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Mando forced himself to focus on the job at hand. He couldn't go after Fennec if he was distracted and Yara was becoming increasingly more distracting. The feel of her pulled tight against his back had his jaw tightening. On Sorgan he had been able to convince himself to keep his distance because she wasn't coming with him. That wasn't the case now that she was a member of his crew. It was harder to convince himself that keeping their distance really was the best plan. Mando was not a man who was easily distracted, but Yara seemed to be doing an excellent job of it with nothing more than resting her hands against his stomach.
Mando held up his hand and slowed his speeder. Toro obeyed and turned to him as Mando and Yara climbed off the bike. Yara glanced towards Mando's helmet but when he didn't seem tense or upset she began to survey their surroundings. Mando let himself watch her for a second. When she couldn't see or hear anything she closed her eyes and a small frown formed between her eyes.
"What's going on?" Toro called in confusion. His obnoxious voice grated on Mando's patience.
"Look," Mando said pointing off to the horizon. "Up ahead."
Toro climbed off his bike and pulled his binocs out. "Tusken Raiders," he called back. "I heard the locals talking about this filth."
Mando gently touched Yara's arm to get her attention. She jumped and her eyes flashed open. She looked up into his helmet and shook her head. She hadn't been able to use her gift. He nodded and then motioned for her to step away from him and hold their hands calmly at their sides. Two tusken's came around the edge of a dune approaching them.
Mando motioned once more for Yara to stay calm and be calm with her body language. She cocked her head to the side as she stared at the two approaching them but she didn't appear panicked. She was tougher than he gave her credit for.
"Tuskens think they are the locals, everyone else is just trespassing," Mando said.
Toro hadn't noticed the approaching Raiders. Had they not brought him with them the kid would have been dead several times over all ready. "Well whatever they call themselves, they best keep their distance," Toro growled importantly.
"Yeah?" Mando taunted. "Why don't you tell them yourself?" Mando suggested calmly.
Toro turned and flinched when he finally saw the two Tuskens who had approached. He reached for his gun but Mando stepped forward between them. The last thing they needed was this hotshot shooting one of them and then the whole tribe would hunt them down. He held out a hand to Toro. "Relax," he ordered dismissively.
Mando began signing with the two raiders. Toro took Yara's arm a little roughly and pulled her back behind him as though he were protecting her. Yara shot a glare at him and shook off his grip.
The Tuskens continued to sign with Mando. Yara watched them in fascination. She had never met someone who had ever even tried to communicate with Tuskens, let alone went to the trouble to learn their language. Mando signed fluidly and without pause which made her think he was extremely fluent in their language.
"What's going on?" Toro asked suspiciously. He didn't like that Mando was the only one who seemed to know what was happening.
"We need passage across their land," Mando said as he continued to gesture.
After a moment he turned to Toro. "Let me see the binocs," he said holding out his hand.
"Why?" Toro asked defensively.
Mando didn't bother responding, he just continued to hold out his hand and stare down the younger man. Mando was naturally an intimidating person. It wasn't just his size or all the armor. He put off the air of powerful alpha male without even trying. Toro had submitted to it several times, mostly without even realizing he was doing it, but now it rankled him. Toro set his jaw and tightened his grip on the binocs, unwilling to give them up until Mando explained. Toro knew he could learn a lot for the skilled bounty hunter, but not if he continued to treat him like a sidekick.
Yara blew out a frustrated breath. The testosterone was rising and too many things could go wrong with the Tuskens still standing over them. Toro was so focused on Mando she snatched the binocs out of his hand. She stomped over to Mando and slapped them against his armored chest, shooting a disgusted glare at Toro. They didn't have time for this.
Mando nodded his thanks and tossed the binocs to the Tuskens. The Tuskens examined them, nodded their thanks to Mando and disappeared behind the dunes as silently as they had appeared.
"Hey! What-?" Toro stammered. "Those were brand new."
Mando turned and stalked back to his speeder bike. "Yeah, they were," he said and he slung his leg over the bike.
