Another Way: A Mandalorian Story

Chaab

Chaab – [chahb] - fear

Summary: Din comes to find the meaning of life, but wonders if he discovered it too late as he says goodbye to you.

When one chooses to walk the Way of the Mandalore, you choose to strictly adhere to a code of behavior and traditions that honors Mandalorian heritage. Though the customs may seem strange and fanatical to outsiders, Din didn't question the beliefs of the Tribe. Not when they told him to never seek out the cursed planet Mandalore, not when they told him he'd be trained in the ancient art of war and was sent to the Fighting Corps, not even when he was gifted his own set of beskar and told not to remove the helmet in front of a living being.

This is the way.

Ironically, the one belief he avoided accepting was the most fundamental of them all - their attitude toward life.

Life is a gift that everyone cherishes, but eventually has to return.

The words stem from an ancient proverb, passed down to generations of Mandalorians from before the Old Republic-era, long before the cataclysm scorched their homeworld, from a time when Mythosaurs roamed the planet. The meaning was simple, but not always recognized.

Whenever Din overheard an elder recite the proverb, he would thank his helmet for hiding the grimace that would reflexively grow on his face.

A gift, he'd silently scoff. Some kriffing gift.

To Din, life was more like a curse. If he had to see it as a gift, it's one that no one asked for; a burden he didn't choose to bear. Life was a fever-dream - a hellish nightmare where pleasures were tainted by pain and joys sullied by sorrows, where fleeting moments of joy and ecstasy were interspersed with long days of misery, defeat, and despair.

Death, however, was different. Din understood why Mandalorians saw the Lord Death as their vod – brother. It was kind, gentle. He often fantasized of the day he'd awake to find Death had finally decided he could endure life no longer and had come to set him free, healing him of his bruised spirit and broken heart, granting him the peace he so desperately desired.

No, life was not a gift to him. But some days, death would've been.

"You are reckless, ad'ika," his adoptive father had once said to him. Din was a young man, with a reputation for carelessness and a lack of discipline in his fighting style, fueled by pent-up anger and angst. "Sometimes I wonder if you even fear death."

"Why should I? We are born to die," Din replied bluntly, not even looking up from the blaster he was cleaning. He was unable to speak the words he was really thinking: How can you fear death when you've already died?

Sometimes he felt as if he died along with his parents and was just carrying around the corpse of a life. In a way, he had died – Din Djarin of Aq Vetina was no more, the first several years of his life erased when he became Mandalorian. In the eyes of his people, he was reborn – so why then did the ghosts of his past continue to haunt him?

"Indeed, death is the natural state of things," the elder Mandalorian agreed, taking a seat across from Din. "But there is nothing wrong with a little bit of fear. It, too, is natural, and sometimes it can save your life – saved mine more than once. Too much fear, however, can stop you from living. Tell me, ner ad, what are you afraid of?"

Din ignored his father, not interested in the lesson he wanted to impart on him today.

"Alright then. I will tell you what I'm afraid of," the man continued, seeing Din's disinterest. "I'm afraid that my di'kut of an ad will continue down the path of self-destruction and die before he's had the chance to live."