Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Into the Jungle

Dxun

Dxun-25.jpg
It was spring season on the Demon Moon which meant that the time when the atmosphere's of both Dxun and Onderon connected and shared with each other was upon both worlds. Not only did it mean that this unique occurrence was about to happen, but it also meant that the humidity was insane and extreme due to the magnitude of heat and precipitation of Dxun's temperate climate. This time of the year was very unpopular for common mercenaries and bounty hunters to take voyage to the moon and survive its challenges more than a day; however, there were few of Vilaz's profession that visited the moon and survive it under extreme conditions.

But the Field Marshal was unlike to other veteran bounty hunters and mercenaries who only came to the Demon Moon to adapt themselves, so they could become much better in their careers. There was a connection that this uninhabited world had with the Mandalorians after the Mandalorian Wars between the Clans and the Galactic Republic. Many called it home as it was the headquarters of the Neo-Crusaders during the war with the Republic and it was an impenetrable stronghold until a Jedi Knight led Republic soldiers and captured the Mandalorian fortress if it wasn't for the many suicidal actions that the Republic soldiers committed for a major victory.

Ever since then some took a cultural pilgrimage to the moon in honor of their ancestors who passed away with the Manda,and other just visited the world in order to become a better Warrior both physically and mentally. Vilaz was here to honor those Mandalorians who have passed away and to improve himself without any of his armor or his unique equipment. He was only armed with a typical crossbow, a Fett-Kal knife, and a Chaavla Revolver. His clothing was appropriate for the current temperature that would only get worse when summer would come to the Demon Moon.

Within the heart of the jungle his instincts were sharp and on point as he was finding tracks of some of Dxun's most vicious beasts. There was a common saying for those who had experienced the savagery of Onderon's moon:

Shoot whatever moves and shoot what doesn't move.

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
As a citizen of the Republic had become quite difficult to not have heard about the Mandalorians. The culture that had gone into wild fluctuations when it came to the local Borleians and their general opinion about how they felt when it came to the ancient warrior culture. There were some who welcomed them and kept praising their attitude and loyal nature, and then there were those who quite simply despised them. It was much like anywhere, really. People respected their proud warrior heritage, yet others looked upon them as mere brutes. The latter of which was the most common within the neighborhood in which Kaili lived.

Yet she herself had no real experience or knowledge of what it meant to actually be part of it. People were free to hate all they wanted, but when it came to the young woman and her own opinions she prefered not to let bias and other externals affect the way in which she considered things. The Mandalorians were no exception, and as such the idea to take a trip to and learn more about the roots of said culture struck her as one of the best ideas she had had in a long while. She had looked up information on them, seen mention of the planet Dxun, aaaand...

No, that was pretty much all she did.

She rooted through Allyson’s items, dug up a list of contacts and set up a meeting at a nearby cantina. While the official means of getting there was a possibility she would much rather not risk it when you considered the rather volatile relations between her home and the people at her destination.

Besides, she wasn’t there for the touristy version of it. If there even was such a thing, she was there to get right down into the nitty-gritty of it all. Her pack had been loaded, her clothes prepared. The ship had touched down two hours ago and she had quickly run down the loading ramp only to find a world humid beyond that which she had ever considered possible. Heat was a factor she had grown used to throughout her life and as such it didn’t bother her particularly much, but when mixed with the humidity it had quickly become a combination she struggled to come to terms with.

Her short hair had curled up and her entire skin felt like it had been laced with a thin layer of liquid. Water and sweat, not her favorite combination. Unless she was on a beach, but something told her the closest beach was quite possibly light years away.

The jungle had come to surround the young woman and as much as she dreaded to admit it, she was starting to feel lost. The spider droid on her shoulder climbed into the palm of her hand to project a holoscreen showing her current location and the humidity. Eyes widened, air was sucked in.

Yep. Kaili was officially lost. Lost and damp. Ew.

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
A steady growth of distrust and cautiousness was within the mentality of Vilaz as he continued to trek through the organic infrastructure of the jungle. Perhaps if he had his personal armor with him right now he would treat the jungle like a walk through the park, but ever since he made the condition of not bringing his armor with him on the Dxun his reflexes were at their highest. It only demonstrated to himself that he depended a lot on his beskar'gam and while the suit of armor did almost guaranteed victories in most scenarios of warfare it was something that he shouldn't depended on all the time. One day the armor would fail him when he was in a tight corner against overwhelming odds which would most likely bring his downfall just because he clung on to the almost invincible properties of the Mandalorian armor. It was, metaphorically speaking, another layer of skin for him and every other Mandalorian that owned their own armor. It was as if depending a lot on advanced medicine. Once one stopped adapting their body to infections and bacteria diseases and only relied on pills and such, then they would find themselves in a peril if they had no way of having access to any form of medicine.

