Common Cousins and Conversations

[Kay-Larr]

After borrowing a fighter from her Dad's ship The Resolute, Lori made her way to Mandalore. [member="Veiere Arenais"] set her on this mission, her first official mission! Of course it didn't contain a whole lot. All that she had to do was talk to her cousin [member="Yasha Mantis"] and find out how much her and her people could be counted on. As it was, her Dad had some reservations about them. But since Lori spent some time living and training with them, he felt it appropriate that she should go first, before setting up a meeting between Yasha and her Dad.

After being permitted entry, which wasn't super hard as people knew who she was, Lori found herself being escorted to the throne room. She wasn't dressed in anything fancy befitting her station as a Commenori Princess. No, she just dressed as she normally did. Slacks, shirt and jacket, complete with goggles on top of her head.

The teenager just snooped around with her eyes as she waited for her cousin to enter. It had been ages since they saw eachother, or so it seemed. Yet they hadn't really talked girl to girl before.

Today that changes.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

[member="Loreena Arenais"] finally made it to Mandalore. Yasha sucked in a deep breath, glad her cousin found her way. Now if only Yasha could keep Lori here, or ship her somewhere safe… [member="Lady Kay"]’s words worked in Yasha’s mind… if the Dark Lord got ahold of the kids…

“Lori! Su Cuy’gar, ner vod!” Yasha swooped into the throne room dressed in her armour with her helm to the side, and scooped Lori up for a hug. At seven feet tall, Yasha naturally lifted Lori off the ground, holding the girl as tight as she could.

“I was so freaking worried about you.” Finally letting the girl down, Yasha walked to the throne and sat on the dais, motioning Lori over to join her. “My people kept looking, but Kain’ik said you got away. Your brother made it, too, right? Lori, Aunt Kay made me promise to keep you safe, and as far away from her as possible. I know it’s not a great introduction, but… please tell me you’re not en route to Commenor… where’s your armour? It’s not safe, okay so here it’s safe, but out there? With the Aruetiise? Please be careful.”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori gasped as she was lifted off the ground and hugged so tightly. Armour was not comfortable to be pressed so hard against. But still, her gasp turned into a laugh as she hugged [member="Yasha Mantis"] back. "So, you're not dead yet! Nice to see you too, cuz!"

She adjusted her clothing after being planted back on the ground again. Without a word she followed and then sat down beside her, turning her body in such a way that she could face her without straining her neck. Why did Yasha have to be so gigantic?? "Yeah, we both got away.
I dunno how Cae did, but I barely got out. A guy that I thought was a friend, he...turned out to work for the Sith. He told me on my commlink to surrender when the Sith came to get me so that I wouldn't get hurt. But I didn't. We rode on a speeder and then ran into the Twin Canyons. It was there that I literally ran right into a cloaked ship. I hit it so hard that I nearly broke a rib! Fortunately they were Jedi, so they helped me escape. I ended up going to my Dad's ship. Kaine went there too!"

At the mention of her Mom, Lori gave the tiniest of frowns. "Is she okay? Last I saw she was in some harness thing as the Sith Emperor had her prisoner.
Do they have her locked up? Are they hurting her?" It was shat they all imagined was happening.

"My light armour is at home, along with my fighter and my jetpack. But Kaine is such a great guardian! He's letting me use his forge and his AI Momalore to craft my own armour! Plus...He's getting a freighter built for me! And he's paying for the crew that I hire AND the upkeep of my ship for a year!
Then I'll have to pay him back. Isn't that awesome?!" She had a lot of love for [member="Kaine Australis"] and a lot of respect.

"I'm not going back home yet. Not until it's safe, or if my Dad sends me there. As it is, he sent me here to see you! My first mission!
Are you doing okay?" Lori could ramble on for eternity at times. Today she was trying to restrain herself.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Rrrrrrrrrrrhhhh! My lil’Lori!” Yasha rocked [member="Loreena Arenais"] back and forth, growling happily into the Commenori girl’s hair. Setting her down, Yasha couldn’t help the smile creeping up on her face.

“Not dead yet. Not for lack of others trying.” Loreena’s tale of escape hit Yasha in the gut, churning her stomach about for her dear Aunt’s little girl. “Jetiise helped? First I’ve heard of one actually doing any good. Apologies, Barataria continues to leave a bitter taste in my mouth, when I picture the Jetiise.”

[member="Kaine Australis"] went to [member="Veiere Arenais"]’ ship? So that was what he wanted to talk to her about, the fateful night Yasha learned of Baiko’s death.

