans that’s left their home planet and found a home amongst the stars, you were a target for yourself. Someone brave enough could snatch you off of the ground and toss you into a golden cage. All because you were a rarity out in the dangers of space. There was law and order, but one thing similar between every creature and culture is corruption. One credit slipped to those in charge and you’ll disappear from any records. Just chained in a cage and sold to the highest bidder.

The sack slung over your shoulder was shifted up higher. Only a few needed things during this trip. A couple of items for your ship to fix her up. All you were looking for now was a motherboard to replace a minor issue before it became bigger. You slipped between the sea of people moving about the street. The planet’s sun shined down upon all of you. The humid air was on the verge of suffocating you despite the half mask on the lower part of your face.

People knocked into you, not seeing your smaller form. The natives of the land were large, semi-aquatic creatures. Who have no sense of personal space or keeping their hands/flippers to themselves. Make you want to slice their grubby hands off for doing so. This is why you hate going out into public. This planet was on your ‘Do Not Visit’ list but you had no choice. You didn’t want to risk your navigation system going out while in the middle of a jump. This place was the closest. You sent the creature a glare before continuing on. It was pointless. If you started something with one, the others would come to back it up. Herd mentality. Ugh.

Your head shook, disgruntled. Just find the part and get as far away from here as possible. Before you do something you’ll regret.

This place usually was this busy as well. Not just with the native species but plenty of others that live among the stars and travel them. You’ve even seen one of the rarest species: a yautja.

They’re not rare because of numbers but from the fact they don’t show themselves or interact with anyone outside their kind. Mysterious and dangerous. Lethal.

At least none of them saw you trophy worthy to take your life and skull. A shiver wracked your body. Thought of getting your head removed from your shoulders disgusted and scared you. All you’ve been doing is trying to survive in this godawful universe you’ve been thrown into the day after you became a legal adult. Bad idea to get drunk in the middle of an empty beach. Someone had found you. Not someone from your planet. That’s how you made it off. From there, it’s been a whole mess.

A large crowd gathered in the center of the town square. Numbers were being thrown around quickly. The small device under your skin, behind your ear struggled to keep up with the translations.

Curiosity got the best of you.

Most of the creatures in front though were blocking your view. A grumbling sigh escaped you. You do what you do best and started to shimmy your way through the crowd. It didn’t take long to reach the front.

Slaves.

This was people selling slaves to the highest bidder. This may be a sight you’ve seen across different planets, that didn’t quell the queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. You wanted to turn tail and bolt away, to take the chance and jump away from this place. But your eyes caught sight of what looked to be a yautja. With flared hips and different facial structures. A female yautja. Why was she small? Just smaller than an average male. Yet, she didn’t have any child characteristics that you noticed. That didn’t make it better.

There wasn’t a way you’d let her go into the wrong hands. A yautja was rare.

People are bought and sold. The amount of slave decreases. Others get what they wanted and left, leaving behind a small group and the chained yautja. You had to win this, no matter what.

A guard tugs the yautja forward onto the stage. That’s when you realized she also had half an arm. Cut off just above where the elbow would be. The shit she’s been clearly through makes your heart ache more.

More people leave, possibly seeing what you saw too. Unlike them, you stay, body filled with high-strung energy.

“This her is what anyone would love to possess. A yautja! Fiercest hunters in the entire universe. We were brave enough to capture such a beast and bring it here for you all to fight over,” the main man announces the yautja to everyone. He motions towards her with a big sweep of his arm. “She may have one arm half gone but the little thing is still dangerous. Get too close and you may just lose your face!”

Yeah, you don’t blame her. Good on her for hurting anyone that hurts her.

“She may be barren but! The beast is still lethal! She won’t hesitate to kill, its in their blood,” he continued on, skipping over a very important thing to know.

Poor thing was barren.

Whatever creatures were left scoffed and walked away, all there was, was you. The announcer look at you and sighed, head dropping in defeat. “How much?” he grumbled.

“One credit.”