While the Bounty Hunter had a built, strong body his mindset, however, became more stubborn and arrogant knowing that his beskar'gam would always protect him from every shape and size of danger. Now he was vulnerable to any attack that came at him. Sweat ran down his whole body and made his clothes stick on him, and every once in a while he would put the tendrils of his long, brown hair behind his ears which veiled his line of sight.

Suddenly there was noise that the Field Marshal heard which, obviously, caused him to react with his crossbow aiming at the source of the noise while kneeling down on his right leg. Without thinking at all he fired a silent bolt at whatever person or thing caused the rustling and waited, with anticipation, for the results of his attack.

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
The entire moon had her in a mindset of worry. Something gave her the constant feeling of eyes on her back, and another told her to get a towel. She wasn’t someone who was built for extended periods of survival. Her body was in shape, but focus had always been on endurance over strength. She valued speed over power which was something that even then she complemented with the force and her martial arts. Sabers were lame and dangerous, but they were still far too nifty of a tool to not carry around. Blasters were loud, but they were effective. And then there was her hands. The force-given gifts of all beings that possessed them. The tools that carried the tools, if you wanted to get really poetic about them. To hone her entire body into a weapon was something she considered to be far more of an honor than the application of weaponry. Even better was the fact that the only way to kill a man, something she always strove to never do, was only possible if you really tried.

In short, Kaili saw the benefits of keeping herself up to speed both mentally and physically. Which was exactly why she kept on trekking along the unbeaten path in front of her. As much as she was a woman of worry, she too was a woman of incredible stubbornness. She had already tried to focus herself on the force and let it show her the path to her destination, but with the humidity and the heat she quickly found herself in a tight spot. As such she had insisted on going forward despite her droid companion’s reminders that they were lost and most likely on the verge of dying without even knowing.

It was one of the downsides of granting him access to databases on the local wildlife. Perhaps a bit of Allyson’s Corellian nature had rubbed off of her.

“I don’t want to know the odds, Henry.” Kaili muttered over at the droid on her shoulder. “We just need to reach this... Place, and we’ll be good to go home again.”

[ You don’t even know where it is! ]

“Yes, I do! It’s... Somewhere around here.”

Kaili was a prime example of optimism. At least until the force cried out in a warning. She spun around on her heel only to have a bolt grace the side of her arm. She cried out in surprise, and also pain, as the supposed bolt that had graced her was in fact poking out of her left shoulder like a branch on a tree. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, but she knew she didn’t have much time to act. The young woman speeded her way into cover behind a tree. With the bolt still in her shoulder she had no other option but to, well, make contact. Poke at her surprise gift bearer and if necessary bring him down.

“Who goes there?!” The usually soft voice cried out in a hoarse shriek. “Shooting people ain’t very nice, you know!”

You don't say, Kaili?

The girl wasted little time waiting for a response. Blood poured out of her wound and every second she wasted on ignoring it was seconds that sent her closer to her grave. A hand grasped at the bolt in her shoulder. She had one shot at this. Hesitation kicked in.

What if she couldn’t get the tip out in one pull? The woman swallowed air. Dreadful thought.

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
The cry of a woman both in pain and surprised shocked Vilaz and he raised up from his position in a sprint, approaching the subject he had just shot. The man was indifferent about every foreign sentient that wasn't part of the Mandalorian culture, but that didn't mean he was itchy on the trigger and shot every foreigner that stood in his way. The Mandalorian had that mutual feeling that every one shared which went along the lines of: You don't kark with me, I don't kark with you. Sounded simple just like that, and the last thing anyone wanted to do was to screw around some Mandalorian and have the barrel of a gun pointed at their head. However, int his case, it was Vilaz that accidentally shot someone and would fix his mistake by any way. In all honesty, it was his cautiousness that got him the best and caused him to attack the unknown female and that cautiousness could turn into fear which would, ultimately, cause people to do stupid, illogical actions such as the one that Vilaz just committed.

