I of the Storm

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

So that was that. He would take her last name. It made her so happy that she couldn't help but hug him back, awkwardly though, because of her armor.

"Tal'verda, then. I am so happy. I was worried we may argue about this."

Up ahead, she could hear voices through the trees. They were close.

"Alright, Future Lorane Tal'verda," she teased, pulling free from the embrace, "Let's introduce you to the family."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor shrugged as they walked into the village together.

"It's not as big of a deal for me. I don't remember Chiss naming customs, for the most part, and I dunno if I'd want my kid to have the last name 'Azure'. Let's go meet people."​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She pat her thigh and the strill nudged her leg with it's floppy leathery face.

"Good boy," she murmured, patting it on his head once before letting him run on ahead. She liked to send him ahead. Let people know she was coming. When she was coming to them, it was usually with the days hunt. Today, however, she came home with a different prize.

"When we pass through these trees, we will be right outside the gates. Just...."

She paused. What did she want to warn him about? He would hardly be the only non-human there. That was nothing unusual. And once she explained the situation, well, they should accept him. Her clan was known to be more accepting than most. But... maybe it was just the whole 'introducing your family to your fiance' jitters she was feeling.
Rawnie cleared her throat, gestured to Lorane to follow, and walked through the treeline.

She was nervous that he would be disappointed in what he saw. Their village was hardly the height of civilization. People lived in mostly wooden structures, almost hut-like in appearance. All arranged around the village square, and at the end of it was the longhouse, the largest structure in the village. It was where men and women gathered to discuss matters of the clan. Also where marriages tended to take place. They always had wonderful wedding feasts. She was always sent out with the hunting party for those.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor was honestly more nervous than he'd have liked to admit. Even if he didn't have to deal with judgemental parents (he assumed Zandra was either too far away or too drugged up for that), Rawnie's clan could make both their lives a living hell if they decided he was too different to be accepted.​

​

"Don't worry, visahot, I'll be good."​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie would send mom a message later... or she thought she would. She walked through the gate towards the snow covered village, only to see Zax the 'beautiful' parked around behind the only cantina they had. Rawnie blinked. Well.... at least mom was around. Probably getting drunk. Maybe best to talk to her later.

"Moms here," she said quietly, pointing across the way to the ship, "I think you should go talk to her later."

Yeah. Not that Rawnie didn't want to see her Mother. It was just... she didn't enjoy dealing with drunk people. She pulled her helmet off as she walked, smiling and nodding to a few of her clans men and women. A little fur-clad girl raced by, stopping to stare for a moment at the chiss with Rawnie. The blonde smiled, and shooed her along.

[member="Doctor Azure"] [member="Corrin Tal'verda"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

So Zandra was here. That made this a little easier, somehow. No matter what Lor said about her, she definitely wasn't hypocritical enough to deny him and Rawnie their happiness. So, they'd have at least one supportive person, hopefully.

"At least we don't have to chase her down later. Hopefully she won't still be smashed when I talk to her."

He smiled as he saw the little fur-clad girl who'd stopped to look at them run off. Hopefully, they'd have children someday, and those kids would probably run around here, too. That was nice.

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She watched the little girl run away with a smile. Mira was her name. Rawnie had been present for her birth. She hoped not to have an audience when it came time to give birth to her own children though. It had looked so... stressful. And it was bad enough just being in a crowded room under normal circumstances. Come to think of it...

"Lorane?" she asked, "Do you plan to continue practicing medicine?"

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor heard Rawnie's question, and then looked from his fiancee to the little girl, and back. Was that her subtle way of asking if he'd be able to take care of the birth process? He'd never studied any of that. It was like asking a surgeon to check your eyesight.

"I doubt I'll be in a clinic anytime soon, if that's what you mean. But just to warn you, I never studied delivering babies, if you were gonna ask. Theoretically, I could, but an actual specialist would be better at it."

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie shrugged. Well, it was worth asking.

"We don't have a doctor out here. We do what we can with what we have, but nobody has really studied it. Sometimes, we can get a medic to come up from another village, but it's only in extreme cases, and even then, if there is a snow storm, forget it."

She kept walking, waving to people here and there, but never approaching.

