I stared out the cockpit window in awe as we approached a vast ocean from above. The planet Kalevala was covered in a gray blanket of cloud and fog, matching the dark colour of the ocean. Din gripped the steering with both hands as we descended towards the land below.
"This is Kalevala. It's another planet in the Mandalorian system. And that is a Mandalorian castle." Din Said to Grogu. I looked out the window and saw a large, steel gray castle that stood tall at the edge of a cliff.
The ship grew closer and closer to the large castle. I scanned the building with wide eyes, it was extravagant to say the least. I hadn't even known that there were any Mandalorian castles to begin with.
The rain hammered on the window as we lowered down onto the landing bay. I shuffled in my seat as we gently touched down on the silver platform, preparing myself to exit the ship. I looked to my right and saw a blue droid staring directly at us.
The glass canopy above us slid open and the rain immediately started to fall on my head. I flinched slightly at the freezing temperature of the water and put my hand on the side of the ship. I tightened my grip on the side of the ship and pulled myself up. I swung my legs over the side and jumped down onto the ground. My boots slid slightly as my feet hit the ground. The rain had made the shiny metal extremely slippery.
Din hopped down from the ship and landed on the ground beside me. I turned my head to look at him for a moment before I faced forward again. Din placed his hand on my upper arm for a moment before he dropped his arm and started to walk towards the droid. My lips twitched up slightly as I started to walk alongside him. Grogu was floating beside me in his pram, having exited the ship as well.
Thunder rumbled in the distance as we climbed up the stone stairs towards the droid. I glanced over at the droid, wondering if it was going to try and stop us. But we just walked straight past it. The three of us made it up the stairs and through the open door.
I gazed around in amazement as we entered the Mandalorian castle. The room we had entered was long and it sported the same gray as the outside did. There were large pillars lining each side of the long room. They towered above us in an almost intimidating way. There was a long blue banner hanging from each pillar and in between each pillar was a long window.
I looked straight ahead and saw a throne situated at the end of the room. Bo-Katan Kyrze was lounging across the large chair in a strange fashion. Her leg was thrown up on the arm rest.
"Bo-Katan. It is Din Djarin. I am here to join you." Din announced himself. Bo-Katan shifted her gaze from Din to me. Her eyes trailed down my form and landed on the sabers that rested by my side. Her brow raised slightly but she didn't say anything.
"There's nothing left to join." Bo-Katan stated
"What of your plans to retake Mandalore?" Din asked
"When I returned without the darksaber, my forces melted away." Bo-Katan said. I could hear the defeat in her voice and I couldn't help but feel bad for her.
"Where is the stolen fleet?" Din asked her
"Making their way through the galaxy as mercenaries. Do you still have the saber?" Bo-Katan asked
"I do." Din answered hesitantly
"Then you lead them. Wave that thing around and they'll do whatever you say." Bo-Katan stated
"So you gave up your designs to retake Mandalore?" Din asked her
"Your cult gave up on Mandalore long before the purge. Where were you then? The children of the watch and all the factions that came before fractured and shattered out people. Go home. There's nothing left." Bo-Katan stated bitterly.
"I am going to Mandalore so that I may bathe in the living waters and be forgiven for my transgressions." Din said
"You are a fool. There's nothing magic about the mines of Mandalore. They supplied Beskar Ore to our ancestors and the rest is superstition. The planet has been ravaged, plundered, and poisoned." Bo-Katan said
"You said that the curse was a lie. Make up your mind." Din said, feeling frustrated with her.
"If you want to go to the mines, be my guest. They're beneath the civic center in the city of Sundari." Bo-Katan said
"Thank you. And I will find out if the planet is really poisoned." Din nodded once and he turned to walk away from her. I started to follow after him.
"Good bye, Din Djarin. Master L/n." Bo-Katan Said. I could hear the amusement in her voice when she called me master. I definitely don't think I have that rank just yet. I smiled lightly as I walked down the gray hallway with Din.
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"Whoo-hoo! You hear that? She's purring like a nuzzle shrew." Peli Motto yelled over the top of the N-1's engine. She stood beside a pit droid who was waving to us with two light signals, trying to direct us to the landing spot. Din cut off the engine and pressed the button to open up the glass canopy.
The heat of Tatooine hit me as the canopy opened, no longer being protected by the air conditioning of the cockpit. I let out a quiet huff at the sudden temperature change. I suddenly wished that I was only wearing a t-shirt.
"No complaints. Still faster than I know what to do with." Din replied
"Well, I'll tune her up, just the same. So, uh, where's my guy?" Peli asked, looking around for Grogu. Grogu heard that and sat up from Din's lap, shuffling over to the edge of the ship so he could see Peli.
"Huh? There he is!" Peli exclaimed as Grogu leapt out of the ship and flipped through the air, landing in Peli's arms. I pushed myself up and gripped onto the side of the ship.
"Now who taught you how to leap like a Lurmen, huh?" Peli asked him fondly. Grogu babbled up at her and she gasped. I swung my body over the side and jumped out of the ship just as Din started to get up.
