Cook's Bounty on Sundari (Kaden Farr)

[Yasha Cadera]

"Kark... guess we're making soup again."



"What? Fifth time in a row, other than the oatmeal. Do we really have so many soldiers to feed?" The Rodian groaned as he hefted a box of root vegetables onto the massive mess kitchen set up for Death Watch soldiers on Sundari.




"Lost a fair few in the battle for Manda'yaim, but more're joining ranks every day. Hey, pass me the butter, I'm off to the officers with these loaves." The first cook pulled a rack of bread from the oven, waving his gloved hand over them to cool.




"We can't keep feeding soldiers soup this thin. We need protein! Tell them to go hunting! We're Mando'ade! It'll be like a lark!" The Rodian spilled a box of root vegetables into the sink and started scrubbing.





Yasha Mantis bit down on the irli fruit in her mouth and put all but three of the five she grabbed back in the bowl. Rushing out of the kitchens, Yasha went looking for [member="Kaden Farr"].





"Kade, got your stuff ready to go?" Yasha handed him his irli and peeked around the corner where her ba'vodu [member="Silas Mantis"] was busy maintaining his gear. She crept toward Silas, putting an irli down for him, then stalked over to her Buir's favourite spot and put the last fruit down. "Wanna go hunting?"





In some stroke of luck, or possibly because he helped save Silas' life, Kaden had been taken in by Yasha's uncle. It worked for the girl, she'd never been one to make friends, never been one to do anything but help her Mama survive. Now that Mama was gone, Yasha had to make sure [member="Preliat Mantis"] and Silas survived. Heck, she had to save all the Mando'ade they had left. If the Death Watch needed more meat, wasn't it their job as members to go get some? Wouldn't it make the adults proud?





"The cooks need more meat, if we bring them some, maybe my Buir will be proud of me. Come on, they're not watching we can grab a ride or something. Hitch-smike or whatever it is."

 

[Kaden Farr]

Polished armor was a symbol of pride between battles. Kaden worked hard on the pieces which belonged to Silas Mantis. He was still recovering from the injury to his arm, though thanks to what remained of Yasha's mother it seemed things were going better than what Kaden could have thought. Still the boy could no imagine losing an arm, and perhaps because of pity and pride, Kaden worked on the armor.

He had just finished the last piece when Yasha came in and handed him piece of fruit.

"Soup again!?"

A frustrated sigh escaped his mouth as his stomach growled at thought of no meat. This would be almost a week without any real food. Broth didn't count. Vegetables in broth didn't count either. Of course, Yasha had an idea. She always did. Kaden liked her ideas. They always led to trouble, but he was okay with that. Whatever he motivations were, Kade enjoyed being with her. She was fun, and he didn't care if they got in trouble. This was about meat!

"I think I saw an old speeder near Kad's forge... We could borrow it. I learned how to drive one on Dxun."

He looked out the window and wondered what they were able to hunt. Kaden eyed the direction of where the blasters were kept.

"Let's go!"

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"There're a bunch new rec-boots. Um, recmooks? Soldiers. Mama would'a brought extra logistimacs. Logi-stististics... Rgh! Food and stuff!" Yasha stamped her foot, biting her lower lip. "And... and... I'm not stupid! Mando'a is hard. Words... words are stupid."





Yasha's face flushed red. [member="Aditya Mantis"] was a transplant to Manda'yaim, a woman still trying to learn the language for her lover. In Hell, she worked as hard as she could to teach Yasha whatever vocabulary she remembered, but it was a losing battle. Falling back to Atrisian, Aditya and Yasha returned home, and the girl barely knew how to speak to her father in his own native tongue. [member="Preliat Mantis"]' own silent nature hadn't helped his daughter's dialectic training.





"We're gonna fix it. We'll go hunting and people will smile." An army couldn't march on their empty stomachs. Warriors needed food. The least Yasha could do was bring Kaden along, he was a valuable companion, not just because he could reach a higher shelf. He was earning his place with Silas, polishing armour and giving Yasha someone her-sized to train with. All in, Yasha hoped he'd stick around.





