Birthright | House Verd

[Ginnie Dib]

“Ana, take the baby.” ‘Leto’ handed over baby Dejan to her niece [member="Anastasia Verd"], eyes watching the scene of [member="Keira Ticon"], [member="Zephyr Carrick"], [member="Julius Sedaire"] and [member="Aedan Miles"] played out.

Without her boy in her arms, Leto’s body began to lick with flame, rushing down to both of her hands like gauntlets. She stood beside [member="Amaya Cardei"], defending the woman she recognized as a niece. Her eyes flickered between the crowd, reading as many lips as she could. Her voice had the unmistakeable tones of the deaf.

“You aren’t any sister I’ve ever met… listen to my niece.” Placing herself between Julius, Keira and Isley, Ginnie kept her arms crossed lightly in front of her, the fire burning but not consuming her clothing. “Isley and I are blood, raised in the same household, c’yare. You were not there. What right do you have of declaring anything in our clan? He is my blood brother, you… I do not know.”

 

[Keira Priest]

"Aliit ori'shya tal'din. Family is much more than a household. More than who shares blood. Much more." It would be wrong to say Keira hadn't expected this. It had been a long while since she'd crossed paths with any of her clan, and perhaps she'd walked in making too many assumptions, but she remembered. Mandalorians had a penchant for never forgetting. "Udesii. I'll hear him out. I've wanted answers for some time." Reaching out, she placed a hand on the shoulder of [member="Julius Sedaire"], squeezing gently in reassurance. "Stand down. We didn't come here to fight." There was something else there, unspoken beneath those words, I can take care of myself.

"I will say only one thing: after he abandoned our people for the Sith - after he turned his back on us, on this - he gets heard out this easily? I asked for answers the past two times we met and didn't get any. That is what I come seeking now. I want to know why." She looked across the entirety of those gathered as she spoke, picking out no one in particular among the sea of familiar faces. There had been a time when this clan had been all the family she'd ever needed, and she wanted that back. This was one family she was too stubborn to turn her back on so easily, after all she had gone through and all they had done for her in return.

"We'll sit. We'll talk. We'll listen. But I want answers."

[member="Leto Vos"], [member="Amaya Cardei"], [member="Aedan Miles"], [member="Zephyr Carrick"]

 

[Anastasia Verd]

She didn't immediately notice the baby in her Aunt's other arm as [member="Leto Vos"] hugged her one-armed, planting a kiss on her cheek as she did, starting the girl slightly at the unfamiliar action. She is family, she loves me, the thought passed through her mind though the emotion attached to it still seemed somewhere just beyond her reach. Anastasia was glad to be in the presence of someone she knew, just as she had recognized [member="Darth Metus"] before she had understood who anyone around was on Haseria but there was still so much she had to learn or understand even.

Her Aunt kept talking, asking about when she'd gotten here, asking where she'd been, all before she'd introduced Dejan, her little one? Anastasia blinked as she realized there was something small and alive that had a name. "I...," Anastasia tried to figure out what to say as she watched the baby, trying to remember if she even knew what to call something too small and alive, looking at her now. Baby, she recalled, a flash of memory going through her mind of a memory she didn't know was mind, of a baby with piercing blue eyes staring up. Zero emotion showed from that, her monster hadn't harbored any for her own child, Anastasia realized without knowing quite how she even knew who the baby was. Yet, she did. But that baby and the monster weren't an issue. Dejan was her Aunt's son. He was her family. "Uhh... hi, Dejan," Anastasia told the baby before she looked up at her Aunt, who'd been trying to get her Father's attention.

Ana didn't answer her Aunt's question about where she'd been or why she had an answer. Vaguely she could remember where she'd been but those memories still felt somewhat distant and unclear that she wasn't really sure what she was supposed to say. And right here and now somehow didn't seem like the time for it at all.

The sound of an unfamiliar voice made her turn as [member="Keira Ticon"] had walked in, speaking of no right and looking directly at her Father. Anastasia looked at him and back at her before [member="Julius Sedaire"] spoke up. "Who are these people?" Ana quietly wondered to her Aunt Ginny before [member="Aedan Miles"] spoke up, making her look over to him. Her head moved in a nod at those words. This was a family and in it, they respected the head of that family, which was no one but her Father. [member="Amaya Cardei"] was next, approaching the two newcomers as she spoke. No one there was without sin. Anastasia could argue, she'd done nothing yet, barely even lived yet on her own. Her body had committed acts she didn't fully understand yet but Anastasia had no control over them as they were done, another controlling her mind and actions. But again, this seemed like neither the time or place to bring that up, especially when she took into the account there were actually so many she didn't know, who were for lack of better word strangers to her, even if they were seated here as a family. Or is it Clan? The thought popped into her head, like a distant memory of something she'd heard once or a dozen time before, still unclear on the context.

