A Night Together

[Verz Horak]

Verz watched as Arla drew a card and noted her reaction. It seemed to be a card she needed. He wondered what she needed. He then drew his own card and discarded one he didn't need. He then looked back to Arla.

"Well, Kashyyyk is entirely jungle. Trees taller than any building in Keldabe, swamps as deep as oceans, and of course, the Wookies live there in the treetops. I was there once, when I was a bounty hunter. It was a strong Force User, if I recall correcltly, his name was Darren Shaw. We fought to a draw, and he escaped. He became quite powerful in the galaxy, even a military leader. I never saw him face to face again though."

[member="Arla Balor"]

 

[Arla Ordo]

[member="Verz Horak"]

"Sounds exciting actually, I've never seen trees taller than the buildings in Keldabe" She looked down at the card Verz had thrown away, she did not need that one but she could pick it up and make him think she needed that one. She wiggled her nose as she thought about what to do. Her competitive side was showing a bit here.

She reached out for the card, her eyes immediately looked up at Verz, was he watching her, feeling her out too. She smiled, then picked up the card casually, tucking it into her other cards, and tossing out one she didn't need.

"How long were you a bounty hunter again Verz'ika?"

 

[Verz Horak]

[member="Arla Balor"]

Verz watched as Arla made her move, drawing a card and discarding another. He saw her nose twitch as she did so. It was cute, and he smiled a bit. "Well, from when I was about 20 to the start of the first Sith-Mando War, so about 3 years maybe. Give or take. It was interesting, to say the least. I liked it, but I liked the army better."
Verz drew and discarded, drawing nothing he could use yet.

 

[Arla Ordo]

[member="Verz Horak"]

"But traditionally aren't we bounty hunters?" She smiled again as she picked up another card, this one veyr opposite of everything she had in her hand, she blew air between her lips, ppppppppp, and then she tossed it away.

This was interesting, and calm. She wondered if he were still melancholy when she found him below he had been she could see it in his face. She read him pretty easy lately. Her Buir was mandalorian military, her other buir was a doctor and then all her sisters were something except for her. She was just....her. She made a face at the thought, she had to offer something..but what. She looked at Verz again.

"Verz'ika, what else can you teach me?" She asked with a bit of curiosity wondering what he would come up with.

 

[Verz Horak]

[member="Arla Balor"]

"We traditionally are warriors Arl'ika. We became mercenaries and bounty hunters when our empire was shattered by the Republic at Malacor V." Verz smiled as Arla obviously drew a terrible card. He drew his own card, looking at it and playing it with two others he had held. He thought about her other question.

"Well, I could teach you battle tactics, sword fighting, things like that."

 

[Arla Ordo]

She looked at him thinking about what he had just said, "I think I would like sword fighting and things like that, and tactics to learn how the enemy moves and what works to defeat them" She drew a card, and threw one away.

She was concentrating on what Verz had said more than the game, "are those skills helpful, meaningful to the safety of Mandalore?" She wanted to be able to protect her home, but she wanted to be useful.

[member="Verz Horak"]

 

[Verz Horak]

Verz put his cards down on the table while looking at Arla. "Yes Arl'ika, these are important skills. You never know when you will be stuck without a blaster, or when you are the one in charge of a squad in battle. But more importantly, these skills are our heritage. They are part of who we are as Mandalorians. Our ancestors fought and conqured with these skills, and it is our duty to remember them and honor their memory by using the skills they taught us."

[member="Arla Balor"]

 

[Arla Ordo]

[member="Verz Horak"]

"Well then" she too put her cards down, "there is more for you to teach me" she smiled. He had been her teacher before and she looked forward to him teaching her again, on this long trip keeping them busy till all hours of the night.

"What will I need?"

 

[Verz Horak]

Verz smiled.

"Well, for the swordfighting we will need an open space and you will need a beskad. For the tactical training a holotable will suffice, Arl'ika."

Verz put his cards down, thinking the game to be over for now.

[member="Arla Balor"]

 

[Arla Ordo]

[member="Verz Horak"]

"And do we have that here, or is it something we need to shop for?" She asked, cards were ok they passed time and she seemed to get his mind off of what had started out bothering him. that had been her intent, she knew he missed home. She knew someone else that missed home too.

They had all made the deal to go on this journey, and so far the journey had been......a growing experience.