1 - 20 of 34 Works by sauntering_down
Navigation
Listing Works
-
no grave can hold my body down by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
24 Dec 2025
Tags
Summary
Cere shakes her head again, lowering her hands to her lap and lacing her fingers together. “I’m… not sure. Could be nothing.”
“Cere, if you really think this is a trap –”
“It’s not that,” she says. “It’s – a feeling of foreboding. I’m not sure if it’s this job or something else. Like I said, it might be nothing.” She shoots Cal a ghost of a smile. “Might be Greez’s kath shank.”
“Hey, have I ever given any of you food poisoning?” Greez bustles past them on his way to the navicomputer. “I think not!”
(Middle-aged schoolteachers would probably make terrifying Inquisitors, so the Mantis crew attempts to break a Force-sensitive woman out of prison before the Empire finds out her secret. It ends poorly. They try to pick up the pieces, afterwards... which would be easier if they didn’t need to leave a piece behind.)
-
hook echo by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
05 May 2025
Tags
Summary
Prauf wants to visit a scavenger friend of his and pick up a piece of wood he needs for a little repair project.
Cal just wants to avoid anything and everything relating to this karking Empire Day nonsense.
The two of them go on a short road trip across the wastelands. Featuring curry, Force echoes, a borrowed speeder they’d better not damage or else, relationship drama, some clay, a bit of scrapping, bad weather, an escape pod, Storytime with Prauf™, very breakable bones, and Tabbers (mostly against his will).
-
scalpel by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
02 May 2025
Tags
Summary
Docked for supplies in between Bogano and Zeffo, Greez walks in on the Mantis’s new resident slitting his wrist.
It’s not what it looks like, but the actual explanation isn’t a whole lot more comforting.
-
the hardest part of ending is starting again by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
14 Aug 2024
Tags
Summary
Cal crash-lands on Bracca at age thirteen, gets poisoned a few months later, and promptly spends the next five years subsisting on safe, reliable ration bars (except when he’s stashing them away for emergencies or forced to eat bad medcenter food). He’s just barely scraping by, but he manages not to starve, even when the Guild’s being a real pain in the ass about actually feeding its scrappers.
Everything works out fine until he winds up on the Mantis, instead. Suddenly he has a new purpose, along with some new crewmates who are way too invested in finding out why Cal doesn’t karking eat… and trying to do something about it.
-
insomniac by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
07 Aug 2024
Tags
Summary
A collection of short fics, loosely connected by Cal’s Mid Rim-sized sleep deficit.
(1) Cal Kestis is nine years old and has caf where his blood ought to be.
(2) being a Padawan means facing your fears, like asking for help when you need it. and possibly running into the terrifying medic who works first shift.
(3) Cal gets captured by Separatists. rather than hurt him, they try sleep-depriving him into insanity.
(4) despite planning to keep his head down and stay out of trouble on Bracca, Cal gets roped into a Shenanigan anyway.
(5) Cal is tired. and lonely. and traumatized. and tired. and depressed. and overworked. did i mention tired? he's so tired.
(6) there are good ways of coping with your problems, and there’s whatever Cal’s chosen.
(7) Cal cautiously gets to know his new crewmates. also, they go on a supply run and he tells BD-1 a story.
(8) what Cal wants is to stay on the couch and wait for the painkillers to kick in so his everything stops aching. what he gets is a distant cry for help in the Force.
(9) a downed Republic ship that may be haunted, a pair of Jedi who may be dead, strange dreams that may mean something, and a local resident who may be missing. -
blood bag by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
09 Jul 2024
Tags
Summary
Cere offered something he didn’t know he wanted until she dangled it in front of him, and he crumbled like a sandcastle even in the face of her remarkably evasive explanation for why she’s no longer a Jedi. He doesn’t trust her yet, but he likes her nonetheless. The Bogano breeze toys with his hair while Cal watches the sunset alongside a little droid who’s been glued to Cal’s side since the moment he fixed BD’s damaged leg. It’s not bad at all. He could get used to this.
Unfortunately, Cal is pretty sure he’s dying.
(Cal bleeds. Cere patches him up. Eventually, he gets to return the favor.)
-
owned every second that this world can give by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
05 Mar 2024
Tags
Summary
“I will not have you on a battlefield. But I acknowledge you cannot spend all of your time aboard the Brave meditating and doing your classwork. This excursion is age-appropriate and, ideally, will be enjoyable.”
“For me,” Cal says. Jaro raises a brow ridge at him and, ever so slightly, Cal grins. “I can’t picture you at a carnival.”
“Hm,” is all Jaro has to say in reply. It will soon be reality no matter what. He does not tell his Padawan he has a pair of earplugs tucked in his pocket.
