The Little One walked with her head down, and her arms handcuffed right in front of her. She had tried to run away at least three times now, but the Mandalorian was always successful in catching her. He never did hurt her though, not on purpose. She might have skidded her knees when he pulled her off the ground, but she didn't even dare let out a cry in pain anytime they stung.
It was after the second escape attempt that he finally handcuffed her, believing she couldn't run away from him. How wrong he was when she took off in another mad sprint a few minutes later. She never did make a noise whenever he caught her; she stayed silent ever since he had found her hours ago back in the abandoned storage room.
The three, including the Child, were walking through a steep canyon when the Mandalorian had stopped them ever so suddenly. All was quiet, causing the Little One to look around suspiciously. Was he going to kill her? No, she remembered the bounty hunters who would come to Naboo every so often when she was smaller; usually, people payed less for dead bounties.
That was the moment when three Trandoshans leapt from the rocks, and in the path of the Mandalorian. The Little One let out a gasp as he battled every single one of them, sometimes using their own scepters against them. When she saw one of the creatures getting closer to the Child's bassinet, the Little One pushed it out of the way. That caused her to obtain a punch to her cheek, and making her collapse onto the rocky ground with a groan.
Once the Mandalorian heard her cry, he soon used his rifle to hit the attackers out of the way. As soon as he defeated the other two, he aimed his rifle directly at the Tandoshan rushing over to the Child and Little One, and fired.
The monster disintegrated right in front of the Child's eyes as it was just a hair away from him. The Mandalorian soon looked over, and saw the girl laying down on the floor in a ball. Sighing, he walked over to her, and kneeled down to her height.
He reached out to her, but she soon started fighting him, letting out panicked winces as she was kicking and hitting him.
"Wait, hey, hey!" He spoke sternly, grabbing her arms. "It's me. You're fine, alright?"
Thankfully, she calmed down just a tad, and nodded. Sighing to himself, the Mandalorian got up from the ground, and pulled her up without warning. The girl had a scrape on her cheek, but other than that, she looked alright.
The beeping of a tracking fob was what caused the Mandalorian to turn at the sound. He sighed heavily, and urged the other two on.
After another half hour of walking, the Mandalorian decided to stop and set up camp. As the Child and Little One sat by each other, both looking around the area for anything interesting to gaze at for a few hours, the Mandalorian placed a sort of laser to his upper arm; seemingly stitching up a gash.
That seemed to be the thing the children looked to for a sort of entertainment. Even if the light was bright for the Little One's eyes, she couldn't tear her gaze away from it. She only did once she noticed the Child slowly making his way to the Mandalorian, reaching his little arm out to him.
Huffing, the Mandalorian picked up the Child, put him back into the bassinet, and walked back to the spot he was sitting at. Now, the Little One knew that she should have picked up the Child as soon as he left the bassinet again, but she simply sat there in silence as she watched him go back to the Mandalorian; plus, her hands were cuffed together.
Once again, he sighed heavily, picking up the Child, and closing the bassinet once he was safely in there. The Mandalorian then looked to the Little One with a scarf covering her hair. She looked back at him with just pure wonder in her eyes.
Shaking his head, he walked back to the area he had been, and sat back down, picking up the laser again.
"Get some rest." He grumbled. "We'll have a longer way to walk tomorrow."
The girl didn't say anything once more, just continued to stare at him. She had an odd pair of eyes; there wasn't anything off about them on the outside, but, with how she continuously stared at him, almost as if she was looking right through him, didn't put the Mandalorian at ease.
So, he simply turned away from the girl's eyes, and did not look at her for the rest of the night.
She opened her eyes at the sound of her mother whimpering. Not this, not again.
In the same, dingy room, her mother was sitting in the middle of it, under the same hanging light. The Little One didn't even bother to run over to her, knowing exactly how this variation of the dream would end.
"My baby," her mother looked up, smiling. "my baby. Won't you come here?"
She shook her head, feeling her mouth beginning to form into a frown; she'd have to watch it again. Her mother's look of surprise did not help one bit.
