Unmasked Love | The Mandalorian

|5|

Mando and I had been silently walking side by side through the deep cavern path we had decided to follow to get back to our ship. The little egg-shaped carriage that we had acquired had been hovering close to my companion's waist, always staying in an arm's reach. I glance over to it, my eyes watching the little green creature that was peeking out of his large bundle of blankets, squirming in his tiny robes. 

My partner soon comes to a halt and I follow in suit, knowing that it was usually a good idea to follow his keen instincts. He stands stiffly in his tracks, his head tilting side to side as he scanned the terrain. His head barely even moved as he looked around. I start to glance around as well, thankfully not seeing anything on my unguarded sigh. But just as I glance back over to Mando's side, I spot a man jumping towards him. I was about to shout a warning, but a thin cord wrapped around my throat and I get yanked away. 

I choke as the person roughly tugs me back, making the thin cord dig into my skin. I try to shove my fingers between the cord and the skin of my neck, but I couldn't even manage to get my fingertips in. As I start to feel light-headed, I attempt to suck in a small breath of air, but all it does is make me choke and stutter even more. I kick and thrash, trying to subtly trail my hand down to my blaster in hopes that the person choking me wouldn't see, but they soon snatch my wrist up, keeping me from grabbing it. 

Shit. 

This isn't good. 

This really isn't good. 

I'm yanked back even more and my body starts to painfully convulse, my muscles contracting from the lack of oxygen flowing through my blood and brain. Shit, this really isn't good- My eyes start to flutter shut, but the sound of a blaster finally gives me the ability to breathe again. 

I fall forward and plant one of my hands on the ground while my other hand claws at my stinging neck. I rip away the thin cord and throw it to the side as rough coughs began to rack my body. I lean even more of my weight onto my planted hand, letting the other furiously rub at my already sore neck. 

"Fuck- fucking Ma-Maker," I choke out, coughing through my words. I'm surprised that I can still somewhat talk. Mando quickly strides over to me, sliding down onto his knees while pulling me into his chest. He rests my back against his armored chest as I grasped at my neck, trying to breathe properly. 

"Hey, hey- stop that," he says, pulling my hand away from my neck. His hand is so much larger than mine that it wrapped perfectly around my whole hand, but that wasn't necessarily something I should be so fixated on right now. I cough a few more times, leaning my head back on his armor-covered shoulder. His fingers trail over my neck as I let out a few choppy breaths. "Take a deep breath."

"Oh yeah? Thanks for the phenomenal advice," I rasp out, almost wanting to roll my eyes at him. 

"Shut up and take a deep breath."

He gently pulls me closer, his arms settling around my waist while one of his gloved hands continued to run over the skin of my neck. His hold around me is comforting and I find myself slowly calming down and breathing a little easier. He lets me take a few more deep breaths before slowly pulling me up to my feet. 

"Are you alright?" he asks, turning me around to face him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I rasp, clearing my still tight throat. He nods and walks back to the small green creature, making sure he was still safely tucked away. "Is he alright?" 

"Yeah, he's alright," he answers, nodding his head along while adjusting some of the blankets. He looks up at the sky for a moment before looking back over at me. "Come on. It's going to be dark soon. We can camp out for a bit before we get back to the ship."