Clan of Three

Part Twenty-Three

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After a tension filled night, Rael, Din, the kid, and Cobb Vanth were staked out on a rocky outcrop across from where the Krayt dragon supposedly lives. They watched silently as a Tusken led a bantha to the mouth of the abandoned sarlacc pit and tied it lead to a stake in the sand. Rael felt her shiver as the creature erupted from the sand and devoured the Tusken who had been running back to them. The Krayt dragon then disappeared back into its den, leaving the bantha. "They might be open to some fresh ideas on how to deal with this thing.", Din said as he lowered his bi-nocs.

The group rode back to the camp and started to come up with a plan. Some Tuskens had made a mock set up of the Krayt dragon's domain. "What are the bones?", Vanth asked. "That's the dragon." Din replied, watching while listening to the Tuskens' planning. "And the little rocks are supposed to be us?", Rael asked and Din nodded. "It's not to scale..." Cobb said with a touch of worry. "I think it is." Din replied before asking the Tusken who had set up the display.

"It's to scale." Din translated, confirming Cobb's fear. "I've only seen its head and neck. It's bigger than I had guessed. Might be time to rethink our arrangement" The marshal said lowly. Din ignored him and said something the the Tusken he had spoken to a moment ago. A few of them nodded and sprinkled in some more small rocks. "Now that's more like it. Where are they getting the reinforcements?", Cobb asked. "I volunteered your village." Din said casually, making both Rael and Cobb's eyes widen.

~~~~~

It had taken quite awhile to convince the village to agree to fight the Krayt dragon alongside the Sand People, but eventually they agreed. The Tuskens would keep the carcass and ichor and in return, they would never attack or raid Mos Pelgo unless a townsperson breaks the peace. "Think it'll work?", Cobb asked them as they watched the approaching Sand People. "It better. Joining forces is their only hope." Rael sighed.

The Jedi stepped off the cantina steps and began walking around the villagers and the newly arrived Tuskens as they loaded the bantha's saddle bags with weapons and supplies. As she walked past one group, a Tusken dropped a larger explosive and the villager who had handed it to him yelled, "That's an explosive! Are you trying to blow the whole place up!?". The Tusken grunted something back and this made the man go to urge forward.

Before a fight could happen, Rael jumped in between, separating the two. "It was an accident." She said calmly, trying to diffuse the tension. "He coulda-", the man began again but Rael shoved him back into his friends. "It was an accident. Let it go." She said more firmly. The man glared at her before continuing to unload the case of explosives.

Once she was sure they weren't going to wring each others' necks, Rael returned to Din's side and poked the kid's cheek playfully. "Yea this is gonna be great. Nothing could go wrong." Cobb said sarcastically.

~~~~~

It had taken about three hours to finish loading up the banthas and traveling back to the old sarlacc pit. A single Tusken ventured out over the sand and kneeled down in front of the opening. Everyone was quiet as they waited for something to happen. The Tusken stood up a moment later and signaled something back to them. "What is he saying?", Cobb asked.

"He says it's sleeping. If we listen carefully, we can hear it breathing." Din said. Rael walked steps down the dune they were perched on and knelt down in the sand. She sunk her hands into the hot surface and closed her eyes. The Force swirled around her as she slowed her breathing. Through the Force, she could see the creature tucked away deep in the pit, sleeping soundly.

She opened her eyes and stood up. "He's right. But I'll keep watch until everything's set." She called up to Din. He nodded and translated her words to the Tuskens. They made a few grunts of confusion before Din said something else. This made all the Sand People snap their heads towards her. "What did you say?", she questioned. "They didn't know you were a Jedi." He said.