Thank you people for waiting and for helping my story grow. In this chapter I have replaced Toro with another OC in order to make my fanfic more original. The character is going to act like Toro but have a different name and look different. I have to thank SilverGate48 for his/her help in this chapter, for helping me develop this new character, coming up with their last name , and has helped me create many of these chapters. They were the first to favorite and follow my story and they have helped me out in so many ways. Thank you SilverGate48.
And I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to get all of the chapters in season one out before season two came. I hope to have all of season one and two out before the start of season three.
Right now I don't have a lot of free time so writing my fanfiction is harder.
Enjoy the story!
Someone was crying. Crying loudly. Heron could hear it echo through the void. It was a cry of grief, of horror, a cry he rarely heard. Long sobs and violent sniffles. He looked around… nothing. He looked up… nothing. He decided to start walking forward, but with nothing around him he couldn't tell if he was going in a circle. The crying grew louder, Heron walked faster. The heavy breathing grew shorter, Heron started to jog. The crying grew more violent until Heron was running as quickly as he could. Suddenly he stopped. Eyes full of tears stared back at him. Heron couldn't believe it. Ella stood before him trying to breathe through the sobbing. She never cried. Not when she was yelled at, not when the older kids hit her, not even when her friend was killed by stormtroopers. Now Ella stood there exhausted and scared.
Heron tried to speak to her, no answer. She seemed to not see him. He tried to reach out and embrace her, but instead he fell flat on his face. She was looking at something that he couldn't see. Something far away. She suddenly stepped back, kicking and punching the void, fighting some invisible enemy. She screamed something at this invisible enemy, yet no sound could escape her mouth. The crying suddenly started again. It was different this time. Quieter and had a higher pitch. Heron quickly opened his eyes to the child whimpering and tightly holding his arm. The ship suddenly turned and Heron was thrown onto the ground. He struggled to get up, every time only to have the ship turn again and throw him on the ground. After many failed attempts, Heron was finally able to pull himself into the cockpit with the kid still glued to his arm.
"Whats going on!?" he yelled.
"Someones trying to kill us!" Din yelled in return.
Cole was murmuring "shit shit shit shit," while trying to stabilize the ship.
There wasn't much Heron could do to help, so he focused on calming the child down, and getting it to stop screaming. Which might have actually helped a little. Suddenly Heron heard a small blast and alarms started beeping at them as buttons flashed red. Heron did a scan of the ship noticing that one of the engines had been blown up. Great. Suddenly Din stopped the ship, and Heron once again found himself on the floor. The hunter, shocked, scrambled to gain control of the situation. In doing so he scrapped the wing of his ship on the other engine, just before being shot into the next galaxy.
Controls were still beeping, and alarms were still going off. Din powered down the ship and everything in the cockpit went dark. Heron sighed in relief and was finally able to calm the child's cry down to a whimper. They all sat in silence as they were floating through this never ending universe. The attack had ended faster than Heron thought, and it really wasn't that bad. His heart was still racing from the sudden rush of panic.
"Heron activate the emergency power," Din told him.
Heron did what he was told and soon they were slowly inching their way through space towards the planet of Tatooine. Din turned on the communications to signal that they were trying to land. As they were nearing the planet's atmosphere a robotic voice was heard through the speakers.
"This is Mos Eisley tower, we are tracking you. Head for bay three-five, over."
"Copy that," Din replied, "Locked in for three-five."
They neared the huge city, in the middle of the harsh desert, home of all the worst villains. Heron was a little cautious at first. Tatooine had a bad reputation. But it was their only choice. Din somehow landed the Razor Crest in "bay 3-5", which looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. Cole put the child in the small bed wrapped in blankets and cloth, while Heron and Din walked out onto the dusty ground to find whoever was in charge of the disgusting place. As soon as they stepped out three pit droids popped up, ready to get to work. Just as soon as they got up Din shot at them forcing them to fold up again.
"Hey!" a rough female voice made Heron jump. A woman walked out of what might have been a waiting room and angrily stomped towards them.
"You damage one of my droids, you'll pay for it!" she told him.
"Just keep them away from my ship," Din told her.
She looked a little annoyed by his request.
"Yeah? You think that's a good idea, do ya? Let's take a look at your ship."
