Mando pulled Rapunzel behind the bar with a sharp tug on her wrist.
The cantina doors slid open again and admitted more people and a handful of droids. All dressed or painted in gold with a purple sunburst insignia on their chest. Guards.
"Where is he?" One guard called out.
A hook appeared right in Mando's field of vision. He looked up at the man attached to the hook. One of the bigger men here, covered in scars with a permanent scowl. The guy in question glanced to the side with wide eyes and back to them. Mando looked where the man hinted at and saw a small hatch. He grabbed Rapunzel's wrist again and crouch-walked to it.
The man met them there and kneeled. His eyes softened as he gazed at Rapunzel. "Go." He muttered. "Live your dream."
"Thanks." Mando and Rapunzel said at the same time. They looked at each other in startlement.
The man glared at Mando. "Not you. Your dream sticks."
Mando looked over his shoulder at the guard. Impatient. He huffed at the man's words, like he cared. He tugged on Rapunzel's wrist pointedly.
She leaned up and kissed the man on the cheek. "Thank you."
He watched in fascination as the man, probably a mercenary himself, blushed at that innocent gesture. He shook his head and nudged her through the hatch, which ended up leading to a tunnel.
They walked down the tunnel in silence. Mando ignored Rapunzel fidgeting at his side, glancing at him every few moments. He decided to save her from the obvious need to talk to him. "You did good back there."
"I know!" Rapunzel squealed. Thrilled at her day so far. She cleared her throat and tried again. More subdued and mature. "I know."
Mando shook his head, amused. He hummed a response.
"So..." Rapunzel started awkwardly. She tucked some hair behind her ear. Her eyes lingered on Mando's profile. "How long have you been a bounty hunter?"
"Most of my life." He looked over at her. "So, I know I can't ask about the tower. Your mother. The hair."
Rapunzel gave soft 'Nopes' at each subject.
"And I'm a little scared to ask about the toad-"
"Chameleon." She corrected. Pascal glared at Mando from her shoulder.
"But why haven't you gone to see the lights before now." He finished.
Rapunzel rubbed her arm. "Well-"
The ground shook and a rumbling followed.
Mando didn't even glance back. It didn't take a genius to see that the guards found the hatch to the tunnels. "Run." He pushed at her back when he saw her hesitate. "Run." He barked.
Rapunzel finally ran with a stumbled look over one shoulder to see a horde of guards and droids racing after them. They came out of the tunnel to a ledge like over hang. A valley stretched out around them. Water dripped from various high points. Even more water held back by a large wooden dam. She squinted again the glare of the sun. Slightly disoriented by the sudden change.
Soon the guards stumbled out behind them.
"Mando." Rapunzel exclaimed. "Who are they?"
He instinctually pushed her behind him with one arm. He shrugged. "Let's just say they don't like me." The other hand went for his blaster. He barely slid it out of its holster before that damn frying pan smacked him in the chest.
"Hold this." Rapunzel said with a determined glint in her eyes. Her pulse raced with adrenaline and her whole body felt like it was shaking, but she did her best to block it all out. She uncurled her hair from her arm and swung it like a rope. Her eyes narrowed on her target. A dilapidated wooden structure jutted just above another ledge. About a couple meters or so away. Doable. She thought. Hoped. She could pull Mando over when she got to that ledge. Her hair hooked on a piece of wood as expected and she tugged, cinching it down. Before she could regret her sudden decision, she swung out. Half expecting the wood to snap under her weight.
She landed on the ledge and looked back at Mando.
Mando watched, dumbfounded, as Rapunzel swung away on her hair, her pan gripped absently in one of his hands.
"Get him." The yelled command brought his attention to the current threat.
The first guard to rush at him got the pan across the face. The next one got hit under the chin and the rest ended up much the same. Getting taken down by a Mandalorian wielding a frying pan.
Mando looked down at the pan, perplexed. This had to be one of the strangest days of his life. The glare of the sun bounced off metal. Gold metal. He raised his head to see the dinted gold guard droid.
The droid leveled a sword at him. "Halt, criminal."
Mando reached for his blaster again, only to have to use the pan to deflect a blow. Metal on metal clanged and echoed in the valley. He had to focus to perry the droid with that damn pan. His arms shook with the force of each blow. It told him one thing. The droid aimed for kill, not capture.
"Mando!" Rapunzel called out.
He currently had his own problems. The droid raised the sword for a high strike and Mando took the opening. He shot out his grappling line and it clung around the droid's neck. He pulled hard and brought a knee up to meet the falling droid's face. He aimed his blaster at the droid's head only to have his whole body jerked off the ledge by his other hand. The pan flying out of his hand. Wind rushed around him as he swung in the air.
"Mando." Rapunzel called out again.
He looked up to see a cord of blond hair around his hand. And he glanced over just in time to see Rapunzel on top of another ledge of rock. Her feet braced as she strained to hold up his bulk with her hair.
He was confused by many things in that split second.
Rapunzel had hair strong enough to support his weight, over 90 kilos of mass and metal. A frying pan could actually serve as a weapon. She actually wasn't crazy for taking that as her weapon.
It all took a backseat when he managed to land onto some type of water funnel that ran from the dam to somewhere he couldn't see.
His boots hit the bottom of the structure with water sloshing up to his calves. He managed to slid his way to the ground as it slowly collapsed under him. He hit the ground with a roll and ended up on his feet running. He, surprisingly, found Rapunzel coming up alongside him. She fell in step beside him. Her hair a mass in her arms.
A large rumble ran along the valley. He could feel it under his feet. Mando risked a look back in time to see the dam fail and a wave rush straight toward them. "Run, run." He yelled. He pushed her toward the cave in front of them. It's the only escape, which doesn't say much as the water will still rush in, but they had to try.
Rapunzel cleared the cave, Mando right behind her, as air rushed pasted, enclosing them in darkness.
I want to thank everyone whose followed me from the start and my new followers. I really appreciate it. The acknowledgement keeps me motivated and writing.