viii. dragon's breath.

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Sweat beads upon Zoya's brow, collects in the hollow of her collarbones. She leans against the outside of the building where Mos Pelgo's citizens store their weaponry and explosives, and wipes the back of her hand across her face. Din pauses beside her on his way back, watching her for a beat.

          "What?" she says, breathing labored.

          He shakes his head. "Nothing's changed, I see." She raises a curious brow, unsure of his meaning. "You still dislike any sort of physical labor."

          Zoya snorts. "Yeah." She tries to push off the wall, but falls back rather ungracefully when her thigh gives a sharp pang. Trying to conceal the contortion of her features, she repeats, casual enough that she hopes he won't notice the strain in her voice, "Yeah. Still sucks."

          Unluckily for Zoya, Din wouldn't be Din if he didn't pick up on the most microscopic of details. "What's wrong?"

          "Nothing."

          "You're lying." Din advances a step, taking no pains to hide the scrutinizing stare he slides across her from head to toe, evidently clear in the dip of his helmet and the critical tone within his voice. "It's your leg, isn't it?" She opens her mouth, but he speaks again immediately, "Don't say it isn't. I've noticed it bothering you from the moment I saw you again."

          Stubborn, Zoya refuses to admit it. "Everyone gets pains sometimes."

          "Not like this."

          "It's fine."

          Though there's no way to see his expression either way, Zoya keeps her eyes determinedly fixed on the horizon, avoiding the visor of his helmet. The twin suns overhead shine iridescent as gemstones, washing warm light over her shoulders to spill across the deep-rooted ache within her thigh. Her fingers twitch, tempted to knead away the pain, but underneath Din's stare, she remains still.

          "Zoya," he says, exasperated. "You don't have to pretend to be such a hardass all the time." She whips her head towards him at this, a riposte ready upon the edge of her tongue, sharpened steel. "I just . . . I worry about you." His voice softens, becomes nearly inaudible, and the retort dies against her lips.

          "You don't have to do that," she says quietly.

          "I know," Din replies.

          Silence lingers between them for a few beats longer before Zoya releases a breath. "Fine," she mutters. "It does bother me. Sometimes."

          "What did you do to bandage it," Din asks, "when it happened?"

          Zoya shrugs. "Cara cauterized it after it was sterilized, and Greef used synthskin to help replace or regenerate as much of the muscle as possible. It took a long time to heal," she says, rather ruefully, "probably because being put on bed rest drove me crazy, and I kept ripping it open."

          "You didn't let it heal properly?" Din says incredulously.

          Rolling her eyes, Zoya finds the resolve to push off the wall without grimacing, and dusts her hands off on her pants. "I don't like lying in bed for weeks on end." He trails her back up the steps to the hut. "Bite me."

          At their approach, Cobb glances up. A couple volunteers are carrying out the last load of ammunition outside, straining slightly beneath its weight. "Think it'll work?" he says, face unreadable.

          "It better," replies Din, "joining forces is their only hope."

          An eerie chill settles upon Zoya's spine, shadows the area beneath her lowered brows. "Let's all start praying, then."

          The triumvirate tails the last few residents of Mos Pelgo outside, where many of the others are already assembled in a haphazard line, gazes fixed upon the sands ahead, hands lifted to shield their eyes from the bright light. Emerging over the crests of the dunes are the Tusken Raiders, mounted atop banthas and cutting imposing silhouettes against the clear sky. The people of Mos Pelgo are clearly intimidated, but as the Raiders dismount and begin to load the munition onto the backs of their banthas, they assist, passing the explosives in a careful line.

          "Seems to be going well," Zoya whispers to Din, leaning against the wall for support once more. He'd told her not to help, and though her pride protested slightly at the restriction, she can't help but feel grateful.

          He's about to respond when one of the Sand People working near them fumbles with one of the smaller metal cylinders, unable to stop it from falling and hitting the half-circle platform that protrudes from the ammunition hut's entrance.

