Private What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Family

[Safira Haran]

Time flies when you're having fun.

Space travel was not fun.

Not unless you were one of those twisted psychos who admired the "beauty" of it all. Safira couldn't see any beauty in it at all. Not in these parts anyway. The empty black nothingness speckled with uncountable twinkling white lights. Sure, it had blown her mind the first time she had flown anywhere. It was a marked difference from standing on a planet and looking up, but it had revealed itself for what it was almost immediately.

Boring.

Kriff knew how many days it had been since she had said her goodbyes on Tatooine. Safira hadn't seen the point in keeping it where it was. Rishi was too far away for comfort to leave it all unmanned for so long. With that in mind, it had taken an age to get back to where she was storing her loot. Even longer to load it all up onto the ship, and then longer still to make a dent in the journey to Rishi. By the time the blurred green blob in the centre of her viewport had grown large enough to become recognisable, Safira had grown extremely tired of her metal prison.

On the plus side, she could fly it a little better now. Or at least, she understood the controls enough not to look like a fresh fish when she flew into port. No better way to improve a skill than by brute force.

The console clicked and whirred beneath her fingers as the proximity alarm announced their arrival in deafening tones. Blissfully unaware of them without her hearing aid, Safira focused on the initial descent before turning her attention to a message. It had been typed out for the past hour. She hadn't had anything better to do whilst she was waiting.

Hope you haven't forgotten about me. See you in five minutes.

By the time it would flash up on his screen, Safira would be landing at the coordinates he had sent him just before she left Tatooine. Hopefully with something to eat and drink at the ready, or at least with a good idea of where she could find something like it.

Hiron Vizsla ​

 

[Hiron Vizsla]

Forget?

Certainly not.

But Hiron considered the fact that Safira Haran might have decided against coming to their neck of the woods. She had a ship after all. That already put the Mandalorian above the average joe. There could be other opportunities. Better ones. Instead of tangling with Clan Vizsla and what they were trying to build on Rishi.

She surprised him however.

Almost as much as when she rescued his life (accidental or not).

Dun' think an intro like ours is that quickly forgotten, lady. Hiron texted back with a smirk, before suiting himself up again. It was a short track to the aforementioned coordinates. A local space port that was close to the compound Clan Vizsla made their home at. Friendly. At least as friendly as it could get on a world like Rishi. Good trade, cheap fuel and the bars knew that Vizsla people paid their tabs on time. The main reason why Hiron hadn't given her the coordinates to the compound itself?

Back then they hadn't yet cleared out the landing pad. It would have been a bit embarrassing to have her be forced to land in the middle of the jungle and have to hike all the way to the compound.

Kinda an awkward second meeting, no?

Local cantina is good. The Laughing Rish. Jus' say yar a friend o' mine and they will put yar order on my tab. Thumbed in another text as he drove on his speeder towards the local settlement. How dangerous, driving an' texting. It was good that the Vizslas had cleared out a road between their compound and the settlement.

Otherwise it might have been suicide.

About twenty minutes later Hiron Vizsla walked into the cantina himself. A quick glance around to see where Saf was, before ordering himself a light ale and some scrambled eggs.

Might as well have some breakfast... even if it was more akin to lunch time right now.

Where ya at? I am the guy in the black-an-gold-an-crimson beskar'gam. He grinned as he thumbed down that last text to her.

 

[Safira Haran]

Safira smiled down at the reply from Hiron, but that was the only response she gave it. The ship shuddered as it came down to land. Safira wasn't there to see it, she had flicked a few switches and had left the console to do its thing so she could gather her stuff.

The spaceport waiting beyond the landing ramp was one that Safira was rather accustomed to. She preferred the smaller, lowkey, local type places. Mostly because the stuff she often had to sell went for a mint out here, but she also found herself more at ease here. Every time she seemed to go to one of those popular places riddled with those force types she ended up getting into trouble that cost her more in credits than staying at home would have done.