"You can drive!?" Yasha stopped short and stumbled over her growing feet. She splayed her arms out to catch herself, before glancing back at [member="Silas Mantis"].





"C'mon! Quick!" Yasha leaned down and tied her boot, then rushed.

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden felt a little guilty for suggesting they borrow the speeded which was outside Kad Tor’snfirge because the man had made them some pretty cool gauntlets. He had been kind, but the stomachs of the Mando’ade were more important than Kaden’s conscience.

He chuckled a bit as Yasha stumbled over her words. She was trying desperately to learn Mando’a. Kaden would have kept it up, but she quickly chastised him for finding humor in it. It was a hard language, Kaden would giver her that, but it wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t stupid.

”I’ll help you,” he said in the one language they both knew, basic. It was one language everyone picked up here and there, and even the most staunch warriors used it.

Kaden just nodded when she asked if he could drive. He’d picked it up on Dxun with a simple two speed engine. The part he wasn’t going to admit to was the fact he wasn’t supposed to be driving anymore. There was something about the fact he couldn’t control the size of the vehicle when he was going to fast, but that was normal right?

”Yeah... I can drive...”

When the coast was clear they ran off, and Kaden led them to the speeder. They stopped to get blasters on the way out, and when they got to the speeder Kaden jumped into the drivers seat, tossing his blaster in the back. He pushed the button to start the engine once he knew his feet could reach the pedals. Turning to Yasha he smiled with a look that said... SEE... With a roar and switch of the lever they were speeding off to the hunting grounds.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Yasha blew a huge exhale out of her mouth, and deflated. "Sorry. The kids made me feel like an idiot. Wasn't a real Mando'adika. Couldn't even speak without a... a stutter."





She sniffed in a deep breath and puffed up her chest, screwing her lips to the side. "Mama and I talked Atrisian. It's all soft and happy and Mando'a's hard like beskar. Thanks. I'm not dumb... Buir don't talk much... not since..."





Scrambling aboard the speeder, Yasha looked for [member="Kad Tor"]. "We'll give him some of our kill."





[member="Kaden Farr"] looked ever the cool kid sitting on the pilot's seat and prepping to fly. Plunking down in a seat, Yasha double checked that her gauntlets were on, her tomahawk was there, her MT-14 blaster pistol...





"Woa!" Yasha tumbled back into her seat as Kaden took off. She reached for the dash in front of her, gripping on and howling like the little wolf she was.





"Awwoo!! Aw-aw-awoooo!" Yasha was in heaven, sneaking away to hunt and solve a big person problem with her new best friend. A niggling feeling told her it wouldn't be long till [member="Silas Mantis"] or [member="Preliat Mantis"] came to get them, but the speeder bought the two scamps time. The vast plain levelled out to glens and forests, swathes of land in which massive prey could be scared up.





They were going to hunt something big. They were going to bring it back to camp, and then the others would take notice.

 

[Silas Mantis]

Silas too had grown tired of the broth and vegetables, they were warriors, and warriors ate meat. Silas remembered the lean harvests on Ordo, he, Preliat, and one of their sisters had gone hunting together, either for game or for a more fortunate farm's cattle. Not that there was any way to prove that. "Wait where are you goin-" He looked back over his should only to find [member="Kaden Farr"] and [member="Yasha Mantis"] had vanished, but the whine of a speeder not only gave it awaym but made his eyes go wide.

"Feth."

Slinging his armor over his shoulders the panicked uncle made a run for the nearest speeder. Yasha and Kaden were both quite talented survivors, and while he at the very least was willing to let the former come with him into battle, two children together in a speeder and likely with firearms was a recipe for disaster. As he heard the engine of a speeder roar to life he threw his beskar into the back of another speeder and keyed the ignition.