He reached down and took a hold of Yara's forearm and pulled her up onto the bike behind him. Yara wrapped her arms around him again. Toro narrowed his eyes at them and Mando tried not to be too pleased about it.
They raced across the Dune sea for what felt like hours. Yara eventually settled into being so close to Mando, letting herself rest lightly against his back. For some reason this felt so much different than the quiet evenings on Sorgan.
It was a tougher journey than she expected. The blazing suns overhead beat down on them and she could feel a line of sweat running down her spine beneath her leather jacket. She couldn't imagine how warm Mando must have been in all of his armor.
Hours later Mando held up him hand and jumped off the speeder bike. "Get down!" he called and he dropped onto his stomach at the top of a rise.
Yara dropped beside him. Instead of going over to Mando's other side Toro laid down a little too close beside her. Yara shook her head and turned to where Mando was looking. He reached up and touched the side of his helmet, adjusting his viewer.
In the valley below them Yara could see a Dewback, dragging something.
"All right, tell me what you see," Mando ordered, looking over at Toro.
"Dewback," Toro said. "Looks like the rider's still attached. Is that her? Is that the target?"
"I don't know," Mando said and he pulled his blaster. "I'll go check it out. You guys cover me. Stay down," he warned over his shoulder as he climbed over the top of the dune.
Toro nodded and pulled his own blaster. He glanced in surprise when Yara had one in her hand. "You know how to use that beautiful?" he asked.
Yara glanced sideways at him. "I'm not bad," she promised him. She didn't like the feeling she got being close to Toro and she wanted to finish this up as quickly as possible. She pushed a strand of hair back from her face and scowled.
She turned her attention to Mando. She didn't like how his armor made him an easy target against the bright sand. The stories she had heard about Fennec were that she was an amazing sniper. Yara glanced around. There was one ridge line close enough but it would take the very best sniper rifle to make the shot.
"Is that her? Is she dead?" Toro yelled loudly, his entire focus on the Dewback.
Mando rolled the body over. "It's not her," he responded. "It's another bounty hunter."
Yara ignored their bantering and closed her eyes, trying to focus her gift and see if she could feel anything off. It was hard with them talking and distracting her, but she pinched her eyes shut and pushed. She hadn't been able to make her gift work but she was willing to try.
"Hey, I hope you don't plan on keeping all that stuff for yourself," Toro called obnoxiously. "Can I at least have that blaster?"
"MANDO!" Yara shouted suddenly, her eyes snapping open. Mando was still standing over the body studying something, but in the darkness behind her eyes she had seen the blast that would hit him.
Mando's head snapped up towards her. "Get down!" he yelled, and he took off, running back towards them. If Yara's shout was any indication he would be the target, but he didn't want to take a risk with her safety.
Toro grabbed Yara and jerked her down against the sand so she couldn't see. She was terrified she hadn't been fast enough. A shot rang out, metal on metal, and she heard Mando grunt.
"Mando!" she called again.
Seconds later he jumped over the top of the dune and another shot rang out metallically with so much force it threw him to the ground. Yara scrambled towards him, fear making her heart pound loudly in her ears. Her hands touched him and he groaned, rolling over towards her.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, her hands running over his chest, but there was no blood.
Mando turned his helmet towards Yara and he reached up and gently touched her hands, stilling them. "I'm okay," he told her.
Yara nodded, although she ran her eyes over him one last time to reassure herself that he hadn't been hit anywhere but in the armor. The flash behind her eyes had been of him being hit, but she hadn't seen any blood then or now. She blew out a relieved sigh and thanked the maker for the beskar that covered him.
"What happened?" Toro demanded.
Mando turned towards Toro. "Sniper bolt," Mando called and he and Yara crawled on all fours back up the dune.
"Only an MK-modified rifle could make that shot," Yara said, her eyes flickering to the far rock formation she had been eyeing before.
"You all right?" Toro asked, although he didn't sound overly concerned.
