Chapter Text
Fox grimaces as he watches Cody thrown across the room. He can almost feel the pain Cody no doubt is going to sporting in his back, being thrown into walls himself.
He almost snaps at Bly for checking on the Commander before realizing he’s not in charge of this operation. They can’t follow his orders when it’s not his territory.
It’s unfamiliar to follow after his vod after having to lead the Coruscant Guard for over three years, and Fox hasn’t decided if he likes it just yet.
Rex talks to the small Togruta, hands raised as though that will reassure her. Fox knows it doesn’t, not by the way she hastily steps back. She lifts her hands, two silver rings sitting neatly against purple skin, and Fox barely keeps from sighing as she pushes Rex away.
He can’t however keep his snicker in when Rex tumbles into Wolffe and Ponds.
Her eyes turn to him, the bright color contrasting against her dark skin. The white marks around her face emphasizes the difference more and Fox can’t help but wonder if the gold in her eyes is real or a side effect from using magic.
He doesn’t even try to smile at her, knowing there is no use when the others have failed in their attempts to reassure her. She’s powerful and despite her young age, Fox has no intention of underestimating her. He knows he and his batchmates are lucky that all she’s doing is using brute force to defend herself.
A dark eyebrow is raised, and she returns one back in response. When Fox refuses to get closer, the young magic user smirks, scanning the room once more before relaxing her stance.
Fox knows he’s the closest one to her, the only one in the danger zone for any magic she gives out if she felt the need to do so but this isn’t his operation, so he stays in the position he was given.
“What do you want?”
That’s a great question, Fox thinks humorously, not saying the words out loud. He’s more professional than that. He doesn’t answer despite her unyielding stare.
This isn’t his operation. He just came to hang out with his batchmates. He didn’t realize they actually had work to do.
A beat goes by.
“A couple of my brothers were cursed this past week after entering the village.” Rex is the one to speak, surprisingly. Fox would have thought it would be Cody.
Then again, it is Rex’s vod’ikas that were cursed. The infamous Domino twins he never shuts up about, Fives and Echo, and their tag-a-long shadows, Tup and Dogma.
Even after the war ended, those four somehow managed to find trouble, right as Fox comes to visit to too for the reunion Ponds insisted on putting up.
He wonders why he didn’t just stay back with Thorn in the house they and their Corries were designated to. He could be watching Thorn spin stories around all the vod’s heads, including the rumbustious twins, and see how long it takes any of them to realize half of what he’s saying isn’t true.
“The villagers told me you have a cure.” He doesn’t say the words but the heavy implication that the villagers thought she was the one to curse them goes unspoken. She hears them anyway.
“And you decided the best course of action is to attack me?”
Fox snorts, tilting his head just slightly to avoid Rex’s gaze of disappointment. She isn’t wrong, per say, but he won’t tell Rex that.
“We tried to talk-”
“By barging into my home-”
“We knocked!”
“Once!” The young girl throws her hands up in the air, her voice pitched high in annoyance. “I barely had time to get up before you kicked my door down!” Her eyes shone brightly in the room, anger swirling inside the gold, and Fox decided maybe now would be a good time to intervene.
“Look,” he starts, preparing his negotiating tone for unrelenting civilians and doing damage control. “Obviously, we didn’t think our plan through.” It’s a backhanded insult, one his batchmates catch on to if the heat of their glares says anything about it. Fox ignores it. “If you’re not the one to curse them, can you at least cure them?”
She glares, her hands turning into fists. “Why do you commoners always think I curse people?” Her tone is drenched with annoyance, her lips curled into a snarl. Fox wonders how many times she’s been accused of this crime she most likely didn’t commit.
The word commoner rings in his head, though it has no impact like he assumes she meant for it to. Fox chokes back the cruel laugh that wants to escape at that realization. He’d rather be called a commoner than a meat-droid any day.
“Because you’re the only witch around here.” Bly is as ever blunt as he is kind. His phrase is stated simultaneously as a compliment as it is a fact.
The young Togruta stares, her eyes narrowed on her face. It makes her look older, wiser, as though she isn’t the sixteen-year-old the villagers warned about.