She slowly walked around looking closely at every little mark and dent. She scanned parts of the ship. It was taking quite some time. Cole came out soon enough, carefully watching her as he and Din muttered in Mando'a. Heron was used to this. It's what the adults did whenever they didn't want the younglings to hear. Most of the younglings didn't become fluent in this language until they were at least sixteen. Peli finally turned around looking completely annoyed.
"This is a complete mess. It's gonna set you back."
"I've got five hundred Imperial Credits," Din said.
"That's all you got?" she said, grabbing the money. She looked over to her pit droids and to Heron's disbelief, asked their opinion on the situation.
Again Din and Cole spoke in Mando'a. Heron was able to understand most of it. They were talking about how crazy she was.
"Well this should at least cover the hanger."
"I'll get you your money."
"Yeah I've heard that before."
"Just remember-"
"Yeah, no droids. I hear you. You don't have to say it twice."
Din walked towards the exit a little quickly as if he was dying to get away from that place.
"So what are we gonna do?" Heron asked.
"You're coming with me, and you," he said pointing at Cole, "You're staying here."
Cole gave a thumbs up, and Heron and Din were soon out in the busy city. Heron followed Din closely. He didn't exactly feel safe there. They had been to Tatooine before when Heron was much younger. Someone had tried to kidnap him and sell his armor. Din hadn't realized that he was gone until the last second. They hadn't been to Tatooine since. Din seemed to have the same thoughts going through his head because he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure his boy was still there. The more they walked the more creepy and interesting Mos Eisley became. Heron actually had to hide his excitement when they came across a group of stormtrooper helmets on long spears, still covered in dry blood. He had a weird interest in that sort of stuff.
"Hmm. We should do that. Make us look a lot less like sand rats," Heron teased.
He couldn't believe he was agreeing with Paz, but he hadn't really ever thought about what it was like for everyone in the sewers. It could get really depressing. Sure board games and fighting were fun but even trying to beat the crap out of each other got boring after a while. Heron's mind then wandered to Ella and what he had seen in the void. It couldn't have been her. All of the dreams he had where he spoke to her could be an illusion. But there was something so real about it.
"Heron," Din's voice called out, "Heron lets go."
Heron snapped back into reality. He hadn't even realized that he had stopped.
"C'mon Heron. Listen to me here," Din said again.
"Sorry buir. Just got distracted."
Heron felt uneasy as they entered one of Mos Eisley's many bars. It looked like it could have once been a busy meeting place, but now it was empty and quiet, with only a few people standing around. Din walked towards the bartender who was a droid that looked a little worn and damaged. Well, everything on Tatooine looked "worn and damaged". The suns and dust made sure of that.
"Hey droid," Din said, "I'm a hunter. I'm looking for some work."
The droid's voice was a little more rough than Heron expected.
"Unfortunately, the bounty Guild no longer operates from Tatooine," it told them.
"I'm not looking for Guild work."
"I'm afraid that does not improve your situation."
"Think again tin can!"
A young voice flooded Heron's ears, and without even looking he could tell that it was someone who thought that they were better than everyone else. Some show off. Some "great hero". Heron and Din had dealt with people like that before. They all sounded the same. Heron finally turned to a young man with floppy brown hair, and a silver earring on his left ear. He was sitting with his feet up on the table and a bounty puck in his fingers.
"Come sit, let me show you what I got for you."
Din was hesitant before sitting across from him.
"My name's Arrick Bowven. Yours?"
"People call me Mando," Din's tone didn't change, "This is my partner, Blue."
Arrick's attention was then turned to Heron.
"Aren't you a little young to be doing bounty hunter work?"
Heron had heard this a million times. And every time he was asked, he just shrugged.
"Don't speak unless you must. Let me say what needs to be said." Din's words still rang in his head from the first time he had taken Heron bounty hunting. Just shrug, and shut up. That was Heron's silent code. A code he often broke.
Arrick placed the puck on the table. It lit up with a face that Heron immediately recognized. Fennec Shand.
"Picked this up before I left the mid rim. Fennec Shand, an assassin. Heard she's been on the run ever since the New Republic put all her employers in lockdown."
"We've heard the name," Heron piped up. Forget about shutting up.
Din stomped on his foot.
"Well I've followed this tracking fob here. Now the positional data suggests she's headed out beyond the Dune Sea. Should be easy. I don't know. Don't super care. So what do you and your…" Arrick stopped as if trying to figure out what to call Heron.
