What's a Mandalorian? || Din Djarin

9|Past|

Mando is gone quite a long time up at the river. Even longer than I was gone. I busy myself with random chores to fill the time. First, I organized my area in the ship. I folded my cloak, organized the food, and put everything away in storage under the seats and hung on the walls. Once satisfied, I moved outside the ship.

I work on folding my newly cleaned clothes. They've dried quite quickly in the hot atmosphere of this planet. I fold each piece neatly and place them gingerly inside my brown bag. Then, I got to scrubbing my boots. I don't wash my boots often, but they're definitely due for a cleaning. I use another smooth rock to scrub the dirt, mud, and blood droplets from the outside of each boot. They go from a dingy shade of dark brown to a nice light brown after some good effort.

After completing some other tasks, I walk over to the tent Mando set up on the sand. I peer inside to see a large bedroll set up, complete with pillows and a soft looking blanket. I guess he normally sleeps in this rather than the pilot's seat in the ship. Looks cozy.

The sun is beginning to set to my left. The sky goes from a light purple to a deep magenta shade, indicating the sun's departure. I'm feeling a little famished, excited to eat something. 

I walk up to the tree line and gather logs, sticks, and twigs that look dry enough to start a fire. There aren't many options, but I manage to find enough. I trudge back to the beach and drop my findings in one pile near the tent. I arrange them in a pile smallest to biggest to maximize the fire's chances of success.

I strike some rocks together to make some sparks. The smaller twigs underneath my pile are stubborn, so it takes many tries to get them lit. Eventually, a few sparks catch on the smaller twigs, and a fire starts. It's small at first, but as the larger pieces catch, the fire grows. 

I look up to my left and see the sun has started to touch the horizon. Night time will fall in just a couple minutes now. Mando still isn't back yet. He said not to come near him in the forest, but I'm starting to get worried now. 

"Mando?" I call toward the woods. I try to sound worried, rather than in-danger like I did last time. No response.

"Mando?" I call again. Still no response, but I hear rustling in the brush now. Then, right on cue, Mando comes strolling through the trees from the river. He looks relaxed now. Less intimidating and rigid. 

"I brought dinner," he says as he holds up a small bird carcass.

"You were gone a long time. I was starting to get worried," I inform him.

"I had some things to take care of." He clears his throat.

"How was the river?"

"It was nice. I was able to clean the inside of the helmet. It feels much nicer now."

That's why he didn't want me anywhere near him. He was fully  naked. Oh.

Mando shuffles over to the fire I started and tosses the bird meat on top. All we've had to eat in the ship was leftover fruit-stand fruit and dried snacks I brought with me from home. I'm excited to eat a warm meal tonight. 

Mando brings a stack of wet clothes over to a large rock by the shore and spreads them out on it. Then, he saunters over to the fire and plops himself down next to me. There's an awkward tension in the air.

Mando gets up just as he sits down and jogs over the ship. He climbs up and reaches in. He pulls out a rather large bottle of prow.

"I was thinking we relax tonight," he suggests. He walks back over and takes his seat next to me again, bottle in hand. "And then we can train tomorrow."