Broken Soul | Din Djarin

chapter two: the hunter and the hunted

As the Mandalorian kicks your blaster away, he looks down to observe your unconscious form. The cloak that you had been wearing has been torn by the branches that you had hit on your way down the forest floor. There are rips and tears in your clothes as well - the sleeve of your shirt has been torn and there are nicks in your vest. Scrapes cover your face, hands, and arms and there are twigs and leaves tangled in your hair. Your body is turned slightly to the side in a protective manner and he takes notice of the way you hold your arm tightly to your body in a lame attempt to protect yourself. You passed out from the pain and exhaustion of your escape attempt, your cheek resting against the cool dirt of the forest floor.

The Mandalorian leans down and takes your blaster from the ground, tucking it into his belt for safekeeping. Grunts pepper the air from above and he glances up to see a small teddy-bear figure standing in the branches. It was the Ewok that you had moved away from harm... staring in fear at your lifeless body and making some chirping noises as he calls out to wake you from your unconscious state. When you don't move or show any awareness, the Ewok whimpers and hurries off to get help, leaving the bounty hunter glancing back and forth between the creature and your body in confusion.

She kept them at bay... I had thought that she was trying to get them out of her way... but she was protecting them. The Mandalorian grunts as he processes what had just happened. His bounty had spoken to the Ewoks in their own language and had fear weaving through the words when you'd yelled at the creatures. He wasn't sure what you had exclaimed, but he assumed it was a warning of sorts.

The Mandalorian glances around the forest, scanning the trees for any other creatures watching him in the distance. He wanted to make sure the Ewoks weren't lying in wait to avenge their friend... the last thing he needed to deal with was a bunch of Ewoks jumping him while he dragged the bounty back to the ship. Once he was satisfied that he was in the clear, Mando hoisted your body over his shoulder, choosing to be careful with your injured side, and turned back in the direction of his ship.

On board the gunship, the bounty hunter gently sets your limp body in the co-pilot chair and places the cuffs on your hands. He leaves the cockpit to close his hangar and find a place to store your weapons and belongings. When Mando returns to the cockpit, he throws your blaster into a box he had found and observes you again to see where you may have hid any more weapons. A glint of metal shines from a hole in your cloak, and he clips the saber from your belt, observing it momentarily before placing it with your blaster. He checks your boots and belt, finding the blades and tools that you had stashed there earlier that day. A small charm - a pendant - fell from your belt as he removed the blades, clattering softly against the metal floor. The Mandalorian picks it up to observe its symbol, turning it over in his gloved hands. He looks from you to the charm and back to you again, his eyes narrowing in focus behind his visor. The symbol is familiar to him... but he's not sure why. It was a symbol of an ancient culture... maybe something he saw in cultural texts or in history books. Tucking it back into your belt, the bounty hunter stands to move the box back down to the hangar and starts up the ship. He plugs coordinates into his dashboard and looks back at your unconscious body. He doesn't know what you are, but he knows that you're expensive. The combined bounty on your head and the second target was grand - the largest sum of credits that he had ever been offered for a job. The man that had hired him had only told him that you were dangerous and clever. He had known that your capture would have some difficulties, but he acknowledges that the only reason that you went down as easily as you did was that you were protecting the Ewoks in the trees. With one last glance at the sleeping girl, the Mandalorian turns back to the dashboard and continues fiddling with switches and controls.

The rocking of the ship is what wakes you up. You shift in your seat, blinking to regain focus and squint your eyes at the glimmering stars outside the cockpit window.