Without much of a second though he floored the acceleration and raced after the two rogue ad'ika. Hunting was fine, taking weapons and a vehicle to do so was somewhat frowned upon though. Besides it might scare off their prey.

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden lauged when Yasha howelled like a wolf. He grinned then decided if he was living with Silas he was a wolf too, so he joined in.

”AWOOOOOOOOOO AW AWOOOOOOOOOO!”

It was better than screaming Oya and jumping into battle. Kaden felt free and alive. There was something about what they were doing that sparked the warrior within him. For once he understood the thrill of running into danger. Yes he had helped with guns, ammo, hell he even helped steal a tank, but this... this made him understand the rush. From now on he’d view battle differently.

Kaden looked over his shoulder.

”Frak,” Kaden’s typical crude mouth cursed. The boy had no one to tell him not to cuss, so he saw it as normal. He was around soldiers who cussed a lot as it was. Kaden picked up on the vocabulary rather quickly.

With one hand on the controls, Kaden tapped Yasha on the shoulder. When he had her attention he pointed behind them where [member="Silas Mantis"] was coming. He was catching up to them. ”I don’t know how to make it go faster. I learned on a two speed. This is... more hard.”

Kaden kept going. They were going to prove to the adults they could do it. They could hunt. The two were old enough to fight, they were old enough to hunt. Forget the fact they never had been taught to track, at least Kaden hadn’t. It was good Silas was going to catch them, but Kaden didn’t want him to.

”We need to lose him or shake him. Can your buir’ika help,” Kaden pointed to her goggles. Yasha’s mother talked through them.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Sundari washed around them, Yasha and Kaden howled for the thrill of their clandestine adventure. The girl howled and grinned, pulling the elastic on the back of her goggles





"Kade! You said a no-word!" Yasha's jaw dropped. [member="Kaden Farr"] was too cool to have a clean mouth, at least without the adults around.





"My what? My biriniki? Burika... what're you..." Yasha looked around, catching the sight of the speeder roaring toward them, with a grim-faced Mantis at the console.





"Frak!" Yasha trampled into the back seat of the speeder, putting a finger to her goggles. The magnification zoomed in for [member="Silas Mantis"]' face, and Yasha winced.





"Aw noodles, that's his angry face!" Yasha looked in front of them then back. "Mama? Mama! It's an emerge-amarjen-um.. Mama help! Tactical! Heelp!"





Yasha smacked at her goggles, until a symbol appeared on the lower corner.





"Oh, you are in for it, Yash. If you want to go hunting, you darn well are bringing your ba'vodu, young lady! I'm out!" The audio program cut in, and out. Yasha grunted with a moan.





"She won't help us! Gosh, he's coming faster than Buir ([member="Preliat Mantis"]) shooting at a forcie who thinks he's god!" When it looked like Silas was going to usurp them, Yasha splayed in her seat.





"Wait... slow down! Slow down and stop! If there's one thing that confuses adults, it's kids being good! Act natural!" Yasha sat pretty with her perfect-est posture and grinned as Silas pulled up.





"Oya, Ba'vodu! Wanna come hunting with us? We'd be ever so grate-gratu-greatama-glad. We totally didn't want you to be bothered." Yasha put on her sweetest smile, nudging her MT-14 pistol under the seat with her toes.

 

[Silas Mantis]

The speeder eventually would catch up to both of the delinquents, and when Silas dismounted and looked down on the two, his face was stern. He wasn't exactly thrilled with their antics. "What were either of you thinking? Hunting is one thing but stealing a speeder," He trailed off before reaching down and pulling the MT-14 from under Yasha's seat. "and weapons? That's not okay ad'ika, for either of you." He finished, looking over the two with crossed arms.

