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Concept art by Christian Alzmann and Erik Tiemens. Grogu is sitting on the Seeing Stone while the Force protects him from the Dark Troopers who surround the temple. Image for The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 6, The Tragedy. Calendar from DataWorks.

“A long time ago in this galaxy right here, someone built a temple on the top of a hill on the Deep Core planet of Tython. Not far from Empress Teta, Tython was an interesting planet. At least it was interesting to the Jedi. It seemed like the Force lived there most of the time, in a way it didn’t live on other planets. 

So the Jedi (maybe), found the spot on the planet where the Force was the strongest. Strangely the spot was fairly barren, it’s rocky peak exposed to the elements. No trees, no bushes, not even tiny grasses. Just the wind blasted stone that seemed to glow, night or day.

Seeing an opportunity to use that convergence of the Force to do things that couldn’t be done from any other planet, someone (again probably some Jedi) moved huge slabs of stone there until the peak of that mountain was fully enclosed. Well, almost completely enclosed. A slot was left open. It glowed blue and shimmered with the contained Force. 

Thinking about what that would mean and what that would do, the Jedi (we think) began to inscribe each plinth of stone with words in an ancient language to warn others of the danger of coming to the site without an invitation. The Force was too strong there for just any person to survive exposure to it. Those who failed to heed the warning became ‘one’ with the Force. They became the collective soul of the temple. 

As there number increased the warnings changed from written words to voices that called out and tried to reason with those the temple attracted. Eventually, so many had been made one with the Force that they were able to change the structure of the temple over millennia. 

A central hole appeared. Fewer people were enticed to enter a structure that appeared to be blasting a constant stream of energy through its roof. It was considered a partial success. The Entity of the Hill continued to evaluate its options and then began to slowly direct the winds to wear away at certain cracks and crevices in the stone plinths until they too were more open, like the central hole. 

The blasting current of the Force that had been directed through the center of the structure ceased to function. The Entity was relieved but worried that people (probably Jedi) would just replace the missing stone and try to damn up the Force again. That is when they hit upon the idea of creating a stone in the shape of a globe that would be balanced between the floor and the ceiling and would be able to focus the energy of the Force for anyone properly trained, while not enticing those who were uninitiated. 

A warning and instructions were included on the Globe of Sight. Anyone trained in the proper use of the Force would be able to use the Globe to see anyplace with in the galaxy. Any system. Any planet. Any  Temple. Any dwelling. It was extremely powerful. If you knew what you were doing. 

Over time it was used well and not so well. As soon as the Sith found out about it’s use they tried to pin point the locations of every Jedi temple in the galaxy. But, because the Sith are both arrogant and impatient, the one’s involved in that trial failed and the globe split in half. The bottom turned to dust and blew away. The top fell to the floor of the temple and became what we now as the ‘Seeing Stone’. 

The Sith that were not consumed by the Force, were compelled to leave Tython by the Entity. That was perhaps their last great act, protecting the whole galaxy from the Sith gaining power from their knowledge. 

Their last act until they connected Grogu with Luke Skywalker, that is. It is my theory that they understood the great purity of Grogu’s spirit and believed that tipping the balance in his favor was well worth the risk. I think those who know you both would agree.” 

Seb Ta’low paused for a moment. 

“You know, Din Djarin, your son is remarkable. I travelled to Tython once, as a youngling. Like every other youngling on that trip, I sat on that stone and emptied my mind and tried to communicate with another Jedi. I listened to see if anyone heard my call. The time I spent on that rock seemed to crawl by and I felt like I was fused to it.”

“Well, what happened, Seb?” Din Djarin hated it when his friend told stories this way.

“Oh, I heard a voice. It was loud and harsh and said ‘Get off the stone immediately!’ I can tell you I practically vaulted off of it I was so surprised.”

Seb waited a beat before he continued.

“Master Drallig had noticed some sort of biting, venomous critter making it’s way up the stone. He thought the critter was going to end me and despite how much relief that might provide to him, he decided to warn me of its presence.”

Seb was smiling a broad, almost dreamy smile as he thought back on that day so long ago.

“You live a charmed life Seb Ta’low. How did the Jedi ever survive contact with you?” Din laughed. 

He looked down at Grogu, who was just opening his eyes, and smiled at his own youngling who was so much more than anyone expected.

“That is a good question, son. Master Drallig often posited that. In this particular case that critter he was concerned about landed on his shoulder when I vaulted off the stone. He was only saved from a nasty bite when I performed my preferred landing and rolled right into him and knocked him off his feet. I can tell you I was the last youngling to ever sit on that stone.”

“For how long?” The Mandalorian asked, still laughing.

“Forever. Master Drallig said it wasn’t worth the risk. I’m sorry about that Grogu. I think you would have impressed them far more than I did.”

Grogu smiled at Seb. He was always impressed by his fellow Jedi.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin

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Grogu with his right hand raised as a baby-core has jumped onto his face from the bowl of stew in front of him. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 3, The Heiress. Calendar by DataWorks.

Some days just stink. You wake up late. Your arm’s a sleep because you slept funny on your dad’s armor. Your nose is runny because that darn armor polish smells worse than a bantha’s arm pit. You know what it’s like. Some days things just do not work out your way. 

This was one of those days. Practically one of those weeks. Having the critter grab his face was just another part of the whole fiasco. It wasn’t the worst part it was just the part that ushered the worst part in. 

“Don’t play with your food.”

What! Grogu had never been so annoyed. Clearly the thing that grabbed his face wasn’t food yet. That’s why IT grabbed him! He wasn’t playing with the critter. Not in the least. But still Din Djarin had made that comment. Grumbled it. His tone all accusing and annoyed. Like Grogu had wanted to have stew all over his face because having the Mandalorian wash it for him was so much fun. 

He can assure you it is not. Apparently faces were treated as if they were made of beskar and scrubbed rather ruthlessly and then polished to a nice bright shine. Uff. Never again. Grogu refused to let the bounty hunter help him again after that first time. He liked how he looked and he didn’t need anyone using ‘elbow grease’ to clean off bits of gorg or frog or anything else tasty.

Bad enough that before they even made it to the tavern they had fallen into the harbor. That’s hadn’t been pleasant. He hadn’t been in his floaty thing. The Frog lady had the egg container with her, but it wasn’t strapped down. The Mandalorian had watched him like a shriek hawk to make sure he didn’t snack on any more of the eggs. Then they almost landed. Almost. Not quite. Uff. 

‘Uff’ was the sound he made when the egg container fell on him as the Razor Crest tipped over and fell in the water. That hadn’t felt good. He didn’t even have a chance to use the Force to prevent it, so instead he got the wind knocked out of him twice. The first time was from the container and the second time was from the Frog lady who was grateful that he had broken it’s fall, protecting her eggs. Yup, they were fine. He wasn’t but that’s the sort of thing any Jedi would do, right?

Grogu was grateful for one thing. The bridge of the Razor Crest really had been water tight. It had to be in order to be pressurized. That meant that he didn’t have to help the Mandalorian swim. He’d been worried about that since they were on Maldo Kreis and he became even more worried when he saw how much of Trask was ocean. Just ocean. The Mandalorian was a sinker and Grogu knew that using the Force to help him would be a big deal and attract even more of the wrong sort of people. Talk about making a bad day worse. 

