~*~
The newest planet she, Din, and the child have arrived in is a bit too dark for her liking. She isn't sure if it's continuously night here as she's read in books that some planets don't have suns, but it's a fitting planet for scruffy types of people who didn't want to be found, or like to bet on fights. Fitting for a brawl, that is, and illegal bets. It's a wonder that Din actually let her come with him, since he's so keen on letting her stay on the ship before.
"You have a gambling addiction, Mando?" She asks, mostly to calm her nerves, and she never uses his name when they're around people that could be lurking around to hear.
"When it calls for it," he responds, and she relaxes slightly, calmed by the sound of his voice.
Graffiti is sprayed on nearly every building, and occasionally a pair of glowing, red eyes would emerge out of the shadows to stare at them as they walked around the city. Or at least, she thinks it's a city, she wouldn't know underneath the lone lights flickering occasionally to give them some pathway. Dessa moves closer to the child, ready to protect him and Din if need be.
"You come here often?"
"When it calls for it," he repeats himself, and she sighs. Disappointed, but not surprised, and he was doing so well the other day too.
A male Twi'lek stands in front of a building, on guard, with suspicion in his brown eyes as she, Din, and the child make their way to where he is. Dessa still remembers the glare from Xi'an and the fangs from her cruel smile. Faint cheers, and applause can be heard from inside, and the image in her mind of Xi'an is gone.
"I'm here to see Gor Koresh," Din says.
The male Twi'lek's brown eyes glance over her and Din with a small frown, and his gaze slowly goes down at Din's feet where the child is.
"Enjoy the fights," the Twi'lek male's voice is deep, and the door opens with a hiss behind him.
As they walk further in, Dessa checks on the child behind her occasionally to make sure he's still catching up with them okay. The child glances back at her with a tilt of his head, and she smiles before checking on Din as well. Two green creatures wielding battle axes, surrounded by a huge crowd of people, that mostly consisted of men, though she catches sight of a few women cheering them on. Several cries of "get up!" in different languages ring in her ears, but it's enough that the creature gets back up on his feet to continue fighting.
Dessa frowns. Ever since that fight with the stormtroopers back in Nevarro, and them nearly getting killed; fighting of any kind doesn't really appeal to her. Brawls sometimes were fights to the death.
"Stay close," Din's voice is drowned out by the cheering crowd, but she's lucky to be close by him to hear him.
"Got it," Dessa nods, though he can't see her since his attention is also drawn to the fight in front of them. Didn't need to tell her twice.
Dessa and Din walk around and are being shoved by the people complaining that they were in the way. Din stops right in front of the stage, where a short, green creature with gray, thinning hair and one giant brown eye sat, laughing. Though, nothing was joyous about this laugh, in fact, it's a bit sinister in her ears.
"You know this is no place for a child," Gor Koresh says as soon as Dessa and Din take a seat. She assumes that is his name is from what she remembers Din said to the Twi'lek at the entrance.
"Wherever I go, he goes," Din says.
"So I've heard," Gor Koresh chuckles, though his attention isn't fully focused on the conversation, she's noticed.
"I've been quested to bring him to his kind," Din continues, "If I can locate other Mandalorians, they can help guide me. I'm told you know where to find him."
"It's uncouth to talk business immediately," Gor Koresh doesn't give him a straight answer, still amused by the crowd, and the two creatures fighting each other. "Just enjoy the entertainment."
Silence from Din, but she catches him turn to stare at both her and the child, and then up at the stage where the commotion was. If she didn't know any better, he's trying to patronize them, Din especially. Dessa presses her lips together in a thin line as she glances over to the brawl ahead of her. She never understood why fights to the death were considered entertainment, even as a little girl. The child whimpers beside her, and she makes an effort to cover his eyes, but she's certain he's already to see enough to know the fight wasn't going so well. A strange blue force field from the battle axe causes one of the creatures to fall over on his side, and anxious cheers rise around her at the anticipation.
"My Gamorrean's not doing well," Gor Koresh shakes his head in disappointment and raises his voice slightly to be heard above the crowd, "Kill him, finish him!"
The Gamorrean that's still standing raises his axe with all his might. Just as he was about to finish the fallen Gamorrean, the second one rolls over to his other side before he can make the finishing blow, and the axe hits the ground with a scraping noise. The crowd jeers.
"Do you gamble, Mando?" Gor Koresh asks, his raspy voice is surprisingly soft and can still be heard over the commotion.
"Not when it can be avoided," Din says.
Dessa raises her eyebrows at his answer, but says nothing. Later. She'll ask him later, when the three of them are safe from ears and eyes watching them. She'd noticed a few people keeping a close eye on them specifically.
"Well, I'll bet you the information you seek that this Gamorrean's going to die within the next half minute and a half," Gor Koresh chuckles. "And all you have to put up in exchange is your shiny beskar armor."
Dessa tenses. There's no way in the Galaxy he's going to do that. According to him, the armor is too precious. He can't give it up no matter what. Everyone's just dying to see his face underneath all that armor, aren't they? Can't say she blames them, after all.
"I'm prepared to pay for the information," Din counters, "I'm not going to leave my fate up to chance."
"Nor am I," Gor Koresh suddenly pulls out a blaster from underneath his white coat and fires at the creature that's on his knees. The crowd around them scream, and scatter to get out of their as the three men Dessa noticed watching them earlier surround her Din, and the Child with blasters pointed right at them. Kriff! Din's left arm brushes over hers as she had scooted closer to him in a slight panic, and she relaxes slightly, but her eyes dart over the three men. He's got this.