"Well good luck," Din said before Arrick could finish.
"Wait up partner, I thought you needed work."
"How long have you been with the Guild?"
Arrick's face straightened as if he was trying to look tougher.
"Long enough."
Heron couldn't help but let out a loud snort, met with a glare from Arrick. Again, Din stomped on his foot.
"You clearly have not been with the Guild for very long. Any experienced Guild member knows not to mess with her. You go after her, you won't make it past sunrise," Heron informed him. Again his foot was stomped on. It was getting quite sore now.
Din started towards the door but was once again stopped.
"Just listen to me man. This is my first job. You and your partner here can keep the money. I just need this job to get into the Guild. I can't do it alone."
Din's shoulders rolled back, which Heron knew as the silent sigh.
"Alright," Din said, "Meet me at hanger three-five in half an hour. Bring three speeder bikes. And give me the fob."
Arrick didn't look at all pleased by the request. Just as he was about to hand it off to Din, he smashed it into a million pieces.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Heron demanded to know.
"Easy runt, I got it all memorized."
Runt. Wherever he went, Heron was always the runt.
Din turned Arricks attention back to him just as Heron was about to tell him to shut his little inexperienced mouth.
"Half an hour. Three-five."
"Don't worry man, I'll be there."
Din hurried out of there so quickly that Heron had to run to catch up. As soon as they were out of sight Heron felt himself being grabbed to the side of the path where he expected to get yelled at. He was right.
"Heron! What is my first rule when traveling with me?"
Heron couldn't see, but he knew all too well the look that was on his buir's face.
"I think your little rules should be changed. I'm not eight anymore."
"Heron, I'm starting to wonder if I should have even considered bringing you along for this."
"I would like to be helpful!"
"First with Karga and now this Bowven person! What is wrong with you? Is it really so hard just to be quiet while I'm talking with clients?"
"I really don't like being the little kid. I'm sick of being the kid that tags along with the bounty hunter. The little one who's not old enough to know anything about bounty hunting. The child that just stands there. I want to show people that I'm not just some baby."
"I'm sick of it too, Heron. You think I like being the bounty hunter with the child? Why do you care what they say? I know you're no baby. That's why I tell them you're my partner. But you need to start learning some respect."
"Yes buir."
Heron trudged along behind Din all the way back to the hanger. He was ashamed of himself. He would have never spoken up when he was little.
"That's because you were afraid," Heron thought to himself. "You were scared of them. But now you have to show them that they are the ones who should be scared of you."
Who cared what Din said? Before he became a foundling Heron was always known as "the stubborn troublemaker."
Suddenly Heron's thought was interrupted by Din walking back into the hangar. The door was loud. Too loud. Din walked into the Razor Crest and quickly ran out and over to Cole, who was playing cards with the droids.
"Where is he!?" Din shouted, with a worried tone in his voice.
"Relax," Cole said, "Peli has him."
"Who?"
"Oh yeah, the mechanic's name is Peli."
"You left the child with her?!"
"What? She's nice. Don't worry. If she tried to leave with your little green baby, I would have shot her dead."
"You are so irresponsible."
"Eh, I'm more responsible than you."
"Where is this Peli?"
"I'm right here." Peli suddenly appeared from behind the ship, holding the kid, who was giggling in her arms.
"You have an awful lot to learn about raising a young one," she said.
"I've done it before," Din confidently declared before glancing at Heron and then back to Peli.
"No, no, she's right," Cole added.
Heron tried to hide his laughter. Din really had no idea what the heck to do when he found Heron all those years ago.
"Anyway," Peli interrupted, totally ruining their fun, "I started repair on the fuel leak. I had a couple setbacks I wanted you to talk to you about. You know I didn't use any droids as requested, so it took a lot longer than I expected. But I figured you were good for the money since you got a couple extra mouths to feed."
Heron watched the kid smile like it could understand her. Maybe it could.
Din paused for a long time before responding to her.
"Thank you," he said.
"Oh so you got a job."
Din just walked past her and out the door. Heron stood there for a second trying to understand what the hell was going on in his life. All this over one kid?
"Jeez, you growing up with that womp rat?" Peli asked him.
"He's my buir."
"Your what?"
"Father. Buir means father."
"I figured. So what's the deal with this little guy?"
Heron just shrugged. He walked out excited to start. Outside, Din had already met up with Arrick. They had three speeders ready and were preparing for the dangerous mission ahead.
