PURPOSE | The Mandalorian

XXXIX

Everyone rushed to where the magistrate was sitting in the dirt, but Cara was the only one to drop to a knee beside him. One of the other hunters Karga brought with him tossed her a medpack, and she opened it up and started searching for the things she needed.

"He's hurt," Kuiil observed, his voice laced with worry, "Badly."

"I'm fine," Karga gritted out, clutching his forearm with his other hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm— ouch!"

He yelped when Cara began trying to heal the wound. A grimace crossed her face and she snapped, "Hold still, would you?"

Greef fell silent. Or as silent as he could. He still made soft moans of pain while Cara poked and prodded the wound, and eventually scanned it with a medscanner. Once the scan was complete, she shook her head. "They got you good," She muttered, tying a tourniquet around his bicep to stop the poison from reaching his heart.

Din took a step closer. "How bad is it?"

Cara just gave him a knowing look. Din exhaled as Karga grimaced. "So this is how it ends?" He groaned, unable to look away from his wound.

I rolled my eyes, spitting at the magistrate, "Quit being dramatic."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the child had escaped his pram and was waddling towards the magistrate.

Cara glanced around the area. "I need another medpack," She announced, but when nobody moved, she widened her eyes at the hunters. "Nobody has another pack?" She snapped incredulously, shaking her head.

The child had now made his way past the other hunters and was pressing himself between Cara and Greef. Cara scrunched her nose at the kid, snapping, "Will someone get this thing out of here?"

But once the child placed one of his tiny hands on Karga's arm and the Force began to shift around them, I said, placing a hand on Cara's shoulder, "Wait. Let him be."

The magistrate flinched away from him as he said nervously, "It's trying to eat me!"

I groaned. "Are you ever not dramatic?" I hissed, and despite the dirty glare Greef gave me, he closed his mouth and shut up.

As the child used the Force to heal Greef's arm, I could feel him get weaker and weaker. The skin of the magistrate's wound slowly and carefully knitted back together, and all that was left when the child was done healing him was an irritated red mark.

After the kid pulled his hand away from the magistrate's healed arm, he looked utterly exhausted. He fell back, and a small grunt escaped his lips as he hit the ground. Then his eyes slipped closed as he fell into a deep sleep.

Din quickly bent down to pick him up, holding the child tightly in his arms as he stalked back to the pram. Carefully laying the child inside, he closed it in order to keep the hunter's prying eyes off the kid.

"Alright," Din called out once he stood to his full height, commanding the attention of everyone at camp, "Get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow."

Without turning my head, I quickly surveyed everyone around us. They all remained silent and unmoving as they stared at Din for a moment. Even Karga quit his pitiful wailing to stare at the silver Mandalorian.

So when I turned and stepped up to Din's side, the hunter closest to me flinched as I commanded, "You heard him. Get some rest."

That sent everyone into motion as they walked briskly to their sleeping mats. And once everyone's attention was elsewhere, I let out a long sigh as gloved fingers slipped into my own and squeezed my hand tightly. "Everything is going to be fine," Din reassured me as he pulled me towards his own sleeping mat. "I want you to sleep with me tonight."