Write to Rank 2023

Round 8 - Jedi in Baldur's Gate

Prompt: Spin-off of a popular action-based fandom
Word Count: 2900-300 words

Fandom's used: Baldur's Gate 3 & Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

***

Cal Kestis woke up in a cage.

He became aware gradually: his cheek pressed into coarse dirt, a bitter, foul taste upon his fuzzy tongue, and a fierce throbbing in his head, behind his right eye. One of his arms was curled beneath him and it had long since gone numb.

He blinked slowly. What exactly had happened?

He shifted his head back, wincing as the small movement sent a renewed spike of pain through his skull. Iron bars met his view, which was a complete relief, because the Empire did not use something so primitive as iron. Forcefields and force-suppressing shackles were their preference. Iron meant that those who had captured him didn't know who or what he was.

Slowly, Cal sat up, unable to suppress a low groan. His thoughts were muddy, stilted, each one a grain of sand sifting through his fingers as he tried to grasp them.

"Oi! It's awake!"

Footsteps, quick and eager, and then something banged on the bars of his cage. Cal looked up, eyes watering, and saw a very small... person. A dwarf.

She grinned at him, her chin lifting in a very lofty manner. Her armor glistened in the light, proudly polished.

"Hallo there, pigeon. Did ya sleep pretty?"

Cal stared at her, at a complete loss for words. She was all of three feet tall, yet the feral look in her eyes set his nerves on edge.

"Oi! I'm talkin' to you, pigeon!" She slapped the bars again. The resulting clang made his headache flare. He winced, drawing back.

An indignant thought flitted through: Who the kriff was she calling a pigeon?

Somewhere very close by, an animal growled. It was deep and powerful, so much so that every hair on the back of Cal's neck lifted. The dwarf at his cage scowled, and looked to the left.

"Make the bear shut up, ya? I'm trying to talk to the pigeon."

"Then talk louder," someone retorted. "I like when the bear cries. It sounds all rumbly."

A bear? Cal dragged shaking fingers down his face. He wondered if he was dreaming now. Maybe he'd fallen into some spice somewhere and was now having a wild hallucination.

Harsh laughter rose, even as he heard a small thunk of something hard striking a soft surface. The bear roared, filling the entire place with its anger.

"See?" exclaimed the second voice. "C'mon, throw another rock!"

The dwarf at his cage looked caught between being annoyed and being angry. Cal took the opportunity to get to his feet, though the effort had him swaying as nausea shuddered through him. Whatever had happened to him had really taken its toll. But it wasn't the first time he'd had to fight through injuries or illness, and it wouldn't be the last.

He staggered to the bars, and grasped one to steady himself.

"Hey," he croaked.

The dwarf turned and a gleeful smile spread across her features when she saw him. He didn't give her a chance to speak. Lifting a hand, and drawing on as much of the force as he could, he sank it into her mind like folds of silk. Layer upon layer of suggestion, and he knew he was overdoing it, but his control was slippery and he needed it to work.