Shouldering the rucksack, Safira stepped off the ship, only turning her head once to ensure that it was locked up properly. She'd left most of her loot on there. No point in hauling it all over Rishi like an idiot, but there was some niggling anxiety that even small places like this had their scum laying wait in the shadows for the perfect opportunity. A Mandalorian ship, even if they knew it was filled with loot or not, was certainly a perfect opportunity.

It was only when her comm went off in her ear that she found the confidence to turn away from it. "The Laughing Rish…" Safira couldn't help but chuckle at it. Some of the more interesting names she'd heard for cantinas came from places like this. Glancing up from the screen she scanned for it quickly. It wasn't the sight of it that first directed her, but rather the smell. It was sickly sweet and stuck to the inside of her nose like soot from a fire. Burned just as much as it too. Safira smiled.

Tihaar.

"You look like a gilded rooster in that getup." Safira smirked at Hiron's back as she approached the bar. She hadn't bothered with her helmet this time. Partially because they had met before, and partially because this was his homeworld. There was less of a risk here, but she did still have it clipped to her hip. Her rucksack slumped to the floor in the space between the chairs as Safira hoisted herself onto one.

When the tender came back with Hiron's meal, Safira ordered herself something to drink. "That journey was the longest chit I've ever had to put myself through. You better be making it worth my while." There was a lightness to her tone that suggested she was only playing. In truth, the relief came mostly from the fact that she could finally breathe fresh air and sit in something that wasn't made of cracked leather.

Hiron Vizsla ​

 

[Hiron Vizsla]

Safira Haran

"Rooster, huh?" Bemused as he followed the direction of her voice and then promptly plopped down in front of her. Plate with food and all, before he disengaged his helmet and settled it next to him on the floor.

"Roosters never look this good, ma'am, an' ya know it." Hiron drawled that with oozing confidence as he leaned back and gave himself a moment to take her in. She looked... well, 'better', was not the right word. Less frazzled maybe. Not being in a shooting gallery and seeing your profits melt away in front of you would do that to a person though.

Tatooine-Rishi wasn't that long, was it?

Then again, Hiron traveled all over the world, even before being part of Ne'ri Fleet. So maybe he was the biased one here. "I'd apologize, but I am paying for ya drink an' then sum, so I think we will be square real soon." Teasing her right back with no hesitation whatsoever.

"I was gonna ask ya how ya ride was, but that probably tells me enough."

He took a sip from his ale and shrugged. Personally Hiron loved to travel in space. Just watching the stars fly by, the sheer freedom around you and nobody able to pull you back? It was great. It was also crucial in an inter-connected galaxy like theirs. The best bounties were posted off-world, so if ya wanted to make a buck?

Well, nobody was gonna put a hundred kay credits on Joe with the wooden leg over there.

"You gonna order some food or ya ain't trusting of the place?" Smirking with nonchalance.

 

[Safira Haran]

"Yeah, sure they do." She commented back, smirking as she did. "Black and red all over with a little bit of fancy on the side. You can find that anywhere in any half-decent cantina."

It was undoubtedly nicer seeing him in this kind of setting compared to the one they had met in. Granted it was definitely a meeting to tell stories about, but it didn't give either one of them the best impression of each other. Here, now, away from gunfire and far more relaxed, Safira might have even considered Hiron attractive. In some way.

Safira let out a dry laugh at his joke. "This is your apology." She said as she took the drink from the bartender and swallowed half of it in one go. "Like the next one will be, and the one after that, and the one after that..."

When he asked whether she was going to order any food, she shrugged in response. "I don't really eat much after a journey like that. Makes me feel even worse. I'd take a tihaar hangover over that kind of ill any day. I'll eat later." Thanking the bartender with a tilt of her glass, she ordered another one before finally letting him slip away to deal with other customers.

That was when Safira turned in her chair to face Hiron properly. "I hope I haven't interrupted you or anything. It took me so long 'cause I had to fly back to where I was keeping all my stuff… which was a treck from Tatooine to begin with." Leaning back against the bar, she finished the rest of her drink and set the glass down to wait for her next.

"So, how are you planning on paying me back then?" She asked with a half-hearted smirk. "I still haven't managed to shift that chit I was trying to sell, you know."

