Just before sunrise I moved from where I sat stiffly all night, stretching my aching muscles. None of us but the child had slept all night. Which had been expected of course. However, sitting on a hard-ass cargo sled all night in the middle of a storm? Not comfy, and damn was I feeling it.

Moving against the ticking clock of the climbing sun, I gathered my still damp hair and started to twist it into a loose braid. Once I had gotten it at least somewhat manageable I stuffed the length into the back of my long black poncho, pulling the oversized hood up and over my head to obscure my face from the incoming daylight.

Reaching into the pocket of my leggings, I pulled out the charcoal gray wraps I had taken off the day before. Meticulously beginning to wrap up my arms starting with my fingers. There was 10 small strips in total, one for each finger and then two much larger strips for my arms. I wound my hands and arms carefully until everything up to my elbows was once again covered before the half-sleeves of my tunic began.

The first ray of sunlight lit up the horizon and I double checked that my hood was securely in place, a habit I had formed since arriving on this planet. Reaching down into the neck of my poncho, I pulled up the black desert scarf that was attached to the inside of it, shielding the bottom half of my face from any stray sunlight.

Sighing, I realized that if I was anymore covered I'd start looking similar to the Mandalorian in front of me.

Not having something to shield my eyes was a dangerous game that I played regularly. I was already bitter that I had to go through all of this day in and day out, goggles were just an insult to injury for me. I only wore them if I absolutely had to.

It was a knife's edge to walk, one that Kuiil disapproved of. While it had never actually happened to me, it was common knowledge for my people that our eyes burned first.

Kuiil was the first person outside of my home planet to know about my intolerance to UV rays. Which of course, duh, he was the first person I met after leaving. But it had been extremely nerve-wracking to explain it to him. To announce such a weakness out loud and trust another being with the biggest vulnerability I had.

He didn't press the issue, he didn't even ask about my home planet at all. Never asked if my people were subterranean or if we just didn't have a sun at all. He just accepted what I said and left it at that.

Trusting him was easier after that.

Despite the questions he didn't ask, I quickly discovered that Kuiil is a worrier. It's hard to catch at first, but it's there, layered deeply under his frown.

He worried far too much and in turn he thought I didn't worry enough.

He was wrong though, I worried about plenty. Just not what he worried about in regards to my safety. I hadn't had an accident yet and I doubted I ever would. This planet was safe and boring. It's how I ended up here.

Well, it was boring before he arrived.

I couldn't exactly see when we approached the Jawas' Sandcrawler, but I could hear their yelling.

I had kept my head down for the most part, my attention easily stolen by the child that I found once again in my lap. He had woken up shortly after the sun had fully risen from the horizon and without a second thought he wobbled over and climbed rather ungracefully into my lap.

I stroked the tip of his ears lightly, rhythmically, but his attention wasn't on me. He may have been sitting in my lap, but he was staring at the back of the Mandalorian just like I had done all night.

He cooed softly and tipped his head when he too heard the Jawas.

Kuiil waved, shouting a greeting. It wasn't well received.

Kuiil tipped his head slightly towards the cargo sled to address the Mandalorian behind him.

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

"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." Came the soft tone of the Mandalorian. The first thing I had heard him say since the night before.

This time I couldn't stop the abrupt laugh that tore past my lips, which made the baby laugh with me. Throwing one of my hands over my lips, I stifled the laughter the best I could. Now was not the time to celebrate the demise of my new mortal enemies.

Still, I wish I could have seen that.

As I composed myself I noticed that the Mandalorian's head was quirked just slightly to the side, his arms flexing - no doubt settling his grip firmly on the rifle in front of him. I had a weird feeling he was paying more attention to me and the kid than I first realized.

"You need to drop your rifle." Kuiil told him as we moved into the shade of the Sandcrawler, making it easier for me to look around.

The Jawas had all of the Mandalorians' ship parts spread around on the ground in weirdly organized piles. But they had turned their back on all of it in favor of holding their weapons at the ready towards the armored man.

"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion." He countered, a thin trace of annoyance in his tone that sent my curiosity spinning.

Maybe he wasn't as calm and composed as I first assumed.

I had only barely heard Kuiil's reply. Something about not getting his parts back if he didn't put down the rifle. I was too busy mulling around what he had said in my head. That certainly hadn't been in any of the stories I had heard. But it did make a lot of sense the more I thought about it. Mandalorians were recognized by several things - including the fact that they were generally armed to the teeth.

The child crawled off my lap towards the edge of the cargo sled, staring in wonder at the Jawas and their moving fortress.

The Mandalorian sighed heavily.

"Fine." He ground out, begrudgingly setting his rifle down onto the floor.

Following Kuiil's lead as he dismounted the Blurrg, the two of us climbed out of the sled. He was far more graceful than I was. It was practically unfair how easily he moved after sitting still for so long.