He whipped his head up. “What? No!” I paid at least seventy-five for her!” he argued and stomped his foot down like a child throwing a fit. Honestly, it was sad to watch.

Your arms crossed over each other, a hip popping out. “Thought you said you captured her?” you asked him and narrowed your eyes on him. This planet takes lying as a serious offense.

He flapped his lips but nothing coherent came out. Your eyes rolled before you marched up to him. “Either you give her to me willingly or I will take her forcefully,” you threatened, hand going to a gun on your side. The other held out for him to give you the lead chain.

One last attempt to get at least one credit out of you. But you weren’t having any of it. With a grumble, he hands you the heavy chain. You take it from him and motioned towards the stairs. The yautja looked at you with dull, sad eyes. She slowly, painfully follows you down the stairs and onto the streets.

Some people look at the two of you as you led her to your ship. You just ignored all the stares and whispers to get her to move faster. There’s not much you could do anyhow. As one person trying to save a yautja, if a group decided to jump you. It’s be over for the two of you. So, you kept your head down and moving along, taking back streets to stay out of the public’s eyes.

Soon enough, you make it to the docking bay where your small but useful ship resides. The yautja all this time makes not a peep. She has her head down, eyes at the ground. You don’t pull on the chain, but guide her up the ramp in the main area of your ship. One press of a button has the door shutting the two of you inside, safe and away from prying eyes.

The yautja may be small for a female but she was still taller than you. You stay where you were, afraid of scaring her if you moved too much.

“Hi,” you softly greeted her and squatted down to possibly catch her gray eyes. They flicker to you for a second, giving you a hint of hope. You tell her your name. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. What’s your name?” One of her bottom mandibles twitched. You see her swallow slowly. Right. Water.

“Let me get you some water for you,” you offered to the gray colored yautja. The chain in your hand was gently set down before you want to retrieve a glass of water. You gingerly held it to her, letting her have the choice and time to take it from you. You saw her hand twitched at her side, chained to her waist with less than half of foot to move.

Man, you were terrible at this. “Why don’t I get these chains off of you. That’ll require me touching you. Are you okay with that?” It didn’t look like she knew if she had the choice besides you asking things about her. When she made no move, you slowly approached with your hands up. You reached for the lock around her wrist and pressed the tip of your nail against the release lever. It flipped to the opposite side.

The chain on her wrist clicked open and slipped open. It hit the middle of her thigh. She flexed her hand and slowly brought her only hand to her face. Then, you offered the water to her.

A single hand wrapped around your neck. Your back pinned to the metal floor of the ship. Glass and water spilt everywhere on the ground. A heavy weight settled on top of you. Your hands clawed at the wrist denying you the need for oxygen. In your panic, you tore off your mask, hoping that would give more air.

Her strength slackened. Your lungs surged for the air she’s letting slip by. You attempted to shove her off but she weighed too much for you.

“You… ooman,” she croaked out and let hand slipped off of your neck. Fearfully, you stared up at her. “Why… here?” You couldn’t tell if it was from her dry throat or the possibility she has a low education. “Why save?”

She still is straddling you, keeping you pinned to the floor. You rubbed at your throat and cleared it. “Because I’m a human with empathy. I didn’t want to leave you to fend against the horrible people,” you told her. “I know that feeling.” She watches you closely, eyes observing every twitch, every move you make. And, you let her. You let her check you out to see if what you’re saying is lies of the truth.

Finally, she slips off of you. But, the strength in her legs is gone. The grey yautja sits down on the ground, folded into herself. You sit up and switched to a kneeling position next to her. “I want to give you a choice. But before I do, lets get you cleaned up. Okay?” Your place wasn’t the best but it had what was needed.

The small yautja slowly nodded her head. Grateful her attitude had changed from trying to kill you, you offer her your hand. Her gray eyes snapped to the limb in front of her. The hesitation in everything she does is completely understandable. She finally takes your hand. You gingerly lift her up to her feet. She sways unsteadily but catches herself before you could offer help. A soft smile was given to her then you led her to the only bathroom you have on your ship.

