Wolven | The Mandalorian

Chapter 25: The Foundling

Chapter 25: The Foundling
Word count: 10,600
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The beachfront was littered with Mandalorians of all ages, races, and specialties. Elodie had half expected to see only the children being taught martial arts, but the entire Covert was teaching and learning from one another. Their only little community thrives on shared expertise.

On one side, there were Mandalorians taking their flight training in the Rising Phoenix and using jet packs for the first time. At the water's edge, others were shooting into the water with various projectiles.

No wonder some of the sea creatures were pissed.

Catching her eye was Grogu. He sat peacefully, meditating. Small crabs circled him and were drawn in by the alluring use of force. Din walked up beside her, coming to stand close to her. Any time she inhaled, the bicep of her crossed arm would brush against his unarmoured elbow. Memories of their brisk night together played through her mind and made her want to reach out to touch him. Hold him in the afternoon light. But she didn't know how he would feel about public displays of affection while in the company of the covert. "Is this how you trained?"

"Yes. It is a rite of passage for all apprentices, in order to take the vows. All techniques are passed on so that the knowledge is kept within the tribe." Some stations demonstrated the use of different weaponry or simply the use of hand-to-hand combat. There was a flash of flames where two Mandalorian adolescents fought against one another using the flamethrowers in their vambraces. She hummed, "I see."

He tilted his helmet down at her. "And you? I imagine Boba Fett was a good teacher."

"He was. But we never trained like this. He taught me how to wield a spear first, something that can be made from any ordinary objects around, and then a blaster. He believed I should be taught to defend myself first before he signed me up for sparring others. Trust issues, ami'right?"

Elodie brought one hand up unconsciously to play with the pendants around her neck. Din smiled at the thought. "Sounds like something he would do." Elodie looked at him strangely, eyeing his helmet like she could see the expression he was pulling underneath and the underlying tone of fondness. "Since when did the two of you become besties?"

"Since I spent a week not knowing if you and the child were dead," Her face fell from teasing to serious at the deadpan in his voice. The pain of abandonment and fear in their time apart. She forwent the previous reluctance of PDA and leaned into his left side. "I'll always find my way back to you, Ner Runi." [My soul]

The Mandalorian stared down at her, remembering his vow never to have her taken from him again.

Din caught sight of the child playing with the sand crabs where he was meant to be meditating and released a heavy sigh. He raised Elodie's hand to tap against the crown of his helmet and departed to stop the child from potentially gnawing on callous shells.

She watched him walk away, eyeing his purposeful strut.

The air around her shifted, and she felt a presence come up to her left.

Tyr Vizsla stood beside her. His mammoth height brought his shoulder to the top of her head. He may not be as stocky as Paz, but he makes up for it with his height. Tyr wasted no time to catch the woman alone on the beach front, away from her Mandalorian Riduur. [Husband]

"Are you participating in the events?"

"Oh no. I just came out here to see the covert." She smiled politely, "I never had any of this. It is nice to see everyone getting along so well. Like a community."