Chapter 6: The Village
Cinder woke up in the storage area of the ship. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was warm. The rest had actually helped her feel better, the cuts and bruises on her limbs had healed overnight thanks to her Aura. She still felt a little sore, so she got up slowly and walked up to the cockpit of the Razor Crest. The Mandalorian was steering and looking at his computer, it seemed he had charted a course last night.
Cinder didn't want to bother him, flying a Manta was no easy task. And the Mandalorian normally slept where Cinder was sleeping the night before, but he didn't want to be in the way. So he slept in his chair while the ship was in auto-pilot. Cinder decided to go lay down, but her stomach grumbled before she walked out the door, catching the Mandalorian's attention.
"You hungry?" Djarin asked. Cinder slowly nodded. "One minute." Djarin stood up and moved to the hall of the ship. He opened a cabinet and took out a pot and canned soup. He then cooked the soup on a burner behind him. After pouring the hot soup into a bowl, Djarin took out a half loaf of bread and handed both to Cinder. "Eat as much as you need to." He moved back to the cockpit and sat down. Cinder sat next to him, sipping her soup and eating her bread.
"Are... you hungry?" she asked.
"I already ate. You can have it."
Cinder continued to eat and felt her strength return. The soup was surprisingly good, even though it seemed to be chicken noodle. Then again, she rarely had the pleasure of having soup. The bread was familiar to her, she would eat scraps of it whenever a guest left their trays outside their rooms. It was rarely enough to satisfy her hunger, but it was all she could eat. This meal, on the other hand, was just for her. And she made sure to savor every bite and sip.
After she finished, she took a look at the ship's computers. A green button entranced her, so she pressed it. A small sound was heard, and she looked around the ship. The Mandalorian didn't seem to notice.
She pressed it again. Same noise.
She laughed to herself, enjoying the little game she invented.
"It's not a toy," Djarin said.
Cinder quickly drew her hand back. It seemed there were some rules around here, and it would be smart not to do anything against them. So she decided to pass the time by talking. "Where are we?" she asked.
"Anima," Djarin answered. "Atlas won't be following us any time soon."
"Is this where your people are?"
"No. We can't go there now."
Cinder's heart began to sink. Last night, the Mandalorian promised that he would take her to his home, and she spent all night dreaming about what it would be like. She imagined meeting people that would actually take care of her, treat her like a person rather than a slave. Now, those dreams were put on hold.
Djarin saw Cinder's head lower, he knew she was upset. The least he could do was make her understand. "Saving you... put a target on my back. The Guild will be after us, and Watts will want you back. If I take us home, we could be leading them right to the other Mandalorians."
"But... you'll be able to fight. Like Sabine."
"True, but their attack was also an escape. I saw another group about to take a large airship. They were prepared to leave Atlas, they only needed the right time and opportunity."
"Us," Cinder realized.
"The Guild and Watts won't give my people enough time to prepare for an attack or evacuation. We need to lay low and wait for this to blow over."
"How long will that take?"
"At most... a couple of months."
Cinder nodded. She understood their situation, but knowing she would have to wait lowered her spirit.
"In the meantime, we're going to get you ready."
Cinder looked up. "Ready for what?"
"The Mandalorians are warriors, Cinder. I'm going to teach you everything I learned about combat and our culture. That way, you can defend yourself and truly be one of us. Once you're ready... we'll go find my people."
Cinder smiled and jumped off her seat, her spirit was found again. "Where do we start?"
"First we need to find somewhere to land. How does this place sound?"
Djarin was pointing at a computer and Cinder got a look. It was showing a picture of a small town, mostly of small houses and street vendors. A text box was next to the picture.
"Kuroyuri," she read. "Will we be safe there?"
"No broadcast towers, small population... nobody should find us here." Djarin looked to her. "And it looks like you could use some new clothes."
Cinder looked at her hospital gown, she forgot that it was the only kind of clothes she had. "Sure, let's go," she said with optimism.