“What’s your name?” you asked while in front of the bathroom. The yautja’s shoulders tensed up, head ducking to the side.

“Don’t… have one,” she told you. That shocked you. She’s never had one? Not once in her life has she had a name? Poor thing.

“Oh, okay. Why don’t you give yourself one?” you offered to her instead. So, you can stop calling her female or just yautja. She seemed to perk up at that with a mandible lifting up.

“I… will,” she told you before stepping into the bathroom. The metal slid closed afterwards.

A deep breath filled your lungs. Todays hadn’t been a complete failure. The electronic needed for your ship had been forgotten about when you spotted her on the stadium, chained up and lost of all hope. You wanted to give that hope back, the courage to face the world without fear. Because she may be small but you knew deep down, she could be strong and mighty. To show the people who put her into that spot she overcame them.

You head to the kitchenette and scan through measly amounts of food you have in your cabinets. Mostly throw a little water on it and into a microwave, boom. Food is ready. But could a yautja eat this stuff? From what you’ve heard, yautjas eat meat. Straight off of their prey, like a predator. Your whole body shuttered at the thought. Gross and messy in your opinion.

Two plates were prepared with a spork ready in them. Both are set down on the small, two person table that’s attached to the wall. You go over to your closet that’s built into the wall of your ship and pulled out some causal clothing you thought she would fit into. At least the two of you have the same body shape and possible size. You grabbed a shirt, pants, and some underwear and placed them in front of the bathroom door. Water is rushing from the showerhead on the other side.

Your knuckles softly knock against the metal door. “Hey, I’ve got clothing out here for you. There’s a plate of food on the table as well. I’ll be in the cockpit with the door closed. Take your time,” you told her just loud enough for her to hear. You received a small ‘okay’ back. That’s all you’re going to get. You returned to your plate of food and take it to the cockpit. The door closes behind you with a soft rush of air.

The only chair in the room was your pilot chair. The ship not meant for more than one person. And if she accepted your offer, it’ll only get more cramped in here. Might be time to upgrade. You have been saving up every credit you can for a bigger, faster ship. And if she does stay, you can ask if she wants to help you with the bounties. Learn that kind of work.

The cheap, tasteless meal you prepared was shoveled quickly into your mouth. This food didn’t even have anything human to it. All alien and gross. But it was still food, something to fill your belly. You finished it off quickly and tossed it to the side. Your lungs took a deep breath of the recycled oxygen and released it.

With the engines off and everything mostly quiet, you heard the shower shut off. You held your breath, tensing up and doing everything in your power not to frighten her.

There was a light amount of movement in the main area of the ship. The soft scrapping of a chair being pulled out. The food! It took everything in you not to jump around in excitement at that fact. You’d have to figure out what food is best for her.

All you did was lounging in the pilot’s chair, listening to every noise and blanking looking out the cockpit window. Then, you heard foot steps come up to the door. It opened at the presence of someone.

“Sunfayr. I want… to be called… Sunfayr,” she announced the moment the door fully opens for her. You spun around in your seat and face her.

The shower helped Sunfayr one hundred percent. Add a meal to her stomach as well. It was like she was a new person. She was. With a name.

“Sunfayr. I like it,” you said to her with a soft smile on your face. The clothes you gifted her fit her well. “How well do you feel?”

She lifted her chin proudly and high. “Better… Thank you.”

“I’m glad.” You gave her a once over to make sure she didn’t have any other issues you needed to address. “Well, since you’re cleaned up and fed. I’m gonna give you two choices. You can either stay here with me or you’re free to go. If you do stay, you’ll have to work but you’ll be paid a fair wage. I work as a bounty hunter so you’ll help me with that.” A paid job off the bat. A great opportunity you hope she’d take.

Her gray eyes seemed to sparkle in the limited light coming from the cockpit windows. “You… give job?” Hope filled her voice. A new energy vibrated through her body.

“Yes, Sunfayr. Only if you want. You have choices now.” You sat back in your chair.

Sunfayr nods her head rapidly. “Yes! Yes, I help… you.” That filled you with relief and joy at the same time.