See Me, See You: A Mandalorian Story

C H A P T E R T H R E E

REINA'S POV

Mando and I walked along the inside of a gorge with the capsule levitating between us, the little green 'asset' sitting up and looking around with its large, wandering eyes. I found myself constantly glancing at it. It appeared so innocent, so helpless. How could this child be worth so much to send out two notorious bounty hunters after it?

"It's getting dark; we should find some shelter for the night and return to the Razor Crest at first light." I suggested, mostly because of the child's sake. Who knew what lurked on this planet at night, and it wouldn't easy to fight off anything while defending our target. Already, I could feel something eery about our surroundings. To Mando's description, we were inside a gorge, so anything could ambush us from above...

"Once we reach the end of the gorge, it'll be easier to scout. We'll only make camp if necessary." Mando planned, but I was only half-listening, and my partner noticed. Both of us slowed our pace to a stop.

"Crawling...from above..." I murmured. My instincts kicked in and I rammed myself into Mando, knocking him and capsule out of the way just as a hunter pounced down where he stood. Immediately, another followed, and a shootout began.

Mando closed the capsule to protect the child and began firing his blaster. His opponent closed in and it came to a fist fight. The Mandalorian was highly skilled, I admit, and with some well-timed punches, he managed to stick his blaster between them and take the attacker out.

Meanwhile, although I couldn't physically see my opponent, he was too unstealthy to miss. Unshealthing my katana, I deflected every shot blast. With every shot, I took more and more steps until I brought the blade down, slicing through the hunter's thick muscle tissue and ripping it out from the side.

"Hey," I heard Mando's voice behind me, and when I turned around, I immediately noticed he was hurt. As if there was a silent agreement between us, I nodded and grinned. "I guess this makes it necessary to build camp?"

THIRD PERSON POV

Reina and Mando sat around a small fire while the child remained in its capsule, continuing to gaze at the two bounty hunters with curiousity. As Mando worked on fixing his armor, Reina stoked the flames.

"Those hunters had trackers to find the child. So much for sending out the best the guild could offer, huh?" she sighed. "I'm guessing it's to ensure that the asset gets delievered. How frustrating."

"That's one way of putting it." Mando replied, but didn't look up from his task. Reina glanced over at the child, who locked eyes with her. It was cute, she admitted, but what struck her was how innocent it was. It couldn't even form words—so far it's done was coo and babble. "Why do you think this child is so important?" she asked the Mandalorian.

"I don't know."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Reina grumbled as she rested her chin on her knees. She then heard Mando grunt, too, and saw he was zapping a gash in his arm with a clotter. Although its purpose was to close the wound so it would reduce blood loss, it was extremely painful. Reina reached in her own sack and fished out her own medicene pack. She then scooted closer to her partner. "Here, let me help."

"I'm fine, thank you." Mando insisted. "You don't have to do that."

"I know." was all Reina said, as she touched the ripped fabric around the cut. She then got to work: First, she took a hot, soaked rag and pressed gently on the wound, causing only slight pain, to clean and disinfect. Once all the caked blood was gone, the cut appeared smaller and not as worrisome. Inside her med pack, Reina kept a homemade herbal ointment that healed wounds efficiently. "This might sting a little." she warned with a soft voice. She lapped up a dollop of ointment on her fingers and gently rubbed it over the cut. Afterwards, she began sewing the cut shut.

She only had to pause once when they both noticed the baby had got out of its capsule and waddled its way next to Mando. She only smiled and lifted it to return it to its bed.

The entire process Mando never falter his gaze from Reina. "Thank you. You're too kind."

"What are partners for?" Reina joked as she placed the gauze on top of the sewed wound and began wrapping the bandage around his arm.

"I can't believe anymore you are blind." he admitted. "You were able to aid me so calmly without seeing me. That's very impressive." He paused as he watched Reina stash her medical supplies away. "You are also a good fighter. You can defend yourself. I'm sorry I forced you to stay behind when we were at the hideout. I was wrong to decide that."

"It's okay, really." Reina smiled, tucking a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. "And thank you, but you're wrong—I can see you."

"So, what? You play the blind card to trick your opponents?" Mando guessed, confused.

Reina laughed. "No, I am blind, I promise. I see by touch, remember? Not to mention, all my other senses are heightened from my lack of vision. My hearing, especially. But you can say my touch is special. It's hard to explain, but when I touch someone or something, I can feel their energy, and I can actually see a physical form of them in my mind. Afterwards, I can sense every movement they make even without touching them. It's been this way since the beginning...I call it my sixth sense."

"You were born blind?"

"No, I wasn't." Reina then stopped before continuing. Shaking her head, she apologized.

"It's fine." was all Mando replied, and instantly regretted it, for it created an awkward atmosphere that was filled with only the little green child's coos.

"I guess we should get some rest." Reina suggested. "Tomorrow, we can return to the ship and deliever the asset. The hard part is over."

REINA'S POV

Boy, was I wrong...When we finally reached the gorge we had landed the Razor Crest, there wasn't much left of it, as we caught the worst type of smugglers red-handed.

Jawas.