Tales of the Flame and the Rain
Star Wars fanfiction / PART 01 / Words: 2598 // AO3 Pairing: Cad Bane X female OC Tags: Slow Build, Slow Burn, Creatures, Tension, Angst, Thriller(ish) Summary: Yrsa and her dangerous acklay, Cog live peacefully in their shipwreck home, until a mysterious man in a hat suddenly bursts into their lives. It turns out that not everyone can be tamed… Thanks to @deepbluespace4 for the beta reading! music for the vibe Next episode ➔
PROLOGUE
The acklay species
Acklays are amphibious reptilian crustaceans. Its mouth is filled with razor-sharp teeth. The species has stretchy stomachs and three eyes. They walk on six hardened, skin-covered claws, and have grappling hands. They use an organ beneath their chin to sense the body electricity given off by its prey, which it would then spear with its pointed legs. Acklays are carnivorous, predatory animals. They were used as execution beasts. The species is lightning fast and aggressive. It's a creature that even a Jedi would be fearful of, thanks in part to its terrifying appearance and abilities.
The design of the acklay shares the characteristics of praying mantises and Velociraptors. Later refinements added lobster features to them.
Source: Wookieepedia
The location
The story takes place in a wild jungle-like forest with a large junkyard nearby. Nature has already begun to reclaim this environment. It’s full of destroyed spaceships and other smashed gadgets. The area may once have been the site of a war, but is now completely uninhabited. Almost uninhabited…
CHAPTER ONE Silence before the storm
It was a slightly cold and gray autumn evening. The landscape was covered in dense fog, from which the figure of a young girl appeared. Yrsa walked slowly alongside the creek and observed her mechanic traps in the water.
- What a catch! Today we’ll be feasting! Hey, Cog! Come here boy!
From the distance, a soft growl followed the sounds of clawed footsteps. The outline of a huge gloomy looking creature emerged and quickly approached the girl. The beast was an acklay.
- Heeey, who’s the good boy! - She gently scratched the animal’s giant head. - Catch it!
Yrsa threw a fleshy fish to the creature and he swallowed the whole thing in one big bite. His sharp fangs flickered.
- Oh my, you were very hungry, pal! - She said and caressed the creature. In response, he grunted deeply and rubbed his head to the palms of the girl.
- Aaaww… Come, let’s look at the other traps!
They both walked alongside the creek and the night slowly descended.
The girl and her beast headed towards home. Yrsa loved to walk in the woods at night. She was somehow reassured by the sounds of the nocturnal nature. The night air has the strangest flavor and she loved to inhale and sink in it. She felt a special attraction to the darkness. It filled her soul with serenity mixed with thrill. But of course, there was no reason to be afraid of anything with Cog on her side. He was a huge carnivorous predator and there were no creatures nearby bigger than him. In this very night the Moon shone subtly, periodically covered and uncovered with clouds. Everything was calm, but somehow the silence was strangely greater than ever. Yrsa found this a little bit unusual, but she didn’t attach much importance to it. They continued their way on the path they already knew, when Cog suddenly stopped...
- Hey! What happened, boy?
The creature didn’t move at all. He fixedly looked at a single point in front of them in the woods.
- Um… Cog? What did you see? Is it some prey of yours there?
Yrsa tried to look in the same direction. She narrowed her eyes but saw nothing, but the darkness itself. Cog, on the other hand, had excellent night vision.
- Cooome on pal! Let’s go on! We caught a lot of food for the next few days, it’s more than enough!
But Cog stood rigid and still. Yrsa started to worry. Restlessness slowly overcame her. Suddenly the animal began to growl loudly and ran into the thicket of the forest with really fast moves.
- What the… Cog! Wait!
She jumped over some bushes, rushed towards the creature and tried not to lose sight of him.
- He is fast. Cooog! COG!!
Yrsa ran a few meters after him when she suddenly spotted something. Something really strange. She shivered at the coldness of the sight. In the direction Cog was running, Yrsa noticed a shady figure on one of the taller trees. The shape of a man stood on a thick branch and stared firmly at her. The girl didn't see him well enough, the foliage casted shadows on his body. She only saw that the strange figure was distinctly tall and spindly and as if… As if his eyes were glowing blood red… Yrsa had an uneasy feeling deep inside her bones.
At that moment, Cog ran back to Yrsa and stood defensively in front of her. The animal also stared grumbling at the tree Yrsa had been watching so far. He began to growl and screeched in an almost deafening, unearthly voice.
- Is… Is anyone there? - She shouted timidly.