Cinder walked out of a dressing room with a white shirt and gray pants. The Mandalorian was helping her find clothes at a small building and he picked out something that looked a lot like the clothes she had when he first found her. From when she worked at the Glass Unicorn.
"They seem to fit," he said. "You ready?"
"...Not really," she said, looking at the clothes. She never liked those clothes, even when she was living with her stepfamily. That was all they gave her to wear, and they didn't care that the pants were too small for her. If she was going to wear something, she wanted something that spoke to her, rather than for her. "Can I try on something else?"
The Mandalorian didn't really see the point. Clothes were clothes. But if she wanted something else... it wasn't a big deal. "Alright," he said.
Cinder began to look at other clothes. While she was doing so, the Mandalorian looked around the store to see if he could speed up the process. His eyes landed on someone at the window, someone who stood out. A dark haired woman wearing blue armor on her black shirt was staring back at him. Her right arm had red rectangular stripes and she was wearing a rifle on her back. After a few seconds, she walked away.
"That can't be good," Djarin thought to himself. He looked back to see Cinder go in the dressing room. He went to the register and pulled out a few Lien. "This should cover whatever she chooses," he said. He placed a few more on the desk. "Keep an eye on her."
The woman was shocked to see so much money in front of her. "Yes, sir," she gladly said as she counted the money.
The Mandalorian walked outside and activated the infrared sensor in his helmet. He could see the woman's footprints leading to the back of the shop. He followed them faster, fearing that she was looking for a back door. If she was, she could have Cinder right now. When he reached the back of the store, the tracks had disappeared. There was a back door, but the handle wasn't glowing red. Nobody went inside the store.
He deactivated the thermal sensor and looked around. He couldn't see anyone on the ground, so he tried looking up.
And was kicked to the ground by the woman holding onto a beam.
Djarin stumbled back a couple of feet, leaving him vulnerable to a punch to his helmet. He hit the wall but dodged another punch by the woman. When her fist made contact with the wall, Djarin punched her in the gut, which was slightly blocked by a blue Aura. Djarin grabbed her throat and pushed her away from the wall, but she hit his arm and sent a knee to his gut. Djarin used his Aura to block out the attacks, but the woman threw him against a wall.
She kicked her leg at his direction, but it made contact with the wall. She quickly looked around for her opponent, but found two fists to her face instead. She was able to block a third strike and return with two more hits to the Mandalorian's helmet.
After sending another punch to her gut, Djarin felt a fist hit his helmet and he fell to the ground. The woman was catching her breath, her Aura began to flicker. Djarin's Aura was flickering as well, he needed to finish this quickly. Activating his flamethrower, he sent his arm in the woman's direction. She stepped on it to stop the flames, and he teleported away one last time. This allowed him to catch the woman in a headlock and was applying more and more pressure. Feeling her Aura about to break, the woman used it to turn the veins on her arms blue and she elbowed Djarin in his gut. As she threw him to the ground, their Auras shattered.
They quickly pulled out their pistols and aimed at each other, Djarin on the ground and the woman standing above him. Both were catching their breath from their fight. But the woman dropped her weapon with a scream as a wave of fire found its way to her hand. The fire died down and the Mandalorian turned to see Cinder with her eyes burning and her hand extended. She was wearing gray pants and a light-beige top with no sleeves. She was also wearing a pair of gloves on her hands.
Djarin stood back up and walked over to Cinder, his weapon still pointed at their opponent. The woman raised her hands slowly. "Can I buy you a drink?" she asked.
The woman and the Mandalorian were talking in a bar, with Cinder sitting next to Djarin. The woman was taking sips of her drink while answering their questions.
"A bounty?" Djarin asked. "For how long?"
"A few months," she answered. "I thought you were coming to bring me in."
"Let's just say I'm not working at the moment," Djarin said.
"What did you do, Carasing? No... Carolsun? No wait... Kerosene?" Cinder was having a hard time remembering what the woman's name was.
"Carasynthia," the woman said slowly, slightly laughing at Cinder's attempts. "You can call me Cara. Cara Dune. As for what I did... let's say I had an early retirement from the Atlesian army."
