Wolven | The Mandalorian

Chapter 12: The Passenger

Chapter 12: The Passenger
Word Count: 7,023
*EDITED*

It was a long journey back, and they were tired from all the events that had unfolded. The two swapped positions regularly when they made pit stops to eat and rest. Din was the one driving the speeder currently, with Elodie slumped against his back and the child sleeping on the back.

She woke abruptly when she felt herself lift from the speeder at an accelerated rate. She screamed in surprise and landed in a heap after rolling to a stop. It took a moment for her to gather her bearings after having been awoken so suddenly.

A tripwire lay hooked between two cracks on either side of the gorge. Just barely visible to the naked eye. Din had caught himself more gracefully than his companions with the support of his jet pack and landed on his two feet.

The child rolled along the ground like tumbleweed.

"Get the Child!" Was shouted by the men.

Elodie threw her fist at the man who attacked her first. He fell back with a stumble but recovered quickly and came back for more.

Looking up at the sound of blaster fire, Din had shot at one of the men running to take the child, who cowered against the rocky wall of the gorge. The Mandalorian then proceeded to retract his fibercord around the gun aimed his way and bash it against the heads of the men that were attacking him.

Standing to collect the child, the two came across one of the smaller men holding the child at knifepoint. "Wait! Don't hurt him!"

The child whimpered, quivering his bottom lip at the predicament. Reluctantly, both Din and Elodie threw their blasters to the ground and held their hands up in surrender. "Don't hurt the child. If you put one mark on him, there's no place you will be able to hide from us. We can strike a bargain. There's a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick. But leave the child."

The creature shared similarities with the Jawas in its small stature, mysterious features, and unknown dialect. It spat out a few words and gestured to the jet pack after having eyed the wreckage. Din set his jaw, but relented. He unclipped the pack from his back and allowed his cape to fall. Setting the pack down slowly, he backed away, hands still raised in surrender. "Okay. Here. It's yours. Take it."

It goes to step forward, the child still in his grasp when Elodie growls. "Release the child."

As soon as he is on the ground again, he runs towards the Wolven and the creature runs off with the jet pack in his grasp. Elodie swooped up the child and cradled him to her chest. He whimpered and nuzzled his face in, while she kissed the crown of his fuzzy head. "You're okay, Ad, we won't let anything happen to you." [Child]

The Mandalorian walked up to her side, one hand around the waist of the woman and the other resting on the child's head. Both the child and her look up to him, and he wishes he had a camera to capture this very moment of them both safe in his arms.

"It's okay. You okay?" The child mumbles intelligibly and rests his head against Elodie's chest. "What are we going to do about him?" She asks, and he turns to see that the creature had not made it very far with the additional weight. "I've got it."

Din pressed a few buttons on his wrist pad. It ignited the jet pack, sending the creature with it soaring into the air. He waited a few moments before pressing the button again to allow the jet pack to land safely on the sand. The same could not be said for the creature. It slammed hard onto the ground, killing it instantly.

The kid looked up to his buir with wide eyes, and Din simply shrugged.

The two adults had to decide what was important and what to leave behind in the wreckage. Din used his Amban rifle as a bindle, hanging as much as he could carry, including the Krayt meat and weaponry.