Now they were in a dark, smelly tavern and he was being accused of playing with a critter that was quite clearly trying to eat him. It wasn’t fair and he didn’t like it at all. He would have much preferred to go hang out with the Frog lady and her husband, than gone to that tavern to so Din Djarin could find even more Mandalorians and then they could all help ‘Mando’ get rid of Grogu. Because that’s really what this whole mess was about. 

Din Djarin didn’t want to be his friend. He wanted to find someone who could find someone who would take Grogu because they had to because they were ‘his people’. What the heck did that even mean? ‘His people’? He didn’t have any people. At least not any more. Master Yoda was gone and had been gone for years. Master Yaddle for even longer. They weren’t even his parents. At least he hoped not. If they had been they weren’t very good parents. At least not by his estimation. 

When you actually thought about that whole mess, well, mess it was. Grogu was a foundling. An orphan. People had kidnapped him. Sent bounty hunters after him. Literally stole his blood. Now, the one person he thought he could depend on was only focused on getting rid of him. It really hurt. Why not just leave him on Tatooine so he could live with the Sandpeople? Or the Marshal? Or Peli? 

It would have been great staying with Peli. He loved droids and mechs. He loved her curly bouncy hair and sass. He loved the food he ate there too. Strangely, Tatooine had been a good place for Grogu. Almost like it welcomed Jedi. And he liked banthas.

But no. The Mandalorian hadn’t seen it that way, so here they were, on Trask, just another mistake after a whole series of mistakes. Grogu really hoped that ‘the critter on the face' was the end of it. Otherwise, he’d have to take matters into his own hands. Literally. 

He’d just grab onto the bounty hunter and never let go. That’s right. He’d do it. Then the tall human would learn a thing or two. Can’t polish your armor because Grogu’s holding onto the chest piece and won’t let go? Too bad. So sad. Can’t wash your face because Grogu won’t let go of your helmet? Can’t use the privy because… well it’s self-explanatory now. Grogu was not letting the Mandalorian out of sight or his grip. Ha!

Grogu was brought back to reality when the Quarren came over to talk to Din Djarin. Grogu just hoped things changed for the better based on whatever they were going to do next. He didn’t like the idea of spending any more time on Trask than was absolutely essential. Din Djarin was bound to end up in the water and then someone would have to save him and given the reputation of Mandalorians, he’d be stuck with the task. After all, he was still a Jedi and had sworn to preserve life. Then it would be Grogu’s turn to tell the Mandalorian to stop playing.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin

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#It only bugs me if the person knows better

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Saturn and its rings in visible/ultraviolet

#Nature is beautiful

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A holographic recording of Din Djarin is being played on the bridge of Moff Gideon's ship. Caption reads: He means more to me than you will ever know. It is attributed to the Mandalorian. Image is from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 7, The Believer. Calendar from DataWorks.

Grogu put down his data pad and took a break from writing the story of his life. He’d just gotten to the part where Moff Gideon had kidnapped him and his dad, the Mandalorian, Din Djarin, best bounty hunter in the Outer Rim, was telling Gideon that he better watch out because the Mandalorian was on his way. This part of the story always made him proud, worried, and annoyed. 

He was proud of his dad for taking the fight all the way back to Moff Gideon. He was worried that there might never be an end to them having to fight Gideon’s cohorts. And he was annoyed that the Jedi hadn’t seen this coming forty or fifty years ago. 

That’s right. He was annoyed with the Jedi Council, with Master Yoda, with Master Windu, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and the whole lot of them.  They weren’t some sort of poorly trained group of people pretending to be disciplined, clear thinking diplomats and intelligence analysts. The were the real deal. They were the people who trained him well enough that he could pick up a mudhorn, heal injuries, turn back a firestorm and catch frogs without a net. 

His master, Kelleran Beq had been an amazing Jedi because he had been trained by amazing Jedi. Master Drallig was the Battle Master for the Order and there was no Jedi more disciplined than him. So what the heck happened? How did a Sith rub shoulders with them all and they just didn’t see it? It was ridiculous! 

And yet, it was. It had happened. The Order had fallen and Grogu had only escaped because of the sacrifices of many and the heroics of Master Beq. And that was exactly what annoyed Grogu. How many times were evil people going to chase after him? How many brave people had to give their all to protect him? What the heck made him so special? He didn’t know. He had never really known. No one told him that he was the ‘Chosen One’.

No, he wasn’t the chosen one, he was just one. A small person who could do things that other Jedi didn’t really understand. Oh, they understood how he could sneak food wherever he was. They could understand how he could seemingly disappear at will. They even understood how he managed to climb to the tippy top of the Great Tree of the Jedi Temple. 

But they did not understand why people just loved him. Fell in with him. Helped him when it was not convenient or their task, or of any benefit other than to see Grogu smile. They did not understand how Ian was his best friend. They didn’t understand why all the masters and knights knew his name. They didn’t know why people who feared the truth, feared him. 

The masters had realized what was going on almost by accident. Whenever a youngling, or knight, a visitor, or elected official was caught doing something inappropriate at the Temple, something less than honorable, Grogu found a way to point that out. He didn’t do it on purpose, so whenever they asked him how he knew, he just shrugged at them. Master Kenobi once asked if Grogu had ‘The Sight of the Jedi’, which Grogu had giggled at. Of course he had the sight of the Jedi. At least a Jedi. Himself. But apparently ‘The Sight of the Jedi’ was a special Force power that caused the Jedi who wielded it to know the truth about a person. To be able to see their soul. 

Grogu had once told Ian that he’d never seen anyone’s soul and he hoped he never would. It was his opinion that people thought he was both helpless and harmless and they behaved in a way that made it clear that they were not harmless. But then Grogu had never been helpless. Not even with Moff Gideon. Tired out. Sure. Bored. Of course. Annoyed. Yup, check that box. But helpless? Nope. 

And that’s why he was annoyed with the Jedi. They knew people showed their true colors around him. They studied him because of that. They were baffled by it and annoyed as well. It was a thing that was discussed at the Jedi Temple and in the Jedi Council. A thing!

But the day the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic shows up to visit Jedi Skywalker and recoils at the very sight of Grogu, they ignored the warning. Ignored it for crying out loud. Grogu had warned Ian and told him he had to leave the Temple. It wasn’t safe. Ian believed him and Grogu helped him escape when they both had a chance to take action. But the other Jedi, the younglings, the padawans, the knights, the masters? Nope. It was like they hadn’t even noticed that Grogu’s strange connection to the Force was in full play that day. 

Grogu had been confused and annoyed. How could you be believed everyday of your life and then suddenly no one believed you? No one but your best friend. He had looked for Master Kelleran to explain what had happened, but his Master was off doing some other task. By the time Master Beq returned, Grogu had shaken it off. He was focused on helping Ian and hoping that Master Beq could help the rest of them. Two days later the Temple was in chaos and the Jedi Order fell. 

Had the dark Sith Lord told his minions about Grogu’s power? Or had they just scraped data from the Jedi’s extensive library and realized that he was something no other Jedi was? Grogu still didn’t know. He wasn’t going to ask Moff Gideon. He was going to trust his dad. When Din Djarin made a promise, he kept it. After all, he was Grogu’s best friend and Grogu believed in him, the same way Ian had believed Grogu all those years ago. They meant more to Grogu than anyone else would ever know. 

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin

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The Armorer gives Din Djarin a small cloth holding the beskar shirt she made for Grogu (not present). Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 5, Return of the Mandalorian. Calendar from DataWorks.

