Private Tihaar builds bonds

[Venku Bralor]

Location: One seedy bar among many
Objective: catch up with a recent acquaintance
Tags: Plume

Music blared loudly through the bar, deftly covering up any illicit conversations between patrons. One such conversation had just come to a satisfactory close. With a pile of credits and a data chip transferring between hands. This wasn't exactly how Venku imagined he'd be using his investigative abilities, but it paid well enough so he wasn't complaining. The buyer palmed the chip and left, leaving Venku to nurse his drink. That was until he saw Plume sitting at the bar.

Having already had enough alcohol to be tipsy - he had been here since noon waiting for the buyer after all - the togorian Mando'ad makes his way over and plops himself down on the stool next to her.

"Su'cuy!" He is loud as he speaks, though not so loud as to be heard above the music.

Turning to the bar keep, he orders two bottles of Tihaar, one for himself and one for Plume next to him.

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

Plume was indeed sitting at the bar, she already had emptied a few glasses of alcohol including one that she didn't even pay. Some stranger just gave it to her, she didn't know why but she didn't really care either. Maybe she just was way prettier than the average girl on this crappy planet. She was a bit tipsy, but not so much. She knew getting really drunk in a place like this could be extremely dangerous for her, and she wasn't crazy.

Venku's voice got her out of her daydream, she turned to get a better view of the Mando'a speaker who called her. She remembered seeing him in the first bar she ever got into, when she was so thirsty she almost could not talk.

"Hello ..!"

She couldn't remember his name though ... she didn't even know if he ever told it to her. And again, someone wanted to buy something to drink for Plume, once again, without any good reasons she could think of.

"This planet is weird, everybody wants to give me something to drink ... You know I can't even pay it back, I don't have the money ..."

It's good to precise that Plume's Mando'a isn't exactly the same as Venku's and most other Mandalorians. It sounds like she's speaking some kind of unknown dialect, which is anyway really easy to understand for a native Mando'a speaker. But she sure sounds a bit weird.

"Anyway, thank you !"

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Plume

Laughing, he opened the bottles and poured their drinks.
"Ni narir va haa'taylir mando'ad ucyu. Ni copaanir at emuurir gar ol'averde tion'tuur ni liser." {I do not see other mando'ad often. I want to enjoy your company while I can.}

Pouring the glasses, he lifts his and takes a swig. Maybe this wasn't the safest place to drink, but he was young and though he forged his armor, he was still naive in some ways. The presence of a fellow Mandalorian eased his nerves, making it easier to act without thinking as he was wont to do.

Setting the mug down, he held out his for a mandalorian hand shake, arm angles so she could grasp his elbow. "Venku Bralor. Tion'gai?" {Venku Bralor. Your name?}

Her mando’a sounded strange. It was still understandable, but it had an odd accent. Briefly he wondered why. Now days most mandalorians tended to stick together. Maybe her aliit had been cut off during the plague? Four hundred years is a long time to develop your own accents and twists on the culture. Or maybe he was just reading too much into this and she just had an odd accent for some more mundane reason.

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

She smiled at him, thankful. It was good to see some solidarity again. During the last year of her life, she mostly encountered people wanting to use her and her powers. She didn't have any friends back on Korriban, as she almost could not speak to anyone there. And anyway, she didn't want to befriend them. Those bastards made fun of her, made fun of how she spoke and how she looked. It's understandable, mocking her together was a way of enduring the harsh life of a Sith Apprentice a bit better. They would probably try to kill her if she met them again ...

"I'm glad to see friendly faces, I missed it for a long time."

It maybe felt weird for Venku to meet a Mandalorian who wasn't wearing anything resembling a beskar'gam or at least some piece of armor. It was still a really importing tradition in her tribe, but Plume was too young to wear one back when she got kidnapped. Being with someone who seemed to be an ally eased her nerves too, she got confident.

