One Day at a Time

[Laira Darkhold]

Dawn broke and Draco wiped sleep from his eyes. He had already been awake for a few hours, the twins woke up screaming about four in the morning and Faith had prodded him. The early mornings weren't the fun part of parenting, but the long days spending time with them in and around the palace were worth it. Most of the time.

Today there wasn't much going on, and Ana was willing to help watch the twins for a few hours while Draco checked in on the Kindred that lived in the Juran Mountains. The rustic village was about one hundred families strong with the wooden homes surrounding the Long House, sheds, granaries, and livestock living in small fences or roaming around the village. The people there were strong warriors, wearing leather and furs as the snow fell from the sky. The older men were readily identifiable with long braided beards and grizzled features. Almost everyone had a beskad slung across their backs, and many wore greaves, sabatons, and gauntlets with their clothes and cloaks.

Draco walked up to the lodge, the largest building with several very old men and women sitting in armor and furs on the porch. The Ancients, those too old or too wounded to keep going on raids and into pitched battle that had retired from the battlefield. They now acted as the defenders of the Kindred.

Nearby the phrik mine the Kindred used occasionally to supplement their stores of Beskar sat waiting for him. With the winter having set in there was little farming to do, and so mining and forging was the task of the season.

The warlord sat on the porch along side the older men, being handed a flask and a cigar while he waited on the old man from Clan Rekali to visit him. Until then the old men would swap war stories and talk about the good old days when they were young and strong.

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Vereen and Rekali had strong bonds.

Elijah, his boy, had saved Faith's... sister? Niece? He didn't recall right now, that entire affair has been quite hush-hush and even to him he hadn't said much. But that was fine. The youth needed their little secrets and Sam never pressed much. In truth Eli didn't need him these days. A fine lad, structured, disciplined and always willing to work hard to provide food on the table. Then there was his own little relationship with Faith's mother- he had guarded her for a time, the first time around that Alderaan tried to join the Clans.

Things hadn't gone their way, neither the joining nor the relationship, but there was little hard feelings.

It took time, for the best things. Then there was just the general feel-good feelings of the two Clans working together time and time again. Nah, Sam liked Draco, good enough man. Straight-forward and staunch in his beliefs. Didn't waiver much and cared for his own.

Those were the thoughts weaving in and out of Sam's mind as he walked off the ramp of his old, crappy ship and started wandering the village proper. High up in the mountains and the air felt like it- he should have convinced [member="Fennec"] to get out of the ship and walk with him to Draco. But the little lass had another one of her little projects.

He didn't have the heart to force her away from it.

"Oya." Sam finally called out, once he saw Draco and his fellow Clansmen sitting on the porch of the town's lodge. They were drinking, partaking in stories. It was quiet and peaceful- Old Man Rekali liked it.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

As Samael came walking up through the snow, wind whistling through the evergreen trees, the older men turned away, leaving Draco be and returning to their own conversations quietly. "Oya mate." Draco answered in response, pulling himself out of the chair on the porch of the Lodge.

Rekali and Vereen had strong bonds, probably the closest bonds Vereen had with any other clan. Rekali and Vereen had been together through Kashyyyk, raiding its shipyards and liberating the world from the Republic Remnant's grasp. Rekali and Vereen had worked together for years. Mining operations, raids, building projects such as the Ruus'ika. Rekali had even helped Draco during his redemption, in his greatest time of need. Ember's death had wounded Draco some, but in the end, the old man was where he wanted to be.

"How are you old man?" Samael was quite a bit older than Draco, Ember's younger brother. "Thanks for coming this far out of the way." The wind howled across the mountains, sending a chill through the village.

"I asked you to come out here to see how your lads were doing. I'd ask Alec, but you know how busy she is these days and well. I'm a new father, I'm kind of looking for some advice from someone who knows what its like." In a perfect world he'd have asked Ember, who despite having lost all his children to war had invaluable experience he could share, probably a decent list of what to do and what not to. Instead, Samael would do. He was a good man, related to Ember, and had been close to Faith's family in a way Ember never had.

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

"Don't mention it, Draco." Before clasping hands in the old warrior grasp. Then they settled themselves down on the porch again, where Sam shrugged and pondered for a moment at the questions posed. In the meanwhile the simple one could be answered right away.