Din Djarin didn’t know how to feel about the small package that he held in his hands. The child, Grogu, was no longer his responsibility. He had completed his quest and the small wonder was now with his own kind. More or less. He hadn’t really wanted to let the Jedi take the boy that he had begun to feel very parental toward, but what choice did he have? He had to do what was best for Grogu. He couldn’t teach him how to reach his full potential. He wasn’t a Jedi.

Yet, he had promised Grogu that they would see each other again. Din Djarin felt that he needed to reassure Grogu that no matter what happened, he would always have someone who he could call family. So the Mandalorian promised to visit him on Ossus. Just to check in. Make sure everything was okay. 

He sighed. As much as he told himself that he was doing that for Grogu, he knew that he was really doing that for himself. He liked having someone with him during his travels. Someone who needed him and who he needed. The little cooing sounds that Grogu made when he was happy. The little grumbling sounds he made when he was so clearly annoyed with the bounty hunter were gone now. Din Djarin missed them. 

Now, the Armorer had agreed to make something for Grogu. A tiny beskar shirt that would protect him from many hazards and act as a reminder that Mandalorians and Jedi could get along. Really, a reminder that he had a family waiting for him whenever he wanted to follow a different path. The fact that the shirt had been made from pure beskar from that spear Morgan Elsbeth had was another reminder that nothing was in it’s final form. Not the weapon or the child that would benefit from its transformation. 

She had reminded him that Jedi must forgo attachment. That was not their way. But then she also noted that Mandalorians valued loyalty and solidarity. It had made them strong. Was that what he feared? That without Grogu he wouldn’t be as strong? And that Grogu would be vulnerable? That seemed absurd. The Jedi was very strong and very skilled and he had saved them all from the dark troopers that Gideon had sent after them. Grogu would be fine…

Dank Farrik! 

The problem was that while the Jedi might be strong, did he really care about the child? Was he going to make sure he was clean, fed, and protected every day? Was he going to be ever vigilant and make sure that no other Imp Remnant that caught wind of the Grogu’s value to their plots and machinations was able to attack him or kidnap him? 

The Jedi said he would train Grogu in the ways of the Force, but the Jedi Order had fallen as readily as Mandalore had been destroyed by the Empire. Could two Jedi really prevent that from happening again? Din Djarin had no way to know, but he did know that the Armorer was right. Mandalorians were stronger because of their attachments. Their families, their clans… The Mudhorn Clan. Din Djarin wore that sigil proudly. They were a clan of two. Not one. Two. 

He sighed again. 

He would bring the shirt to Grogu, make sure he was doing well, and suggest to the Jedi that they should work together. He would explain how attachments made Mandalorians strong. Strong enough to protect Grogu until they all needed the Jedi’s intervention. That loyalty was also a strength they had and he could swear upon his honor to aid the Jedi in manner necessary to help him achieve his goal. Jedi and Mandalorians did not need to fight one another. They could learn from one another. It had worked with Ahsoka Tano. It could work again. 

Of course that was easy to think. Easy to hope for. Easy to want. But Din Djarin knew from his brief discussions with the Armorer and his own research, that Jedi followed just as strict a Creed as Mandalorians. That they had both survived showed how they adhered to the dogma of their tribes. Even Ahsoka had balked at training Grogu because of the attachment the boy had with his Mandalorian protector. Din Djarin knew that attachment was mutual. He just had the advantage of adulthood to compel him to do the right thing and let Grogu follow his own path. Grogu had made a choice. He had gone with the Jedi. His attachment to the Mandalorian wasn’t strong enough to prevent that. 

Then Din heard a voice he hadn’t heard for years. His training officer scolding him for day dreaming.

“Djarin! Wake up boy. If you want a thing to be true you can’t just dream about it. You must take action. Not every foundling has the ability to do what you do. You must choose your path and when you do, you will find a way to be Mand’alor one day. I see that in you. It is time for you to know it yourself.”

Of course Din Djarin didn’t want to be Mand’alor. He appreciated Lacc Straso’s encouragement to that end and did his best to make him proud. Now he just wanted to do the same for Grogu. He had a path and it was time to take it. They were a Clan of Two. 

#calendar prompt a day #grogu #din djarin #the book of boba fett

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Boba Fett speaking to Fennec Shand (out of frame) while standing in the burned out hulk of Garsa Fwip's Sanctuary. Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 6, In the Name of Honor. Calendar from DataWorks.

Grogu wondered why Boba Fett felt so strongly about Mos Espa. Was he really worried about the people there or was he worried about his reputation? He’d decided, when he met up with Bib Fortuna, according to Fennec, that he wanted to retire from bounty hunting because the clients were a lot of trouble for a small amount of gain. Bib Fortuna apparently being a good example of that.

Grogu could understand the problems that any bounty hunter had with bad the clients. The really bad ones. The ones that asked you to bring children in and the truly evil ones that asked you to bring them cold… you know… permanently cold. Uff. What kind of bounty hunter would take a job like that? A droid maybe? Or someone who was just evil. 

As far as Grogu could tell, Boba Fett was about the least evil bounty hunter he’d met, next to his dad. And Fennec. Grogu understood from the stories his dad had told him about Fennec that she had a heck of a reputation, but it seemed like the people she dealt with would have ended up that way sooner or later. He counted that in her favor, although he was sure that his masters would have scolded him. 

Jedi did not become bounty hunters and they did not hire them. If there was a person they needed to find… well… they found them. The Force was very useful for that sort of thing if you knew what you were doing. That was one of the first things that Grogu learned to do. He had too. It was the easiest way to find his way around the Jedi Temple. 

Imagine, if you will, being less than a third of a meter tall. If you were walking, and Master Yoda certainly thought that your character would be built better if you were walking, everything that might be useful as a landmark for you, was of no use to all the people there who were significantly taller. Since there were no Anzellans at the Temple, everyone was taller than Grogu. So asking for directions from any of the other younglings, padawans, or masters was complete waste of time. Take for example this exchange with Master Obi-Wan, one of the most sympathetic and considerate masters.

“Grogu, I need you to bring this data pack to Master Drallig. I believe he’s at the exterior training ground at this time of day.”

Grogu took the data pack, which was half his size and began to trot off.

“No, Grogu. Not that way. Master Drallig is at the exterior training ground. Go south down this corridor, turn left at the statue of Master Draebeert, and then proceed to the doors at the end of that corridor.”

Grogu, knowing that Master Obi-Wan meant well, nodded his head, turned around and began to trot down the corridor, also knowing that the tall human was watching him every step of the way now. 

“I appreciate you doing this for me, young one. It is very important that you don’t delay bringing the data pack to him. Thank you.”

Of course he hadn’t planned on delaying giving Master Drallig the data pack. That’s why he wasn’t going to the exterior training grounds because Grogu knew it was pouring rain outside. He’d seen the rain while he’d been doing work in the arboretum. When it rained, Master Drallig conducted classes in the small basement area of the gymnasium which was meant for practicing the physical arts, like wrestling, boxing, and martial arts. Grogu often went there just to watch the padawans train because everyone had already agreed that Grogu was not going to taking advantage of physical strength to win any argument. At least the kind that didn’t depend on the Force. 