Giving both [member="Yasha Mantis"] and [member="Kaden Farr"] one last harsh look, the younger of the Mantis brother's expression softened. "You are both survivors with the makings of great warriors, and I have no doubts in your abilities to take care of yourselves for the most part, but there is no need to take necessary risks." He told them, donning his beskar'gam as he talked, nudging the speeder bike he'd taken to catch up with them to the side of the road as he did, getting it out of the way. What he said he meant with all his being, he'd been half-dragged out of a falling building by the two before him, they weren't typical children, they were true Mandolorians in the making, wolves-to-be.

Kaden wasn't his son, Silas simply had provided the boy a place to stay for as long as he needed, if that meant a few weeks then so be it, if it meant far longer then Silas welcomed the idea. He knew next to nothing about raising children except from what his mother had shown through her own parenting, and even less about being a father. His had been a poor example. But if Farr remained his ward, Silas would make a wolf out of him yet.

"In other words, I'll drive." He stated, crossing his arms after donning his helm, as waiting for Kaden to vacate the drives seat so that Silas could take the controls.

 

[Kaden Farr]

”Slow down! Why?”

Kaden didn’t argue. He couldn’t. Yasha seemed determined to play this off as something, and he would play along. He stopped the speeder and when Silas pulled up they just smiled. He let Yasha do the talking. For some reason Kaden felt caught. His inclination was to hit the speeder into full throttle and run, but Silas, while upset, seemed as though he was going to let them go hunting.

His smile widened as he got out the driver seat and jumped into the back with the weapons. Kaden didn’t care that Silas thought they shouldn’t be running around with them. His eyes looked at the weapons and then up to Silas. He was happy.

”Silas is making my day!”

Kaden yelled over the wind as it whipped about them. His comments were directed to Yasha, though the man who was driving had taken Kaden in as his ward, and he liked him to. That’s why Kaden spoke to him next.

”We are going to get something so large that it feeds everyone for months. They will love us, and everyone will let us fight with them, just like when we snuck off planet and got the tank and explosives!!”

[member="Yasha Mantis"] | [member="Silas Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Cause if we keep going, he's gonna call my Buir! And then we'll be grounded until we're his age!" Yasha retorted, fixing her hair and brushing her fingers over [member="Kaden Farr"]'s hair to tidy it. She didn't know why she did it, but Mama used to tidy [member="Preliat Mantis"]' hair. Maybe that was good enough of a reason.





"The cooks ain't got enough food and we were gonna give [member="Kad Tor"] some meat for using his speeder. Pwomise!" Yasha kept up her sweet little grin, sitting pretty with the perfect posture trained by a legion of proper courtly Atrisian nannies. "I was gonna kill whatever we found with my tomahawk, really! The blaster was only for... for... lib-liba-libagoobies... libamerator people. Dar'manda."





Weathering the Mantis storm required a firm backbone. [member="Silas Mantis"]' wrath was a much easier pill to swallow than her father's, and all Yasha could do was give Silas her penitent and happy face. It was her special face reserved for Ba'vodu and Buir, when she needed to get out of things like bedtimes or vegetables. Penitent, but happy he was there to find them.





"Eee! We get to go!" Yasha hopped up on her seat, grinning from ear. "Told you, Kade! Tu-tu-tow-towld you! Ba'vodu Silas is the best ba'vodu in the universe!"





In times of excitement or anxiety, Yasha's stutter worsened. Silas' niece went red in the face, ducking her chin and hiding her cheek beneath her hair.





"We did g-good! Brought weapons and and ex-expl-kabooms! And ale for [member="Ra Vizsla"]! And bacta and Narir got a flame frower! We're gonna solve the... the pwo..." Yasha hopped onto her knees in her seat, looking between Silas and Kaden. "The food! Help us get something big, Ba'vodu. We're gonna make you pwoud-rrgh! Am I stupid?"





They would get to the plains, with Silas' piloting. It was the best solution she knew to accept. How did a Mando'ad hunt? Yasha had an inward worry that the way she knew to hunt wouldn't jive with the Mando'ade.