Djarin looked at her tattooed arm. "How did a shock trooper retire early?"
"Well... it wasn't exactly a legal retirement. The good general and some of his underlings made me a bodyguard for the Council after political disputes and Grimm activity in Mantle were under control. It wasn't exactly what I signed up for. What about you, Mando?"
"We were hoping to lay low for a while. The Guild has their eyes on me and the kid."
"Well I hate to break it to you... but three people with targets on their back staying in one place spells trouble for all of us."
Djarin and Cinder were getting her hint: she wanted them to leave. "We beat you," Cinder said.
"I was here first, kid," Cara retorted.
Before Djarin could argue further, a man with a goatee and silver streaks in his black hair walked up to the trio. He had a bow and quiver on his back and was wearing a sleeveless green tailcoat over his white shirt, black pants, and open toed sandals. "Don't leave just yet," the man said.
"Hey Li," Cara greeted. "When'd you get back?"
"Just now," he answered. "I need to speak to the mayor, Cara. I think you and your friend would want to hear this."
Cara and Djarin looked at each other. "To be continued," Cara said. The Mandalorian nodded and followed her with Cinder at his side.
As they were making their way to the mayor's office, Li was looking at a group of children. A young boy in a green shirt, no older than seven, was watching a group of boys hover over a young girl. The boys were taunting the young girl over how she was "dressed all weird" and seemed to be "abandoned." Li approached closer to the bystander, with the group following him. Cinder felt a familiar anger come over her as she watched the bullies continue their teasing.
Djarin noticed this and realized what Cinder was feeling. And how Cinder might react. "Wait," he said. "He'll take care of it."
The young boy caught the attention of the bullies and tired to run away. Only to bump into Li's leg and fall down. "Father?" the young boy asked with disbelief.
"What is happening here?" Li asked. The bullies panicked and looked at each other, unsure whether to run or not. Seeing the young girl run away with a loaf of bread, they ran as well. Li looked down to his son. "Do you wish to run with the rest of them?"
"..."
The boy stood up but lowered his head in shame. Li knelt down to his son and gave him a piece of advice; "Sometimes the worst action to take...is taking no action at all. Go home. I need to speak with the mayor."
The boy watched his father walk away with the trio following him.
"Li," an old man in a gray robe greeted his visitor. "I've been expecting you."
Li slightly bowed before the man and sat down. The Mandalorian, Cinder, and Cara walked to the side. "We have a problem," Li said.
"What is it? Not enough animals on the hunting grounds?"
"I found a group of Grimm. Larger than normal."
The mayor fell into his chair, the news giving him a shock. "How far?"
"Less than a mile," Li responded.
"Will we need to evacuate?"
"There's a good chance."
"But Mistral's miles from here. We can go to the safe house."
"That leaves too much to chance," Li responded. "But there's another option." He turned to Cara and the Mandalorian. "Cara has plenty of experience with handling Grimm. And with the weapons she brought when she came here, she can help us."
"I can do that," Cara said.
Li turned to the Mandalorian. "I've heard the stories about your people, Mandalorian. We could use any help you can offer."
The Mandalorian put a hand on Cinder's shoulder. "If you let us stay, we'll help you."
"Of course," the mayor replied.
Cara turned to the Mandalorian with a grimace on her face, but Cinder walked up to her and spoke. "If you don't let him help, the Grimm will make sure none us can stay here anymore."
"..."
Cara turned to Li. "How many did you see?"
"Ten Beowolves and a Nevermore."
Cara turned to the Mandalorian and nodded. Li spoke again. "We leave at sundown."
Li was talking to his wife, a brunette woman with pink eyes wearing a green dress. Cara walked up to the house easily carrying a big metal gun, similar to a turret.
"A Dust Repeater," the Mandalorian observed. "I thought it could only be manned properly by three people."
"I'm the exception," Cara said with a grin. "And I made a few modifications on it. You bring anything useful?"
Djarin took his rifle off his back and showed it to Cara. "Recognize it?"