In response came only silence and the noise of the wind-blown leaves.
Cog shrieked so loudly that his voice shrilled through the night air, then trailed off a bit.
- Oh, are you all right? - Yrsa touched and gently stroked the side of the creature and looked at him for a moment to check if everything was okay with him. When the girl looked back at the tree, the figure had already turned into mist, disappeared into the darkness. She glanced away for only a split second, but that was just enough time for the mysterious shadow to vanish.
- Huh… - Restlessness settled over the girl.
They stood there for a while, as if lightning struck them. Before long Cog slowly fell silent and calmed down. Yrsa was still breathing heavily. She was scared of the unexpected encounter. They had lived in this forest with Cog for so many years, but had never seen anyone other than them and the animals of the woods. It is an isolated, uninhabited area where no one goes to. But this time someone else was present and lurked around...
Cog and Yrsa soon reached their campsite. The rest of the way was uneventful. Cog was much calmer, he walked so peacefully, almost as if nothing had happened before. The creature was silent behind the girl, only his six legs knocked rhythmically on the firm ground. But for Yrsa, this incident left a mark in her soul. That was a mark of something dark with a sense of foreboding. Who was that? Did he want something from them? Or was he just a lost or wandering stranger and nothing dangerous at all? On that night she couldn't sleep for a moment.
The campsite where they lived with Cog was a hideout converted from the wreckage of a crashed Tie Interceptor. Their small spaceship home was on the edge of a forest clearing next to a large lake surrounded by cliffs. Around their home there were a lot of various gadgets, machine parts, tools and other mechanical things, lying all over the place. Yrsa was an ardent engineer youngling. She was impressed by the way technology works. She loved to build, to make robots or devices. Her ability was useful in the wilderness, for her fishing traps or other practical uses. When she found an injured animal, she loved to build tiny tools for them. Once she met a beakless loth-crow and gave it a new mechanical one instead of the missing body part, then let it back into nature. That felt so good. Yrsa also made some reinforcements for Cog. She loved to craft anything useful or shield-like equipments to her beast. That was her favourite activity. The two of them lived undisturbed in this place, until yesterday.
In the morning Yrsa came out from the ship shelter exhausted and disheveled. She was tired because of her vigilance. The girl yawned, then looked around. Her gaze stopped at Cog. Yrsa was a bit sad that Cog had grown so much over the years that he unfortunately no longer fit inside the ship, next to her bed. Nowadays the creature slept in an outside shed, which was attached to their home. Cog lay there now and slept peacefully with a very loud snore. Yrsa watched the animal.
- Oh, my hero guardian… - She smiled at him, then stepped out the door.
She often thought about what happened the night before. The girl cautiously examined their surroundings but didn't notice anything suspicious or strange. There was no sign of movement. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and listened to the wind:
The branches are crackling… The leaves are whispering… A few smaller animals are nesting and scraping on the ground… Similar insects are circling each other constantly… A bird or two are chirping on the rattling foliages of the trees… The blanket of the lake is gurgling and splashing backwards and forwards… Backwards and forwards… Backwards… And forwards…
Yrsa opened her eyes. She could only hear the average layered sound textures of the forest. The girl knew them well enough. Yrsa was a little relieved but for safety's sake, she decided to fabricate some alarm traps, which she would later hide carefully around their home area. If any suspicious movement is detected during the night, the small devices will signal it to her. She immediately started to build them.
The night fell again. The Moon was already high in the sky when the sharp noises of Yrsa’s alarm devices violently broke the silence. Yrsa jumped up from her bed in horror and her heart pounded madly. - The traps… It’s… - She slowly crawled out of the bed to look through the window. She pulled aside the curtain and peered out.
- No, no, no… It’s him again… I knew something was wrong with him… - She said anxiously.
The red eyed shade from last night leaned his back to a large rock in front of their home. His dark shape was subtly illuminated by the pale blue moonlight. He revealed a little more of himself than he did yesterday. The man wore a long coat and a remarkably wide cowboy hat. He monitored the window where the girl stood and stared at her. In his right hand he held one of Yrsa's deactivated traps and tossed it up and down. Yrsa didn't move in front of the window, she stared back at him and started to breathe faster.
- ….What’s your plan? - Thought the girl, worried.
The dreadful figure formed a pistol from his left hand and then pointed his index finger to Yrsa. He stopped for a moment… Then pretended to fire with his handpistol. He grinned in a barely visible way and slowly blew away his “smoking gun”.
- That… Bastard… - She gave him a perplexed look.
