#cheunh

Since the run in with the thief, it’s been made it abundantly clear to you that whatever it is you saw, you weren’t going to discover what it was. Which to you was honestly kind of a bummer. Searching for monster added a piece of excitement to your life you haven’t had since you were a child.

In the days that followed you resigned yourself to simply sitting by the river like you used to. you went back to scouring the shore for small stones and dipping your feet into the water on the hottest days. The only differences now are that you would occasionally look up into the trees, sometimes they would just be ordinary, other times the leaves would hold those red eyes.

Since you no longer let your curiosity try to discover who those red eyes belonged to, you also decided to let your imagination run wild. You came up with fantastical beasts of soft purple fur, and large scaly lizards with sharp black scales and wild proportions. You would even draw out these beasts into a notebook. You purchased just so you can put your imagination on paper, they felt more real that way.

Because of your little, lets call it an outburst when you first saw the eyes, your parents have been pushing you to do something more with your life. They wanted you to be something, and subtly (sometimes not so subtly) suggest you go back to school or find a job in town like they did.

They were right of course, you weren’t a child, you shouldn’t keep acting like one. But growing up? Walking away from the small adventures and exploration that your childhood had? That just wasn’t something you felt prepared to do.

Slowly as the weeks past your mind drifted farther from the thoughts of the eyes and settled on what your future should be. you got a simple job selling fruit in the market and spent less time at the river. On the toughest of days, you would spend your entire night at the river looking up into the trees letting the fantasies come back bring you that sense of adventure you longed for.

The eyes always seemed to be there on those days…

The End Of Summer

Time moved differently now; it was faster. There was never time for anything, always a job to do, a friend to help. A chill replaced the warm night air and made it harder for you to visit the river. You couldn’t step into the water, the cool temperature no longer bearable. You resigned yourself to sitting on one of the rocks partially in the river so you could still see the bottom of the river and the tops of the trees.

You could see more into the river now; the slight shadows of fish, the movement of other aquatic life. It was nice… until it wasn’t.

That day had been hectic, you didn’t even get out of town until the sun had fully set. So, for the night you decided to wonder your way to river. Quoting your need for a well-deserved break. You sat yourself on your rock and gazed down into the water. Peacefully watching things move that was until you noticed an oddly large shadow. it was the shape of a fish, but much larger than anything you had seen in these waters. Leaning over the edge to get a better look, your hands slipped, and you fell in.

You screamed as your entire body was quickly engulfed by the river.

You were gasping for air, and trying to swim but the current had already pulled you under. You were raced down the river, flailing and grasping at anything. soon, too soon, your vision went dark, and you lost consciousness.

~Thrawn’s POV~

He kept his distance from them, not knowing how they would react to him. He built a small camp not too far from the river, but far enough where no hikers or people visiting the river would see. When they weren’t there, he fished in the river and when they were he watched. As they slowly started to move on with their life he came more often, hoping it was just his imagination. He learned everything he could from a distance, they had a wild imagination, were adventurous and dreaded the way their life was going.

All he wanted to do was whisk them away, save them from their solitude… or perhaps in reality save himself…

He wasn’t at the river the night you fell in. but he heard the scream and knew it had to be you. He had never run so fast in his life. he knew the area well now, and knew where the current would take you. he saw your form, swiftly moving down river. He watched you as he ran, hoping you would be able to bring yourself to the surface so he could grab you. But you are unconscious, when he noticed that all rational thought abandoned him and he jumped in. At first, he swam with the current to get to you, and when he grabbed hold of your waist, he swam as hard as he could to the side. He had to bring you to the surface.

He pulled you up onto the riverbank with his arms hooked under your shoulders. he checked your breathing, you weren’t. he immediately began to try and resuscitate you. Luckily the imperial navy required cpr training.  He went until you coughed up what water had managed its way into your lungs.

You only looked up at him for a moment before slipping back into unconsciousness.

He sat beside you, catching his breath. a small smile on his face you were alive. In his mind he then began a mental check list of all he would need to do to keep you safe from now on. He would need to wrap you in something, so you didn’t catch a cold, perhaps even make you something to eat when you recovered. When did you eat last? He asked himself.

He rose to his feet and slipped his arms under your back and knees, carrying you bridal style back to his camp. This was the first time you were close to him. He could see your features, clear under the moon light. Devine creature he thought my csezar run'he'ah.

He would protect you from now on. No more watching from afar. He would be there.

~Reader’s POV~

When you woke, the move was full in the sky. You weren’t fully aware of your surrounding until you sat up. A greyish piece of fabric slid from your shoulders. Taking in what was around you, you noticed a small building, made of nothing but sticks and leaves. Straight ahead of you there was a figure standing over what you could only assume to a campfire. How did you get here?

You thought about what happened earlier in the night, the shadow, the fall, the water…

Did someone save you from the river?

