While helping Grogu find a Jedi, an accident on Tython turned Din Djarin to a Force sensitive. Caught at a crossroads, he went back to Calodan to become the padawan of Ahsoka Tano but…Din's other life has caught up with him.
~(o.o)~
A/N: I love the story of Din Djarin and Grogu. Also I am writing this because of the force of my inspiration Pedro Pascal and not for monetary gain. I have spoken. This is the way!
1 : Yuno, Din's attendant would look like kid on the side of the road from Season 2 Episode 15-The Believer.
2: On Pinterest see Din Djarin's cute cottage in Calodan under the name Acer Wolfe at Silver Moon Inuyoukai board. You can also see the picture of the Mantis, Din's new vehicle.
Kindly leave a review to bolster my confidence and muse and tell me what you think. Thank you!
NOTE:::: THIS CHAPTER WAS WRITTEN WAY BEFORE THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT FINAL EPISODE [7] AT 2/9/22
PADAWAN
CHAPTER 32
THE FOUNDLINGS
Part II
'Vaii Bic Ru'nartimir'
(Where it began)
The Boy
"Is the 'diikut' okay?"
"Dank…!" Kraigr Laguard froze then chuckles his shock away. Damn! All he could do is ruefully shake his head. The boy had one on him again. He lost count on the number of times he lost. He just couldn't sneak up on the kid! "If I didn't know better I'd think you have eyes behind that head of yours."
"Buir?" The boy lowers his chin on his bent knees. "How's he?"
The man sighs as he looks upon the miserable-looking figure sitting on the lip of a jutting rock. "I knew I'd find you here." Shit! He hates going up there.
The boy wound his arms tighter around his knees. "Nevermind. Just curious."
Kraigr relented. "He'll heal." All he got was a sniff. He sighs as he reaches up grabbing a handhold of the rock face his foot pushes against the it making sure he doesn't fall into the chasm yawning below him. He could tell why the boy likes it here. The sunset is magnificent from this height. The big man gingerly lowers himself at the remaining space the boy opens up for him. "You have brought pride to our house today, ad'ika. Well done."
"But he got…"
"A dislocated shoulder for your gash. You're even."
"But I have to do it again before..."
Laguard was amused at the boy's confidence. They were not bragging words either. He could do it. He would do it. The boy has skills. When Kraigr brought Din into the creed he had been worried if the boy could adapt into their culture. He learned later on that the village they defended tended grain for the most part. Peaceful non-violent people: perfect victims for the powerful and the cruel in the galaxy. So coming from that background he was caught by surprise and was quite amazed when the teen exhibited an amazing talent for fighting. "That's still far in the future. Training will help you get there."
"Yes, father."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"He understands that you had to do it…"
"But I don't because…."
"That is not why, ad."
"Yes, it is. I'm still arueti…"
"Who spoke of it to you?" He bristled. Everyone is an equal. That is the creed. But children are children. They are little animals that like to poke and prod until there's a reaction. The man sighed at the boy's silence so he waited. Din would answer in his own time. Unknowingly this child has given him a lesson on patience. "Tell me."
"I just know."
That too, the 'just know' phrase that used to bugger him a lot. He thought that the boy must be going through the rebellious stage of teens and that phrase is his go to weapon of choice for his long suffering parents… until he began to believe the boy. His riduur advised him to accept the boy for who he is.
'…because he was not born from us?'
'…because he is your son.'
'He doesn't wear the helmet full time.'
'He would not have a choice after he takes the oath.'
'The Alor asks why we let him…'
'Let me talk to my vod about that.'
'We shouldn't, that's why some kids alienate him.'
'Then Din would know who his real friends are.'
-o-0-o-
The Child
He's angry at himself; his knees were not following his commands. He wants to get a hold of a crack in the wall right up there. It's so near and he could stand himself up but his hands and arms don't belong to him anymore. His hands quiver; he couldn't even hold them up too long before he gets tired. Inside his head is an entire ocean under a storm with huge waves slamming here and there. Meanwhile the volcano that is his gut threatens to erupt anytime and he wonders if the Force could help him keep it down.
He guesses the Force wouldn't but that would….