"Is that... an Amban sniper rifle?" she asked in bewilderment. "I thought only a prototype was made."
"You're looking at it."
The Mandalorian felt a tug on his cape and looked down to see Cinder. He knelt down to her level. "What's the plan?" she asked.
"Li's going to lead us to where the Grimm are," Djarin replied. "Cara and I can take them by surprise. Between her repeater and my rifle, they shouldn't be tough to kill."
"And the Nevermore?"
"I can handle it."
"What about me?" Cinder asked. "I can help."
The Mandalorian responded by handing her a Scroll. He had a backup one in case his gauntlet ever broke. "You're going to be our backup," he said. "I'll call if we need help."
Cinder looked at the Scroll and then to the Mandalorian. "Are you sure? I thought you wanted to teach me how to fight."
"I do, and tonight's your first lesson. Choose your battles wisely. And if you can, have a backup plan."
"Alright," Cinder said in understanding.
Djarin looked up at Li. "Can Cinder wait here until we get back?"
Li stepped aside and gestured to the house, his wife An waiting at the front door. Cinder walked up to her and waved goodbye to the Mandalorian, who waved back. She walked inside to see An and the boy from earlier. "I was just about to make dinner," An said. "Have a seat, it'll be ready soon."
Cinder slowly sat down at a table, slightly on edge. She didn't like the idea of being surrounded by strangers without the Mandalorian. But the sight of the little boy walking up to her and smiling caused her to relax a little bit.
"Welcome," he said as he slightly bowed. Cinder smiled back. "What's your name?"
"Cinder."
"My name's Lie Ren."
Li, and Cara were walking through the woods, Li leading her to the Grimm he saw. Cara had her Scroll to her ear, speaking to the Mandalorian. "The Beowolves should be easy kills," she said. "You got the Nevermore?"
"My ship is fully equipped with missiles and Dust rounds," he replied on the other end. "Tell me when you see it, I'll come straight to you."
"Got it. Hold tight."
Li was behind a tree, looking into a clearing. "Five of them up ahead."
Cara looked in Li's direction to see five Beowolves skulking around. They were most likely looking for food, as they kept sniffing the ground and looking up trees.
"Let's get started. Keep an eye out for the others."
Cara walked out towards the Beowolves while Li prepared an arrow in his bow. The Beowolves quickly turned in the direction of the new prey and began to walk towards her. Cara simply smiled and pointed the barrel of her gun at the Grimm. She pulled the trigger as soon as the first one pounced at her. Multiple rounds of Fire Dust found the unfortunate Beowolf and it disintegrated before it could hit the ground. Parts of the gun began to glow red. Not the barrel from the heat though, but the handle and sides.
Cara turned to the other Grimm as they ran towards her, only to be met with the repeating bullets and disintegrating. As soon as they were dead, an arrow flew past her left side and made contact with a Grimm that came out of the woods. The black dust disappeared to reveal a Beowolf coming close to Cara.
Acting quickly, Cara pressed a button on her gun and the colors switched to purple. She fired a few rounds at the ground beneath the Beowolf and it began to float in the air. She then swung her gun at its head, and the body hit the ground. Cara's weapon had a variety of Dust types, but the Gravity Dust was hard to come by, she had to use it sparingly.
A loud screech was heard and Cara looked up just in time to see a dark object fly over her. She quickly took out her Scroll and held it on her ear. "It's here."
"On my way."
The sound of two more arrows flying behind Cara caused her to turn around and see an Alpha Beowolf, Li having killed the other two Grimm. Realizing this was the last one, Cara decided to beat this one more... fairly than the rest. She dropped her gun and got in a fighting stance. The Beowolf charged and Cara sent a fist into its skull. It quickly recovered and swiped its claws at her, which she blocked with her arm. Before Cara could punch it again, the Grimm caught her fist and bit her shoulder. Her Aura made sure the teeth couldn't get into her skin and she pushed the Grimm away. The veins on her arms suddenly began to turn blue. The Grimm didn't notice this and pounced again. But this time, its skull cracked open as Cara's fist collided into it. The Grimm turned to dust and disappeared.
