A Clan Life

[Via Dolorosa]

Prior to her life before joining the Republic, it could have been viewed with mixed results. Some tragedy, some happiness. She had studied relentlessly at the University on Courscant, while studying Chemical and Mechanical Engineering. Despite her efforts to not only reach the upper echelon of her class, but to stay there, she had forfeited social interaction for knowledge. She had become a loner. And this suited her; then.

When she arrived at the Republic, she had already spent time with some of what people would call 'less than savory individuals'. She had learned the ins and outs of weapons, explosives, and achieving success no matter what. So it was no surprise to anyone that she had flocked to the Republic's Intelligence Agency and became a spook; or spy. She enjoyed working in the shadows, having almost free reign to do what was needed to accomplish her missions. But as her time with them began to wan, she felt as though this was not her true calling.

The Republic had rules. She believed rules was a necessity, but their rules and her rules seemed to never coincide. She had worked with Mandalorian bounty hunters on occasion and for reasons unknown to her; their culture, their lifestyles, and their codes appealed to her. Here was a collective of warriors, famed and feared, that stressed loyalty and family above anything else. Or what she believed anyway. Warriors that lived by a strict code. A code she could envision for herself.

After many days and nights of internal debates, she had decided that this was what she wanted. To learn the ways of the Mandalorians. So she fled the Republic in pursuit of her true calling. She 'borrowed' a ship from another agent, discarded her normal Republic outfit for something more combat based, not armour but something more protective, and finally headed to Mandalore.

She had spent nearly two weeks observing the citizens of Mandalore, picking up words here and there from their language while studying their culture. Yes, this was who she was meant to be all along. However, she was still an outsider, unproven and untested, and found no way to attract the attention of someone in a clan to teach her, train her, and most importantly; give her a family to protect.


[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"<How your mother does this I'll never know>," mulled Betna as he made his way down the streets of Keldabe, his daughter in tow. Anija had business to attend to with her job and there were errands to be run, so Betna was left to run them. Normally, he was fine with the job, but today was their monthly grocery run.

In his hands he carried a few burlap bags, each filled with various odds and ends they needed from the city that they couldn't produce at the homestead themselves. Over one shoulder was a sack of salt, the large bag creased slightly where it sat. He wore his armor during all this, though his helmet sat on his hip were it was attached to his belt. He took a moment to set some of the bags in one hand down so he could readjust the weight of the sack over his shoulder before picking up the bags once more.

"<This explains why she usually brings that repulsor trolley thing she insisted on buying from Sundari last growing season>," he continued, speaking to the small girl beside him. "<How's your cookie, Mir'ika?>"

Before he could inquire more to his daughter's taste in baked goods, however, one of the burlap bags split slightly. A single, silver can dropped onto the cobbled road of Keldabe's streets and began to roll off. Betna watched it go and sighed for a moment.

"<Damn>," he said instinctively. Just as instinctively, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a single credit coin which he handed to his daughter. It was the ritual of a parent watching their language and bribing their children not to say anything to their spouse.

"Mirshko, can you get the can for buir, please?" he asked in Basic.

[member="Mirshko Betna"] [member="Valo Porkins"]

 

[Mirshko Betna]

[member="Sarli Ra-Suutar"] [member="Arrbi Betna"]

Mirshko couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at her Da's comment about the repulsor trolley. She had offered to being it. But then, she'd learned a long time ago, that like most adults, her Da was stubborn in his own way. <I did offer...> she reminded him quietly, trying to keep an eye on the sacks he carried over his shoulder. And just then, her eyes widened as she saw one shift and split from the edge of a metal can cutting into the fabric. The weight of the can and everything else in the bag had worked against it.

<My cookie is -- > she started to reply, finding her comment cut off by Arrbi's rather fervent curse. It wasn't the first time. And it wouldn't be the last. She was amassing a small pile of the cred coins in a box in her room. before long, she might have enough to by herself a tool set. Grinning to herself at the thought, Mirshko pocketed the coin and nodded. "Sure, Da. Be right back!" As she said that, she skipped off, instinctively dodging people through the street as she chased the can.

