I am so happy about all the interest this story has received so far! Thank you all so much!
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
"Hey."
A gloved hand on my shoulder jolted me awake.
Looking up at the Mandalorian from my cozy bundle, I had to squint from the bright reflection his helmet gave off.
The child was already awake staring up at me from my side. I quickly sat up taking in my surroundings. At least the rain had stopped. The Mandalorian was still sitting on top of his metal chest, weapon in hand.
"Was I asleep for long?" I asked.
"Not too long," he said. "We are just arriving. Stay alert."
Nodding, I held my arms out to the child. "Come here, you." I folded it up within my arms gently, kissing the top of its head.
I recognized the Ugnaught's voice conversing in a different language and peeked around the Mandalorian. Catching sight of what we were approaching, I saw we had already arrived at the Jawas' fortress. They appeared on edge as they ran for their weapons, shouting and aiming at us.
"They really don't like you for some reason." The Ugnaught observed.
"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them," the Mandalorian answered.
I tried to swallow a giggle, but I think Mando caught me before I had succesfully gulped it down. His head turned sligtly in my direction.
Rubbing the back of the little one, I titled my neck up as we drew nearer. Jawas were hanging out of tall, square-like windows with blasters pointed directly at us from every angle. I consciously pulled the kid closer to my body, shielding it within Mando's cloak.
"Are you sure about this, Mando?" I questioned.
I watched as he scanned the scene, posture tense.
As we came to a stop, I saw many of the faceless creatures still scuttering around in a frenzy. Little stands had been set up around the fortress and I smirked inwardly, hoping we had just interrupted a sale of their stolen goods.
From atop the creature that had been pulling us, the pink man spoke again. "You need to drop your rifle."
Mando scoffed. "I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion," he said vehemently.
I felt my eyebrows raise a little at his words. I had become painfully aware of how very little I knew of Mandalorian culture, other than their enviable fighting skills.
"Then you are not getting your parts back."
I hummed beneath my breath, wanting to roll my eyes at the two of them. They were both proving to be incredibly stubborn.
Standing from my position behind Mando, I went to his side. The little one's big eyes looked at him questionly from within my arms.
"It's only for a moment, Mandalorian," I comforted.
He sighed heavily. "Fine."
Placing his weapon down alongside his crate, the Mandalorian stood up while the Ugnaught slid down his fish resembling alien.
Mando moved to jump off the carrier and I planned to do the same. However, as I approached the ledge, I was shocked to see a gloved hand already being held out to me. Securing the child in one of my arms and raising an eyebrow, I lightly grasped Mando's hand as he helped me step down.
"Thank you," I murmured.
Nodding once, he released my hand before turning to the pink host. A Jawa aiming a weapon at Mando spoke quickly, motioning towards us. I stood a little behind the rest of them, given the precious cargo in my hands. The Ugnaught looked Mando up and down with a grim expression, his eyes trained on the Mandalorian's belt.
"And the blaster," he said, pointing to the gun.
Mando's helmet jerked to the Ugnaught sharply. The pink man gave him a sweltering look before walking to meet more of the Jawas.
Mando tossed his blaster back on the carrier, seemingly annoyed. He turned to me.
"Stay here with the kid," he said before walking off to meet his companion. I leaned back on the ledge of the carrier, watching from a distance as both sat on the ground across a group of Jawas. Their glowing red eyes were haunting on their hidden faces.
I took in the sandy hills surrounding us and saw the floating orb hovering just behind the carrier. It must have followed us throughout the night.
Voices brought my attention back to the others and I had to strain to make out the exchange of words between the two groups.
"They will trade all the parts for the beskar."
"I'm not gonna trade anything," Mando retorted hotly. "These are my parts. They stole them from me."
I briefly wondered what was so special about his beskar.
One of the Jawas spoke something else and Mando surprised me by saying something back in their language. It was stuttered and didn't sound too pretty, which explained why the Jawas burst into fits of laughter the moment he finished. Their leader spoke back to Mando and I wished I could understand.
"Maybe someday, huh, little star?" I whispered to the little one. Its wide eyes blinked at me.
"You understand this?!"
I barely had time to process the Mandalorian's angry voice before a torrent of flames erupted out of his arm at the Jawas. Maybe I wasn't the only one not understanding after all.
"No!" The Ugnaught obviously did not appreciate the Mandalorian's approach. I did, though.
I watched apprehensively as the Ugnaught scolded Mando over the screaming Jawas.
Noticing movement in my peripheral vision, I saw two lone Jawas had been approaching the little one and I. Tensing, I tucked the kid deeper within Mando's cape and grabbed the blaster he had tossed on the carrier earlier. The Jawa's saw what I had reached for and stopped in front of the metal boat, chittering excitedly between each other.
"Mando?" I called, looking in the direction of the two males.
The leading Jawa in front of Mando pointed in my direction.
Both Mando and the Ugnaught turned to look back at me and the kid.
"Get away from them!" Mando's voice was strong and heated. If he had his blaster, I had a feeling most of these nuisances would already be dead. He started to rise, but the Ugnaught shook his head at him, tugging on his cape.
Speaking in the Jawa language, the pink man continued to converse with the Jawas while Mando kept his head turned in our direction.
I gave him a brief smile, trying to appear unbothered, before sitting down on the same metal box he had been sitting on all night. I relaxed as the two lone Jawas scuttered away.