"You should have done that earlier," Li said. He was referring to Cara's Semblance, which she called "Dirty Boxing."
"No fun in that," Cara said with a smirk.
*BOOM*
*CRASH*
The sounds from behind them caused Li and Cara to run deeper into the woods. They found a disintegrating Nevermore and a gray Manta landing next to it. The Mandalorian was walking out one of the doors. "Nice work," Cara said.
"How were things down here?" he asked.
"Under control," Li said. "It seems we can-"
The sound of trees crashing caused the trio to look into the woods. They raised their weapons as the crashing became louder. But nobody could see anything.
"Li, you sure it was just the Beowolves and Nevermore?" Cara asked.
"I... I'm sure. They were all I saw," Li replied.
Djarin activated the infrared sensor in his helmet and looked into the woods. He was able to see what was causing the sound... but he didn't like what he saw. "That can't be possible," Djarin said to himself.
"What is it?" Cara asked, able to hear him whispering.
A long black arm grabbed Li and pushed him against the Razor Crest. Before the Mandalorian and Cara could react, the arm moved and pushed the duo into the trees. It let go of Li and he hit a tree. Djarin recovered to watch the beast move away from his ship and down the path towards Kuroyuri. "You okay?" he asked Cara.
"Fine," she answered as she stood up. "Where's Li?"
A groan to her left answered her question. Li was struggling to get up, the impact had hurt him badly. "What... What was that?" Li asked.
"A Mythosaur," Djarin answered.
"A what?" Cara asked as she helped Li stand up.
Djarin turned to his partners. "You call it a Nuckelavee." Cara's jaw dropped, realizing what kind of Grimm it was. "And it's heading back to the village."
Cinder was looking at a small fire she made in her hand. While waiting for the Mandalorian, she took the time to experiment with her new powers. At first, she was scared of them. Everything was happening so fast when she discovered she had them, when she accidentally destroyed Pietro's door. After some time making fire outside the house, Cinder learned her powers could amplify when she was angry. She felt calm and collected at the moment, hence the small fire. The Mandalorian had told her she was able to use wind with the Rinocer, but she accidentally broke a vase in the house when she tried it. So she decided to focus on fire.
Cinder had to admit, she was curious about how these powers came to her. All she could figure out was that the orange light that came to her was responsible. But what did that mean? Did Lila choose to pass them down to her? Or did the light choose her? And where did it come from in the first place?
A soft beeping snapped Cinder back to reality. She saw that the Scroll Djarin had given her was flashing and moving. She picked it up and put it on her ear. "Hello?" she asked.
"Cinder, where are you?!" the Mandalorian asked quickly.
"I... I'm still at the Ren house. What's going on?"
"Something big is coming your way! I need you to warn the mayor now!"
Cinder quickly ran outside the house to the tallest building in the village, where the mayor was waiting. "The Grimm are coming!" she yelled as she burst inside. A younger man in the room had a look of pure fear on his face, just like the old man sitting to his left.
"Sound the alarm!" the mayor yelled at his assistant. The man ran up the stairs and a bell started to ring. Cinder quickly put the Scroll to her ear.
"It's done! What now?"
"Come into the town square, I'll meet you there."
Cinder ran to a clearing in the town, where the Razor Crest was waiting with open doors and a long scratch on the side. Cinder rushed inside to see Cara, Li, and Djarin looking at her. "You okay?" Djarin asked.
"I'm fine. What's going-Wait, wait!" Cinder cries to Li fell on deaf ears, he was running from the ship and towards the houses.
