Private Alone, As Usual.

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

The Tauntaun, a custom light freighter in Kestri's shipyard.

She continued to flip through the channels. The holonet's many shows, commercials, and reports kept changing over and over again as she blankly stared, unfocused and disinterested. Holding her heavily swollen stomach, she sighed as she shoved her hand into another bag of chips and pulled them out. Eating mindlessly and scrolling with nothing but apathy, the pregnant Mandalorian continued the ritual.

As usual, she was alone.

Eliz was busy on missions. Far too busy for her. Kranak had been gone since before she found out she was pregnant. She could only do so much scowering the entire galaxy for him in the earlier stages of her pregnancy, but nothing was to be found. She had little communication with anyone - save for her Mandokarla therapists, her astromech Mini, and her traitor mother Shai Krayt. She was pregnant, and she was alone.

Typical.

She was used to it now.

She had grown complacent and inactive the past several months. Unable to fight, too scared to put her daughter in danger, she spent her days on Kestri. At first, she tinkered and engineered as she always had. She kept busy, still worked out. But feeling increasing despair from all corners of her life, she had fallen into a rare state of inactivity and apathy.

It was like she only cared for her child and herself now.

And it was frightening, where that care, and lack of care for much else, were taking her thoughts.

She reached into the bag and felt emptiness. She slowly turned, blinking down at the empty chip bag. She sighed, considering staying and watching the holographic static some more. But someone so hardwired to be doing something with her hands succumbed to her old habits of absent minded working. Still trying to stay healthy enough, she got up and washed her hands before grabbing a random piece of machinery. Taking it apart as she stood at the counter, she dully stared off, alone with her thoughts as always.

Kranak Vizsla

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

Kestri | Shipyards
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

​

Kestri’s freezing cold, unforgiving as ever it was, pierced his lungs at each draw of breath. His thoughts were led adrift, like leaves in the wind while he strode past rows of ships at the shipyard; although he had pieced together certain things following his return, he still regrettably could not accurately recall the amount of time that had passed, while he was lost in the Netherworld.

The Nether…

A surreal landscape of its own, if one could even call it that. His memories felt akin to that of a blur. He knew not how he managed to find his way back to the land of the living, and how he had managed to not join the ever expanding ranks of those who had begun the Long March.

But he remembered in full detail what led him there.

Vengeance. Ridding a stain from her miserable existence. Apollyon The Betrayer . Through what he could only assume to be the machinations of the Dark Side, The Betrayer had made an attempt to postpone her judgement from the retribution of the righteous, fleeing to the Nether; but despite her best efforts she had died tired, unable to escape from his wrath.

The ankle-deep snow gently crunched beneath his boots when his stride came to a halt before the familiar silhouette of a light freighter; The Tauntaun. The mobile home of his beloved daughter. Shortly after his return he had begun looking for her, to make sure she was well above all else, and make sure to let her know that he still drew breath.

But even then a moment’s pause took a hold of him. The giant of a man slowly removed his helm, and tucked it under his left cybernetic arm. His gaze remained at the ramp and entrance leading into the interior of the ship; his worry prevented him from walking up that ramp. The unknown had instilled a sense of apprehension within the Alor of House Vizsla; it had been far too long since the last time he had seen her. Even before he had embarked on a quest of retribution that had taken him to the Land of the Eternally Wandering Souls, he could never make time for her; not ever in the amount the both of them desired.

Promises broken, birthdays and celebrations missed, and memories unmande. All amongst the many things he had no other choice to forego while in the service to their people; he had sacrificed too much in a life dedicated to servitude, beyond life and limb.

And his fight was far from being over.

He fully expected his daughter to rake him over the coals, if he found her inside. And rightfully so. Although he had seen to it that she was able to stand on her own feet, and had made a fine Mandalorian out of her when he had adopted her, that did not grant him the right to forsake her the Fatherhood and guidance she needed from him, no matter the excuse there may be.

Servitude or not.

His hands slowly balled into fists, as his features, adorned with scars both shallow and deep from countless battles and skirmishes, sharpened with a deep frown. Anger and regret washed over him at the mistakes of the past. His shortcomings.

