Hey everyone!
I just can't quite get away from the Mandalorian, not yet anyway. So I have another story for you! This one is a multi-chapter fic so if you're looking for a one-shot, don't read this one :)
This takes place about a year after the end of season two so there are some spoilers there, just be warned if you haven't watch the whole thing yet. I don't really have much to say other than this doesn't have anything to do with the other two stories I've posted short of having the same characters. It's still about Din and Grogu's relationship with a healthy dose of Din!whump because I have a problem that I refuse to resolve.
That's all I have in terms of notes, so I'm going to stop typing and just say...
Enjoy!
Din trudged up the ramp, his arms laden with supplies. It wasn't anything special, some dried and vacuum sealed foods, medical odds and ends, and a few parts he needed for repairs - the right engine was still acting up since his run-in with the Huttese smugglers in the Mid Rim, and it had gotten him in a little trouble when it came to some of the increasingly frequent allied patrols. It seemed like they were increasingly concerned about the difficultly of controlling the outer rim, maybe Gideon's arrest had been enough to wake them up. In any case, it meant he needed to be more maneuverable and that meant the ship had to fly without the drag the right engine kept creating. As he considered the repairs he needed to make, Din juggled the materials enough to open the door to his bunk. He dropped his purchases on the mattress and pressed a few more buttons on his wrist guard. Pausing with his back to the ramp, Din waited until he heard the metallic thunk echo through the hold. Assured he was now alone, he sorted and stowed what he had purchased. Shoving the medical supplies in the nearly empty pack above his bed, dropping the food stuffs in the right storage container, and carefully placing the engine parts in the repair kit. Turning methodically, Din surveyed the hold as he stretched his back. Once he was sure nothing was amiss, he climbed the ladder to the cockpit.
Din dropped into the pilot's seat. As he spun, his gaze passed over the control panel. It lingered on that small metallic ball that looked just a little out of place on the new control lever. Sighing, he couldn't help the twinge of loss. It had been nearly a year since the Crest had been destroyed and Grogu found his kind. The latter had been for the best but at times it still smarted. He hadn't heard from Grogu since the bridge, not that he had really expected to, and he had been busy with Bo-Katan's cause, which admittedly was a bit more strained by the Darksaber ownership. He did find a new ship though. It had been a...process, but Din was getting used to the Royal Horizon. It wasn't a ghost like the Crest, but it was full of surprises, which is exactly what he needed. Dwelling never did him any good, it was more important to move forward, and even as his shoulders dropped, Din shifted abruptly to the navigation. The comforting blue hue of the system map gave him a new focus, drawn only slightly by an incessantly blinking button on the control console. It was a message.
Assuming it was Bo-Katan, Din considered ignoring it. He wanted to get his ship fixed before he dealt with the underlying condescension she still seemed to have for him, even after all the work he had done to help her cause of reclaiming Mandalore. He turned back to the map.
But his focus had been broken and he flicked distractedly through, grumbling under his breath when he realized he had missed every possible location in four systems. Glancing at the flashing button again, Din sighed and shook his head, trying to refocus. Resetting his search, Din read through some more information before he again side-eyed that button. For some reason, curiosity tugged at the back of his mind. Finally, he realized he wasn't going to get anything done before he solved the mystery so, against his better judgement, he hit the blinking button.
The blue figure slowly materialized - apparently his communications array had taken some damage too - and Din turned back to the map, assumptions about the message already made. But the voice wasn't Bo-Katan's. "Mandalorian…" The title was spoken in a calming voice he had heard only once before. Din spun back to the message, leaning forward as he listened to the Jedi continue, "would you be able to travel to Vrogas Vas and take care of Grogu for a time? I received a distress call from another force sensitive individual and I do not feel comfortable leaving him on his own. If you can do so, please respond."
Din stared at the figure - and then the space the figure had been - long after the little blue projection had winked out. After a few frozen seconds, minutes, he wasn't sure, he lurched for the communications button and hit the systems map with the other hand. His message was short and he hoped not too hurried, "I can do that, and I will be on my way momentarily." He turned away, about to end and send the message when he thought of one last thing. Pressing the button again, he added quickly, "Can I repair my ship there as well?"
