Qimir had left to go harvest some plants again, but I told him I preferred to stay back at the shore and continue training, not really seeing the thrill in picking out fruits and vegetables.

I opted to continue my unfinished business with the indestructible rock, patiently hitting it over and over with the same stick I used the other day. But this time, I tried a different tactic, deciding to utilize my newfound knowledge of the force. I attempted to channel my force into the stick with every hit, and it seemed to prove effective as I slowly but surely started to chip off parts of the stone with every hit.

Not only did it seemingly strengthen the stick in my hand, but it also increased the damage of every hit two-fold.

This newfound knowledge fueled my enthusiasm more, which pushed me to keep going at it despite the muscle pain that was starting to crawl its way into my arms and back again. But in comparison to the first day, the pain this time was a lot more bearable, maybe because my body was starting to get used to the strenous activities after two days of training.

I paused.

I thought about how many days I've already spent here. Technically, this is just my second day of training, but this excludes the day we went to Alderaan, and my first two days when Qimir first brought me here.

So technically, I've already spent five days on this planet.

Then I added my travel time before I arrived at Olega, coming to a total of six days since I left Collossus.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as my stomach dropped in realization. I rubbed my head in frustration for only realizing it now. Just in time, Qimir emerged from the forest path and I hurriedly went to him.

"Qimir, I need to talk to you." I breathed out as I finally reached him, proceeding to walk side by side with him back to the cave as I spoke. "How many hours is a day in this planet?"

"Twenty hours," he answered simply.

I paused for a moment as the math ran through my head, trying to compare the hours in Collossus versus the hours here.

"Shit," I cursed again as soon as it clicked. This time, Qimir stopped walking, sensing that something was definitely off.

"Eli, what's wrong?"

"Here's the thing...." I took a deep breath as I tried to process where I should start explaining. "Collossus functions at twenty four hours per day. So if I've already stayed here for six days, it means I've only been gone there for five days. Which is both a good thing, and a bad thing."

His brow raised as he waited for me to continue, not yet understanding my point.

"You see, I left Collossus on a Monday. And being technically a floating mega-city through space, they throw away the city's garbage every Saturday. The good thing is, it will technically be tomorrow."

"And this is relevant because....?"

"The bad thing is, I threw away the Holocron through the city's garbage chute."

I finally admitted.

I stared at Qimir with pursed lips, watching his expression morph from confusion, to realization, then disbelief.

"You threw away the holocron.... through a garbage chute....?" He slowly repeated.

"I didn't know where else to hide it..." I defended meekly. As soon as the information sunk into him, he took a deep breath and rubbed his temples in frustration.

"So you're saying that the holocron is scheduled to be thrown out into oblivion tomorrow?"

"That's why we need to search for it as soon as possible. So we can destroy it before it's too late."

"You're not coming, it's too dangerous." He said sternly.

"You don't know the passages of Collossus as well as I do. It will take you forever to find it." I argued.

"But you're not ready yet!" He growled. "You have no idea how many people would try to kill you there. It's a slim chance that you can go back out alive."

"But I'll be with you, won't I?" I said honestly. With Qimir's skill, I was at least rest assured that my chances of surviving would be a little higher. "And you don't exactly have a choice. Collossus is a fucking maze, but at this point I know it as well as the back of my hand. It will be faster for us to be in and out with me guiding the way."

Qimir pursed his lips in deep thought, his gaze burning holes in my face as he tried to find error in my logic. But I knew that he knew at the back of his mind that I was right.

Finally, he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Get some rest. We're leaving at sunset."

*****

It was only a few minutes before sundown.

I stared at myself at the single murky reflective surface in the cave, which happened to be a steel pipe because there was a serious shortage of mirrors in this place.

I had no choice but to make do with it, of course, the only important thing being the fact that I could see where I would cut. I hovered the scissors over different lengths of my hair, from longest to shortest, wondering how short I should cut it.

Why was I trying to cut my hair out of nowhere, you wonder?