Hiron Vizsla ​

 

[Hiron Vizsla]

Safira Haran

His hand clutched his chest piece, as if to say 'stabbed right through the heart', but the smile hinted at mere amusement.

"Indeed - a free line of Tihaar is an apology worth its weight in gold, innit?" He drawled with a grin as he sipped from his own ale in a more measured and careful way. The Vizslas were still new in this place. Their money welcome, but their presence not. It was better to be careful with a reputation as bloody as theirs.

Hiron wouldn't be surprised if someone tried something.

If not today then tomorrow- or the day after that.

"Ya did interrupt me, ya did." Hiron responded quite frankly but without any hint of reproachment. "Settling a clan is a whole undertaking, but... like we already established, ma'am. I owe ya... so it's the least I can do." A twist of his hand in the generic gesture of 'peace'. "It will be many a month, before Vizsla's place is secure here."

A shrug there.

It had taken House Vizsla years to tame parts of Wayland and that was with several clans working in concert. Clan Vizsla of Rishi was just one clan and only a fraction of it at that.

Sure, Rishi wasn't as deadly as Wayland, but Hiron didn't imagine it would be all the easier for it.

"Easy. Money we got. We can buy yar chit at a mark-up price and give ya provisions for the next month, so ya dun' have to spend yar money on food an' chit." Hiron smirked as he leaned back, clearly satisfied with his own offer. "How's that? Pleased?" A gulp of ale next as he regarded her with interest and maybe just a hint of playful teasing.

 

[Safira Haran]

"Cheers to that." Safira said as she drained the next glass. She hadn't paid any attention to the measured way Hiron was sipping his drink, but if she had she likely would have guessed that he was a little uncomfortable. Just for the meanwhile though, her soul interest lay in drinking.

A smirk formed on her lips when he admitted that she had indeed interrupted him. "Tit for tat then." She said through her smile. "You spoil my day and I spoil yours. Funny how the galaxy works out like that, huh?" Her head tilted curiously as he continued to talk about the struggles of clan Vizsla in their new home. Safira seemed to mull over it for a moment before she decided to say anything more.

"Suppose it'll all come in time. Can't imagine it's a nice feeling waking up one morning to an entire family moving their chit in. Especially a Mandalorian family. We kinda bring trouble no matter where we go. Not surprised folk are a little hesitant to have us living on their turf. Just gotta be as respectful as you can and keep your chit behind closed doors, so you don't scare anyone off. Can't be that hard, can it?" She shot him another smile, only this time it was riddled with sarcasm.

Safira hadn't met a Mandalorian alive who liked to bottle their drama up and shut it out where the galaxy can't see it.

When he began to make his offer, Safira found herself sitting up in the seat a little. It was better than she would have asked for, but his playful smirk, exhilarating though it was, made her want to toe the line. Or at the very least, wipe it right off his face. "Is that all you got?" She said, throwing one arm over the back of the seat so that she could turn and face him properly. "Money and a little food?" Safira rolled, then shrugged her shoulders as she turned back to the bar to order another drink. "It'll have to do I suppose."

Hiron Vizsla ​

 

[Hiron Vizsla]

Safira Haran

"Karma be a mighty schutta." Hiron agreed with humor as he took another bite from his meal. It did fill well, which was all that mattered, even if the taste left something to be desired.

Her description was apt.

If only it were so easy. The thing with moving in wholesale was that rulership was never the aim at first. Clan Vizsla hadn't sought ownership over Rishi, no, just a place to settle down and expand on their own. It was a smuggling paradise and so lots of trade paths opened up as well. But... as always when a new group introduces itself power dynamics change. Existing groups either sought to oppose you or use you in their own vendettas. When you were heavily armed and armored on top of that?

Nobody could ignore you.

Then it became a question of leaving quietly or seizing the reins, before the cart turned on ya and smashed you under its wheels. Was there really a different path? Hiron didn't see it yet.

"I..." A blink out of his thoughts as Safira practically discarded his offer with a contemptuous line. That was unexpected. But no, the offer had been more than fair- ah, so that's how it was.

