The sun's light found them a few short hours later, and Din carefully sat up. He was still injured, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday, and the bacta would probably have him fully healed by the end of the day. Now they needed to get up and find the rest of their team before that creature found them. “Sun's up, you two.” “Seems you're feeling better,” M'Raiya said with a smile as she stretched and handed him his vest and chest plate. Once those were on, he attached the jet pack and picked up Grogu, who rubbed his eyes and complained that he wanted to sleep more. “Good enough to find A'den and Isslan so we can kill that beast.” They headed outside to the ledge, quickly scanning the canyon, but it seemed they were alone. “Let's hurry back to the bike and hope it's salvageable.” Getting the Jedi down to the ground, they ran back to the speeder, which didn't seem to be too worse for wear. The back end was flattened, but the attack had somehow managed to miss the engine, and it started
Din blinked, not entirely understanding what he'd just heard. How did she know what the Dark Saber meant to his people? How much had A'den shared with them? “How much do you know?” “I've been to the Ordo compound, and spoken with their historians. I saw the ancient mosaics and heard the great epochs. I know of Tarre Vizla and the unique light-saber he forged, and what it means to your people. How it was stolen by a Sith and then lost until returned to Bo-Katan of House and Clan Kryze. When the Empire attacked Mandalore, it was lost again.” “I reclaimed it from the Moff who stole it from us.” There was a long pause. “Did you kill him?” Her voice had gone icy, and Din was a bit taken aback. “No, I turned him over to the Republic for interrogation.” “Oh... I guess that's all right.” He was reminded of the conversation where she'd said the word “imperial” like she was swearing. “You must really hate the Empire.” Her fists clenched, and Grogu shrank back for a moment
The rest of the journey passed peacefully, and soon the jungle-covered world of Onderon was in sight. Rino was instructed to touch down in the main city of Iziz, where the group would meet with minister Widom. Disembarking, the old man from the holo met them, wringing his hands again. “You've come!” “Yes,” Din replied. “And we're eager to get this hunt started.” “Ah, forgive me, I didn't realize that two Mandalorians would also be coming.” The man was even more nervous now, eyes widening. M'Raiya centered her focus on him, trying to see if there was something about them that had brought about this change. Surprisingly, she detected the power of the Force from him, though it was faint “Minister, are you all right?” she wondered, a bit curious at what she sensed. “Yes good lady, just a bit nervous in the presence of such legendary hunters as the Mandalorians. Onderon may be known for the “beast riders”, but we tamed the creatures from necessity, and generally did not hunt them.
Morning found Din up early, heading for one of the landing pads at the Temple. He'd left Grogu with one of the staff in charge of the “younglings” as the Jedi tended to call them. Stepping outside, he beheld a CEC YT-1930 that had evidently been through quite a bit. Isslan and a male Zabrak were loading some supply crates onto it, the Jedi using his mind to lift the boxes while the other man did it the old-fashioned way. A'den and M'Raiya were talking to a red-haired human woman who had a red R6 unit at her side. He strode over to the two loading supplies. “Need a hand?” “Nah, the kid's done most of the work,” the Zabrak replied, coming over and extending a hand. “Bor-Mas Darach, Cargo Master of the Risky Venture.” Din shook the hand, noting the many short horns that crowned the smooth brown head. “And if you're wondering how good I am in a fight, I try to stay out of them. Besides, our two-and-a-half Jedi more than make up for me and Rino keeping back.” “Two-and-a-half?” “Yeah,
Disclaimer: This is an AU involving a combination of The Mandalorian and Legends canon. Din gave Grogu to Grandmaster Luke Skywalker, but was invited to come back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant so that their “family” would not need to split up. The Temple houses other aspiring Jedi Padawans, a new Council of Masters, and a few Knights. Current year is 16 ABY, treating all events as if they occurred in this year instead of 9 ABY. It had only been a few months, but Din was beginning to get used to the large corridors and high arches of the Jedi Temple's ceilings. Most of the workers chose to stay out of his way, though he seemed to attract attention from the children who trained here. Part of him still wasn't sure why he'd agreed to journey with Grogu, but he didn't regret the decision. Here the kid seemed safe, and every time Din saw him, Grogu showed him a new trick or his progress on an old one. Now he was back again after a successful bounty mission, knowing he had a few more to
She stood reading the note sent by Varric, wondering if she should tell her sister before she left. But there would probably be an argument about it. An insistence to go with her. And that just wasn't possible this time. Fenris caught her looking over, and met her eyes. “I have to go.” “I know,” he softly replied. “I'll keep her safe.” “I know you will.” She was out the door a moment later, leaving the letter on the table. It read: Dear Birdie, Look, I know this is probably a bad time, but this Inquisition could really use your help. And probably your sister as well. That Corypheus guy is back. Fire-Eyes told you about him, right? Well, he wants to rule the world, or destroy it, or both, and I can't let that happen. I've marked the included map to show where we are right now. Please hurry. I'm out of my depth here. We need the Champion of Kirkwall. Varric. * * * The storyteller stood watching the crowd trek across the bridge and into Skyhold, keen eyes trying to pick