"My bad," the Field Marshal said to the female he had assaulted with his crossbow as he approached her, "I thought you were some animal or somethin'. I ain't gonna shoot ya again." The Bounty Hunter hoped that the woman wouldn't attack him and had some trust in him so he aid her if she was injured. When the Redneck came up to the tree he saw a trail of blood which he followed. Now he knew he injured his victim, yet he hoped it wasn't something major of her anatomy. He went around the tree and saw a young woman with stunning facial features and was grasping a bolt that stood out from her left shoulder. "Let me pull that out for ya," he offered his help to the woman and approached her, hoping that she would remain calm and not attack him.

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
She remained there. It wasn’t every day you got an arrow stuck in your shoulder, much less so in a superheated jungle with air as thick as a steamy daydream. There was a rustle in the bushes, a voice calling out to her apologizing for shooting her, claiming it could have been a wild animal ‘or something.’ Of course it wasn’t going to do much about the bolt stuck in her arm, but it was most certainly a nice gesture. Not a gesture that would gain her complete trust, mind you, but it was something that she could -- and would -- be willing to take a face value.

Her eyes followed the man around the corner as he came into view. Scruffy, tall and well-armed. Unarmored, but seemed well-aware of what he was doing nonetheless. A survivalist, perhaps? Mandalorian no doubt, though what ‘kind’ of Mandalorian -- if such a thing as different kinds of Mandalorians existed -- remained to be seen. She let craned her neck ever so slightly to hold back the last few remaining traces of any fear. It was hard to not let the rumors around town get to you in the end, wasn’t it?

The man offered to remove his bolt.

Kaili remained in place and quickly nodded her head.

“If you want.” She sucked in the thick air and gritted her teeth to stave off the pain. “I think it’s lodged in there pretty good.” It really was, to a degree, though most of it was just the shock speaking. Kaili steadied her breath and got herself ready for the painful part. She let the man get closer to her and once he was close enough she let the dart go.

“This is gonna suck, right?”

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
Thankfully, the woman invested some amount of trust in him so he could remove the bolt from her shoulder which was loosing a lot of blood and fast. Not only was her energy and maybe her consciousness was being deprived because of his attack, but also the harsh humidity that seemed even more extreme than the world of Korriban. Vilaz was, honestly, expecting some retaliation coming from the woman after his severe mistake that could have cost her life if the bolt was more aimed center mass. The Mandalorian was, in fact, surprised that he nailed her in the shoulder especially when he couldn't see her figure or her silhouette.

He quickly unsheathed his alchemized knife and bent down to cut off a piece of fabric from his pants which would be used to get a good grip on the metal bolt since his hands were constantly sweating which would only gain him blisters and such if he were to pull out with his bare hands. "You bet your shebs it's gonna suck. Looks like the the little son of gun is pretty tight up in there," he replied to her dialogue as she regarded to his bolt. With his right hand he had the piece of fabric and grasped at the cylinder bolt and his left hand rested on the tree. "You best bite your tongue or something," he informed her before he began to tug and pull the bolt out of her shoulder. The bolt was, admittedly, going to be a sucker for the young woman.

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
Kaili could have retaliated for the attack, that much was true, but she still held to some semblance of naivete when it came to interacting with others. Always strove to treat them as she wanted to be treated herself. He had made a mistake, one that was ending up a very serious mistake, but even then she held onto it. Kaili Talith was stubborn, holding onto that sense of trust was what made her who she was in the same sense that the burn was what made whiskey what it was. It just went together and if it hadn’t been there, well, it most likely wouldn’t have been as popular.

Not exactly the most self-flattering parallel, but hey she was full of those.

The man cut a piece of his pants off, placed it in his hands. They wrapped around the bolt and not long after that he reassured her of what she had already come to understand. She took a deep breath, latched on to the nearby tree and forced her jaw to shut tight before the procedure began. A procedure that would cause her to squirm, grunt and hiss in pain. No shrieks, no screams that were far too loud. For some reason she refused as if she had to keep that particular part of her dignity in tact.

She focused on the texts. Pain was weakness leaving the body, right?

Didn’t mean it didn’t, you know, hurt. She still squirmed, she still let out a multitude of pained sounds until eventually the bolt was loose and she couldn’t help herself anymore. The pained scream that she had held back called out into the jungles. Her legs grew weak and her arms weaker, but she still managed to catch herself from falling over as she fell to the ground. The young woman remained kneeling on the ground with a cough. The tears streamed down her cheeks in masses.