Aunt Ginnie called her name, making Anastasia look at her. Hold the baby, the rest of the sentence had been. Wait, what? Before she knew it, a baby was put into her arms, her hold on Dejan a little uneasy as she kept watching him and him at her. From then, Aunt Ginnie's hands lit up as she moved forward, talking to the strangers. Anastasia listened but she kept watching the infant in her arms as she felt little hands touch her jaw. Words were still getting exchanged, her hold on the baby becoming a little better as she adjusted. There was something about what family meant, her Aunt saying one thing and the other woman saying another thing on what it meant. The girl just kept absorbing, finding a connection with what she'd learned from her monster which amounted to very little since her monster didn't understand what family even was. Then the other woman noted him abandoning their people for the Sith, all of which seemed like ancient history to her. Father was a Sith even when she was little, Anastasia managed to gather in her messed up thoughts but still, she was, in reality, too young to have witnessed any of it.

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

People were coming in, people were talking. Katrine knew a handful of them, her Uncle Isley at the head of the table more than any of them. So she mostly stayed out of it until she heard the mention of booze, turning her attention to [member="Aedan Miles"], noticing the bottle in his hand. "I'll try that," picking up the glass from in front of her and moving it over to the Pirate King. Days from now, she'd be asked about whether high-end booze had been brought by this man but Katrine didn't know about alcohol enough to know the difference between high-end and regular. What she did know was that she intended of trying everything until she knew for sure what she liked because she couldn't possibly judge all of them based on the ones she'd tried and either liked or disliked.

When the commotion started, with even more faces coming, Katrine leaned into the back of the Pirate's chair, watching. In very little time a lot was said, though sapphire gaze shifted over to her Uncle who was still quiet, letting, from the looks of it, his sister and daughter talk to the newcomer, to whom even the Pirate King had spoken to. There was one thing Katrine could agree with the newcomer, which was the meaning of the family. It was definitely more than family, an important idea imprinted on her and others of her Dathomirian Clan. Blood made only part of the family but a family could be found outside of that. She was here for that reason as well, though she shared no blood connection to a single person in this room, she was her Uncle's niece through the friendship of him and her parents, a long-standing one at that. And though he had yet to know his own future, Katrine remembered him in her past and not for a moment had she ever thought Isley Verd was anything but family.

[member="Darth Metus"] [member="Amaya Cardei"] [member="Zephyr Carrick"] [member="Leto Vos"] [member="Muad Dib"] [member="Darth Nius"] [member="Riggs"] [member="Ithiel Verd"] @Kiera Ticon [member="Julius Sedaire"]

 

[Garza]

As I stood up, attempting to give advice to the one woman who I felt was actually part of my family, someone who I trusted, her Husband came over to stop me. My jaw tightened and my fists clenched. She was my aunt, my superior officer. I trusted her with my life if need be. Yet this... proposed man of hers claimed that I couldn't approach her. I was about to speak when two others seemed to speak up. I turned my head to face them a moment before turning back around. Keira was attempting to let the flames of this argument simmer down by saying that she would sit and talk and listen, but at the end, will have answers to her questions. I nodded my head in agreement. Holding a hand out to both of those who attempted to back me up.

"Of all things I don't want, is for our family, our clan, to fight one another over what it means to be part of the family. Keira's husband, as he so states he is, is welcome here. I know for a fact that you two were also new and had to earn your way. Don't throw stones unless you are without sin."

This was probably the best I was going to get at trying to not escalate the situation. In truth, I wanted to slam my fist through the man's face. However, we had our differences, and the man has reasons for his actions. Turning to him, I simply extended a hand.

"I am Keira's nephew. She was my commanding officer during the Crusades. Lets try and not be at each other's throats the first time our faces meet."

The hand I offered to the man was my left. I hated shaking with my right because of the metal arm that had replaced my old one. Yes while it was useful, I didn't want to accidentally crush the man's hand in my grip. Nor did I feel it was... adequate to give a man my false hand to shake on.

"Zephyr Carrick."

[member="Anastasia Verd"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"], [member="Keira Ticon"], [member="Leto Vos"], [member="Aedan Miles"], @Julius Sedair,

 

[Malok]

One by one, they came.