Luke responded within the day and Din immediately lifted off, thankful he had paid off the bay as soon as he landed.
The Horizon shuddered and dropped unexpectedly as Din tried to land the damaged ship on the tarmac. It was a little worse off than he thought and he realized he probably should have grabbed a few more parts before he came to this planet. Still, he was staying for at least a week so he would have enough time to fix the issues while he was taking care of his son. He powered down the ship and looked up to see the Jedi standing in the doorway to the dilapidated hanger. Opening the ramp, Din spun out of his chair and climbed down the ladder, trying to control his jumping nerves. Tightening his fists, Din found his composure and by the time he strode down the ramp, his movements were much more controlled than he felt. He greeted the Jedi with a nod.
"It is good to see you, Mandalorian." The Jedi answered in his, apparently customary, cool tone.
Coming to a stop in front of the Jedi, Din passed his gaze over the crumbling hanger. Unwilling to upset his host, he didn't comment on it, but it was a surprising image given the disciplined visage of the man before him. In any case, it didn't matter and he turned his attention fully to the Jedi. "You can call me Din."
Luke nodded with a soft smile before he added congenially, "It is nice to officially meet you, Din. I am Luke Skywalker."
Din inclined his head as he continued to absorb his surroundings. For being a temple, it seemed surprisingly defensible. From what he could see, there was only one heavy door from the bay into the lower levels of the complex. And within the bay itself, there were two other ships. One was the X-Wing that had appeared outside Moff's cruiser and the other was a small transport craft. It was a little smaller than the Horizon but it seemed like enough to transport a few people at the minimum. The ships were in far better condition than the hanger they sat in.
Luke smirked as he watched Din survey the bay. After a time, Luke turned to the side, and swept his hand out before him. "Grogu is excited to see you, please follow me." Without waiting, Luke stepped toward the temple.
Now unconcerned with the hanger, Din was on his heels immediately. And moving into the Temple, it became apparent where Luke's focus had been. Where the hanger needed intense work, the temple looked newly refurbished. Places where it seemed like portions of the wall collapsed, new reconstruction was apparent. And it seemed to be careful construction too because it wouldn't have been immediately obvious unless one was looking for it. Only the slightly different wear on the stones betrayed the skillful work. Din continued to survey the area around him, "What is this place?"
"This is the Temple at Vrogas Vas." Luke answered, stoic gaze ahead, "It was initially established by Master Phin-Law Wo, but time and nature reasserted its dominance when knowledge of the temple was lost after the rise of the Empire. I only found it six years ago when I came across a holocron describing it on Nar Shaddaa." As Luke spoke, thin threads of pride and sorrow colored his descriptions.
The name of that world caught Din's attention, snapping his head to the side, he asked incredulously, "The Smuggler's Moon? Orbiting Nal Hutta? You've been there?"
Luke raised his eyebrow as he looked into Din's visor. "You know of the Hutt homeworld?"
"I've been to Nar Shaddaa for a job or two, but I've never landed on the planet. I was a bounty hunter for the Guild and that was always a good place to pick up a puck." Din offered in way of explanation. But then he explained his shock, "I am surprised at your knowledge of it. I've never seen any Jedi in that area."
"Oh, there are Jedi from all over the galaxy." Luke leaned in almost conspiratorially and added, "I grew up on Tatooine, I've known of the Hutts all my life."
Din nodded in reaction, but didn't have a chance to respond as they came to a door in the interior of the temple. Luke pressed it open and turned out of the way, revealing the small child sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, his eyes closed. Din stepped up to the threshold and couldn't hold back his broad, hidden smile. Before he could say anything, Grogu's eyes snapped open and his head shot up, directly at Din. Grogu lurched to his feet and tottered as quickly as he could in Din's direction.
