•two journeys• din djarin

XIV

"How do I hold it?"

"However is comfortable." I flipped it over in my hand to rest in various positions to see what felt most natural. I settled on something simple, by my side with my wrist facing up. I looked up at him when I had settled on a starting position, ready to learn how to actually use it. He motioned for me to do something, what, I wasn't sure. My face must have had a look of confusion that caused him to clarify. "Hit my armor."

"Are you... sure about that?" I asked.

"Using all your strength hit my armor." I bit my lip and stared at him, concerned for his sanity before finally giving in to his request. I wrapped both of my hands around the hit of the sword and pulled it up and behind my head. Closing my eyes, I used all of my strength to swing the Darksaber around, making contact with Din's left pauldron. I opened my eyes just as the spark from the impact sprayed over the room, leaving it smelling of smoke. I looked up at his helmet which was already looking at me. "Again."

We spent what felt like a day but was only 3 hours. The sweat was dripping from my hairline down the sides of my face as Din taught me different tactics and movements. My heart was pounding hard in my chest and I could feel the callouses forming on my hands from the tight grip I had around the thing. "I need a break," I panted out.

"One more thing and we can be entirely done for the day." My head was facing down as I was panting, but his words filled me with an instant bit of relief.

"Anything."

"You fight me with the Darksaber, and I use my Beskar staff." My eyes widened at his proposition. He pulled the staff off the wall beside him and held it tightly in his hands. "I promise I won't do anything that can hurt you," he said. I swallowed the spit in my mouth and stood tall, swinging the saber around to my starting position.

"Let's go." He jumped towards me, swinging the staff at my midsection. I jumped back bringing the saber around to catch his staff, locking it in an uncomfortable position. We paraded in this dance for a ridiculous amount of time; at one point, the saber almost fell from my hands. He stepped towards me with his left foot, an obvious tell that he was going to try to grab my arm. In my attempt to evade, I was pulled against him, the staff held to my throat and his head beside mine.

"Dead," he exclaimed. I laughed at his comment before looking down at my hand. My arm hooked around his side, the hilt of the unlit saber pressing into the unarmored part of his midsection.

"Dead," I replied. He let go of me shaking his hand and bringing his hands to his hips.

"I have to say, I'm impressed."

"I had a really good teacher," I replied before attaching the saber to the clamps on the wall next to his staff and my blaster. "I think I need a glass of water and a nap," I said while heading towards the kitchen. He agreed to the water and followed me. I chugged down the large glass I had poured, placing the cup in the basin and stumbling off to the sleeping cabin, throwing myself into the sheets. I'm sure if my body was energized enough, I would have dreamed, but right now my body needed to reset.

________________________

I woke up to the feeling of my stomach turning. I opened my eyes and rolled onto my back trying to understand the source of this discomfort. I laid for a second before feeling a warm liquid move up my throat. I sat up quickly and ran out of the bed, going straight to the kitchenette where I could throw up in the basin. Outside the door, Din was about to knock, but my sudden outburst left him unable to say what he was going to. I reached the basin and wrapped my hands tightly around the edges of the bowl before throwing up the food I had eaten earlier. Din was behind me holding my hair out of the way as I gagged. I stood up, confused and disorientated, and looked around the room.