You tried to talk, instead of words, it was a vague croak and a cough. The figure promptly, turn towards you.

You stopped making noise as its eyes focused on you… those red eyes.

You froze up as it, He? They? he came towards you, it was slow movements, as if to not scare you. as he reached you he grabbed hold of the grey fabric, and draped it across your shoulders.

his voice was so melodic as they spoke to you

“we wouldn’t want you to get a cold now, csezar run'he'ah?” his basic was flawless aside from whatever he said at the end.

“who are you” you croaked, you voice still hadn’t recovered from earlier, so it couldn’t have been long since.

he seemed to ponder that question for a moment before responding

“I am a soldier trying to go home” his voice full of melancholy

You could only respond with a silent “oh”

Before the silence became uncomfortable, he moved back towards the campfire and grabbed a container. He stirred it a bit and then moved to sit beside you. He was practically on top of you as he scooped a small portion into a spork, then offered it to you. Like a parent would offer a baby a spoon full of food.

When you tried to grab the spork, he pulled it away.

“I can feed myself” you pointed out.

He thought on it and then, handed you the container and the spork.

It was hot, so you blew on it before putting it in your mouth. You at first couldn’t tell what you were eating, but all of a sudden, a regretful taste filled your mouth.

You tried to put on a fake smile for the man beside you, he was watching you tentatively. An uncertain look in his eyes.

How long had he been out here? You thought to yourself.

You ate up as much as you could stomach and offered the rest to him. He stood, walked a ways away from the camp and dumped it onto the ground. When he returned, he tossed the container into a woven basket.

“we require rest, can you move?” he asked, his eyes pinning you in place.

“yea I believe so, my place-“ you started to reply but he swiftly cut you off

“move yourself into the shelter while I put the fire out”

He pointed towards the makeshift shelter, and then moved to grab a small container of water.

You were quite tired, so you lifted yourself up and stumbled towards the shelter holding the fabric he had draped around your shoulders. When you looked inside you saw a small bedroll already laid down and a small pile of woven fabrics in the corner. They were mostly dark in colour, except for one tucked under the bedroll, as if to hid it.

You entered the shelter and pulled it out of its hiding spot. It was your picnic blanket, what was he doing with your picnic blanket?

Before you could ask yourself anymore questions, he was entering the shelter. It was small, but larger enough to fit the both of you.

You opened your mouth to ask him why he had it, but he simply ignored you and guided you to lay down on the bedroll. He grabbed the other fabrics you noted earlier and laid them around the rest of the shelter.

He then gently laid right up against you and took the picnic blanket from your hands. Laying it over the two of you. he then curled into you, an arm around your waist, his legs pressed against yours.

“um..” you silently said, very confused about what was going on.

“Yes?”

You didn’t know what to ask first. You’re a stranger why are you cuddling me? Or perhaps Why do you have my picnic blanket? You settled to ask about the blanket, not wanting to insult this guy. Even if it was beyond inappropriate. Maybe his species was different? What was his species?

“how did you get my picnic blanket?” you asked, voice unsteady.

“I found it; I did not know it was yours” he simply stated

“why did you watch me from the trees?”

Silence, maybe he fell asleep?

“I wasn’t watching you; I was looking for civilisation.” A curt and evasive answer.

Your brain at first thought it was a lie, but the more you thought about it the more it made sense. you weren’t going to let him off easy though.

“How can you find civilisation while sitting up in a tree?” you continued.

“you as quite a lot of questions”

“I want to make sure you weren’t watching me”

“I was looking for signs of life, unusual levels of pollution, fishermen, and boats” he responded with reluctance

Well that solved it. But you couldn’t help but ask yourself more questions.

“so… you saved me because you need me to take you to town?”

You felt like you were getting somewhere

“I saved you because you would have died otherwise” his voice was grim now.

“Oh, So you’re a hero then?”

You must have struck a nerve with that one.

“enough questions” he stated blankly “sleep csezar run’he’ah”

“But-“ you didn’t want the conversation to end.

“Enough, Sleep” he said, his voice commanding.

You sighed and wiggled yourself into the most comfortable position you could with this guy pressed into your back.

Some time passed and you drifted off into quiet sleep, questions could wait for tomorrow.

~Thrawns POV~

He had done his best to make you comfortable, he fed you, kept you warm, but you were a curious creature. When he laid you down to sleep, you decided instead to ask questions, mostly about him. He didn’t want to admit who he was… it made him question who he was now.

He wasn’t a grand admiral, the tattered old uniform you clung to in your sleep was a sign of that. He hadn’t been a member of the defence fleet for almost 20 years now. So maybe he wasn’t a soldier… just a man then? No over 30 years of military experience wouldn’t just disappear the moment he no longer had a fleet to control… would it?

Right before he drifted to sleep himself, he whispered behind your ear.

 “I am no hero, I’m just a man…”