Private Old Scars

[Jonyna Si]

​

The Protectors. That was a name that rung through the heads of many Cathar native to their home planet. A name that held a bit of hypocrisy within the language of the Cathar. No one was there to protect them when the Mandalorian Crusaders burned their home to the ground.

But that was centuries ago. A remnant of generational scars that only seemed to fade more and more. Still, they were visible. With every successive occupation of Cathar, the people grew weary. Who were the Protectors? What did they stand for?

They turned to one person to find out. The Sage. A woman, who by her own admission, didn't ask for the job. She was a jedi, and one who bore the responsibility of the sage. While she held no tribal rank, she did hold a cultural rank. Now she sat at the edge of a starport in the middle of the night, looking and watch the incoming ships. Mia Monroe had promised her a visit, and Jonyna had a plan.

 

[Mia Monroe]

Clouds whipped across the hull as she descended through Cathar's atmosphere, the small shuttle rattled slightly and she eased off the throttle, angling towards the starport beneath a black glittering sky. Cathar had fallen within their borders simply by chance, but she knew the history these people had, and if she could do anything to assure them they were not their predecessors then she would.

Even if it meant another meeting with a Jedi.

Still, Mia was a master at concealing the darkness within, stepping into it only when the need called for it, and if she slipped? Well she'd have to send Arla or Drego instead. Perhaps they would have a better shot.

Pistons hissed as the ship settled in the landing bay, flicking the controls and setting the shuttle into an idle state she collected her buy'ce clipping it to her belt as she descended the landing ramp to find and greet her host.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

The immediate response from most in the area was fear. The sight of a Mandalorian, even after generations, invoked the primal response built from generational trauma.

All except Jonyna. The woman stood firm, walking up to Mia Monroe and offering a handshake. "You must be Mia Monroe. Glad to finally meet you. Jonyna Si, Sage of the Denik."

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia took to offered hand and shook it with a tight smile, noting the tension and fear in the surrounding people. Mia couldn't blame them, their history with mandalorians was a bloody one.

"A pleasure Jonyna, thank you for your invitation. I'm hoping we can find a way to move forward from our past."

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"That is the hope, yes." Jonyna said with a more neutral tone. She knew the people of this tree wouldn't be kind to Mia. Cathar had bounced between horrid empires in it's history. The Mandalorian Empire, the One Sith, the New Imperial Order. Now the Protectors laid claim to it, and the people of the planet, of Ran Dom Kuun, lay in wait to see what came next. Would they hide once more? Flee to the stars again?

Jonyna couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't. With the Dark Empire so close, she needed to secure a sign that the Protectors wouldn't simply use Cathar as a buffer state.

"Follow me." Jonyna offered. "There is a place I wish to confer, away from the prying eyes. I take it you brought a jetpack, or...are you a decent climber?"

Tag: Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia's eyebrow arched as she fell into step with the feline Jedi.

"I have a jet pack, but I can also climb. I take it we're going to the top?" she asked.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"Down, actually. There's a spot that means something to my people, and I hope will mean something to you." Jonyna said, looking to Mia with a small smirk. "Try and keep up."

And then, she leapt from the branch, idly jumping from branch to branch, occasionally surfing across the slick surfaces to keep up her momentum. She was a natural, in her home environment. Was this a test for the mandalorian? Absolutely. There was always going to be a testing nature to this encounter. Jonyna knew the Cathar people, despite timid demeanor, had a fire in them. She represented them now, and it was only fair she kept Mia, the representative of her people, on her toes.

Tag: Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia stopped to watch the cathar female move effortlessly down the branches and smiled. If Jonyna Si wanted to test Mia, then Mia was more than happy to oblige her. She jumped after her, relying on the force to steady her where Jonyna's natural form and familiarity would grant her more grip. Her pursuit was punctuated with the occasional burst from her jetpack when slick surfaces would have sent her careening over the edge and the occasional muttered swear word.

This would be a perfect training course for foundlings, but she put the thought aside, she needed the Cathar on their side first, and even then, she doubted they would be appreciative of headstrong young mandos using their home as a place to test their skill.

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

The trek down the tree was wild and free, Jonyna occasionally slipping to another path just for the sake of keeping Mia on her toes. Suddenly, they were on the ground, and Jonyna didn't miss a step as she broke out into a sprint, heading towards the savannah to their north. Clearly, she knew where she was going. It was odd, Cathar didn't seem to have roads, only well traveled paths that were marked only by the lack of vegetation as generations of footsteps had flattened them.

"Impressive." Jonyna remarked as she rushed forward into the tall grass.

She knew where they were headed.

The only place the Cathar would accept a buried hatchet.

Tag: Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mai smirked in response to Jonyna's compliment. "I've dealt with worse obstacles." she replied, though the cathar had already disappeared into the savannah grass at a sprint. A paranoid person might consider that she was being led into a trap, and Mia did consider it for a heartbeat before dismissing it and taking off after her.

There were two reasons that she could dismiss such paranoia, the first was that Jonyna was a Jedi. That didn't give her a free pass but its did make such a deception highly unlikely. The second, was that if it was a trap, the response to any mishaps that Mia fell into would be the very one the cathar people did not want. Wherever Jonyna was leading her, Mia had every reason to believe she was safe to follow.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

The next few hours of travel were...quiet. Jonyna would occasionally poke out of the tall grass to check that Mia Monroe was still behind her, but Jonyna wasn't giving anything away. Could they have just agreed to meet here? Sure. But Jonyna wanted to see how committed the Mandalorian was.

Finally, they came to...something, and Jonyna stopped.

In front of them a massive clearing, about the size of a small stadium, where grass had been stamped down, a ring of tall torches that reached high enough to where they could be seen long before the clearing itself was clear. The poles seemed to be marked with murals of cathar origins, and Catharian names scratched into the wood.

"There aren't a lot of things our cultures agree on." Jonyna stated as she stepped into the clearing, "But there is one. This grudge, this scar on our people that has haunted us for centuries, it can only end one way. In the field of honor."

She turned, facing Mia. "No weapons, no special gadgets, nothing to help. Just you versus me. The Cathar Versus the Mandalorian. You win, you dictate the terms of this little agreement. I win, we do. Simple as that."