Part four
Chapter 31
-haven-
They hadn't gone back to Sorgan. Migs needed more medical care than was available there and it just so happened Din knew where to go. When Bo-Katan had visited a week ago, she'd told him where to find the new hidden covert. He hadn't bothered to contact her when Winta was taken so he didn't know where she was but he didn't particularly care. Visiting the covert was something he needed to do, helping Migs at the same time was just convenient.
Batuu was on the very edge of the outer rim and nearly as seedy as Nevarro had been, minus the Imperial remnant. Din hadn't been there often but was still surprised to find that was where such a large group of Mandalorians had made their home. According to Bo-Katan, they made their home in the ancient ruins outside of Black Spire. The city was built on the ruins, but they extended well beyond the modern additions.
He put the Cin Vhetin down outside the city and hailed the port office from his comm. They were able to tell him where the medical clinic was—thankfully close—and sent word on ahead to their medic. Remembering what Bo-Katan had said about being noticed, he put his helmet in a pack to carry and wrapped his cloak around him. After everyone was ready, he and Paz helped Migs off the ship and they all headed into town.
It was a pretty diverse city. Winta looked like she was trying to see everything at once just like she had in Nevarro. Nevarro was as different from Sorgan as he could imagine. Swamps and forests were nowhere to be found on the volcanic planet after all. Batuu had forests like Sorgan but there were mountains too and this city was much bigger.
When a green Twi'lek stepped out onto the street beside them, Winta gasped and ducked behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at her. She was clinging to Omera, her face buried in her mother's side.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Pausing, Din shifted Migs so Paz carried all of his weight and turned around to crouch in front of his daughter.
"Winta, it's ok." When he put a hand on her back she turned around and threw herself at him. Omera looked confused until she saw the Twi'lek too and sighed, kneeling down beside them as well. Trembling in his arms, he felt Winta cling to him even tighter as the female Twi'lek passed them.
"Haluur. You're alright. Not every Twi'lek is going to try to hurt you, Winta. I know Xi'an was the first one you ever met, but they're mostly nice. Like humans." Winta pulled back slightly and peaked over her shoulder at the Twi'lek's retreating figure.
"Are you sure? Do they all have sharp teeth?"
He sighed. "Winta, look at me." She did, eyes trusting despite her fear. "No, they don't all have sharp teeth. That's just something some of them do, they aren't born that way. Listen, you are probably going to meet more of them but you don't need to be afraid. Ok?"
Nodding, she let him stand and he patted her head before turning back to help Paz limp along with a grumbling Migs. But when he glanced back at her, she was keeping closer to Omera as they walked. It hadn't occurred to him that she would be afraid like that but now he guessed it made sense. She would probably be scared and clingy for a while regardless of who had taken her. He was glad he had already started training her. Being able to defend herself would give her confidence to get past this.
The doctor at the clinic was waiting for them when they got there. He frowned down at Migs's leg, hardly looking at anyone else as he directed them where to put him. Thinking he was done, Din and Paz stood back to let Omera talk to the doctor.
"He took shrapnel in his leg from a blast. It missed the major arteries but there was still significant blood loss. I managed to get most of it out and I had a small amount of bacta spray on hand for the worst of the wounds but the rest I had to stitch. He needs a scan of his knee. It was kicked out and I'm afraid there might be structural damage."
Leaning over Migs's knee, the graying doctor sliced open the bandaging and inspected it. He nodded to himself as he ran his finger along the largest wound, now pink and scarring thanks to the bacta. "You were fortunate to marry such a skilled nurse, my friend. This was quite extensive damage."
Omera laughed musically. "I'm not a nurse. I was trained at the Imperial academy as an advanced surgery field medic and eventually served with the rebellion in that capacity. I am perfectly able to perform surgery if he needs it. But without a scan.."
He looked at her, dubious but impressed. "Well, whatever else the Empire was, they trained excellent doctors." Glancing up at Migs, he smiled. "Either way."
Migs snorted but didn't say anything and Omera smirked. "Thank you, but he isn't my husband."
"Oh?" He looked confused, gaze briefly taking in her pregnancy.
Din huffed a laugh and crossed his arms. "That would be my honor."
"Oh!" The doctor squinted at him as if trying to decide if he knew him. When he studied his shoulder, Din looked down and realized his cloak had slid down revealing his pauldron and signet. He shifted and reached up to adjust it, causing the doctor to look at him curiously for only a moment. "Well, my apologies." He smiled around at all of them, smile warming when his eyes landed on Winta standing beside Din. "My name is Minnedal."
Not waiting for Din to give him his name or asking for anyone else's, he turned back to Omera. "Well… shall we get started?"
She nodded and he moved around the room in search of something. Omera turned to Din and met him in the middle of the room. After the last two days, he didn't want to leave her but she was needed here. "I'm leaving Cara here with you, Omera. Paz and I will try to find this covert before dark. If we're not back before dark, I'll reach you by the comm on the ship."
Her hands were heavy on his chest as she smiled up at him. "Be careful."
Skimming his fingers up her stomach he whispered his goodbye. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, ner ka'ra."
"I love you too."
With a final kiss, they parted. Winta was standing beside Paz near the door, biting her lip and watching him. "Can I come? Please, Dad? I… I wanna go with you."