          "Hey!" one of the townspeople shouts angrily. "What are you doing?! That's an explosive! Are you trying to blow the whole place up?"

          Cobb's immediately striding over to intervene when the Raider speaks furiously back, getting in the man's face. Neither seem to notice that the device has already been recovered and hasn't happened to detonate.

          "What?" the man yells. "Is that what you want?"

          Vanth pulls them apart and jabs a finger into the man's chest. "Take it easy," he snaps. "It was an accident, okay?"

          As he smooths over the rising tensions, Din tilts his head closer to Zoya's and says, "You jinxed it."

          "Oh, just blame it on me. That's fine."

          A partially suppressed laugh makes its way through his helmet's modulator, a contagious enough sound that Zoya finds herself grinning like an idiot within seconds of hearing it.

          As Cobb returns, brow already weary and eyes a dull shade of bemusement, she manages to quell her smile, realizing that this isn't the particular situation for it. "It's gonna be great," he says flatly.

          Zoya's barely able to control a snicker. "I'm loving your optimism."

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The trip back to the sarlacc pit is a slow one; moving with the banthas, it takes over doubly as long to cross the long stretch of dunes. Their easy, rocking gait is steady, though, and the beasts don't seem to tire easily, withstanding the warm weather and harsh light from the suns with ease.

          Once arrived, the small army spreads out in a defensive half-moon. A single Tusken Raider approaches the mouth of the pit and kneels, pressing a hand to the ground. Within a few seconds, the Raider turns and performs a series of hand movements.

          "What did he say?" asks Cobb.

          "He says it's sleeping." Din watches for another moment. "If we listen carefully, we can hear it breathing."

          It becomes quiet enough within their ranks that the only sounds that can be heard are the occasional grunts from the banthas and a low, rumbling snore that echoes from deep inside the cave. The sound of it sends chills down Zoya's arms, and involuntarily, she shifts nearer to the child and Din. One of the Raiders offers Cobb a drink from a black melon, and this time, the marshal accepts.

          "Let's get to work," Din says. "The Tuskens say the belly is the only weak spot, so we have to hit it from below. First, we bury the charges at the opening of the cave. Then, we wake it up. We have to get it angry enough to charge. Once it's far enough out and the belly is above the explosives, you hit the detonator."

          He emanates authority; even this short speech immediately sends the rest of their troupe into movement. Hauling the munition and ballistae into a curved formation about the mouth of the cave, Raiders and Mos Pelgo's people alike obey him without question, beginning to dig trenches to bury the explosives in an orderly fashion. Zoya watches this in complete silence, something almost like awe rendering her completely immobile.

          Din turns to her, releasing a sigh. At the sight of her, he pauses immediately, body becoming as stiff as his beskar. Zoya doesn't realize her mouth is hanging open slightly until he reaches out and lifts her chin with a careful index finger, closing her mouth and tilting her head up to look at him in the same fluent motion. The knuckles of his other curled fingers brush the line of her jaw. The utter confidence of his words and this particular movement combined leave Zoya startled and even more unable to find her voice.

          "What is it?" Din says, rather too innocently.

          She shakes her head, dark eyes opened wide. Her lips form noiseless words for a moment before she clears her throat and says, "How do you do that?"

          "Do what?" His hand slips from her jaw.

          "I think you know," Zoya tells him, unconvinced. "You're acting like you don't, but you know." His head cocks, and again, she gets the feeling that he's smirking beneath that fucking helmet. Something within her longs to see it, just once, but she knows that it may as well be asking to touch a star without being burned.

          "Maybe," he says, then admits: "I don't know why you react the way you do, though."

          "Remember what I told you on that New Republic transport?" she says, lowering her voice slightly. This gets his attention immediately. He manages a small nod, effectively cowed, and Zoya is quite sure that he isn't smirking any longer. "Think something along those lines."