"I am alright. Starting to wonder why you're all up in the mountains with this weather though." A wry smile was shared. The cold was biting him down the bone, but they were Mandalorians were they not?

A little bit of cold wouldn't kill them.

"Elijah is strong. Independent. He travels the Galaxy and faces its problems without qualm." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Reminds me a bit of his mother, she was also quite wilful."

"Fennec... ah, she is still a young lass. Still doesn't talk, not a word, not even now, but she is will make one heck of an engineer if she doesn't blow herself up with her tinkering." Fen wasn’t his, but Sam never made that distinction, not outloud nor in his head.

For all intents and purposes she was his daughter and that was all that mattered to him.

"What advice do you need then?" He asked, while calmly studying the workers moving in and out of the mines farther away. They were carrying valuable ore by the looks of it... ah, so that's why they where all up high in the mountains.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Oh, the village is out and away from the Alderaanians. They don't like having armored Mandalorians walking around carrying guns and blades through their cities much. Plus, the village is built right near a Phrik mine. Good hunting in the fall, good planting and farming in the spring and summer down in the vale. Good mining in the winter." The village was one of a few that stayed on Alderaan, all of them were self-sufficient, never asking for anything, staying to themselves, and ruled themselves.

A few mandalorians walked around carrying small baskets of raw ore back and forth, others moving about with pickaxes and other simple mining tools. There didn't seem to be much technology in the village, though the lights turned on, and each homestead seemed to be insulated and have heating. It was just most of life's luxuries due to modern technology was limited or absent from the little village.

"Glad to hear the kids are doing well. I've mostly got some questions. Like how long was it before you got a solid night's sleep." He chuckled at that, not the most important thing, but something that was on his mind given his current routine. That was probably the most notable change in Draco's life. Things with Faith were fine, other than the occasional berating about his socks or not changing enough diapers. They remained passionate enough together, even with the children around they still managed. It was just the waking up several times a night and rising before dawn to take care of them.

"You wanna step over to the forge and warm up while we chat?" Draco asked as one of the Mandalorians sat a basket of ore on the porch before them.

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

"Can't imagine why." Sam replied dryly, before nodding to the last suggestion. They stood up and walked, while he tried to think back to those early days with Eli and how things had gone.

Nights without sleep, diapers and lots of crying.

He patted Draco on the shoulder. "Hah, I foresee many sleepless nights in front of you, lad. But honestly it all depends on the child themselves. I'd say until they turn five and after that... pray to the Manda that they got an independent spirit. Then it's just every other night, but at that point you are so ingrained towards focusing on your child... it's like second nature."

A shrug followed.

"They don't even need to cry and you are already there for them."

It wasn't the stereotypical Mandalorian way, but few people truly pursued that path with their own children. They just talked loudly when the drinks were heavy in their hands and the thrill of the blood was high.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

With a slight laugh Draco responded to the older man. "Aye, up before dawn almost everyday it seems. I grab naps when I can cause I'm trying to stay home with the kids as much as I can." Except for days like this, his absence from the Palace was restricted. The warlord grabbed up the basket of stone and ore off the porch as they made their way across the snow covered path to the building that poured smoke into the sky. The building was warm, hot even compared to the chilly, wind swept mountain air.

"It'll be good once they get older. I'm looking forward to that part, hunting, fishing, training, and playing out in the yard with them. Faith and I have agreed not to push them in either direction, not to make them pick between being Mandalorian or Alderaanian. I think I've worn her down to let me make sure they all have basic survival, combat, and Force skills." Yes, already their presence in the Force was strong. Draco had been the first in his family for generations to develop Force sensitivity, but Faith's family had several members, even she had some connection to the Force.

Draco tipped the basket over and dumped ore into the old fashion smelter for it to heat. It took time to smelt ore down to raw metal and burn out the impurities from the phrikite ore before all the additives could be mixed in to make the phrik alloy. Blacksmithing was one of his hobbies, one of the things he could just sit down and do to clear his mind and be at rest.

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Sam nodded seriously at that.