 

[Silas Mantis]

"You did what?" The man snapped his head around at the sound of Kaden and [member="Yasha Mantis"]' words, his eyes narrowing as a stern expression came over his face. Everything else went in one ear and out the other for a moment. They had been off planet without supervision and not only returned alive, but retrieved supplies but destroyed a tank and all of its occupants. Silas couldn't tell if he was more impressed with the groups efficiency and initiative, or angered with their recklessness. They could've at least told him, he could've gone with them and at flown them bac-

How the feth did they get back? [member="Kaden Farr"] might've been able to pilot a speeder, but a starship was something else, and he'd have noticed them either stealing a starship or if they had returned in a vessel that hadn't been there prior to their escapade. "Let me be very clear before we go on this little outing," Silas began firmly, turning to face both of the children. "The next time you have any ideas like going after hostile supplies, or hunting, or anything that you know to be dangerous, you tell me, Preliat, or another adult first. You are Mandalorian, you are meant to be fighting at this age, yes, but you are meant to be doing so with the adults so that you learn." The Mantis declared.

"What if something had gone wrong? I wouldn't know where any of you were, or what happened to you. Yasha your buir would've been devastated as would I, same goes for you Kaden. You are both my aliit, by blood and name or not, and I will do all I can to not let either of you fall, but I cannot do that if I don't know where you are." The man concluded, looking over the two children, his expression somewhat softer now. They both knew he wasn't attempting to baby them, and that he couldn't be everywhere they were, but they'd understand his concerns in all likelihood.

"Also how the hell did you all get back?"

 

[Kaden Farr]

"We captured a tank, supplies, explosives, and ale for Ra," Kaden repeated as if he thought [member="Silas Mantis"] was dense for asking after both he and Yasha had told them what they had done.

Then came the lecture. Kaden wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew better than to do that when Silas was taking them hunting anyway. Of course they were supposed to have adult with them, but they wanted to prove themselves sooner. It was a time when every able bodied warrior would be needed to fight. How much more able bodied could one get when they were good with a blaster and their best friend had survived hell? As far as Kaden was concerened it was stupid, even if he did understand.

"Fine," he said. At the end of the day this family had been the best thing which happened to him in a while. Kaden didn't want to lose that.

A smile came to his face as Silas called them both aliit. Family is one thing Kaden had not had in the two years since Monroe had nuked their home. This was the first time since then anyone had ever uttered those words. Now Kaden really felt like he had to obey.

"We got back because of this nice lady helped. We didn't go without an adult... just knew you couldn't go and you would say no."

Kaden looked at Yasha... maybe he would let her tell Silas about [member="Lyanie Quez"]. Kaden didn't know her that well, and as the plains came into view all Kaden wanted to do was hunt.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Sorry Ba'vodu Silas." Yasha pouted and tucked her chin in, heaving her shoulders to make herself small. "Promise to let us do fun things? I don't wanna stay behind and be a kid. I can fight! I can help too, and maybe if I help then you and Buir and [member="Ra Vizsla"] won't die. Ra already died and he knows what home is like. I don't want him going home again, I don't wanna have to tromp through the Blood Plains looking for him to bring him back. We just wanna help."





Home. In the moment, Yasha's mind slipped and revealed her mind's truth: the Netherworld was still home. Looking into the Mand'alor's terrifying face, Yasha saw the kinship of the Netherworld written upon it. He would always understand more about where she'd been than anyone else around her. It was one of the most comforting thoughts she had, other than her father's love. The girl didn't have enough good memories yet to change where home was. Especially not when her Buir was gone so much, and Mama and Buir were fighting. Not when her home was waste and dust.





"She's not just a nice lady, she's Lyanie! Muh-member when I was playing hide and seek with Mama and I snuck onto [member="Joanes Quez"]'s ship and thought Mama was coming too, but..." But [member="Aditya Mantis"] didn't make it. Little did the girl know her mother sent her off at a terrified run. Little did Yasha know her mother's last effort was to save her firstborn child, by playing yet another in the ubiquitous games they perfected in the Netherworld. Hide and seek. 'Go as far as you can and Mama and Buir will seek you'.