“They wouldn’t dare.” Yasha growled, her voice a thick and violent snap. “The second they hurt a single hair on your mother’s head, I will let loose the entire flood of Mandalorians to beat them back until we’re both bleeding wrecks. Kay is the breaking point of all Sith and Mandalorian relations, Loreena. Only the insane would provoke me further. She is safe as I could ensure her. At the Palace, and no, she is not being harmed. I did what I could, Lori.”

Defeated shoulders hung in the gigantic woman’s beskar’gam, doleful amber eyes scanning Lori’s face as she talked about Kaine. The help of her Kain’ik caused a gentle upturn to Yasha’s lips, increasing as a toddler no more than three years old peeked from behind a pillar.

“Reyn, you can come, cyar’ika. Meet your cousin.” The boy gasped, then peeked back out and ran toward his mother, clinging to her right leg and burying his face in her thigh. Yasha rubbed his back, glancing over at Loreena. “I guess family ought to know family, eh? I’ve kept Reyn secret, after all that’s happened with Adara. Reyn, meet Loreena, your cousin.”

Untangling Reyn from her leg, Yasha picked him up and sat him on her thigh, brushing brown hair aside and kissing the boy’s forehead above his dazzling blue eyes. Familiar blue eyes. “Yes, that’s awesome. Kain’ik is doing right by you, eh? I’d feel jealous if there wasn’t anything I could give you, too, but family is as it does. You still need weapons, and that I can provide.”

At the thought that Veiere could send Loreena home, Yasha’s grasp of her son hardened. “Lori. Setting foot on Commenor is the most dangerous thing you could possibly do, for you, and your mother. Do not go. You must be kept safe. Without you, the Sith lack a terrifyingly effective bargaining chip. If you and your brother are safe, they cannot make your mother break. If you end up on Commenor, they will use you as a terrible piece for their domination and war. You cannot go. It’s too dangerous for too many people. There is somewhere else you can go, somewhere you can receive help, and bring another force to Commenor to rescue your people.”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori nodded in regards to the Jedi. "Some of them are alright. Even my snotface brother hangs around them most of the time. I think that one is his girlfriend." She scrunched her nose at the thought of her brother [member="Caedyn Arenais"] getting all kissy-face with someone. So gross!

She put on a brave face when [member="Yasha Mantis"] spoke of her Mom and her fate. "Yeah!
If they hurt my Mom, we'll get after them so hard, they won't know what hit them! POW!! I could even chase them down with my new ship while they try to run on foot!" Lori grinned as she pictured it.

A look of surprise came on her face as Reyn appeared. She wiggled her fingers and smiled brightly. "Hi there little cuz! Aren't you cute? Such pretty blue eyes too." They reminded her of the eyes of [member="Kaine Australis"] . A secret child? Did Yasha adopt him? Adoptions ran rampant in the Mandalorians from what she knew. And her big older brother [member="Bradshaw Ku"] was adopted too! But that was long before her Mom was put into Clan Raxis.

Her rambling thoughts were put to a halt when Yasha explicitly told her not to go home. Politics, war, they were concepts that her young mind hadn't fully grasped yet. Not even after the siege. She furrowed her brows, lowering her head a little as it seemed that she wasn't allowed to see her Mom for a very long time. "Where do you want me to go? My Dad sent me here to see where you all stood. Kaine can only speak for himself. And given that it was a Mandalorian that caught my Dad in battle and brought him to Sith Emperor Buttface, he doesn't trust you guys. Are you going to help us free my Mom and free my home?"

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I’ve yet to meet a single Jetii who was alright… the only ones who believe in the Force who have ever been good to me are the Sith. The Jeti killed my People, and caused Adara’s premature death, Lori. Trusting such monsters is…” Yasha clenched her fist until the skin went white, then released it with a slow hissing exhale. “If you say some would not kill me on sight, I would give them a chance.”

Shaking her head with the beginnings of a smile, Yasha put her forehead on [member="Loreena Arenais"]’ hair and squeezed the girl’s shoulders. “Honey pie, if they hurt your Mom, millions of people on either side will die. War between the Mandalorians and the Sith is not something to take lightly. It would be mutual genocide, and Carnifex and I know it. The destruction caused would neither be gentle, nor repairable. Entire civilizations and planets would crumble into mass graves, entire cultures silenced into death. I cannot go to war, without it being of the gravest danger to my People, little lark. It would be the death of us… what few people who could be saved, would scatter, on all sides, and the Galaxy would crumble.”

