Chapter 1 - The Child (1/2)
Signe surveyed the Trandoshan camp with her blaster sniper rifle scope. This place apparently held a bounty which she needed to find. Not really for the reward as much but no one else was having much luck with it and she was in the mood for a challenge. She checked the tracking FOB and it was definitely flashing a bit faster. The girl pocketed it before hearing the sound of blasters. She tutted in annoyance.
Now what?
Looking through her scope again, she noticed IG-11 had waltzed in, blasters blazing. The only good thing about it being there was that it was taking out the majority of the Trandoshun’s.
Doing the job for me? Thanks!
Before, she moved away from the scope, she noticed something else. Something reflected the sun and it quickly caught her eye. Scoping the area, she managed to find the source. She recognised the armour instantly. A Mandalorian. She grinned fascinated by seeing one for the first time in years. She flinched though when she saw a blaster bolt hit his helmet but of course it did nothing. The Beskar metal deflecting it with ease. Signe immediately aimed her sniper rifle blaster at the Trandoshun’s that hid on the roof. She easily got a headshot, and smirked in triumph before moving onto the next one.
Once they had been cleared, she decided it was time she made her way down to where the bounty was before the Mandalorian or IG-11 could take it. Signe carefully yet effortlessly made her way down the rock face, hearing the small battle ensue. She finally landed onto one of the rooftops, at this point everything was quiet. She looked over the edge to see many dead bodies but took note of the door that had a giant hole which had been cut out with the heavy-repeating blaster. As she walked round so that she would be above the door, she took note of a Trandoshun sneaking his way over to the door to surprise attack the Mandolorian and Droid. Timing it right, the female got out her dagger before running to the edge of the building and performing an Ariel. She landed on her feet with ease before bringing the dagger straight to the Trandoshun’s head.
From the sudden noise, the droid and the Mandalorian whipped out their blasters and shot at the young woman, only for her to quickly move out of the way and hide behind the wall.
“Easy now, I’m not attacking you,” The woman’s voice spoke, from her tone clearly annoyed from being shot at.
The Mandalorian took note of the slight accent as he looked down at the dead Trandoshan before putting his blaster away and she revealed herself to them. He seemed to just stare at her as she swung her shining blade to the side, getting any blood off before putting it back into its hold.
“You’re the sniper then,” he spoke, void of emotion.
“I am,” he was quiet for a moment as she walked closer, her attention on a FOB. He took notice of it quickly.
“You’re a Bounty Hunter too?” The female nodded before pocketing the FOB and looking to a floating pod before tilting her head toward it questioningly to the Mandalorian.
“Yeah, it’s in there,” she joined the three as the Beskar armoured Warrior pressed a button on the side that opened it.What they found was not something they expected, it was a pile of blankets and in the centre of them all was a small green creature. It’s ears and eyes were big as it stared up at the three strangers. Signe frowned in confusion.
“Wait, I thought they said it was 50 years old?” Mando asked what the female had been thinking.
“Some species age differently compared to others, it could have lived for centuries… sadly we’ll never know,” IG-11 spoke before lifting its blaster up to aim at the child.
“We should take it in alive, that’s what the client asked wasn’t it?” Signe said, frowning at the droid. She wasn’t about to let this child die. The Mandalorian nodded,
“She’s right, lower your weapon,”
“I have been told the asset was to be terminated,” before Signe could react, she heard a blaster go off. She screwed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the child dead but when she heard the sound of clanking metal, she opened them to see that the Warrior had pulled his blaster out and shot IG-11 in the head. She turned to look at the creature and smiled slightly as it looked at the two. She watched as the Mandalorian reached a finger into the pod and the child reached up to grab his hand with its three fingered hand.
“I guess I’m sharing the reward with you now then,” the Mandolorian asked.
“That would be nice, thanks,” the woman said as she gently brushed her finger against the creature’s nose, making it giggle. As they walked out the building with the bounty in tow, everything was quiet, it was clear he was not much of a talker, so Signe kept quiet too. Din kept his eyes straight ahead turning a corner the blonde had hoped to see her ship, however she noted it had been stripped clean of parts, her eyes widened in immediate worry as she ran to the shell of it and started looking around.
“What are you doing? Was this your ship?” The Mandalorian asked as he heard the girl scurry around the mess.
‘No, no, no!’
The girl ran her hands through her hair, stressfully as she walked out the wreckage. “What’s wrong?”
“My axe,” he stared at the blonde as if to silently say.
“What about it?” Signe’s head snapped toward him, eyes narrowed.
“It’s one of my main weapons, I was only planning to sneak in to get the quarry so I didn’t bring it… I bet it was those bloody Jawa’s…” she frowned glaring at the sandy dunes of Arvala - 7 with her hands on her hips as she thought to herself. “Ah what the heck, the ship was a piece of shit anyway, I just need the axe back,” she said to no one in particular as the green child and the mandalorian watched her with interest. She waved her hand dismissively before heading in a random direction.