At the sight of his kin making their way into the Hall did Darth Metus rise from his seat. [member="Zephyr Carrick"] was the first to meet his gaze - and in earnest the Sith was surprised to see his former Apprentice present this day. Ever since the conclusion of their Mandalorian Empire, the young warrior had gone his own way. Yet now, he had returned to the place that he belonged...among the House that saw him as their kin. "It's good to see you, Zephyr." he began, rendering a nod to the man. "I can feel that you've grown so much in our time apart." There was an edge of pride to his voice - like a father seeing his son returning triumphant from battle.

Zephyr was no mere apprentice any longer, but a man who stood on the same pedastal as the Sith. A master of the Force.

When next the doors creaked open...Darth Metus' chair skidded behind him as haste gripped him. It had been so long...and frankly, though a small part of him held out that his Scrappy baby sister had endured the Hells of the Galaxy, the silence was defeaning. Yet here, in the flesh, stood Ginnie Verd. And though she strode in with an infant carrier attached to her front, what Darth Metus saw was the same little girl who used to chase him about their family home. The same little girl who demanded a pink beskar'gam. The same girl who the Sith had missed so damn much. He was, for a moment, at a loss for words to see her standing there.

So he let his hands do the talking. They danced, forming the language of signs to articulate a simple message: [I[I missed you[/I].

"I did bite it one Mandalore." he said, after finally wrapping his arms around her. "But I'm too stubborn to stay down for long. It's a shame they lost Ra twice, maybe it's time to keep him out of the running hmm?"

His humor was coupled with a chuckle.

"And this little one...he's adorable, what's his name?"

The question lingered as the thud of boots rocked the table. Looking up, the Sith saw his vod - the Mad One [member="Muad Dib"] - take up the opposing seat at the end of the table. An amused huff escaped the Sith's nostrils as he gave the man a thumbs up; the whole point of the evening was to relax after all, right? They weren't Jedi or politicians, there was no point being overly stuffy around family. Of course, as if to solidify that point [member="Aedan Miles"] strode forward as only a Pirate King could. The two shared a bit of banter back and forth, all of which the Sith found hilarious. However, the cherry on top came when Aedan revealed his bootie. Not the body part, mind, but the treasure or booze he brought to keep the party going.

"I can always count on you to bring the good stuff." came his reply as he inspected one of the bottles out of his peripheral.

Auntie Ginnie!

The exclamation of his child, [member="Anastasia Verd"], was enough that the Sith did not have time to crack open one of the bottles and indulge himself. Instead, he stepped a half step back so that Ana had room to embrace her aunt. "What am I, chopped Nuna?" he remarked, teasingly. Yet he did not intrude on their miniature reunion much more than that, as it had been just as long that Ana had laid eyes on Ginnie ([member="Leto Vos"]). In the meantime, he turned and regarded his niece [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] with a wide grin. "A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B." he admitted. "We have a lot to discuss, but it's been years since the lot of us have been together. We need a moment."

Then, to his left, [member="Darth Nius"] had taken a seat. Quite literally the spitting image of his sire, the young warrior asked who all would be joining them this evening. "If all goes well, everyone. My siblings, your siblings, and our extended family. The Carrick, the Akaata." he began, prattling off the guest list soundly. He paused when [member="Riggs"] made his quiet entrance into the room. He knew who the man was. The man knew who he was. But there wasn't much of a connection as of yet. Despite this, Darth Metus motioned for him to join them at the head of the table - should he so choose. Similarly, when [member="Ithiel Verd"] entered the room, he motioned all the same.

Then, hearing Ginnie address him he laughed aloud.

"Be it far from me to be rude cyar'ika." he said, beaming. "Hard to believe you went from half pint to mother!"

The smile evaporated when [member="Keira Ticon"] and her husband stepped into the Hall. Their last two meetings had been the furthest thing from cordial. The first had been his election to walk his own way - the Path of Darkness following his cheating death. The second? His plea for her return. His plea for her to help him from falling into the abyss. But where she declined, another stepped into his life and held his descent at bay. Even now, the fact that he could feel the Serenity of his Apprentice, [member="Srina Talon"], kept him calm as Keira made her declaration.

But as for the rest of the room, the tension was as thick as frozen Netra'gal. [member="Amaya Cardei"] spoke up, dismissing the woman entirely. Ginnie flamed up. Literally. Zephyr tried to be the level headed one, while Aedan laid it all out bare.

Darth Metus' fist slammed into the table.

"Nothing!"​

"We stood by and did Nothing. When Mandalore exploded, we scattered. We lived, but not united. The Clan and our House fractured."

"And while I was strong enough to claw my way back to life, I was not strong enough to make it back unscathed. That's why I made those choices Keira. That's why I begged you to come home - I thought I could rely on you to keep me from the edge."