          With that, she turns away to go assist with digging the trenches and arranging the assembled ballistae, smug that she was able to turn the tables on him so quickly. The process doesn't take long, and soon enough, Zoya's made a few friends amongst the townspeople from Mos Pelgo, including a slim, quiet girl named Jo, who speaks of life out in the middle of the dunes with a soft, quiet love in her voice and seems to know the inner workings of each explosive.

          "That will work," Jo says confidently, and powers up the detonator. A red light blinks to life, and she gives Zoya a bright grin.

          "You're really smart about this stuff, huh," Zoya observes.

          Jo is radiant with intelligence. "Yeah," she says, slightly bashful. "My dad built some of these years ago, and he taught me everything he knows."

          "That's so fucking cool," Zoya mutters, as they begin to walk over to Din and Cobb. "I wish I knew how to build explosives."

          "If you stayed, I could teach you."

          "I'd love to take you up on that," she replies, disappointment leeching into her voice, "but I'll likely be leaving soon after all this is finished."

          "Damn," Jo says, and then stops before Cobb, holding out the detonator. "Careful, Marshal."

          He accepts it readily. "Thank you, Jo. And you stay safe."

          She nods, and offers Zoya a smile before bounding away to join a few of the others from Mos Pelgo that will be hanging back in the initial assaults. The suns blister against the cerulean sky, illuminating a trio of Raiders that approach the mouth of the cave. As one, they lift their hands to cup their mouths and give long, loud shouts at the tops of their lungs that sound like war cries.

          A deep growl sounds within the cave, rattling the walls and rumbling through the ground. Immediately, the Tuskens turn on their heels and sprint back the way they came, rushing to get behind the lines of ballistae and buried explosives. The dragon's scaled back breaches the sand as it chases them, its head rearing with maw open wide, brandishing sharp teeth that must each be several feet long. Sand pours down over its eyes; plumes of dust fill the air.

          "Please work," Zoya mutters.

          Din's hand finds hers.

          The Raiders fire their ballistae: the long metal javelins have ropes tied to their ends, and pierce the krayt dragon's thick, rough hide with audible thunks. Two of the Raiders that lured out the beast survive, but its jaws close around the other one as it begins to withdraw. The coils of rope attached to the javelins begin to unwind, and fast.

          "Dank farrik," Din stares at the scene unfolding before them, and it's clear he's starting to get worried, "it's going back in."

          The Tuskens attempt to hold on to the ropes, but most snap, and others rip the stakes free from the ground, yanking the Sand People tumbling through the air, a whirlwind of limbs and tunics that fall beneath the upheaval of buffeting sand from the dragon's movements.

          "Fuck," Din swears. "It's retreating."

          Cobb's fingers tighten around the detonator. "I'm gonna hit it."

          "No, wait." The Mandalorian lifts a pair of electrobinoculars to his visor, studying the entrance to the sarlacc pit. "We only have one shot. We've gotta get it out."

          "It isn't close enough to where we buried the explosives," Zoya agrees. "It won't do much damage, and all this will be for nothing."

          The townspeople and Tusken Raiders unite below; as one, they surge forward, throwing hand-held explosives at the retreating beast. Others stand back and fire their guns upon its massive head, and most—if not all—of the attacks hit, and the dragon refuses to suffer the onslaught. It surges forward with a rattling cry, attempting to swallow some of the villagers that turn and run just out of reach.

          "Now?" Cobb asks tensely.

          "Not yet," Din says. "It's gotta come out further."

          Zoya's teeth worry at her lower lip. "Fuck." She reaches for the blaster at her hip and starts to move forward, desiring to be in the middle of the fray alongside all the brave Raiders and people from Mos Pelgo, but Din catches her arm.

          "Your leg," he reminds her quietly. "You've already helped enough."

          She wrenches her arm out of his grip, but remains at his side, fuming silently because of course he's right. Helping place the explosives and dig the trenches was a strain on her already simmering leg; unable to sprint out of the dragon's grasp if need be, she'd likely die out there, no matter her intentions.

