I wrinkled my nose as Din placed a pound of Krayt dragon meat on the back of the speeder bike. The child cooed and stared at the meat hungrily, our different reactions almost made me laugh. Din had brought the bike over so we could get ready to go, the Tusken's had insisted upon us taking some of the dragon meat.
All of the Tuskens were hunkered down in the dragon's carcass. The area that used to be its stomach was now being hacked at by the Tuskens. If I was being honest, it was kind of gross.
Din then began to wrap the piece of meat in a large white cloth to keep it from getting contaminated on the way back to the crest.
"Sorry, I didn't have time to explain." Din said to Cobb as he carried his armor over to the bike.
"No need. This was well-earned." Cobb said as he handed the helmet over to Din.
"It was my pleasure." Din said as he shook his hand.
Cobb Vanth then turned his attention to me and held his hand out. I placed my hand in his and he gave me a firm handshake.
"You take care of this one, okay sweetheart? He's gonna need it." Cobb Vanth joked lightly as he let go of my hand.
"I will." I laughed, I think it was the first time I've been called sweetheart by a man and did not want to hit them.
Cobb Vanth then looked between Din and I. "I hope our paths cross again."
"As do I." Din Said as I nodded with a small smile.
"Oh, and you tell your people I wasn't the one that broke that." Cobb Vanth said. He then turned and walked away from us.
Suddenly, all of the Tuskens began to yell in celebration. I looked over and saw one of them holding up a white ball while the others cheered for him.
"Ready to go?" Din asked me, I turned away from the strange scene to look back at him.
"Yeah, I'm ready." I nodded
Din climbed onto the speeder bike first and it was in that moment that I realised how close we are going to be sitting...while he's covered in green dragon slime.
I sighed as I swung my leg over the back of the bike. I hesitated for a moment before I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"Next time you plan on getting eaten by a dragon, let me know in advance so I can get my own ride." I said as I scrunched my nose up at the feeling of it under my fingers.
"Got it." Din chuckled as he started up the speeder bike and we took off, moving quickly away from the abandoned sarlacc pit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three of us sped quickly across the deserts of Tatooine. I felt like I wanted to fall asleep but the aggressive winds and the fear of falling off kept me awake. I kept almost laying my head on Din's back, until I remembered that he was still covered in slime.
The journey so far had been absolutely fine, until a rope suddenly sprung up out of nowhere. I felt like my soul left my body as the speeder flipped. My grip on Din's waist quickly loosened as we were all flung from the bike.
The combination of the sudden stop and the fast speed we were going at caused me to land hard on the sand below. I grunted as I heavily landed on the ground below. I rolled three times along the ground before I came to a stop. I went to stand up again but I saw the speeder flying towards me. I quickly ducked down and covered my head with my hands.
Once the speeder had passed overhead, I pushed myself up onto my feet. A blaster shot sounded from behind me and I spun around. Two men had their blasters aimed at Din, apparently pegging him as the biggest threat.
I quickly pulled my blaster out of its holster and aimed it towards the two men. They shot at Din again and he almost fell over from the impact.
"Get the child." One of the men said to the third man who I hadn't noticed. My heart beat sped up as my eyes flickered over to the child. The child was crying as he tried to get up off the ground.
I heard footsteps racing behind me causing me to spin round on my heels with my blaster raised. A fourth man who I hadn't noticed was rushing at me from behind. I quickly pulled the trigger of my blaster and shot him in his shoulder, knocking him to the ground.
I spun back around when I heard the sound of metal hitting Beskar and Din grunting in pain. One of the men had knocked his blaster from his hand. I quickly aimed my blaster at the man and tried to get a good shot, but he kept moving too fast, I didn't want to risk shooting Din.
I then decided to race forward to try and help him. I came up behind the man who was fighting Din but just before I could attack, another man grabbed me from behind and pushed me up against the rock next to Din. I grunted as my back hit the hard rock. The two of us were pinned up against the rock as we struggled against the men's hold. I fought hard to keep the man at arms length as he pushed against me.