So off he trotted and dutifully went down the hallway looking for a statue of someone he’d never heard of. Grogu suspected that Master Kenobi thought that Grogu would simply glance at the plaques that had been positioned on or near each statue. Of course they were all placed approximately 1.5 meters above the floor. For Grogu to be able to read them he’d have to across the hall from them and standing on a plinth that was about a half a meter tall. Needless to say, those plinths did not exist in the temple. 

So there he was  jumping up every time he reached a corridor and statue to see whose it was. After doing that three or four times, Master Drallig came up to him from the cross corridor and asked him what he was doing. 

Grogu had replied that he was looking for the Master to give him a data pack from Master Kenobi.

“I see. I think. In the future, simple close your eyes and reach out with the Force. Think of me and you will know my location. This works the same way as when you are ‘somehow’ locating any spare snacks in the training rooms.”

Master Drallig was almost smiling at him and Grogu returned the smile as he handed the tall human the data pack. He’d just thought he’d been lucky finding those snacks. Now that he knew it was the Force there was no end…

“And do not use that technique to avoid people or get into mischief with Ian. The two of you remind me of one of my padawans from years ago. If I didn’t know better I would say one or the other of your was Seb’s child. Now, back to your lessons.”

Grogu had tried not to laugh at the notion that any one padawan could out do Grogu and Ian at any sort of mischief, but if there was one, he wanted to meet them. Which brought him back to thinking about Boba Fett and why he became Daimyo of Mos Espa. It was the people. He’d met them. Listened to them. Promised to help them build a better life. Much like Master Drallig who had helped Grogu that day, so long ago. A life devoted to helping others. 

Grogu sighed. The people of Mos Espa had no idea how lucky they were.

#calendar prompt a day #din djarin #grogu #the book of boba fett #boba fett #fennec shand

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Din Djarin removing the Mythrol from the speeder on Pagodon. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 1, The Mandalorian. Calendar from DataWorks.

“Why did I tell them that Pagodon was a frozen planet? Because I thought that would be more interesting.”

Grogu looked at his dad and shook his head. How were they ever going to maintain production integrity if Din Djarin continued to tell people things that were almost true, but not actually true? What if his mom relented and they brought Jon to a galaxy, far, far away and he noticed all things that that the Mandalorian had been ‘creative’ about describing?

When his mom finally brought him to Pagodon, Grogu found that it was a beautiful Earth-like planet. Of course, Earth before all the polluting and clear cutting and willy nilly development of every scrap of sand near the coastlines of their continents.

When they flew over Earth on the N-1, Grogu had requested that his dad do a full sweep of the planet to make sure they had a good idea of where population centers were. Turns out, they were everywhere. 

That’s when they picked the one near the ocean and the place called Santa Monica, which pretty much proved his rule. If you have a lovely bit of sand and a view of the ocean, the inhabitants of earth will build their dwellings there to limit who else could see, use, or appreciate it. It’s like the people of Earth liked to live dangerously on purpose. That was not the way it was on the real Pagodon.

Nope. The real Pagodon was a model of hub and spoke design and utilized the lands that couldn’t produce any other sustainable system. Yup, buildings, dwellings, factories, markets and all that were part of a specific sustainable system that ensured that the planet had time to rejuvenate while still sustaining life. It was pretty cool. Very unlike Tatooine, or Nevarro, or Coruscant. Grogu figured that was due to the fact that Pagodon had never been part of the Imperium or the old Republic and really wasn’t part of the ‘New’ Republic either. What is was part of was never mentioned, but he was pretty sure that his mom knew all about it. He wondered if the same thing could be done for Earth.

“Buddy, your mom says it would take a lot of work and that generations of people would have to be willing to make a change.”

Grogu grumbled that it was possible for people to do that. After all, the rebels had managed to fight against the Empire and win. 

“Buddy, that’s very true, but that only took four standard years. In part that was because a whole galaxy is pretty hard to manage, even if you are a Sith. The people who fought the Emperor and his ilk remembered what it was like to live in greater freedom. They understood what they were losing minute by minute. I’m sorry to say that most folks don’t understand what’s already been lost on Earth.”

Grogu sighed. That was probably true. On Pagodon, the oceans weren’t frozen over and they were teaming with all manner of life. Huge critters like the ravinak, which didn’t really try to eat anyone’s vessels because there were so many fish and squid and other critters to eat. And teeny, tiny plankton that were the food source for whales,  that made the ravinak seem small. The giant quid were fascinating to Grogu because they would occasionally push a vessel in front of them in order to hide from the ravinak. He was pretty sure that’s how the myth that Ravinak tried to eat speeders and starships started. 

On Earth, according to a vid program he’d watched, the oceans were suffering from all sorts of problems because humans liked to dump their trash into them. Maybe ‘like’ was the wrong word, but they certainly didn’t stop doing it even after they realized how wrong it was. 

He asked his dad why humans were that way. He thought it was a fair question since Grogu wasn’t human and Din Djarin was clearly very human. 

“Buddy, I don’t have a good answer for that question. According to Mandalorian history, Mandalorians did the same thing. They stripped the resources off the surface and sub-surface of Mand’alor in order to support their expansion into other planetary systems. But why they decided to keep expanding at the cost of their actual home planet never made sense to me. I guess it’s pretty easy to tell when you don’t have enough food in your preserver, but its harder to tell that about your planet. Then you find yourself eating ration packs made somewhere else because your home planet can’t produce enough food and after a couple of generations people think the only food is ration packs.”

Uff. What kind of nightmare was that? Grogu was not a fan of ration packs. Not at all. 

“Well, you were lucky. You had that arboretum in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and were able to grow the food you ate. But Coruscant itself was dependent on dozens of worlds for its food supply. You once described the planet as a cross between a mech and droid. They require energy but its not in a format that living beings can use. Any planet is a collection of complex systems and you have to pay attention to them all or failure will be catastrophic.”

Grogu nodded his head at that. A lot like the time they crashed on Maldo Kreis, an actual ice planet. 

“Buddy, that was a hard landing, but you’re correct. The Razor Crest took a huge amount of damage and it took me a good amount of time to do what I could do to fix just enough of it to get off planet.”

His dad paused for a moment, no doubt recalling that moment and then continued. 

“And I could only get that much done because Teva and Wolfe took care of those spiders you woke up. You didn’t consider the impact of eating that one tiny pod and look at what happened. I guess, for Earth to be more like Pagodon, the real Pagodon, we’ll all have to think more before we take action, rather than do whatever it takes to survive after the disaster is chasing us down frozen pathway that we didn’t really think twice about walking along to begin with.”

Grogu nodded his head. They would have to think more and not with their stomachs or their desire for power or their desire for a good view. He liked Earth and he really hoped that one day it would be more like the real Pagodon and less like the one that was a frozen wasteland. He didn’t want it to be the next Mandalore or Coruscant or Tatooine. He hoped that the people of Earth would think about it every day. It was the only planet they had.

Happy Earth Day!

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin

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Concept art by Nick Gindraux for The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 6, The Prisoner. The Mandalorian is depicted firing down a corridor as battle droids approach. Cells are visible along the corridor.

Din Djarin sighed. He had hoped this would be a quick job and that he and the child would be able to gather some intel from Ran and find someplace safe to hunker down. It became clear that nothing like that was going to happen. Dank Farrik.

First, he thought he was just going to take Ran’s team somewhere and  just drop them off. He had done that often enough when they originally worked together. To find that he wasn’t even going to pilot the Razor Crest was not welcome information. It hadn’t been easy to acquire and it would be even more trouble to replace if anything happened to it. 