"Plume, my name is Plume"

She said as she grasped Venku's elbow. What a strange name ... It was probably the first time Venku ever heard a name like that. Maybe it was just a nickname ? Or maybe was she lying and hiding her true identity.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Plume

Indeed, the lack of armor had confused him, back when he had first seen her on Nar Shaddaa, but now, as he had then, he assumed she had yet to forge her armor. Instead he simply greeted her and raised his cup as if for a toast.

"Jii gal!" {Now drink!} To highlight this statement, Venku took another swig of his own drink. After all, they had two bottles of tihaar to get through. Venku, at least was looking forward to it. He hadn't gotten to do this in a while. It was a nice change of pace.

With his cup half empty, he turns to his companion, "Tion'vaii gar teh? Ni narir va kar'taylir gar ahga'ya." {Where are you from? I don't know your accent.} Not that that was a surprise, he was still young and had barely seen the galaxy, much less all the mando'ade out there. If Plume was familiar with Togorian body language, or to a lesser extent a cats body language, she would notice the lat of his ears, both of them facing opposite each other towards the side of the head, and the lazy way the tail swayed and see that Venku was about as relaxed as he was going to get in a bar full of criminals.

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

Building her own armor would be impossible for her, she sucked with anything related to technology, it would probably end up being the worst beskar'gam ever made ... But with some help, it would turn out pretty nicely. She smiled again and raised her cup with him, drinking two big sips in a single swing. The taste of Tihaar was definitely one of the best reminders of home for many Mandalorians, Plume included.

"I'm from Krownest, ever heard about it ?"

Krownest ... her snowy planet ... Just thinking about it usually made her sad, angry, and desperate. Being so far away from her home was really hard for her. But the alcohol helped, and she kept calm and joyful.

"There's like, snow and forests everywhere, it's cold and life is hard there but it's my home anyway ... It's quite different from this ... I don't know ... Junkyard ?"

She hated Nar Shaddaa. She didn't like the weather, the vast majority of people who lived on the planet, and way too many other things too. Plume needs nature, forests, things like that !

"What about you ? There's no one like you where I live."

Venku was one of the first members of his kind she ever saw. Cat people, she thought, sounds funny, and weird at the same time. A bit thoughtful, she drunk another sip from her glass.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Plume
Krownest? That ruled out his theory of an isolated planet. "Lek." He didn't live too far from Krownest, the snowy planet of the mandalorian system. He had even visited once, on a hunt with his family. It was where he learned he hated snow almost as much as he hated sand, although for vastly different reasons. Sand got everywhere, but he would sink down into the snow if it was deep enough. It made walking a pain in the shebs and tracking something on foot almost impossible.

He wondered what she meant by his people. She was a mando'ad too. So she must have seen others. None the less, he answered he question. "Ni teh Concordia." {I'm from concordia.} The planet had once been an agricultural planet, but as time went on, the wars ravaged the surface, leaving only the mines behind. It was a dry planet, and with little plant life to hold the soil down, dust storms were common.

Taking another drink, Venku thought about the difference between the two planets, snow and for all sakes and purposes a desert, the difference made him giggle. He was much closer to drunk than he was tipsy. After all he'd been here since almost noon waiting for his buyer.

 

[Plume]

Krownest wasn't in itself an isolated planet, but as people can be isolated on such an overpopulated planet like Earth, people could be on this giant snowglobe. Plume's tribe was small, about 200 individuals, and lived in the harshest place on Krownest. They saw some travelers sometimes, mostly some lost adventurers are survivors from a shipwreck, but that's pretty much it.

"Actually, my tribe lived in a place very far from all the cities, we called it Cin'ciri Sho." (literally, Snow Ocean) "We lived a very simple life, we were just meant to take care of this place."

Maybe like that, he would understand better why she looked and talked so differently from the average Mandalorian. Concordia ... she heard that name once or twice, she knew where it was but she never went there. And she didn't know that some cat people were living there too. She drank another sip.