It was bouncing across the paving stones, and she skidded to a stop quickly to avoid running full tilt into an oncoming speeder. Thank the Force for force-honed reflexes... she thought, smiling slightly. When the speeder had moved on, Mirshko resumed her chase, finally reached the can. It had rolled to a stop against the curbing across and a ways down the road. Grinning, she grabbed it and held it aloft triumphantly before carefully making her way back to Arrbi, skipping happily up to him to present him with her prize.

 

[Via Dolorosa]

Sitting on the ground eating some kind of fruit, she watched the can roll through the crowd of people while a young girl had gave chase. When the speeder and girl were about to meet, she began to leap to her feet but then resumed her position when the girl had magically evaded the vehicle. Interesting, she thought to herself. It was as if the girl....No, that wasn't possible. Was it?

When the can stopped, the girl retrieved it and took it to an armoured man, his helmet attached at the hip. The girl's Father, perhaps? The can had been rescued but the contents of the bag was still littering the streets. She checked her own satchel and saw that it was empty minus a few knick-knacks from the life she had fled. She rose to her feet and positioned herself next to Father and Daughter.

"Would you like some help," she asked bending down to recover some of the goods. "This satchel may look old and can weave some stories like no other satchel can, but I can assure you that it will not break."

She filled the satchel up to full capacity, took one look at it giving it a mental farewell.

"Go ahead and keep it," she said with a smile while handing the bag to the man.

"Perhaps it will serve you well as it did for me." She looked over at the girl and added, "There's an old datapad in there with some wonderful holovid movies downloaded onto it. That's for you."

"Well good luck." She turned to leave.



[member="Arrbi Betna"] ... [member="Mirshko Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Good job, Mir'ika," he said with a grin as he started to set down some of the bags. The split one had spilled more items on the ground, but the can was the only one to roll away.

He'd admit that he'd felt his heart jump up into his throat when Mirshko had almost met the front end of a speeder, but he'd quickly remembered when she'd dodged it that she had her sixth sense. Nonetheless, he figured he'd need to watch his daughter a little more carefully in the future. A near miss didn't need to become an accident.

When a strange woman stepped up and offered to help, Betna didn't have time to respond. In a moment, the items were in her bag and the bag was held in front of him. The offer of the satchel was a polite offer and the datapad with movies was exceedingly nice of her, but it was strange. Betna wasn't a suspicious person by nature and Mandalorians were noted for their generosity among other Mandalorians, but the woman didn't... seem comfortable. At least, not yet. It reminded him of when Anija made him a tunic as a gift a few years back. It was nice and comfortable, but was a little tight in some areas and didn't quite fit properly until it'd been worn in a while. This woman seemed like the world around her felt the same way.

"Vor'e," he responded and took the satchel politely. "I appreciate the offer of another satchel, but our speeder is just around the corner. If you want, I can bring it back to you once we've loaded the groceries up or you can walk with us if you'd like."

Betna cocked his head slightly as he sized up the woman before him, his arm unconsciously shifting the bag of salt into a better position.

"You don't look like you're from here," he said after a moment. He opted to use Basic for the statement as the woman had spoken not in Mando'a, but in the galactic trade language. He felt if the woman wasn't fully versed in the Mandalorian language that the translation in Mando'a might strike a nerve. Someone not from where you were from was a stranger, a foreigner: Aruetii. The term had many meanings, all based on inflection of the sentence around it. It could very well mean a foreigner or a stranger, but it could also be translated as a traitor or an enemy. Mando'a was strange like that. "Are you from Concordia? Or perhaps Concord Dawn?"

[member="Sarli Ra-Suutar"] [member="Mirshko Betna"]

 

[Mirshko Betna]

Yeah, that was probably a needless risk. She'd felt Da's sense in the Force spike with alarm as she'd almost run into the speeder. it's not like she'd meant to... she'd just gotten a little too focused on the can, and retrieving it. She made her way back to Arrbi a bit more carefully, and as she was handing him the escapist can, her attention was drawn to the woman who'd appeared next to them.

She wasn't someone Mirshko had seen before, and she didn't feel familiar. For a moment she edged towards Arrbi, but stopped and then regarded the woman curiously. Much as Arrbi had made an assessment, Mirshko, made her own - as much as a ten-year-old could, at any rate. The woman didn't speak with an accent that pegged her as being from Concord Dawn. That accent was rather obvious for those who had been born and raised there. Concordia was a bit harder to pin down.

