This chapter is for Penny, the guest who left a sweet review for me yesterday- you had me crying while reading it. I hope this story makes you happy and that this chapter brightens your day a little :)

CHAPTER V: BATTLE

They traveled through the night to find the Jawa's sandcrawler. It rained heavily for most of the journey, and Zakia was grateful for Din's water repellent cloak. His own clothing was water resistant but she couldn't say the same. Thankfully, Arvala-7 wasn't too temperental of a planet, and the searing sun returned early in the morning. It dried out her hair and clothing, and Zakia tied the blonde mess into one knot on the crown of her head. The child was in his bassinet towards the rear of their convoy, lid closed as it slept on. Her and Din sat side by side on the wagon behind Kuiil's blurrg. The Mandalorian had his disruptor rifle laid across his thighs, and his body was tense. They had both got minimal sleep during the ride, as the rain made it difficult to relax.

As the Ugnaught guided the blurrg towards the small encampment the Jawas had constructed, they began chattering anxiously. They aimed strange, wide-barrel blasters in their direction, and Kuiil turned to his guests.

"They really don't like you for some reason."

Zakia snorted, nudging Mando with her leg. "That may be because he disintegrated some of them."

The Jawas grew more frantic the closer they got.

"You need to drop your rifle." Kuiil urged.

"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are a part of my religion." Din returned, fingers tightening around the chamber. Zakia pursed her lips.

"I don't think they're going to do anything if you keep it." She said, watching the hooded creatures as Kuiil attempted to greet them.

"Zakia is correct." The Ugnaught concurred. "You will not get your parts back."

After a pregnant pause, Mando set the rifle to his side. "Fine."

Zakia hopped from the small wagon, stretching her shoulders and stiff back. The child, blinking away sleep and cooing softly watched her with his doe eyes. He pulled himself out of the bassinet and perched near the edge of the cart, the lip preventing him from moving any further. Zakia watched a moment to make sure he would not fall out and get damaged- they didn't want their payment altered- and awaited Mando as he dragged himself out of the wagon.

The Jawa remained persistent though, pointing their weapons in Din's direction and chattering at the Ugnaught. Their guide turned, looking at the Mandalorian.

"And the blaster." Kuiil motioned to Din's leg where the aforementioned weapon hung.

The Mandalorian stared for a moment before looking at Zakia and pointing- rather childishly- at her own blasters. "What about hers?"

Kuiil said something to the creatures, who simply shrugged and squeaked a few words back. A chuckle came from their short companion, and Mando's eyes narrowed beneath the helmet.

"They say she is a pretty lady. She may keep hers as long as they remain in the holsters." The Ugnaught shot a rather amused look in Din's direction before turning and approaching the clan.

Zakia couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She rounded the Mandalorian to stand directly in front of him. A hand slipped to his thigh, brushing against his leg in an annoyingly slow fashion to unclip the weapon.

"Don't worry, Mando." She pulled the blaster from his holster and threw a wink towards his visor. "I'll keep it safe."

Mando grumbled under his breath as she shoved the blaster into the rear waistband of her pants, covering it with the bottom of her tunic. Zakia was pulling herself back into her regular routine of sarcasm and peppiness, and Din credited the development to her emotional outpouring the night before.

He didn't have time to debate her actions further as Kuiil waved them forward, the Jawa having deemed him safe to approach. Din followed Zakia, allowing her to have the seat beside Kuiil. He sat to her left, folding his long limbs into submission beneath him. Zakia shoved stubborn curls out of her face and gave a flirty smile in the Jawas' direction. They squealed before turning back to Kuiil and speaking rapidly.

The old man turned to them. "They will trade all the parts for the beskar."

Zakia rolled her eyes. "Here we go."

"I'm not gonna trade anything. These are my parts." Din growled. "They stole them from me."

The head Jawa prattled at the trio, and Mando stuttered out something in Jawaese that even Zakia could tell wasn't right. She tugged the elastic from her hair in an attempt to re-fasten it, but was bombarded by tiny hands. Though it surprised her, she laughed aloud and tugged her blonde curls away from the assailants.

Mando swiveled in their direction and hissed in Jawa again, but Zakia laid a hand on his leg and shook her head. "It's fine."

The Mandalorian relaxed fractionally and turned back to the leader, who was giggling maniacally. It pointed at the warrior and more laughs erupted as it spoke. Zakia understood nothing but 'Wookiee', but it must have been insulting.

"You understand this?" Mando thrust his arm forward, flames shooting forth from his gauntlet. Zakia ducked down, a panicked noise escaping her that almost sounded like the terrified Jawas.