Two steps was all it took to meet Grogu's hurried motions in the middle. Dropping to a knee, Din gently said, "Hey, kid." Grogu babbled, a small smile on his face as he pressed his hands onto Din's leg. Grogu cocked his head and after considering his buir for a moment, reached up with one hand. Without any pretense, he closed his eyes and twisted his hand.
Din felt his helmet shift. Recognizing it was Grogu's powers, he chuckled and pressed his hands to the side of his helmet, conceding to the request. He smiled at the little creature who had turned his world upside down in the best way possible. Grogu took a few steps back, his ears lifting in approval before he stretched upward. The motion was rote and comfortable, proving things hadn't changed. Din's smile broadened and he leaned forward to pick him up. As soon as he was close enough, the little creature reached out again, pressing his claws into Din's cheek. It was a comforting motion that erased so much of the discomfort of the last year.
After a short time, Din tucked Grogu into the crook of his arm and looked over at Luke. "Thank you for thinking of me."
Luke had a slightly sick look on his face that he quickly covered before he inclined his head, "Of course."
Din caught it, but didn't give it another thought when Grogu started cooing, drawing Din's attention back to him. Grogu was clutching the Krybes sigil in his claws. Immediately ignoring Luke's reaction, Din gently tucked his finger under the necklace, "I'm surprised you still have this." He turned his gaze to his son's, "I'm glad you still do." Grogu babbled his approval and wrapped his claws a little more tightly around the sigil. "So, what have you been learning?"
Grogu's ears perked up and he let go of the necklace with one hand before holding it before him and closing his eyes.
Din looked around the room, trying to figure out what the kid was trying to lift, when Luke's voice demanded his attention back. "If you could wait on that, I will show you the rest of the temple and then I must be on my way."
Nodding, Din tore his gaze away and followed as Luke turned and swept down the hallway. Din followed, splitting his attention between Grogu and the Jedi leading him through the halls. He couldn't help the comforting feeling that was spreading as Grogu turned and snuggled into his chest, while quietly observing the tour he had undoubtedly already been on. Din tried to tamp it down, but there was an enthusiasm that kept shifting under his skin.
After only a few hours, it was as if things hadn't changed so abruptly and completely a year ago. Luke had left not long after he finished the quick tour, leaving Din and Grogu alone in the large temple. Din thought about exploring, but then he looked down at the little creature tucked in his arm and decided he could do that later. Turning back toward the room that was apparently some kind of meditating space. He set Grogu down gently before he sat down across from him. Smiling down at his son, he started talking as he looked around the room, "This is a pretty big temple, kid. Have you been through the whole thing?"
The little creature tipped his head to the side, a quiet coo as he seemed to question what he was being asked. Din smirked. "Yeah I guess you've been here for a year." Shifting the conversation, he asked, "What have you learned? You lifted my helmet before, that was impressive."
Grogu smiled, his eyes shining mischievously for a moment until he tightly closed them and reached out to where Din's helmet was sitting by the door. It shifted a few times, seemingly of its own accord, before lifting and hovering across the ground, settling gently in front of Din.
As he watched, Din's smile grew, crinkling his eyes at the corners. Grogu opened his eyes, his ears pulled back as he cooed contentedly. Seeing that, Din pulled the metallic ball out of his pocket and held it up. It was only there for a few brief moments before it was pulled out of his fingers. Din chuckled at the action, dropping his hand into his lap. Only this time, instead of standing and collecting it, the ball appeared again between them, hovering in front of his face. He reached out and plucked it out of the air. Looking up at Grogu, he said with unveiled pride, "You really are special kid."
They played like that for a few hours, until Grogu got hungry and they set out to find some food. It wasn't difficult, Grogu knew where to go, but it was still another chance to explore. After dinner that night, Din, with Grogu's ever-present help, set up an early warning system in the bay and then in the entrances he had noticed when Luke had taken him around the temple. He assumed there was something like that already set up, but it was always better to be safe. He brought his new pulse rifle into the sleeping quarters. He didn't intend on sleeping in his armor so it was best to be prepared.