"Are there many cat people like you on Concordia ?"

Talking like that to a Togorian is probably insulting, but as she was starting to feel drunk, she didn't even think about it. Feeling confidant, Plume came closer to Venku and ... stroke his head, curious. Everybody (at least if they are sober), would understand that it was the first time she ever met a Togorian and that she was just curious and playful.

"It's soft ..."

She chuckled a bit and smiled even more. She was happy !

 

[Venku Bralor]

Later, when the alcohol was out of his system and the hangover was gone, Venku would link that to why she had an unknown accent, but right now all he did was laugh "Cin'ciri. Nuh'la gai." {Cin'ciri, funny name.} The laughter deepened and his tail swished to curl around his feet and balance himself on the stool. Then she mentioned cat people, and touched his head. "Ni nayc werdla'oya'kar adate!" {I'm no cat literally stealthy hunter, there's no direct translation person} Despite that, he doesn't pull away from her touch like he would have had he been sober.

After a moment of silence, where he rammed his head into her hand when she started to pull away, he spoke again. His voice turning melancholy. "Elek? Ni
vabir va kar'taylir ash'ade. Kaysh enteyor r'cuyir, a manda'yaim r'cuyir akanir bal ne draar haat'taylir Kaysh." {Yes? i didn't know any others. They must have existed, but manda'yaim was fighting and i never knew them.}

Good mood, ruined, Venku pulled away from the mando'ad and finished off his cup, pouring himself another one. He'd honestly prefer to forget everything that happened back on mandalore. Not to the extent as before met Kreslin, where he drove himself into anything he could to distract his mind to the detriment of his own health, but the memories were still painful.

Had Venku been anything other than a mandalorian, he would have apologized for bringing down the mood. As it was, he simply pulled in on himself and took another slug of his tihaar.

 

[Plume]

Usually, Plume would consider that as an insult. She was very attached to her homeland, everything about it is almost sacred. If she was in a bad mood, Plume would be tempted to fight the people who made fun of it. But right now she's pretty much in another world. Her brain just filtered it away in order to not ruin her good mood. She just laughed with Venku again. The Mandalorian dude was trying to convince her that she wasn't a cat ... that was hard to swallow. She arched one of her eyebrows.

"What are you then, Venku ?!"

Plume kept caressing Venku's head but he pulled away for an unknown reason. He seemed depressed, or at least sad. She sighed. She lost her people too, and she will probably never see them ever again in her life. She finished her cup of Tihaar, waiting to finish speaking before pouring herself another one.

"Thanks for ruining the mood, well done ... Are we just going to stay there, talking about depressing things all night ?"

 

[Venku Bralor]

Drunk as he was, Venku had to think for a moment, trying to find a way to say his name in mando'a. Not realizing that he didn't have to say his name in mando'a. Several seconds passed before he said anything. Then his shoulders slumped and his ears dropped. "Ni werdla'oya'kar adate..." {I'm a cat person...}

Opening his mouth to respond, Venku was cut off when another equally drunk patron rammed into him. Fur bristling, he turned to the man, "Ne shab’rud’niÖ" Behind him, the bar tender tensed, and for good reason. The man rounded on Venku, spewing a slew of curses and insults.

He didn't think before swinging his fist into the man's jaw, sending him reeling into a sabaac table. The wookie at the table stood up, staring down at the man. Faster than his eyes could follow, probably due to all the alcohol, the wookies arms shot out and picked the human up, sending him flying across the room. It wasn't long until an all out brawl started. Venku's mouth split in a smile, he dove into the fight readily, using it as a distraction from his thoughts. At that realization his tail twitched closer to himself. Hopefully this time wouldn't end the same way his last distracting fight had.

 

[Plume]

She was really confused for a few seconds but then just started laughing again.

"I knew it !"