"But my own weakness aside, the time has come for us, as a family, to make a decision. We have forgotten the Resol'nare - but I aim to change that. I called us here to figure out where we are going, as a House, as a Clan, as a Family together. Because Gods forbid I bite it again on the battlefield, I don't know if I can cheat death twice. And then what?"

"Will that be the end of us? Will we scatter again? I'm not perfect, I'm no saint, but you all trusted me enough to follow me before and so I ask for you to do so again. Let us repair our Path once and for all."

He cast a glance to Ginnie.

"Now, if someone would be kind enough to give me a marshmallow..."

 

[Muad Dib]

As more people arrived, the hugs flowed, the liquor flowed, the words flowed. The gathering served to be amicable. He felt slightly nauseous. But even as he shifted in his seat there were new arrivals that cast a thrall of weighty expectation to the gathering. Shifting slightly in his seat he watched as several tried to disarm the situation. His right hand slid to his thigh and slowly drew the revolver, keeping it below the height of the table safely concealed within his lap. The laser designation built into the weapon locked on as he waited to see just how things unfolded.

However, Isley's outburst not only shook the table but shook those gathered. The words poured forth seemingly calming the majority into a semblance of compliance. Slowly he holstered the revolver as the joke Isley made echoed around the room. Chuckling he drew another deathstick from his pack and held it up in askance.

"I could use a light after you take care of the marshmallows."

Leaning back with a grin he rolled his shoulders lightly. Family reunions ... Made him glad his brother was his only blood left breathing. And sometimes he still wanted to take him out with all his zen talk. Sighing he looked at the gathering again and muttered.

"Families ..."

 

[Ria Misrani]

While the adults were shouting, Isley the Younger had been playing peacefully. He had actually been trying to play with the child but when he was passed off to [member="Anastasia Verd"] the young Verd became very unhappy. His mother and father were both shouting at [member="Keira Ticon"] and [member="Julius [/FONT][/SIZE][FONT=georgia][SIZE=14px]Sedaire"], [member="Leto Vos"] were also in a bit of a yelly mood. "Play! Play! Play!" He tried to say but no one could hear him. Isley the Younger pouted, his caramel-tan skin, with tight black curly hair and those honey-hazel eyes became enraged. His little fists balled up and stomped off and grabbed a Mandalorian helmet and put it on his head the same way he had seen his father do. He then stomped over in between his parents, his aunts, and uncles and grandfather [member="Darth Metus"].

He did his best Mando-like roar which sounded more like yelling before Isley the Younger began to pound the ground. The ground reacted as if someone with force strength had been smashing it, bits of fire rolled off, "play now! No yell! Play!"

Amaya had already flinched at her father's fist-slamming yell before her eyes drew to her son. She grabbed him as quickly as possible, "Isley!"

"Marshmallow." Isley the Younger managed to say.

 

[Ithiel Vi'Dreya]

Ithiel still hadn’t stopped his drink at the commotion. Polishing off the spot on the helmet where the clan symbol was, he blew against it and got a gleam. Then went back to drinking down the sharp taste in his mouth.

Waved over by his father, Ithiel put the helmet under his arm, blaster clipped back on the waist belt and strode over. “Father. Long-time no see.” Standing behind Isley to his left, he turned to his aunt making the commotion and waited to see what would come of it. [member="Darth Metus"]

Verds. This was their way.

Necking back what was left in the glass he put it down on the table and looked over to wherever the music had stopped from, saying loudly. “I thought this was a party,” and on it went. He couldn’t see if it was a band or a music station, either way he was going to enjoy himself if it killed him. Which let's face it, sometimes it did.

“Past's dead.” Ithiel said with maybe more ease than your average Mandalorian, where he hung his hat was home, and this was it right now. He got himself another drink.

 

[Keira Priest]

Without a word Keira stepped around [member="Julius Sedaire"] and [member="Zephyr Carrick"] as introductions were made, pulling off her helmet so she could get a better look at her brother. Despite everything she still felt that pull, that bond that reminded her he was family. And for the first time in a long while she listened to it, most of the tension leaving her in those seconds after he spoke. As much as she wanted to hate him after everything - wanted to cast that inhuman mantle she did on all others she perceived to have wronged her - it wasn't as easy this time around. Maybe now had come time to try, again, for all their sakes. Maybe the time had come for Verd to unite under one banner, whatever that may be.

Again she touched her husband's shoulder, this time bidding him to sit as she did the same, helmet placed on the table before her. Again she took in all of her family with a look about the hall, acknowledging her brother's words with only a nod at first. "Cin vhetin." Taking a deep breath, she released it in a quiet sigh, forcing herself to relax in that moment. No one here was her enemy. They never really had been. This here amounted to some of the only true family she'd ever had.

