Chapter Text
“Fett, where are we?” I groaned as I came to. I could feel I was in a mushy surface. When I opened my eyes, I could see beautiful snow covered trees above me. I stood up and saw we were in a small glade of sorts, green grass poking through the white snow which was quite a change from our prior surroundings.
The last I remembered Boba Fett and I had been in a gunfight with Cad Bane and one of his Duros associates on Tatooine, over a spice deal with the Pykes gone terribly wrong. I remember getting the drop on Cad Bane with my draw (it seems unbelievable but I did), but his associate got me in my helmet and I collapsed to the ground and blacked out. I had heard Boba Fett falling to the ground with a thud. When I next woke up, I was in this strange new area with terrain that was foreign to me.
Collecting my thoughts I looked to my left and saw Boba Fett about fifteen feet away standing up slowly. “I honestly do not know.” Fett answered. I could hear a bit of trepidation in his voice, which was unusual for the famed bounty hunter. I barely had stood up when I sensed immediate danger in the Force in the bushes off to our left.
“Fett, there is something in those bushes, get ready.” I ordered brusquely summoning my lightsaber to my hand with the Force and igniting it. The red blade hissed to life, ready to fight whatever came out of those bushes. Fett took out his blaster and pointed it towards the bushes. I wiped the sweat off my brow. Strangely I was sweating, given the colder environment we were now in. To be fair I had not been in a serious fight in sometime. Yes, we had the scrape with Cad Bane and his associates but I considered that minor. A spike in the Force jerked me out of my reverie
Seconds later, two of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen, wearing pointy armor and helmets with glowing orange eyes burst through the bushes. I charged them and within thirty seconds relieved both of them of their heads. All was not over us yet, for I sensed a rather sharp warning from the Force. “Fett, more at our 6.” I barked, immediately after I barked that command, I then saw a full grown ogre burst from the bushes and 6 of those indescribably ugly foot soldiers burst forth. “Fett, you take the 6, I’ll take the ogre.”
I charged and heard Boba Fett’s EE-3 blaster ring out several shots and the dragur fell like flies before Fett's fire power. I leapt on top of the ogre and stabbed it through its head, which brought it crashing down quickly with a loud roar and then it fell silence and spoke no more.
I fell off the ogre as it came falling down and backed away before it could smush me. “What are all these?” Boba gestured to the foot soliders. “I think.. I read once in a book about Norse mythology, these are dragur. Soldiers that used to be alive, but now are undead. They are nothing more than mindless zombies. Some are smarter than others.” Boba snorted .”So we’re fighting zombies? That’s just peachy.”
I then wondered where exactly we were. I was running through a list of planets in my head but none of the terrain features seemed to line up. Aldreaan perhaps? But that planet had long since been blown to smithereens? Naboo? But there were no large mountains on Naboo like the ones I could see off in the distance. Then a loud rustling occurred an out of the ground burst a giant turtle tree?.... I wanted to take off my helmet and rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing things correctly but before I could, I saw a door under the tree fly open. An absolutely stunning lady with beautiful dark brown hair, neatly braided, with beige robes, plenty of jewelry and brown eyes, with her tattered robes fluttering in the wind, stormed out towards us barefoot.
I gasped in astonishment. I recognized this beautiful goddess. This lady was none other than the Witch of the Woods from God of War series, or otherwise known as Freya, Odin’s Wife, Queen of the Valkyries. I had played the game when I traveled to Earth and plus I was familiar with Norse mythology from my time there. I could sense through the Force that she was quite peeved. This would take some delicate negotiations. I was not sure if Boba Fett and I could even take on the Queen of the Valkyries. Then I remembered Freya was charmed not to be able to harm any living thing by Odin and thus we would probably be alright. Still it was good to be diplomatic in this situation. The last thing we needed was to make an enemy of Freya.
“What in Hel’s name is going on here?” She barked with authority, frowning with irritation. Realizing this situation could go south quickly, I intervened before Fett could speak, taking on my most diplomatic tone. “Lady Freya, I do apologize. This man with me is my friend, Boba Fett. My name is Arjan Masan and we have traveled from the lands of Tatooine. We do not know how we arrived here. We beg for your hospitality.” I spoke. “Tatooine? I know not of such a realm and how do you know my name?.” Freya responded sharply, her lips still curled in frustration with the situation.
“It is a planet with harsh climates m’lady, desert and barren wastelands a plenty. The natives are harsh and it is an unforgiving environment. I know your name as I recognize you from Asgardian artwork. I am sure you are wondering we can be trusted. The answer is yes, we can. We are at your service if you need anything my lady.”
I bowed slightly, with that slight moment I felt a throbbing pain coming from my left ribcage area. I saw a not insignificant hole in the side of my armor. I was surprised but then I shouldn’t have been. Asgardian steel was one of the few metals that I was aware of that could penetrate the old Sith War armor that I wore.