The promise. Her parents would always find her. But Preliat was missing since the first civil war battle, and Aditya was dead. While Yasha's chin fell and her lips pushed together, she shut her eyes and pulled up her goggles, rubbing at salt water. "I got dis-disco-found with Babuir Joanes' turkey jerky in engi-neersing and they took me to their turkey farm. It was obvious they needed tons of help! They needed your Yasha! The flower beds were awful." Yasha swung her head theatrically this way and that, thinking back to the weed ridden flower bed she adopted as her own. She rubbed her eye again, sniffling away the burning sensation on her nose.





"Those adults needed such looking after. Lyanie taught me to do dishes, and got me a box so I could reach the counter, and I made the beds and I helped Nita shoot better, when we'd practice guns. And I grew pretty flowers to make them smile, 'cause they were all so sad and I didn't know why... and Babuir Joanes let me butcher a turkey! Gobble gob-aauugh! Oooh the bloood! Slicey-dice the artermarrie! Mmmm turkey for dinner." Yasha acted it all out, vaguely unaware in that childish way of the true situation.





Joanes Quez grabbed a little girl in the space port as the bombs were falling. One of the last out, he flew her and his family as fast as he could, sheltering the girl after discovering her mother's name amongst the dead. [member="Preliat Mantis"] was a hard man to find. The upheaval was as vast as the radioactive waste, and while gruff, Joanes was a true blooded wholesome Mando'ad. He and his daughters took Yasha on, giving her chores and plunking school work down for her education. During the Death Watch meeting, the rumours swirled. It was as good of a place as any he'd find to give the girl back to her aliit.





"And Lyanie helped me with my homework and she promised to teach me to fly a spaceship! I don't think she would've flown us if she realized we were gonna usurp a tank... but our intel said it was just a speeder freight with supplies and two guards." Yasha shrugged. Adults could be so surprised over what they did... which was why they shouldn't be told. It might give them heart attacks!





Save the Adults! Keep Secrets.

 

[Silas Mantis]

Silas listened to both of them intently, smiling when [member="Kaden Farr"] agreed to his request, first stubbornly and with a hardened expression, which softened into a smile at the mention of family. Farr was not his son in name, Silas would not take the memory of his parents from him, he would let clan Farr live on through the boy, but he would raise him as his own as best he could.

Turning his gaze to [member="Yasha Mantis"], he kept the soft smile on his face and ruffled the girl's hair with his prosthetic. "I promise I'll let you do fun things. That goes for you two, as well as the rest of your group." Silas assured his niece, trying to not think of how strange it felt to touch but not feel, a sensation he was still becoming accustomed to since MandalMotors.

The speeder began to accelerate down the path as the two both informed him their method of transport had been one Lyanie Quez. He'd never met the woman, but he'd encountered her father the night Ra had called them together, and learned the man had cared for his niece after Aditya was taken from them all. A stern man from what he'd gathered, but a good one, and a good father. Silas was glad he'd been the one to watch over his niece, and taught her to be passionate about something other than burying blades in throats. Then she mentioned the bit about butchering the turkey, and while it somewhat detracted from his previous thought, her overall innocence still shown through.

The child had been through hell, literally, and yet her innocence remained. Mantises were a stubborn bunch indeed. "Sounds like I owe Quez some gratitude for getting you ad'ikas back home." He laughed as they sped along to what he hoped would be an area where game still roamed.

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden loved the way [member="Yasha Mantis"] described things. Her line about what bitching the Turkey was by far one of her best. The boy had killed animals before with hunting parties on Dxun. It was those trips which had made him proficient with a blaster. Kaden knew the sight of the blood spray, the smells, and sounds of killing, all too well from his experiences there. Killing people as they children had done recently, it wasn’t any different. The blood spray was the same, the smell of it, and the sounds... all of it was the same. It should have bothered Kaden, but it didn’t. His quest for revenge had made him a killer at such a young age.