Second, he didn’t find out that they were extracting a prisoner from a New Republic prison vessel until it was too late to refuse. Picking someone up from a rival group was as different from springing a guy from a New Republic prison ship as the Razor Crest was different from an Old Imperial Dreadnaught. This job just went from bad to awful.

Finally, the crew. Uff. The Mandalorian was surprised that any of them had managed to avoid being held in a New Republic prison transport themselves. They were a hot mess. One was violent, one was just a mass of muscle, another was trigger happy, and the worst one was a reprogrammed protocol droid. What had he signed himself up for when he contacted Ran and asked if they could work something out that was mutually beneficial?  This was not what he had hoped to be doing and he certainly hadn’t expected to expose the child to such a motley crew. 

At least he could control for that. He’d left the little one in his cabin and locked the door. He wasn’t going to open it and let any of them see his small companion. Based on what Ran said to him about getting crosswise with the guild made him worry that his old ‘friend’ knew all about what happened on Nevarro and that meant he couldn’t be trusted to know about the kid or anything else. Just like old times.

Old times had been one nightmare after another with all of the old crew doing one dangerous, often stupid thing, after another. Sure, Ran had made credits and Din Djarin had as well, since even his old armor had protected him from the worse of their misadventures, including Xian’s persistent testing of his reflexes with her knives. But, there were a number of good reasons they had parted ways. 

Ran had shorted his cut of the take on more than one job. Xian had cut up so many members of their team that Din Djarin spent as much of his time patching people back together as he did planning missions and providing cover fire. And Xian’s brother, Qin was just as much a problem. He was just slightly more cheerful while he picked locks and subdued guards than any of the rest of them. A Mandalorian bounty hunter was expected to display more discipline. More consideration. More sense. A lot more sense. 

Dank Farrik. 

Then Burg, the big muscle for their team decided to be nosey. Well, Din Djarin had shut that down as quickly as he could. But not before the door to his cabin was opened and there was the child. Standing up and carefully observing each one of them. He could only imagine what the child might think seeing them all. When he was that age, well, he hadn’t actually reached the child’s reported age yet, but when he was a youngling, he hadn’t met anyone who carried weapons with so little concern. At least, not until he’d been saved by the Mandalorians on Aq Vetina. 

That brought back memories he didn’t want to think about. Including his general concerns about the child he’d decided to protect. Had he known his parents? Had he any idea where he came from? Was he an orphan or abandoned or did he have a family who was frantically trying to locate him? The Mandalorian had no idea but he certainly didn’t want this group of people to think about the child in any way at all. 

“What is it? Like a pet, or something?”

Mayfeld asked the question to see if he could push the Mandalorian’s buttons.

“Sure. Something like that.”

Easier to pretend the child was a pet then have them think he was anything else. Although as soon as he said that, the Mandalorian was certain that the child had made a face or a sound that indicated his disapproval of that whole notion. It wasn’t the first time that the bounty hunter was happy that he wore a helmet that shielded his face. The notion that small being was scolding him about a necessary cover story was just too funny. He couldn’t imagine the grief he’d take from Xian or Mayfeld if they had seen his grin or his eyes crinkle at their corners or saw how red he got in the face from trying not to laugh. It wasn’t worth it and it wouldn’t protect the child.

After that moment of levity that no one knew about except for him, the Razor Crest dropped out of hyperspace and he and the child and everyone else went bouncing around the storage bay. That wretched droid didn’t give a circuit relay about what was happening to the actual living members of their party. Which reminded him that he didn’t want that thing to know anything about the child. Nothing. After what happened with the IG unit on Arvala-7, the Mandalorian didn’t trust the protocol droid as far as the child could… no, as far as he could throw him. 

He spoke to the child quickly and quietly and gave him a rations pack to eat, while the others were preparing to board the vessel they had landed on. He hoped he wouldn’t find it used as a paint pallet again with assorted symbols decorating the walls of the cabin like the last time he’d had to leave the little one alone for a few hours. The walls cleaned up pretty easily, but getting the little one out of that coverall to bathe him and then trying to get him back into the thing had been a true trial of Mandalorian perseverance. 

He had hoped he wouldn’t have to survive that trial again for a couple of days instead of a mere twenty hours. Maybe he should get them a pet. Then it could clean the little one up when food was used as paint. It was worth a try, right?

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin

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Concept art by Nick Gindraux, depicts the Mandalorian shooting at battle droids on a ship, while his companions look on. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 6, The Prisoner. Calendar by DataWorks.

Who were these ‘friends’ of the Mandalorian? They seemed pretty suspect to Grogu. Not nice, open, easy to get to know people like Kuiil or Cara Dune. They weren’t even cute like Peli Motto or kind, like Winta’s mom. Nope. They were all criminals or something very close to being criminals. How did someone like the Mandalorian even meet them?

Grogu had thought that the ‘job’ was going to be something quick and easy. Fly a few folks to their destination, wait for them to do their business and then take them back home. Sort of like being a public transport, only you didn’t have to wait for the right speeder to show up. You just told the pilot where to go and they got you there. 

Having seen their weapons and listened to them ‘chat’ with the Mandalorian, it was Grogu’s considered opinion that they were going to do something that usually caused a bounty to be taken out against a person. Was the Mandalorian hoping to bring them in warm? Or cold, Grogu’s personal preference, or something else? Grogu didn’t know, but he sure hoped it wasn’t something else. That didn’t bode well for either of them. 

It had been his experience that when people showed you who they are, well that’s who they were. Abrupt, mouthy, bit of a bully, well, that’s what they were, a mouthy bully who did unpredictable things because that’s how they felt most comfortable. And that was just the Mayfeld guy. He seemed like the nicest one of the three people he actually met. 

And just to be clear, in case anyone felt like correcting him, Grogu knew that a droid went with them on that trip. The droid was the scariest and least predictable member of the group and Grogu did not consider it to be a person. He also would have preferred not to have met it. He has spoken!

If he had thought that the Mandalorian would have listened to him, he would have gladly advised the bounty hunter to leave immediately and go some place with fewer criminals. Maybe Takodana. Or Corellia.  Any place but that repair station and definitely not wherever they were headed. But the Mandalorian didn’t listen to people smaller than him, more or less. He had listened to Peli, but Grogu was pretty sure that she was the exception that proved the rule. 

Grogu bit his lip and pretty much stayed to himself until he wanted some food. If he didn’t eat in a timely manner he just got cranky. That wasn’t a good thing. He lost his patience more quickly. He snapped at people. Literally. And he was more tempted to use the Force to get what he wanted and doubted that the Mandalorian would thank him for that. 

Apparently his timing wasn’t all that good and it turned out that the droid was flying the Razor Crest and the other people were standing around trying to get on each other’s last nerve. Grogu should have expected that. It was part and parcel of all the bad vibes he got from them. 

He expected the Mandalorian to warn them that they were traveling with a Jedi, now that they all knew that Grogu was on board, but strangely he didn’t. Instead, and Grogu couldn’t believe his ears, the bounty hunter told the motley crew that he was a pet. A pet! Uff. He had absolutely nothing in common with a Loth cat and everyone could see that. 