But the frown that had taken his features hostage would leave its place to some form of peacefulness after a moment. Clarity followed in the wake of acceptance. One had to come to terms with the past, to make up for it all in the present. And that he did; but that alone was not enough. He had to try harder.

For her.

The man filled his lungs with the freezing cold air with a deep breath, and stepped forth. The armored giant’s heavy footfalls as he slowly marched up the ramp would serve to be the herald of his arrival, to anybody inside the ship.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Minimech had known Gwyneira Craft Krayt since she was an angsty teenager. She had fled her wartorn dwarf planet on the random ship she found - which had happened to have Mini inside. Quickly, the droid and his girl formed a tight bond. In all the trials, ups and downs, and upsets Gwyn had been through, Mini had been there with her. And now, he was watching her suffer once again.

When the ship's sensers detected someone outside, Mini turned from the bridge and rolled on out. He was used to answering the door now. Gwyn no longer had it in her. Mini approached the cargo bay and opened its hatch, seeing a familiar figure before him.

Her Buir.

The droid paused for a moment, gaping at the random appearance. Now? He decided to crawl back now?! Anger boiled and bubbled in the droid. Even if he did not have a face to express it, and even if his binary code always was stuck in one tone, his fury was apparent as he slid down the ramp and slammed into the Giant's leg with his metal body.

Do you know how long you have been gone, Kranak?! Do you know what my master has been through?! Of course you don't, no one does!

In binary, he unleashed his lecture, She is karking pregnant, you fool! She and Eliz finally have a kid! But he's so busy, he hasn't been here as much I know he wants to be!

And where have you been?! Huh?! She has mostly been in the company of droids and traitors! Cab and I can't do everything for her! And Shai tries to help but Gwyn is still kind of mad!

The droid turned and rolled around Kranak, pushing him the best he could with his tiny body towards the ramp, You have a lot of explaining to do!

What Mini did not expect was to see a broken piece of machinery shattered on the floor, at the entrance of the cargo bay from the ship. Standing at the entrance, with wide eyes, was Gwyneira herself. One hand on her stomach, the other shaking after having dropped the machine, she gaped.

With shock, joy, bitterness, and love all wrapped in one, she croaked with tears in her eyes, "Buir?"

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

​

He had but only taken a single step forward before the droid appeared from the depths of the light frigate, and began berating him in droid-speak. At first, the giant of a man stopped dead in his tracks and simply listened to its grumbling silence, but when it dropped the proverbial bombshell without an ounce of thought just how he might receive the news, mentioning his daughter and her lover, the Chiss hybrid he regarded as a son, were expecting, he did not wholly register the rest of the droid’s angry rant, and nor did he react to the mild sting of pain when it crashed into his leg.

He had been gone for far too long.

However, his anger at that fact surfaced not; taken aback by complete surprise by the revelation, the man was still in the process of recovering from the wholly unexpected news he had just received, when a loud metallic thud reached his ears from the top of the ramp.

With shock, joy, bitterness, and love all wrapped in one, she croaked with tears in her eyes, "Buir?"

Instinctively, the giant’s gaze snapped onto her, even though he was still amidst a quandary when she called out to him; “Father,” the young one had muttered. She sounded and appeared surprised just as much as him; the intonation of her young voice was unmistakably a mixture of joy, bitterness and love.

”You…” he began, but could not complete his sentence. Still shocked, he could not form words to completion; his attempts were merely just a pitch louder than a whisper, and was easily swept away in the picking up wind; with a whish and howl it began kicking off small clouds of snow off the ground.

The wind, it then occurred to him; it was hellishly cold outside, and she was not wrapped in clothing suitable to even stand there at her current state. ”...Let’s get you inside, young one,” he could finally say to her as soon as he noticed the picking up wind. He briskly walked up the ramp and got to her side while a smile affectionate, and warm as the sun scorched sands of Tatooine took hold of the giant’s cicatrose features. He placed his right hand onto her shoulder, pulled and gently wrapped her in a one arm embrace. and urged her to walk with him back into the ship.

