The Mandalorian stared behind his visor at the necklace wrapped around
the child's slender neck. It was the necklace Din had given Cara Dune so
she would have access to the Mandalorian hideout on Nevarro, no
questions asked.
It was the necklace with the mythosaur skull
pendant that had been in his possession for so long. He had given it
away when he was sure he wasn't going to make it, when he was sure he
was going to die. The warrior's death was the most cherished way to die
in Mandalorian culture. But it was not he who was to die that day.
Din reached out and took the pendant in his hand. It was the symbol of Mandalore.
He
had been so proud when he had been given it as a gift when he became an
adult. And now it dangled from the child's neck. A child who, according
to the Armorer, now belonged to him. He looked behind his visor at the
little one and sighed inwardly. The child was so tiny. It was nothing
like him when the Mandalorians had taken him in as a foundling.
He
remembered how the Mandalorian warrior had reached out his hand after
destroying the super battle droid that had tried to kill Din. The bounty
hunter remembered letting the warrior pull him up and out of his hiding
place. Then the Mandalorian took him in his arms and flew away from the
battlefield. It was the battlefield where Din’s parents had been
killed. His parents were not soldiers, but ordinary citizens who had
found themselves in a war they had never wanted.
And now here he
was in the middle of an undeclared war, it seemed. It was a war between
him and an Imperial warlord, Moff Gideon, whom he knew from the past.
This
time it was Din Djarin who saved a child from certain death. And it was
he who activated the Rising Phoenix to bring the foundling to safety.
But this time it was not a child who was to be trained as a Mandalorian.
There was no chance that the little guy would survive the rigorous
training.
The tribe's armorer gave him a mission, naming him and the
child “A Clan of Two” as she welded the mudhorn signet to his pauldron.
He knew it would be difficult to fulfill this mission, but he hoped it
would not be impossible.
He let go of the pendant, turned to the console and activated the engines. The Razor Crest ascended into orbit and shortly afterwards the Mandalorian and the child were on their way.
