Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it: Din Djarin x OC

Chapter 3

A/N: oof imma fail my exams, so here's a chapter before my mother kills me because of bad grades

Warnings: random stuff i made up about iktochi (an alien species), most likely swearing, violence

Word count: 1463

 I feel myself being shaken awake, and because I haven't felt that feeling in years, I sit up immediately and yank my blaster out of my holster and swing out with it. I hear someone yelp and the ring of beskar hitting metal, and I quickly holster my gun and shove on my helmet to hide my grin.

'Sorry,' I chuckle as Mando tenses from where he's crouched in a defensive stance a few feet away, waiting to see if I'll attack him again.

'And you said I was touch starved,' he huffs. 'All I did was wake you up.'

I grunt and stand, shrugging carelessly as I glance around. It's near dawn, which pisses me off, because he let me sleep all the way through the night, and whatever and whoever he is, he still needs sleep if we're going to attack today.

'Alright,' I sigh. 'We going or not, Mando?' It's strange to hear the name roll off my lips, probably because I'm a Mando myself. He stands, brushing sand off the canvas of his pants.

'Yeah. Let's go, then.'

~

I'm surprised that we haven't been sensed by the iktochi when we come across their camp as we crest a sand dune. Mando spots the smoke first, and I spot the figures with horns that protrude from the sides of their heads down to their chins. Glancing over at Mando, I tilt my head slightly, and we jet back to the Wyvern. She sits in the same place as before, her presence only signalled by the small beep I hear from my vambrace that shows that we're close. I tap another button, and she rematerializes, her silver hull glimmering in the unforgiving desert sun. She's an old ship, but she works better than any new ship I've ever tested. No bias there either. The amount of scrapes she's gotten me out of... and her lasers are the best.

Mando follows me silently, probably thinking of his old ship, if he was ever as attached to it as I am to the Wyvern. I stride up the cargo ramp and climb up the ladder to the cockpit with practiced ease, the rungs which I skip unworn, a stark difference to the tired metal where I put my hands on the top step. Sliding into the pilot's seat, I glance around just as Mando sits down in the right hand co - pilot seat. After giving him a curt nod, I turn back to the controls, not bothering to take my helmet off for such a short journey, and start the Wyvern's engines. They purr softly as we rise into the air, and the sound never fails to bring a proud smile to my face. Stars, I love this ship.

I land in the valley between the dunes overlooking the iktochi camp, just out of sight.

'You're going to want to start thinking on one thing as soon as we leave the ship. They'll notice us soon enough, so we might as well take out a few as we go. The one we're taking is missing his left horn, correct?'

Mando takes out the puck and checks it. 'Yep.'

'Don't shoot at him.' I glance at his broad shoulders, where the spear is slung over one, a rifle over the other. I smirk. 'I only want you off this planet so I'm not going to ask for any payment, but I do demand a try of that pulse rifle when we're done.'

~

We creep closer to the iktochi camp, and keep my mind perfectly focused on my beskar axe, the smooth, deadly curves, the slender, dangerous grip that responds to my touch only, gloves or no. I feel Mando's eyes on me, and as I focus on the shine of the blades, I momentarily wonder what he's thinking about. Almost immediately, a voice yells down in the camp, probably having sensed me, and Mando jumps and his eyes leave my back, resulting in another yell. Tapping a button on my vambrace, I tune in.

' - two of them!' I hear. 'Probably hunters!'

I glance over at Mando and check he knows our cover is blown. Which would have eventually - but I'm still annoyed I lost focus so soon. Maker, I'm too used to just swooping in, going straight for the kill. My fellow Mandalorian jerks his head towards the camp, and like one mind with two bodies, we switch on our jetpacks and crest the dune, swooping in on the camp. Almost immediately, I sense the pressure on my mind as the iktochi start their attack. All the same, we cut through the iktochi, my axe, no longer just a weapon but an extension of me, seething through the air as I fight. And then, through the screams I'm causing, I hear laughter. That's not something you hear on a battlefield. And it can't be good for Mando, since as he doesn't strike me as the type to giggle madly while fighting, the laughter must belong to an iktochi. Hurriedly, I cut through the rest of my opponents and search for the menacing sound, twirling the axe to the side to block a stray blast from hitting me.

It's the leader of the iktochi, the one missing a horn, and he's fighting Mando, both physically and with his mind. I can see that the double onslaught as well as the need to keep the iktochi alive is proving hard to beat, and it only takes me a moment to jump into action as more iktochi swarm at Mando. In slow motion, I see them all attack him at once, see them take him down, and then I see -

They're trying to take off his helmet. It's no secret that the iktochi will disgrace their foes in whatever way they can. And if it means taking the helmet of a child of the Watch...

I don't think. I just move, even though it puts me in as much danger as Mando is in right now. But there's no way that I'll just stand by while a Watchman has his Creed broken. No way. My axe sings as I behead a few iktochi, my other hand occupied with my blaster. I feel a sharp sting that dulls to an ache in my side, and I realise that one of them has gotten lucky and hit me in the gap that opened in my armour as I moved to duck a blast. A feral snarl leaves my lips as I see Mando's helmet forced up another few millimeters. Spurred on by the pain, I take out the last few and point my blaster at the iktochi leader.

Put down the blaster, he commands in my mind, one dagger pointed at Mando, the other pointed at me. And then he flinches, because he reads what's written all over the walls surrounding my mind. Kill him. I smile sharply, eyes hungrily fixed on his pulse point. Sure, Mando will get more money if he survives. But I don't think about that rational shit when I'm angry. And Maker, I am angry.

'Like what you read?' I tut, eyes darkening, voice crescendoing from a quiet, dangerous purr. 'You made a mistake, y'know. No one threatens the Creed.' I thunder. 'No one threatens a fellow Mandalorian or what he or she believes in in my presence!'

I see the iktochi's Adam's apple bob. He knows he's in a tight spot. He also knows when I'll make a sudden move, thanks to his attack on the wall around my mind. But he doesn't know if Mando will.

He realises this a second too late. It only takes Mando a second to whip around the pulse rifle, which I'd ignored dutifully as he edged it out from beneath him. Now its two metal prongs rest neatly in the soft flesh of the iktochi's neck. As he scrambles up, keeping the rifle on the quarry, he chucks me a pair of cuffs without looking. I catch them one handed, eyes still on the iktochi, and holster my blaster, eyeing the asset. He looks pretty subdued, so I sheathe my axe and sling it over my shoulder. Even if he does attack, I can defend myself with my hands as well as any Mandalorian you'll find. I've got one cuff on when he tries to make a break for it, slamming the heavy metal into my stomach. My wound twinges, but I huff and roll my eyes, grabbing his free wrist and twisting until he screeches in pain.

'Buddy, if you want to do that, you have to act like you're not going to, not stand really tense and give me side eyes.'

The quarry stays quiet after that.