Soon they were off, racing through dunes and watching as the dust rose around them. Heron was pleased by his skill with speeders. He almost never got to use one though, as they often found themselves in short distance of their destination. But when Heron did get to use them he would swerve around obstacles, test how fast they could go, or race against Din. Din's voice suddenly came in through the com in his helmet which almost made him jump.
"Now is really not the time to practice your tricks, Heron."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Din suddenly slowed his speeder to a stop.
"What's goin' on man?" asked Arrick
"Look up ahead," Din said.
Heron looked off into the distance where two banthas were standing, most likely with sand people. Heron was always so amazed how something covered in so much fur could survive in the already unbearable heat.
"Tusken Raiders," Arrick informed, pointing out the obvious, "I heard the locals talking about this filth."
"Tuskens think they're the locals," Din told him. "Everyone else is just trespassing."
"And they're right," Heron thought, "They were here long before everyone else."
Heron chuckled. He was almost perfectly fluent in the language of the sand people, yet he still had trouble speaking in Mando'a. He just never really found interest in it.
"Well whatever they call themselves, they should keep their distance. I would hate to have to kill them," Arrick declared. Like you even could.
Heron was well aware of the Tusken Raiders now near them. So was Din.
"Well Arrick, why don't you tell them that yourself?" Din said through a chuckle.
Arrick turned stunned by the sudden appearance of these dangerous people.
"Relax," Din told him.
He proceeded to make different motions with his hands, as the Tuskens used a type of sign language as their main form of communication.
"What are you doing?" Arrick asked.
"He's negotiating," Heron informed him.
"What's going on?"
"They wont let us pass without a sacrifice," Heron lied, "They say you will do well."
Arricks eyes grew wide as he turned to Heron. The only thing that his face read was fear. Pathetic.
"Easy man I'm just messing with you."
"What is wrong with you, kid?"
"Eh. Just preparing you. You're gonna want to stay on your toes," Heron said with an evil tone of voice. Fooling Arrick was too easy, it almost wasn't fun.
Din finally finished the negotiations with the sand people, gaining access to pass through their land.
They continued for quite some time, through the horrible, horrible, heat. Heron could barely take it anymore. Some movement suddenly caught his eye just ahead of them.
"Buir there's something up ahead."
Din slowed his speeder to try and get a look. He immediately stopped and ordered that everyone get down. Heron did what he was told and crawled over to the edge of the dune, where Din and Arrick were examining a dewback with someone tied to its back. Whoever it was they were definitely dead. Hopefully it was Shand.
"All right tell me what you see," Din requested.
He was testing Arrick. Or training him.
"Dewback," Arrick replied, "The rider's still attached to that ugly thing. Is that her?"
"I don't know. I'll go check it out. Cover me. And stay down."
Din ran out toward the dewback who began to roar ferociously. Or as ferocious as a dewback could be. It tried to walk away but the body slowed it down. It took a bit of calming before allowing Din to inspect whoever had been so unlucky. He pushed the body over revealing a man's face. Not Shand.
"Is it her?" asked Arrick.
"No, it's another bounty hunter."
"Well I hope you don't plan on keeping that for yourself. Let me at least take the blaster."
Din stood up suddenly and began running back. A blaster bolt rang out, signaling that it had hit beskar. Din fell to the ground, while the dewback let out a cry of distress. Din got up and started running again. Just as he was about to jump behind the dune another shot hit him, causing him to flip onto the ground.
"Buir!"
Heron crawled over to Din fearing the worst.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Din reassured him.
"What just happened?' Arrick questioned again.
What an idiot.
Din answered with a lot more control than Heron would have had.
"Sniper bolt. Only an MK-modified rifle could make that shot."
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Hit me in the beskar. And at that range beskar held up."
"Wait, I don't wear any beskar."
"Nope"
"So what do we do?"
"You see where that shot came from?"
"Yeah it came from that ridge."
"Okay, we're gonna wait until dark."
"You serious? She's gonna escape."
"She's not going anywhere. She has the high ground, she'll wait for us to make the first move. I'm gonna rest. You take the first watch. Blue, do what you want, sleep or watch, I don't care."
Heron decided he would watch. Both because he didn't feel tired and because he didn't trust Arrick not to get his head shot off.