"What's wrong? What are you afraid of?"
A sob was released from the Little One's mouth, and she quickly covered it with both hands to silence herself. The mother swallowed.
"Baby," she cooed, reaching her hands out. "could you please come over here? I miss you."
The Little One's eyes soon looked over her mother's shoulder, and saw a tall man looming over her; a single pair of scissors encased in his hands. She looked away, covering her ears, yet still being able to hear her mother's screams as the scissors were stabbed into her skin.
Over
And
Over
Again
Once the screams and wails belonging to her mother slowly died away, she uncovered her ears, and slowly turned around. Unlike the other times she had turned around in her dreams, the body was missing.
This caused the girl to approach the center of the dingy room in complete confusion. She cannot count on her fingers how many times she's had this particular dream, but, the body has never disappeared.
"Girl,"
She let out a little squeal, jumping away from the voice and turning around to see who it was. Once again, like many of the other times, it was a man she could not remember ever interacting with in her life. His face was pale, and his cheeks sunken in.
"What beautiful hair you have," he gave her a crooked smile. "would you mind it giving to me?"
The girl ran a hand over her head; sure enough, her long, red hair was still there. Swallowing, she looked away from the lanky man in front of her.
"No," she said softly, sniffling a little.
She had expected the looming figure to grow furious, and march his way over to her; but, instead, she saw the silhouette shake his head, and sigh.
"What a shame. I'll have to steal it from you then."
The Little One felt her heart drop at how calm his tone was, and began to back away, shaking her head rapidly.
"No, no!" was all she could say as he got closer to her; squeezing the scissors tightly in one hand.
He didn't stop for a moment as he swayed over to her. Then, in a rush, he grabbed her shoulder, roughly forcing her to the ground. The Little One screamed as loud as she could, scratching and kicking him to get off of her. When he took a clump of her hair in between his fingers, she froze.
The Little One laid helplessly on the floor as he cut off her hair; not being able to do anything but cry, and pray it would end soon.
She wasn't crying when the Mandalorian woke her up the next morning, to her surprise. The girl didn't even think about attempting to run away from him again; being too exhausted from the nightmare she had, despite sleeping. Even then, the desert ground wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep.
So, she just walked right beside the armored man and the Child in his levitating bassinet.
After hours of walking in silence, they arrived at what seemed to be a huge ship. The Little One would assume that it belonged to him; on account of the tension she felt from him once the three of them saw a horde of Jawas stripping the ship of its parts.
The Mandalorian dropped down into position, taking out his rifle from behind his back, and aiming at one of the Jawas. Of course, it was difficult to find the right one, since every single one of them was carrying something. When he settled on one, he fired, disintegrating the creature into dust.
The Little One gasped sharply and placed her hands over her mouth as she watched him continue to fire at any Jawa who caught his scope, and turned into dust. This man was nothing but a stone, cold killer in her eyes. What was he going to do with her and the Child?
Before she could even think of an answer, the girl watched the Sandcrawler speed off, and the Mandalorian leaping up from his previous position. He rigorously tapped some buttons on his arm, disarming the Child's basinet, then looked down at the girl.
"You," he hissed. "stay here!"
The armored man than raced down the ledge they were upon, and began to chase after the Sandcrawler after previously trying to shoot at its engine; it revealed to do nothing. Soon, the Mandalorian was climbing the vehicle hastily; he could feel his heart leap into his throat as he felt the machine beginning to close in on a rocky wall. Thinking on his feet, the Mandalorian found a landing awaiting for him to climb to the top.
The Jawas peeked their heads out of windows, and threw almost anything down onto the Mandalorian to try and slow him to a stop. As he was getting closer to the top, he threw down any creature that got in his way. Once he was finally at the top, he thought he could breathe again.
That is, until he was met with a whole clan of Jawas, all holding stun guns.
Of course, each and every one of them fired, paralyzing the Mandalorian in an instant. Unable to move at all, he fell backwards off the Sandcrawler, hitting the ground flat on his back. After the sharp pain hit him, he let unconsciousness take over him.