One of the Jawas from yesterday pointed at me, snickering.

"Aye! Shut it." I snapped, pointing a finger back at him in warning.

It's laughter got louder.

"I think you should disintegrate a few more of them." I grumbled under my breath as the Mandalorian reluctantly put his blaster on the sled at Kuiil's insistence.

Kuiil moved on ahead of us, conversing easily with the little sand-rats.

"Think so?" Came the soft reply to my right.

Surprised, I turned quickly to look at him.. but he had already moved to catch up with Kuiil, leaving me behind with the child. So.. he had a sense of humor under all that steel.

Leaning back against the cargo sled, I side-eyed my little green buddy.

"We'll let them deal with all that, yeah? We don't like those fuzzy little bastards anyways."

His ears perked up and he made what sounded like an affirmative gurgle. At least that's how I was gonna take it anyways.

I watched as Kuiil and the Mandalorian sat down with the Jawas for negotiations. Mr. Big-broad-and-tall sat down with his legs outstretched before him and I was struck by how out of place he looked. He was much too large to be sitting amongst all of them. Even his energy was too big for the situation. His body language while not overly uncomfortable was awkward, like he didn't quite know what to do with himself.

He was out of his element.

The realization hit me quickly and I tipped my head to the side, watching him more intently. He seemed confident in everything he had done so far.. but not this.

How much of his life was just intimidation and violence that this is what seemed off-putting? I knew he didn't care for the Jawas, but it wasn't just that. It wasn't something so trivial, but I couldn't put my finger on it. No matter how hard I stared at him, I couldn't get the answers out of the armor or the man.

Maybe I was reaching out at nothing, my own insatiable curiosity making me see more to this situation than what was actually there?

Maybe I should have gone over there with them, if only to give myself something other than him to focus on.

No. No. It was better I had stayed over here, the Jawa that had laughed at me earlier was shooting glances my way, I could see the little shit out of the corner of my eye. He was snickering again.

Yep, definitely better I was over here. I ached to kick the little demon in the face.

I officially had a Jawa nemesis, never thought that would happen.

Suddenly the Mandalorians voice rose loud enough for me to hear him, startling me out of contemplating murder.

"You understand this?!"

His arm shot up, fire erupting from his right vambrace. The jawas ducked to the side, shrieking.

He has a flamethrower?! I was torn between surprise and hitting myself in the forehead with a quick 'duh'. He had said weapons were part of his religion, and it shouldn't have been as startling as it was that he was armed with more than just an amban rifle and a blaster. But I still hadn't expected a flamethrower of all things.

As the surprised ebbed, I was struck with a villainous sense of disappointment. He had missed my new mortal enemy.

Movement to my right drew my attention. Two Jawas were moving closer to me and the kid. Narrowing my eyes, I pushed off the side of the sled, standing firm and watching them wearily. Why had they broken off from the others? Why weren't the involved in the negotiations with Kuiil and the Mandalorian still?

One of them reached out towards the kid and on reflex I reached out and slapped it's hand, causing it to start yelling at me in rapid Jawaese.

"Piss off!" I snapped, not even listening to what it was saying.

"Get away from it!" The Mandalorian yelled at the same time, our voices overlapping.

The kid whimpered lightly and I moved my body in front of him, blocking the Jawas' view. Reaching my hand behind me, I rested my hand onto his head, stroking gently in what I hoped was a soothing gesture.

The Jawas cursed angrily at us. A few less than polite words being tossed my way by the one I had smacked.

"Well maybe you should keep your hands to yourself." I snapped again.

I had said they were kinda cute right? Wrong. Fuck Jawas. All of them, every single one. Especially the extra stupid one I wanted to throttle.

Without removing my hand from the child's head, I rotated to face him.

"You alright little guy?"

Blinking owlishly at me once, he looked back towards his armored protector. It almost seemed like he was keeping a protective eye on him instead of the other way around.

There was something odd about this kid. I was sure of it. Maybe it was just that I had never seen anything like him, but something about him made my brain itch. And not just that, but the way he couldn't take his eyes off the Mandalorian..

I didn't know their story, I didn't know why he had the kid, or any of the details between. But I did know that he didn't know much about the little green guy either. So I couldn't imagine they had been together long, and yet..

Loud chanting in Jawaese started up behind me, pulling me out of the rabbit hole I had tried to dip into.

Egg? Egg?

What?

Confused, I swiveled back towards the excited Jawas.

Kuiil turned to look at me over his shoulder and gestured me forward with a hand, he looked resigned. An odd grim look to his features. What the hell was going on? I turned my back for a second, and suddenly the entire Jawa group was running around excited about an egg?

"Guess that's our cue."