Smiling as he pushed her hair from her face, he nodded. "Yes, Winta you can come." Her smile was relieved.
"Yes! Bye Momma! I'm going with Dad!"
Omera waved as they left just as the doctor came back into the room. Back on the street, Paz muttered so only Din would hear. "That doctor is familiar with Mandalorians. He didn't seem surprised at all when he saw your beskar."
Din nodded. "I noticed." Eyes scanning around the city, he looked for the place Bo-Katan had said marked the beginning of the covert. "Come on. The entrance is on the other side of the city."
According to Bo-Katan, the ruins functioned in much the same way as the sewers had on Nevarro. Following an extensive tunnel out from one of the larger ruins upon which several of the more run-down locals were built, eventually you came to it. There were many more large ruins outside of the city all connected by small caves and tunnels they had constructed when they'd found the place.
As they walked, Winta gripped his hand and talked to Paz. "How long have you known my Dad?"
"Since we were kids. Probably your age."
"So does that mean you're brothers? Like how Grogu is my brother? You call him vod."
Paz chuckled. "In our tribe, everyone was your vod. We were one family. But this one…" He looked down at Winta and jerked a thumb at Din. "This one and I may not have shared a buir but ours were close like brothers and so were we."
She hummed thoughtfully and might have said more if Din hadn't stopped. A large structure loomed over them, casting shadows across the street where they stood. Din scanned the streets around them. There was enough of a crowd that no one paid them any attention so he nodded to Paz and the three of them crossed the street and ducked inside.
The entrance was out of the way and hidden in plain sight, just like the entrance to their own covert had been. Following the subtle marks that Bo-Katan had mentioned, they soon found themselves staring down a long and dark tunnel. Winta tightened her grip on his hand but otherwise made no complaints.
"Bo-Katan said she told them about me but that doesn't mean they're expecting us."
He could barely make out Paz's smirk in the dark. "Don't worry, I'll let you do the talking, Mand'alor."
Rolling his eyes, he pulled his helmet from his pack and put it on. When he flipped on the side lantern the few feet directly in front of them were illuminated but it was still almost oppressively dark. He could see thanks to his HUD but Paz and Winta couldn't. He reached down and took her hand again. "Are you alright, Winta? It's going to be a long walk and this is all the light we have."
She nodded slowly. "Ya. I'm not afraid of the dark." Then she whispered so Paz wouldn't hear. "Just don't let go of my hand, ok Dad?"
Din squeezed her hand once and they set off down the tunnel. When he altered his vision again, he could see countless trails of tracks going back and forth. Clearly more than one of these Mandalorians came out at a time. As they walked in silence, he wondered again about the doctor. Was he one of them? Din didn't think so, but clearly he at least knew of them.
Strangely considering how much traffic the tunnel seemed to get, they did not meet anyone in the hour it took them to make it to the end. Just like their own covert, at the end of the tunnel a large Kyr'bes hung over a narrow archway. Firelight spilled into the hall from the other side enough to illuminate the Mandalorian sigil.
"Well. This feels familiar." Paz was squinting up at the Kyr'bes in the dim light.
"What's that, Dad?"
Din glanced down at her before pointing his light back at the skull. "The sigil of our people, Winta… the Kyr'bes. The skull of the Mythosaur."
She smiled with recognition. "The giant beasts the first Mandalorians rode?"
"That's right."
Before any of them could speak again, three figures in beskar'gam appeared in the archway. All three had their blasters leveled at either Din or Paz.
"Ke'mot!"
Shifting his weight so that he stood in front of Winta, Din raised his left hand to the strangers. "Su cuy'gar."
Their helmets turned as they inspected each of them in turn. The smallest of the three, a female, cocked her head to the side and peered down at Winta. Curiosity overcoming any apprehension, Winta leaned around Din's side to look up at her.
One of them, the largest, stepped forward from the middle.
"Tion'ad cuyir gar."
Din stepped forward too. For one of the first times in his life, he answered this question honestly. "Din Djarin." He gestured to Winta. "Ner adiik, Winta. Ibic cuyir Paz Vizsla, ner vod. Our tribe was wiped out by an Imperial remnant on Nevarro a year ago. Bo-Katan told me I would find more of our people here."
When they heard his name, they looked at one another and lowered their blasters. "Din Djarin… the one she called Mand'alor? What proof do you have that you are who you claim?"
With a final squeeze, he dropped Winta's hand and reached for the Darksaber. Holding it in front of himself, he ignited the blade. Its glow reflected off of his beskar and illuminated the dim underground room. Not trusting these strangers, Din held the blade ready for an attack. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Paz's hand hovering over his blaster and felt Winta's hand on his side.
He watched all three carefully. Not until they holstered their blasters did he relax his stance. "We weren't sure we believed Bo-Katan. Some of us remember her and her attempts to reclaim Mandalore in the decades before the purge. It is good that the Darksaber is again in the hands of a Mandalorian. Come. Your family is welcome here, Mand'alor."
Mando'a
Ke'Mot Halt
Tion'ad cuyir gar Who are you
Ner adiik, Winta. Ibic cuyir Paz Vizsla, ner vod. My child, Winta, this is Paz Vizsla, my brother.
A/N Welcome to part four! Onwards to Mandalore!