The Little One dragged the bassinet with her as she slowly made her way to the fallen Mandalorian. Looking around, she knew full well that she could have taken the Child with her and run away from him.
But, of course, he'd come after them, and he may not have been as patient as he was before. Besides, how much could she do with her hands basically tied together, and miles of desert ahead of her?
So, the Little One did the most logical thing she could think of when looking over the unconscious Mandalorian; she found a stick nearby, and lightly poked him with it.
She was shocked to say the least when he groaned after a minute of her constantly poking him. The girl dropped the stick, and backed away as he sat himself up slowly. The armored man looked over at the Little One and the Child in the bassinet.
Pushing himself up from the ground, the Mandalorian said.
"I thought I told you to stay put."
She said nothing, only avoiding his gaze and looking down; of course, now was the moment he would become angry at her. He sighed.
"Come on,"
The Little One looked up in shock as he began to walk in the opposite direction with the bassinet following. Why hadn't he hit her?
After several minutes of walking, the three had made it back to the disarrayed ship. It was stripped of all of its parts, and the Mandalorian sighed heavily as he made his way into the ship, and down into the bottom half.
Angrily, he slammed the doors shut after checking his armory; everything was gone. After climbing up the ladder, the Mandalorian made his way into the cockpit.
Of course, the Little One was completely puzzled as to why he was trying to power the ship up. Even if it still worked, the windows were completely shattered. But, alas, it did not start.
The bounty hunter looked down from one of the broken windows to see the Child and the Little One. He had been knocked out after falling from the Sandcrawler, and she didn't run away; why would she do it then? He watched as the Little One stared solely at the Child, and, for the first time, he saw her smile as she was playing some sort of game with his fingers.
Yet, once the Mandalorian walked out of the Razor Crest, the girl instantly pulled way from the Child, and stood up straighter. The bounty hunter relaxed his posture a little, and said to her.
"We're going to find help to get off of this wasteland, okay?"
She didn't say anything; only kept her head down, and nodded. He sighed, grumbling.
"Just wanted to prepare you."
The journey from the Razor Crest to wherever he was taking the children, was long and insufferable. Still, the Little One did not dare complain about being hot, or thirsty, or the handcuffs basically cutting into her skin.
The two humans didn't say a word to each other. The Little One thought she would have gone insane, but, thankfully, the Child was there with her. Even if they could not stop to play, just seeing him alive and well with her as he excitedly looked around the planet was enough.
Finally, the three of them came upon a homestead of some sort. The Little One was confused as to where they were, but the Mandalorian confidently walked up to the Ugnaught that was fixing a transmitter.
"I thought you were dead," He said when he took one look at the bounty hunter.
The Mandalorian did not respond, but picked the Child up out of his bassinet, and let him roam free just a little; he instantly fixated on a frog like creature. The Little One could only sit on the ground and watch him as he chased around the frog, letting out small giggles from time to time.
"These two were what was causing all the fuss?" The Ugnaught questioned after hopping down from the transmitter.
"They're children," The Mandalorian stated.
The Little One looked up at the mention of her and the Child beside her. She licked her lips, dry from the lack of water. She soon made eye contact with the Ugnaught, and he made his way towards her. The girl recoiled a little when he gently took her wrists, but he looked behind himself to the bounty hunter.
"Goodness sake, take these things off of her." He told him.
The Mandalorian tilted his head. "What?"
"These cuffs," he clarified. "they're too tight around her wrists. I'm astounded that they haven't drawn blood. Or perhaps they have, and you can't see it."
"She tried to run three times," he specified.
"When was the last time?"
The Mandalorian stood there with his arms crossed, his eyes shifting from the Little One and the Ugnaught. While the girl completely avoided eye-contact, the Ugnaught challenged him. Sighing, the bounty hunter squatted down, and disarmed the handcuffs off of her.
Sure enough, once they were off, two lines of red were marked around her wrists, along with some obvious thin cuts. The Ugnaught shook his head, before walking away from the two.
"It is better to deliver them alive."