”It brings me joy to have seen you again, little one,” he said genuinely as he came to a halt to offer her a proper hug once the blast door shut behind them, preventing the hellish cold from seeping inside; He fell into relative silence afterwards as he held her in his embrace, half-lost in thought; although his heartfelt smile faltered not even for a mere moment, her situation had raised many questions in his mind. The stomach churning, evil machinations of the young girl’s biological father, when she was taken captive by him and experimented upon… She was robbed of her Arkanian heritage then.

Her biology had, irreversibly altered. And with such extensive damage inflicted on her body, it had taken away her ability to conceive.

And not only was she made infertile by the machinations of that merciless creature, the super soldier serum that coursed within the Chiss Hybrid’s veins had made him sterile. With these facts in mind, he couldn’t help but wonder to himself she conceived a child.

There had to be something he was missing, but no doubt all would be made clear soon.

That was what he thought as they eventually made their way and stepped into the recreational room of her frigate; and it was a sight to behold. It was bereft of cleanliness and thoroughly messy, with trash of all sorts laying around and about the ground and some of the furniture.

He also noticed she wasn’t looking all that great herself, too. All of it pointed at signs of depression. She was letting herself go, and damnably, he could not see Eliz anywhere to help her out of it, too. Of course, as before, it fell on him as her adoptive father to do that once more.

He turned to look at her after taking in the sight; his understanding and affectionate smile lingered in his features as he spoke to her. ”Why don’t you go get some rest while I cook you something nice and,” he paused for a second, his gaze shifted onto the junk food wrappers lying around before looking back at her. ”Healthy, for a change? And then we'll talk and, catch up.” he offered her.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyn accepted every smile, every hug, and every gentle nudge without question. Indeed, the winds had her shivering. With the desire to protect her own child in mind, she followed her buir inside and sat down. These days, it was way too easy to fall asleep. She was pouring so much energy into her daughter's development, she was in a constant cycle of eating and sleeping. She laid down on the couch, carefully, and drifted away.

When she woke up, she could smell something delicious in the kitchen. The type of food smelled different than something Eliz would make, dashing her hopes that he had stopped by. Regardless, she recognized the familiar Force Signature of Kranak Viszla. She opened her eyes.

To her immediate shock, the room was... clean. The surfaces were wiped down, there was no garbage laying around. Even her shelves had been reorganized. Her holodisk pictures were in different spots, and her souvenirs from past travels were polished.

She smiled. Buir, you didn't have to.

Then, she frowned. He has been gone... gone for so long... she had searched the galaxy for him, reached out with her Force Sense to connect to him, nothing. She had only stopped her searchings because her pregnancy demanded it. She only hoped that he was okay. Worried sick, yes. She had been worried sick. But also bitter. Bitter because she had been left again.

She stretched, yawning loudly. She pulled herself off the couch, slowly, and walked into the kitchen where her father was cooking. She leaned against the wall, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes.

She had fallen asleep so easily, feeling safe with him around.

She looked down at Kranak's dish, her stomach rumbling at the prospect of more food. As Mini panicked in the hallway over the sudden overabundance of trash bags, Gwyn spoke.

"I was worried sick about you."

She looked down. Once again, she subconsciously had a hand on her stomach. She looked back up to Kranak.

"You look alright, if not rugged as ever. But where have you been?"

She had not intended it, but anger started seeping through her voice, "I couldn't even sense you with the Force. I was so worried that the worse had happened! But you're here! But why did you have to go!?"

She gritted her teeth, trying to control herself. Alas, tears slipped down her face as she closed her eyes, "You weren't here... I wanted you here... so badly... I wanted you safe. And I wanted you to watch this..."

She patted her stomach gently, but cried out, "You haven't been here for this!"

Kranak Vizsla

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

​

By the time the young one stirred awake from her deep slumber, the giant of a man had long finished the chore of cleaning her place of residence. He went about it as silent as he could, as to not make a sound loud enough to wake her up from her slumber, and was half way cooking up a proper meal for them; although the pungent smells of the hot spices were not as intensive than the usual, it could still be considered hot. Only difference was the amounts of hot spice he used were reduced, with Gwyn’ika’s situation kept in mind.

Although busy he was in the kitchen, the faint rustling of the blanket he had wrapped her in did not escape his sharp hearing. The giant would take a moment’s pause and look over his shoulder at the young one, as she spoke.