"Get us in the air!" Cara yelled. Djarin took the ship off the ground and flew towards the entrance of Kuroyuri. Cinder rushed next to the Mandalorian and looked out the window. She looked to see a new kind of Grimm. It was a horse with toes on its two front feet and hooves on its back legs. It had exposed ribs on its stomach and something that looked... human on top. Only this figure had two long arms that reached the ground. Its head had two long horns on it, and the rest of the black body was merged to the horse. Cinder placed a hand on her mouth, unprepared to see this distorted Grimm. It let out a loud shriek and Cinder grabbed her ears. Djarin was holding a button on his control panel, and a rain of Dust rounds fell onto the Grimm. But it wasn't fazed. In fact, the bullets seemed to make it angry. It launched its arms into two houses and destroyed them.
"Use your missiles!" Cara yelled.
"I can't, my launcher's jammed!" Djarin yelled. When the Grimm grabbed Li and hit him against the ship, it did some damage to the missile launcher. Cara went to the side of the ship and fired her repeater at the Grimm. Again, the bullets didn't affect it. "Cinder, hand Cara my rifle!"
Cinder quickly grabbed the rifle and Cara took it. She fired a shot at the horse, but it didn't disintegrate. "No good!" Cara said as she lowered the rifle.
"We'll need to fight it head on," Djarin said. "I'll land in the forest and we'll head back."
"Whoa, whoa, you wanna fight that thing face-to-face? You can't be serious!"
"My people have done it before. I know their strategy, we can use it again." The Mandalorian landed as close to the village as he could. When the trio were at the entrance, Djarin knelt down to Cinder. "Cinder, I need you to go in every house and find as many weapons as you can. Swords, spears, find anything long and sharp for us." Cinder ran into the first house she saw. Djarin turned to Cara. "We need to get everyone off the streets. They'll be in the way."
"That's already taken care of. There's a safe house that everyone should be going to."
"Then we'll focus on the Grimm."
They ran past people going to the safe house and found the Grimm. Li was shooting arrows at it and screaming. After Li fired his last arrow, Djarin fired his wire and it wrapped around Li's waist. He pulled just in time, the Grimm's arm crashed into the spot where he once stood. Li looked up at his savior.
"You're here!" he said. He sounded surprised to see his savior. "I thought you-!"
"We're not done yet," Djarin said as he pulled out his pistol.
Cara helped him stand. "Get to the safe house, we'll handle this."
"No, I need to find my son!" Li said as he looked around. "Lie! Lie!"
Djarin saw the Grimm approach closer. "Get out of here!"
Cara pushed Li aside and pulled out her repeater. She fired a few rounds to keep it from going after Li. Once he was a safe distance away, they both jumped aside to avoid the long arm that shot at them. "What's the plan, Mando?!" Cara yelled.
"Run! Move in a circle!" Djarin said as he began to run.
Cara ran in the opposite direction of the Mandalorian, both of them encircling the Grimm. Cara had to admit, she wasn't so sure she could win this fight. This Grimm seemed invulnerable to Dust rounds, which was the best kind of weapons they had compared to the rest of the village. They could confuse the Grimm right now, but what good would that do?
Djarin wasn't lying about the strategy. When he was a Foundling, he had heard the story of how the first settlers of his village defeated their Mythosaur dozens of times. He knew the story by heart. All he needed to do right now was keep it distracted long enough for Cinder to find enough weapons. If his plan worked out, the fight would be over soon.
But the funny thing about plans is... they can blow up in people's faces from time to time. And when the Grimm swung both of its arms in a circle and hit its targets, that's when Djarin knew his plan had blown up in his face.
The duo were pinned to a wall as soon as the Grimm stopped spinning. Its grip on the two began to grow tighter and tighter, and their Auras began to flicker. The arms suddenly retracted and the two fell to the ground as the Grimm shrieked in pain. Djarin looked up to see Cinder sending a wave of fire at the humanoid figure. The fire died down and Cinder ran to the Mandalorian, her eyes still on fire. "These were all I could find!" Cinder said as she laid a sword and spear down in front of him.
"These will work!" Djarin reassured her. Seeing Cara stand back up, he handed her the sword and spear. "Stay close. Once you see the opening, stab its arms." He quickly turned to Cinder before Cara could ask what opening she was looking for. "Cinder, can you use your powers on the horse?"