"Yeah," Mando assured him. "Hit me in the beskar, and at that range beskar held up."
"Wait," Toro said after a moment. "I don't wear any beskar."
Mando slowly turned his helmet to face Toro. "Nope," he clipped off the word in a way that Yara had to stifle a smile. It was difficult to tell, but she was pretty sure Mando was messing with Toro.
"So what do we do?" Toro asked, his face pulled into a frown.
Mando turned to Yara. "You see where that shot came from?" He asked. He didn't know how to ask if she had seen it with her supposed gift or the normal way.
"The only place it could come from is that ridge," she said pointing towards the rocks. She hadn't exactly seen it, and she wasn't willing to discuss the flashes she had seen in front of Toro.
"Okay," Mando said settling back on the dune. "We're gonna wait until dark."
"Well what if she escapes?" Toro asked quickly.
Mando grunted in annoyance at the kid questioning him again. "She's got the high ground. She'll wait for us to make the first move. We'll rest. You take the first watch," he said and he crawled down the dune, leaving Toro behind. "Stay low," Mando warned glancing over his shoulder.
Yara was already behind him, happy for any excuse to put distance between her and Toro. She didn't want to spend any more time near him than she had to.
Mando dug through his pack and pulled out a nutrition pack and a bottle of water. He held them out to Yara who looked surprised. He just waited her out silently. She was going to argue with him about it, she always did, but she was still too skinny, and burning more calories than she could consume out here in the heat.
"What about you?" She asked, setting her chin defiantly.
"I'll be fine," he promised her and he pointedly turned his helmet to Toro.
Yara nodded, but she wasn't surprised. There was not a lot of privacy out here and she didn't think Mando was likely to walk off to get something to eat and leave her alone with the other bounty hunter. He had always seemed fairly protective, but there was something else going on with him today that put him a little more on edge. Something other than just going after Fennec. She couldn't say she disagreed. There was something about this job that had her on edge, a vague feeling she couldn't quite explain.
Mando sat down and leaned his back against their speeder bike and Yara dropped down to sit next to him. She pulled her legs up, sat cross legged, and put her food in the nest between her legs. She made a noise of contentment as she took the first bite.
Mando tipped his head back, resting his helmet against the bike and just let himself watch as Yara slowly picked through the nutrition pack. Eating her favorites first. Once it was gone she drank her water, and by that time Mando had drifted off.
Yara settled in and leaned back against the speeder bike beside Mando. A few moments later his head tipped and his helmet rested against her shoulder. She felt him relax and appreciated it for the show of trust it was. Mando didn't trust easily but he trusted her well enough to be vulnerable with her. It was the greatest sign of trust a man like him would ever give.
"He's kind of needy isn't he," Toro called a little sourly as he glared at where Mando was leaning into Yara's side.
Yara just lifted her chin, but didn't bother responding. Toro had made it clear he was interested in her and she wasn't sure how she could make it more obvious that she wanted nothing to do with him.
Mando shifted in his sleep and one of his hands rested on her thighs. Yara reached down and covered his hand with hers. She told herself it was because she wanted to convince Toro that she wasn't available, but honestly she just liked it. Mando's presence was comforting even in sleep. Knowing all it would take was a twitch on her part and he would be awake and ready to fight. She closed her hand around his and he laced his fingers with hers as he dozed. Yara let the very tips of her fingers glide back and forth across the warm skin of his wrist.
Mando drifted in and out of sleep. He was tired, but he enjoyed resting against Yara, and when she took his hand he couldn't help but close his fingers around hers. When her fingers started gliding across the skin of his wrist he felt like lightning was running through him. Her fingers moved back and forth reassuingly and he let himself settle into the gentle comfort. He was exhausted, and he knew Yara would watch their backs. Every time he drifted in and out he was so aware of every breath she took, he knew he would know as soon as she knew something was wrong. But her body stayed soft and relaxed beside him and he let himself trust it for this one moment.
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