Okay, okay, to be fair, that blabber mouth Mayfeld suggested that he was either a pet or a child that the Mandalorian and the Twi’lek person had when they knew each other. On that basis Grogu didn’t really blame the Mandalorian for choosing ‘pet’ over ‘child’. He had certainly been someone’s child but despite the similarity in the outward appearance of their teeth, he had nothing else in common with the Twi’lek. 

He was glad of that. She liked playing with that knife too much for Grogu’s comfort. That was a good way to get cut. He’d heard that warning from Master Drallig everyday for a year, until the Jedi Battle Master accidentally dropped his lightsaber on his own foot. It hadn’t been activated but it still hurt based on the hopping, cursing, and complaining that took place right after the incident. 

Grogu was about to warn her about that when the ship suddenly dropped out of hyperspace and then did a whole series of swoops, flips, turns and drops before it landed on something. Unfortunately the artificial gravity on the Razor Crest was of no use during a maneuver like that. You were supposed to be strapped into your seat when you have to evade an enemy, not stand around playing with knives and being obnoxious. 

For some reason the Mandalorian was worried more about Grogu than his ship and picked him up and checked him out as quickly as he could before putting him back in the tiny single person cabin they shared. It was just as well. Grogu had just remembered where he had stashed some snacks and he wanted to eat them before anything else happened. With people like this as part of his team, Grogu was certain that the Mandalorian would end up having to save them all from their own selfishness and Grogu didn’t want to have to witness that. They were who they were and he believed them.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #din djarin #grogu

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Grogu looking out of the frosted over canopy of the Razor Crest just before Din Djarin (out of frame) leaves the icy planet Maldo Kreis. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 2, The Passenger. Calendar from DataWorks.

Grogu was watching his dad repair the ship. Well, not really repair the ship. It was too damaged for full repairs or even good repairs. Apparently the best he could do was seal them into the bridge and cross their fingers and hope they would reach Trask. Eventually. They hoped. 

He felt kind of bad about what happened. He didn’t mean for the giant spiders to attack the Razor Crest. He was just bored and hungry and little bit annoyed with his dad. That sort of thing was bound to happen under those circumstances. At least that had been his experience. 

You do something innocuous, get caught, explain why you did it and how it was no big deal, and then, oops, something dramatic happens and there is nothing you can do but hang on tight and ask the Force to save your butt just one more time. At least that’s how Ian used to describe it when they compared notes after each unplanned adventure they went on. 

Like that time they went on the field trip to the Galactic Senate building. Nothing special was happening that day according to the protocol droid who escorted them through the building. According to their schedule the only thing the Senators would be debating and voting on was the renaming of several Republic buildings and docking facilities. 

Grogu had no idea why buildings needed names. Ian had been quick to respond that not everyone knew their unique ident codes. Grogu hadn’t even known that they had unique ident codes or why that would be useful. 

“Of course they need an ident code! How could the database of information on them be properly maintained if they didn’t have a unique identifier? It would be a mess!”

Grogu had been surprised that Ian was so knowledgeable and so passionate something as dull as ident codes for buildings and docking facilities.

“Listen, kid, if they didn’t have unique ident codes, you’d never know what sort of stuff they had crammed in them. When you have access to the Republic ‘database of resources and locations of operations’ you’re able to determine the most appropriate site to visit to fulfill whatever needs you have at the time. It’s all about logistics, kid. And, as you know, logistics are the key to every successful heist… uh… project.”

What the heck? When did Ian become a fan of logistics? He was talking like a cross between a pirate and a smuggler. That just struck Grogu as odd, much like Ian calling him ‘kid’. As far as he could tell, they were pretty close to being the same age. 

“Listen, I know you know all about being a Jedi, Kid… uh, Grogu. But I know other things because it’s been important for me to know other things. Things like logistics and warehouse management. Okay?”

Grogu had simply nodded. He thought they should just drop the subject and focus on the tour. Ian seemed to agree and they went with the other younglings and their protocol droid guide and entered the Senate chamber to listen to the debate and votes. Master Yoda had thought it was important for the younglings to witness and understand how the galactic government worked for some reason. 

The room was amazing and the strangest space that Grogu had ever been in, which he hadn’t thought was possible given how unique the Jedi Temple was. Ian, of course, zipped right over to the command console and studied it in silence while the protocol droid was advising them that the debates about naming facilities was simple in essence but could be complicated by various political factions within the Senate. The droid advised them all to be quiet and just listen to the debate.

That was a fine thing for the droid to say, but Grogu couldn’t see or hear anything. First he didn’t even understand why the seating disk had a central console. All it did was block his view and make it hard for him to understand what the heck was going on. He made his way over to Ian and asked him to help.

“Sure, buddy. Just be a minute. I have to wait for the opportune moment.”

Ian went back to studying the console, while Grogu hopped up on it and sat on the leading edge. From there he could at least hear what was going on, even if he still couldn’t really see the people because the distances were so great.

“The chancellor will recognize the Senator from Dathomir.”

“Thank you, your Eminence. It is with deep reverence and sincere appreciation of the importance of recognizing important people from Dathomirian history, that I propose that Revan the Defender be honored by renaming the Republic Space Station in orbit around Dathomir as the Revan the Dark Lord of the Sith Space Station and Immigrant Processing Center.”

Who? What? Why? Huh? The people assembled seemed just as stunned as he was. Since when did anything get named after an ancient Sith Lord?

Grogu would have asked those questions but suddenly their seating disk was flying forward and, before Ian could get it under control, slow it down, veer off, or do anything that would have helped prevent a crash with the Dathomiran seating disk, it crashed into the Dathomiran seating disk. 

Grogu went flying and landed on the control console of that Dathomiran seating disk, much to everyone’s surprise. He certainly hadn’t done that on purpose, but as long as he was there he thought he could ask those questions. Who better than the Dathomirans to answer him? But he over estimated how willing the Senator would be to respond to questions when he was covered with someone’s blood. But persistence was an important Jedi trait and Grogu tried to ask his question. The Dathomiran Senator was able to ignore him for two reasons. First, he was bellowing to the Chancellor that there would be hell to pay before the Dathomirans ever came back to the galactic Senate, due to this outrage. And second, one of attendants was trying to wipe the blood up, but just managed to smear it around. 

It occurred to Grogu that given his location he could probably fly the seating disk over to the first aid station at the base of the room in order to help the obviously upset and injured Senator. Unfortunately, he knew just as much as Ian had about flying the disks and before he knew it the disk leapt forward and struck another disk and then shot backward, hitting the Jedi younglings’ disk again, and then finally, it plummeted to the floor of the Senate chamber. 

Grogu arrested the fall just in the nick of time, because after all using the Force to save your butt and the butts of the people with you was a typical Jedi behavior. The Dathomirans were not impressed and before he knew it they actually answered all his questions about why they would want to honor Darth Revan. 

He was glad about that at least. The trip wasn’t a total waste of time. Although he knew he’d never hear the end of it from Ian. Or Master Yoda. The protocol droid had nothing to say to him because it had been the source of the ‘blood’ on the Senator from Dathomir and was no longer functional. A lot like the Razor Crest, strangely enough. Life was strange and then it just got stranger.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin

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Boba Fett and Fennec Shand on Tython as they run down hill to respond to the appearance of stormtroopers (out of frame). Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 6, The Tragedy. Calendar by DataWorks.

One of the reasons Grogu knew the Force was real had everything to do with things that happened to other people as opposed to the things that he could do that other people couldn’t readily explain. For example, how in the heck did Fennec Shand and Boba Fett end up on Tython? 