To make matters even worse I collapsed slightly due to a pulled hamstring. I clutched at my side and felt bleeding coming from my wound. I must have gotten slashed by that darn ogre. “Are you okay Arjan?” Boba voiced his concern. Memories of the time we got caught inside the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV, during a massive firefight with the Imperial Remnant flooded my brain. I had gotten severe blaster wounds and would have probably bled to death if Boba Fett hadn’t applied first aid and then managed to get me to a medical facility on Coruscant quickly. I was thankful to have Boba Fett at my side on this adventure.
“It would appear that I sustained some injuries in that fight. That ogre must have slashed at my side but the adrenalin at the time prevented me from feeling it. I pulled a hamstring too when I did that flying leap move. Nothing more than I couldn’t handle myself” I put on a false bravado during this statement but alas I could not avoid wincing in pain at the end of said statement.
Freya’s hard look softened. “With that knowledge I cannot deny you both sanctuary. You did after all inadvertently help protect my home. And from the sounds of it you need healing Arjan” I bowed again wincing. “That is my job as a J..I mean er that’s what I do.” I had almost called myself a Jedi, which I had not been in a really long time. My history was complicated, I had made it to Jedi Knight hood during the Clone Wars, survived Order 66, flitted with the Dark Side and then became a bounty hunter. Needless to say I still utilized the Force, though I did not agree with either the Jedi or the Sith’s philosophy on the Force.
She ushered us into the hut. It was a quant hut, wooden shelves everywhere stocked with various potion ingredients. A fire was roaring. And there were a few beds with cotton blankets and pillows but otherwise the floor was bare. A perfect place for a lady like Freya to hide from her former husband I thought. A scowl came to my face briefly thinking of what a jerk Odin was but I quickly hid it. I quite frankly hoped that Freya would be only run in with any of the Norse gods while we were here. Though knowing my luck that was very wishful thinking.
“Could I trouble you to take off your armor so I can observe your wounds? And your helmet please.” Freya requested in a rather motherly tone that set me at ease. I began to take off my greaves first, then my boots. Then worked my way up and then took my helmet off in multiple stages.
“You have not seen the sun in ages.” Boba exclaimed. “You look as pale as the moon.” I chuckled as I scratched my beard. When was the last time I had shaved or had a good bath for that matter. I could hardly remember the last time I had a nice relaxing bath…
“At least I still have my hair, unlike Vader. My suit is more for show than his was. I don’t have any of his life support bizarre gadgets inside thankfully.” I shot back in a retort to Fett’s jab. After an expectant look from Freya and a gesture I then sat down on the bed that Freya indicated and laid down and winced painfully.
“When did you get that scar on your eyebrow?” Boba asked curiously. I was thankful that Boba was talking, to distract me from focusing on my pain no doubt. “A scar from a crazy Dathomirian named Mother Talzin.” I said curtly. “Dathomir eh? What on Coruscant possessed you to go that strange planet?” Boba probed. I remained silent. “I don’t wish to discuss this right now.” I responded. Boba pressed on “Let me guess, it had something to do with a girl.”
I gritted my teeth, having no desire to bring up my past with the Nightsister Merrin. “Yes, now can we leave that subject alone.” It was very strange for Boba to press me like this, unless he was trying to get a rise out of me. Boba shook his head “That’s fine, but are you sure you do not want to tell her the real reason you went to Dathomir? To get a girlfriend of course!” He looked rather pleased with himself. I face palmed and then looked over at Freya who was hiding a smirk behind a hand and then it clicked why Fett was doing this.
“Are you trying to have me tell embarrass my self in front of Freya, as a prank ? You are such a scoundrel.” I accused him. Fett laughed “Perhaps, but also I am trying to get your attention away from the fact she is doing some Old Magic on your old wound and thought if we had a conversation it would get your mind off of such pain.” I then focused on Freya who was busy at work applying a custom concoction to my ribcage area and the wound was flaring up. I winced. It was unusual to see Fett laughing and joking like this, especially in a new area. But he was trying to keep both of our spirits up. I privately wondered how much Fett trusted Freya. We had little choice as I knew of no other healers in this area that were as good at the healing arts as Freya.
“You have a point there Boba. I appreciate helping to keep up the morale.” I said. Freya then gave me some medicine in the cup. “You will need to be asleep for this part. This should knock you out long enough for me to do what I need to do and then help give you a good night’s rest.” I looked at the concoction she gave me skeptically but quickly drank it after she lightly glared at me.
Her gaze softened and I quickly felt an urge to sleep. She patted me on the head with a smile and got to work. Before I could reflect on the day’s events, sleep overcame me and I was out like a light. I would soon enter dreamland then hopefully wakeup to a healed leg and ribcage. Then we could start exploring the land of Midgard in earnest..