The soft smile was there for certain reasons, but never for war. Kaden felt odd as he began to let the protective walls which had been guarding him down. Yasha’s father was still AWOL, but Kaden was certain that he would like him too. [member="Silas Mantis"] and Yasha felt safe. He held no defenses around them anymore. They had bonded in battle of the loss of Silas’ arm.

”You could kiss her,” Kaden said with excitement. ”I mean that’s what men do when they really appreciate a girl, right? Or headbutt her! I’ve seen adults do that. Like Kad Tor. They call him the Hammer of Enceri and his friend Artemis they call the Lioness of Dxun. He headbutts her all time. They have these silly songs about their adventures.”

Kaden started singing about the time they killed the Zakkeg, but he forgot most of the words which made it funny.

”I cant wait to kill something. Maybe they will make up songs about us saving the Army by bringing meat!”

He started singing again.

”Something, somethI got, meeeeeeaaaaaat!!!”

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Fewf! I was worried, Uncle. Who was gonna protect you and Daddy if we don't get to do fun things and battle?" Protect the aliit. What else did the girl have left?





Like a war fire of kind actions on a cold winter's day, Yasha made a sound nobody had ever heard.





As Silas tussled her hair, Yasha giggled. The child was grinning, curled up on the seat of their 'borrowed' speeder and giggling like an eight year old child ought. She giggled and batted at Silas' metal arm, pulling her hair into messy, uneven pigtails.





"Uncle Silas! Uncle! Uncle, [member="Lyanie Quez"] knew Mama! She was an eng-enigi-emagabeer... she worked on the Myrmadinas. And! And Babuir @Quez is the best babuir ever! He kept sighing when he thought nobody was around and wishing for grandbabies. I don't know what makes grandbabies more grander than babies... eeeeeee kiissiiiing! Only Mamas and Daddies kiss! And Mamas when they're fixing ouchies! Uncle Silas, you could kiss her! Or buy her engine fixing tools! She likes fixing things! Mmmwah!" Yasha blew her uncle a kiss, climbing around the seat to put a wet smacking kiss on his cheek.





"Why do adults headbutt each other like that? Mama only headbutted things we needed to kill... usually 'cause they tried to eat me. I don't go down easy." Yasha grinned, "We're gonna be the Heroes of the Soup!"





The plains opened up around them, and in the distance, prey. [member="Kaden Farr"]'s singing made Yasha climb into the back seat and warble along with him, trying to think of words that rhymed with 'meat'.

 

[Silas Mantis]

Silas face flushed red at the idea of kissing [member="Lyanie Quez"] as his method of thanking her. Then came the suggestion of headbutting, which made him prefer the former option. Whatever Artemis and Kad got up to was their own business, and he'd leave the both of them to it. Lux he'd encountered on Nar Shadda shortly after the catastrophe of Mandalore, and Kad was one of his squad mates in the Tal'rekr, how funny that the two of them had ended up together. After his niece planted a kiss on his cheek he narrowed his eyes jokingly at the girl as she giggled.

For a moment he simply smiled, he'd never heard his niece laugh before, the child much like Silas and Preliat seemed to rarely laugh if ever, as they all carried their own demons and traumas. She deserved to laugh always, not be stuck in this war.

"I think I could manage getting her some tools, but I think I have to side with Mand'alor the Small here, headbutting is something I'll save for the enemy." Silas chuckled as the speeder raced along, [member="Yasha Mantis"] and [member="Kaden Farr"] sitting together in the back and causing him to give pause. The two of them were fairly forward in terms of suggesting physical affection, he'd need to keep an eye on them once their hormones began to kick in, proximity and sharing numerous extreme experiences might make them see one another as appealing options to show how 'thankful' they were.