"Woah! Easy, easy." Kuiil grasped his arm, and Zakia shot up.

Their hooded friends all popped up slowly, red eyes darting back and forth to check for a second assault.

"Mando!" The blonde smacked his exposed arm, but suppressed a smile at his radical actions. "Do you want your parts back or not?"

The exhaustion was beginning to show. She kept her hand resting firmly on Mando's vambrace, preventing him from lifting it again. Zakia didn't expect him to, but she let it remain there nonetheless as a gesture of comfort. They waited as Kuiil spoke back and forth rapidly with the hooded beings. Their conversation paused as the leader pointed behind them at the child, where two Jawa were poking at it.

"Get away from it!" Mando snapped. The two offenders screeched and took off, tripping over one another to get away.

Kuiil kept up the conversation, obviously trying to drive a fair bargain for them.

"Mon Sue-kah!" They began chanting. It was repetitive, broken up by only a few other words. Kuiil facepalmed almost comically, and Zakia leaned into Mando's side. The beskar helmet tilted in her direction.

"Mon Sue-kah, what's that?" She asked quietly. Her uttering of the word sent them into a frenzy once again, and her eyes widened at their enthusiasm.

"The egg." Din murmured, turning to Kuiil. "Egg? What egg?"

They only continued chanting. "Sue-kah! Sue-kah! Sue-kah!"

Not long after, they were ushered into the sandcrawler and up to the control room. Kuiil remained in the back, talking shop with one of the larger Jawas. Zakia and Din were near the windscreen, watching the massive ship traverse uneven terrain. The child was on the far side of Din, bobbing happily in its bassinet as the Jawas poked at him curiously. Zakia was seated relatively comfortably, her petite size allowing some leeway between her head and the ceiling. Din wasn't so lucky- he was crouched over on himself, mumbling about their predicament.

"It could be worse." Zakia offered, looking to the Jawas near the child.

The only thing they offered back was a loud exclamation of "Sue-kah!"

"The egg! Yes, I've heard." Zakia said. The hooded thieves didn't understand a word, but her feigned enthusiasm had them laughing and cheering.

A sudden bump sent Din's head careening into the ceiling, the beskar ringing painfully off their steel vehicle. The entire room was full of high-pitched laughter, and Zakia shook her head. "This is going to be a long day."

They arrived almost an hour later, the sandcrawler drawing to a halt. The two humans and their charge were herded down to the hatch, where Din descended to the muddy ground below. The whole basin they had stopped in seemed to be sloppy from the rain, and Zakia wrinkled her nose.

"Great." She stepped into the mud, but Din held up a hand in front of her.

"You're not coming with me." He ordered.

"Excuse me?" Zakia stopped in her tracks and looked up Mando, "After everything the past-"

Din waved off her argument. "Don't. Listen, take my rifle up there-" he pointed to high ground above where the animal's den was supposed to be, "-and watch my back. Please."

Zakia chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before holding her hands out. "Alright, hand it over."

He did just that, pulling his bandolier off and hanging it around Zakia's shoulders. The slugs settled as a comfortable weight around her, and she nodded.

"Be careful?"

Mando nodded briskly, turning on his heel to face his innominate enemy. Zakia merely huffed before heading for the cliffside. She scaled it with relative ease, and continued along its edge until she found the optimal viewpoint.

"Alright, Din." She said to no one in particular, "Let's get in and out of here."

Zakia pulled the gravity stabilizers off of Mando's bandolier, setting two on the ground and two on the bottom of the rifle so it would hover securely above the ground and give her the best shot possible. She adjusted the stock uncomfortably against her shoulder, cursing the custom wood. It was made to fit Mando's shape and pauldrons, therefore making her use clunky and slow in comparison.

She took a few moments to focus the scope in and find Din. He was halfway across the circular clearing, the child's bassinet following him a few feet behind. It remained across the muddy circle as Mando approached the den in which the beast apparently dwelled, and Zakia swept the scope from him to the giant hole in the ground. Her heart thudded at the sight, and her fingers tightened around the trigger guard. Whatever this thing was, it had to be big to make a burrow of that magnitude.

Once the Mandalorian disappeared inside, Zakia held her breath. There was no noise, no roar. It was plain silence for a few moments, and the blonde adjusted her grip on the rifle. She lifted her head to watch outside the scope. The child remained in its cradle, seeming to watch just as intently as she.

The the firing started.

"Shit." Zakia growled. The telltale red flashes of blaster fire lit up the darkened cave entrance. She watched something launch out of the den, and recognized the shape to be Mando after a few seconds observation. He landed in the mud, covering his armor and gear in brown goo. Through the scope, she could see his chestplate barely hanging onto his chest and sparking pitifully.