“Thanks.” She hissed from the lingering pain. Gratitude was, after all, owed in full. “Wouldn’t have wanted that thing stuck in there.”

Her head was spinning. The wound burned and itched like crazy, but she was still alive. That was all that mattered in the end. She couldn’t speak for the side-effects though, or the fact that she was acting tough to a stranger deep within the jungle. Sane people would have shown copious amounts of distrust and more in this situation.

... But not this kid. Nope. She decided to play tough. That was how you survived according to the books and teachers that she had at the Academy. Granted, none of them were related to jungle survival at this scale, but they still had to hold some sort of merit.

“I won’t lie,” The kid panted as she latched onto the tree again for support. “I don’t know where I am.”

Lost being somewhat something of a relative term. She had to remember why she was here to begin with.

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
He grunted and muttered as he tried to take the bolt out of the girl's shoulder which, without a doubt, caused the girl to squirm, grunt, hiss, and let out painful noises. The Mandalorian was quite surprised that no volumes of screaming and yelling out in pain escaped from the mouth of the woman, and that was something that Vilaz admired and praised for. Any other commoner would surely scream from the pain that their nerves were experiencing and would plead for the pain to stop and make movements that would only make things worse. The muscles and ligaments that entrapped the bolt within the the female's body was being a bit difficult for the strength coming from Vilaz. He tried every possible method that would get the bolt out which included wiggling it out, screwing it loose, and many more. Nevertheless, as time progressed the Redneck successfully pulled the bolt out from the shoulder and began to clean it with his shirt, but not after the procedure was completed the woman screamed from the pain she went through which echoed throughout the jungle and fell on her knees. The Field Marshal pulled out a metal cylinder that had volumes of water in its content and cut another piece of fabric from his pants. He then wet the fabric with the water and applied pressure on the wound that he made.

"I gotta say, for a girl like you I was surprised you wouldn't scream when I was taking the little bugger out," he began to her. "You'd probably get that arm amputated if it stayed there a bit longer, but that ain't gonna happen." The wet cloth was still on the nasty wound which would sting the girl, and not cry out in pain as if he was taking out another bolt from her. He made a small laugh when he heard her comment of where she was. "You're in probably one of the most hellish place in the Galaxy for a commoner. It's called Dxun or the Demon Moon," he informed her of where she was. "I don't know why you don't have at least a crappy blaster at your side. Cause this ain't no walk in the park scenario," the Bounty Hunter criticized of how poorly prepared she was for being on the Demon Moon.

"Gotta name?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
Her voice shivered in a shaky inhale as the damp cloth patted against her wound. The pain stinged throughout her shoulder but she quite literally sucked it up. One didn’t play their part of the Talith bloodline if they decided to cry when things went awry. No, when that happened you just pushed onwards or in this case let a complete stranger help you. A stranger who, despite having just shot her, wasn’t exactly proving to be bad company at the moment. Though that might also have been because he was making up for almost having killed her. Either way, she appreciated it.

And the good news was the lack of a need for amputation. That one would have been awkward to explain to her family and friends.

“Dxun. Demon Moon.” Kaili repeated what the man said. “Mandalorians!”

The details were sketchy about the why but that didn’t matter much. What mattered was what Kaili had brought with her for self-defense. The young woman shook her head and extended her hand for her belt to withdraw her saber. Mother would have yelled at her if she ever left home without it. Dxun was by no means becoming an exception to that. If anything it was very much the opposite.

“Got this.” The young woman shrugged. “Works everywhere else, don’t it?”

She lowered the weapon and placed it on her belt again.

“My name is Kaili Talith. I was looking to learn. There’s supposed to be a... Fort, or something like that nearby. Also something about a pilgrimage too that I wanted to undertake for some reason, but... Well, the texts I read forgot to mention the heat.”

“Who are you?”

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
Still no retaliation coming from the woman even when he was at such a distance. That meant that she had forgiven his mistake of injuring her or she just didn't had the time and energy to commit on getting payback on him. He saw signs of her feeling the stingy pain coming from the damp cloth that was being used to clean up the wound and to help create a blood clot, so no Kaili wouldn't have to suffer any more blood loss. His aid, apparently, was sufficient for the girl to gain some consciousness and to remember what she was doing here on the Demon Moon. "Seems like I got ya pretty good," he commented when she repeated the moon of where she stood. Curiosity was on his face when she exclaimed the word "Mandalorian" after repeat what he had said.

