The Mandalorian

Hideout

We landed on a sand-planet, one with two twin suns. I turned towards Xiya, who was walking beside me. "Where are we going, and on what planet are we?" He moved his helmeted head to look at me, and answered. "We're on Tatooine, and we're going to my hideout. It's not far away, so it shouldn't take us too long" I nodded. As we walked, I spotted a blurred structure on the horizon. Could that be it? Probably. We walked for a long time, and soon the sky became gradually darker. Stars started to show, and a small breeze picked up, moving my hair lightly. Suddenly, a heard a loud sound behind me, and Xiya quickly moved me behind him. I spotted two tall human-looking creatures with light brown robes, their heads covered with strips of cloth, a breath mask and eye protection. They held Gaffi Sticks, which were now both pointed towards Xiya, who seemed unalarmed by their appearance. He started speaking in a weird language which also involved hand gestures. One of the strange humane creatures answered the same way, and there seemed to be an agreement between the two. Timidly, I spoke up. "Um, Xiya what are you saying, and what are they saying?" The being and Xiya both turned to look at me. "We need passage through their land to get to my hideout. We've come to an agreement" With that, Xiya reached for something on his waist, which then turned out to be a pair of Macrobinoculars, and threw them to one of the guys, who caught it swiftly. They both nodded and left. As soon as they did, I turned towards Xiya, a confused look on my face. He seemed to know what I was gonna ask before I did. "Those were Tusken Raiders, many of them live in these dunes. And don't worry, I have another pair of Macrobinoculars. C'mon, let's get going" 

 Soon, the blurred image became clearer as we got nearer. It was a rock structure, not too big, not too small. Xiya headed for the door and opened it, guiding me inside. As I entered I observed my surroundings, taking in the cozy atmosphere of the hideout. It had a small kitchen and living room, and a corridor that brought to two separate bedrooms. We entered the living room, and Xiya took off his helmet, revealing dark black hair and forest green eyes. He placed his helmet on a nearby table and walked towards me. 

"Are you hungry, Hazel?" I nodded, and he went to the kitchen. After a while, he called for me and I entered the kitchen. It had a small table in the middle, accompanied by a few rock stools. The table was laid for two, and Xiya soon put the food he had prepared in our plates. Dinner was quiet but really good. After we finished, we left the kitchen and headed for the corridor. We stopped in front of one of the two bedrooms. "This'll be your room from now on. If you need anything, my room's right in front of yours. Sleep well" "Thank you, you too" I entered my new room. There was a bed in the middle with red covers and a white pillow, a little desk on the other side of a room with a chair, and beside the bed stood a small nightstand with a night light placed on top. There was also a window from which it was possible to see the view of Tatooine's dunes, which were now a nice shade of blue, the sand occasionally sparkling with the light of the three moons. I smiled as I headed straight for bed, taking off my shoes and going under the covers. I wonder what lies ahead tomorrow. With that thought in mind, I soon fell asleep. 

I woke up as the two suns shone their light though my window. I sat up and tiredly and rubbed my eyes, yawning. What time was it? I groggily got out of bed and went to the living room, where Xiya was already awake, typing away on a datapad. As soon as I entered the room, he looked up at me. "Good morning Hazel, sleep well?" "Mhm, what time is it?" "0800" "Hmmhmm" He chuckled at my tired response. "Still tired, ey? If you're hungry there's some food in the kitchen" "Thank you" He flashed me a smile and I went to the kitchen, sitting on a stool. I started to eat the food, finding it quite yummy. I also drank the glass of blue milk that accompanied my breakfast, closing my eyes as I did. When I went back to the living room, I found Xiya standing in front of a door I hadn't noticed before. I headed towards him, cocking my eyebrows in confusion and curiosity as I did. He noticed that, and when I got closer, he started to explain. "This is my training room. I thought you might like to train a bit" I smiled happily. "I'd love that" Nodding, Xiya opened the door, and we entered the room. It was big, with weapons hanging on a wall, a target on another, and other things for training. I grinned. Xiya went to where the weapons were, and took a blaster pistol, handing it to me. "Let's see how good you are" he nodded towards the target on the wall in front of me. I smiled, got into position, aimed and then fired. It hit the center of the target. Xiya didn't say anything, but simply switched it to moving targets mode. I aimed, breathed, took a moment, eyed the moving target carefully, and fired. It hit the center of the moving target, and I aimed for the other one. And then the other one, and again and again and again, until Xiya stopped it. "I see Jango taught you well. Knowing how to use a blaster is one thing, but being able to do hand-to-hand combat is another. Show me what you got" We engaged in a friendly fight. It lasted a while, and ended with my back on the wall and Xiya's arm on my neck. "Nice moves, for your age. But you need to learn more" he let go of me, smiling, and I smiled back. "I'll look forward to it" "You keep practicing, I have some things to do" He left the room, and I spun around, thinking about what to do. I finally decided to keep practicing with the blaster, and so I picked it up and got into position. 

I had been practicing for a while, as I noticed that the suns were setting. I decided to stop and put the blaster I had been using back in it's place. I wonder what Xiya's was doing. I left the room and entered the living room, where Xiya was sitting at his desk. He seemed to be holding what looked like a picture, but as soon as he saw me he quickly put it back on the desk. I decided not to ask him about it. "You've been training for a while, hungry?" I nodded, noticing the strange look upon his face. I wonder what he was looking at before. I shrugged as he got up and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. As soon as he was out of sight, I went closer to his desk, and as soon as my eyes rested on the picture, I felt a knot in my stomach. The picture showed young versions of Xiya and Jango holding arms, their helmets off, wide smiles on their faces. Behind them was a redish canyon, the sky a light blue. I shakily picked it up, feeling tears starting to form in my eyes. 

"Hazel! Come, dinner's ready!" I quickly put the picture down, dried the few tears that were on my face and headed to the kitchen. I wanted to ask him about the picture, but didn't have the courage to, not wanting to make him even sadder. Xiya was sitting right in front of me, and as he was eating his food, I noticed the glum expression on his face. I also noticed how every time we talked, he had a cheery and calm expression, as if he was trying to hide his sadness and grief over the loss of his best friend from me. We soon finished, and went back to our bedrooms. As I went under the covers, memories of Jango and Boba flashed in my mind. With that in mind, I fell asleep. 

Hope y'all like this chapter! It was quite sad though, I feel bad for Xiya...and Hazel.