From the shadows the entire wall seemed to ripple as something moved away from it. He was quite awestruck that he forgot that he is in mortal danger. He ignored the filth that clung to his body and clothes, the cold water pain slowing him down more. He must get up, or, if his feet couldn't manage to hold him up, he would crawl. So crawl he did, backwards, quite awkwardly, his diminutive hands and feet sink and slide in the thick muck. Whatever and however he does it the most important thing is that he needs to be quiet.
The shadow continues to move. Water swilled and splashed against the wall in its wake but did nothing to improve its grimy state.
The animal keeps sniffing the air turning its head right, middle and left. It could tell something is there with it in the cage, pen or enclosure or whatever ghastly instrument of confinement it is in. It just has to find it.
The child's big brown eyes enable him to see better at night or in total darkness but what was deemed an advantage is something that he wished he didn't have now as the creature has been revealed to him fully. Don't whimper.
Why is it when one wants silence and stealth that is not what they get? He was trying his mightiest to move away for his dear life but one wrong placement of his hand and he slipped and he made a small squishy splash and…
The animal zeroed in on him with a jerk; its head and the rest of its body whipped around. And he stilled with a jerk too as he and the creature laid eyes on each other for the first time.
-o-0-o-
The Man of the Creed
Din took a deep breath before sweeping the curtain aside. In the dim room he could easily make out the form in the narrow cot.
"Dikuut!"
"Bantha!"
Din gave a helping arm for his friend to grasp. "They should put a sling to your broken head too."
"Fuck you, bantha! You gave this to me! Again!" The older man grimaces as he lifts his injured arm.
"And you gave me this!" Din threatened to pull the buy'ce up.
"Ugh! That was years ago!" Paz made a funny sound in his throat. "I don't wanna see you, ugly!"
"Come on puke! You'll make my day."
"Asshole!" They smirk as they bump fists.
With a sigh Din plunked himself on the cot across Paz. "How's the arm?"
Paz grimaces as he lifts and slightly rotates his injury. "Just don't twist the same arm next time…"
"Shit." Din leans back in the wall. "As if I have the choice!"
"Here's what we'll do," Paz leans over, "I'll give you a tap so you'll know."
"What? You might not be my opponent next time!" Din spread his hands. "See? I told you. Your head need a sling too!" Din smirks as Paz slaps his thigh in frustration.
"Well! You look good!" At the booming voice both young men hastily stand up. They bow to the men who entered the recovery room. Juno Bair, the covert leader, looks at the two inside with arms akimbo. His stance looks like he's amused and it made them a little uneasy.
"At ease, ade*!" Kraigr Laguard nods at the boys with a smile behind the helmet. The younger men's uneasy shuffle is the reaction he's looking for, that's his only form of amusement.
"Djarin, how're you doing, boy?" The covert leader nods to Din.
"I am well, alor!"
"Hm, good! You're fast on your feet. Good move there. Never hesitate. Never!"
"Thank you, sir." Din glances at Laguard. The man is looking at him, helmet at an angle: the 'proud' angle.
"Hand to hand combat is not easy. I think you have the potential to be one of the instructors at the fighting corps when you reach Oath day." Bair laid his large hand on Din's young shoulders.
Din feels like his chest is about to burst. "Thank you! I am honored that you think so, Alor! I will be better!"
"I see why your buir doesn't stop talking about you. You brought honor to your clan today. Again."
"And we must praise Paz for being stoic in the face of pain." Laguard turned his attention to the other boy.
"Thank you, commander!"
"I'm sure…"
"Alor! Alor!" A soldier stopped outside the entrance. The warrior, al'verde and the alor took two steps away talking in whispers. Laguard held up a hand to stop the two young men from following.
Din and Paz could feel the sudden tension in their stance and the boys were unaware that they drifted closer to each other, as if taking strength from each other.
To an outsider Mandalorians all look the same. Same helmets, same armor only differentiated by color but sometimes that is also hard to distinguish. Only someone adopted and grown up in the creed would know who's who. They would also know the meaning of various subtle body languages.
"It looks serious." Din whispers.
"What's it about?" Paz whispers but again the men are back.
"We need to go." Juno Bair grasped the two boys shoulders.
"What's going on, sir?" Paz gulped as the alor steps back and continues to talk to the warrior who is one of the men in charge of communications.
"It's a distress signal." Was all Kraigr Laguard said. "We need to go. You two will be in-charge of your team. Practice while we're away."