Time seemed to move slower with Arrick around. He kept trying to start a conversation but every time Heron just ignored him. Perhaps it was the heat or maybe the waiting but something in his mind wouldn't quit racing. His fingers couldn't stop twitching and aching to just shoot something. Aching for something to do. Heron looked at the suns that hadn't even begun to sink below the surface and sighed a deep heavy sigh.
"What do you think she's planning?" Arrick asked.
Fine. Talking is better than waiting anyway.
"How would I know?" Heron replied to his stupid question.
"How long have you been with the guild?"
Oh boy.
"Half the guild doesn't know I exist."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, I don't really meet with anyone in the guild. I just wait in the ship."
Heron hated sharing his personal life with people. Sometimes he just got lost in his thoughts and words fell out.
"And you live your life like this? Seems a little rough for a kid."
Heron felt his helmet heating up with anger.
"I'm not just some kid. I'm a warrior and a fighter. I've lived like this for a long time."
"So you like this life?"
The conversation had escalated a little quicker than Heron had hoped. He felt more annoyed than he ever had. He just wanted to punch the little idiot. Yet he asked himself the same question that Arrick had. Did he like this life? Heron shook his head and told himself he was silly. He had left his early life behind and embraced the life of a bounty hunter. He truly did enjoy what he had, even though it had seemed to fall apart with the arrival of the child. He was loyal to his tribe and he always would be.
"This is the way," he replied.
"What?"
Heron slammed his head into the ground in annoyance. He wanted nothing more than to go back to the ship. Get away from all this. It was hard enough being on the run, but they also had to deal with nosey people like Arrick or Peli.
The suns finally fell behind a wall of rock and dunes and the sky turned to a deep blue. Stars twinkled and danced in the night. A wave of cool air washed over the land relieving them of the blistering heat. Any other night Heron would have sat back and enjoyed the beautiful wonder that was night, but sadly they had work to do. Thankfully Din had woken up and was adjusting his weapons.
"Alright everyone on their bikes," he said, "Ride as fast as you can towards those rocks."
"That's the plan? She'll snipe us of the bikes," Arrick pointed out.
Din tossed a flash charge at Heron then to Arrick.
"Flash charge. It'll blind any scope temporarily. We alternate shots. Combine that with speed and we got a chance."
"A chance?"
"You wanted this. Get ready."
Heron felt his heart sink lower and lower. This plan was a little risky and quite dangerous. He would have prefered a better way to catch Shand, but he knew that if he said anything he would have to come up with a new plan.
The three of them powered up their speeders and raced over the flat earth. Shand had been alert, and before long they were being shot at. Din quickly released his flash charge. It lit up the sky like a meteor about to crash to the ground. More shots were fired and clouds of sand rose up around them. Arrick now released his flash charge followed by Heron a few seconds later. Just before Heron's went off a shot was fired. It struck Din's bike and he went tumbling onto the sand. Heron immediately turned his speeder around and ordered Arrick to keep moving. Suddenly he felt his own body flying through the air and hitting the ground. It took him a few seconds to realize that his bike had also been destroyed. His head spun before he was able to stand up. Din had already gotten up and released the last flash charge, which may have saved Arrick. Heron ran over to Din just before he was shot again and knocked unconscious. Heron knew it wasn't long before he too would be knocked unconscious by Shand's powerful blaster. They were out of flash charges and Heron was running out of ideas. His mind raced knowing he had little time. Suddenly something came to his mind. He grabbed the small explosives he kept on his belt and activated them before throwing them in the air. It was no flash charge but it was enough to distract Fennec until Arrick got there to stop her. They blew up, barely lighting up the sky but they sent a large boom echoing across the rocks.
"That should have been enough," Heron thought.
After a few seconds of watching and listening Heron knew that Arrick had somehow stopped her. But it wouldn't be forever. Heron knelt beside Din and calmly shook him until he woke up.
"Are you alright buir?"
Din looked around and sighed.
"I'm fine," he said, "Got one hell of a headache though. Where is Arrick?"
"Killing Shand."
Din laughed.
"He's probably the one who's being killed."
Heron groaned in frustration.
"So I guess that means we have to go help him."
"Yup."