After he made the comment of the girl not having any weapon for defense he was surprised to see that she had a lightsaber with her as she showed it to him. Very impressed to see that she had such a weapon by her side. "Well, aren't you in luck. That thing will definitely save your rear from this place," he assumed that she was a force user, but he didn't ask her for that information. Then again, she would have used the Force to protect herself which might have saved up all that time from taking out the bolt and healing her wound.

"The name's Vilaz Munin," he said to her as they exchanged names to each other, "and yeah, those things are true. There's an old Mandalorian fort miles ahead of us which is where I'm goin' to make a pilgrimage." She said something about learning, but what. "Mind I ask what knowledge you're lookin' for?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
The force wasn’t one of those things that magically aided the people who knew how to control it. As much as Kaili had a lightsaber and the force she was still just a woman out for a walk in territory that brought her out of her depths. The heat and the fact that everything seemed to ever so gently choke her and make the walk uncomfortable was just one of a few factors that made her focus on the force all the more hindered and difficult. Besides, the girl relied a lot more on her physique than she let on. The knuckles of her hands weren’t soft, the martial arts that came being tutored by a Warden of the Sky was ingrained at the back of her mind and when your sister was one of the Jedi Marshall’s within the Galactic Alliance you really wasn’t able to avoid getting into an occasional fight every now and then.

It was those fights that she thoroughly enjoyed, it was a fact that worried her enough to ensure she did all that she could to avoid getting into said fights; right now that meant letting a man off the hook for having made a huge mistake. She was angry, no doubt about that, but in her current situation anger wouldn’t get her anywhere except dead. Whether because she was far too out of her element to really do anything, or quite simply because she herself didn’t have enough equipment to clean and tend to the wound without risking an infection.

“Right, good.” Kaili nodded. She was right then, the path she was on was the way to the fort. “I was looking to understand the Mandalorian culture somewhat. Wanted to take a trip into the very heartland of the history and see what separated them from, well, my people I guess.”

“... I’m a Republican,” It was best to just get that out of the way. “Looking to understand who might come knocking on my door if the border friction escalates any further, you know?”

“I don’t want to say ‘know thy enemy,’ not really. But in a sense it is, I guess.”

Yet as far as borders went, the girl lived quite literally next door to One Sith territory. But somehow she had a feeling a going to Coruscant to understand that particular clique was bound to end up far more of a suicide mission than Dxun had seemed like at first.

Henry scuttled up on Kaili’s other shoulder. The one that wasnt hurt.

[ We assure you. We never intended any harm, sir. ]

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
Vilaz was surprised to hear from the woman that she wanted to learn about the Mandalorian culture in depth which was something that most history textbooks lacked in. Bias developed from the textbooks when they informed scholars and readers about the Mandalorians. People would think of them as people having a lust for blood and war, being ignorant brutes with no sense of morality, having a greed for glory and pride, and other factors that would consider them as barbarians to the eyes of the Galaxy. Yet the Clans didn't gave attention whether civilizations thought of them like that and that was exactly how Vilaz felt. Those that thought of them like that only said it behind the backs of the Mandalorians, and had no courage to say it upfront to the face of a proud Warrior. Most of it was because they knew a barrel would be aimed at their heads and ending their life just because they were acting a bit smart and insulted a son or daughter of Mandalore. Though, there were some that didn't jump at the gun of thinking that the Mandalorians were mere savages which was something that Kaili demonstrated to the Field Marshal. Those with an open mind would be just be indifferent to the culture of the Mandalorians as Vilaz was to them, and they would have an opinion about them once they learned something from the culture.

But he frowned when the woman informed him that she was a citizen of the Republic, since it was a faction that the Bounty Hunter despised with all of his heart. He wished nothing but hell to rain upon the Senate and its corrupt politicians that only hid their mistakes with excuses and lies. However, he wouldn't stop aiding the female just because of her affiliation. He had a sense of honor when helping those that he inflicted harm, even when they belonged to a government that he hated. She was a citizen, not a soldier and he would not show a single cent of sympathy to a Republic soldier.