In the horror of such potential destruction, a little boy curled up on his mother’s lap. Reyn peeked out from his mop of brown hair, familiar blue eyes glancing at Lori’s face.

“Hi. Hi Lormeema I’m Ram’ika! I’m stwong like Baba and Buir!” He attempted to flex, then bursting into a roguish smile. His father’s smile. “No cute. Strong. No cute.”

Yasha brushed his hair away from his face and kissed his cheek, trying to ease the blow of not going home. “Can I tell you a secret? Nobody knows, so you have to promise not to say anything to anybody.”

Waiting to see Loreena’s nod, Yasha whispered. “Kain’ik is family, Lori… we’re a family. He’s my best friend, my confidante, and he gave me a beautiful son. We didn’t mean to, it was an accident, but we love each other dearly, and he’s family. So, you trust the heck out of him. He’s always going to do right by every one of us. Just like he does right by his kids.”

Cradling Reyn in her lap, Yasha sighed and looked out to the throne room, with its’ beams of light cast upon the marble floor. “Sabarene, Lori. Sabarene has Baiko’s Echani family, and they’re warriors that specialize in destroying Dark Siders. They’re powerful and capable. I know who gave your Dad up. You have to understand, Alkor was hired to fight in that battle, and Veiere was on the wrong side of it. It is a Mandalorian’s duty to fulfill their contract, and to stay neutral for aruetise business, unless hired to come in. To be honest, Lori, we don’t trust your father either. He conspired with a man, who once attempted to kill all of us, to conquer Mandalore and was only pushed back by Death Watch. This man came to Mandalore asking me to join him against the Sith, completely ignoring the fact he once attempted to murder my People.”

Standing to her feet, Yasha nodded Lori to follow her down through the Palace, to a monumental wall filled with Mandalorian Cubist Murals of the past and battles.

“I petitioned [member="Manu Xextos"] and the Echani of Sabarene to help Commenor. Xextos defeated the Sith Empire of years past, he knows how to do so again. As for me, I can give certain helps, and I can continue to work with Carnifex to remove the Sith forces. Truthfully, Lori, I’d managed to negotiate the complete release of the System, but then the Commenori Navy ran the blockade. I was too late to stop it… and the recent rebellions haven’t helped. Carnifex will have no choice but to clench harder with every act of violence.

One cannot defeat a Sith with war. One cannot defeat a Sith with conflict, that is their fuel and their hymn. They will always be more vicious and more violent than you, and your father’s admonition of killing the Zambrano family, down to the last child, wins no favours. Tell me how a rebel can be noble, while murdering children?”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"My family wouldn't hurt you. And we're Force users. I'm one too and Kaine knows it, Jaster knew it. My Dad is taking me under his wing. I asked him to so that I could save him and we'd be together....But now it's safer for him to send us away. It's not fair!" Lori hadn't really cried since the whole ordeal began and she didn't want to. She just kept it all bottled up inside. One day it might come out when she least expected it. But at least right now she had some control.

She put on a brave little smile as Reyn introduced himself. "Hi Ram'ika. You're going to be a lot bigger and stronger than me. I bet that you'll be able to pick me up soon with those strong arms of yours!" He was a good little distraction.

Lori tilted her head to the side a bit as [member="Yasha Mantis"] asked her to keep a secret. "Sure I will. I promise. And I always keep my promises." Well, except for promising not to prank someone. But that was ENTIRELY different. She nodded a little as she listened, but found the secret to be strange. Not unheard of from what she had learned while under Jaster's guardianship, but just unusual for her family. "He's only hurt me during a spar. But that's expected. I did WAY worse to him." She snickered as she remembered the trap she set for him in his tent. "You should ask him about the time I redecorated his tent for him."

It was time to be serious now though as Yasha began telling her of where she is to be sent next. And about [member="Veiere Arenais"] . "That's...kind of dumb.
You both want the same thing, to free Commenor and my Mom. It's the same goal. It'd be silly to not talk and plan together. Or is this all just some big grown up thing that I can't understand?"

