Mandalorian Lost

Chapter 10

When I wake up, it's far from peaceful.

Warm hands prod at my battered shoulder, sending new twinges of pain into my arm and chest.

I jolt upright and grab the throat of the person in front of me, squeezing until I feel them squirm under my grip. My eyes snap open and meet with Toro's wide, bulging ones, and I immediately release him.

"Whoa, easy," he croaks, rubbing his throat. "I was just trying to look at that blaster wound."

"Sorry," I mumble, pushing myself up. I look around, scanning the ground around us. It's nearly dark, and the twin suns hovering over the desert are bathing everything in a soft orange glow. A few stars peek out from behind the yellowish hue of the suns, but it's still too light to make our move against Fennec.

I'm still laying in the sand where I first fell asleep, which feels a little careless as my shoulder seems to throb in punishment. I glance up to see Mando stirring awake, leaning forward as he eases himself off the speeder bike. Toro backs away from me, eyeing me one last time before making his way to Mando. I sigh, rolling my neck to each side to ease the tension in it as the two talk quietly a few feet away. I assume they're going over the plan, or possibly having another lovely teaching session, but I can't bring myself to care. The pain in my arm and shoulder is becoming unbearable, which means it's time to start healing it.

I wait until Mando and Toro are thoroughly wrapped up in their own conversation, and then haul my good hand up to my wounded shoulder and let it hover there. I force my breathing to be even and steady, let my eyelids flutter closed, and reach out into the force. Warmth cocoons me in an instant and I smile slightly. Healing is the only time I ever get to come close to the light side of the force.

I can feel the broken skin and torn muscle in my shoulder begin to sew itself back together. Little by little, the pain subsides and it gets a little easier to breathe. The rest of my body is draining as the force's energy surges through me, but my arm is thriving.

Just as I finish, a sharp gasp cuts through the air. My eyes snap open, my stomach pooling with dread as I meet Toro's horrified gaze. It's locked on me. "What was that?" He cries. I sigh, rolling my eyes as I instinctively curl into myself.

"Nothing," I reply, forcing my voice to become hard. He shakes his head so quickly I think it might fall off his shoulders and into the sand. He opens his mouth and I glare up at him. "Don't ask questions, kid."

"Yeah I can't ignore that," he scoffs, rushing toward me. I jump to my feet, momentarily unbothered by the fact that it makes me more vulnerable to Fennec's rifle. Mando rushes to Toro's side, trying to wrap his hand around the boy's arm to pull him back. "What are you? Where did you learn to do that?"

"It's not a big deal," I insist. He only growls and steps forward again. His face is mere inches from mine as his eyes bore into me.

"What are you?" He spits out, his voice like venom. I swallow, pushing aside the fact that that very question has been haunting me my whole life.

"Ask me that again, and I'll make you wish you never spoke."

"That's enough," Mando snaps, pushing himself between us. He faces Toro, shoving one of his gloved hands against his chest. "Get back to your watch."

Toro stands still for a moment, and I briefly wonder if he plans on challenging the Mandalorian. Then he sighs, turning away to plop back onto the edge of the sandy ridge. I grit my teeth. His question swirls around in my head and I groan, spinning on my heel.

I walk past our speeders and further on a few feet before I'm satisfied that I'm far enough away to be on my own. I drop down onto the ground, pressing my back into another hill of sand. I don't want to be anywhere near either of them. I want to go back to my ship. I want to fly through the galaxy on my own, going wherever I please once more.