(Cal is going stir-crazy on the Albedo Brave. His master has a fit of temporary insanity. They both visit a carnival.)
-
hold on to me as we go by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
06 Dec 2023
Tags
Summary
A few months after Nur, Cal’s life has fallen into a predictable if not always comfortable routine - he and the crew stay under the radar for a while, find some Imperials who need pissing off, pop up, give the Empire a hard time, and disappear again. He likes it. Even those under the radar parts are never too dull when he winds up doing things like disrupting prisoner transports, scrubbing graffiti off the Mantis, and trying to find a lost Jedi retreat.
Oh, and occasionally being kidnapped by bounty hunters. And getting sick, again, which would be less of a problem were it not for the whole ‘kidnapped by a bounty hunter, again’ thing… and that spleen he doesn’t have.
(the direct-to-video sequel to all some children do is work)
-
quiet nights by sauntering_down for void_spells
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
08 Nov 2023
Tags
Summary
Not long after they meet, while Greez is still adjusting to having a teenaged Jedi and an obnoxious little droid aboard the Mantis, Cal admits he occasionally experiences seizures because of the Force echoes. Greez isn’t exactly thrilled, but whatever. They don’t sound too serious or frequent, so he’ll deal, and it’s kind of nice the kid’s beginning to trust them enough to tell them this stuff, right?
Months later, he discovers (in the worst way possible, of course) Cal might have omitted a few crucial details from that confession.
-
if not by faith, then by the sword by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
20 Sep 2023
Tags
Summary
Order 66 goes out. The clone troopers execute their Generals. Jaro Tapal dies in an escape pod and Cal lands on Bracca alone, one of the few surviving Jedi in a galaxy that suddenly wants him dead. Under those circumstances, all he can do is blend in with the scrappers, keep his head down and his eyes open, and try to trust in a Force he can no longer connect with. He shuts his mouth so he never says anything suspicious and then decides perhaps it’s best if he just doesn’t talk at all.
After five years, he’s pretty sure he’s forgotten how.
-
this is a gift (it comes with a price) by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Series (Video Games), Star Wars - All Media Types
31 Aug 2023
Tags
Summary
He can see Greez’s face out of the corner of his eye, so he gets to witness the journey his friend’s expression takes. Surprise, like Greez is understanding for the first time that yes, Cal does pick up such things once in a while, followed by a sort of resigned surprise as he realizes he probably should’ve figured that out sooner. Amusement, very hastily smothered because he promised not to laugh. Just a fraction of a second of envy, which, okay, Cal will give him; it’s cheaper than paying for low-quality skin flicks.
And then the lightbulb turns on. Cal goes back to staring out the viewport so he doesn't have to see the horror.
(or, Cal really hates the sex echoes.)
-
radar by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
17 May 2023
Tags
Summary
“Look,” he says quietly, “I know something, and when you know, you should also know that I know, but I don’t know what to do, and I need you to know so you can help me.”
Cere’s barricaded herself against the influence of the Force, yet it continues lending her patience and wisdom regardless, which is probably how she manages to process that absolute mess of a sentence so soon after waking (and without any caffeine). “Greez,” she says, “what the hell does that mean?”
(a sequel to echolocation, where Cere finds her way into the loop)
-
jetsam by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
22 Feb 2023
Tags
Summary
Shaking his head, BD warns him Merrin did say it causes what her people call ‘swamp madness’ – convulsions and vivid hallucinations. The former doesn’t concern Cal too much, since he’s had seizures before, but the latter… he peers at his ankle yet again. He should’ve put his boot back on earlier. His foot’s too swollen to fit now. “It’s starting to get bad,” he says quietly, wincing as another muscle spasm rattles through his calf. He feels like he’s been running for kilometers and his heart’s trying to keep on going straight out of his chest. “I don’t know when Cere and Merrin will get here, and I think the venom’s more likely to kill me than this stuff is, so…” The fruit’s rind is thin; Cal punctures it with his thumb, widens a hole large enough for him to see the pale pink nectar inside. It has no smell at all. With BD looking on, Cal says, “Cheers,” and drinks.
(Cal gets bitten by a snake on Dathomir. While awaiting rescue, he self-medicates with brula fruit. The results are… mixed.)
