Song: "The Scavenger" from The Force Awakens OST

In the homey warmth of a Kaleesh morning at the equatorial port of Jenuwaa-Khot, the sunrise played with the threads of the clouds as brilliant shades of kindled red and gold splashed across the horizon. Echoes of Kowakian monkey-lizards, the silent prance of mumuui, and rustles of the thousand species of insects echoed throughout a small war camp.

Qymaen spoke quietly. "This move isn't wise, Ronderu." Lowering himself to sit on the flimsy wood of the dock, he dipped his scaly toes into the serene waves of the sea as they sat together by the shore.

"The Yam'rii chose to invade the temple," she pointed out, taking her place next to him. The wind picked up the breeze on her dark, unruly hair, causing it to move like a flag of black ocean veins in the morning air. "They can't be allowed to flourish."

He leaned his head back, letting the morning sun blaze against his mask. "But to take only a few men to combat them is foolish. We are able to take more; why don't we?"

"The situation is under control."

He sighed a cool, soft breath as she touched their bone masks together, entwining their hands. The gold scales of her hands traced the dark roughness of his. As if seeing straight through him, she turned her eyes to his. That gaze contained a thousand emotions, feelings, experiences-all that made up the mystery of Ronderu lij Kummar.

"In either case, I will always protect you."

"And I, you." Her eyes flashed. "You're not wearing your armor, are you?"

He made a face before answering slowly. "No....why do you ask?"

She jammed her hands beneath his arms and tickled him. Yelping, he fell downward, writhing to escape her grip. By the time she finally stopped, both of them were breathless with giggles.

"Think of it," she said, laying on top of him, trapping his chest between her knees. She waved her hands in grandiose gestures. "You'll get to endure this every karking day once we're married! Doesn't it sound exciting?"

"It'll be less exciting when I throw you out the window," he grunted.

She gave a soft laugh and touched where his nose would be under his mask. "Don't try it."

"Oh, I will." His hands crept toward her armpits. "And once I do, you won't be able to stop me."

And he turned the tables on her, wrenching laughter out of her as she rolled off of him, gasping for air. He moved his assault down to her stomach, and while she was even more ticklish there, he regretted it as soon as her fist nearly punched one of his tusks off.

He pulled her up. "Let's go to the place we did when we were young," he said. "Follow me."

✺✺✺

He ran hand-in-hand with her down to an area of the camp obscured by the jungle willows that grew like a dome over the waist-deep water. In the distance, a non-sentient reptilian species crowed in the morning dawn.

Leaving their outer clothes on the bank of the sea, keeping themselves wrapped in the soft linen clothes made specifically for modesty, they intended to stay in the water together. She stepped gracefully into the sea to meet him, letting the ends of her hair dip into the tangy current.

Her arms found his shoulders, and they held each other silently, waist-deep in water and letting moisture from the trees drip down their faces. She always smelled like trees, flowers and soil-the mother of nature, so familiar with the wild and willing to teach him about it.

A vision flashed before his eyes: the ocean swallowing him whole, leaving only his mask, and he squeezed his eyes shut. The image of the dream he'd had the night before he'd met her-of him embodying her as she hunted a mumuu in the Kunbal-had been so real and turned out to be prophetic. The more frequently this vision came to his head, the more it distressed him, because he often embodied her in his dreams.

She fit her arms around his neck and pulled him to meet her gaze. "You're so quiet today. Worried about me again?"

"I don't know."

"We're marrying after this battle. Do you plan to hide your troubles from me then?"

He flinched, almost losing his grip on her. Ouch. "I....I had a vision."

"That's why you're called Sheelal."

"But it was different," he said, holding her at arms' length. "It was about you."

"How do you know?"

"The ocean...." he shuddered beneath her grip. "It reached up and swallowed me, but left a karabbac mask."

Her expression remained placid, cool as a smooth sea stone. "I won't die," she whispered. "I promise I won't."

"And which of us is the dreamer?" he asked, trembling. "Ronderu, I can't lose you. And I will if we go into battle today."

"Get out of your heart and use your head, Qymaen. I'm a skilled warrior. We've done this a thousand times together. It'll be fine."