The intruder didn't stay there too long because the deep growl of Cog broke the moment. The enormous animal emerged from the side of the shipwreck and started approaching their stalker. The man with the hat cheekily waved a goodbye to Cog and with quick acrobatic movements escaped into the dense forest.
Yrsa stepped out of the ship and sighed. Cog ran back to her and poked his head to her side.
- I’m okay, buddy. I just… I think I'm going to sleep next to you tonight…
Cog made himself comfortable on his bunk. Yrsa snuggled close to him, buried her face in the side of the animal and watched that very point in the forest where the ominous being disappeared from her sight.
The mysterious stalker with the wide flanged hat sat on a thick branch of a tree. He threw his back loosely against the trunk, stretched out one of his legs and hung down the other one. He chewed on a toothpick and observed the home of Yrsa and Cog from a safe distance. The shady man caught his red eyes on the lying creature and sighed a little bit annoyed. He took the toothpick out of his mouth and with quick movements picked up a comms device then started to dial:
- Kzzzt-Kzzt - Crackled the device, then someone picked it up. The caller didn’t wait for them to answer his call. He started to talk first:
- Fiiinally! - He said with mock in his voice.
- B... - Kkkzzzt - Bane! Is that you? The transmission is very bad!
- Yesss. You sent me off the map, don' be surprised... I’ve been tryin' to reach ya' for two days, it won’ be free for you, ya’ know…
- Sure, sure! The money isn’t a problem! We’ll pay you for the extra time!
- Obviously.
- Uh… What’s the status of the target? Did you find the corpse at the wreckage?
- Last time I checked, that so called corpse was very much alive… - He said with a ton of sarcasm in his voice and looked at the snuggled up girl and beast. His eyes locked on Yrsa, who huddled to the back of the animal. He pondered about her for a split second. Then Bane heard in the comms a cacophony of people:
- What? She isn’t dead?? How? Did you hear that Deng? Come here! Yes, yes I said that! - A third man joined the call and they started to discuss with each other.
Bane sighed deeply and buried his face in the palm of his hand. The people continued the idle chit-chat:
- ...Whaaaat? Alive? Yes yes, the bounty hunter said that! It’s great! Tell it to Reeda too! Reeda! Reedaaa! Come here to the dashboard!
- ENOUGH!! - Bane thundered and they all fell silent on the other side of the line. Then someone finally dared to speak:
- Umm, we are here, we are here!
- Dead or alive? - He asked, cold and fast.
- Oh, bring her to us, then we can ask her about her father, and… - Bane didn't wait for him to finish the sentence.
- I’ll triple my rate then, we’ll talk later!
- Wait, Bane!
* He disconnected from the call quickly *
- Idiotsss. - He said scornfully and put the toothpick into his mouth again. Bane took out a holo device and started to check some important data on it. It was a very useful hunting tool that contained significant scientific informations.
- Lemme’ see, lemme’ see… - The gadget showed holograms of various animals. He switched between them.
- Oh... That’s it! - The device stopped at a picture of a creature like Cog. Bane smirked wickedly.
- Well, well, well… Let’s see how to take down an acklay… This’ll be interesssting...
The forest was still under the cover of darkness. The early morning mist began to form. It was overall silent, only a faint melody broke it softly. The tune was like a low vibration of a cello. The source of the sound was Bane. The sinister bounty hunter walked at a slow pace in the woods. His long coat swished after his footsteps and he hummed an old cantina song in his raspy voice. His breath was visible in the cool dawn air. He carried an unusual metal box under his left arm. The hunter looked around and stopped, then crouched down and placed the box at the trunk of an old, gnarled tree.The following text was on the side of the box: “E.L.D. - Electrical Luring Device”. Bane opened a small door on the side of the box with a click, under which was a dial and a screen. The green light of the display illuminated his morose face slightly. He typed some numbers on the dial and picked up a remote control. The bounty hunter checked some settings on them. After he completed the procedure, the box began to buzz softly.
- Great, it'll be close enough. All set for the show… - There was a sly smile on his face. Bane got up and disappeared into the fog, leaving the metal box behind. The bounty hunter’s raspy, humming voice melted into the cold air.
Next episode ➔
Footnotes: - Thank you so much for the reading! ♥ This is my first ever fanfiction. I haven't dared to share something like this here until now. - This shipwreck concept art was made by Sergey Vasnev, all credits belongs to him. - The Bane gif was made by @cadbanee and came from here. - Everything else is my illustration. :) - Cog's appearance was inspired by the first concept arts of the acklays.