From over the man's shoulder, I could see the smaller man who had tried to get the child suddenly raise a large blaster towards all of us. Luckily, Din grabbed the blaster with the wire from his vambrace and pulled the blaster over to him. The blaster then hit the two men in the head, causing them to let go of us and fall to the ground unconscious.
There was only a moment of silence before the smaller man called out to us. my heart dropped when I saw the child in his arms, he was holding a knife up to him as a threat.
"Wait! Don't hurt the child." Din said urgently
"Please." I added, my eyes were wide with worry.
"If you put one mark on him, there's no place you will be able to hide from us." Din stated firmly with his hands raised to his sides.
"We can strike a bargain. There's a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick. But leave the child." Din offered
He pointed his knife at Mando and said something in a language I didn't understand.
"Okay." Din said as he reached back and unclipped his jetpack. I furrowed my brows at how readily he was giving up his armor.
"Here. It's yours." Din said cautiously as he placed the jetpack on the ground.
"It's okay." Din said as he backed away from the jetpack.
The man then placed the child carefully on the ground and picked up the jetpack. The child whimpered once he was out of the man's grasp.
The man then turned on his heels and began to run away. The child cooed worriedly and ran as fast as his little legs would take him over to us. He held his hands out and went straight over to Din. He bent down and gently scooped the child up into his arms.
"You okay?" He asked the child once he was in his hold.
I stood close to Din as I looked over his shoulder at the child, my eyes quickly scanned him to make sure he wasn't hurt, but he seemed to be fine.
Din turned to look at the man who was running as fast as he could with the jetpack in his grasp. He pressed a button on his vambrace and the man suddenly lifted up into the air. I couldn't help the laugh that left my lips as the man yelled and flew into the air unexpectedly.
Once the man was high enough, Din turned off the jetpack and let him fall back down to the ground. The man landed heavily on the sandy ground and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to stop myself from laughing anymore. It really shouldn't be funny.
The child made a judgemental noise as he looked up at Din, I glanced over at the two and saw Din shrug at the child. I smiled gently at the interaction between the two.
Din's jetpack then lowered itself back down onto the ground again, it carefully landed then fell backwards with a quiet thud.
I raised my eyebrows in amusement. "I knew you wouldn't give up your armor so easily."
Din chuckled as he looked over at me. His visor then tilted downwards, I could tell that he was checking me for injuries.
"Are you okay?" He asked me gently.
"I'm okay, are you?" I asked him
"Yeah. I'm okay." He replied. I nodded gently and returned my gaze to the surrounding area.
All of our stuff had been scattered, our bike was destroyed and on fire. I sighed heavily as I looked at our stuff all strewn about the place. "This is gonna be a long walk back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Din." I huffed as I trailed beside him.
"No." He said for what felt like the millionth time.
"Please let me carry something." I pleaded with him. I eyed up the large pole that was resting upon his shoulders. All of our belongings were balanced upon his shoulders. The only thing he had allowed me to take was the satchel bag that held the child.
"I'm fine." Din retaliated
"You've been carrying everything for ages. What happens if you pass out and I have to carry you and everything else?" I asked him
"I can see Mos Eisley, I'll be fine." Din stated stubbornly.
I too could see Mos Eisley, as well as the mirages that danced across the sand. He was wearing that much armor and carrying all of our stuff plus he hadn't had a drink in who knows how long. I sighed in annoyance as we continued to trek along the desert.
I glanced over at him again as he let out a small grunt that he tried to cover up with a cough. I reached over and grabbed hold of the pack of armor that was hanging off of the long pole. He already had one set on, he didn't need another on his back.
"What are you doing?" Din asked in exasperation
"Carrying something. It's not that heavy." I said as I held the armor in my left hand.
"Then put it back." Din said, i don't know why he was so adamant in carrying everything.