Series
- Part 3 of salvage
-
echolocation by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
25 Jan 2023
Tags
Summary
For a long time – ten seconds, perhaps, every one of which stretches out to a century – Greez hesitates, wondering what exactly is the correct choice here. He’s way out of his depth. Revert to realspace too early due to a hyperdrive breakdown, smack dab in the middle of an asteroid field? No problem. Put together a meal for four with only basic field rations and a pot of water? Greez can promise nobody’s going to bed hungry. Cheat his way to victory in a sabacc tournament? All right, that one’s a maybe, but he’ll give it his best effort. He doesn’t know what to do with a teenage Human who’s either about to have a heart attack or just completely freaking out. And in the latter case, Greez is no more prepared to deal with an emotional crisis. This is Cere’s domain, all of it. She paid for a pilot, not a medic or a counselor. Cal’s her responsibility.
So why is he kneeling on the deck?
-
derelict by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
20 Jan 2023
Tags
Summary
Tabbers’s attempt to build anticipation isn’t getting a whole lot of reception, so he gives up. “Can’t guarantee anything – I didn’t see it myself and Rux only got a quick look – but he said it’s an escape pod. Standard Republic cruiser model. Just sitting there in a nice little crater in the wastes, all by its lonesome, no one around for klicks… intact.”
Cal’s heart stops beating.
It can’t be. On a planet like Bracca, there could be any number of junked escape pods littering the wastelands – old Acclamator- and Venator-class cruisers are still being towed in at a rate of one or two a month, guaranteeing the Scrapper Guild steady work for years to come. It’d simply take an electrical short or a manual override nobody noticed was engaged to jettison a pod by accident. Stuff falls from shipwrecks all the time. There are six square blocks at the south end of Attash that have been uninhabitable for half a decade after some proton torpedoes weren’t secured correctly. It’s not his. It can’t be.
Series
- Part 1 of salvage
-
somnolence by sauntering_down for BreakfastTea
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
28 Dec 2022
Tags
Summary
“Sorry to wake you,” Greez says immediately. He’s wringing two of his hands, the others planted on his hips, and the folds of his blanket are still imprinted on his cheek. “I woke up because Cal’s little rattletrap sliced into my cabin and started jumping on me, beeping his glitching head off. Didn’t understand a word, of course, but I followed him anyway – one of the hatches is wide open and I know I closed them both before I went to bed. And I can’t find the kid.”
(the treacherous terrain of Bogano, in the dead of night, during a massive thunderstorm isn't the best place or time to find out your new recruit sleepwalks)
-
i won't want for love by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
08 Nov 2022
Tags
Summary
If he’d been smart, he would have disregarded the other organics and looked at BD-1, instead. Who brought him aboard the Mantis just a few hours after they met? Who’ll spend forty tedious minutes carefully working a pebble out of his hydraulics without damaging him? Who turns into a seasoned defense lawyer every time he’s accused of leaving oil stains on the upholstery? Who inexplicably files him under the ‘cute and cuddly’ category (and treats him as such) even though the droid is made of metal and wires and spite?
Greez kicks himself later for not picking up on the obvious. Then he kindly forgives himself, because it’s been a rough week. Month. However long they’ve run themselves ragged after following the Inquisitors to Bracca and recruiting a Padawan-in-hiding who has a weakness for little droids… and, apparently, damn near everything else.
-
flotsam by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
15 Oct 2022
Tags
Summary
“How are you feeling?”
He can’t find the words to answer. He can’t think. His tongue keeps sticking to the roof of his dry mouth and when he licks his lips, they’re cracked and taste like copper. “…tired,” he finally whispers. “Cold…?” The race back to the Mantis kept him from feeling the chill, but once he collapsed into the copilot’s seat, he’d found himself shivering uncontrollably. Now his hands are still. He closes his eyes again, sinking back into the water, fading away. Maybe he never got out at all – maybe he’s freezing to death in that cave and this is his dying brain hallucinating a peaceful end. Will Cere and Greez come looking if he never makes it to the ship? They shouldn’t, it’s not safe with the Empire around, but he doesn’t want to be left there like a discarded piece of debris for some stormtrooper to fish out and throw in the trash.
(traversing the tundra of Ilum while soaking wet and wearing inadequate cold-weather gear has predictable consequences.)
Series
- Part 2 of salvage
-
all some children do is work by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
24 Aug 2022
Tags
Summary
Dathomir and Ilum are not next-door neighbors. The crew of the Mantis has a bit of a journey ahead of them, but once they make it there, Cal can find a new kyber crystal for his lightsaber, get this mission back on track, and unlock the vault on Bogano. Retrieve the holocron before the Empire catches up to them. Rebuild the Jedi Order.
He doesn’t have time to get sick.
(Tough luck, kid.)
-
and the Force is with me by sauntering_down
Fandoms: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types
09 May 2020
Tags
Summary
When he opens his eyes, Cut is watching him steadily, fingers still locked around Rex’s wrist. “Interesting mantra,” he says. “Where’d you pick that up?”