"I see ya got a big appetite, Haran." Hiron murmured amused and what followed next was a shot in the dark. It was possible he misjudged her completely and would have to sit on the embers for it. Worth the threat of pain however... if he was right. "Well, there is something else I can offer ya... but-"

As he inserted a silence afterwards he grinned again. Challenging her in kind.

"-I wonder how you'd fare as a Vizsla."

 

[Safira Haran]

The look on his face was almost entirely worth being so outwardly ungrateful for the best offer Safira had been given in months. It was a hell of a lot more than the dealers back on Tatooine were going to offer, she could be certain of that.

Despite the whole thing being a joke, something happened that Safira hadn't gambled on. He was about to offer her more. A smirk threatened to ruin her game, so she tucked her lower lip neatly under her teeth as she waited for him to finish speaking.

It was far more than she could have expected. A few more credits maybe, an extra week or two of food. Hell, maybe even a place to stay for a month or two while she was figuring out what was next. But not that.

With her mouth slightly agape, and her eyes squinting, it was almost impossible to say she looked anything but bemused. "Are you propositioning me, Vizsla?" She finally said, her expression melting away into something of a smug smile. "I didn't think it was the mando way to invite a girl to a foreign planet on the premise of credits only to put something like that in her face."

As if in thought, her gloved fingers drummed for a moment or two on the glass she clutched. It was barely enough time for Hiron to reply to anything before she nodded. "Alright. You're on. Let's see how well I fare."

Hiron Vizsla ​

 

[Hiron Vizsla]

Safira Haran

A smug smirk himself in response to her shocked surprise.

As if to say- ya think yar the only one with the tricksy tricks? But Hiron pondered on it since Tatooine. The live-blood of the Clans were foundlings and new recruits. Safira didn't have a clan, not really. But she was clearly Mando'ade and his Clan needed to grow, if they were to properly establish themselves on Rishi.
a
It made sense did it not?

"I might be... Saf." Not using Haran nor Vizsla just yet, until she'd accept or decline. "Might not be the Mando way, but truth to be told I never was a great Mandalorian to begin with."

Assassin, black hand, dark deeds and darker paths.

But that was behind Hiron now.

"Ahhh... was hoping ya'd say that." Extending his arm over the table in the warrior's clasp. "I got all the faith in da world in ya. Besides, ya already saved my arse in the middle of a firefight, ain't much more I can put in front of ya, eh?" Hiron had hoped, yes, but there was still a brief moment of surprise before he managed to cover it up.

Pleased surprise.

"Ya got yar drinks worth for now? Cus we can go over to the encampment then."

 

[Safira Haran]

It had been a long while since someone had called her Saf. She had forgotten how soft and comforting it sounded in comparison to Safira, or Haran, or "hey you in the tin can". It was familiar, and even through her shock, it made her smile bashfully.

Reaching out to meet his arm in the clasp he offered, Safira nodded. "I bet you were." She jibbed playfully between his words.

When he asked her if she'd gotten her drinks worth, Safira shot a knowing look to the bartender who had already begun to pour out another glass. She downed it in one shot and turned it upside down onto the counter. "Now I have my drinks worth." She clapped Hiron on the back, before swinging her legs around from under the bar and standing from her stool.

"Lead the way!"

Hiron Vizsla ​

 

[Hiron Vizsla]

Safira Haran

He chuckled when she got herself one more glass.

It was only fair.

In truth if someone was offering a free line of drinks to him. Well. Why wouldn't Hiron jump on that train either? The only reason he wasn't here chucking one glass after another... was because he needed to be responsible. Ugh. Hir still remembered the days as a freelancing hitman. Do the job. Then party the rest of the day.

Okay, so maybe there weren't that many parties, but it had been possible.

"Good, ya already drinking 'em down as a Vizsla." Cheerful as he rose up himself. "We will go straight to the compound. Give ya some new beskar'gam, new colors and see what ya can mean for us."

His own hand tapping on her shoulder playfully.

"I am sure jus' as much as we can mean for you, Safira... Vizsla."

Sounded good already, didn't it?