ARVALA-7
The blaster was empty. The blaster was fucking empty. After Rhi had pulled the trigger and the chamber made a clicking noise, she realised how light the blaster felt. She sighed and threw the blaster on the sand next to Mando's head and got off him, offering her arm to help him up. He took it, and she pulled him to his feet. She then picked up the blaster and handed it to him.
"I emptied it last night. I don't trust you."
"Well, now you know I'm not gonna use it to kill you," she said as she peered up at the hill, where the kid was currently looking down at them. "It's kinda ugly, y'know? The big eyes. Maker above, that's a bog creature right there."
Mando didn't say anything as he climbed the hill to the small encampment. He helped Rhi climb the hill and then lifted the kid back into the container once she was safe on top.
"My ship is about a hour away from here."
"We could have just gone last night," she said as she fumbled with the cuffs. "Maker, these are tight. Y'like shit like this, Mando? Seeing a girl in tight cuffs?"
"Do you ever shut up?"
She just shrugged, not saying anything. If she had been able to look under his helmet, she would have been the smile that was on his face. She was funny, he had to give her that. But alas, she couldn't see his face, and as far as she knew, all he was doing was staring her down. She shifted her weight from foot to foot.
"So, uh... shall we?"
Mando nodded and picked up the lamp by his foot. He then took out the magazine from his bandolier and stuffed it back into his blaster. He slipped his blaster back into his thigh holster and motioned for Rhi to walk ahead of him. He closed the container carrying the kid and walked behind Rhi.
They walked for about 45 minutes, but just as they were about to cross the final ridge to Mando's ship, Rhi stopped him.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"Jawas. That's your ship, right?" She asked as she pointed to the ship in the valley below.
"Yes, that's-fuck-that's my ship."
She laughed. "It's torn to fuckin' pieces, dude!"
She wasn't lying. The ship was completely torn to shreds, Jawas picking apart panels and scrap. He pulled out his rifle and scope, aiming at the Jawas. He disintegrated one, watching as the Jawas started scrambling. He then disintegrated another one. And another one. But before he could aim at another Jawa they all boarded their sandcrawler and began driving away. Mando ran after it, pulling Rhi with him and the kids' container following behind.
"I can run myself, y'know!" Rhi shouted. He dropped her hands and allowed her to run without his assistance. He was fast, but Rhi didn't have any trouble keeping up with him. He dropped to one knee and aimed his Amban at the back of the ship. He fired a single shot at a part, but it didn't do any damage. He stood up and started running again, not even checking to see if Rhi was following him. He caught up with the ship and jumped onto a ladder, pulling himself up. He looked behind, seeing Rhi running alongside the kids' container. The Jawas turned their ship slightly so it would clip a cliffside, in hopes that Mando would get hit by the rocks. Luckily, Mando pulled himself onto a deep ledge and just barely missed getting hit. Rhi had to stop right before the cliff so she didn't get run over, but once the sandcrawler was clear, she continued running. After the Jawas saw that he didn't get hit, they started throwing down spare parts and scrap metal. He climbed up the side of the crawler and almost got into the ship, but a Jawa closed the window on his fingers. He shot his whipcord at a repeating blaster that was mounted on top of the crawler and tried pulling himself up. One Jawa electrocuted him as other Jawas threw rocks that hit him in the helmet. He continued pulling himself up, throwing one Jawa out of the ship as he did. It hit the ground right in front of Rhi, and she cursed as she jumped over the small corpse. The Jawas knocked the blaster off of the top of the crawler but Mando caught the side of it and pulled himself to the top of the crawler. Rhi couldn't see everything, but suddenly Mando was falling off of the top of the ship. He hit the ground, hard. When Rhi caught up with him, she dropped to her knees beside him.
"Hey, Mando?"
No response.
"Mando, y'can't die like this. You're my only chance at getting back into town."
No response. She shook his shoulder, which wasn't exactly easy with her hands cuffed together.
"Mando!"
She stood up, looking around at the desert. She watched as the sandcrawler drove away in the direction of town. Rhi knew it would be about two hours of travel for them, but how long would it take for her? And besides, she didn't want to leave Mando. If Jawas ran around in these parts, what about Tuskan Raiders? They would kill him, and the kid. She kicked Mando's side lightly, trying to get a response. She huffed when she realised Mando would be out for a while.
"Stars, Mando. This isn't really a good time to get knocked out."
He gasped and shot up. Rhi jumped back, palms flat and facing him.
"You're still here," he said.
"Yeah, well," she brought her hands up to scratch her head. "Where else would I go?"
Mando looked to the horizon and noticed that the sandcrawler was gone. He wheezed as he stood up.
"Are you sure you should be walking right now?"
"'M fine."
"'Course you are."
They walked back to the ship. Mando kicked at the scrap that was laying in the sand. He boarded his ship and checked the armory. It was empty. He slammed the doors shut and climbed the ladder up to the cockpit. Rhi stood in the hull, looking around at the stripped ship. She heard the engines trying to fire up, but it just sputtered and failed. He jumped back down to the hull and sat down on his bunk.