"Was that his first word? I think he's talking to me. Did you hear that? He said Peli." Peli Said proudly. I smiled lightly at the thought, wondering when he would start talking. I know for sure that he will become an even bigger handful than he already is.
"I'm here on business." Din said as he stood beside me.
"Oh, are the hutts back? Are you takin' out Boba Fett?" Peli asked
"I need a droid part." Din stated
"Ugh. Boring! Hey, get the Jawas back here before they hit the cantina." Peli yelled at her pit droids.
"You know how Mos Eisley gets during Boonta week." Peli said to us as she mimicked someone getting drunk. My lips twitched up Into a smile at her dramatics.
"I'm looking for a replacement IG memory circuit." Din said
"Oh. Hey, grandpa. They haven't made those for a while." Peli stated sassily. I couldn't help the small laugh that left me at her grandpa comment. Good thing I know he's not really that old. Din shot me a look that told me he was unimpressed which almost made me laugh harder.
Three Jawas came rushing towards us, speaking Jawaese to each other as they came to stand in front of Peli. Peli started to speak to them in Jawaese, telling them what droid part we were after.
"Memory circuit." She said in basic after explaining to them in Jawaese. The Jawas immediately threw their hands in the air and made sounds of disagreement. I don't have to speak the language to know that they won't be able to get the part.
"Sorry, pal, no chance cubes." Peli said to Din
"They can't find the part?" Din asked
"Nope." Peli replied
"I need my droid fixed now." Din said firmly
"Which is why I think you should buy this beauty here." Peli said as she walked over to an astromech droid and placed her hand on top of its head. The droid looked okay until Peli hit her hand against it and caused it to spark and crackle.
"I can't use an astromech. I need a droid that's rated for spelunking." Din stated
"Spelunking? What are you spelunking?" Peli asked with her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I'm going to Mandalore. I need a droid that can explore ahead of me and test the atmosphere, make sure it's safe to breathe." Din explained
"Okay, well..." Peli started to say, but the astromech droid beside her nervously started to back away. He beeped anxiously at the idea of exploring Mandalore. "Uh-uh-uh-uh. Hey! Get right back here. Right back here, scaredy droid. Come on now, you gotta shine." Peli said to the quivering droid.
"This R5 astromech is built for adventure." Peli said. R5 beeped nervously and shook again, causing Peli to sigh.
"What? Of course you are. You're supposed to be piloting starfighters across the galaxy and fighting tyranny." Peli said. Her words did nothing to encourage R5, it only made him shake harder and beep nervously.
"Its falling apart, and besides, I got no room for it on the N-1." Din explained
"Nonsense. R5-D4 is as good as the day it came back from serving in the rebellion. And I'll reinstall your droid port and this little baby here can even co-pilot." Peli argued, trying her hardest to sell R5. R5 trembled and shook once again, he really didn't want to go on an adventure. I honestly felt sorry for the poor thing.
"Hey, if you don't settle your bolts, I'll sell you back to the Jawas." Peli stated firmly. She then turned back to us and smiled. "And because it's Boonta, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna give you this for half the price and throw on a free oil bath."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R5 beeped frantically as he raised up into the droid section of the ship. I felt kind of bad for having to bring him along when he was so clearly afraid, but we had no other choice. Grogu was now perched on my lap as his previous seat was being occupied. Though I'm sure he doesn't mind being in the cockpit with Din and I.
"Oh, come on now, don't be a coward. You're an astromech, act like one." She scolded R5, she then lent in to talk to us in a low voice. "I wouldn't rely too much on this one. Its circuitry is a little fragile."
"I thought you said it was built for adventure." Din questioned. Peli quickly slammed the glass canopy shut so she could avoid answering any questions. I couldn't help but laugh lightly at her.
"What? Sorry, I can't hear you!" Peli yelled as the engine started up. I sighed softly in amusement as we started to take off. While I'm slightly concerned about how well R5 will deal with Mandalore, my thoughts were easily distracted by the large scattering of fireworks illuminating the sky.
I felt an almost childlike joy as the fireworks exploded around us. We probably shouldn't be flying straight through a firework display, but it sure did give us the best view. I sat up in my chair to get a better look as the colours illuminated the sky.
"All right, kid. You ready for an adventure?" Din asked Grogu. Grogu babbled in response but I only half acknowledged it, my attention was focused on the bright array of colours. I could hear the noise of the fireworks from inside the N-1. The noise was extremely loud even over the roaring sound of the engine.
"Enjoying the show?" Din asked me gently. I turned my head to see his gaze was trained on me, watching me instead of watching what was in front of him.
"Hey, eyes on the sky Din." I said with a small laugh as I gently turned his helmet back towards the front of the ship.
"Sorry, Cyar'ika. It's just that you're very beautiful." Din said softly, his tone gave away his sheepishness. I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face as well as the heat that rose to my cheeks. I turned my head slightly due to feeling flustered.
"Thanks, Din." I said lightly. Dropping my hand down to rest on his thigh as he steered the ship with both of his hands. I shifted my gaze from the sky in front of us to look at Din. I couldn't help the soft smile that formed on my face as I looked over at him, the light of the fireworks reflected against his beskar armor and I couldn't help but think about how lucky I am.