"Good. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those purists who believe that every child of Mandalore needs to become a warrior. But the basics of the Resol'nare are important -- not because it's our way of life, but because it teaches us how to live life and stay alive." His eyes unfocused for a moment as he thought about all the people they had lost across the years. Was a bit ironic, perhaps. But even now Sam fully believed that the core tenants of the Resol'nare aided them. How to fight, to wear armor and never forget who their family was.

It avoided situations like Clan Raxis and their treason.

"If there's one thing, one piece of advice I can give you; be there for them." He again nodded, to his own advice. "The younger generation is taking over the fight, we don't need to be at the frontlines anymore. Alec was lucky she had Ember after Rach." Still his favorite nephew, after all this time. So much like him, yet, so different in other ways.

"Give them space as they grow and learn and make their own mistakes, but always be there when they stumble and need you."

He settled down nearby. Felt the heat of the forge rising and it melted some of the ice around his bones, made him feel lighter on his feet again. This was good, very good.

Made him think of his pending ponder to move away from Mandalorian Space, though.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Aye, I'm looking forward to early retirement. You know how it is, more money than you know what to do with, more battles under your belt than most people alive in the galaxy. I've paid my debts to the Clans as a warrior, as a leader. Its time I made right my debts to my family as a husband and as a Father. Faith has watched me pick up and walk out the door more times than she cares to talk about, and I don't want my kids remembering me walking out the door more than they remember my face." It was traditional, most Mandalorians didn't consider early retirement a thing, to quit the battlefield and leave it all behind. As they got older, more and more warriors sought it, but so few found it in their life times.

Draco tilted the smelting pot with his bare hand. The heat of the metal pot was scalding, enough to cook flesh if not respected. Draco pulled the heat into himself, siphoning through his body and expelling it through his nostrils and mouth as he breathed out. Warmth filled the little shed as the metal poured into a mold of a long spear with a curved, weighted end and a short leaf blade. The hiss of smoke resounded through the forge and up through the vents.

"Aye, Alec was lucky to have lots of family to fall back on, but my kids. The have me, they have Faith. And they have their grandmother and grandaunt. Its not as much family around as I'd like." Faith had other family, but a surprising amount were missing or deceased, and his own family had been killed during the First Order attack on Eriadu.

The metal began to cool, slowly but surely, turning from a puddle of glowing red metal into a misshapen elongated bar to be hammered out and fleshed out. "The rest is yours if you want it mate."

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

He laughed softly.

More money than god, huh? Sam wasn't that way, never had been. After he left Mandalorian Space behind him, close after the second Sith War and the nuking of their planets... he had just drifted around. Working on ice haulers, being a guide for spacers around dangerous space environments, things like that. Crappy ships, scrappy clothing and edible food.

Even now, Sam was technically alor'ad of Clan Rekali. Meant he helped Alec where possible. This gave him some funds to do with as he pleased and Clan Rekali was positively giant these days.

But he wasn't all that comfortable with a lot of wealth.

Made a man dishonest, more often than not. It was those kind of values he tried to impart on Fennec.

"I appreciate it. I will probably be able to find some use for it." Then a shrug followed. "Once she's old enough, I will come around with Fen again. I think my girl will be happy with some female company, maybe will help her break-out more, female nurturing feelings."

Then a grin was shared.

"Besides, I still need to have a few chat with Faith's mother." If you know what I mean.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

If there was something Draco didn't want to think about it was his mother-in-law's personal affairs. Especially not while they lived in the same building from time to time. Yeah, Draco and Faith spent months at their homestead out of the way on Aldera, but with her being Crown Princess they often saw Arianna. "Oh, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you next time you make it out."

Draco waved a hand at the old man, waving the thought away. "Aye, I'll make sure the twins get out and see the friends I still have once they are old enough. Don't want them too closed off from the world." Draco had done that once before and it hadn't worked out so well in the end. That part of his life was over and a new chapter begun.

Draco took up a hammer and set to work on the anvil, banging metal against metal, hammer resounding through the forge, ringing into the cold mountain air. Fire glowed and metal heated and cooled. Lightning and flames burst from Draco's fingers at different intervals into the metal rod as he shaped it slowly but surely. Winding, twisted metal appeared in his hands as the weapon shaped into the leaf-tipped spear.