And that became the pattern. They fixed the Horizon during the day, Grogu practiced his new skills after dinner, and in between they explored. When they were working, Din did the mechanic work while Grogu watched, consistently dropping materials and tools at his side as he worked on the finicky engine. At one point, the little one tried to climb into the engine hatch only to be quickly pulled out and told that the engine couldn't take a short-circuit. Grogu dropped his ears, but resigned himself to sitting incredibly close to Din while he worked. The repair took a few days but when it was finished, the wobble Din had been dealing with was gone. At least it should have been, the only way to know for sure though was to test it, so they took the chance and traveled off-world.
They didn't travel far, just to a neighboring moon, but it gave the kid a chance to get out of the temple. They stopped at a tavern on a moon Din could have known the name for but wasn't particularly interested in. Din didn't eat, he still wasn't comfortable taking his helmet off in front of others, but Grogu seemed excited. They sat undisturbed for a few hours before a skeevy looking Snivvian stepped over to the table. His voice was nasally, his wide, black eyes drifting to Grogu even as he addressed Din. "Bounty hunter?"
Something about the attention made Din uncomfortable so he nodded, hoping it would be enough to scare off the creature. He lazily turned his attention away, indicating his disinterest.
Instead, the humanoid sat down at the table. "Want a job?"
Din turned his attention sharply to the interloper and shook his head, "No. I'm on a job now, doesn't make sense to take another."
The Snivvian gave another slideways glance at Grogu and Din's hand fell to his blaster. Then the creature pressed, "Can make it worth your while."
Din leaned forward threateningly, "No."
But the Snivvian was undeterred, "Can pay top dollar for one of your..." He gestured at the beskar, "skill."
Unsnapping the holster, Din slid his blaster free and set it on the table, his finger resting a hair from the trigger as he lowered his voice dangerously, "I suggest you find another table. This one's taken."
Giving one last glance at Din, then looking again at Grogu, the Snivvian stood and said, "Will be heading to Rutan if you change your mind." It stepped away, back to another table toward the back of the tavern. Din watched as he dropped into a seat at a relatively packed table. Holstering his weapon, Din leaned over to Grogu, "Finish up, kid. We're leaving."
That night, Din was on edge, unable to shake the conversation with the Snivvian and the subsequent clustered conversation. Still, there was little he could do, they hadn't been followed and his security protocols were still in place so it seemed like his paranoia was getting the better of him. He tried to focus on his son and while he was able to fall asleep that night, it wasn't exactly restful. Especially not when the alarms started to ring.
He snapped awake and while it took him a few seconds to remember exactly where he was, he was immediately on alert. Rolling over, Din snatched Grogu off the sleeping mat next to him. "Come on, kid." Grogu groggily pushed at Din's chest before he decided to just snuggle into his arm instead. Despite what was happening, Din couldn't help but smile at the trust. But the alarm kept blaring, breaking the spell. Yanking open a closet of some kind, Din tucked Grogu inside on a pile of blankets. Closing the door, Din pulled a bed in front of it. Then he turned to the process of defense.
It didn't take him long to get armored, and he built a small defensive area in front of the closet. There were two entrances to the room, and Din knew he couldn't cover both effectively, not if his instincts were right about what was coming. Din considered leaving, but the alarm was from the bay doors and he wasn't sure what else was at this temple that could be compromised. Now he regretted not exploring more. He knew the terrain better than his aggressors, but not well enough to take full advantage of it. He would have to fight. It wasn't the best tactical idea, but there weren't too many options that didn't result in unknowns. At least here, he could control some of his surroundings. And if he could pick them off as they came into the room, he might be able to end this quickly. Din's stomach twisted, he had no evidence of it, but in his gut, he knew they were coming for his son.