The two ran across the sand as quickly as they could. It was hard to run on sand. It would sink below their feet and make it harder to push themselves forward. It made them run out of energy very quickly. Thankfully the rocks were nearby and Heron was soon jumping and climbing up them. His muscles hurt and his fingers were weak. But he pushed passed the discomfort and continued to climb. That was what he was trained to do. To keep going no matter how much his bones cried. Finally he reached the top, where Fennec had Arrick pinned down and was choking him all while twisting his arm backwards. Heron pointed his blaster at her head.
"I would release him if I were you," Heron said.
She did as she was told and let go of Arrick then she raised her hands in surrender. Din climbed up and ordered her to cuff herself, while Arrick groaned in pain.
"Who's the runt now?" Heron thought.
He was glad Arrick couldn't see the smug look on his face.
"A mandalorian," Fennec said, "It's been a long time since I've seen one of your kind."
Din stayed silent as she continued.
"Have you ever been to Nevarro?" she asked, "I hear things didn't go so well there, but it looks like you two got off easy."
Heron suddenly felt a wave of shock and fear. His heart sank all the way into his stomach and he began sweating furiously.
Something bad happened on Nevarro. Something that happened after they left.
Heron's mind went back to Ella, crying and fighting in the void. Was it their fault? Did they cause some horrible disaster? No. She was probably talking about their escape. The tribe is strong. They would have been fine. Heron pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, and continued to do his job.
"You know Fennec," Arrick said, "I really should thank you. You're my ticket into the Guild."
"Your welcome," she said.
She was surely planning to manipulate Arrick, then kill him. Heron saw that look far too often. She was a dark person. But so were Din and Heron. He admired her work as an assassin. She had skill beyond others and a sharp mind. Heron almost felt bad about capturing her. Almost.
They walked down the rocky hill to the sand below.
"Uh oh, looks like some of us have to walk," Fennec said, noticing that there was only one bike left.
"Or we could drag you," Din smugly replied.
Din forced her to sit while they worked out a plan.
"Arrick you go find that dewback we saw," Din ordered.
"And leave you here with my bounty and my ride? I don't think so, partner. You haven't given me one good reason why I should trust you," Arrick declared.
Din scanned the horizon with his helmet and focused on something in the distance.
"Fine. Found the dewback. Blue you come with me."
"What?" Heron asked, "I'm staying here."
Din walked him out of the hearing range of Arrick and Shand.
"Heron please I can't leave you here with them."
"Well why not?"
"You know Fennec will kill you if she gets the chance, and I'm sure if Arrick realizes that there is a bounty on our heads he'll kill you too."
"I've fought off worse things than Arrick. I helped you kill that mudhorn and helped take down the AT-ST on Sorgan."
"Both times you almost died."
"You almost died too. I'm sure I can kill Arrick with one punch. He's weak."
"I'm not risking it."
Heron realized that this was one of the many arguments he wasn't going to win.
"Fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. I'll come with you to get the stupid dewback."
It took hours to catch up with the dewback that was so far away. When they finally did Heron threw his helmet off his head and took a breath of clean air. Helmets got stinky. Din did the same with his and they both sat on the creature breathing heavily.
"Do we have to go back for them?" Heron asked.
"Yes Heron, we do," Din said through a sigh.
It was odd for Heron to hear Din's voice when it wasn't muffled by his helmet. It was calming and quiet, yet it had a commanding tone. Heron rested his head on Din's shoulder, feeling the cool beskar on his cheek. His long hair fell in front of his eyes and tickled his nose. He needed to cut it. Heron suddenly saw a tiny flash of light in the sky, then another and another. He watched as comets danced with the stars in the inky black atmosphere. Beyond the comets and the stars there were planets and moons, all colorful and unique. When he was little Heron would try to find different planets in the night. He had a large book full of all the information he would ever need. He would point out far away dots and tell Din all about them. Din would just chuckle and pretend he was interested. Heron thought about the book. He hadn't used it for years, but he knew it was in the ship somewhere.
Through the night Heron focused on distracting his mind from his worries. Again and again his mind was filled with anxiety about the tribe, but Heron was mostly worried about his friend.
"You alright?" asked Din.
"Yeah…," Heron replied softly.
"You sure?" Din asked again, this time turning to meet Heron's eyes.
"Just nervous."
"I'm sure she's fine," Din told him, reading the expression on Heron's face.
Heron sighed. He just wanted to crawl back into his bed and sleep. He pushed his hair away from his eyes and focused on relaxing. The dewback suddenly roared in distress and stood where it was. Din tried to get it to move again but it wouldn't. Again it roared. Heron and Din both quickly put their helmets on in fear that someone might see them. Heron scanned the horizon and focused on a large cloud far off.