Cinder looked up at a partially destroyed building. "I think I have a better idea. Keep it close to this building."
Djarin walked up to the Grimm. The humanoid began to expose part of its spine and let out the loudest shriek yet. Cinder and Cara covered their ears. The Mandalorian was unfazed. In retaliation, the Grimm sent one of its arms in Djarin's direction. Only to make contact with thin air and the ground. When Cara saw the Mandalorian reappear close to the other arm, she realized what his plan was. He would teleport out of harm's way just the moment before the Grimm made contact with him. This would leaving an opening to take out its greatest weapons. Seeing her chance, she took the sword and stabbed the arm into the ground.
The Grimm lifted up its head and let out a loud scream of agony, failing to notice Cara run up to the Mandalorian.
"Again," Djarin ordered as he disappeared. Cara stabbed the spear into the ground, trapping the second arm. The Grimm let out another scream. Djarin reappeared next to Cara. The horse began to move closer to the duo but stopped. It began to pull even further, and the weapons began to shake loose.
"Where's the kid?!" Cara yelled.
A loud creak caught their attention ,and they saw Cinder burning the support beams of the building she was talking about. The building began to fall in their direction, but Djarin grabbed Cara and teleported out of harm's way. The building fell on top of the Grimm. Cinder fell to the ground. The beams had taken longer than she thought to burn, it took a lot out of her. She looked up to see the Mandalorian run up to her.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah... just tired." Cinder replied. "Did it work?"
"Next time, give me a warning before doing something like that."
A loud screech caught his attention. The building was on top of the Grimm, but the humanoid was still alive. It was clear of debris and screaming at the top of its lungs.
"Hold that thought," Djarin said as he walked up to the Grimm. It screamed louder and louder at its enemy, but the Mandalorian was unfazed. All he did was point his blaster at the exposed skull and say one word.
"Die."
He pulled the trigger.
One week later
Everywhere Cara looked, people were working. Fixing their houses, helping the wounded recover, and scavenge the remains of buildings for anything useful. At the moment, she was moving back and forth from the forest to the village, helping gather wood to repair the houses.
The Mandalorian's plan had worked out in the end. A lot damage was done, that's true, but everyone didn't seem to care about that. If he wasn't there in the first place, things would have been a lot worse. Possibly catastrophic.
At the moment, two of Kuroyuri's heroes were standing next to Li and two children. He found his son protecting the young girl he saw get bullied by the group of boys he was watching. When he learned she had no family, Li welcomed her into his (currently demolished) home. His son eagerly welcomed her as well, knowing that this would be the best action to take. Li's wife tragically lost her life when the Grimm was destroying the village. He was making his daily visit with his son and newly adopted daughter, with the Mandalorian and Cinder joining him.
"I... don't know how to thank you," Li said to Djarin. "As we previously discussed, you're free to stay as long as you like. But I still can't thank you enough."
"My pleasure," Djarin said.
"And, I want to apologize," Li continued. Djarin and Cinder turned to him. "When I saw you take your ship, I was certain you abandoned the fight. But I was wrong." He bowed his head. "Please forgive me."
"I would have thought the same thing," the Mandalorian replied. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Li raised his head and looked to his son. "It'll be hard, being without her."
Lie Ren held his father's hand. "But we will be strong," the boy said. "And one day, I'll be strong enough to do what you did for us."
There was a time when Li thought he would never see his son again. But now, he was happy to see him alive and well. He was even proud of his newly found bravery. Djarin left with Cinder to see what he could do to help with the repairs.
"Can I ask you something?" Cinder said as she looked up to the Mandalorian.
Djarin looked down to her. "What is it?"
"I was thinking about leaving too. We had the ship, and fighting that Grimm was challenge. Why did you decide to stay?"
Djarin kneeled down to her level. "You're not wrong, Cinder. We had the perfect chance to leave, and finding another place would have been easy. But we promised that we would help."
Cinder looked down, a sad expression on her face. "Mando... I was promised a home when I was taken to Atlas. And Watts promised to help me find out how I got my powers. But... look where I am now."