After a tense, silent wait, Din heard scratching at the door behind him. He looked over his shoulder and shushed Grogu's increasingly insistent, loud calls. Once Grogu quieted, Din turned his attention forward, passing his attention between both entrances. Only to jump when the wooden legs of the bed scratched across the floor. He reached forward to hold onto the table only to come face to face with Grogu, his claws wrapped around the edges of the door, his head poking out from behind. He cocked his head as Din quietly said, "You need to get back inside, Grogu. They're here for…"
Two rolling, metallic grenades cut him off. The high-pitched countdown finished two seconds later, leaving only enough time for Din to turn and cover Grogu before the explosives went off. Even with his back to the grenades, Din felt the impact on his senses. Flash-bangs. He hadn't seen those in years. As the light dissipated, Din's ears were already ringing and given how small the room was, the pressure of the sound wave left his head spinning. But he didn't have a chance to deal with the pain. Falling back away from the closet, Din scrambled to find his weapon as he fought to focus on the incoming threat.
And they hit hard.
Din's defensive position was the immediate focus. A large Chagrain tore at the piled furniture, the horns easily identifying the humanoid even in the dim light. But as he haphazardly attack, the creature's hand landed on the pulse rifle. Din felt the strong tug on the rifle and he took the advantage. Electrocuting the head, the humanoid disappeared. That gave Din some breathing room.
And he used it the best he could, hitting at least two more with the electrified head. He was in too close quarters of a fight to make the blaster safe, but the beskar was tough enough to break bone. Unfortunately, he was only one person and many crushed into his position. Din tugged his knife out of his boot and lashed out with dangerous precision at the first human to breach his line. The aggressive Snivvian was his next victim as he drew the blade across it's throat. But his distraction was enough for his position to be torn apart. Two leapt over a toppled table and attacked at once. While he was engaged, a third human locked his arm through Din's, forcing his attention to split. With the distraction, a red, devil horned Devaronian dropped it huge hands on Din's shoulders and dragged him over the top of the perimeter, chucking him nearly over it's shoulder.
Din landed hard on his back, his knife clattering to the ground. Sitting up he engaged the flamethrower, trying to get them away from the closet. Jumping to his feet and snapping up the knife, Din charged headlong into the fray, throwing his weight into an attack against the closest human. The man collapsed under their combined weight and Din heard a snap as his leg broke over one of the tossed tables. He vaguely caught a scream but it was dulled by the ringing still in his ears. Din rolled back to his feet and attacked another hunter, lashing out with quick, biting attacks, trying to get back to his position. But the Devaronian was doing its job and tossing furniture away from the closet. In a last-ditch attempt to keep him away, Din threw his knife at the Devaronian, only for another hunter to step in its path. That twi'lek dropped dead and Din was left without a weapon.
The two he had tossed off before used his distraction and dragged him off his feet as another two came out of nowhere and held him down. He watched, pinned, as the damned Devaronian opened the closet. Din activated the flame thrower again, scaring the hunter off his left arm and giving him a chance to whip his arm up, catching the hunter holding down his right and the others who had stepped into help. Din jumped to his feet only to be met by a lithe Togruta with blue and white montrals holding two wickedly long, sharp knives. One was a long, leaf-tipped blade, wider at the base, while the other was a thin stiletto. As Din's flamethrower winked out, he saw the Devaronian reach into the closet and drag a struggling Grogu out from behind the door.
Lunging toward the danger, Din swore, "Think carefully about what you're doing, Devaronian. If you take him, I will hunt you to the ends of this universe and you will not survive the next encounter."
The massive, horned Devaronian answered in a deeply arrogant tone, "There is one of you, Mandalorian. You're a skilled fighter, I'll give you that, but you won't survive long enough to keep tha…" His words died in a coughing choke. A strange, panicked look broke over his face as he gasped, his free hand flying to his throat. All eyes snapped to the little creature he was holding. Grogu's eyes were closed in concentration while he slowly closed his fist.
Din took the distraction and tore away from his captors, lurching past the Togruta, who was far faster than he gave her credit for. As he swept past, she jabbed the stiletto dagger into his side, catching a gap in the beskar. Din barely felt it, his focus was somewhere else as he watched the Devaronian scratch at his throat while the other was loosely clasped around Grogu's waist. Din was nearly there when a Klatoonian drove the butt of his rifle into the side of Grogu's head. Din involuntarily yelled at the treatment and surged forward as the Devaronian dropped to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Grogu tumbled away from his abductor, senseless.