“Just because I’m the only witch,” she starts, walking slowly closer to Bly. Fox’s hand twitches towards his blaster, not yet touching it, and her walk is cut off. Stopped. As though she felt his intention. She doesn’t turn his way. “Doesn’t mean I give out curses.”
Fox hums, nodding. What she said made sense but at the same time…it was entirely unhelpful.
Her eyes pierce his, montrals twitching in place, and he wonders if she heard his thoughts. “There are many things in these woods that give out magic.” Curses, she doesn’t say.
A beat passes.
Rex lets out a tired sigh and Cody laughs, clapping him on the shoulder. “Figures. Only your vod would get curse by a tree.”
“Probably a rock too if it got all four of them,” Wolffe adds, poking fun at their pseudo-batchmate. Rex swipes at him, but Wolffe backs up before he can, laughing all the while.
“Can you cure them?” Ponds asks, bringing the attention back to the matter at hand. Fox hopes she can, else all of this was done for nothing.
The witch tilts her head, humming. Her golden eyes twinkle with mischief. “I can.” Six sighs escape. “For a price.”
“Force, help me,” Cody mutters.
“What do you want?” Fox asks before anyone else can say anything. Last thing they need is to piss off the witch who could potentially help them.
“There’s a berry,” she says, walking towards the window, “by a stump just a little way out.” She points in the direction towards a small path, merging into the woods.
Fox thins his lips, even bites his tongue but nothing can stop the words from slipping out. “You want us to get a berry for you?”
Ponds pokes his back for the spiteful tone, but Fox doesn’t care. She’s literally wasting their time.
“It’s a special berry.” She snaps out special and draws out berry as though that will give any hint to what it means for non-magic users.
It’s still a berry, Fox wants to argue, but this isn’t his operation.
“Welp,” Fox says instead, stepping away from the window and his vod who’s all crowded around it. “Good luck, Rex.”
Rex sputters, turning around. Confusion passes his face and it’s a struggle for Fox not to roll his eyes. “Why do I have to go?”
“I mean.” Wolffe looks from Fox to Rex and then shrugs. “They’re your vod.” It makes perfect sense to why Rex would go to pick the berry.
Rex slants Wolffe a look, disbelieving in many ways. “Like you didn’t try to steal them last night.” Rex has a point.
Wolffe scowls at the statement. “I’m not getting cursed for them.” That’s fair. Fox wouldn’t either.
Rex gets ready to argue, mouth open to spit words, before Ponds interferes. “I’ll go.” He doesn’t look too bothered to have volunteered, exhaustion on his face,
Cody shakes his head at the younger vods before standing beside Ponds. “I’ll come with.” He snorts, adding just for fun. “Makes sure you don’t get cursed.”
Ponds rolls his eyes, his lips fighting back a smile. “Our luck? We’ll both get cursed.”
The witch decides it was then that she should laugh. The sound echoes in the room, grating in a high-pitched tone, and Fox resists the urge to cover his ears. Barely.
“I love the enthusiasm,” she grins, fangs barely showing but her eyes are sharp. “But that’s not how this works.”
Fox is reminded once again why he hates magic and doesn’t even need to hear her speak to know she’s going to talk about rules. Rules and guidelines needing to be followed, else there will be serious consequences. There’s always something. He’s heard it all on Coruscant.
Ask questions you only want the answers to.
Don’t touch anything in a witch’s house unless you want to get burned.
Never give your name to those who can and will impersonate your body.
Thoughts are sacred yet the mind is fragile. Be wary of those who wish to strip the shields away.
A tiny shiver runs up Fox’s back, the remembrance of Sidious’ torture tactics coming to the forefront of his mind.
This was supposed to be a vacation from work.
He zones back in when he notices a purple finger pointed right at him, his brothers staring his way. “What?” He doesn’t even pretend to not have been listening.
Wolffe raises an eyebrow, a contrast to the concern that covers his face. “You have to get the berry.”
Why, he wants to complain but holds it back when he sees her eyes filled completely with white, no gold to be seen. No doubt she has used magic to pick him.
Fox huffs, accepting the challenge with a roll of his eyes. He stalks to the door, keeping clear of her knick-knacks scattered around the floor.
“Thank you,” he hears Rex say and Fox waves him off, failing to resist the urge to flip him the finger.