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Did I ever tell you the Tragedy of Darth Patu, Master of the Force, Terror of Frogs and Hunter of Bantha Milk?

I thought not. It is not a story The Mandalorian would tell you.

Oh, no. He is far too occupied with searching for his protégé after losing it for the third time in a row. I am sure he thinks of himself as a great guardian. Pathetic.

But Grogu, as he had relayed to me his name when I found him, was not bothered by the lacking paternal qualities of his supposed father. When I stumbled across the curious little creature in the desert outside of Mos Espa, I had certainly not expected it to be one of the most powerful force users in existence.

A few hours before, somewhere in the desert.

I must confess I had barely noticed him at first; he was rather small. You may wonder what my business in the middle of nowhere on that backwater planet might have been… but that is another story, and honestly, none of your concern.

I was busy consulting my datapad to access the map when I heard it. A tiny cooing sound originated from somewhere behind me. I swirled around, lightsaber at the ready, and found… nothing. I bared my teeth to let out a snarl. I did not have time for any delays—the trail was getting cold, and the binary suns were already approaching dusk. Who or whatever the disturber was would pay dearly for the interruption. My anger grew, and still, I could not determine the source of that curious noise.

“Patu?”

My gaze shifted downwards, far more downwards than I would usually turn my gaze.  What I saw must have created a rarely seen expression on my features. When I realised that I had been staring for several moments with my jaw hanging open and my eyes almost as round as the creature’s, the tiny thing had been hopping on his little feet across the sand towards me.

It looked… odd. It had dark, round eyes that took up almost the entirety of its chubby green face, so only a minuscule nose and an equally small mouth had scarcely found space on it. That, however, was compensated by ears that were over-proportionally large and currently tilting upwards, giving it a questioning expression. All in all, the tiny creature was only reaching halfway up to my knee. It was an infant of whatever species it belonged to. Incidentally, its features reminded me of a certain Jedi Master I had often seen all those years ago when I had business on Coruscant…

And at that moment, I realised something else. A hum in the back of my mind that was so loud I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it any earlier. The force was shaking with suppressed power. But it was not accompanied by the usual dark swirls or the light wisps extending from a dark- or light-side user.  It was utterly chaotic and directionless, swirling around the creature and creating a powerful but invisible energy field that accompanied it.

I was aghast. This defenceless, pathetic infant possessed the most powerful force signature I had ever witnessed, yet I had not sensed anything earlier. Curious. And most interesting.

Completely forgetting about my task, I put away my datapad and bent on one knee to study the creature. It did not flinch back in fear as most did but instead reached out a knobbly three-fingered hand and cooed again. I felt a slight nudge at my consciousness and understood—it was trying to communicate through the force as it must have sensed my force signature. I sat down on the sand in a cross-legged position, and the little one did the same, but not before keeling over dangerously to one side as it lost its balance on the uneven ground. Before I knew what I was doing, I caught myself smirking at the sight of the struggling infant that just so managed to save itself from falling face-first into the sand with an indignant babbling noise. I shook my head. Pathetic. Truly pathetic.

I closed my eyes and opened my mind a tiny fraction.

He told me his name was “Grogu”. He was looking for “frog eggs” and “bantha-milk cookies”. I could not believe such a waste of potential: a force-sensitive, seemingly intelligent creature, and here he was, solely guided by the thoughts of where to get his next meal. And what kind of food was that, anyway? I relayed those sentiments to the infant through the force. I do not know whether I just imagined it, but I thought I caught a barely inaudible snorting sound coming from the child. There was no uproar in his force signature. It just stayed the same bubbling chaotic swirl as before.

Very well, then. I tried another tactic. Tell me, little one, I asked slyly, where are your guardians? Surely, you are not out here hunting for amphibians in a desert all alone?

An affirmative coo proved to be an answer enough to my question. A green claw was pointing frantically at some place behind me. Yet, as I turned around, I saw nothing but sand, as it should be.

Frowning, I turned back and scrutinised the infant under my unrelenting gaze. Enormous eyes stared back with a knowing expression, unblinking and unfazed.

Did you run away?

Now, I was certain that this little creature was far more than it seemed. At my stern question, it only revealed a row of tiny but remarkably needle-like teeth in an expression that could only count as a grin.

Impressive. The creature could not be much further developed like any infant of any other race, yet it showed qualities I could only wish for in a potential apprentice. So far, this entire situation appeared to be very promising.