The Mandalorian heard the spider droid spoke to him in Galactic Basic, showing that both it and Kaili came in peace before him. "Nah, I just thought you were some Boma or something. You can't trust the jungle at all, especially on Dxun," he replied back to the droid as he explained them his reasoning of attack. "Well, I'm a Mandalorian, and you should know how I feel about the Republic, but it ain't no excuse for me beating you down. Take a stroll with me as we got to the fort and I'll tell you some stuff that those history books of yours don't tell ya." He offered a hand to her so she could get up from her position on the tree. From what just happened to her she would probably need some help in getting up.

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
There was no doubt about that. Mandalorians had become synonymous with brute or even warmonger in certain circles of the galaxy, it was then those circles that wrote the books. The biased books that the children read and the children who in turn spread said bias onwards to their own children. The problem with that particular chain was that Kaili had always been raised by her parents to value all life, and despite the fact that she had made travel to Yavin during more stable times, she still remained rather alien to what the ideas and concepts behind the Mandalorians were.

Not entirely, but she certainly understood that she had a very limited experience of it.

“Oh, wouldn’t want to meet one of those.” She agreed with Vilaz before accepting his offer to get her off of the tree. “You’re not the only one who has that opinion of them right now.” Kaili sighed. It wasn’t exactly hard to go figure why people despised the Republic and the state it was in right now. Evident stagnation some would call it. “I can respect putting any potential differences aside, Mister Munin. And I appreciate what you are doing, really.”

Was she coming on as someone that was as desperate as she truly was yet?

“The Republic has it’s issues, I don’t think anyone can deny that anymore.” Kaili took a deep breath to try and stave off the suffocating feeling in her throat. Didn’t work. “Only thing keeping me is the fact that I grew up there, you know? Hard to just up and leave all that behind.”

“But really, maybe now isn’t the time to dwell on the could-bes,” Kaili gave the man a determined nod. “We have a fort to reach.”

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
The man pulled her up from the tree which got Kaili in a standing position. After he had helped the girl back on her feet he got the same bolt that he injured Kaili with and reloaded his crossbow like any other crossbow. It took a long time to reload it when comparing it to a blaster rifle or a slugthrower and it'd be useless if he lost any other bolt. Another thing that could've happen was him losing his bolt if the Talith dodged the projectile. "Yeah, even if I was in my armor I'd still be dead if I took on a whole pack of 'em. A Mandalore once died here and he was in his armor," Vilaz said to Kaili, and giving her a piece of history of one of the Mandalores that led the Clans into war. He heard her words that regarded the entire Galactic Republic and became much more surprised that someone like her admitted the fact of how corrupt and destabilized the Republic was. "You're smarter than you look, girl," Vilaz complimented about her open mind and intelligence that the leaders of the Republic extremely lacked in.

"No one can deny it, but you know how politicians are. At least my vode are honest about everything," he said, giving a slight nod to her words. "Yeah, I get you, but let's go find that fort. If you got a question, then shoot," the Bounty Hunter said to the woman before motioning her to follow his lead. He would be ready with his crossbow to shoot down any potential thing that could harm the two of them. The native beasts weren't just the only thing to worry about, but foreigners who came here would also be a threat to reckon with. Dxun was a place where no holds barred took place due to the lack of civilization on it.

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
“Thank you.” Kaili smiled at the compliment. “I try.”

The man reloaded his crossbow and with it Kaili took a moment to observe her wound to the best of her abilities. It was irritated, the vapor in the air seemed to interfere with the wound itself but at least the bleeding had stopped. The blood had seeped into her shirt already, Allyson was most likely going to get angry over it, but hey if she didn’t want Kaili to wear her clothes she should have marked them or something. Besides, it wasn’t as if shirts such as these were particularly expensive anyway.

... At least not to Kaili. To the smuggler though? Who knew?

The Mandalorian guide and his follower, Kaili Talith, set off on their quest to find the historical fortress when there was something that caught her ear.

“Vohdee?” Kaili messed up the pronunciation of vode. “What’s that?”

Kaili placed her finger on her chin and thought on it. She had heard it before, on Yavin no doubt but when was it used? She cursed her memory and raised her finger towards the sky as if she was trying to pull it right out of her mind.

“Wait, wait. I’m guessing... Friends, right?”