A spiral of pain rushed through his body. Couldn't she see the danger? Did she care about the danger?

Maybe we should just go now.

It was the first time desertion had ever occurred to him. To control himself before he did other rash things, he pulled away. She must have picked up on some of his emotions through their bond, for she gave a soft smile. "I'm a bit harder to snare than that. You'll need to wait a little longer, sir."

His face burned even more fervently now, and through the sudden dryness of his mouth, he spoke. What was I thinking? "Maybe I'll manage it after the courthouse," he stuttered.

"You're a terrible flirt."

"I learned from the best, Master."

"Oh, you little-"

She lunged at him, but he dodged. Her hair and face soaked, the fearsome Kummar lay on her knees in the water. Scurrying to escape her reach, split with laughter, Qymaen raced onto the bank to get his outer clothes before she recovered. By the time she'd wrung out her hair and changed back into her war gear, he was already racing back to the camp to rally the soldiers.

✺✺✺

Screeching echoed from inside the temple, and Ronderu bit her lip. Glistening metal shone from the abandoned temple. Modern temples were meant to be places of peace and spiritual connection; this place was like a dungeon.

"I'll go first," she said to Qymaen.

He adjusted his headscarf and gazed casually through the darkness. Their eyes did not obey the night the way humans' did. "There's something ahead, but I can't make out what it is."

He shot an electrified slug forward, and it illuminated a great tunnel....

And a swarm of many hissing animals along the way. Animals Ronderu had never seen before.

Qymaen frowned. "Stalker lizards."

"Aren't those native to Dantooine?"

"Maybe the Republic brought them here from Bitthævria," he murmured. "I don't know...."

"Should we proceed?" one of the pages asked.

"Yes," Qymaen said. "But silently. Who knows how they hunt?"

"If it's through heat, we're toast," Ronderu pointed out.

"Khaneme Kummar," a page from beside her muttered. "Always the optimist."

Qymaen shot him a warning look. "So we must sneak. Perhaps they see in the dark as well. Crawl behind me."

The tunnel wove for hours. Hissing resounded as they tried to stifle every sound: breathing, scraping of talons and scales against the ground. Each violation of this rule was like a scream as they continued, but nobody was killed.

At last, the blue-purple blobs of heat in their vision ended, and they stood. Ronderu made a silent gesture to Qymaen: now what?

He swallowed and signaled back; her thoughts continued. Check for traps.

A rumbling. Cracks sliced the floor; light poured out. Blinded temporarily, the soldiers shouted in pain.

When Ronderu had recovered from the nausea, she barely caught sight of another cliff. She rushed toward it just as it divided her and Qymaen, flipping backward to land on it along with two of the three pages she had brought with her. The rest of Qymaen's soldiers either joined him on the opposite side as the floor crumbled into a sea of fire-or were swallowed whole by its consuming fingers.

His terror shocked her almost to the ground-from here his trembling and short breath reached her. "Ronderu!"

"Qymaen, I'm fine! We'll meet you on the beach. Where is my third page?"

"Right here, my lady," a man's voice called from the other side of the room.

"When you get to the beach, find my ship. Bring it so we can make a quick retreat if needed."

"Timee, erkhemee!" he replied.

His fear pulverized her strength. "Qymaen....calm yourself. We'll see each other soon."

Our worst fears were realized, her terror-filled side screamed. I will die. He was right.

Even from here, his trembling was apparent. She forced herself to turn her back on him and continue down the corridor. I won't lose you; we'll marry; everything will be fine.

◈◈◈

Did you know....

● Qymaen being Force-sensitive to an extent was one of the few things that the new-canon writers kept about his backstory (see Age of Republic: General Grievous). Pretty much the whole rest of it was retconned.

● This is where another fan theory of mine pokes through. The way his bond with Ronderu is described in Legends is eerily similar to a Force-bond. (see Unknown Soldier)

● Kaleesh can see in the dark by sensing heat signatures, which is why Grievous could navigate his lair so well without light.

Tell me what you think....

●  Believe it or not, a lot of people disliked the idea of Qymaen being Force-sensitive when it came out in 2019. What is your opinion? Like? Dislike? Neutral?

● What do you make of Qymaen's vision?