Let's see, what kind of potential do we have? The child was deceptive enough to express scorn. It possessed a certain disregard for its guardians, if there were any, demonstrating a propensity for callousness. To add, a mighty force presence. So much potential… I could barely suppress a triumphant smile. This was the perfect apprentice. Uncorrupted yet and innocent still, but showing a certain propensity for the dark side already.

But “Grogu” had other plans, it seemed. The tiny thing had become quite bored of our little conversation as I could feel our connection weaken in the force. Before it faded out completely, I caught images of round blue-coloured disks wrapped in silver foil and several frogs hovering in the air flashing before my mind’s eye. I suppressed a frustrated sigh. There was much work to do before we could begin with training.

With tiny (pathetic) steps, he was already making its way towards the general direction of Mos Espa when I got up to my feet. It would take years to get the sand out of my inorganic joints, and I growled under my breath.

Mos Espa. I should probably go there as well and restock my supplies.

“Grogu.”

At the sound of his ridiculous name, the little one halted abruptly and cocked his head at me. “Oh?”

“Where are you going?”

Again, that barely audible derisive snort. I felt anger slowly welling up within me. Insolent child! Already, my new apprentice proved to be difficult, and my patience waned quickly.

But then he appeared. Near invisible in the dark, the figure had almost caught up to us as he walked briskly in our direction. The barren desert of Tatooine seemed to be quite crowded these days...

At the sight of the shining beskar and the characteristic shape of the helmet I had been seeing regularly not too long ago, I almost jolted in surprise. However, as he stepped into the moon's light, I could see shapes in his armour and helmet that differentiated him from my former Mandalorian super-commandos. For one, his armour was neither blue nor red but a shining silver. On his back, he carried an enormous rifle. When my eyes fell upon the black sword he carried, it caused me to jump in truth this time.

“Where did you get this?”

The Mandalorian halted at the sight of me approaching him and raised the sword.

“Step away from the child,” he warned and came nearer towards me. The child, on the other hand, lifted his little hand and pointed at me while waving and babbling frantically.

The Mandalorian halted and cocked his head. “We'll talk later, young man.” He extended an arm and pointed to the ground next to him. “Now get over here and stay by my side.”

The child cooed disapprovingly, ears falling, but did as he was told.

Slowly, I had been recovering from my initial shock and formed a plan.

“The sword. Where did you get it?” I released a threatening growl to make clear that my question wasn’t to be taken lightly.

The Mandalorian seemed to grasp the sudden direness of the situation. “I won it fair and square in a fight against its last wielder.”

At this, I laughed darkly. “Fair and square?” My hand reached towards my lightsaber hanging at my belt, and the Mandalorian raised his sword again. “Someone stole it from me years ago… and now I will take it back.” I took hold of my weapon and ignited both sides. The red glow of the blade reflected off the stranger’s helmet and bathed him in a menacing glint.

“Well…,” The Mandalorian suddenly lowered his hand and scratched his helmet, “you can have it. I never wanted that vile thing, anyway.” And with that, he tossed the sword at my feet.

I was so astonished that I momentarily forgot to be angry. I lost control over my facial muscles for the third time that day.

The Mandalorian turned his attention away from me and lifted the infant into his arms. I was completely forgotten, and he turned to leave.

“Wait.” I had regained my faculties and turned off my lightsaber.

The Mandalorian did not turn around but inclined his head in my direction. The child made a questioning noise as if he knew the situation.

“You cannot give it to me just like that,” I explained, pointing at the Darksaber at my feet, “it needs to be won in a duel.”

“I will not fight you, Jedi,” the warrior retorted tonelessly, “I’ve had enough of your kind recently.”

Rage clouded my vision, and it cost me everything I had to not lash out at the ignorant man before me. The child gave a warning noise as he felt the sudden change in the force around us.

“I am not a Jedi,” I forced out between clenched teeth, hands shaking with wrath at my sides.

The Mandalorian seemed unimpressed. “Whatever you are, you can have the sword if you want it that badly. We’re leaving.” He turned to leave but stopped himself short for a second. “And thanks for finding the little one.”

With that, he turned his head and finally stalked away, with the child still looking at me with his big, knowing eyes as they both became smaller and smaller in the distance.

I let them go, the powerful potential apprentice and his oblivious Mandalorian guardian.

For now.