Lori got to her feet and followed her cousin. Politics was stupid. It just killed people and made wars. Life could be so much simpler and fun without it. "Oh I kniw that guy!! He came to my Dad's ship and met with everyone. I kinda zoned out for some of the talking, but I remember him." She frowned, shaking her head as Yasha spoke of her Dad and the idea that he would be killing children. "My Dad won't kill children. I already asked him about that as I thought it was what he meant too. But he won't.
And I believe him....I believe him..."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I’ve never met your father, all I’ve known of him was hurting your mother, and Aunt Kay hiring my Mando’ade to watch him, when he was turning foe… if you vouch for him, I will hear him out, but his choice in friends does not instil me with confidence.” A time to cry… While Yasha was not one to enjoy a good cry, on the tail end of Commenor’s defeat and Baiko’s death, Yasha sobbed in [member="Kaine Australis"]’ arms until she was dry. He held her as she shook, smoothing her hair and whispering in her ear. “We can get you training, Lori. You’ll see your family again… listen. I lived thirteen years in Hell. The place where people go, when they die, if they don’t become One with the Force, or become part of Manda. You know what I learned there?”

Hugging her son to her lap, Yasha put her other arm around [member="Loreena Arenais"]. “We never lose the ones we love. They’re always with us, beyond time, place, plane and catastrophe. Distance isn’t a deterrent, just like death isn’t. We, who follow Manda, the Collective Soul, have nothing to fear in battles, or distance or anything. The worst thing which can happen to us, is becoming part of paradise. Something the Sith are incapable of understanding, is the one thing a god told me the day he stripped my soul…

… Life wins. The act of creation can never be defeated. New life will always come of old pains. I can’t understand your world, or the Force you and Kain’ik and Adara wield. That part of me is gone.”

Ram’ika gave a saucy grin and picked up her hand, flopping it down. “I’m gonna be as tall as a tree and as strong as Baba and Ambrose! Grrr!”

“Yes you are, my little pup… oh you redecorated Kain’ik’s tent, did you? I hope you got him good. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.” Yasha grinned, then sighed and walked the mural gallery. The history of Mandalore, and recent events filtered across the murals. None of them were particularly happy, or bloodless sights. Only two, the terraforming of Mandalore, and the Wue'gi Vod Council's installation, were peaceful.

“Mandalore was only newly out of the hands of those who used us as cannon fodder, Lori. I’ve worked for years to take us away from the yokes of our oppressors. My responsibility is to my People. Commenor time and again refused to name themselves Mando’ade, and that binds my hands against outright war, unless I want to forfeit millions of my Vode. Many of my ruling council believe that the acts of Commenor were independent actions, in which we should not involve ourselves, for to do so would be to go against the Non-Aggression Pact, which keeps us safe. That removes several Clans, who could help, unless I make a war of it. I can continue to work on Carnifex to release your mother, but conflict itself is what he wants, and your father is playing directly into it. He wants compulsive and continuous battle, because he believes that alone makes the universe function. Any use of force against him will be met with harsher and more terrible consequences until everything is broken and Commenor is glass. The only way to defeat the hold on Commenor is to make the ordeal too costly, too resource heavy for the flack he would get at home. Or, make it not worth his time, so the Sith lose interest. These ideas of little battles… they only entice them. I was so close… so fething close. If only I’d gotten to the negotiations, but without your mother they never took place.”

Yasha’s eyebrow rose, she stood in front of a mural of the dead, women, infants, gnarled figures seemingly drifting through space clutching at their throats, and each other. “You don’t sound so convinced. I’ve seen what desperation does to Jetise, on Mirial, Ession, Barataria, Roche. This is the commemoration of Roche. Where Jetise and Republic villains threw Mandalorian women, children and elderly into space. Hundreds… innocent hundreds dead, for the Jedi and their… desperation. You’re asking me to trust the same people who did this, who murdered my people in their Dominion, who refused to allow my and Adara’s rescue on Barataria. Without Jaster’s timely appearance, Adara and I would be dead, all for the Jetise. For those, who hate us, distrust us, vilify the actions of my government to maintain independence from all others. I love your mother, I love Commenor, but going to war with Kaine Zambrano would mean destroying the peace I won my People, and we have only recently recovered from our own cataclysm.

For you, I will meet with your father, but I will not slaughter millions of my people, for a foreign campaign led by those who would murder and distrust us. Those who once joined with others that murdered my People now ask for my help… I will see Aunt Kay freed, Lori. The most effective way I can, but every whisper of rebellious action isn’t helping me petition Carnifex for your mother’s and peoples’ freedom. I will do what I can and I will help you to Sabarene, where you will be safe, where you will learn even more. There is a temple on that desert world, one where Kain’ik trains. Go there… but not yet. I have more I can do for you… and perhaps you can convince me, yet.”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Hearing eachother out is a start. Thanks!" Both [member="Yasha Mantis"] and [member="Veiere Arenais"] didn't trust eachother. And in her young mind she couldn't grasp it all as to why. It wasn't as though they went after eachother.