The Mandalorian stood up, walking to him. "My ship has been destroyed. We're trapped here."
"Stripped," he explained. "not destroyed. The Jawas steal; they don't destroy."
"Stolen or destroyed, it makes no difference to me." The bounty hunter said a bit more hostel.
"Doesn't your ship have a defense mechanism? Surely this wouldn't have happened if you had set it." He stated, handing the Mandalorian a tool to help fix his gauntlet.
"That is not the issue at hand. My concern is getting my parts back."
The Ugnaught suggested. "You can trade."
"With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?"
"I will take you to them. I have spoken."
A gasp belonging to the Little One caused the two to turn at the sound, and witnessed the Child swallowing the frog creature whole.
"Hey!" The Mandalorian interjected. "Spit that out."
Yet, the Child did not listen, burping and giggling after he completely consumed the frog. The Little One covered her mouth to hide the slight smile playing upon her lips.
After a few more minutes, the Ughnaught saddled up his Blurgg and harnessed a small covering wagon behind it. Looking to the Little One, the bounty hunter held out his hand. She looked at it, then back up at his visor.
"Come on," he said a bit more strictly.
The girl simply stared at him, then turned over her shoulder and saw the Child still wandering around on his own. Not listening to the Mandalorian, she stood up on her own, took the Child into her arms, and set him back in his bassinet; rubbing the top of his head before turning back to the Mandalorian.
He hadn't said a word to her, figuring that it would only terrify her more; he was a bounty hunter, yes, and would not hesitate for a second to stun his bounties in anyway possible. Yet, she had done nothing to provoke him. So, he let her be, and crawl onto the wagon all on her own.
It had rained during the night the three of them traversed to where the Ughnaught was leading them to the Jawas. The Little One had hidden under a spare blanket the entire time, not wanting to get her headscarf too wet. Thankfully, the scorching hot sun dried their damp clothes when it was morning.
"Greetings!" the Ughnaught exclaimed once the Sandcrawler was in sight, and furious Jawas rushed to see them. He turned to the Mandalorian. "They really don't like you for some reason."
"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." The armored man pointed out.
"You need to drop your rifle," The Ughnaught nodded to it.
"I'm Mandalorian," he said matter of factly. "weapons are a part of my religion."
"Then you're not getting your parts back."
He paused for a few moments, then responded with 'Fine', proceeding to set his rifle down and get out of the wagon. The girl was soon following after him, when he put both of his hands on her shoulders to stop her. She let out a sharp gasped and backed away from him quickly.
"Hey," he said, surprised. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay here, alright?"
Regaining her focus, the Little One nodded, then scooted closer to the Child. Sighing heavily, he turned back around, only to be met with Ughnaught once again.
"And your blaster,"
The Mandalorian stood stoically, and glared down at the Ugnaught. After a few seconds of bitter silence, the bounty hunter put his blaster in the wagon as the Ughnaught approached the Jawas in high spirits.
"Good day," He greeted.
The Jawas responded well, to which the Ughnaught waved over the Mandalorian to approach. He sat down on the ground as the Jawas began to speak in their native tongue, negotiating.
"They will trade all of your parts for your Beskar armor." The Ughnaught translated.
The Mandalorian said in anger. "I'm not going to trade for anything. These are my parts, they stole from me."
The Jawa, obviously in charge, started to speak; but, just as he did, the armored man stuttered in broken Jawa.
"They…they…belong…to me!"
Every single one of the Jawas burst out laughing, and the one in charge said something tauntingly to him; but, of course, the Mandalorian had no idea what it was.
"You understand this?!" He yelled, blasting the Jawas with fire, and causing several screams to tear from their throats.
"No!" The Ughnaught grabbed his hand, "Easy, easy there." After the Mandalorian calmed down, the Ughnaught waved his hands, and the head Jawa spoke up, making other demands.
"He is a Mandalorian," the Ughnaught explained. "he cannot give you his Beskar armor. What else may he trade?"
The head Jawa pointed behind them, revealing a small group of Jawas cornering both the Child and the Little One.