Shrugging to herself, Mirshko, then piped up. "Any Jeewik the Ewok's Funhouse on there?" She immediately bit her lip, realizing she'd been rude and interrupted the adults. Again.


[member="Arrbi Betna"] [member="Sarli Ra-Suutar"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

"Maybe," she said to the little girl with a wink, feeling the need to address the girl first. She had always loved children but children of her own didn't seem to be on the same pathway her life was taking. "I know there is a least two holovids depicting Ewoks as the main characters. And one involving Jawas and droids. That one is my favourite. And several others you might just like."

Sarli turned her attention to the armoured man after he shifted one of the bags in his arms. She was at a crossroads. Part of her wanted to bid the man and his daughter farewell while the other half wanted to walk with them. She had come here to learn about Mandalorian life. A life that she wanted to fully embrace for herself. She had questions. Tons of questions. But she didn't want to be rude and bother the man while he seemed to be on chores duty. In the end, she made up her mind.

"I'll walk with you to your speeder. If another bag breaks at least you will have another set of hands to help you. And please, keep the satchel. Consider it a gift."

She walked at the man's pace, admiring his armour.

"No, actually I'm from Bestine IV originally. And as recent as a couple of weeks ago I've been calling this place home." She wondered if she should tell this stranger about her life, or more importantly why she was here. She had come here to become a member of the Mandalorian community, to learn their culture, their lifestyles, and their language. Here was a chance to perhaps be pointed in the right direction.

"I came here from Onderon and before you ask," she paused to flash him a smile, "No, I'm not fleeing anything but a life that was never meant for me. To be perfectly honest, I had worked with some Mandalorian bounty hunters a couple months back and please don't laugh, felt as though this is where I belong."

She reached out with her right hand, catching another escaping can before it could fall to the ground and roll away.

"I worked with the Republic doing behind-the-scenes work but that, like I said, was not meant for me. To be honest again, I came here to learn how to live like a Mandalorin. But it isn't going as well as I thought it would. You and your daughter are the first people I've talked to minus the landlord I'm renting a room from. I didn't want to feel as though I'm intruding on anyone's life."

She rolled the small can in her hand, moving her eyes to the ground.

"Forgive me. I didn't mean to sound as if I'm some lost girl running away from their parents because I don't approve of their rules or anything. I just want to live a life of my choosing."


[member="Arrbi Betna"] ... [member="Mirshko Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna listened to the woman as she spoke and silently nodded as they headed towards the speeder. She had the look of someone lost, he could see that now more than before. It struck a chord with the Mandalorian, but he didn't know quite why, only that it did so.

As the speeder drew even with the small group, he started tossing bags and satchels into the cargo space. He made sure to empty the woman's satchel and handed it back to her with her things. He didn't quite feel right taking the woman's things even if they were offered.

"So you came here to Mandalore because it felt... right?" he asked, thoughtfully. "A fresh start, essentially? Where are you renting from out here?"

He doubted she was destitute, not from her story, but even out here the cost of living wasn't exactly cheap. She also hadn't mentioned work, which meant if she was unemployed she had no income to balance out her money.

[member="Mirshko Betna"] [member="Sarli Ra-Suutar"]

 

[Mirshko Betna]

MIrshko perked up a bit at the mention of the ewok films. She had always thought the Ewoks were a cute and interesting species. Her attention was diverted when Sarli started to talk about why she was on Mandalore. Not running from anything but a place that wasn't meant for her. She found that interesting. She took a few moments to help Da by arranging the satchels so that nothing was crushed before she looked back up at the pair of them. She waited patiently until Da finished talking. Something about how he'd asked his questions made her thing he had figured out more about the situation than she had. Mirshko frowned. "Mom told me once... that such a thing is called Cin Vhetiin.... it roughly means 'fresh snow'. Like, if you weren't raised Mandalorian... if you choose to join a clan... your past is just that. Nothing you did before becoming Mandalorian matters. Just what you do after." She frowned again, hoping the woman would understand. Sometimes, she wasn't so good at explaining things....

[member="Arrbi Betna"] [member="Sarli Ra-Suutar"]