Four humanoids blindsided Din before he could make it to his son, and they pinned him on his knees, his arms behind his back as the Klatoonian scooped up the now unconscious Grogu.
Din jerked at the hold and snarled, "I will kill you if you don't put him down. There is no where you will be able to hide if you take one more step."
The Klatoonian was surveyed the little green creature but spoke to Din, "I heard you the first time, but for that to happen, you would have to make it off this planet. You won't, so I'm not particularly concerned about your threats." He turned and left, Grogu still clutched in his hands.
Din threw his arms back, catching his captors off-guard with the aggression. Reaching to the side, he dragged his knife out of the neck of the twi'lek and snagged his blaster out of it's holster. There was no reason for him to pull his punches and he lashed out at the hunters still in the room. He quickly killed two when the Togruta slid in from the side and drove her stiletto dagger into his shoulder. Only to dance away as he swung out with his knife. He fired his blaster twice, killing one more before the three left in the room charged. Din killed one, but then the other two shifted out of the way at the last moment and the Togruta appeared again in front of him, lashing out with her dagger and catching Din low in the chest, just under the lip of the beskar. It was an aggressive thrust and she leaned into the strike, driving the leaf-shaped dagger up to the hilt into his chest. The surprise of the attack made the pain even more agonizing, rarely did anything make it through his armor, even the thick padding he wore underneath.
Din drove his forearm down onto the hunter's, aggressively jerking the blade out from his chest. He lurched at the shocking pain but recovered fast enough to take advantage of her, now slower, retreat. Bringing his weapon to bear, Din fired and the Togruta dropped, a smoking hole in her chest. That seemed to be enough to break the resolve of the two remaining hunters who had been apparently guarding the entrances. They shared a brief look before they turned and ran. Din spun on his heel and dropped both without any ceremony.
And finally, the room was quiet. Din stumbled back a few steps, trying to catch his breath as he pressed his hand to the stinging wound on his chest. Surveying the damage, he carefully tipped his hand away and dropped his head back as he saw the blood clearly staining his glove. As as if that was the trigger, the agony flared. He took a few, painfully shallow breaths as he tried to stave off the black spots that were dancing on the edges of his vision.
But the reprieve was brief because Din heard the characteristic beeping of a fob. Gingerly kneeling next to the Togruta, he dug through her pockets and pulled the device from her belt. Pressing gingerly to his feet, he realized his timeline just shortened. He only had until the hunters turned in Grogu before the fob went off-line. There was a brief moment of confusion as he saw Moff Gideon imprisoned on Mandalore in his mind's eye, but that didn't last as the fob continued it's annoying refrain. It didn't matter who financed it, only that he stopped the delivery. Din pressed his hand into his now heavily bleeding wound and stumbled forward. If he could get to the Horizon, he had a bacta patch that could as least get him to the kidnappers.
As soon as his foot hit metal, he let his subconscious guide him. It had been a relatively short walk, but he felt the injuries clearly. Stumbling toward his sleeping quarters, he hit the button and snatched the med kit off the wall. His gaze darkened and for a moment he wavered on his feet before he fell back onto the cot. The unbroken drop hurt but it also jarred him enough to chase away the woozy feelings. He rifled through the kit, looking for an adrenaline shot. He had to stay awake long enough to set his course and that meant climbing the ladder into the cockpit, because that dagger had done more damage that he had been initially willing to admit. As his hand closed around the syringe, Din took as deep a breath as he could, and jammed the head into his leg. It didn't take long for the potent drug to kick in.
The pain was pressed to the back of his mind and while he didn't particularly appreciate the discomfort of nearly hyperventilating and moving on shaky limbs, at least he would be able to get into the cockpit. Pressing his hand to his side again, Din lurched to his feet. Pressing a button on his wrist, the ramp closed, and the cockpit door slid open. Taking a deep breath, Din steadied his vision enough to not fall back off the ladder. Dropping his unbloodied hand on the rung and trying to pull himself up, Din's groan built into a scream as he managed to get one foot on the bottom rung. This was going to be painful.