Buir, you didn't have to.

In unison with an understanding nod of his head, Kranak simply offered her a kind smile in silence, before he shifted a portion of his attention onto tending to their meal; the tantalizing smell off the cooking casserole wafted in the air as the giant pulled it out of the oven, and placed it on the counter. He was quick to dish up two plates, one for his beloved daughter, and one for himself.

“Come dear, meal’s ready.” He said softly, while he placed her plate on the table, right across where he’d sit; he would settle down with his meal at a seat across from hers only after she’d taken her seat.

"I was worried sick about you."

The giant kept his silence for the moment; he couldn’t help but avert his gaze from hers as he sat across from her. He felt the sting of shame, burning flames of anger and hate, and gut wrenching regret at his inability to be there for her when she needed him. He hated the fact that, more often than not, no matter how much he wanted to be there for her, his servitude to the people simply made it impossible.

In silence he resented how he was denied respite, that his servitude was in a near constant demand at all times. More than anything, he wanted to make things right with her, be there for her when she was in need of his assistance, and share his experiences with her, providing guidance for her when she needed it.

“I had… imagined as such,” crestfallen, he spoke. Pushing through the sharp bitterness he felt, he held the young one’s gaze, once she began to speak and pour her little heart out to him.

"You look alright, if not rugged as ever. But where have you been?"

She had not intended it, but anger started seeping through her voice, "I couldn't even sense you with the Force. I was so worried that the worse had happened! But you're here! But why did you have to go!?"

She gritted her teeth, trying to control herself. Alas, tears slipped down her face as she closed her eyes, "You weren't here... I wanted you here... so badly... I wanted you safe. And I wanted you to watch this..."

She patted her stomach gently, but cried out, "You haven't been here for this!"

It proved, difficult, to listen to what she had to say, and watch her tears flow freely in between words as she spoke; although her young voice was heavy with the intonation of understandable anger, he could perceive a firm restraint; an attempt to avoid the anger escalating further.

She understood him, and his responsibilities. She, of course, developed a resentment of her own towards what he had to sacrifice as long as he remained in the servitude of their people, but she understood nevertheless.

”I’m sorry, Gwyn’ika,” his words sincere, the intonation of his voice was laden with a bitter mixture of sorrow and regret. ”I need not remind you the burden of the responsibilities I possess towards our people. You know it as well as I do. But that understanding does not grant me an excuse, from not trying harder to make more time for you,” Underneath the intonation of sorrow and regret in his voice, a firm resolve rose beneath them, with each word he spoke to her. ”I will try harder for you, young one. You have my word.”

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

The pain in Kranak's voice, the way he avoided her gaze. The waves of shame she felt through the Force. It was... awful. Tears continued to break the dam as she stood up and hobbled to his side. She placed her thin hands over his muscular hand. Her touch was gentle and almost serene, like a mother. Was this an instinct she simply unlocked due to pregnancy? Despite her feelings of bitterness, despite her rage towards the Galaxy, despite it all - she could not bring herself to be angry at him.

"Buir..."

She looked away, gloomy in her own emotional trainwreck, "I couldn't imagine being mad with you. And you don't need to try any harder than you have. I know you have been doing your best."

She looked down to his calloused hand. Her own hands were calloused from years of engineering, mechanical work, and war; yet, her thumb was smooth and soft as she rubbed circles on his knuckles with it.

"Sometimes, things just happen. Things beyond our control. Things we can't help, no matter how much we try to. Sometimes, this galaxy is so cruel that it takes away. It's not your fault or mine, it's the blind hatred and war our culture follows fanatically."

And there it was, the first hint that her views had been radically changing. Through raw intelligence, through increased exhaustion with this status quo, and through her newfound motherhood. There it was, the subtle hint that Gwyn had lost faith in the Way.

"I need to stop being so gloomy, don't I? You're here now, and will be here when she is born. Buir..."

She looked up to Kranak's eyes. Her own eyes watered, tears streamed down her face, but she smiled. She smiled, a joyful and pure smile of loving origin.

"I'm glad you're with me now. I love you."

Kranak Vizsla