Djarin understood her point of view. Promises made to Cinder were always broken. And there may be a part of her that doubted he would take her back to his people. Now was the best time to change that.
So Djarin removed something from his neck and placed it in Cinder's hands. She looked in her hand to see a necklace with a metal skull on it. A Mythosaur's skull. "Cinder, do you remember the creed I told you about?" he asked.
Cinder looked up and nodded. "The Way of the Mandalore."
"One rule of the creed is to never break your word. Which is why I can honestly tell you that the promise I'm going to make you can't be broken. I'm going to train you, teach you, and you will be a Mandalorian."
"...You won't break it?"
Djarin shook his head. "This is the Way."
Cinder put the necklace on and smiled at the Mandalorian.
*BANG*
Djarin and Cinder quickly turned to the forest. People around them started to scream and run away. Djarin pulled out his blaster and ran to the forest. Cinder followed him.
"Over here!" Cara yelled. She was standing over a dead body holding a rifle. "I found him pointing his gun at everyone."
The Mandalorian's eyes fell on a tracking fob the man was holding. He was a bounty hunter.
"Who was he tracking?" Cara asked.
"...Me," Cinder replied.
Watts was sitting alone at a desk, looking into a microscope. His Scroll was next to him, making a recording of his observations.
"Project notes, day one," he said as he looked into his microscope. "Leonardo and I unfortunately lost our specimen, but not before I could obtain a few samples of her blood. The girl's blood type is O negative, normal count of white and red blood cells. There doesn't seem to be any trace of foreign material or any mutations in her DNA."
Watts stood up and picked up a needle.
"Based on the recordings from that IG-unit, that girl was the one we were looking for. But based on her blood tests, she's perfectly normal."
He took the needle into a vial of Cinder's blood and pulled the end of it, making some of the blood fill the needle.
"But your theory is sound, and I can't say the possibility doesn't exist."
He moved to a Faunus with short brown hair, stripes on her shoulders, and tiger ears, who was sitting on a chair and looking at Watts.
"Leonardo set up this 'home away from home' in Mistral for me. Aurora arrived earlier today, and we'll be starting our initial tests." He rubbed a wet cotton ball on her arm and prepared to begin his experiment. "Are you ready, dear?"
The Faunus spoke this time. "Let's do it, doc."
Watts pressed the needle into her arm and sent Cinder's blood into the woman's body. "We'll be sending you this recording and any sign of progress soon," he promised.
The Faunus spoke again. "Wish us luck."
Author's notes: hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it was a long one. Also, I will be starting a job this week, so I may not be able to update as soon as I normally do. But I'm not going to stop writing any time soon.
To 23debal01, can't answer that yet. You'll have to wait and see.
To The Avenging Titan, I couldn't make Gideon a general. You'll understand why. And yes, Rhodes' death must have been unexpected. As for Sabine, you'll see why I have her here.
To Rook435, thank you for your kind words. I should remind you that Cinder didn't actually meet Rhodes in this story. Her meeting with him was replaced with meeting Djarin. Thank you for your support.
To D.N Works, Cinder can still use her powers. You'll learn about her blood later (but the last scene may help you get an idea).
To GojiraFan455515, glad you're excited and you like the characters I put here.
To 54godamora, glad you like Sabine. Yes, I changed Moff Gideon's rank since I doubt the Atlesian army has a rank of "Moff". Glad I impressed you.
To Mandalorian00, very funny letter! You'll see more of Ironwood later, glad you liked him.
To The Critisizer, let me explain. I am following some canon ideas from the Mandalorian and RWBY. My goal is to make something original with some borrowed concepts. I know the idea of Cinder's blood may not make sense NOW, but it will later on. There is a reason why Watts took it (you're right, he's no fool). It helps with the story in the future, trust me. Leo led Watts back to Mistral after being in Atlas for a short time. As for Atlas being the baddies, I have a plan about this. Just bear with me and you'll have answers in a few chapters.
Anyways, that's all I have right now. Please review, and thanks for reading!