"Uh buir," He said, "What is that?"
Din got up and immediately jumped behind the dewback.
"Sandstorm. Get down," Din ordered.
Heron jumped down beside him and grabbed the dewback's reins, to keep it from moving. The wind got stronger and the dewback continued to roar. Dust began to cloud around them, followed by sand. The storm grew stronger and Heron could no longer see anything. He could hear Din yelling orders, but he was unable to understand anything. His legs were slowly covered by a thick heavy layer of sand. Suddenly the dewback pulled the reins out from Heron's hands, and ran. The two were now exposed to the raging storm. More and more sand piled up on them until Heron couldn't move his arms. The wind whipped around them ferociously, pulling on their bodies and moving them across the desert. The sand continued to pile up on Heron, making it harder and harder to breathe. Finally the sand reached his helmet. He could feel it fall into his mouth and his nose, followed by his eyes. The rushing wind and raining sand slowly faded out and Heron was forced into the dark.
The Razor Crest was empty and quiet. Cole sat alone polishing the spear he had. Engraved on it was his father's name, dusty and worn down. The pit droids chattered outside and Cole could hear the laugh of the child.
"Such an odd little thing," he thought.
He enjoyed sitting alone in the old ship. Years ago he had traveled in it with Din all around the galaxy. He knew it almost as well as Din did. He missed those times and hoped that someday, he too would be allowed to venture out into the galaxy with his family. But that was just a silly dream. In the distance Cole could hear the hanger door open. Relief washed over him, knowing that his friend had returned alive, hopefully not injured. But the voice he heard was not Din's. Or Heron's.
"Drop the kid," a strange voice demanded.
Cole could hear the child start to whimper. He got up silently and grabbed his spear. He stood at the door to the Razor Crest and peered out. A stranger with long, brown hair stood at the entrance, with a blaster pointed at Peli.
"I said drop it!" the stranger demanded yet again.
"Now please," Peli asked, "Please put down the blaster and we can talk. There's no need for anyone to get hurt."
"This is your last chance. Put the kid down."
Cole suddenly launched himself onto the stranger, who yelped in fear and quickly turned around. Cole was ready and punched him multiple times. The attacker shot his blaster, which did nothing against the thick beskar. Again, Cole punched him. His nose started bleeding violently and he screamed in pain. Whoever this stranger was, he was weak. Cole took his spear and attempted to stab him. He was able to cut a large gash across his leg but nothing more. The stranger finally fought back, but barely did a thing against the tall mandalorian. Cole took him and threw him into a metal box. His head started bleeding and in a rush of panic shot at Peli. The mechanic shouted and ducked behind a large piece of equipment with the child.
Cole ran over to see if she was alright. She had a small wound on her arm, but nothing too bad. Just as he was about to turn around a loud sound shot through his helmet. A sharp pain echoed through his head and into his ears. His vision was blurry, and he found it hard to gain his balance. Again he was hit, this time much more painful than the first. Cole stumbled across the ground to try and get a better view of the stranger. He leaned against the Razor Crest and faced the man who had attacked him. He was able to clear his vision only to see a large metal rod coming toward his face. Horrible pain shot through his body as everything slowly went dark. Cole tried to punch him. He tried to kick. But nothing seemed to be working. Slowly he collapsed against the ship.
"No," he thought, "Not here. Not before I get to see her again."
He had made a promise. A promise that the child would be safe. He was hit again. Now he was unable to feel his own face. Cole finally fell onto the ground, unconscious. He was lucky that the stranger thought he was dead, or he probably would have been.
After what felt like hours Heron was finally able to dig himself out of the sand. He jumped up, gasping for air. The wind had stopped and the suns were now high in the sky. Heron heard the roar of the dewback nearby. He slowly got up, and after making sure that nobody was around, pulled off his helmet and cleared all the sand out of his face. He was sick of sand. There was always sand wherever he went. Heron looked to his side where Din was. Panic shot through him realizing that he wasn't there. Heron dug down. Maybe he was buried under there. No.
Heron ran over to the dewback and grabbed its reins. He would need it.
"Buir!" he shouted. "Buir!"