"Get up, Din." She muttered, turning the crosshairs onto the cave entrance.

It emerged slowly- starting with a large, ivory horn that was probably as long as Zakia was tall. It had long, shaggy hair sprouting from a ridiculously muscular body that more than likely outweighed everyone on the planet combined.

"A mudhorn? Seriously?" Zakia kept the rifle ready, using the sights to watch Din fumble with his blaster. He tapped at the weapon, which she assumed was jammed by the mud he had been thrown into.

The beast wasted no time charging again, tossing Din across the clearing like a ragdoll. Zakia flinched and aimed at the mudhorn, pulling the trigger as the crosshairs settled on its leg. She frowned when it roared in pain, but didn't disintegrate as she had hoped. Zakia looked at the rifle, and then to the bandolier around her.

"Wrong slugs. Damn." She knew the rifle was a powerful weapon, but without the disruptor cartridges it used regular slugs. Which would barely penetrate the mudhorn's skin from her distance.

Zakia growled and reloaded, focusing on the battle beneath her. The baby had been thrust across the clearing, and the mudhorn was pulling itself out of a heap near a muddy slope. It turned back to Din's direction, front foot scraping at the mud in a universal threat. Zakia aimed at the beast's neck this time, pulling the trigger and watching the animal recoil sharply.

Unfortunately, her attempt at slowing it down only served to piss it off. It charged Din, dipping its head down and using it to flatten the Mandalorian into the mud. Zakia bit her lip to keep from crying out, thankful to see the flamethrower burst from Din's gauntlet. The fire deterred the mudhorn for a few seconds, but the effort was for nil when the cartridge ran out.

Zakia had a strong urge to abandon her post and join her partner in the clearing, but she knew it wouldn't do them any good. Din was still getting beaten to a pulp by the beast- his grappling hook shot from his vambrace to loop around the mudhorn's head. It pulled him around the clearing, and Zakia could see the Mandalorian's futile attempts to gain footing. The cable broke and he fell into the mud, once again getting thrown across the clearing.

"Dammit!" Zakia yelled. She squinted through the sights, firing off two shots as the beast paced. Mando lay unmoving near the mouth of the cave, the only sign of life his heat signature in the rifle's sights.

But her shooting seemed to rouse him and Mando staggered to his feet, armor broken and falling apart. He reached for the only remaining weapon, which happened to be a vibroknife, and held it before in. Zakia paused, looking over the scope.

There was nothing else.

"Mando, get out!" She yelled.

His helmet inclined slightly at her command, but he didn't move. The beast charged, coming at Mando full speed once again. Zakia scrambled to her knees and grabbed the rifle and stabilizers. She was about to slide down the cliff when a roar reached her ears. Zakia spun back towards the fight, knees scraping against the rocks.

"What in the…" Zakia couldn't put it into words.

The mudhorn was floating.

Hovering a body's width above the ground, legs moving as if it was running across the ground. Zakia had to remind herself to breathe, and she returned the rifle sights to her eye. Din was standing now, and his head rotated to the bassinet. Zakia followed his eyeline with the scope, heart skipping as she saw the child. She dialed in the zoom until it was clear. The child was near the edge of the cradle, one arm outstretched in the direction of the mudhorn. Zakia swung the sights back and forth between the mudhorn and the child.

It was incredible.

The animal flailed about in the air for several more moments, but came crashing down at the same time the child dropped back into its bassinet. Disoriented and unable to stand correctly, the mudhorn stumbled about for a few seconds. Zakia took its stillness to her advantage and upped the zoom. The crosshairs came to a slow halt on the mudhorn's eye, and she exhaled as she pulled the trigger.

The shot shattered the quiet that had settled after the child's actions. Din waved a thankful hand in Zakia's direction and used the mudhorn's foreleg to get back on his feet. Just for good measure, he thrust the vibroknife into its neck and twisted. It was probably unnecessary, but Din was not about to take any further chances.

Zakia clambered to her knees and pulled the strap on Mando's bandolier to tighten it around her torso. After shouldering the rifle, she slid down the muddy embankment. Mando was slouched when she made it to him, chestplate still hanging at a broken angle and randomly sparking.

"Din!" Zakia ignored the mud covering his body and slid his arm over her shoulders. The Mandalorian leaned into her warmth, allowing her to take some of his weight

"T-The kid…" He managed, pointing towards the bassinet.

Zakia nodded, looking up at his beaten helmet. "I saw."