She leaned against Yasha as her arm was wrapped around her, listening to the tale of the afterlife. What happened to the people of Munto City? Were they all together? Or with their families that weren't there at the time, haunting them like ghosts? She wondered what Munto City looked like now. Maybe one day she'll go, but not right now. It was far too dangerous.

She followed along beside her first and second cousins, looking to the murals on the walls. It was all so much different from her Palace at home. But then again, Commenor wasn't a warrior culture.

Lori understood a bit about the art of neutrality. The reasins that Yasha were giving for not directly helping Commenor were the same types of arguments that she had heard her Mom give while growing up. It seemed kinda silly.

She blinked and looked up at Yasha curiously as a sudden thought came to mind. "Maybe Emperor Buttface is only interested in Commenor because you are, and my Dad.
If you say a lack of conflict makes him not care anymore, then maybe...I dunno...maybe we should all just...break away for a bit. You said my Mom was safe and that they won't hurt her. So she should be okay. She wants us to stay away already, so maybe this is her plan?"

Lori looked to the final mural, her hand reaching out to touch the image of a little girl. She held it there while Yasha spoke, taking in deep breaths as tears threatened to fall. After her Dad attacked the Temple of Deneba, both her and her brother heard the whispers and namecalling by others whenever they happened by. It was mean. "My Dad wasn't there. He didn't do that. And my Mom, she was a part of the Republic government when Roche happened. Are you mad at her for it too? She was more a part of it than my Dad was." She slid her hand off the mural and wiped at her cheeks as she sniffled. "My Dad is my family. He's not a Jedi anymore. You can't blame him for what others did.
People make mistakes and we're supposed to not repeat them or copy them. There are bad Mandalorians too that have also slaughtered and murdered people. So...so...it's not as though everyone else is innocent.
Everyone does bad things at times."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“You’re welcome honey pie.” A sad twist to Yasha’s lips cast doubt on her pretty face. [member="Veiere Arenais"] was the chaotic link in the Commenor Royalty’s chain, a man Yasha knew by reputation as a brawler, of whom Kay hired Mandalorians to watch in case he fell to the mysterious Dark Side everyone warned her about.

Fathers did that sort of thing, in Yasha’s experience. They fell to mental illness, or the disease of spiritual flesh, abandoned their children, or fell to battles which marred them. Even [member="Gray Raxis"] was stricken by grief to the point where his and Baiko’s twins nestled with Adara and Reyn here in the Palace. Yasha had so few answers for [member="Loreena Arenais"] when it came to such things as family. All she really knew of proper families Yasha learned from [member="Kaine Australis"], and Gray.

“Emperor Buttface… Hah! Kaine would hate that, probably raise an eyebrow.” Yasha shook her head at the wonderful freedom of her cousin’s tongue.

It struck her then, that Yasha never had such freedoms with her vocabulary, with Baiko and Ra around. Every word was chosen, selected and tempered by both the debilitation of her difficulty learning the Basic and Mando’a languages, and the strict upbringing.

“Do you know why the Sith Emperor assaulted Commenor?” Yasha took in a deep breath and continued to walk through the murals, until coming to more recent ones. “Your father was sloppy. He continued to antagonize the Sith Empire, while showing his face. When your mother took in the aruetise refugees from the Galactic Alliance, it made Commenor the perfect target to prove that Carnifex was still interested in protecting them and punishing the ones, who forced their hand. Or, perceived to force their hand. The moment Carnifex proclaimed that the Galactic Alliance belonged to him, taking in the refugees was an act of war. A theft of Sith resources. Pair that with your father’s recent company biting at the Sith fingers, and only a miracle of Manda could have saved Commenor. I almost did it, Lori… I almost had it, but in the end, once Commenor bit back, they signalled to the big Sith dog that they were capable of being taken by the neck and shaken till dead. You cannot antagonize the Sith and expect a positive result. That is their game, and their prayer. If Aunt Kay stays out of trouble, and the rebels stop those pitiful little acts, the Sith won’t escalate. I fear… I fear who Carnifex will bring in to quell the rebellions.

You are not prepared for them, yet.”

Pursing her lips, Yasha switched Reyn on her other hip and sighed. “I have no love of the Jetise. You are the first trained in their ways I’ve met who did not instantly shoot at either me, or my People. When those who proclaim themselves Holy do nothing but condemn me, I wonder why they then expect me to allow my warriors to die for their business… show me they can be civil. I hate those who committed the genocide at Roche. Some hide in Silver space. Others are gone… but I will meet with your father… for Commenor I would bleed. I can still protect Aunt Kay, and work to release the vicious holdings.”