Heron got no response. He tried the com in his helmet… only static. Heron ran across the dunes with the dewback. No sign of Din. He dug in the sand until his hands shouted in pain. Still no Din. He leaned against the dewback in defeat. He was probably dead by now. Heron tried to force his mind away from those thoughts, but he couldn't. Soft tears fell down his face. The dewback seemed to understand his sadness and lightly nudged his head. Heron sighed. He had to keep looking. Suddenly a familiar gleam caught his eye. He looked over the dunes, to where Din was standing. He was looking around. Probably looking for Heron. Heron sighed a long sigh of relief. Din seemed to notice Heron and ran over as quickly as he could. He finally caught up with Heron and the two sat in the shade of the dewback talking quickly.
"So where now?" Heron asked.
"Picked up this fob from that hunter we saw. Should lead us to Arrick and Shand," Din said, holding up the beeping device.
The two rode the dewback through the desert towards the large wall of rocks, where they had been hours before. Heron felt shocked when he saw Shand's body. She was covered in sand and curled up.
"Looks like the storm wasn't so kind to her," Heron noticed.
"No. She was shot by a blaster," Din said.
He pointed to a blaster wound on her stomach.
"Arrick?"
Maybe Heron misjudged him.
"Who else?"
"Where could he be?"
"My guess is that he ran as soon as he saw the storm. I just don't understand why he killed her."
"We should get back."
"I agree."
"Let's just forget about him. He's nothing."
Din stood over Shand's body for a while. He was probably questioning what had happened. Heron was confused too.
Hours went by as they once again rode back to the hanger. It was getting exhausting. As they approached the hanger Heron noticed that Arrick's speeder bike was parked outside.
"Oh no," Heron said. He knows.
Din ran inside followed by Heron, both with blasters ready. Heron immediately noticed Cole slumped up against the ship. Things were scattered and several items were covered in blood.
"Took you long enough," Arrick's voice called out.
He slowly exited the ship with a blaster pointed at Peli. She was clutching her arm tightly. Heron almost gasped when he saw Arrick's face. Half of it was covered in blood and his nose was twisted and broken. He walked weirdly and could barely hold himself up.
"Looks like I'm the boss now Mando. Drop your blasters and put your hands up."
Din and Heron both dropped their blasters and put their hands behind their heads. Heron's eyes were already closed, knowing that Din had a flash drive in his hand.
"Cuff them," he told Peli.
Peli sighed and walked behind Din and quickly noticed the flash drive.
"You're a Guild traitor Mando. You and your kid. And I think that this is the little guy you helped escape. Fennec was right. Bringing you in won't just make me a member of the Guild, it'll make me a legend."
Din released the flash drive just before Arrick shot them. Peli ducked, while Din went around to the side and shot him. Arrick fell to the ground, dead. Din and Peli rushed over and began looking for the child. The little thing cooed and poked his head out from his hiding spot. Peli carefully picked him up and bounced him in her arms. Din then ran over to Cole.
"You alright vod?" Din asked, slightly shaking Cole.
"Yeah," he moaned, "I'm not dead, so I guess that means I'm okay."
"Are you responsible for this?" Din asked, gesturing towards Arrick's wounds, "You know you could have just used a blaster and this would have been over a lot faster."
"You know I don't like them."
Heron chuckled and examined Arrick's body. He found a small pouch full of credits that they would use to pay Peli.
"So I guess you didn't get paid?" She asked Din.
"Don't worry," Heron told her, "This covers us?"
He tossed her the pouch and she opened it. Her eyes widened as she looked at the money.
"Yeah. This should cover you."
She handed Heron the child and yelled for her pit droids to get Arrick's body out of the hanger.
Heron walked into the ship behind Din and Cole and sat down in the cockpit. The kid giggled, happy to be safe again. Din slowly started the ship's engines and lifted them out of the hanger. They flew off through the atmosphere and into the dark, cold, and unforgiving space. Heron sat looking at the stars. The kid sat on his shoulder and looked at him with wide eyes. He seemed excited to continue the journey. Heron was too. The kid slowly fell asleep in his arms and snored softly. Heron just continued to look at the beautiful wonder of space. Perhaps their next adventure wouldn't be as dangerous as this one.
Thank you all so much for reading my fanfiction. Thanks again to SilverGate48 for helping me, and for all the kind support. I hope to have all of season 1 and 2 out before season 3. I hope you enjoyed it and please try to stay safe.