Betna grinned at the Jedi's words. Most feared the Mandalorians. Some for the Mandalorian prowess in conflict, others for the nigh indestructible armor they wore. Most, though, feared the unknown. Mandalorians were a very private, fiercely independent culture of warriors. What the galaxy feared was the unknown more than they feared the Mandalorian people.
He thought on the Jedi Master's first words. Perhaps there would come a day for understanding between two peoples and, perhaps, it was some day soon. Not now, no, but soon. Instead of lingering on that thought, he chose to mull over his response.
"True," he said after a moment. Scarred warriors were a dime a dozen on Mandalore, but such was their culture. "When I think of Mandalorian, I think of... family."
He let his words sink in for a moment before continuing. Not out of any sense or flair for the dramatic, but to allow the other man to understand them.
"There are dozens of families in my clan that live near my wife and I on the Betna homestead. Most have children, some more, some less. There are other homesteads of my clan, both on Mandalore and abroad. Each holds many families and many children and many elders. We grow our crops, we tend to our animals, and we thrive with the seasons and our own work."
Betna thought back a moment to when his father had first found him and began raising him. Long before he learned how to fight and shoot and kill his father had taught him a different set of skills.
"My father taught me how to work the land," he said with a short sweeping gesture to the flatlands around, his palm down and his fingers level with the ground. "How to tend the beasts we kept. How to be a farmer and how to provide myself and a future family with food and warmth. Once he taught me that, he taught me how to protect it. I spent but a few years learning the craft of the farmer, but many more learning how to fight for it. Anija learned a similar way from her parents and we will teach our children the same way we have been taught. I heard a man in a bar once - a Corellian, I think - call it a... Circle. We are born, we learn, we live, we have offspring, we raise them, and if we do it right, we grow old around our loved ones."
"I am a warrior. A proud soldier of Manda'yaim. I will follow my Mand'alor to the gates of Hell and back again if he but asks... But I am also an Alor, a Chief of my clan, much as you are a Master in your Order. I am a Son, just as you are a Son of your father and mother. I am a husband, the same as many husbands across the galaxy and across species. And..." he let out a small breath. "I will be a father soon."
Betna looked up at the Jedi walking beside him and gave a slight grin.
"I might be a bit tall and scary in my armor and with what I am... but I am no different from you, Master Harrison."
[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Anija Ordo"]