He looked up at the rungs above his head before he glanced down at the wound his other hand was keeping closed. Making a decision, lifted his bloodied hand above his head. Pulling upward again, he managed to get another foot on another rung. And as he climbed passed it, Din tried hard not to notice the slick, red stain.
It was difficult but he finally made it into the cockpit. The adrenaline was finally, fully helping, and when he slipped into the pilot's seat, his vison nearly back to focused. He pulled out the fob and tried to figure out the direction they were going. Calling up the sector map, he tried to at least take a guess. He needed to be in the right region of space if he was going to get to them as soon as they landed. It wouldn't do him much to guess, but the Snivvian had mentioned Rutan at the tavern, which probably meant their contact was at least somewhere along the Hydian Way. A reality buoyed by the apparent direction they were moving. But Vrogas Vas was a long way from Rutan. Din decided to risk it. He needed a direction, and they were still in hyperspace so short of the general direction, he didn't have much else to go on. He needed to get to work on the wound if he was going to be of any help to the kid as it was.
Setting the autopilot to Rutan, Din slowly made his way back to the stairs. He looked down the hole and took a deep breath before turning and starting the slow climb down the ladder. He was careful not to step on the blood trail he left up the ladder, and moved slowly.
He made it, but when he turned, his head spun, which was not a good sign given the adrenaline still pounding through his veins. Din pressed his hands to his helmet and tugged it off his head. It clanged against the metal floor as he dropped it. As he moved, he started to strip off the rest of his armor. While the increasingly loud ringing vibrations should have driven him mad, they barely made it through his ringing ears. When he hit the button to open his sleeping area, Din was down to his padded leathers. But that wasn't enough to deal with the injuries. He tugged the padding over his head, groaning when the motion pulled at the jagged injury. Finally down to the light pants and bloodied shirt, Din dropped onto the bed, and dug through the med pack, trying to find the bacta patch he wanted. He hit another adrenaline shot first and tugged it out so he wouldn't have to look for it later. Then he found a patch and an antibiotic shot as well. Grabbing both, Din fell back on the bed and tugged his shirt up far enough to find the wound. Probing around it, Din realized how deep it was. That dank Togruta had managed to get her blade between two ribs and caught wholly unprotected flesh. There was a moment of panic when he realized there was a chance the dagger had caught something important but if it had, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
Nevarro might have to be his next stop once he got the kid.
But Grogu had to come first.
And to get to him, he needed to take care of this wound. A small part of him was worried at how easily he was getting distracted, but it was still enough for him to force focus. Din pressed the patch hard against his side and then pressed the antibiotic shot into his leg. Only then did he close his eyes and try to breath. He only managed to take a few shallow breaths before his mind turned back to his son.
Grogu had looked so small clutched in that Klatoonian's arms. And the sound of that rifle cracking against his head would not be something Din would soon forget. But as much as his mind wanted to focus on his failures, his physical body hurt. None of the other attacks had hit, but those blades had succeeded in slipping through his armor in too many places. He was about to run through all of the supplies he had just restocked. And that leafed blade had left a wound unlike any Din had ever seen. The scariest part was that he hadn't realized exactly how many of the strikes had made it through his armor. Still, he had a duty. Slapping two more patches on his shoulder and another on his side, he hoped that would be enough.
As he finished, the adrenaline started wearing off and Din felt his eyelids getting heavy. He desperately wanted to stay awake but knew in the pit of his stomach it wasn't going to work.
He passed out fighting that inevitability.
There you have it! I'm thinking this story will be about three chapters. I will say, writing this and realizing the Razor Crest was gone was much harder than I thought it would be haha Here's hoping Din gets an awesome new ship in season 3.
Feel free to let me know what you thought in the reviews!
I hope you have a wonderful day/night and stay creative!
- Lily
