Across the Universe | D. Djarin

More is not merrier

I groaned to myself and stretched my back. The Tuskens had given us a Bantha each to ride and the motion was starting to make my body fall asleep. I shifted my hips slightly to try and get more comfortable but it didn't seem to work very well.

The caravan of Bantha eventually came to a stop at the top of a large, sandy mountain. Everyone began to dismount their Bantha. I swung my left leg over the saddle so I could jump off. Banthas were pretty large animals so the drop down to the ground was pretty high.

I went to push myself off when Din appeared by my side. He outstretched his hand towards me to help me down from the tall animal. I smiled gently at him and took his hand in my own. I pushed myself off of the bantha and dropped down onto the sandy ground.

Din released my hand when I stood on the ground again. "Thank you." I smiled at him. 

"No problem." He said quietly as we both walked towards the edge of the cliff where the Tuskens were.

Three of them sat down on a large rock at the very edge of the cliff that looked down onto the cavern. Cobb Vanth had also decided to sit down beside them, though he had perched himself on a separate rock. Din and I joined them. I lowered myself down onto the hard rock and bent my knees so I was comfortable.

I sat in between Din and Cobb Vanth. The view that was directly in front of us made my chest tighten with fear. It was an extremely large hole in the side of the large mountain. I couldn't see very far into it, the further in It went, the darker it got.

This was definitely the home of the Krayt dragon. And that didn't make me feel any less terrified of the large, dark cave.

I then spotted a Tusken raider down at the bottom of the cavern. He had a Bantha attached to a rope and was walking towards the extremely large cave. I frowned in concern at the sight. What was he doing down there?

One of the Tuskens then turned to Din and said something to him. He turned his helmet towards Cobb Vanth and I and began to translate.

"They say it lives in there. They say it sleeps." Din said. The Tusken then handed Din a pair of binoculars. He took them and held them up to his visor so he could get a closer look at the cave.

"It lived in an abandoned sarlacc pit." Din added

"Lived on Tatooine my whole life. There's no such thing as an abandoned sarlacc pit." Cobb Vanth said.

"There is if you eat the sarlacc." Din replied. The thought made me clench my muscles in fear for a moment.

"They're laying out a bantha to protect the settlement. They've studied its digestion cycle for generations." Din explained.

I frowned slightly at his words. They were going to sacrifice the Bantha to protect themselves. Of course it made sense, but it didn't make it any less sad for the animal.

"They feed the dragon to make it sleep longer. Watch, the dragon will appear." Din said to us.

I almost jumped when the Tusken began to yell into the tunnel, trying to get the attention of the dragon. There was a moment of silence before there was an extremely loud, low growl from inside.

I tensed up and my hands tightened, I gripped onto the rock below me as fear stabbed at my chest. The noise seemed to echo around the cavern.

The Tusken turned on his heels and began to run as fast as he could. The ground began to rumble and shake behind him like it had done at Mos Pelgo. My heart pounded in my chest when the Tusken tripped and stumbled slightly before he continued to run.

Then, I saw it, the mouth of a massive creature came out of the darkness. Rows of large, sharp teeth lined its massive maw.

The animal moved quickly, but unfortunately it moved straight past the Bantha and headed for the Tusken. I gasped and put my hand over my mouth as the dragon bit down on the Tusken and swallowed him whole.