“My ship is this way…” the Mandalorian hesitated, realising he didn’t know the girl’s name. She stopped and turned to look at him. She singularly nodded before walking toward him.
“My name’s (Y/n), by the way,” the man simply nodded before walking ahead. Signe turned to the baby who gurgled up at her as she gently booped his tiny nose before pressing the button that made the pod follow her.
The trio cautiously walked through a canyon which thankfully blocked them from the heat that sweltered the planet. Small lizards skittered about and watched them from small holes in the ground. The small child looked at them with curiosity as they passed through and babbled inquisitively. Signe turned briefly to check on the strange creature but she noticed a looming shadow. She looked up to see a Trandoshun who had leapt from a ledge in the canyon, aiming straight for the kid. The girl somehow managed to quickly kick the floating pod away and move her leg in time before the Trandoshun landed in front of her with a heavy thud, as it hissed in anguish. The Mandalorian swivelled round instantly to see what was going on but he was met with a second Trandoshun who had its blaster aimed at him. The Beskar Warrior moved to the side in the nick of time as the bolt flew by, however it still managed to skim his vulnerable arm. He hissed in pain, whipping out his blaster and taking out the lizard being. His eyes moved back to Signe who had finished the other one off with a roundhouse kick to the head, making it fall face first into the dusty stone wall hard. Knocking it out for good. Just as he went to go to check the child, a figure ran past him, it shoved the female to the side before lifting an axe high above its head in front of the pod. Din didn’t waste a second before pulling out his rifle and disintegrated the humanoid lizard. The girl huffed in anguish at being shoved onto the floor, but got up before noticing a blinking light on the sandy ground. A tracking FOB.
“Another bounty hunter,” Din’s voice filled her ears as he approached her and the pod. “You aright?”
“Yes, but shouldn’t I be asking that?” Signe asked, nodding to his arm. He waved his hand in dismissal.
“I’ll be fine,” he replied bluntly before making his way to the little green alien. The two humans checked him, and they were only met with curious brown eyes and happy gurgles.
The two adults had chosen to stop and camp out for the night. They’d managed to find wood for a fire. Signe watched the Mandalorian fiddle about with the wound he received although he barely made a noise. She looked at the child who also seemed intrigued by what the male was doing. So intrigued in fact, that he climbed out of the Pod and began waddling over to the Mandalorian. She watched the 3 fingered alien reach his little hand up. She frowned confused by what he was doing before going over to pick him. “Come on little fella, don’t bother the man when he’s working. You hungry?” The girl asked placing the child into his bundle of brown blankets as he babbled up at her before making a noise of excitement. She smiled, taking that as a yes. She headed over to her back pack, removing a rolled up fur mat before placing it down before taking off the large linen bag. She untied the string and opened it and pulled out a few clothed shapes and two wooden plates. She looked at the Mandalorian who was still focused on his wound. She proceeded to take out a white ointment and bandage too.
The girl began placing some bread and meat on each plate, along with an apple before putting all the food back into the linen sack. She took the ointment, bandage and food over to the Beskar warrior who didn’t stop with what he was doing and acknowledged her approach.
“Here’s some food and medical stuff for you, and before you say, I know you can’t take your helmet off in front of us so I’ll eat and then sleep,” He stopped briefly, still not looking at her. She made her way over to the child who happily took the lump of bread and meat, taking a bite of each and chewing messily. She rolled her eyes and smiled before sitting cross legged on the fur mat in front of her meal.
“Where are you from? I’ve never seen anyone dress like you,” the Mandalorian suddenly spoke up. The girl looked up at the male as she was taking a bite of bread. She might as well tell him.
“I’m from the planet Vicingi, it’s from the Ensom System. It’s a very remote system, chances are they didn’t even come into contact with Clone and Galactic Civil Wars,” the Mandalorians head perked up with more interest. “Have you ever heard of it?”
“I’ve heard stories of Vicingi and its people. I never expected it to be true since you know… they’re stories,”
“Well it’s closest neighbouring galaxy is The Utapau System. Only 34 parsecs away, but I’m unsure of the direction it is in,”
“So why are you not there then?” The female just stared at him for a moment, a memory flashed through her green eyes before she blinked out of it.
“That’s a story for another time. You need to eat and rest,” she said before reaching over to the child who was quietly snoring away, she closed the pod and then turned over herself, facing away from the man. Din stared at her from under his helmet, an odd reaction. She was a Viking though. Pirates, violent barbarians, but she was doing good. She didn’t seem quite Viking like though, not how he imagined them to be. When he was sure she was asleep, he removed his helmet, placing it by his side as he began his meal. Once done, he inspected the ointment that smelt odd. He had heard Viking medicine was quite good and he lathered the burn in a thin layer before covering it with the bandage. He placed his helmet back on before laying on his back on the hard ground, staring up at the sky before sleep took over his sleepy form.
