Bounty (The Mandalorian x Reader)

Chapter 4

The Jawas dropped us off before we reached our destination. The dirty little thieves wanted a mudhorn egg but were too cautious to risk putting themselves in danger for it. Mando and I walked the rest of the way in silence with the child's pod floating behind us. I didn't like the idea of putting him in danger but I was not going to leave him anywhere near Jawas. Even if he was being watched by the seemingly trustworthy Ugnaught.

Mando and I drew our blasters before entering the cave. It wasn't long before I needed to switch to night vision. Mando must have also been having trouble seeing because he switched on a light attached to the side of his helmet.

"You should turn that off. You're going to wake it up," I warned. He ignored me and kept looking for the egg. Out of my peripheral vision I noticed that he had stopped to look at something and turned just in time to see an eye open.

Shit.

From outside the cave where we left him, I'm sure the child was wondering what was happening to his two nice protectors. At that time he might have heard the sound of two blasters firing and the cry of a mudhorn before Mando took a hit from its charge. Causing him to crash into me launching both of us out of the cave and into the mud.

Mando landed on top of me, his armor heavily damaged from taking the hit at full force. I groaned and pushed him off of me, "Told you so."

The mudhorn emerged from the mouth of the cave. Mando and I took aim at it but neither of our weapons fired. They had been jammed from all the mud. The mudhorn charged again, knocking both of us backwards and sending our weapons flying out of our hands. Since I wasn't wearing armor like Mando, the impact had left me dazed. I struggled to sit up as I watched the mudhorn start to charge at the child. Thankfully, Mando responded in time to move the pod out of the way.

The mudhorn turned around and charged at Mando and slammed him back into the ground. He shot flames at it before they seemed to run out, possibly jammed like the rest of our weapons. As the mudhorn backed up Mando shot a hook into its hide. Not a smart move because it began dragging him around through the mud.

He took another hit that sent him flying again. The hit must have stunned him because he didn't get up right away and even then he couldn't fully stand. At the same time I had finally managed to get to my feet only to discover that I was completely unarmed. The hit I had taken earlier not only knocked away my blaster but also the precious metal cylinder that I had kept hidden lay several feet away.

The mudhorn prepared to charge again. Mando pulled out a knife and prepared for the impact. If he took one more hit he would probably die. I was reluctant to use my powers because it would mean trouble but on the other hand, if I just let him die I would have to find another safe way off this planet with the child. I didn't need to think too heavily about it because before the mudhorn's charge could connect it began floating in the air.

When had I activated my powers? I looked at my hands, expecting to see one raised to stop the attack only to find that I hadn't used my powers. Something else had the same powers. Something else could also use the Force.

I looked around for the source to see that Mando had done the same. We both watched as the child struggled with intense focus to keep its tiny arm extended. The mudhorn lowered closer to the ground as the child began to lose consciousness, no longer containing the energy to keep the large creature in the air.

The child had been the one lifting the mudhorn. The child had been using the Force. That was why I was connected to him. In that moment I knew I had to do anything to keep him safe.

When the mudhorn landed back on the ground it tried to charge again. But this time it had chosen me as its target. I had a choice to make use the Force to retrieve the metal cylinder that sat several feet away or take the hit. I would probably die or get seriously injured if I took the hit straight on without armor. I had no choice.

I had the span of about five seconds before the mudhorn reached me. I extended my arm to the metal cylinder and it flew to my hand. I pressed the button on the side and watched as a blade of violet light extended from it. Just as the beast came within range I slashed out at it, cutting it nearly in half. I retracted the blade and stuffed the weapon back in my pocket. I turned to find Mando staring at me. He had clearly seen what I'd just done. Without a word I retrieved my blaster and walked back into the cave for the egg.

We walked back to the Jawas in awkward silence. I could tell Mando wanted to know what just happened but I wasn't willing to trust him with that information just yet. When we returned the Jawas had just started to loose interest and began closing their fortress. They stopped when the Ugnaught called out to us.

"We have it!" I announced, "We've got the egg."

The Jawas excitedly rushed to us and took the egg from my hand. They cut it open and began eating the yolk from it. Mando began to walk away to talk to the Ugnaught. Not wanting to be near the little thieves any longer, I followed.

"I'm surprised you waited," Mando told him.

"I'm surprised you two took so long," the Ugnaught returned.

After loading all of the pieces onto the Ugnaught's cart, we rode in silence on the way back to Mando's ship. "Is it still sleeping?" the Ugnaught asked breaking the silence.

"Yes."

"Was it injured?"

"I don't think so. Not physically," Mando said.

"Explain it to me again. I still don't understand what happened."

Even through the helmet I could feel Mando's questioning gaze on me, "Neither do I."

It was nighttime when we reached Mando's ship. "There's no way we're gonna get this to work without a full maintenance facility. This is going to take days to fix," Mando complained.

"You know, if you help out it might go faster," I told him.

"There is much work to do," the Ugnaught added, handing him some tools.

It only took the three of us hours to get it running again. For as old as the ship was, this was probably the best shape it's been in for a long time too.

"I can't thank you enough. Please, allow me to give you a portion of the reward," Mando offered.

"I cannot accept," he said, "You are my guests and I am therefore in your service."

"I could use another crew member with your ability, and I can pay handsomely."

"I am honored but I have worked a lifetime to finally be free of servitude."

"We understand," I told him, "Then all we can offer is our thanks."

"And I offer mine. Thank you both for bringing peace to my valley."

Mando and I watched as he mounted his steed, "And good luck with the child. May it survive and bring you a handsome reward. I have spoken."

Yes, you have a lightsaber. Yes, it is purple. It is purple because purple represents balance in the dark and light sides of the Force. Since the reader character uses the light side of the Force but is willing to do immoral things with it (aka the dark side) because she's a Bounty Hunter, I chose to give her a purple lightsaber. Plus I think it looks really cool.