“Do you see this mural here?” A girl-child stood dwarfed by a canid warrior of massive proportions, grey and hulking. His lupine shadow cast over the girl and bathed her in crimson. The girl held her palms up, skulls and beskads falling from open hands. Small, in comparison to the other murals, it led to a larger mural of a young woman holding a warhammer, standing atop a pile of writhing conquered bodies, a wolf-helm atop her head.

“Each skull and beskad is a life I took doing the Undying’s business. These were not slavers, or enemies, but the vode who stood against my guardian. I remember.” Pointing at a beskad in her younger self’s hand, the notches in the blade soured Yasha’s expression further. “My uncle spoke my name so softly. A wolf training a cub. I leapt on the man, stunned by our entrance. My tomahawk hacked down and down and down and down until his body laid in a tangle on the floor. I was eight years old, doing my duty by Mand’alor the Undying. He commanded me to keep trophies of my kills, the comment of an adult to keep a child from seeing too much what she accomplished in battle, and I did as asked, laying them in his hands with apologies… would that I had more trophies to give. Give me another chance, and I’ll do better.

Do not abandon me for being small.” The irony was her father did abandon her, leaving Mandalore while she was no older than thirteen. “I will not blame your father for others’ actions, Lori. He is accountable for his, and his subordinates’… as I was responsible for mine. I’m twenty five, Lori.

I’ve been one of the rulers of Mandalore since I was twelve. They ask much of me and give little, their request that I hold their lives as sacredly as I hold my own. You are right. I cannot blame your parents for the past. But I can be cautious of a man I have yet to meet. They are not my lives to give. All the Clans self-govern, and most will not rise to Commenor’s defence.

There is no such thing as innocence, anymore.”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori scrunched up her nose. She didn't care what Emperor Buttface thought of what she called him. He was a homewrecker! Someone to stay away from and never trust. Whenever she saw him on the holoscreen, she'd pretend to squish his head in between her fingers.

She tried to follow along as [member="Yasha Mantis"] explained her thoughts on why Carnifex attacked Commenor. Why they hold her Mom hostage instead of just kicking her out was another mystery to the young teenager. Grown up thinking was stupid. Lori hoped to not be so blind when she grew up.

"Prepared for who? Are they gonna turn Commenor into a slave colony?" Her Mom wouldn't like that at all. And nor would the Commenori. But that was all speculation.

Lori smirked as Yasha said she was trained in the Jedi ways, nearly laughing. "I'm not a Jedi, nor do I have their training yet. My Dad is no longer one too.
I'm just getting Force training, though we haven't had time to do much yet. But I showed him a neat trick that I taught myself to do when I was little! I can show it to you after! My Dad was super impressed!"

Then she approached the mural that seemed to explain Yasha's story. Lori frowned at the thought. She couldn't imagine killing anyone, let alone at such a young age. Their two childhoods and worlds were completely different from one another. Cultural differences, more than anything.

But as for their being no innocence, Lori begged to differ, yet she didn't say anything. Her own world was still innocent. She had never killed, never been harmed outside of spars, and although she barely got away from the siege, she wasn't scared or different. She also hadn't kissed a boy yet, not that she planned to. No dpubt her brother would make fun of her if he found out.

"My Dad will find a way for us to get home safe. I'm sure of it. He'll just need some help. Doesn't have to be everyone either, cause it's dangerous and many are scared of Emperor Buttface, right?" The Sith Emperor was so tall it seemed. Lori wondered if he wore platform boots or stilts of some kind. Yeah. That made sense.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“There are worse things to turn Commenor into than a slave colony. For every action committed against the Sith, they will return it two-fold. We shall pray they do not cut their losses and glass the entire place.” Yasha watched as Lori’s enthusiasm continued to infect the Palace. [member="Loreena Arenais"] was a joy built by the loving parental guidance of a true nurturer’s heart. [member="Lady Kay"] and [member="Veiere Arenais"] loved their children in a way Yasha’d never experienced until [member="Gray Raxis"] came into her life.

Even Baiko, whom she lost too soon, treated Yasha like a little ruler in training, she was abrupt, even harsh with Yasha. Never allowing the child a moment of her own without some form of regimentation.

“You will learn, hopefully in a good many years, that Darth Carnifex is a Sith who can act in both reason and the following of his own laws. Many of his ilk are to be feared much, much more for their lack of restraint.”

Shaking her head at Lori’s continued push for Force Training, Yasha reached over and furrowed the girl’s hair. “I’m sure he was. Perhaps we can go to Concordia and you can show me there?”

