PURPOSE | The Mandalorian

XXIII

Toro came to a skidding halt beside me, his eyes widening at the sight of my activated saber. "Holy shit," I heard him whisper under his breath, "That is so badass."

As much as I wanted to make a snarky reply to his compliment, I was so focused on Fennec in front of me that I couldn't be bothered. She slowly lowered her rifle, removing her helmet after turning to face us.

"I heard rumors of the black beskar stalking the galaxy again," She preened, a feline smile crossing her lips. "However, I didn't realize that I was a big enough problem to deserve your attention."

I was glad that she couldn't see the confusion that was clearly plastered on my face. I had no clue what she was talking about, but I wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing more about me that I did.

"Well, Fennec," I shrugged, stepping closer to her, "Maybe you should rethink the consequences of your occupation."

She let out a small chuckle. "That's ironic," She said, "Coming from you, Mando."

"Oh, just shut up," Toro snapped just before he lunged at her. But she handled him easily. After a few seconds of scuffling around, Fennec got the upper hand by wrapping her legs around his arm, using her strength to nearly pull his arm out of his shoulder socket.

Calican hissed and whimpered, "H— Help. Please."

Light footsteps behind me had me whipping around, the tip of my saber sparking against a large silver chest plate.

"What the!—" Din sputtered as he feigned back, nearly falling on his ass as his boot slipped on the rocks.

"Osik!" I hissed under my breath as I caught his forearm, keeping him on his feet.

He exhaled sharply. "Please don't do that again," He breathed, noticing the black mark that swiped across his chest from my saber.

I didn't reply, and soon as Din caught his balance again I let him go, spinning around to face Fennec. I commanded, my yellow saber mere inches from her face, "Release him."

Her dark eyes flared, but after a moment she eventually released him. Toro scrambled away as he got to his feet, cursing at her. Shand just laughed, her long dark braid falling over her shoulder.

Din came to a stop beside me, tossing a pair of cuffs in her lap. "Cuff yourself," He instructed.

Shand's eyes flicked from me to Din. "I've heard about you, too," She muttered as she fastened the bindings around her wrists. Once her wrists were bound, I deactivated my saber and clipped it to my belt.

"Shut it," I spat, yanking her to her feet by the handcuffs. She stumbled, falling away from me, but I kept her upright. Her eyes snapped to mine, searching my face for any sort of emotion she could play on. But she only found the cool blankness of my helmet.

I began leading her down the rocks towards our speeder, Din and Toro not far behind. But after Toro jogged a few paces to catch up, he said with a smirk, "I guess I should thank you, Fennec. You're my ticket into the Guild."

Shand just rolled her eyes, giving him a pointed glare. "You're welcome," She grumbled as I shoved her a little harder, forcing her to jump into the sand below.

As I pulled her towards our singular speeder, a smirk slowly spread across her face. "Uh oh," She drew out, looking at me out of the corner of her eye, "Looks like two of us are going to have to walk."

"I can walk," I snapped at her, "But I'll make them drag you."

Shand blanched just before I swung my leg out and tripped her. She let out a high pitched grunt when she hit the sand. Then she exhaled sharply as she slowly rolled into a sitting position, leaning her back against one of the nearby rocks.