Grogu didn’t believe that the older Mandalorian had put a tracker on the Razor Crest. He also didn’t think his armor had a tracker on it. Plus, how did he just happen to be at the right place at the right time to save Fennec? The Daimyo had said that he’d just been lucky. Sure. Right. Lucky. It’s what people who hadn’t been trained by the Jedi said to explain things that were the most improbable thing they had ever witnessed by a wide margin. Luck. 

Grogu knew that it was important to the balance of the Force that Din Djarin, Boba Fett, and Fennec Shand meet and become allies. It was necessary because Grogu had been kidnapped, again, by the ex-Imp remnants that were working hard at annoying him. He had something they wanted and the Force, very clearly, didn’t want that to happen. After all, Grogu was one of the chosen ones. Chosen by the Force to survive Order 66.

Think about it. Every bounty hunter and their brother seemed to have a fob for him. Kuiil has said something to that effect to Din Djarin. His valley was the site of any number of bounty hunters failing utterly to collect Grogu. Then suddenly the Mandalorian arrived on Arvala-7, made ‘friends’ with an assassin droid (which was just flat out nonsense on the face of it, given how much the bounty hunter hated droids), and was able to do what on one else had done… collect Grogu. 

It wasn’t that Grogu thought Din Djarin wasn’t a good bounty hunter. Apparently, he was the best in the Outer Rim and he had a snappy tag line too. ‘I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.’ That line said it all. It was his choice. Not yours. Never yours. But how had the Mandalorian missed out on the earlier bounty fobs? How did he not meet the customer sooner? Had convenient that he heard about the job when he was in a perfect position to take it. That is how the Force worked. 

Then how does he end up not catching Fennec? Best in the Outer Rim wasn’t a title given to lots of people. Just the one. But Boba Fett manages to find her, get her modified in order to save her and she agrees to work for someone who must have been known to her. They both had reputations that were well known within the Jedi Temple and throughout the Syndicates. Somehow, the two of them saw the advantage of working together and they both saw the advantage of being honorable with Din Djarin.  Yup, the very clear hand of the Force. 

And Grogu realized, as the battle droid thing was taking him away from Tython, that the Force didn’t want the three of them to some sort of easy time with rescuing him. They had to work for it. The Mandalorian had to trust them. They had to be honorable. They had to give up old grievances and formulate a plan that would demand that everyone involved work to the best of their ability. They would be tested. Why else would they end up working with Bo-Katan or even Miggs Mayfeld? Nothing but the Force could get Boba Fett to work with the former Daimyo, that had been clear, the way he’d told Grogu the story much later. 

It wasn’t like Cara Dune was just waiting to let some criminal go to get his help in obtaining the necessary information on Moff Gideon’s location. It’s not like Mayfeld was some sort of honorable person who had any good reason for treating her or the Mandalorian well. He was a huge risk and Grogu was certain she wasn’t taking that risk on simply on Grogu's behalf. Heck, she didn’t even want to carry him out of the burned out space the Client had worked from before IG-11 turned the tables on the ex-Imps. It had been the Force. She could no more say ‘no’ to it than she could happily eat a living frog. 

Then, how the heck did they manage to get on and off Morak? Sure, in theory no one knew they going there and they didn’t really give themselves away until the very end of their mission, according to Cara, but how? If you have a secret base, don’t you have security to try and keep it a secret? How did they let Mayfeld survive leaving Imperial Service knowing that much. Grogu would have expected a person as notionally intelligent as Moff Gideon to have addressed loose ends like that. But no. He didn’t. They didn’t. It was like leaving the backdoor to the bank wide open, expecting no one who walked the alleyway behind the bank to notice. Only the Force could get away with circumstances like that. 

It helped that so many people didn’t believe in the Force. Good luck, bad luck, no luck. Curses. Premonitions. Prophecies. Fate. All that sort of bunk, when in reality the Force was putting its ‘thumb’ on the scales and getting the kind of balance it preferred. People were blind to it and just complained or shook their head or acted confused. Importantly they didn’t plan for it one way or the other. So the mission to Morak was a success. Their plan to rescue him was a success. Their cooperation, honor, skills, and determination had carried the day, because the Force didn’t want it any other way. 

Grogu wasn’t going to argue with it. It was tipped to his advantage and he had no idea how long that would last. He didn’t want to consider what might have happened if the Force had decided that he was too much trouble. All he had asked for when he was at the Seeing Stone was that the Mandalorian realize that he needed a son as much as Grogu needed a dad. The Force agreed with him and for that he was grateful. Of course he hadn’t known that his next destination was going to be Luke’s Jedi Sleep Away Camp. If he had, he might have been a little more specific with his request.

Boba Fett talking to Din Djarin (out of frame) on Tython. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 6, The Tragedy. Caption reads: But fate sometimes steps in to rescue the wretched.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin #boba fett #fennec shand

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Three members of the tribe of Sand People who captured and trained Boba Fett (out of frame) in their ways, on Tatooine. Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Episode 2, The Tribes of Tatooine. Calendar by DataWorks.

Grogu was confused. Why did people call the Sand People, Tuskens? The fort they attacked was Fort Tusken. Not the people. And why call their language Tusken? Again, the Sand People didn’t call themselves Tusken, why would they all their language Tusken? It didn’t make sense. 

Of course calling them Sand People wasn’t great either. They lived on a planet that was mostly sand, but as far as he could understand, after speaking with Daimyo Fett and his dad, Din Djarin, they didn’t refer to themselves as Sand People any more than they called themselves Tuskens. 

Grogu understood how people wanted to call them something. You couldn’t just call them ‘Hey, you!’, or ‘Buddy’, although people often called Grogu those names. Most folks didn’t know the name of his species or where they were from or what they called their language. But they didn’t just make up a bunch of names for all that. So what was the difference? 

He went to the Daimyo and asked him. After all, Boba Fett had been welcomed into a tribe of Sand People after saving one of their children and defending them against spice runners. If anyone would know it would be him, right?

“Sorry little one. I didn’t spend that much time with them and I was an adult who was very focused on surviving. I know many of their customs now and some of their language, but I never learned their history, other than to say, that they are native to Tatooine. While I have not been on every planet of the galaxy, I can say, I’ve never met Sand People anywhere but here.”

Womp rats!

“Perhaps you should ask Fennec. She travelled even more widely than I have and may have insights that I lack, despite the time I spent with my tribe.”

Grogu considered that for a moment and decided to follow the Daimyo’s advice. He trotted out of the throne room and went to find Fennec. Given all the things she did to support palace operations, she could be almost anywhere. 

He tried her suite of rooms first. Nope. Then the kitchens. Nope. Then the garage. Nope. The detainment cells. Nope. Grogu was running out of places to go and energy to go there, when he decided to go down and talk to the rancor trainer. Maybe he’d seen the wily administrator? It was a long shot but Grogu was willing to give it chance because he just liked visiting the rancor and his trainer. 

When he reached the rancor’s enclosure neither Fennec, nor Ranky’s trainer were anywhere to be seen. Grogu sat down and grumbled. Technically he wasn’t supposed to go into the enclosure and just hang out with the rancor unless another person was present. So this was extra disappointing. 

“Young Jedi… what troubles you?”

Grogu looked around and didn’t notice anyone and then he looked up. Yup. It was one of the monk’s of B’omarr, being carried by one of the mechanical ‘spiders’. 