"Yes father." Kraigr squeezes Din's shoulder exchanging nods in farewell. That said, the leaders left in haste with the warrior.
"Hey bantha, they'll come back.!"
Din grimaced absentmindedly after the strong shoulder slap that staggered him. "Uh…I know…dikuut!" His chest got heavy. His hands balled into fists, his jaws clenched.
There's that feeling again.
-o-0-o-
The Child
'Tiny.'
'Eh?' That he was surprised was the understatement in a thousand years.
'Tiny. You.'
'So?' He's not out of danger yet but to talk to another being is like finding water on a desert.
'Bug.'
'Me?'
'Tiny. Will crush you…'
'Why?'
'Tiny. Not like me.'
'I'm strong.' What's that sound? 'What's that?'
'What?'
'The…' he mimics. 'sound.'
'Me.'
'What is it?'
'Laugh at you.'
'Wha-why?' His tiny back plasters on the same grimy wall. The huge lumpy and bumpy face came nearer and nearer. 'I'm not food.'
'Not good food.'
'Eh?'
'Smell…bad.'
'Bad?'
'Not eat bad food.'
'I do not…'
He gasped at a swell of icy water that swept over him. It came without warning. The smelly water almost drags him under. Bobbing back up, It lifted him about and floated him to a corner but the wave as quite strong and he slammed his head on the wall. It turned him out for a few seconds. When he came to, he sputtered and spit dirty water. In a panic he struggled to find some crack in the wall to keep him steady and upright…
Light blinked all of a sudden, startling him. Metal clanked and footsteps scrape on the rough flooring. Scared, he pulled himself up sliding along the wall hoping for somewhere to hide but a shadow loomed over him. He couldn't help but screech in fear when he was grabbed and lifted off the floor.
"Shh! Please be quiet or they might hear us!" He did not expect those words from this person. The human must have noticed his open-mouthed reaction. The man is the same person who stays behind after his session on the 'table'. The man puts a finger on his lips and made a sound. What does that mean? Hungry? Food? It might not be. Then the man pulls something out of his clothes and it glowed blue. Something glowed blue…it looked like a ring on the floor. The creature!
He heard the 'shh!' from the man again at making a shocked sound. The man looks around nervously as he uses a device to lift the animal from the water and onto a pallet outside the cage. The dripping creature couldn't fit on the pallet perfectly; its arms and legs hang over and down the rectangular carrier. The device in the man's hand changed color and the pallet began to move following the man.
The child could hear how nervous the man is; his heart is doing like 'boom-boom-boom' fast. He could hear and feel it. Every noise makes the beat go faster.
They reached a locked gate and the air here is different. The child's ears perked up. It's the outside! The man made the blinking red light on the gate lock into blue. The gate sprung open.
The child looks up at the man as he runs quickly and wonders what's the man is up to now. Is he going to kill me and that animal? Cook us? He heard that humans would eat anything on four legs. Ehhh!
Suddenly he felt a strong presence and the man looks down at him. The man stopped walking. "Don't make a …what…?"
The child frowns, what's he doing? Why doesn't he move? The child looks at where the presence is coming from. 'Patuu…' He whispers and gapes at what steps out from the woods.
"P…please!" The child was surprised at the man's voice. "I…I did as you asked."
"Under duress, yes." The woman smirks. "This is not the time we agreed upon." The man cowered at her glower. Indeed, her eyes glowed. Pretty eyes…
"Something happened." The child wonders why the man is shaking. "This one escaped…I had to find it first."
"Let me guess, one of your test subjects as well?" The child tensed as the female turns intense gray eyes on him. The child calmed a little then got distracted at the silver tattoos on the slim hand that caressed his cheek.
"Ye—yes…"
"You people disgust me." The female sneered at the man. After a second she smirks again. "I will take him."
"What?! No!" The man couldn't do anything when the woman lifted the child from his arms. "He's…he's not a part of our agreement!"
"He is now. I will not leave this little one in your 'tender' care." The glowing shackle on the animal turned off and clicked open when she touched it. The child gapes as the shackle on his hands clicked open too. "You are now free, little one." She began walking back into the woods.
"Wait! Don't take him! They will kill me!"
"That would be your comeuppance." The woman stops and faced the man again. The child gapes in shock as the human floats and with a dismissing wave of her hand he flew into the air and slammed against the wall across the woods. The man slid down against the wall. He remained motionless. The woman raises a pale brow at the child. "You worry about him? You shouldn't be, child. He doesn't deserve your pity."
