See Me, See You: A Mandalorian Story

C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N

REINA'S POV

The moment Toro launched his speeder at full velocity into the vast desert, I clung to his torso as I tightly as I could and pressed my right cheek against his shoulder blade. My eyes were squeezed shut to avoid getting the blowing sand in them, blinding myself again for real. Every once in awhile along the straight path, I squinted them open to see Mando's speeder side by side with ours, and he would glance over directly at me through his Beskar helmet, as if to ask if I was alright. I nodded, my cheek rubbing Toro's back, and closed my eyes again. Toro, only once, reached one hand from its respected handle and patted her clasped arms on his diaphram.

"Hangin' in there?" He laughed, clinching back down on the handle. I nodded against his back again and shouted, "Yep, don't worry about me! Just focus on driving, please!" The actual ride was a blast, but I would've been a lot more secured personally if I was riding behind my partner. I still didn't trust this Toro Calican fully; he seemed to fail to recognize I'm 'blind' yet despite Mando assisting me since we met. He was definitely cocky, and had acquired tunnel vision when it came to the Guild. Capturing Fennec Strand would definitely convince the Guild to welcome him in.

Peeking through my eyes, I noticed Mando holding his arm out, signaling to come to a halt. The two men slowed their speeders and powered down the engines, and I finally had a moment to release my tight grip on Toro.

"Are you okay?" Mando asked me, and I almost face-palmed myself when he subconsciously revealed his first priority on the situation. Don't be obvious, dummy. I cursed. Toro reached back his hand and patted my leg, a gesture both myself and Mando disapproved of. "She's fine: I'm taking good care of her." His tone was not appreciated either. "Anyway, why are we stopping?"

"Look, up ahead." Mando moved on, but I could tell he was fighting against Toro's actions. Toro unmounted himself from our speeder and fished out a pair of bionocs, scoping out the distance. "Tusken Raiders. Heard the locals talking about this filth."

"Tuskens think they're the locals." I corrected. Everyone else is just trepassing."

"Is it so, Love? Well, whatever they call themselves, they best keep their distance." Toro scoffed.

"Yeah?" Mando's voice raised, arms crossed. "Why don't you tell them yourself?"

As if on cue, two Tusken Raiders yelled, thrusting out their weapons to ward them off. Toro instinctively hopped back, while Mando calmly approached him. At that moment, while Mando negotiated with the 'locals', Mando seemed to be taking on the role of...a mentor to Toro. Of course, I'm sure Toro didn't think that when Mando tossed over his bionocs to the raiders in exchange of passage through their lands. "Hey! Those were brand new!" Toro stammered.

"Yep, they were." Mando agreed, mounting back onto his speeder, giving me a nod, and I had to bite my tongue in order not to laugh since technically I wasn't suppose to see that. In defeat, Toro seated himself in front of me as Mando sped off. "Your partner sucks." he grumbled. It was my turn to scoff and I reached over and pecked his cheek with my lips. "He's not so bad once you get to know him. Now hurry, or we'll lose him." Clasping my arms around his torso once again, I embraced the impact of the speeder racing across the sand.

For what seemed like another hour journeying through the desert, Mando once again raised his arm to stop. "Get down." He ordered Toro, coming to me to help me off the speeder. His gloved hands were much more welcomed on my waist than Toro's.

"What? Oh." Toro stammered as he collapsed on his stomach crawling up to the dune's crest where Mando and I had already took cover.

"Now, tell me what you see." Mando instructed, and there was that moment again. We all could clearly see a Dewback with its rider, obviously deceased, still attached to its stirrup, but Mando allowed his pupil to accessed the situation. In order to get a better look to identify the rider, Mando volunteered. "Cover me. Stay down." were his instructions. "And watch her." He gestured to me before sliding down the sandy dune.