Sighing heavily I climbed back onto the sled. Moving the floating pram closer, I reached down and scooped the little guy up and into it. This thing sure was convenient, if not a little outdated.

Before I could even hop off the sled, the pram was floating away from me towards The Mandalorian as him and Kuiil were being escorted into the sandcrawler.

Jumping down, I jogged to catch up before the ramp closed.

I definitely did not have 'ride in a sandcrawler' on my bucket list, but here we were.

Riding in a sandcrawler sucks! Pure and simple. Not only is it messy and dusty, but it's meant for a being that's roughly three feet tall.

I may be short, but I'm not Jawa short. This shit was uncomfortable.

Ducking my head to sit off in a corner, I was amazed that the Mandalorian was even fitting up front as bent in half as he was. That had to be killer on his back. The man was dedicated, I'll give him that.

A harsh bump sent us thumping into the ceiling and the Jawas cackled every single time it happened.

I was gonna kill them.

Thankfully the ride didn't last very long, the sandcrawler was fast, much faster than our Blurrg drawn sled. I practically threw myself down the ramp after the Mandalorian, eager to get away from our present company and their shitty traveling abode.

"I'm going with." I announced suddenly. Loud enough for both him and Kuiil to hear and not thinking it through in the slightest.

"No." Came the sharp but still soft retort from the helmeted man.

The Mandalorian stopped quite suddenly, twisting his upper body to look at me. With me standing further up the ramp, I was taller than him. It made me feel stupidly brave and argumentative.

I have the high ground.

There was no way in hell that I was staying behind. Not only did I feel attached to the baby at his side, but I didn't want to sit idly on my hands and wait for him to get back. I had followed him this far, surely a little further couldn't hurt?

It was probably the only adventure I'd get for the rest of my life.

"I can watch the child." I pointed at the floating pram at his side, knowing that out of everything I could say, he couldn't argue with that. "You don't want to worry about the egg and him do you?"

He sighed loudly, dramatically enough that the modulator picked it up.

"Fine."

Whether he agreed because I made a good point, or he was just done with me and everything else today, I didn't care. I would take it.

Turning on his heel he continued down the ramp, not bothering to slow his pace.

"Be safe." Kuiil spoke behind me, reminding me of his presence.

I pulled the scarf off my face, shooting him a sly smile.

"When am I not?"

He mimicked the Mandalorian and sighed heavily but didn't say anything to the contrary, even as he shook his head lightly.

Jogging down the ramp, I rushed to catch up with the brisk pace of the Mandalorian. He seemed to only have one pace. His.

As we made our way downhill the rock bled into loose dirt, making it harder to keep up with his longer legs without slipping. The small valley we were headed towards wasn't very big, it was oval shaped and hidden deeply between the rock hills surrounding us. A good place for a reclusive beast I suppose.

How did the Jawas even know about this egg anyways?

Watching the silver helmet in front of me, I nibbled my bottom lip and debated on speaking. The walk had been completely silent so far, and I was worried about breaking the tension. But I was curious, and I hated being curious.

Plus, if I didn't ask now I might not be able to before he left. And what were the odds I'd ever see him again?

I definitely couldn't do that kind of math.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead." His voice was once again in that soft and calm tone. The one he had before the Jawas had sparked his ire, before this planet had annoyed him.

"Are you a Bounty Hunter?"

I slipped on some loose dirt, sliding downhill a few feet before I regained a steady foothold, thankfully, before I ran into his back.

The child floating in his pram cooed softly as he looked around us in interest.

"Yes."

I was surprised he had answered me, and even more surprised I had been right. I wasn't stupid, I knew that not every Mandalorian was a Bounty Hunter.. but he just gave off that vibe. He seemed the type that the stories were based off, at least partially. And those were the most infamous ones - the bounty hunters - at least on my home planet that is.

The dirt quickly turned to warm mud under our feet as we reached the bottom of the incline and I had to work that much harder to not slip and fall onto my face. My boots sunk deep, the earth trying to trap me where I stood.

A warning to go no farther.

Turning to look at me and the kid, the Mandalorian moved his vambrace up and tapped a few buttons, stopping the pram at my side.

"Take care of the kid." It was an order.

"I said I would." I huffed at his retreating back.

Reaching my hand out, I gripped onto the side of the cradle. What kind of beast had they said this was? I racked my brain, trying to remember if Kuiil had ever talked about any other native species on the planet. I couldn't remember.

I really needed to start paying attention to more things than just scrap metal and wires. My lack of situational awareness was going to be my death.

In front of the Mandalorian loomed a cave. It sat low on the rock wall, dipping almost immediately downwards into the muddy earth. Shifting slightly to keep the sun at my back, I tipped my head in curiosity. It was definitely a den of some kind.. and a big one at that.