The both approached the child. It slept fitfully in the cradle, and remained that way even after the duo fetched the disgusting, hair-covered egg for the Jawas. Din leaned heavily on Zakia as they trudged through the deep mud, but did better supporting himself once they made it back onto more solid ground. He took a moment to crush his chestplate back into a manageable position and tap at his battered vambraces. The tethered cradle floated behind them eerily, and the strange aura surrounding the group kept all of them relatively quiet.

"What is that thing?" Zakia murmured, tipping her head towards the child.

"I don't know. But it's powerful." Din replied. His voice was strained, and she could tell he was ready for bed. He had been exhausted before the Jawas tore apart the ship, let alone after everything else they'd been through.

When they topped the hill where the sandcrawler had stopped, the back hatch was lifting closed. Kuiil remained outside, yelling excitedly to the Jawas that had been preparing to leave.

"Mando! Zakia!"

Mando, egg under one arm and Zakia supporting the other, heaved a breath. "I have it. I've got the egg."

The Jawas ran down the hatch, swarming around them to grasp at the egg. Some poked at Zakia again, searching for her blonde curls. She laughed as Mando relinquished the egg and watched the little creatures prod at her back.

"Watch it." The Mandalorian half-heartedly barked, arm sliding from Zakia's shoulder to her waist. He tugged her closer despite the pain shooting through his body.

The Jawas didn't squeal at his aggression this time, too busy fussing over the egg as their leader lifted it above his head.

"Sue-kah!"

They all chanted about the egg, and Zakia looked up at Mando. "You think they raise it? It'd make a hell of a guard animal."

The Mandalorian let out a short laugh. "I guess we're going to find out."

The Jawa calling the shots handed the egg off, and withdrew a small machete.. It swung sharply down, slicing the top from the egg.

"Oh." Zakia wrinkled her nose as the same Jawa dipped a hand in and tasted the yellow yolk. "Gross."

All the Jawas participated, pushing and shoving for a taste. Mando turned away, shaking his head. Zakia gagged, and Din squeezed her hip gently.

"I don't think they're raising it."

"You don't say."

Until they were out of earshot from any wandering Jawas, their journey back to Kuiil's remained silent.. The wagon was stacked with everything from the Razor Crest, plus Din and Zakia. The child was still sleeping, the bassinet floating along beside them.

Din had told Kuiil what happened during his battle with the mudhorn, and the Ugnaught seemed strangely interested in the occurence. They all were, but Kuiil especially. It was quiet for a few minutes after the story, until the old man spoke again.

"Is it still sleeping?"

Zakia was perched on the crate they had rode on initially, while Din used it as a backrest. His helmet tipped forward, and a gloved hand gripped the edge of the cradle to give it a soft shake.

"Yes." Zakia called back, sparing Din the effort.

The Ugnaught remained silent for only a moment. "Was it injured?"

The Mandalorian shifted so one knee was bent, and he rested his arm upon it. "I don't think so. Not physically."

Kuiil nodded, and stole a glance back at his guests.

"Tell me what happened again. I still don't understand."

Zakia looked down at her partner, whose head bobbed about in pure exhaustion.

"Neither do I."

Despite initially disagreeing upon how long it would take to fix the damage done to the Razor Crest, Kuiil and Mando worked tirelessly to repair it. Between Din's knowledge of his own ship and Kuiil's mechanical skills, it was progressing quickly.

Zakia was taking the time to observe their bounty since she was next to useless when it came to anything mechanical. The child was still sleeping, eyes remaining shut throughout the pounding and welding coming from the ship. She wrung her fingers as she approached the cradle, blue eyes scanning over the baby. It was adorable, there was no denying that. Its big eyes gave it an outstanding childish appearance, even in sleep. The ears multiplied its cute factor, accenting just how small he actually was.

She was running the back of two fingers down the soft skin before she realized it, and Zakia pulled away as if she had been burned when her brain caught up. But then the same organ made her remember. It levitated the mudhorn.

And it wasn't for its own self-preservation- the child did it to protect Din. Zakia chewed on her lip, ignoring the already torn apart flesh that stung as she continued her habit. She couldn't hate something that saved her partner. It didn't seem to be evil, but it was a target. A bounty.

As if sensing her discomfort, the baby's face scrunched together. It was whining in its sleep, and Zakia sucked in a deep breath. On her own accord this time, she extended a hand to hold over its abdomen and soothe the dreams away.

"Sh, sh. It's alright, no one's gonna hurt you."

It was a blatant lie. Notwithstanding the fib, Zakia continued to coax the child away from its nightmares.

'Though I think we might be taking you into one'