For one, I was mostly trying to distract myself from my nerves. Although I was the one that proposed returning to Collossus, I had realized quickly later on at how scared shitless I was at the idea of bumping into the mercenaries and bounty hunters littered across its streets. Who knew how many people the hutts ordered to hunt me down? Who knew how much bounty they had put over my head? Sure, Qimir could fight on my behalf, but how would he manage against ten men? twenty? What if more? Otherwise, I was definitely good as dead.

Second, I couldn't rely on my cloak hiding my face forever. I had to change my appearance somehow. I would've dyed my hair a different color if I had enough time, but this was so short notice that I had no other option but to cut it instead. Hopefully, that would make me a little less recognizable, considering that my hair had always been long all my life.

Deciding to just go through with it, I stopped procrastinating and snipped the hair right at my neck without much thought. If I was going to cut it anyway, I might as well make the most of it.

I proceeded to cut everything else with the uttermost lack of skill, just cutting away like a maniac regardless if it was straight or not. As soon as I was done, I studied myself once again and felt as if I was staring at a different person altogether.

I've never seen myself with short hair. I looked so.... different.

The front door suddenly opened and light flooded the room as Qimir entered. He was already fully dressed in a sleeveless black robe with a wide skirt-like bottom, probably to allow for comfortable movement in case of combat. He was also quick to notice me as well, fully stopping in his tracks as his eyes automatically fell on my hair.

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Do I look alright?" I awkwardly asked, worried that I chopped it too raggedly.

He didn't answer for a few seconds as he fully absorbed my new image first, in which those few moments of silence felt like agony for me. I couldn't tell if the surprised look in his face was due to awe or horror.

Eventually, a small smile found its way to Qimir's lips as he chuckled softly. "Is this your version of disguise?"

He teased as he walked towards me. I averted my gaze in embarrassment.

"Yes.... I mean, it's the only thing I could change in a short notice...."

I mumbled, already having second thoughts. Maybe it made me look too much like a ragged teenager?

"Still beautiful," he whispered just as he was a foot away, brushing a stray hair to tuck it behind my ear. This caused my heart to abruptly pump a hundred beats in my chest, unable to believe what I just heard. I've never been called beautiful.

I fought back the blush rushing to my cheeks, but I probably tragically failed because my face started to get hot. Nevertheless, Qimir didn't take notice of it and proceeded to remove two bobby pins from his own hair. His fingers, unexpectedly as light as feathers, carefully brushed my hair into place and secured the pins on each side of my ear so most of my hair wouldn't fall to my face.

"There, done." He smiled softly before turning to grab his bag and a black cloak from a nearby chair, as if he hadn't just done something so endearing. "Come on, time to leave."

I pursed my lips and just nodded, proceeding to follow him out of the cave and towards the starship that he had already somehow transferred from the island and to the open field where we usually trained. On a normal day I would have asked how he went to the island despite the rocky pathway submerged by the ocean water (it was a high tide), but my mind was just too pre-occupied by other thoughts.

Qimir must have noticed my odd silence so he nudged me with his shoulder as we walked.

I looked up at him with brows deeply furrowed, causing him to gently tug my arm to stop us from walking.

"What are you thinking?"

"I... I was just thinking if I'll be able to come back here alive." I said honestly as I glanced at the ocean waves crashing from a distance. "I mean, it would be a waste if I don't get to see this place again."

I tried to joke, but the worry laced in my tone betrayed me. Qimir's lips thinned into a straight line as he looked deep into my eyes.

"Eli, I will not let anything happen to you." He gently reassured. "I'll tear down Collossus if I have to, if that's what it takes for us to get out of there together."

"Hm," I acknowledged half-heartedly, my gaze dropping to the ground as I considered it a promise impossible to uphold.

Qimir's hand lifted to nudge my chin, making me look back up at his onyx eyes. His gaze burning in intensity, letting me know that he truly meant his words. That he would go as far as do the impossible for me.

"Trust me, Eli."

I didn't have to answer, because I knew he could see it in my eyes.

I did trust him.

In fact, I trusted him with all of my life.

****
[A/N]:

Qimir's gigantic sith arms are back for business. Yall know what that means 😏