Grogu eating an ice spider hatchling on Maldo Kreis. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 2, The Passenger.
The Great and Wondrous Ylani, Part 2, Food First
Grogu and Kish left the temple and found that Din Djarin had been waiting for them the whole time. He was seated on one of the benches that overlooked the waterfall that formed from the river that ran through the temple. Grogu was surprised at that. Not because he was worried about his dad not trusting him with Kish, but because he was so close to so much water.
“Is his brain still itchy?”
Of course his dad would ask the question that way.
“Well, Grogu, what say you?”
Grogu gave Kish a look. What was he supposed to say? ‘Yup. Not itchy. Quest for holocron now, see you later?’
Grogu grumbled softly. He hoped Ta’lan’s father understood him.
“Ah… yes. He’s fine, but he is worried. Not about what transpired mind you, but what needs to be done now.”
Wow. Kish sounded just like a Jedi Master. Grogu wasn’t going to tell him that, but he did appreciate the ‘not an answer’ answer he just gave the Mandalorian.
“Out with it, Kid. You’re being asked to take up a quest. What do you have to get and where do you have to go?”
The Mandalorian sounded like he’d known all about the whole thing, but Ta’lan, who probably did know about the whole thing was no where in sight. Since when did his dad get so smart?
“Grogu, I’m a bounty hunter. I didn’t stop thinking like a bounty hunter just because you became my son. ‘Things’ call to Ta’lan and now to you. I guessed that might happen. My guess is the thing you have to look for requires a lot of research and maybe a trip somewhere that could delay our return to Tatooine or Nevarro. I suppose it’s too much to hope that whatever the thing is, you’ll find it here, on Tzura?”
Grogu sighed. Dank Farrik! His dad had already figured everything out! Maybe he could just tell Grogu where he would hide a holocron if he had happened to an ancient Jedi Master who was about to meet a powerful Sith Lord and didn’t want the Sith to find the holocron?
“Nope. Not here.”
Grogu tried to sound happy about that. Yippee! They were going on adventure! That’s what they liked to do, right?
“I see. Do you know where it is?”
A reasonable question.
“Nope.”
“Do you know who actually hid the holocron?”
“Nope.”
The Mandalorian stood up and Grogu could tell that his father was grinning. Grinning? Why would he do that? Shouldn’t he be annoyed?
“Grogu, most of bounty hunting is collecting data and trying to learn something from it. Turning it into information that may help you turn it into knowledge. Finding an ancient artifact, like a holocron, is no different.”
The Mandalorian paused and Grogu felt a little silly. He knew all of that and his dad knew that he knew all of that, but still for Kish’s sake Din Djarin had to say it all out loud. Uff.
“Kish, I take it your archives here have information about the person who gave Grogu this quest, as well as the person who caused the holocron to hidden?”
Uff! Grogu should have thought of that. Of course the archives probably had all the information and they could spend their time here on Tzura finding it, discussing it, and formulating a plan. That is what a good bounty hunter would do.
“They do, Din Djarin. I will have to take you both there, as the access way is not something Grogu can manage on his own. I would have Ta’lan do this, but Sha has sent her on an errand and she will be busy with that for the rest of the day.”
Grogu was distracted by that for just an instant. He was sure that if Ta’lan were with them she would know exactly where the holocron was and who brought it there and why they brought it and everything else about the whole event. But if that was the case, why did his brain itch? Why did Jedi Master Ylani task him with its retrieval? They had plenty of opportunity to task Ta’lan with something like that, but they hadn’t. Was it because they didn’t need to bring it to Tzura yet, or was it because no one knew how to find the holocron? He decided to ask Kish.
“I expect Grogu, that my daughter refused to perform the task. I am sure she has told you before that she has many items, planets, even people who ‘call’ out to her. She must prioritize the tasks she performs. That is why she has not been given something closer to the standard work the vast majority of the Brethren perform. The Jedi within the temple have often made requests of her and when she has the time and the urgency is real or, they are her favorites, she will undertake that work. I expect that she believes that this work was required of someone else. Frankly, I thought she meant my brother, Seb. But perhaps they both knew that one day another Jedi would join us and find a reason to take up this quest.”
Grogu was glad to hear that. He’d been worried that Ta’lan knew it was just too dangerous and was refusing because of she felt about her family, including him and his dad.
“Then we should probably go to the archives now and get started. We can talk to her about the quest when we all know more. That should help.”
Grogu liked his dad’s thinking but he saw the look on Kish’s face and wondered what was wrong. The man who was usually cheerful and inquisitive, again looked old and frail to Grogu. This was a task that Kish had also hoped he would not have to take part in completing. Was it because of the Jedi? Or because of the Sith? Or because no one else had succeeded in performing it?
Uff. Too many questions.
“Food first.”
Since he was the one with the ‘itchy’ brain, Grogu decided that he was the project team leader and the first order of business was to eat. They all needed fuel for what was certain to be a long and grueling session of locating and evaluating data and information. Just thinking that made him a little tired and he hoped he could get some caf without his dad noticing.
“This is the Way.”
To be continued…