"Just let me help you." I pleaded with him
Din didn't say anything for a moment. He then let out a tired sigh and nodded once. "Fine."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The twin suns of Tatooine had fallen below the horizon, we had been walking all day and I felt exhausted. My feet ached from the extensive walking and I could really use a drink. I couldn't even imagine how Din was feeling after carrying all that for so long.
The two of us trudged up to the door of the cantina where we believed Peli the mechanic would be. We stepped through the door and Din had to awkwardly shift sideways to fit the long pole through the entry.
I spotted Peli sitting at a booth with another person. The two of us quickly made our way towards her.
"I don't know. Looks like someone's gonna be goin' home empty-handed." Peli said to the man in front of her.
She froze when she saw the two of us. I almost laughed at the look in her eyes as she looked at the pole Din was carrying.
"You finally mind a Mandalorian and ya kill him?" Peli asked
"He wasn't mandalorian. I bought this armor off of him, though." Din explained
"What'd that set you back?" Peli asked him
"Killed the Krayt dragon for him." Din replied like it wasn't a big deal.
"Oh. Is that all?" Peli said sarcastically
"He was my last lead on finding other Mandalorians." Din Said. The man who was sitting in front of Peli then began to talk in a language I didn't recognise.
"Okay. Well, you might be in luck. Dr. Mandible says he can connect you with someone who can help you. If you cover his call this round. It's what he said." Peli told them
"What's the bet?" Din asked
"Five hundred." Peli said
"That's a high-stakes game." Din said
"Hey, he's on a hot streak." Peli said
Din sighed and reached into his pocket to grab some credits. He tossed the bag on the table and it Jingled as it landed.
"Is the pot right?" Peli asked Dr Mandible.
"Ha! Idiot's array! Pay up, thorax!" Peli suddenly yelled as she won the game.
"I thought you said he was on a hot streak?" Din asked her as she grabbed the man's money.
"Oh. Stop your cryin'. you'll rust." Peli said to Din.
Dr Mandible began to speak to Peli again. "All right. He says the contact will rendezvous at the hangar. They'll tell you where to find some Mandalorians. That's what you wanted, right?" Peli translated
"Yes." Din replied
"All right, well, stop your mopin'" Peli said as she stood up and began to make her way towards the door of the cantina.
"More importantly, did you bring back any of that dragon meat? Better not have any maggots on it. I don't like maggots." Peli asked us as we walked out of the cantina.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sighed gently and ran my hand through my hair as I sat on the floor of the hull in the crest. I had a canteen of water in my left hand and I had been continuously taking sips from it. I was slowly starting to feel much better after the amount of time we had spent walking.
Footsteps echoed on the metal ladder from above, I looked over to the ladder and saw Din descended from the cockpit.
My eyes darted across his body as I noticed that he had cleaned all the green slime off of his armor. I recalled what I had said to him after the Krayt dragon had been killed and felt strangely nervous. The thought of standing up and hugging him when we weren't currently in danger felt almost wrong, it was definitely new.
"Are you okay?" Din snapped me out of my thoughts, I hadn't even realised that I was still staring at him.
"Yeah. Better now." I said with a small smile as I raised my canteen upwards slightly.
"Are you okay? No signs of heat stroke or anything." I asked him as I pushed myself up onto my feet.
"No, I'm all good." Din said with a small nod.
"Good." I said with a small smile.
"We should head outside, the...client should be here soon." Din said
"Yeah..." I said hesitantly. Din began to make his way over to the open hatch. My mind ran a hundred miles an hour as my heart beat hard in my chest, why was I so nervous?
"Din?" I finally spoke up before he could leave the ship.
"Yeah?" He asked me as He turned around.
I subtly took in a deep breath before I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
Din seemed taken aback for a moment, his body was tense and he sucked in a sharp breath. He then relaxed and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.
"You're clean now." I said with a small laugh.
Din chuckled and tightened his grip on me. I finally felt my muscles relax as I stood there in his hold, he was still here, everything was okay.
