Metanoia | The Mandalorian ON HOLD

Chapter 5

They found the Jawas the next morning, Kuiil speaking to them in their language. As they were nearing them, the Jawas noticed the Mandalorian with his rifle in his hands and drew their own weapons. "They really don't like you for some reason." Said the Ugnaught.

"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." Replied Mando while Juno snickered slightly.

"You need to drop your rifle."

"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion." He said. Kuiil looked at him.

"Then you're not getting your parts back." He tells him. Mando sighs.

"Fine." He says, putting the rifle away. He climbs down, joining Kuiil.

"And the blaster." Adds Kuiil, pointing to Mando's holder on his hip. He then walks closer to the Jawas, talking to them in their language. Mando drops the blaster and looks at Juno and the child. "Stay here." He mumbles.

The kids watch them sit with the Jawas, talking. Suddenly, Juno sees the Mandalorian raising his arm, shooting flames at the Jawas. Juno gasped in shock, not expecting that to happen and looked at the child next to her. When she looked back up, she saw some Jawas getting closer to them and held the child closer to her, watching them warily.

"Get away from them!" Yelled Mando when the Jawas started to reach for the kids. The child whimpered, while Juno looked at Mando and Kuiil with her green eyes wide open. They watched as the Jawas grouped together and a moment later started to chant something. "The egg? What egg?" Asked the Mandalorian confused while Kuiil put his hand on his forehead, shaking his head. And so they joined the Jawas in their sandcrawler, driving to the egg they wanted.

When they got to the right place, they stopped and opened the ramp. As the Mandalorian went down the ramp with the pod following him, Juno ran after him, grabbing his cape in her hands. "Can I go with you? The Jawas creep me out a bit." She asked, looking up at him and still holding the cape.

"Fine." Mando sighs. "But stay close to me and don't do anything stupid."

They walked for a while before stopping in front of a dark cave. "Wait here." Said Mando without looking at the kids, checking his weapons. He then walked right into the cave with his blaster in hand.

It only took a couple of minutes before Juno could hear the blaster shooting and then watched as the Mandalorian was thrown out of the cave, falling into mud. Juno watched with wide eyes as Mando tried fighting a mudhorn before being thrown away again. Then the mudhorn turned towards her and the child and went running right at them.

Juno quickly jumped away, also falling in the mud, while Mando moved the pod from getting crushed. The mudhorn went back for Mando, trying to crush him with it's horn while Mando was shooting flames at it. Then the Mandalorian was again thrown to the ground. This time though, he didn't get up right away, Juno and the child watching with fear.

When the mudhorn went to attack again, the Mandalorian breathing heavily and barely lifting his knife, Juno locked eyes with the child, both raising their arm. When Mando looked up at the mudhorn, ready to try and defend himself, he saw the animal floating in the air. He looked at the kids, seeing what they were doing when Juno passed out, falling to the ground, the child soon following her and passing out in the pod.

The mudhorn fell back on the ground, getting ready to attack when the Mandalorian stabbed it with his knife, killing it. He then went to the kids, looking at them with curiosity, then went to retrieve the egg from the cave.

~

As they returned, Mando holding a sleeping Juno and the egg in his arms with the pod following him, he saw the sandcrawler reopen the ramp. The Jawas quickly ran towards him grabbing the egg then braking it and starting to eat the inside. The Mandalorian just shook his head, walking to Kuiil. "I'm surprised you waited."

"I'm surprised you took so long." And so they went back to the Ugnaught's place, with the parts they needed.

~

By the evening they were back where the ship was. The kids were still sleeping when Mando managed to clean some of the mud from Juno and himself. He then, with Kuiil's help built up some lamps to see better.

"There's no way we're gonna get this to work without a full maintenance facility. This is gonna take days to fix." Said Mando.

"If you care to help, it might go faster. There's much to do." Was Kuiil's response before they both got to work, repairing the ship.

They spent the whole night working on the ship, putting everything back to it's place while Juno and the child slept. Mando checked on them every once in a while. By the next morning the ship was fixed, the kids sleeping in the cockpit while Mando talked with Kuiil.

"I can't thank you enough. Please allow me to give you a portion of the reward."

"I cannot accept. You are my guest and I am therefore in your service."

"I could use a crew member of your ability and I can pay handsomely." Mando tried to persuade Kuiil.

"I'm honored, but I have worked a lifetime to finally be free of servitude." He replied.

"I understand. Then all I can offer is my thanks."

"And I offer mine. Thank you for bringing peace to my valley." The Ugnaught then went down the ramp, leaving the ship and getting on a blurrg. "And good luck with the children. May they survive and bring you a handsome reward. I have spoken." And with that he walked further away, while the Mandalorian went to start his ship.

Before he sat down in his chair, he moved the pod to the side and then checked on Juno who was curled in the second chair behind Mando's. With a final wave from Kuiil, Mando left the planet. When they were in space, flying slowly, he tried shaking the pod to see if the child would wake up but to no avail. But a moment later, both the child and Juno woke up. The child was cooing softly while Juno looked around. She then looked at the Mandalorian, realizing that they must have been on his ship and he was taking them to whoever was looking for them.