Plume clenched her teeth when she saw the man crashing into her new friend. Would this place still be called a bar if there wasn't any brawls and fights sometimes ? Plume found this pretty funny. People hitting each other for no reason, this makes a good show for a drunk and wild teenager like her. She shouted when Venku punched the drunk human.

"COME ON VENKU BEAT HIM UP !"

But unfortunately, the situation is going quite out of control, everybody starts fighting and it's becoming dangerous for our little Plume there. Some strange dudes even tried to use the situation to kidnap the beautiful and young Mandalorian. Thankfully, she saw them before they could do anything and they calmed down after the big kick in the balls she inflicted on one of them. She raised her hands up in the air, shouting.

"IF YOU TOUCH ME, YOU'RE DEAD ! LEAVE ME ALONE, DON'T MESS WITH ME ! YOU TOUCH ME, YOU DEAD !"

Yes, her Galactic Basic sucked. It sucked even more as she was drunk. Anyway, it's certainly really funny to see such a young, short, and seemingly frail girl shouting something like that. Even if it wasn't safe, she stayed close to the fight as she wanted to spectate.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Plume
A togruta, male, slammed venku's head into the table, only to double over as his ankle rammed into his groin. Having a long ankles are good for some things, even if the join will be protesting the rough treatment tomorrow. Surging to his paws, Venku ducked around the table, using a force push to send it flying into the wookie's face.

Adrenaline was singing in his veins, coursing through blooding and pounding in time with his heart like the rhythm of a war drum. He lived for these moments, when everything seemed to wash away in the face of conflict.

The wookie fell, after all enhanced strength, when compared to a human, didn't mean they couldn't take on brain trauma, and a metal table to the head would cause quite a bit of trauma.

The fighting was cut short by the Barkeeper shooting off a blaster into the ceiling. Standing up, Venku made his way back to the bar, a feral smile on his face as he grabbed one of the bottles of Tihaar.

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

People laughed at her after her little speech. But they didn't try to mess with her a lot. Fighting a frail girl doesn't sound really fun for a drunk grown man. So, she could watch Venku's fight without being too disturbed by everyone around. She clenched her teeth again when Venku's head hit the table, thinking the fight was going to end there. But then, the Togorian just propelled a table into the hairy man's face. She was shocked. It's like if, in her brain, an alarm just triggered, someone just used the Force. This guy she was talking and drinking with was a Force user, she was sure of that.

Was he a Jedi ? Certainly not, a Jedi would never get drunk like that and use the force on some people in a bar fight. Jedis were boring people, meditating all day long and restraining themself away from anything pleasurable. That's pretty much what she learned on Korriban. Was he a Sith then ..? What would a Sith do, drunk as hell in some crappy bar on a crappy planet ?

Anyway, she will have to beware of him from now on, she let her guard down ... The situation wasn't fun at all anymore for her, she was extremely worried. Thankfully, the barman interrupted it all with his blaster shot. She just looked at Venku, putting her hand inside of her cloak, just where she was hiding her lightsaber. She was ready to fight if she had to.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Plume

Making to settle back into his seat, Venku is interupted by the bar tender. More specifically by the bar tender who is still holding a blaster. "Get out! Both of you." For good measure, the man levels the weapon at the two of them.

Grumbling, Venku picks up his helm, translating the sentence for Plume albeit with a creative, and insulting, description of the man in question.

Before turningto leave, he snatches up the other bottle of tihaar, grabs Plume's wrist, flashing her a mischevious smile, before dragging her out of the bar with him, purposely leaving no credits on the table. Behind them the bar keeper yells, making to shoot them.

The plasma bolts thud against the closed door as the togorian pulls Venku farther away from the bar. When he deems it safe enough, he stops running and offers her the bottle. "Nu vercopaÖ ni chabaar gar." {roughly: i hope didn't scare you.}

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

Plume tried to calm down as much as she could. Her hand slowly stops tightly gripping the sith lightsaber she was hiding inside her cloak. She showed her empty hands to the bartender. She looked at Venku, on her guard. And she followed him without asking any question. She wasn't comfortable with Venku grabbing her forearm like that but she could not utter any word.

