Gentle Armor

Chapter 3 On the Hunt

The next day, Alissa woke up to a loud roar. Confused, she sat up in bed and turned towards the window beside her. The sun was high in the sky and she could see the little man standing in a fenced off area with Mando who was trying to ride a blurrg. But the creature didn't seem to like him, thought, and thrashed around until it threw the bounty hunter off. 

"Perhaps if you removed your helmet?" The little man suggested.

"Perhaps he remembers I tried to roast him," Mando shot back while still sitting on the ground.

"This is a female," the little man corrected. "The males are all eaten during mating."

Alissa watched as Mando got back up to his feet and hoisted himself up onto the blurrg only for it to throw him off again. He sure is stubborn, she thought to herself, still watching as the bounty hunter stomped over to the little man.

"I don't have time for this. Do you have a Landspeeder or Speeder bike that I could hire?"

"You are a Mandalorian!" The little man exclaimed while gesturing to Mando with his hand. He went on to say more, but Alissa was no longer listening as a random thought suddenly hit her. The tile that he had used to address Mando sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before a long time ago, and when she further pondered it realized that was the name of the great warriors she had been told stories about as a child.

Awe struck by her discovery, Alissa stared at Mando as he finally managed to mount the blurrg. She snapped back to reality when she noticed the little man approaching her.

"You're awake. Were you able to sleep at all last night?"

Alissa paused before nodding, deciding not to tell him that she didn't end up falling asleep until late at night. "I see you got Mando to try a new way of transport."

"He just needed some persuading. It's time we head out," the little man said as he walked towards the pen to ready the blurrg.

Alissa quickly got ready and headed outside to find Mando. She wanted to convince him to let her come with them so she could help with whatever it was he was here for. After saving her life and tending to her wounds, she felt like she owed it to him. Running towards the far end of the pen, she spotted Mando dismounting from the blurrg. He noticed her almost immediately and turned to face her as she stopped in front of him.

"You're finally awake," he said flatly. Alissa didn't think too much on how he spoke and jumped straight to the point.

"I wanted to tell you that I can help with whatever it is you came here for. I know you probably don't need - or want - my help considering your a bounty hunter, but I owe you for everything you did for me."

"You don't owe me anything," Mando told her. "You saved my life after I helped you. Me treating your wounds was the least I could do in return. We're even."

"Still, you've had to keep me in tow this whole time and will still have to since I don't exactly have a way back to Nevarro. Let me be of some help to you until we get back, after that I'll be out of your hair," Alissa assured. She stared up at Mando's visor silently, waiting for his response.

"Fine. But don't blame me if something else happens to you."

"Who said I would."

After a quick blurrg riding lesson, Alissa sat behind Mando as they followed after the little man. It was quite the bumpy ride, both from the terrain and the way that the blurrg moved as it ran, so she had to keep her balance by placing her hands on the sides of Mando's waist. She almost bit her tongue when they jumped over what was probably the tenth casem and continued on a few more paces before coming to a stop in front of a settlement.