"I'm fucked," he told her, sighing heavily. The child cooed at him. Mando moved to pick him up and walked out of the ship.
"Do you know anyone on this Maker-forsaken planet? Or we could always go back to my ship. Like I said, it's in town."
He shook his head, "I don't want your ship. I want mine."
"Alright, so do you know anyone?"
"Yes, I do. But his moisture farm is about a half-day's walk from here."
"We've walked more than that, I'm sure it's fine. Which way?"
Mando pointed in the direction of the farm, "That way."
Rhi started walking before she realised Mando wasn't following her, "Y'coming?"
"Ye-yeah. I just-just... nevermind."
She continued walking, Mando and the child following close behind. They walked over mountains and hills, underneath canyons and valleys. Arvala-7 was full of rocky terrain, and it didn't help that Mando had just taken a huge fall. He was slow, and Rhi had to stop every few minutes to let him catch up. The sun had almost fully set by the time Rhi saw the moisture farm. They approached the Ugnaught that was fixing his comm tower.
"I thought you were dead," he shouted down, not turning his back. He turned around and saw Rhi and the kid. Rhi gave a small wave as the Ugnaught climbed down the ladder to the ground. He walked over to the well where the kid was trying to catch a frog. He filled a bucket with water and then stepped closer to the child. "This is what was causing all the fuss?"
"I think it is a child."
"I can understand why there was fuss surrounding her, though. She seems like she was created by the Kaminoans themselves!"
Rhi just laughed, "Thanks. My name's Rhi, what's yours?"
"Kuiil. Shame a pretty girl like you has to be a quarry for a guy like him," Kuiil said as he stuck his thumb in the direction of Mando.
"My ship has been destroyed. I'm trapped here," Mando cut in, speaking faster than normal. He was attempting to fix his vambrace, which short-circuited when the Jawas electrocuted him.
Kuiil walked over to his workstation, "Stripped. Not destroyed. The Jawas steal. They don't destroy."
Kuiil handed Mando a tool to fix his vambrace.
"Stolen or destroyed - makes no difference to me," Mando said as he watched the kid chase another frog. He then continued fiddling with his vambrace, growing frustrated when it wouldn't work.
"Need help?" Rhi asked as she stepped closer to him.
He turned away, "No."
"I know mechanics, I can help."
"No," he repeated.
"You can trade," Kuiil said.
"With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?"
"I will take you to them. I have spoken."
The kid makes a few weird noises and the three of them turn to see him devour a frog whole.
"Hey!" Mando shouted. "Spit that out."
The kid finished off the frog and looked at Mando with his big, beady eyes.
"Holy shit that was gross," Rhi grimaced.
"I will get my Blurrg and the sled. You can sit in the sled."
Kuiil walked off to the Blurrg pen and put a harness on it and tied it to the post. He then got a sled out from his shed and hooked it to the Blurrg.
"Y'think this is gonna work?" Rhi asked Mando.
"It better."
"Hurry! It will rain tonight. We want to get ahead of the rain before the terrain gets too slippery," Kuiil shouted from atop the Blurrg. Rhi, Mando, and the kid sat on the sled, Mando holding his Amban and the kid in between Rhi's legs. Mando tried to get the kid to sit in Rhi's lap, but she shook her head and set it down between her feet.
"I'm not good with kids," she mumbled when Mando gave her a pointed look. Kuiil urged the Blurrg forwards and the group travelled towards the sandcrawler. Kuiil was right, it did start to rain in the night, and for Rhi it was a nice change from the blistering desert heat.
When they finally reached the sandcrawler, the sun had risen and the rain was gone. The Jawas were holding some sort of market, spare parts spread out underneath tents. Kuiil waved at them and said a greeting in Jawa. Mando curled his finger around the trigger of his Amban as the group got closer to the creatures. The Jawas readied their own blasters, training them at Mando.
"Shit, Mando. They really don't like you," Rhi joked.
"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them."
"You need to drop your rifle," Kuiil said.
"I'm a Mandalorian," Mando tried explaining. "Weapons are part of my religion."
Kuiil stopped the Blurrg and turned partially around to face them, "Then you're not getting your parts back."
Mando sighed, "Fine," and put the rifle down. Kuiil dismounted the Blurrg and Mando and Rhi got off the sled.
"And the blaster," Kuiil added. Mando reluctantly put his blaster away and they all sat down on the sand. "They will trade all the parts for the Beskar."
"I'm not gonna trade anything. These are my parts. They stole them from me!" Mando shouted. "They, they belong... to me!"
The Jawa laugh. "You speak terrible Jawa! You sound like a Wookiee!"
"You understand this?" Mando asked as he blasted a stream of fire from his vambrace flamethrower in the direction of the Jawa.
"No! Woah, easy, easy," Kuiil attempted to calm everyone down. "He is a Mandalorian. He cannot give you his Beskar armor. What else may he trade?"