Placing the little one down momentarily, I opened Mando's metal chest and placed his folded cloak back inside. Closing it, I picked the child up once more.
"We can't be taking advantage of his only spare, now can we?" I cooed.
Abruptly, the Jawas began chanting a strange word over and over. Confused, I held the blaster in my hand a little tighter, unsure of what was happening.
The Mandalorian and our host seemed to be in a conflicted conversation as the Jawas continued to chant. I watched as his glove hands clenched at his sides and the Ugnaught's waved in the air. Eventually, among the loud chanting, the two returned to me and the kid unharmed.
Mando stopped in front of me, his visor eyeing my hand.
Looking down, I realized I was still holding his blaster. My other arm had been screaming from supporting the weight of the child on its own for so long, but I hadn't noticed.
Sheepishly, I held it out. "Sorry."
He looked back to my face. "Keep it."
My face must have been a sight as I felt my mouth fall open and my eyes grow, but he didn't acknowledge it.
I looked at the Ugnaught and he smiled grimly at me. I couldn't help but give him a smile in return, despite his being so unsuccessful.
Setting the child down near the Mandalorian, I began my first conversation with the pink man.
"What happened? Why are they chanting?"
I heard Mando scoff behind me, clearly irritated. Had he been denied his parts?
The Ugnaught answered. "We must retrieve something for them," he explained. "The Mandalorian must do this if he wants his parts returned."
I looked to Mando. He was leaning back against the carrier, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Uh…" I began. "What do they want?"
"They want the 'Egg.' That's what they keep going on about." Mando's voice indicated he was not amused.
I glanced down at the little one, its head titled as it looked at us. Still confused by Mando's words, I lifted my head to stare into his visor from where I was standing.
"This sounds too suspicious," I concluded. "What even is this 'egg'?"
He sighed, shifting his weight away from the carrier. "I suppose I have no choice but to find out."
He bent down, reaching to grab his weapon and once again slinging it over his back. He then looked down at the kid with a tilt of his head and I soon found myself doing the same.
As we observed, the Ugnaught filled us in on what was to come. We were to accompany the Jawas as they took us to the location of this 'egg.' Mando would then be sent to retrieve it and in exchange, we would get his parts back.
It seemed all too easy to be true.
We boarded the fortress and the Mandalorian was quick to leave the Ugnaught and I with the child. I observed his retreating back as he vanished into the dark depths of the Jawas' lair. Distant chants could still be heard echoing of the metal interior.
I turned to the Ugnaught who seemed to be paying me no mind as the fortress began moving.
"Thank you for helping him," I said.
He turned to me then, confusion plastered across his pink face. One of his strikingly white eyebrows lifted.
I proceeded to explain myself. "He helped in saving me and the child." I smiled down at the kid who I had placed back inside the loyal orb. It cooed up at us both, its fist halfway within its mouth. "He doesn't deserve what the Jawas did, regardless of his intentions."
My words surprised even me, considering I had been on the fence about him all night. But now as I thought about him and all the times he could have let us die, my epiphany was that he had more than proven himself. I was a fool to think he hadn't already.
The Ugnaught pondered my words for a moment, nodding.
"I am happy to help the Mandalorian." He glanced my way. "And you."
I let a small smile loose. "My name is Kala."
Turning to look at me head on, he gave a slight tilt of his head. "I am Kuiil."
My heart filled with contentment at finally learning his name. "Thank you, Kuiil."
It takes a while, but we eventually reach our destination. The fortress rudely stops and I almost fly into Kuiil. As the large ramp we are standing near opens, I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
An appearance to my right has me jumping slightly as Mando arrives unannounced.
Tilting his head at me, he speaks. "I'm leaving for the egg." As he goes to exit down the ramp, I hurriedly scramble behind him when I notice the kid in the floating orb is following him.
"Wait, Mando!"
He stops, turning to me.
"You… you're seriously bringing the kid?" My voice gives away my disbelief.
He nods once. "I don't trust the Jawas."
This I understand. I wouldn't trust them with a rock, but to take a helpless child? I highly doubted this egg mission was going to be a waltz on the moon. Who knew what was going to happen out there?
"It can't protect itself out there, Mando," I reasoned. "At least let me go with you if you don't trust leaving it here with me."
He froze for a moment, not saying a word. If he thought I would be okay with him doing this, he thought wrong. I wasn't about to just let him carelessly risk this child's life for a godforsaken egg, of all things.
The Mandalorian looked to Kuiil who just gave him a shrug of his shoulders.
"Fine," Mando exhaled.
I followed him and the child's orb down the remainder of the ramp. The Mandalorian's walk was swift and I found myself almost jogging to keep up.
We approached a dark opening from within the rocks and I stopped first.
"Mandalorian."
He looked to me, his shoulders once again broadcasting how on edge he was. He began checking all his armor and weaponry to prepare himself.
I glimpsed at the little one and saw its ears moving up and down in what appeared to be uneasiness from inside its orb.
Mando stood facing my direction once he was done. "You still have that blaster?"
I nodded, feeling it resting in the belt loop I had attached it to earlier.
"Watch the kid. If I'm not back before sundown, leave with it and the Ugnaught."
I swallowed nervously. "Okay, but I give it three minutes, tops," I joked, though my voice wavered in the air.
He hesitated a moment before giving me a single nod and disappearing into the dark.