A child stood, where most Mandalorians in the past would have been married adults. Sixteen was the usual age of riduurok in Mandalorian Adults, vode expected after 13 years of age to stand on their own. It was a hard life, the rate of maturity lowered to account for warfare and death… but Loreena was a child and for a moment Yasha envied her. That moment extended, a vision of what she lost being the Undying’s Little Wolf, the Hell Wolf of Manda’yaim. Even in the years with her mother in the Netherworld, Aditya was a task master, a hounding, grasping, threatening, shoving miser of her own affection.

All to make Yasha fit. All to make Yasha a ruler in what little time Aditya had left to teach her.

“Emperor Zambrano is terrifying to most. I’ve only felt scared of him once… and that was when he hurt Commenor. I don’t remember being scared of much, I was never allowed it. Fear… it poisoned the mind and restricted options, or so Mother said… but that day above Commenor, I was well terrified. I was scared speechless to make sure you and Cae were alright. If your father is on the task, he would do well to change his tactics, before he dooms Commenor to a worse fate yet. I know there are many Mandalorians who would help you, Lori. And many who refuse. That’s the way of things, the clans govern themselves and decide whether to follow my lead or not. It’s a lot like being a politician, than a queen.”

Walking on, Yasha took Lori to the small gardens between the Tihaar Hall and the offices further in.

“You never got to learn how to rule from your mother, did you? This is your first diplomatic assignment? Isn’t it?”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori scrunched up her nose. So Emperor Buttface made his own rules? No wonder they were easy for him to follow. And according to her, he weaseled around them like a snake. She hoped that by the time that she grew up, he'd be gone! Poof! Or made to be so small that he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. "Well I'm not afraid of him. I'm not scared of anyone." She had no reason to. Even when her planet was overrun and she had to flee, Lori wasn't afraid of anyone in particular.

She took hold of her hand as [member="Yasha Mantis"] spoke of being afraid, trying to give her what comfort she could. "I don't think that my Dad wants to wait forever. It could take years and years and years for Emperor Buttface to leave Commenor alone. It could be long after my parents are dead. And then what? How long would you wait if someone took over your planet? How long could you stay away and leave your family there as hostages?" Lori didn't expect to get any answers. Adults were funny that way.

The question on learning to rule was met with a shake of her head. "No, Mom and Dad let my brother and me choose our own stuff to do. That's why I went off with Jaster and Cae went off with the Jeda'ii. We went to study what we were interested in. So yeah, this is my first diplomatic mission. How'm I doing so far?"

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“That’s ‘cause you’ve never met him, silly girl.” Yasha laughed, running her hand over [member="Loreena Arenais"]’ head. “Although I’ve only been scared of him once. Fear’s not so great. Better be fearless like you. Brave’alor the Lori”

“Long enough to know my enemy, Lori. Your father is going forth without intel, and if your mother is safe momentarily, then we should use that time to find every possible means of rescue for her and Commenor. It took months, nearly a year for Death Watch to usurp Monroe. We waited until our support was firm. I was away from Mandalore for months, barely aware my mother was dead throwing me to a man, who took me in his arms and ran for our lives. I know it’s hard to wait and you want your mother again. We’ll figure it out, and you’re going to help.”

Setting Reyn down to run around the garden, Yasha sat on a bench and shrugged. “My first diplomatic mission was meeting Darth Carnifex and the Sith Empire Masters with Ra… got a head-pat from the Dark Lord… Baiko was specific about me having to do everything exactly right. You’re doing okay. Making your point, listening deeply, and… well, I can see the emotion on your face, so that needs work, but we’ll get you there. Best part of diplomacy is giving a little bit at a time. Never all of it all the way at once. You want to build connections, and you’re doing that fantastically well. What did Jaster get to teach you? How to shoot, how to fly, all that?”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Haha! Brave'alor the Lori. That's MUCH better than what my brother could come up with! My nickname for him is Snotface." She giggled until she snorted. Lori used it in all of her communications with him. The two were super close, but hadn't been since he first left home to go and train. She tried to fit inside of his suitcase and go with him, but she was discovered before they even left the door. Maybe it was how heavy she was in his case. He had wanted her to go with him too, but she wasn't allowed. That had made her angry for a time. But she was over it now.

"But how do you know that he's going without any intel? Maybe that's what he's doing now. From what I can figure out, he's just looking to see who he can trust and who he can't. Plus he wants to know what resources he can use. We're all on the run when we should be together. It's just not fair. But I'll tell him to not rush into anything, if that'll help. He might listen. I dunno."