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
As the two, well three because of Kaili's spider droid companion that was on her unwounded shoulder, trekked the contents of the jungle Kaili asked him a question regarding of the word that he said in his native tongue. Or was it Concordian that was his native tongue due to him being born and raised on Concord Dawn? It didn't matter which was which, but what did matter was that he was able to abide one of the six tenets of the Resol'nare as it was mandatory for every Mandalorian to know how to understand and speak Mando'a whether it was fluent or not. While she did mispronounced it he wasn't offended at all to hear a foreigner trying to say a word in Mando'a; however, if someone was trying to be a wannabe Mandalorian and trying to fluently speak the Mandalorian language, then Vilaz would confront him and tell so said person to stop talking in such a tongue before something bad happened to them. Yes, Mandalorians were very sensitive about honor and the Field Marshal would defend his honor and his culture's from any outsider that challenged it.

"Close," he said while keeping his eyes in front of him, "it means 'brothers', 'sisters', or 'mates', but I think 'friends' count. It's singular form is 'vod' which means 'brother', 'sister', or 'mate'. But you were close." Now was time for him to ask a question to her. "What are the six tenets of the Resol'nare and define each of 'em."

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
It became Kaili’s turn to blink. She had been close with the meaning of a word, but to recite tenets she had no idea were actually a thing was a whole other thing. Worst was if you considered she herself had also been raised by six tenets. Part of her wanted to believe she knew what they were, but as she quickly ran her mind over the Jedi Code she found it only contained five of them. Was she missing a sixth? No, that felt highly unlikely. Perhaps she quite simply didn’t know.

The girl shook her head and responded.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I know that one.” She admitted. “Is it a code? I know my mother has ingrained the Jedi Code on my mind, but... I doubt that’s what you are looking for.”

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 
He wasn't surprised to hear that Kaili had no idea of what the Resol'nare was at all. At least guessed correct that it was a code. A code that every Mandalorian abide by and lived by everyday since they were the central tenets of how a Mandalorian should live. Having armor, speaking the language, defending oneself and their family, educating ones children on becoming a Mandalorian, obeying the rallies of the Mandalore, and contributing the welfare of the Mandalorians. Those six tenets were something that one must do everyday in order to have the honor of being a Mandalorian, or else their soul would be gone and have no place in the Mandalorian afterlife. Those that didn't follow the tenets of the Resol'nare would considered as dar'manda and those were the soulless men and women within the society of the Mandalorians, and being a dar'manda was a fate far worse than death to the view of the Mandalorians.

"It is a code, and it's a very important code that I by very seriously. If I don't do that everyday, then I would lose my soul and I wouldn't have any place in the afterlife. I'd be cast down to the void of hell," he said, sounding very religious to the Talith woman. When it came to the Resol'nare Vilaz was very religious, but he wasn't that religious to other Mandalorian codes such as the SuperCommando Codex. "The tenets are: have armor, contribute to the Clans, speake the language, defend yourself and your family, educate your kids to become a better Mando, and follow the lead of the Mand'alor when it he calls for a rally. Those are the six tenets that every Mandalorian must live by everyday, or else you'll be a dar'manda which is way worse than getting killed. There are more codes, but that's the one you have to follow for the rest of your life as a Mando." He then had a question for her that had nothing in regards to his culture. "So you're a Jedi, huh?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]
 
Kaili wasn’t a woman of war, she was far more likely to hug a man than end his life, but that didn’t mean she could have some respect for those that aligned with the opposite side of that particular coin. As much as she might found violence to be crude and unnecessary, she would still respect those who employed it to a certain degree. Because in the end she also understood that a world run entirely by pacifist was just as weak as a world run entirely by warmongers. It wasn’t until those two sides found a harmonious balance that the magic of government truly happened. A strong military and sharper diplomats, that was what made the galaxy go round. Both of which her own home government was more or less lacking in.

Yet that didn’t change the fact that it was still just that. Home.

“So it’s a code of honor just as much as a guideline for how to live your life then.” Kaili tried her best to sum up the man’s description of the Resol’nare before she was asked another question. “I am not sure I would call myself a jedi.” She began as she wiped away the sweat from her forehead. Her hair was already drenched. Great. “I might have grown up with the ideals, but I don’t know if I would identify as one.” The young woman chuckled. “My sister would probably have my head if she ever heard me say that.”

“What about you, Mister Munin?” That was an appropriate title, right? Universal? “Are you a Jedi?”

Kaili grinned. Sometimes she just couldn't help herself, the joke would have forced it's way out of her mouth one way or another.

[member="Vilaz Munin"]
 

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