"Thank you for coming to me," Gor Koresh taunts them with a sly grin on his face, "Normally, I have to seek out remnants of you Mandalorians in your hidden hives to harvest your precious shiny shells. Beskar's value continues to rise. I've grown very fond of it. Give it to me now or I will peel it off your corpse."
Gor Koresh chuckles humorlessly.
"Tell me where the other Mandalorians are," Din says calmly, "and I'll walk out of here without killing you."
"I thought you said you weren't a gambler," Gor Koresh mocks.
The child whimpers, and suddenly presses a button to hide inside the cradle as it shuts. Dessa feels a bit better now that the child is safe inside, but still wary of the cold stares in their direction.
"I'm not," Din mocks him back.
There's a whistling noise as missiles burst out of Din's armor. She hasn't seen him use that since that night in Nevarro when they rescued the child. The three men surrounding them fall down dead as Din stands up, and kicks the cradle away from the fight. The Gamorrean on the stage jumps down to where they stand and Din jumps back in time only to have a man wrap his arms around his waist. Dessa jumps to the side in time as the Twi'lek from earier tries to grab her waist, and a fistful of her hair.
Dessa fumbles for one of her knives she'd tucked away in her belt, and throws at the man behind Din, and Din whirls around just as the man falls, unmoving. It's eerily quiet now that the men who tried to kill them are dead, and the crowd gone.
"I had that," Din sighs, but she can hear a playful tone underneath that helmet.
"I know," Dessa says with a shrug and a small smile makes its way across her lips despite her exhaustion. She nods to where she saw the green creature run off, "He's trying to get away."
"I know," he says. He's always so nonchalant whenever someone break off the deal they made. "Were you worried?"
"Not at all," she lies.
"Why don't I believe you?" He asks.
"Mandalorians like odd numbered fights," Dessa mocks his voice, and posture, and when Din tilts his head slightly, she pounds a fist to her chest, "This is the Way."
"Don't patronize me," Din scoffs.
"Not at all," she repeats herself, smiling, "you know, your Mandalorian friend back in Nevarro said I would get used to the saying, but it still feels weird."
"It's only because you're an outsider, you're not allowed to say it," Din says with amusement. "If you were part of the clan, it will flow better."
"Okay, now you're just teasing me," she huffs.
"Not at all," he says with a shrug. He's still staring at her, and at her questioning look, he adds, "Your hair looks good like that."
Her eyebrows raise in surprise, and a hand goes up to her curls that had fallen out of her ponytail in the fight. She hates having her hair down, because it gets in her way, especially when she was still living in Arvala - 7 where it was windy almost every day. He says nothing else.
Din walks back towards the entrance where she saw the green creature leave in a panic.
"Why do they always run?" Dessa sighs, placing her hands on her hips as she makes her way towards Din, and blows on some curls that had fallen against her face during the fight. She'd have to find another hair tie soon. She's sure she still has a few in her bag back in the Razor crest.
"Cause the odds aren't going to be in their favor," Din replies with a shrug of his shoulders, "especially when it involves a Mandalorian, and they know they're about to be killed."
"I'm honestly surprised that you gave him a head start," she says as they walk out of the building together with the child in tow.
"Can't I have a little fun now and then?" Din asks. She says nothing, but she gives him a stern look that he ignores.
Gor Koresh is a little ahead of them. Din doesn't even have to run. He thrusts his arm forward, and a wire wraps around Gor Koresh's feet, and onto the lamp post. Gor Koresh lets out a startled yell as he's lifted into the air, upside down. His arms are flailing about wildly as he desperately looks for something to grab onto, but he can't.
"Alright, stop, stop!" Gor Koresh gasps, panicked. She and Din stand in front of him, watching him quietly as he bounces around. "I'll tell you where he is, but you must promise that you won't kill me."
Dessa shares a quiet look with Din, and shakes her head. Really? After trying so hard to get away, causing a commotion with a fight, and trying to kill them both? Even she can't help but be amused more than annoyed.
"I promise that you will not die by my hand," Din says, "Now where is the Mandalorian that you know of?"
"Tatooine," Gor Koresh wails, flailing his arms about wildly.
Dessa's ears perk up at this. Tatooine? It's been awhile since they've been on that godforsaken desert. There weren't any Mandalorians there just a slimeball who wanted to be a bounty hunter.
"What?" Din asks with confusion.
"The Mando I know of is on Tatooine," Gor Koresh explains.
"I've spent much time on Tatooine, I never saw a Mandalorian there," Din says with a shake of his head.
"My information is good, I tell you," Gor Koresh says, "The city of Mos Pelgo. I swear it by the Gotra."
"Tatooine it is, then," Din says, and nods over at Dessa as he begins to walk away. She nods back and begins to follow him back to the direction to where they'd left the Razor Crest.
"Wait, Mando!" Gor Koresh pleads, panicked, "You can't leave me like this, cut me down!"
"That wasn't part of the deal," Din mocks, takes out a blaster from his belt, and fires at the lamp post. Sparks of light flicker as the lamp goes off, and the red eyes she'd seen earlier emerge from the darkness and surround Gor Koresh who is still pleading for his life. "Don't forget to look away."
"Right," she tenses at his whisper and remembers to keep looking straight ahead, but she can still hear the panicked screams and hungry growls behind her.
"I know you said no deserts, but ..." Din tells her once they're further away, and can see the ship up ahead, tall and metal bright even in the darkness.
"Tatooine?" she asks with a heavy sigh.
"Yup," he answers, short, sweet, and to the point.
Of course.
~*~