-o-0-o-
The Bounty Hunter and the Asset
Sighing, he shifts his sore arm. It's the right one that fucking blurg chomped. Kuill left with them after he pointed the location of the bounty or where the bounty is hiding. The scope reveals more than two dozen Trandoshan guards/mercenaries around that complex. The hunter lifts his helmet from the scope.
There it is again. His eyes went to the heads up display in his helmet. There's a small date and time notification at the lower right corner of the headpiece. He had never found it interesting before unlike today.
He clenches his fists. He needs to focus.
He had almost forgotten this date. It suddenly sprung up in his head then he got lost in his memories, that's why that animal snuck up on him. Dank Farrik! There'll be bruises. The man made a small 'tsk' sound under his breath.
What does it matter anyway? What does this day matter?
Shit! What the hell?! What's that droid…? The heat detector showed more guards. Yes, a dozen more. He leaned back in the niche in the rock. There's more than what he could take on plus that droid.
The valley rang with blaster fire. He peeked; okay, the droid just gunned down the guards….he got an idea.
Cursing under his breath he got up and went down the side of the hill, his boots sliding on the terracotta soil. Before he left his viewing point he put all the helmet sensors settings up. He can't afford to make a fucking mistake. He wants that camtono full of beskar. Time to…. Shit. The man could hear he droid declaring its intention. The remaining guards closed all blast doors.
Great. Just great.
"IG unit stand down!" WTF, he got shot on the same sore arm! Stupid droid! What was he thinking talking to that suicidal tin can? The damn guards surrounded them and if not for his quick actions they would have been as dead as those mercenaries.
The tracking fob helped find the target and that weapon from the mercenaries demolished the blast doors real quick.
-o-0-o-
He doesn't know what's been happening outside but it sounded really bad. There was non-stop weapon's fire and then a much louder gun began firing.
The guards that kept him in this room had finished feeding him. He had been given a bath early in the morning so the meal and the warm bath made him kinda sleepy. He was about to take a nap when one of them rushed inside. The guard sounded scared. One of them closed his container and he was surprised when he heard the lock as well. He wanted to see what's happening but he felt his container being moved.
More weapons fired. It hurt his ears. He burrowed deeper in his bed under the blankets hoping it would lessen the racket from outside. He is also scared and diving under the bedding did tone down the sounds.
He had barely settled down when the container shakes a little at the sound at the door, like something fell down. Another shot. One of the guards fell. He felt him die. He also felt the others die…
Someone spoke! A human voice…and a second one is not.
He wasn't prepared to see two strangers looking down at him when they unlock his pod…they were talking about him…talking over him as if he wasn't there. As if he doesn't understand them. The two reminded him of those people when he was at the 'table.'
He flinched at the light and the deafening sound again.
What happened? He looks down at the other one. It has a smoking hole on its head. The other one stands there looking down at him. He doesn't understand.
Why?
The hunter holstered the blaster and faced his bounty. Right. Time to get out of here. He looks down at the smoking remains of the IG unit. As he does so his eyes fell on the date again. He looks back at the boy…well he looks like a child, inside the floating pod and back at the droid.
Dank Ferrik! Is this the galaxy's joke? He sighed as he extends a hand to the child feeling unexpectedly emotional all of a sudden.
His eyes went to the glowing numbers on the bottom of his visor…it reflects the date not only of the date today but the very date when Din Djarin was rescued by the Mandalorians.
-o-0-o-
The Mother
The compound is busy as all kinds of small flying and crawling creatures were already feasting on the corpses. The dead Trandoshan guards are starting to reek after three days of being left out in the sun.
She looks around looking shocked. The woman sweeps away the veil from her face revealing storm-filled gray eyes. Her footsteps hurried to the gaping open metal doors, heart thudding in dread.
But a screaming silence met her as she went deeper in the dark hold; her chest heaving, tears almost spilling in fear. Her voice full of melancholy, she calls out the child's name even when knowing deep in her heart he's gone.
On one of the crates she picked up a blanket. He tears spatter on the soft woolen material. She made it herself.
"I will find you, child, and when I find you I will kill those who took you from me."
-o-0-o-
alor'ad – captain
al'verde – commander
ade - children