"Get away from them!" The Mandalorian yelled, scaring off most of them; yet, one stuck around, and proceeded to yank on the Little One's arm with her back turned.
The Little One let out a sharp yelp as he pulled on her, and yanked her arm away from him. The bounty hunter was up on his feet, and marched towards the wagon.
"Don't touch her!"
That was enough to make the lone Jawa run away, and for the Mandalorian to look over the girl. She scrunched herself up into a little ball, hiding herself away from the rest of the world. Still, the Child carefully pet her hair as she was intaking shallow breaths.
"There must be something else," The Ughnaught questioned, running out of ideas.
The Jawas formed a circle, and were heard discussing amongst themselves. Soon, all turned back, and began speaking rapifly. The Ughnaught placed a hand on his face, sighing, while the Mandalorian seemed perplexed.
"The egg?" He questioned. "What egg?"
He was only given the response of the Jawas continuing to chant 'The egg' over and over again. Soon, they were all ushered into the Sandcrawler, standing in the bridge as they made their way to wherever the egg resided. The Jawas continued to chant about the egg as if it was some sort of relic. The Mandalorian sighed heavily, but soon bumped his head once the driver hit a bump in the road. All the Jawas laughed in unison, and the Little One had to bite the inside of her lip not to laugh.
Once the Sandcralwer had stopped, all of them were herded out, and it went from there. Now, the Little One had no idea the Mandalorian was going to let her accompany him. She figured that she would only get in his way. To make matters more confusing, he had also brought the Child with him. Still, the girl kept her mouth shut, and followed close behind him.
In what surprisingly seemed like no time, the two, along with the Child, were standing directly at the mouth of a cave. Looking down at the Little One, the Mandalorian commanded.
"You and the Child, go over there." He tilted his head in the direction.
The Little One followed his gaze, and tilted her head with a look of confusion. The Mandalorian explained.
"If anything happens, it'd be best for you two to stay out of the way. Clear?"
She nodded, and grabbed ahold of the bassinet without hesitance, walking to the area the Mandalorian had pointed to. Once they were a reasonable distance away, the bounty hunter walked into the cave, disappearing from the Little One's sight.
Just as she sat down to relax, the Little One heard rapid gun fire coming from the cave just after one minute. The girl sprang up at the sound, and stared at the mouth of the cave with her eyes going wide.
Then, the Mandalorian was thrown out of it, like a rag doll, and landed harshly on his back and into the mud. He held his head up, quickly taking notice of his chest plate, which hung loosely. Then, emerging from the darkness of the cave, was a Mudhorn letting out a guttural roar.
The Little One felt herself turn pale at the sight of the monster just a few yards away from her and the Child. Her eyes then found the Mandalorian flat on the ground; if he died, where would that leave her and the Child?
Letting out a grunt in pain, the Mandalorian stood up, and readied his rifle to blast the Mudhorn. Yet, still being subdued by the creature, he hesitated; giving the Mudhorn plenty of time to ram into him, and having his body fly a few feet away, landing back onto the muddy ground.
Panicking, the Little One tore off a piece of her dress in a rush, and picked up a stone just right next to her. Taking a deep breath, the girl placed the rock into the cloth of her dress, and began waving the Shepheard's slingshot, releasing it and causing the stone to roughly hit the Mudhorn's backside.
Letting out a roar in pain, the Mudhorn turned to the Child and Little One; his nostrils flared once he made eye contact with the girl wearing the headscarf. The girl felt the air leave her lungs as it began to rush towards them. Graciously, she jumped out of the way, and the Mandalorian, programmed with a control to the bassinet, moved it out of the monster's direction; having the Mudhorn crash into the rocky wall.
Turning back after gathering its bearings, the Mudhorn charged once again at the Mandalorian. Acting quickly, he released a blast of fire onto the creature, stunning him. As it cried out in agony, the bounty hunter used his grappling hook to attach itself onto the Mudhorn.
This was proven to be fatal though, when the Mudhorn began to drag him roughly on the floor, attempting to break free from the grappling hook. The armored man gave up, letting the creature go. The Mudhorn circled back around, and delivered another crucial blow.
