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Shuk'la: (v) Broken

Summary:

Din follows a thin lead to a Hutt-ruled planet where he meets a mysterious Jedi. Both hold their spiritual customs close to their hearts and only a big-eared, fuzzy-headed baby has a chance at breaking down the walls they've built around themselves.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1: Summer Solstice

Chapter Text

The Razor Crest landed with a groan. It’s landing gear settled into soft earth in a densely overgrown area of tropical swamp land. Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin locked down the engines of the ship and initiated security protocols that would engage when he was more than half a click from the ship. Behind him on the jump seat, his child’s fuzzy green ears perked up in curiosity, hearing a crowd and music. As the ship powered down and the canned air flow stopped, delicious smells began wafting through the intakes. The Child chirred happily, waiting for The Mandalorian with tempered patience.

The Mandalorian turned to see the inquisitive eyes of The Child, giving a heavy sigh. “A festival might help us blend in?” The question was rhetorical, but The Child smiled and trilled happily, raising his little arms to be picked up.

Vodran was a mudball of a planet. Deep in Hutt Space, it was high on the list of places Din Djarin wanted to avoid. Yet here he was, loaded to the teeth, his son’s pram tethered closely to himself. His last visit to Maz Kanata on Takodana had yielded information about a source of information that may have been hoarded by the local Hutt Clan pertaining to the Jedi. It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was the best lead he had to find his son’s people. As he had made his final approach, he could see throngs of people in brightly colored clothing for miles on the major roads, all headed to a dilapidated- looking palace overhanging a muddy river. He landed the Razor Crest several clicks away from where flags waved at the entrance and music carried over on the wind.

Now, as they moved to be engulfed in the crowd, Din covered the Child’s head so that only the watery orbs of his eyes could be seen. There was little he could do for the beskar of his armor glinting, even in the hazy sun dulled by an overcast sky. The Child waved and smiled at passersby, accepting a little wooden beaded necklace from a human on stilts as they started up the stairs of the palace. The crowd seemed jovial; it appeared to be some sort of holiday. When a shrill cry came from the pram tethered to Din, he stopped in his tracks. The Child bounced in the pram, pointing a tiny claw at a market stand where steam rolled off shish kebabs of meat. Din simply sighed and tossed a couple of Flan toward the vendor. He brought back two skewers and gave both to The Child. The little one cooed in satisfaction.

“It’s hot. Don’t swallow it all at once.” The Mandalorian warned. The Child took an experimental nibble of the meat and trilled happily. He bounced in his pram, as if to say thank you, as he held both skewers in front of him. Under his helmet, Din couldn’t help but smile. Tether still secured, they continued trudging up the wide staircase of the palace, stone worn smooth by a millennia of footfalls. As the pair approached the gates, just another couple in a throng of people, the hair in the back of Din’s neck stood up. He scanned the pillared entrance to the palace, where children leaned over the railing of the promenade, several different species called out and waved to others making their way up the stairs. He saw a flash of red in his periphery, but it was done as soon as he turned toward the river side of the palace. The feeling of being watched stayed with him as they entered the palace.

As they entered the first room off the promenade, The Child squealed in delight. Dancers, primarily human, wore costumed in jewel tones, dancing to similarly adorned drummers in the center of the room. The space was a huge amphitheater, rising several stories above the crowd and open to the sky. The columns of the room were tiled with colored glass and each column supported a different jewel-colored flag. Across the room a table laden with food was spread out with fruits and candies and pastries. Din pulled the pram along with him to the far side of the room so that he could see all the exits. Finding a place in the shadows allowed him time to scan the crowd and consider his next move.

“May I offer a cake to your little one?” The voice was sweet, but low enough that only Din and The Child could hear it. Until his dying day Din would deny startling at the sound of the small person beside him, wrapped in a dark grey cloak. Tendrils of flame red hair tried to escape the hood around the small figure.

“No. He’s fine.” Said the Mandalorian. Beside him, The Child’s ears drooped as he looked from the cloaked figure to Din. He gave a disappointed coo and reached for Din’s arm in question.

“You are being watched, Mandalorian. You have been noticed.” The voice was clearly female.

Din took stock of the situation. The person standing next to him was small. Small could mean quick. It could mean old age. The cloak concealed a lot, but weapons were easy to spot. Their posture was relaxed, though so was his. This was likely the person who he felt watching as he entered the palace, he surmised.

“Yes. Two Gamorean by the offering table. A T’wilek in the balcony and a human near the West exit.” Din stated simply. Indeed he was being watched by many, all of whom were armed.

“Do not forget the Hutt watching from security, the human dancer trying to attract the attention of your child and the Jedi standing next to you.”

Before Din could turn to question the cloaked figure, a dancer reached out from the center of the theater and tugged at the pram, throwing the bounty hunter off balance, just as blaster fire turned the pillar above his head to dust. A split second later the cloaked figure had The Child in her arms. The lightsaber in her hand glowed green before the Jedi met his eyes and said, “Run!”

The woman in the cloak deftly blocked several blaster bolts with the saber, reflecting them back at the shooter. She sprinted back to the promenade and up a set of stairs to the balcony and the amphitheater seats. Din’s own blaster was in his hand, but through the throng of people he couldn’t see a target. At the sparking and fizzing of reflected blaster bolts, the crowd began to panic and a mighty roar of screams and shouts rose up from it. The backs of the crowd running for the exits allowed Din to see the angry face of the T’wilek coming up the stairs, blaster raised. Din wasted no time putting a hole in his chest. A dancer pushed against the throng of people running down the stairs and suffered a blaster hit to the face before going down and being trampled.

At the top of the stairs there was a bottleneck of people trying to flee and crowds of people running through the balcony seats. More blaster fire came from the end of the hall they were running to. Trapped just off the stairs, the cloaked woman all but shoved The Child into Din’s arms and threw her cloak off her shoulders. She grinned at the Mandalorian before igniting the other end of her light saber and turned to face the armed men on either side of her. Din only watched for a second as she handled herself in a deadly display of gymnastic twists and flips, redirecting every blaster bolt back at the shooter with eerie precision. Din placed himself at her back and knelt down, laying down cover fire over the stair way and blocking The Child from the sparks and plasma coming off the saber. After what felt like mere moments, the shooting stopped and the hallway was silent. The allies turned to face each other, the woman’s chest heaving from the exertion.

Before either ally could say anything, the entire floor around them heaved throwing them off balance. Dust and debris clouded their vision as the floor dropped from beneath them. Then their ears were filled with the sound of the entire side of the amphitheater crumbling around them.