          Below, the Raiders fire more javelins, attaching the ropes to the krayt dragon's head. This time, it doesn't pull away, but goes on the offensive, surging closer to the ballistae before rearing its head high into the air. A roar bellows from its cavernous jaws as it wrenches half a dozen Tuskens off the ground. Those remaining on the sands turn and flee, dashing as fast as they can away from the beast as it lunges forward, their small forms diminutive and defenseless against the might of the enormous dragon. Its mouth yawns wide, and then it vomits upon their retreating backs, some sort of nauseating, yellowish spray that seems to scald those it touches.

          "It's close," Zoya mutters.

          "Almost, almost," Din draws out. The dragon slides further. "Now!"

          Cobb presses the detonator.

          The sands beneath the krayt dragon erupt. Fire and smoke flare in a thunderous boom, wreathing the beast in plumes of dust and ash that spiral straight up into the sky. Everything is quiet as the debris begins to settle. Cautiously and slowly, walking as if upon shards of shattered glass, the Raiders and Mos Pelgo townspeople begin to approach the site of the detonation.

          "I don't think it's dead," Cobb says warily.

          "Me neither," Din replies.

          Her brows knit. "Please let it be fucking dead."

          The krayt dragon explodes from the top of the mountain. Chunks of rock and dirt hail down like missiles, spraying the ground in front of the sarlacc pit. And now, it's fucking furious.

          Opening its mouth once again, the beast releases a spray of that acidic liquid down upon the people below. Screams and cries of pain ricochet off the dunes and shatter against the clear blue sky.

          "It's picking us off like womp rats," Cobb clips, anger palpable and thrumming throughout his body. He storms towards his speeder and snatches up his rifle. "Let's get after it!"

          "Don't make me stay here alone," Zoya warns, as Din moves to follow.

          The Mandalorian lingers, but only for a moment. "Protect the child," he says. "We'll be back." Before she can say another word, he grabs his own weapon from their speeder bike and follows Cobb Vanth into the skies.

          "What the fuck," she yells after them. It goes unheard.

          They ascend until they're minuscule specks against the broad expanse of the sky, and Zoya can barely make out their forms as they land upon the mountain beside the krayt dragon. Flashes and delayed echoes tell her that they're shooting at it, but the beast doesn't even react to their presence—at first. They become enough of a nuisance after a few more bolts fired into the dragon's head, and it turns towards them, a roar echoing down the cliffs. By the time its jaws close around the outcropping where they were crouching, Cobb and Din have already taken to the skies, skirting around the attack and plunging to the desert floor. Once the dust clears above, the dragon is nowhere in sight.

          While they whirl, searching for the beast, Zoya's eyes remain solely on Din as she clutches the child close to her chest. "Get out of there," she whispers, though she knows he will not.

          With a vicious roar, the krayt dragon re-emerges behind the small army that continues to dwindle in number. It surges after a group of fleeing Raiders, capturing a couple between its teeth. Their blood splatters, starkly crimson, and is swallowed almost immediately by the roiling sand. A rocket explodes from Cobb Vanth's back—seemingly at Din's direction—and strikes the beast in the head; growling furiously, it changes course, heading directly towards them.

          As Zoya watches, Din slams the butt of his rifle into Cobb's jetpack, and it malfunctions, shooting him directly upwards and out of the way. The Mandalorian stands his ground in front of a tethered bantha, bracing himself. The beast lows and breaks free, forcing Din to hold its rope tight and yank it back to where the dragon lunges forward.

          "You idiot," Zoya hisses. "You fucking idiot."

          She begins to run even though her left thigh shrieks, holding the child tight, but it's no use: the krayt dragon rears high above Din and the bantha and plunges downward, engulfing both of them at once with a sickening crunch.

          Zoya's leg gives out, and she tumbles to the ground, curling around the child to protect him just as Cobb crashes to the sands out of the sky, rolling to a clumsy, violent stop. She struggles upright, limping towards him.

          "What the fuck did he do?" she snaps.