The Mandalorian said they were close to his ship, not too far now. When coming over a dune, Din was almost mortified to see that his ship had been stripped of parts, the shell of it was just sitting there, vulnerable. Jawas were scurrying about picking up what they could find and putting it into their Sandcrawler which towered above them. Din made a grunt of anger before pulling out his Amban phase-pulse blaster and firing at some of the Jawas. The remaining Jawas screamed before running back to the Sandcrawler. Signe and the child watched as Din ran down the dune and took another shot at the engines. There was no way in hell he was going to let them get away. He sprinted after the Sandcrawler, catching up with ease, however trying to search a way to get up. Signe wondered how he was keeping up before deciding it was best to try and help him out, they had her axe afterall. She jogged down the dune before breaking out into a sprint, throwing off her fur cloak to lose some heavy weight and helped her in closing the distance between her and the Sandcrawler with ease. It may have been slow but it was still a moving object.
“Hey! Need a hand?” the young Viking called from behind him, both managing to stay in pace with the Sandcrawler and not run into one another. The Mandalorian twisted his head to the side before giving her a nod which she managed to make out as they ran. “Okay! Ready?” he nodded again and she linked her fingers, he lifted his left foot and Signe immediately got her hands under his boot and he took the opportunity to swiftly jump up and grab onto a ledge and hawling himself onto some ladders. The woman grunted as she took on his full weight but managed to successfully help him on the next part. She slowed to a stop as Din clambered up the side of the moving vehicle, taking the chance to catch her breath. She noticed movement by her side as the pod that held the child came to a stop next to her. The child gazed ahead before turning his little head toward her to see her surprised face. He giggled at her as she picked him up, the two watching as the Mandalorian scaled the Sandcrawler.
Signe’s eyes widened upon noticing a cliff that they were surely going to use to scrape him off the side. She was about to call out to him but Din had already noticed it and quickly managed to throw himself on a ledge. Signe let out a relieved breath, one that she didn’t realise she had been holding. Noticing that the Sandcrawler was getting further away, she placed the baby into the pod and began to jog behind, little green creature in tow. Din briefly looked at the woman below before looking up to see the Jawas had opened their windows and were now throwing bits of debris at him, hoping to throw him off, which they nearly did however the Mandalorian quickly grabbed a hold of the ladder. He was now moving to the next part where he was using narrow ledges and hand holds to get up. He attempted grabbing at a window that a Jawa was looking out of but the hooded native managed to close it on his fingers which again nearly caused the Mandalorian as he was now only holding on with one hand and foot. He got a glimpse of Signe’s worried expression who was still following along with the pod.
Erasil, give him strength in this trying time.
The woman thought, as she shook her head. Will this be a common occurrence? She noticed him use his wrist bracer and a little grappling hook shot out, hooking itself around a pole at the top of the Sandcrawler. He used this for the rest of the way which seemed a lot easier, however he wasn’t really able to dodge any debris. Din had managed to grab and throw one of the Jawas from a window who was throwing debris at him before continuing his way to the top. The Jawas were relentless, not giving him a chance to get anywhere near them. The ones that were on the top of the Sandcrawler began hitting the metal rod that Din was using to help him up and much to Din’s displeasure they were succeeding. Holly watched with a frown on her face, before deciding to put the creature back in the pod, taking her backpack off and catching up to the giant metal vehicle. With the pod in tow, Signe began closing the distance yet again before jumping onto the side and hawling herself onto the ledge. She could tell the Mandalorian was pissed off and she didn’t blame him. She began to nimbly climb up the side of the Sandcrawler using anything she could to get up, thankfully for her the 6 years of scaling that cliff face back home came to some use. She slipped every now and then but managed to find something to grab. She wasn’t far below Din now and she moved so that she was to his right. To say he was surprised to see her was an understatement, The sudden turn of his head when seeing her was enough to prove it.
“Hurry, don’t stop!” she said and he gave her a firm nod but just as he was about to take the last few steps, the metal rod snapped and he began to fall, however Signe quickly grabbed his hand, using all her strength to hold him. She grit her teeth, and made a grunt of effort pulling up to where she was. When Din found footholds, she hung her arm to rest and closed her eyes, enduring the ache before the woman felt a pat on the shoulder and heard Din finish his ascent, surprising an unsuspecting Jawa who must’ve thought he had fallen before throwing him off also.