"I'll stay."

[member="Ithiel Verd"], [member="Darth Metus"], [member="Amaya Cardei"], [member="Muad Dib"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"], [member="Anastasia Verd"], [member="Leto Vos"]

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan kicked back into his seat noticing the female leaning against his chair asking for a drink he shrugged and poured her a glass holding it up for her as he poured himself a glass watching as Metus spoke calmly. Aedan watched the others for a moment trying to judging from their facial expressions what the truly thought chuckling he shrugged and stood holding his bottle of booze up looking around his violet eyes gleaming darkly. "To Family." He held his booze up for a moment before taking a long drink straight from the bottle.

 

[Ginnie Dib]

I missed you, too… can I come home, now? Ginnie’s lips mouthed the words, as Isley came in for a hug. Her brother’s height made the young woman lift from the ground, feet dangling as he embraced her, and she returned the affection.

“This, is Dejan… Monroe’s son. My brother D’ral and I took him off Okyaab IV to save our mother. He’s why you haven’t been able to find me… Munin wanted to kill him. Hutuun thought killing a baby would rectify the damage done by the Cataclysm.” Holding her son on her hip, Ginnie smirked at her brother’s use of sign language as he spoke. Isley was still in there, and he still loved her.

“It wasn’t intentional, but we’re Mandos… adopting kids is what we do. I don’t mind it! Might even find someone and make some siblings… eventually.” It was all moot when Keira Ticon made her stand, then sit at the table. If family was truly important, how was it that only two knew who she was at all?

Metus roared and billowed. Ginnie rolled her eyes and punched [member="Darth Metus"] in the shoulder. “Marshmall-WOA!”

The Mandalorian danced back, as Isley the Younger pounded at the ground… and broke it. Her eyebrow raised, and Ginnie pursed her lips. Another force wielder to welcome to the family! Seemed the way of things, now.

Looking back up at [member="Amaya Cardei"], Ginnie gave a small smirk of solidarity and went to stand beside her brother Isley. Clan Verd had been an uphill climb from its’ historic beginnings. While her childhood held few joys from her birth family’s bower, as her father rested in the Manda, it was time to create a new path. “We have the chance to go home, to return to Mandalorian space and be welcome there. The Mando’ade are no longer following the Undying’s path. I vote for reclaiming lands in the Mandalorian Empire, reviving our Clan Bastion on Concord Dawn, it can be a waypoint for our clansmen who enter that space, whenever they need it, a home for any who wish to return, and a place for my forge. Marshmallow… Pfft. Hah.”

Ginnie’s fingers manipulated the space above her opened right palm, creating a hand-sized fire imp. The little imp hopped off Ginnie’s palm as she blew on it, stoking the flame to run across the table laden with drinks and food toward [member="Muad Dib"].

The imp hopped up on his arm, running along his skin with footprint sized temperature created marks. Coming to the death stick Muad held, the imp sucked in a big breath of air, and exhaled with a, “Poof!”

A fireball puffed from the fire imp’s mouth, igniting the end of the death stick. The imp hopped up and down, cheering, before tumbling off Muad to rush Isley. Ginnie continued her pyromanipulation, the little sprite growing to a foot tall and turning into a bonfire on someone’s empty plate. The imp made grabby hands for the marshmallows, wielding aloft a toothpick to use as a stick. The deaf Mandalorian didn’t know she was giggling, as she could not hear the sounds she made.

“Anyone else want toasted marshmallows? Or a light?”

[member="Muad Dib"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Amaya Cardei"] @Kiera Ticon [member="Ithiel Verd"] [member="Zephyr Carrick"] [member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Deneve Verd]

Glacial eyes blinked slightly in very human surprise. She'd been contemplating, alone, to herself the depths of her own purpose. She was a woman. A being of solitude. A creature of order. And yet...and yet now she was drifting about pointlessly, not heading in any particular direction. So it was when she felt the call that she felt certain thoughts flutter through her mind. Why did she have any allegiance left to him? Was it because she had nothing else? Or was it because he was family.


She answered the call, she would hear out what it was her father had to say. When she arrived, she was not surprised in the least to see the amount of people that had arrived. Amber hues slid around the room, taking in the sight of everyone gathered, stopping to land upon the form of her brother. Moving forward she would hopefully miss her father as she then moved to stand beside him.

Glancing over at the male that had come to be missed in his time away, amber hues watched him intently, her head tilting slightly as she took in his appearance, her brow arching slightly as she looked on at him. ”Brother. You have been missed.”

[member="Darth Metus"]
[member="Ithiel Verd"]