Broken Soul | Din Djarin

chapter thirty-two: a journey's beginning

"What's wrong, cyar'ika?"

You glance up at Din before returning to your stare into the dark street.

"I can't see anything," you grumble, looking over your shoulder. It's too dark to see anything past the dim lights that are scattered along the street. "I don't have night vision like you do."

"Then stay by my side," he chuckles, brushing your hand with his as he continues on his way.

"Like that will help with my ability to see," you scoff, continuing to glance around. The walls of the street are heavily decorated with graffiti, and there are creatures with red eyes hidden in the darkness beyond where the dim lights fade away.

"It won't... But I like having you by my side," Din murmurs softly, making you look back up at him with a smile.

"You grow more flirtatious with every day," you muse, poking the cheek of his helmet.

"You like it."

"I do."

The child whimpers from its pod as it looks around, and you reach out to hold its small clawed hand.

"It's okay, theesa," you coo, trying to calm his nerves. "I don't like not being able to see either."

The kid gives you a small smile as Din walks up to a building. The light post nearby flickers and sparks before returning to its normal lighting, and you're fighting to keep a straight face as you look up at the Twi'lek that's guarding the door.

"We're here to see Gor Koresh," Din states.

The guard looks at you with a stoic expression before letting his gaze fall to the child. When his gaze flickers back to you, you glare at him with a small frown.

"Enjoy the fights." The guard steps aside and Din walks into the building. You follow him in, glancing back at the guard one last time as the kid's pod hovers behind you.

The hallway opens up into a giant room filled with people cheering. There's a fighting ring in the center, occupied by two Gamorreans fighting it out with axes. One smacks the other across the face with the flat of its blade and you grimace at the sight of it, shaking your head in disapproval. You continue to follow Din through the crowd, continuously checking on the child as you moved, and peering through the crowd.

So this is what this has brought us to? How am I supposed to find more of our people in a place like this?

You and Din had made the hard decision to leave Endor to continue your quest of finding another Jedi just a few days ago. It had been hard to say goodbye, especially after staying there for weeks, but you knew that you had to continue with your efforts. You were thankful for the short time of peace that you were given in the comfort of the village. You'd be back... you promised the Ewoks of that.

Din had heard a tip that someone by the name of Gor Koresh could give them information on where to find more Mandalorians. Since you didn't have the faintest idea of where any Jedi were, you both had figured that Mandalorians would be a safe bet for the time being.

The fight continues in the pen, making the crowd scream and cheer with every blow that strikes the fighters. You glance up when the crowd roars with cheers to see that one of the fighters has collapsed, and the other was pumping his fists in the air to get a reaction from the spectators. The cheers mesh with the shouts of alien languages, and you pull your hood over your head to try to drown out some of the noise.

Din's stopped and sat down, trying to appear as if he was watching the fight. You sit down by his side, glancing around nonchalantly while the man on Din's other side spoke.