"A year ago, a woman died giving birth. It's a dangerous thing out here. Our women are strong, but even infection can take us down."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor's mouth gaped a little. No doctors? As far as he could see, this was a relatively modern hunting village.​

​

"I rescind my previous statement. If you end up giving birth here, I'm taking over the whole process."​

​

He looked around, and then back at Rawnie again.​

​

"And I'm training a frakkin' doctor."​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She smiled. A doctor. Finally having a doctor would make things easier. Normally when someone got hurt or sick, they could mostly heal on their own. Almost everybody knew basic first aid. But there were times when you just needed a doctor. She waved at an armored man, carrying a baby on his hip. That very baby who's mother had died bringing him into the world. He was lucky though. He was born here. They took care of their own, and sometimes took care of those who were outsiders too. It was the way of things.

"Thank you, Cyar'ika," she said as they continued on through the village, "I'm sure my brother would appreciate that too. He's been worried about it for a while."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"I swear, if he says no, I'll deck 'im and do it anyway."​

​

Lor was pretty serious. It hadn't occurred to him that people out here died from what would be considered perfectly treatable illnesses anywhere else. Including giving birth. That was rarely a fatal thing when you had modern medicine. He shook the thought out of his head, and looked around the village again.​

​

"Anything you wanna show me? I've never been to a Mandalorian stronghold before."​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She thought. What to show? Most of the buildings around here were residential ones. Everyone farmed and hunted for the the clan as a whole. They all cooked. They all contributed. Dinner was a community affair. Nobody ever went hungry. Rawnie was especially careful to ensure that.

"Well... there is the Cantina that i'll show you later so you can go talk to Zandr- I mean, mom. And there's the longhouse. We're heading there now. Just ahead, see?"

She pointed to the largest structure in the building, carved wood, snow covered roof, giant oak door.

"Corrin is probably in there, if he's here at all. He's... busy."

[member="Doctor Azure"] [member="Corrin Tal'verda"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor did see, in fact. The longhouse was... long.​

​

"That is one big, sprawlin' hunting cabin, visahot."​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"Way to point out the obvious, Cyar'ika," she snickered, "Yeah. This is where clan meetings take place, wedding feasts, celebrations, adoption ceremonies... And if we're ever attacked, it's where we'd fall back to. We can hold up in here, the entire village for maybe a month before we run out of supplies."

Strategically, out here in the freezing cold, a month was really all that they'd probably need before the enemy started to freeze and run out of food themselves. Most people were not built for the cold north like they were.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Isn't the whole town kind of... a mountain fort? What kind of idiot would even climb this far in the first place? We flew up here."​

​

Although, in theory, it was probably right. The longhouse looked pretty reinforced, and Lor had a sneaking suspicion that he'd find metal shielding inside the walls, or at least somewhere inside the building. A pretty defensible position, if you had enough people who could shoot well.​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Clan Tal'verda did not survive simply out of sheer force of will, although, that was part of it. They were independent. The had no need to really do much trading outside the village. They tended to keep to themselves, and it had shown in the skills they had learned. They made their own food, clothing, shelter, weapons, armor. The cold was usually too much for many travelers to endure, although there were other settlements not all that far away. It was how Rawnie had met her only childhood friend.

"You aren't wrong. It is unlikely, considering the clan tends to keep to itself. Who would bother with us? But it never hurts to be prepared."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Oh, yeah. I'd never knock any form of preparation that involves sitting in a big old building full of guns. Sounds kinda fun, actually."​

​

Lor squeezed Rawnie's hand as he looked around yet again. Everybody here just seemed so happy. Totally unlike anywhere else he'd ever been. Maybe he could be, too, when he wasn't running around the galaxy with his fiancee.​

​

"I think I like this place."​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

He.. did? She looked shocked. She'd been so sure he'd think it too primitive, too remote. Not at all what he would have been used to. But... Maybe he was taken with the quiet charm of the north? Just as her mother had been. She was an outsider too when she came here with her father.

She smiled, taking his arm for the first time since they entered the village, a clear sign to all who saw them passing that there was something romantic there. She stopped them just outside the giant structure.

"Do you think... you might want to live here?" she asked uncertainly, "Call this place home with me?"

She faced him, biting her lip uncertainly.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor looked at Rawnie, a little bit surprised.​

​

"I thought you didn't want to settle down..."​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​