baby steps

Chapter Six

XXVI—Drowning

The Mandalorian made a mistake. He'd taken the kid to what he thought was a large peaceful village full of no one of consequence. He'd been welcomed at first, they served warm soup for the kid and he knew there was unlikely to be work here but he had enough credits to manage.

The kid liked to get out of the ship and stretch his legs, The Mandalorian sometimes did too.

The village turned on them, it was a poor village and his armor was worth a lot, almost as much as the bounty on his head. But they didn't know about it.

They had a lot of weapons—most people had a lot, stolen from dead bodies and droids—and men willing to risk it all for their hungry families. He didn't want to kill them but as they surrounded him and the kid he might not have a choice.

The men were smart, they pointed all their fire at the kid. "Move and we'll kill it," one said.

The Mandalorian pushed the button on the canister and light flared out. It was blinding but it was enough to get the jump on them. He disarmed a few of them and shot fire out to the others. He knocked out two and as he looked up he saw one, burnt and stumbling, grab the kid, he was weaponless but there was a river next to them.

"No," he yelled but the man threw the kid into the river. There were four men still standing but The Mandalorian took them down quickly, he damaged their lungs and bones but all but one would live.

He killed the man who threw the kid into the fast-moving water. He dove into the water.

The kid could swim but the force of the river was too much, it pulled him out and down. The Mandalorian could hardly fight against the current. It was dark under the water and he could hardly see anything. Let alone his son.

He was frantic, his heat was pounding, fear was a nose around his neck. He couldn't stop the panic that curled in his gut. He felt powerless against the water.

He dove down further, his lungs strained and his legs pushed hard against the current. He still saw nothing.

His arms cut through the water, he couldn't hold his breath for much longer but he forced himself not to let go of the glimmer of hope he held onto. He wanted to yell for the kid, wanted him to flip switches he wasn't allowed to touch. Wanted to hear him coo and say "dadda" just one more time.

He wasn't ready to give up.

He swam down more of the length of the river and finally saw a glint of green. He grabbed the kid and used all his strength to get them to the surface.

He gasped as he breached through the water, he treaded water with one arm and held the kid above water with the other. He sawm, one-handed to the bank and climbed out, his heart in the throat, held together by a thin strand of hope.

The kid coughed up water, whining as he did it. The Mandalorian sighed and closed his eyes. He held out his finger but the kid cooed and he just picked up the kid, there was no time to linger.

XXVII—Freezing

They were trapped in a frozen cave. How they got there is a long story. A storm came on a seemingly normal, even warm planet and plunged everything into darkness. They'd been walking around, searching for the small town that lived on this planet with crazy weather.

The snow came fast and hard and at first, The Mandalorian decided to take cover in a small cave but the snow was paired with a quake and high winds and the rocks and boulders crashed down in front of the entrance, leaving only small gaps in the rocks that only air could make it through.