Din and I parted from one another and I immediately glanced down at my feet. The feelings that were twisting at my chest were unfamiliar to me...I mean, I've had feelings like these before, but it has never felt quite like this before.
Din's hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed gently, I looked up at his visor and smiled gently.
"Let's go." Din gestured with his head towards the door. I nodded gently and followed after him as we both walked out of the ship.
I stepped out into the cool night air and almost laughed at the sight that greeted me. The child stood staring intently at the large piece of Krayt dragon meat as it spun in front of a large engine. Peli was using the heat from the engine to cook the meat.
"Hey, don't overcook it, treadwell. I like it medium rare!" Peli shouted as she entered the mechanic bay.
"I'm not some Roadian, for crying out loud." Peli then walked over to Din and I.
"All right, here's the deal. A mandalorian covert is close. It's in this sector, one system trailing."
"Are they the ones that left Nevarro?" Din asked her
"Don't know. All I know is that the contact will lead you to them." Peli replied
"How much will it cost me?" Din asked
"Well, that's the great news. It's free." Peli said. I furrowed my brows slightly, there was rarely anything that came without a price in this galaxy.
"Aside from a finders fee, of course." Peli added
"What's the not-great news?" Din asked
"Nothing. It's all great." Peli said
I raised my brow in disbelief.
"Okay." Din nodded
"However, there is one small skank in the scud pie." Peli began, I sighed gently, of course there was.
"Which is?" Din asked
"The contact wants passage to the system." Peli added
"Do you vouch for them?" Din asked cautiously
"With my life." Peli assured him. Though I still didn't believe her.
"Fine." Din agreed
"And..." Peli began to say, of course there was more. "No hyperdrive."
"No." I stated
"You want me to travel sublight? Deals off." Din said
"It's one sector over." Peli tried to reason with us
"Moving fast is the only thing keeping us safe." Din stated firmly.
"These are mitigating circumstances." Peli argued
"What do you mean "mitigating"?"'din asked
Suddenly, a figure cautiously shuffled through the door. There was a woman who was very frog-like, her hands were holding onto the straps of her bag.
Din sighed heavily and out his hands on his hips as he leant towards Peli. "I'm not a taxi service."
"I know, I know, I hear you. But I can vouch for her" Peli said
The lady walked over to us and spoke in a language that I didn't understand. She looked friendly enough.
"What's the cargo?" Din asked, referring to the tank on her back that was full of water
Peli talked to the woman in her own language to ask about her cargo.
"It's her spawn. She needs her eggs fertilised by the equinox or her line will end. If you jump into hyperspace, they'll die. She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben." Peli translated.
I felt my heart squeeze for the woman who was just trying to look after her children. Weirdly, it was something that I was starting to relate to.
"She said all that?" Din asked incredulously
"I paraphrased." Peli said
"Is she sure there are mandalorians there?" Din asked
Peli spoke to the woman again before she turned back to Din. "She said her husband has seen them."
The lady then walked past us and headed towards the ship with her tank of eggs on her back.
"Do you know the husband?" Din asked
"No. I met her ten minutes before you walked in." Peli said nonchalantly
"I thought you said you vouched for her on your life." Din asked angrily
"What can I say, I'm an excellent judge of character." Peli said as she took a bite from the Krayt dragon meet
"Come on, Din. We should help her." I said gently. It felt to me like a worthy cause.
Din sighed and shook his head gently. "Fine."
He then turned on his heels and stormed up the ramp of the crest to get it ready to fly.
I turned towards the child and walked over to pick him up. He cooed in annoyance as I lifted him away from the cooked meat.
"You have him wrapped around your finger, don't you?" Peli suddenly asked in amusement.
I felt my cheeks flush as I tried to fight off the strange feeling in my chest. "What?"
Peli didn't say anything in reply, she only smirked at me before she turned back to the meat in her hand.
I turned away from her and began to walk towards the crest. I tried my hardest to fight off the smile that threatened to break out on my face. Though the giddy feeling was suddenly replaced with worry as I thought about the journey we would have to take.