They weren't related though, and the train of thought merely stemmed from not wanting to see either of them grow up too fast as was common in their culture, but for now he simply pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

"I got meat, and it's so neat. What a lovely treeeeeeeeat." The adult sang along jokingly, enjoying the happy moment among so many harrowing and intensely sad ones. They were in the midst of a war started by a tragedy, one where so many were robbed of their homes, their childhood, their friends, their families, and in many cases their lives. The war wasn't about glory like a crusade, it was about revenge, and it was so rare to have a moment of joy amidst it all, so Silas savored every second.

 

[Kaden Farr]

This was what a'llit meant. For a brief moment as the speeder carried them to their destination, and with Yasha and Silas joining in the silliness of the singing, Kaden remembered what it had been like before the bombing. Whatever he had lost then, he was finding with Silas. When the speeder came to a stop a single moment of weakness came over him. Rather than being the war hardened warrior he was growing up to be, Kaden reached across the back and wrapped his arms around Silas for a moment.

"You really are the bestest, Si'buir," Kaden said affectionately before letting go.

He didn't really know what to call the man. Kaden hadn't been formally adopted, but Silas seemed committed to taking him in. Kaden liked this, and loved the fact he was going to let them hunt. The three were having so much fun, and the more Yasha giggled the more Kaden laughed. Their silliness was going to scare away any animal near enough to kill, but the fun was well worth it.

"We need to do this every week," Kaden managed to giggle out of his mouth. They were a fun bunch, and this was a bright spot amidst all the fighting and killing. He had not let go of his revenge, but Kaden had grabbed onto something stable. It was funny how so much death could bring about something good, but Kaden had found it and he would never let it go. This was all because he helped cauterize a stump.

Kaden jumped out of the vehicle with a blaser rifle. A look washed over his face, the toughest and meanest look he could manage.

"Let's go kill some meat!"

[member="Yasha Mantis"] | [member="Silas Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Can we paint her tools pink? With glitter! Ooo! Ooo! Uncle Silas! Glitter tools! Ooo!" Yasha bounced up and down, clapping her gauntleted hands. "I like glitter, can we do glitter? Uncle Silas, can we, ca-aawww you're blushing! Kade! He's blushing!! Kiss her, Uncle Silas! Say hello and smack her on the mouth! Eee! Lyanie would be so surprised!"





She fell into another rolling giggle, as the speeder came to a stop. Yasha tossed herself into her uncle's lap, putting both her hands on his pink cheeks. "It's okay Uncle Silas! [member="Kaden Farr"] and your Yasha will be there so's you don't get scared."





Kaden came and hugged Silas from behind and although the universe was a grim place, this one moment was as perfect as the ones her Mama told her about. [member="Aditya Mantis"] talked endlessly about the good times, how her quiet and thoughtful husband lived when outside war. The love between her parents was a mythic and suitable blanket against the Hell around her. Now that her mother was dead, Yasha somehow knew it was up to her to make the Mantis Clan smile again.





That included Kaden, and it always would. "Uh, yeah! It's mandimatorsy nooow." She looked up at Silas' face, trying for her best pout, forgetting for the moment her goggles were still on her face. "Right Uncle Silas?"





Kaden looked the image of a Mando'ad as he found the coolest way possible to disembark from the borrowed speeder. Yasha clambered up to sit on [member="Silas Mantis"]' shoulders, and pointed out at the expansive field of hopeful plenty.





"To the meat! I call skinning it! It's like, super easy and you get to tug on it!" Riding on her uncle's shoulders, Yasha forgot about the Netherworld, and her dwindling parents. She forgot about the grief which made her tummy squidge in knots. She forgot her father was distant, so consumed in the horrors of his wife's death that it seemed he could barely look at his only daughter.





Leaning down to look at Silas' face, Yasha whispered, "I like your singing, Uncle Silas. I wuv you."