Vibrant Eyes | Din Djarin

16: all

As he stood in that trashed building with the sun setting on their fates, Din could still remember the day the Mandalorians came from the skies and saved him.

The first day they took his hand and helped him stand. The day that led to the Creed he would one day hold dear. That day they saved him from the same fate that befell so many others.

And part of him remembered it all for them. The taste of ash on his tongue. The boom above the bunker he hid within as he came to the startling realization that his parents were no more. The sound of his name falling from their lips one last time, their embraces and their goodbyes fading almost entirely into the chaos. 

The bad of the memories were almost successful in wiping away all of that that was once good.

It was why the sound of his name off Moff Gideon's tongue was so jarring. Because that man was of the same people responsible for the deaths of the last two to ever speak that name. A name he should not have been permitted to utter. To even know.

He was why it hurt to hear, and he was why he was forced to hear it again.

"I was a foundling," he explained to Karga and, even, Cara. "They raised me in the Fighting Corps. I was treated as one of their own. When I came of age, I was sworn to the Creed. The only record of my family name was in the registers of Mandalore. Moff Gideon" He sighed, and his shoulders heaved in saying the name that brought a tight, suffocating rage to the forefront of his chest. "was an ISB Officer during the purge. That's how I know it's him."

"That's how he knows who we all are," Cara added, standing from the ground.

Collecting his composure from the memories, Din said, "He says he needs us, which means the child got away safely. I was worried when the Ugnaught didn't respond, but if they'd captured the kid we'd already be dead."

He just hoped the Child, Kuiil, and Venus were still breathing.

"Hail them again."

Din watched Karga anxiously down a shot of spotchka, peering out the window, as he pulled the comlink from his belt. He forced calm into his veins and forced hope to settle the fear about their well-being. He lifted it to his helmet.

"Come in, Kuiil. Kuiil?" There was only silence, and he lifted his thumb from the button. Din shook his head. "Nothing."

Cara positioned herself against the wall, hefting a large gun in her arms. "They might have jammed the link."

Then the comlink beeped. They all looked down at it in his hand and his heart lurched as the Child babbled across the connection. There was a moment of long silence and held breaths.

Then the mechanical voice of IG-11 broke through. "Kuiil has been compromised."

"What did you do?" Din hissed.

There came another moment of that tense silence. But it was not IG-11 that spoke next. No, it was a drawl of mist and unseen cosmos'. 

It was Venus and he didn't dare think about how relieved he was to hear proof of life.

She hummed across the distance between them, "His heart still beats and so shall yours. Keep your helmet on, hmm?"

Heat engulfed his ears (why did that keep happening?) and it rose on the back of his neck with his frustration. They all shared a look of trepidation, confusion, and shock. 

Finally, he huffed back, "What are you doing?"

But IG-11 responded, "I am fulfilling my base function."

Din swore Venus made everything as confusing as she was.

"Which is?"

"To nurse and protect."