A Jawa pointed at the sled and when they turned around to it, they saw two Jawas inspecting the kid.
"Get away from it!" Mando shouted. The Jawas scattered.
"Stop shouting, maybe they'll actually listen to us," Rhi grumbled.
"There must be something else," Kuiil said. The Jawa turned to themselves and discussed something. They then turned back to the group.
"We will require the Egg. Bring us the Egg!"
Kuiil groaned and facepalmed.
"The egg? What egg?" Mando asked.
"The Egg! The Egg! The Egg! The Egg!" The Jawa chanted. They ushered the group, including the kid, onto the sandcrawler and took them to the Egg. They chanted the whole way there. Mando and Rhi were in the cockpit, crouching their heads. The sandcrawler hit a big rock and Mando hit his head on the short ceiling. The Jawas and Rhi all laughed as Mando shook his head. They lowered the ramp, and Mando, Rhi, and the kid all walked out. Kuiil stayed aboard the ship and watched them leave. They approached a cave in the middle of a clearing. Rhi and the kid stood outside the cave while Mando disappeared into it. It was silent for a moment, before Rhi heard blaster shots. She gasped and almost followed Mando into the cave before realising it was a bad idea. What help could she give? Mando suddenly came flying out of the cave, landing on his back in a pile of mud. A Mudhorn stepped out from its cave and Mando got up to his knees, grabbing his Amban and aiming it at the Mudhorn. When he tried firing it, he found that it was jammed with mud, rendering it useless for the time being. The Mudhorn charged Mando, throwing him in the air and sending him flying meters away. It then turned to Rhi and the kid, starting to charge it. Rhi pushed the kid's container away and tried to run herself but slipped in the mud and fell. After seeing that Rhi had fallen, the Mudhorn turned back to Mando and charged at him. Mando tried using his flamethrower on it, but it didn't seem to be bothered by it. It crushed Mando with its horn. Mando tried the flamethrower again, throwing the Mudhorn off its balance. He launched his whipcord at it, attaching it in the middle of its forehead. However, that proved to be a bad idea as the Mudhorn ran, pulling Mando with it and dragging him in the mud. The whipcord broke, and the Mudhorn doubled back and threw Mando in the air again. Only this time, Mando didn't stand back up. He laid there in the mud.
"Mando!" Rhi called out. Mando got to his knees, looking over to Rhi and the kid to make sure they were ok. The Mudhorn charged again, but Mando was so spent all he could do was pull his vibroblade out from his boot and hold it out in front of him. Rhi ran to Mando, pushing him out of the Mudhorn's path and putting her right in it. But before it could throw her, it stopped right in front of her. It was like there was something holding it back. It hovered above the mud. Mando and Rhi looked over to the kid and saw him with a hand out, eyes closed in concentration. They then looked back at the Mudhorn. Mando was still laying on the ground, so Rhi took his vibroblade and stabbed the Mudhorn in the eye and then in the neck as soon as the kid had dropped it. The Mudhorn died, and Rhi helped Mando up to his feet, placing his vibroblade back in his boot. The kid was passed out in the container.
"I'll go get the egg, you check the kid," Rhi told him. Mando nodded and limped over to the kid. Rhi walked into the cave and looked around, eventually finding a hairy egg laying in the mud. She picked it up and brought it out. The two walked back to the sandcrawler, not saying a word. They finally reached it and were welcomed back by the excited Jawas and Kuiil. Rhi handed the egg to the Jawas and stepped over to where Mando and Kuiil were standing.
"I'm surprised you waited," Mando said, his voice a bit strained.
"I'm surprised it took you so long," Kuiil retorted, taking in both Rhi and Mando's mud-stained clothes. "And I'm surprised you could carry that thing with your hands cuffed."
Rhi shrugged, "Lighter than you think."
The Jawas happily gave Mando back all of his parts and helped them load it onto the sled. Kuiil mounted the Blurrg and Mando, Rhi, and the child got onto the sled. They waved goodbye to the Jawas and began their journey back to Kuiil's farm.
They rode mostly in silence, before Mando turned to Rhi, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"You risked your life back there. With the Mudhorn. I'm basically sending you to your grave and you're risking your life for me. You didn't have to push me out of the way."
"In all honesty, I just wanted to handle the vibroblade," she joked, but Mando didn't laugh. "But yeah, you're welcome."
"Why did you do it?"
"Why? I really don't know. It was a spur of the moment thing. One second I'm standing next to the kid, next I'm staring down a Mudhorn. I wasn't thinking. Seems like I do a lot of that, nowadays. Not thinking, I mean, not staring down a Mudhorn," she rambled.
"Thank you, again," he said after a moment of silence.
"Yeah, you don't have to keep mentioning it."
With that, Rhi turned away from Mando and looked out into the horizon. She took in the red-sand mountains against the bright orange sky. If it was the last place she would ever see, she was glad it looked like this.
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