Din finally got to the top, blaster ready but he was met with a group of Jawas, all aiming their ion blasters right at him. Din felt his heart sink at the sight before him as they all shot at him, in an instant, his body instantly went rigid as the currents of electricity ran through his system. His body then began to fall and Signe only opened her eyes when she felt something fall past her, her eyes widened in shock seeing the Mandalorians lifeless body hit the rocky ground.
“Shit,” she whispered and as she looked up, the group of Jawas stared back at her, their ion blasters now aimed at her. In that instant they fired, and just like Din before, she began to fall. She landed on the with a thump before her head hit the ground which knocked her out completely. The small green creature looked at the problems in front of him as the Sandcrawler began to disappear, both the bounty hunters were unconscious however the child sensed distress from one in particular. He floated toward the woman before slowly climbing out of the pod and approaching her. He noticed the blood in her hair and on her face. Looking more closely he noticed the large cut on her cheek and then the gash on her head. He babbled sadly before lifting a three fingered hand to her head, seeing that was the area that needed more attention and using the force, he began to heal the damaged skin. The poor creature huffed a sigh of relief and exhaustion when he was done before deciding to take a nap against the woman’s side.
The child was somehow the first to wake, he noticed how it was still daytime and that the Sandcrawler was long gone. He stood up from his spot next to the woman named Holly and made his way back to his pod and when he was in there, he just sat and waited for one of them to get up. Much to the baby’s pleasure, he didn’t have to wait long. The Beskar warrior sat up, groaning. Everything hurt terribly. He looked around before spotting a body to his right and the pod near it, he quickly stood up causing his head to ache and his vision swirled but he made his way to the unconscious woman. She was all that mattered at the moment, she didn’t have the same protection as him after all. He stumbled over to her before falling to his knees behind her. He looked at the green creature who looked at him somewhat expectantly before checking for a pulse, and he found himself relieved to feel one. He looked at the little alien who continued to watch him curiously.
“She’ll be fine,” he reassured the worried creature, who only gurgled up at him before trying to heal her face again however Din stopped him by picking him up and putting him in his pod. The child made a slight noise of annoyance that went unnoticed by Din. The man carefully peered at her before calling her name. “(Y/n), you’ve got to wake up,” he spoke quietly patting her cheek. The woman stirred, frowning when the pain became more prominent, especially when she tried sitting up which caused Din to ease her back down. “Easy now, don’t rush yourself,”
“Could you get my things, I have medicines for the pain,” she managed to say, her eyes still closed, the sun too bright. Din looked over to where her things were and nodded before carefully getting to his feet. He himself was still weak but had enough energy to get the things they needed and out of the two of them, he was the strongest. He walked the small distance slowly, taking his time to pick them up and bringing them back to his new companion who had found some energy to sit up with the child by her side. Din slumped down next to her, handing her the backpack frame. She took off the sack and opened it, pulling out some vials which held plants of all sorts. She chose one that held two stems of blue flowers which were surrounded by a blue tainted liquid that were soaking in some thickish liquid. The Mandalorian and the child watched as she cleaned the cut of blood and dirt, hissing in pain every now and then. She then proceeded to take the cork off the vial, making a small popping sound and dabbed a small amount onto a cloth that had something in it, it was tied at the top to act as some sort of handle before she gently pressed it onto the wound.
“What is that?” Din asked curiously.
“It’s Hoil, only found on my planet. It helps disinfect the wound and it numbs the pain. Don’t eat it or get any in your mouth if you need some, it’s poisonous and I don’t have much Adlary left for an antidote,” Din nodded and looked at the other vials that were filled with other different coloured plants or petals.. Ones that he also had never seen before.
“Do you need anything? Any unbearable pains?” Signe asked as she took a light pink petal from an almost cramped up bottle and began to chew on it. As much as Din didn’t want to waste more time, the splitting headache he had was awful and the blazing heat of the sun wasn’t helping.
“You got anything for headaches?” The Mandalorian grunted out suddenly as he felt a sudden burst of pain erupt in his brain. Damn those Jawas… The woman took two petals out, judging from that reaction, he was in a lot of pain. He was hesitant at first, unsure whether to take this medicine he knew very little about. Signe gave him a look of disbelief.
“Come on, I just ate one in front of you. You can either chew it or suck on it. It’s sweet too,” the ash blonde rolled her eyes. Din eventually took them from her, lifting his helmet slightly to pop them in his mouth, he noticed how she didn’t try to look as she was too busy putting things away. “That medicine is called Eosirin, completely safe to eat, obviously,” she said tying everything to the frame. “What are we doing now then?”
“I know somewhere where we can stay and we can work out what to do from there,” Signe nodded as she stood up and put the child in his pod and then held a hand out to the Mandalorian. He looked at it before taking a hold of it and she pulled him to his feet. He took note of her strong and firm grip as he handed her cloak and fur hide back and then he began to lead the way.
❊❊❊