She ran away with him. For one second, she thought that Venku was going to drag her into a small alley and kill her for the sake of the Sith Empire. But her worries faded away when they stopped running. She took the bottle in her hand and looked at him in the eyes.

"What ... what did you do to that table ? The one you sent flying into a guy's face."

She seemed serious and pretty worried.

 

[Venku Bralor]

tags: Plume

His hand, which had previously held the bottle of Tihaar hung limp at his side. Surprise made itself known on his face, along with no small amount of confusion.

"Ne van pirimmur nuhaat'kot?" {I used the force? (made up force myself, a mix of nuhaatcy (invisible) and kot (strength)}
Was it truly that surprising? With the way the galaxy was going, just about everyone knew of its existence. Especially mandalorians, with the sith attacks on mandalore.

This statement didn't seem to help, in fact it seemed only to make it worse. What was going on with this lady? Drunk he may be, but Venku knew she was going through some osik right now. Holding his hands out placatingly, his own bottle of tihaar still grasped in his left hand, he lowered his tail and flattened his ears, exposing his neck in a way that all animals, predator or prey, would recognize as an act of submission. Though in this case he meant it as an act to gain her trust, making himself purposely open. Unfortunately few sentient, non predator species members would even recognize this subtle body language.

"Ni nu kadala gar. Ni ven cabuor ni." { I'm not going to hurt you. I was defending myself.} He tried to console her, he really did. He had never been the best with making species such as humans feel comfortable around him, and even less so when they were riled up. Something about his sharp teeth and clawed toes just got to them.
Yet he tried his best, poor as that may be.

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

She sighed, looking at the ground.

"I just wanted to make sure ... I know what it is, of course."

She sighed again and looked at him in the eyes this time.

"Some Siths attacked my tribe a few years ago, that's why I'm not living on Krownest anymore."

She seemed to revive some really hard feelings which were lying at the bottom of her heart. She kept talking, a lot of negative emotions started building up inside of her. She tried to control them a bit, but as drunk as she was, it was impossible.

"I hate them. I hate every single Sith, dead or alive, in the entire Galaxy."

She clenched her fist on her bottle of Tihaar, still worried about who exactly was the man she had in front of her.

"But you're not one of them, right ..? Please tell me you're not a Sith ..."

She was intensely praying to her Gods, "Please, this may be the only ally I will be able to find on this planet. It cannot be a damn Sith ...". Her eyes showed how desperate she was, and how much she wanted Venku to be a friend, not an enemy.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Silence.
It permeated the air. swallowing the two of them and settling heavy on their shoulders.

"Nayc! Draar ni nayc der'jetti demagolka!" {No! Never i no sith demagolka!} How could she? How could she insinuate that he was one of the monsters that destroyed his world, slaughtered his people, desecrated their bodies and stole their armor for themselves. He was not one of them. He was not one of the monsters that went so far to try and wipe his culture out that they renaimed his planet.

He was not. And he never would be.

____________________________________________________​

Demagolka: a real life monster. from the renown mandalorian scientist who experimented on children. super super major insult.

Plume​

 

[Plume]

Tag : Venku Bralor

Plume felt so relieved at this time. Not as much as when she realized she had successfully escaped the cursed planet named Korriban, but so relieved anyway.

"Sorry for doubting ... Siths can be really treacherous and manipulative you know. It's hard for me to distinguish good and bad for users. Please forgive me."

Venku could maybe feel her hatred. She seemed to detest them more than any other Mandalorian. She hated them for everything they did and for everything they were going to do.

"They did ... some things to me ... things I cannot tell you about right now. One day I will."

She smiles a bit while looking at him, drinking a really big sip from her bottle of Tihaar.

"I didn't know I would find such good allies on this crappy planet ! I'm glad I met you."