The Mandalorian was set into shock. Laying flat on the surface, he couldn't hear anything, or almost feel any of the pain. Nothing registered in his brain for just a few seconds.
With the rest of his strength, the Mandalorian rose to one knee, a blade in his hand. The Mudhorn stomped on the ground, asserting its dominance as it stared down at the armored man.
The girl watched in shock as the bounty hunter, despite nearly being beaten to death, aimed the sharp blade right in front of him. This was up to her now.
But, she couldn't move.
This would be all her fault again.
If she couldn't snap out of it, another person would be dead all because she was too afraid.
The Mudhorn charged at the man only on one knee. He bowed his head, he would die as a warrior, and that is all that mattered.
Little did the two know, that, behind them, the Child rose his hand up in the air.
As the monster was going to strike down the Mandalorian, it promptly stopped. Then, before anyone could rationalize what was happening, it began to levitate in mid-air.
The Mandalorian couldn't help but to bring his head up to watch the Mudhorn float. The creature must have at least weighed a ton, how was this possible? Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Child in his bassinet; his hand was extended, and his face contorted as if he was trying his hardest to hold something. The bounty hunter put two and two together.
It was him that was doing this; the Child, the infant was causing the Mudhorn to levitate off the ground.
As soon as the Child had been able to lift the Mudhorn, he collapsed onto his back, and let go of the creature. The Mudhorn fell and got caught in the sinkhole, thrashing around desperately to get out.
In the end, the Mudhorn was stabbed to death by the Mandalorian.
Sighing in relief, the bounty hunter pushed himself up, and made his way over to the Child and to the Little One. The girl crossed her arms, holding herself and taking in shallow breaths; she hadn't noticed that tears were streaming down her cheeks until it was all over.
"You alright?"
His voice caused her to flinch, and she looked right up at him. Why was he asking her? She hadn't gotten hurt, and he was standing there, looking as if death had knocked on his door. The girl could only nod; barely.
Nodding back at her, the Mandalorian looked over her shoulder to check on the Child. He was knocked out, but still breathing. The bounty hunter looked back to the girl, slightly hunched over in nervousness.
"I'm going to retrieve the egg. I won't be gone for long, okay?"
She only nodded again, but did not look at him. Sure enough, after going inside the cave, the Mandalorian made it out quickly, carrying the egg out with both hands. He stopped in front of the girl, and tilted his head.
"Come on, we'll be out of here soon."
The girl did not nod this time. Not deciding to pay attention to it, the Mandalorian began to walk away from the cave, with the bassinet following. Yet, the girl remained motionless in her spot. She did not know why exactly, but so many thoughts were rushing through her head. In a matter of a few seconds, she couldn't take it anymore, and simply said.
"Odile,"
The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks. Her voice was what he expected it to be; girlish, childlike, fearful, innocent…What he wasn't expecting, was her sudden outburst to finally speak. He turned around, staring right at the girl's uncomfortable look.
She swallowed, and trembled under pressure. Pointing to herself, she stammered.
"I…Odile."
He continued to stare at the girl, and how she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Soon, he just turned back around, and said.
"Let's go,"
Once again, they walked in silence. The Little One, Odile, would walk at the same pace of the bassinet; waiting desperately for the Child to wake up. The Mandalorian ignored her for the most part, but would look back every few minutes to make sure she was stable.
Soon, the three found their way back to where the Ughanught and Jawas were. The Ugnaught saw them, and smiled proudly.
"Mando!" He called, causing the Jawas to return as they were about to leave, believing they were dead.
"We have it," The Mandalorian said tiredly. "we got the egg."
The Jawas took the egg eagerly, slicing off the top half and digging their hands in to eat the yellow, sticky yolk. The Mandalorian and Ughanught shook their heads, and they walked back to their wagon, and the Jawas to their Sandcrawler.
"I'm surprised you waited," The Mandalorian admitted.
"I'm surprised you took so long," The Ughanught replied wittingly.