Grogu tried to explain his question to the monk. They had lived on Tatooine for a long time and communed with nature and the Force through a process he did not fully understand. Their way was not the way of the Jedi; he knew that much.

“Ahhh… They were here before us. They were here before many. It is /believed that the ocean’s of Tatooine were their home for millennia. But there was a disruption in the Force and the oceans slowly left Tatooine, causing these people to change as dramatically as their planet. Many did not survive the changes. Such is the way for all who take action but do not understand what their actions will lead to. They did the best they could. We find them to be a marvel and try not to affect them. When we arrived we gave them many gifts as they gave us the gift of the land, upon which our monastery still exists. That is why Jabba let us remain. If we had been pushed out there would be no agreement with the People and this dwelling would be gone. Does that satisfy?”

Grogu nodded his head. He still didn’t know what they called themselves, but that didn’t seem to matter as much now. He supposed he could always ask his dad to ask them the next time they met, whenever that was.

“They call call themselves ‘The People’ and call everyone else ‘The Visitors’. They have at times yearned for a time when there are no ‘Visitors’ but that has slowly changed. Now many of the People call the ‘Visitors’ the ‘Younglings’. Like children they are… excitable, confident, and impatient. Some, like your friend the Daimyo and your guardian, are given names to show that they have grown from younglings to something like your Jedi term padawan.”

Grogu smiled at that. He was glad that his dad and the Daimyo were honored like that, but then he had one more question.

“You. They call you ‘The Jedi’. Make of that what you will. I must go now.”

‘The Jedi’? Well, that made sense. He was a Jedi. How the Sand People knew that was just another question he wanted answered. But then, Jedi were taught that every question did not need to be answered at once and that many might never be answered at all. He could hear Master Yoda telling all the younglings, that their questions would be answered in due time, if the Force willed it to be so, or words to that affect. He just hoped the Force might want it to be so sooner rather than later. He hated being kept in suspense. It always messed with meal time.

#calendar prompt a day #grogu #din djarin #the book of boba fett #boba fett #fennec shand

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Reblog if you've made at least one friend because of a fandom.

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Americans: Europeans! Attention!! Summer is coming NOW!!!

Me, expecting snow this week: ...

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Fennec Shand and Boba Fett in the throne room of the Daimyo's palace near Mos Espa, on Tatooine addressing the Majordomo. (Mok Shaiz's Majordomo out of frame). Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 1, Stranger in a Strange Land. Calendar by DataWorks.

Grogu knew it didn’t seem likely. It was strange. He accepted that. Fennec Shand was his friend and he really liked her. She was sassy, strong, and an expert at a lot of things. She wasn’t afraid of his dad and she wasn’t actually afraid of the Daimyo either. That was impressive. Almost everywhere he went with his dad, people were afraid of Mandalorians to the extent of crossing the street, darting indoors, or simply turning around and walking away. It was impressive, if a little bit dramatic. 

If they should worry about anyone, they should worry about Fennec. She had excellent aim with any weapon you tossed her way, she could run down a fathier, and she could disappear at the click of a blaster activating. Then, much like Peli Motto, she seemed to know everyone and every little, itty, bitty, bit of gossip traded anywhere on Tatooine. That was impressive all by itself.

Of course he didn’t tell his dad about how he felt toward Fennec. Being her friend. He didn’t want Din Djarin to get jealous. The Mandalorian handled it poorly at best. Like the time he gave Peli a kiss on the cheek because she had the pit droids make him one of his favorite meals, flash fried gorg on a stick. Din had some harsh words for her, but Grogu had thought he shouldn’t have been so touchy about it. The Mandalorian argued that he was asking who told the pit droids they could use the N-1’s engines to do that flash frying (or roasting, technically speaking). How was Peli to supposed to know that she had to get special permission for crying out loud? Or that the engines of the N-1 could actually set the Mandalorian’s cape on fire? Din Djarin was being unfair.

That’s exactly why Grogu didn’t want his dad to get upset over all the projects he and Fennec took on. It he did, Grogu would see less of his friend and he really didn’t want that to happen. Other than his dad, the Daimyo, the Majordomo, Greef Karga, and Peli, Fennec was the only person he knew who told great bedtime stories. They all started, “The last time I was on Coruscant…” or “The last time I was on Corellia…” or “The last time I was on Chandrila…”. He loved that. It set the scene and knew he was going to hear a story about a thrilling chase, with some blaster fire and hand to hand combat, that always ended with Fennec collecting, protecting, or silencing, whoever had been on her list of problems to take care of. She was a great problem solver. And once the story was underway, she didn’t stop telling it until it was done. Not like his dad who would let him fall asleep half way through. If Grogu fell asleep, Fennec would tickle his feet and keep telling the story. She said she could leave a task of any sort half done.

That was part of the reason Grogu liked to hang out with her. He wanted to learn how to solve problems in different ways to make sure they weren’t left half done. Even now, he worried that Moff Gideon wasn’t really gone. The person who burned up on Mandalore was probably a clone. Sad for the clone certainly, but good for Moff Gideon mark one. Dank Farrik!

Now, with Fennec teaching him how to make sure that anything he started was completed, if he ever ended up crossing paths with any version of Moff Gideon, he’d be able to find and implement a method to permanently shut him down. Grogu couldn’t imagine that any version of the Moff would be kinder, gentler, and more thoughtful and considerate than the original and the original was bereft of all of those qualities. Jedi weren’t supposed to be vengeful, but Grogu was willing to make an exception for certain people. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Which was another thing that he appreciated about Fennec. She was very quick at discerning what was right and what was wrong. She didn’t slow herself down by ponding the moral or ethical implications of the work she undertook. If she didn’t think it was worth the risk or thought that the reward wasn’t rewarding enough, she just didn’t do it. You’d never find her cleaning out the rancor’s enclosure. Nope. Not her. 

His dad on the other hand, could be compelled to do some of the worst work just because the Creed demanded it, honor demanded it, or he’d made a promise to someone at some nebulous point in the distant past. That had gotten them both into a fair amount of trouble. Just look at what happened when the Mandalorian decided to prove to Bo-Katan and Armorer that Mandalore could still support life! It was a nightmare! You wouldn’t find Fennec getting caught up in stuff like that. Nope. Grogu respected that because he wished he could use that same technique to avoid cleaning his room. 

Grogu sighed and made his way to the throne room. He wanted to see what lesson he could learn from her.

“…he’d have fed you to his menagerie.”

Fennec’s words didn’t sound nice, but she delivered them in a strangely matter of fact manner that made the person standing in front of her begin to sweat.

“I promise you Administrator, I will send fresh frogs right over. I had no idea that freshness was a key quality for rancor feed.”

“I don’t feed them to a rancor. As if you would be that lucky. They are fed to a powerful Jedi and he likes them fresh.”

“Of course, of course, of course.” The person bowed as they spoke and when they reached the threshold of the room, they turned and ran out of the room as fast as they could.

Fennec turned from her perch on the Daimyo’s throne and smiled at Grogu.

“The things I do to keep you and the Daimyo happy, kid. Be glad that he likes you.”

Grogu returned her smile. He was glad that they both liked him, but perhaps he was a little, teeny, tiny bit more glad that Fennec liked him. Perhaps.  

#calendar prompt a day #din djarin #grogu #the book of boba fett #fennec shand #boba fett #majordomo