She glanced around the garden for a moment before taking a seat beside [member="Yasha Mantis"] . "I have to hide my face? Is that why you wear one? So that people can't see what you're feeling? It'd be SUPER hard for me to hide what I feel about what happened. I can't look like it doesn't bother me, because it DOES." The whole thing about politicians and leaders taking advantage of such a thing was lost on her for she'd never have experienced it before. Never had she seen it either. But her Dad holds in his emotions. Maybe with more training, she'd learn to do so too.

"Jaster taught me some engineering and yes, how to fly! I also learned some shooting and hand to hand combat. I've fought in tournaments and made it to the second round in each! Isn't that wicked? Kaine says I'll be a tough one to beat when I grow up."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Brave’alor the Lori you are, then!” Yasha genuinely broke into a laugh, truly smiling for the first time since [member="Loreena Arenais"] got to Mandalore and her Palace. “Snotface Arenais… has a brilliant ring to it, if you ask me. I hear brothers are snotfaces anyway.”

The smile faded, yet the burgeoning happiness of having family around her neither faded nor dissipated.

“He’s moving too quickly, without all the pieces yet in play… and yes, that does suck. It’s not fair that you’re separated from your aliit, Lori. It’s a terrible thing and you are terribly brave to handle it. I know I am no replacement for your beloved sibling and parents, but I do hope you can be happy with Mandalore as a safe haven, as well. Not your only one, I know you have many tasks on your agenda, but one of them. Be welcome here. Anytime. My sister [member="Zelen Raxis"] is near your age, she is coming from Concordia, perhaps you two would get along? Two spunky girls, you could conquer worlds with your smiles.” Setting Reyn down to play in the garden, Yasha leaned back and put her palm on the stone bench around Loreena’s far side.

“Yes. I keep my face a mystery from most as a form of masking my emotions. I’m an emotional woman, Lori, and emotions do us credit, but in negotiations we must hide them behind a veil. That way, nobody can take unfair advantage of us. And when I cannot trust that my face will be civil and staid, I wear my helmet…” Nudging her shoulder against Lori’s, Yasha smirked and winked. “It helps that it’s a terrifying helmet, too. The Aruetise fear Mandalorians. They never know what or who we are, but always suppose we’re simple. When you cannot read someone’s facial expressions, you lose a great deal of context and have less to manipulate. So, for you? Negotiate in your armour, with buy’ce on. Be proud of your heritage and your Clan. You do not have the advantage of time or severe training in the arts of negotiation, not like I did with Baiko drilling it into me everyday. I was twelve during my first serious negotiation, and I tried my hardest to keep my face as neutral as possible. It didn’t work… I was terrible at it. Figured it out with time.”

Yasha smirked, if that was what Jaster and Kain’ik were teaching the girl, perhaps there was one more thing Lori could deign to learn from her cousin.

“Have you ever used a sword?”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Oh my gosh, they TOTALLY are!!" Lori had first hand experience. She wasn't so sure if [member="Yasha Mantis"] did. Her words suggested as much.

Then the topic went to [member="Veiere Arenais"] again. Whether he was moving too quickly or not, she didn't know. But she believed in her Dad. Sure he's made mistakes, but everyone does from time to time. She's made them too.

"I can be happy here at times. It's just not going to be full happiness until my family and home are safe. Travelling won't be so easy either. I gotta watch out." No doubt her family's enemies were keeping an eye out for them, and not in a good way. But it wouldn't be for all time. They had far bigger fish to fry.

Lori smiled a little at the idea of being around someone her own age. That didn't happen often. "That'd be neat, thank you. If it only took a smile to conquer a world, that'd be such an AWESOME power to have!" And it would. No war. She'd just win their hearts. Perfect!

Her brows furrowed as she listened to Yasha talk about keeping expressions neutral during negotiations. Fortunately Lori hadn't had to do any negotiations. The fact that she was merely 16 was enough for people to want to take advantage. Most people that she had met were at least twice her age. So she'd already be at the losing end of one in her mind, at least. "Well, I don't think that I'll be put into that kind of situation. I'm not a leader and I'm the last in line to be one.
So that leaves me free to do whatever I'd like. I don't have a helmet yet. But one day I will make my own, and my own armour too."

To her last question, Lori shook her head. "Nope. Just blasters and my fists. Oh! And my feet!" There wasn't much of a need for her to use a sword. She didn't get into battles, afterall. She was kept protected and away from them.