The wagon was piled with the parts to the Razor Crest, and the Ugnaught sat upon his Blurrg, steering the wagon. The Mandalorian and Odile sat at the front of the wagon, and the Child following along in his bassinet, still resting.
"Is it still asleep?" The Ughanught asked after a while.
The bounty hunter rocked the bassinet gently. "Yes,"
"Was it injured?"
"Not physically."
"Explain it to me again," The Ughnaught sighed. "I still don't understand what happened."
He shook his head. "Neither do I,"
"The girl," the man riding the Blurgg turned around slightly. "did she know of this?"
The Mandalorian looked down at the Little One beside him. She acted as if she wasn't aware they were talking about her.
"Hey," he spoke softly, trying to get her attention.
She continued to stare forward, her lips in a thin line. The bounty hunter sighed, and looked back to the Ughanught, shaking his head. He wasn't going to bother her; there was no reason for him to.
He was just going to pretend he didn't see only one tear run down her cheek as she continued to stare at the desert in front of her.
By nightfall, they all had returned to the Mandalorian's ship.
"There's no way we're going to make this work without a maintenance facility." He spoke honestly. "This is going to take days to fix."
"If you care to help, it might go faster." The Ughnaught handed him tools to fix his armor. "There is much work to do."
As the Mandalorian was about to walk off on his own, the shifting from behind him caused the man to turn at the noise. It was the Little One pushing herself out. He stopped her, holding his hands out in front of him.
"What are you doing?"
Odile swallowed, and her lips quivered before finally speaking softly. "I…want to help."
The bounty hunter shook his head. "You're too weak, just lie down."
She didn't follow through at first, simply staring at him with the same, peculiar eyes she stared at him with the other night. Then, after an uncomfortable amount of silence, she hesitantly laid herself flat on the front of the wagon, looking up at the stars.
The Mandalorian and Ughnaught worked the whole night away, putting the Razor Crest together piece by piece as the children slept. By morning, the ship was fully refurbished, and both Odile and the Child were wide awake, sitting in the cockpit of the Razor Crest.
"I can't thank you enough." the Mandalorian thanked. "Please allow me to give you a portion of the reward."
The Ughanught shook his head. "I cannot accept. You are my guest, and I am therefore in your service."
"I could use a crew member of your ability, and I can pay you handsomely." He beckoned.
"I am honored, but I have worked a lifetime to finally be free of servitude."
The armored man nodded understanding. "I guess all I can offer you I my thanks."
"And I offer mine. Thank you for bringing peace to my valley." The Ugnaught left the ship, and mounted his Blurrg, before saying back. "And good luck with the children. May they survive and bring you a handsome reward. I have spoken."
The Mandalorian nodded, closing the door. Heading up to the cock pit, he saw the Child resting in his bassinet on one side, and the Little One dozing off in one of the chairs on the other.
Shaking his head, the bounty hunter fired up the ship, and the Ugnaught watched as it took off; signaling for him to have a safe journey. The Razor Crest left the planet with ease, and the Mandalorian began to put coordinates for another planet. He looked back at the bassinet, and the Child was still sleeping.
"Where are you taking us?"
He glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw Odile's eyes gazing up at him in a mix of curiosity, and fear. The Mandalorian stared at her for another moment, then turned back around to face the front.
It was best to say nothing at times like this.
The Little One swallowed, forgetting about the question, and staring out the window. All the while, pinching herself; she could not go to sleep again.
Howdy y'all, I'm in quarantine! Yay, I don't update for over a month, and I come back to Earth being closed, not being able to celebrate my Dancing Queen birthday with a ton of friends, cancelling the spring musical, cancelling my first prom, and not being able to see my friends. Yet, compared to several places around the world, I have it easy.
Thank you to all who have been patient with these updates, and for kicking my story off! Like, damn, the first chapter was short and just a mini introduction to what I have in store. I hope all of you are excited to see how I'll develop Odile, and how her story will come forward more and more with these chapters.
Also, here's the pronunciation for the Little One:
Odile= "O-deel"