Worry crept up my spine as I watched the Mandalorian move out of sight and into the dark.

The kid whined softly.

There was silence, too much silence, and then there wasn't. Blaster fire echoed faintly, muffled by the dirt. The Mandalorian came soaring out of the cave, landing on his back with a harsh grunt.

"What the absolute fuc-"

The giant horn is what I saw first, stealing the breath out of my lungs and the words out of my mouth.

A Mudhorn.

Oh hell.

My eyes couldn't take in everything fast enough, the Mandalorian was barely sitting up, his chest piece bent and broken, dangling off his chest. I gripped onto the pram harder, my heart picking up pace in my chest.

He could handle this right?

The kid whined again and my confidence in the outcome fractured more.

The Mandalorian tried to raise his rifle to shoot, but the mud had coated every single part of him, including the rifle.

"It's clogged." I hadn't meant to put voice to the thought, and it was worse when I did. The worry bled into panic as the Mudhorn charged, once again knocking into the Mandalorian. He seemed so painstakingly human as he flew into the air and landed on his back, much closer to us this time.

I could see the painful heave of his chest as pain no doubt weaved through his nerves.

The Mudhorn's gaze tipped slowly towards the kid and I, zeroing in.

"Fuck."

Twisting, I snatched the kid out of the pram, slipping perilously in the mud as I bolted to the side as fast as I could. The mud felt like it was gripping and pulling on me, and my legs burned. Scrambling to keep upright and keep my eye on the Mudhorn I heard more than saw the crunch of the pram as the large horn knocked into it instead of us.

I could fix that later. I couldn't fix broken bodies. That was way out of my skill range.

The Mudhorn twisted as the Mandalorian moved again, angered that the predator that had come into its home still lived. It charged again, too fast for the already winded man to dodge. The hit looked worse this time, the crunch of the broken durasteel louder.

The horn came down onto his chest, pressing harshly. The fight was still in the man, and I honestly couldn't believe he was still standing. Desperation and his training no doubt the only thing keeping him going. That and good old fashioned adrenaline. The flamethrower erupted in a desperate attempt to dislodge the beast. Roaring in pain, the Mudhorn reared back as the flames licked the side of it's face.

The mud acted as it's own armor - armor that at this point could withstand its attackers weapons, where as the structural integrity of the helmeted mans' was ruined.

He was vulnerable.

The whipcord was a mistake. As soon as it connected the Mudhorn was running, dragging the Mandalorian along with it.

"Mando!" The word ripped from my throat, my heart going with it.

I really didn't want to watch a man die in front of me, not again.

I blinked and the Mudhorn knocked him into the air again, a puppet with no strings. He landed hard, unmoving. The breath seized in my lungs and I choked.

This felt wrong, so damn wrong. I was just standing here, as unmoving as he was.

It felt like a sin to see a Mandalorian knocked onto their back this many times. Worse to see one so close to death in the middle of a mud pit. All for an egg.

He shifted and I took a step forward unconsciously, he needed help. Mudhorn egg be damned, it wasn't worth his life.

Sitting up, his helmet tipped slowly to look at the two of us, his body sagged but the energy he radiated stayed firm.

"Don't interfere." His voice was raspy, pained. I barely heard the words through the modulator.

How did he know? How in tune was he to the kid and I? Even during a situation like this..

He groaned as he pulled a vibroblade from his boot, the movement was jerky and sluggish. Lifting his shaky arms, he held the blade in front of him, head bowing.

No.. no way.

He was resigned, and he wanted me to sit here?!

The Mudhorn charged and I stumbled forward.

I didn't know this man and yet.. he was like the kid in a way. I was drawn in by him, curious and horribly protective it seemed. I wasn't about to watch him die, not if there was even the slightest of chances I could help.

Survive and endure; he had to do the same.

If he couldn't, how could I have any hope to make it in this shithole of a universe?

The Mudhorn stopped suddenly, sliding in the mud, as if it was fighting against an invisible barrier.

Roaring, it tried harder to get towards the Mandalorian who still had his head bowed.

"What the.."

The Mudhorn couldn't move forward.

The child trembled in my hands, drawing my eyes downwards. His hand was outstretched, all three fingers tensed, his whole body shaking as if he was straining every single muscle. His eyes were narrowing, nearly falling shut.

No way.

Snapping my eyes back up, the Mandalorian was on his feet now, visor already locked onto the kid in my hands. The Mudhorn was floating off the ground now.

The kid went slack in my grip, his small form falling back against my chest weakly. The mudhorn fell with him. Whatever power had been holding him had broken.

The Mandalorian kicked into action, pivoting and shoving the vibroblade into the vulnerable neck of the beast. It's shuddering roar knocked them both to the ground.

One dead, one alive, one knocked out magical kid.

And me.