          Vanth yanks off his helmet. "Son of a bitch."

          Zoya whirls to stare at where Din disappeared. "Come on," she whispers. "Come on, come on, come on."

          The ground rumbles. Her eyes search the sands for a split second before the beast reappears, flying out from the earth in a whirlwind of dust and angry roars. Crackling with electricity, Din barrels from its throat, a bullet exploding from a rifle, and then the dragon explodes from the inside, sending a shockwave across the desert that knocks Zoya back down onto her ass beside Cobb, who begins to laugh like a maniac.

          Cheers erupt from Mos Pelgo's people and the Tusken Raiders at once as the ravaged corpse of the beast goes completely still. Its thick, viscous blood coats the sands and many of those nearby, but it only elevates their celebration.

          Din turns, covered in slime, to claim his victory.

          Incensed, Zoya fights her way back to her feet, clinging tight to both the child and her sanity. He sees the malicious twist of her limp and surges forward to meet her halfway, a reprimand on his lips.

          "You"—she gasps in between words and bouts of pain—"fucking—asshole!" Her free hand pushes against his chest in anger, but there's no force behind it, and Din doesn't even fall back a step. His hands catch her about the waist, and Zoya finds herself slumping into him even though she fights it, arm hooking around his neck despite the gore that clings to his beskar. "You're a fucking lunatic," she snaps, barely able to stand. "An absolute fucking lunatic. What the hell is wrong with you?"

          "Are you okay?" he says. "Your leg—"

          "As if I could give a shit about my goddamn leg. You—"

          Cautiously, Din interrupts, "Zoya. I'm fine." He pulls back so she can fix her eyes upon his visor. "I'm fine. You're the one who's hurt. What did you do?"

          "Oh, what did I do?" Zoya scoffs. "I just ran, that's all. Not like I jumped into a dragon's mouth—"

          "O-kay," Din says, and uses part of his cloak to wipe some of the gore off his chest plate. "Let's get you sat down somewhere you can breathe, okay?"

          Before Zoya has a chance to object, he swings her up into his arms without ceremony, carrying her back over to their speeder bike. While she rests, the Raiders begin to disembowel the dragon's corpse, harvesting its meat until enormous, arcing bones pierce the few clouds that have drifted in upon a sweet, gentle breeze. They, graciously, give Din and Zoya a large enough block of the meat, and Din wraps it and secures it to the back of the bike, his beskar gleaming and glittering once more as Cobb Vanth approaches.

          "Sorry," Din says, "I didn't have time to explain."

          "So he gets an apology," Zoya grumbles.

          Cobb grins. "He doesn't need one." The marshal places the armor upon the seat beside Zoya. "This was well-earned."

          "It was my pleasure." Din offers his hand, and Cobb shakes it twice.

          Vanth dips his head. "I hope our paths cross again."

          "As do I."

          He looks to Zoya then, and she stretches out her hand as well. Hers, Cobb drops a light kiss upon, lips brushing against her knuckles. "You as well, ma'am," he says, and she grins. As he begins to walk away, he adds, almost as an afterthought, gesturing to the damaged jetpack: "Oh, and you tell your people I wasn't the one that broke that."

          The child gurgles in agreement. Din binds the armor to the bike, sliding in front of Zoya onto the seat as Cobb Vanth strides out onto the swirling sands, his tall, lean form gradually disappearing from view. "Ready?" he asks.

          Briefly, she considers. "For what?"

          "Whatever comes next," Din answers.

          With her arms wrapped tightly around the Mandalorian's torso and the child safely secured on the speeder beside them, Zoya is confident in her answer. "I'm ready."

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a/n: me when i update at 2 am and people start voting immediately
n e ways.....another chapter so soon??? turning a new leaf 😎 also i hope this one wasn't too boring to read ! as zoya wasn't really involved in the krayt dragon fight i didn't wanna make the action seem super drug out (since we all know what happens lmao) ! but lemme know what u thought :)