"Let go of me you kriffing idiots!" a young girl screams kicking ferociously. The two men dragging her just laugh and pull her towards a cage. Throwing her into a metal cage, she hurls herself towards the door as they lock it. She screams curses at them, they taunt her for a little while before leaving the room.
The young girl hits the side of the metal cage until her fists bleed. After several hours she gives up and starts looking for another way out. She finds a small scrap of metal and starts shaping it to a point. Another prisoner watches her from another cage.
"Whatcha doing?" the Twi'lek prisoner asks, fitting her blue arms through the holes in her cage. She's a couple years older than the human girl. Her violet eyes watch the human girl with curious mischief. She has a cheerful smile for someone locked in a cage.
"I'm not staying here," she says, when she looks up the Twi'lek girl is out of her cell and standing outside of hers. "How'd the hell you do that?"
"Name's Vette," the Twi'lek laughs, "Want out?" She unlocks the human girl's cage.
"Thanks, I'm Atin," she smiles, "Let's get outta here." Vette grabs Atin's hand and drags her behind a stack of boxes. Revealing a small crawlspace, it leads to outside the compound to the woods.
Once outside, Atin takes the lead guiding the two girls away from their captors. Before going too far, Atin sets a trap for any would be pursuers. As she finishes up the trap the alarms sound off, signaling that they've escaped.
"Red! We ain't got time for whatever you're doing," Vette exclaims, Atin covers the trap and follows Vette. The two girls race through the woods towards what they think is civilization. They pass an Imperial transport. Blaster fire causes both girls to stop in their tracks.
"Halt!" an Imperial officer orders the girls.
"Osik," Atin curses under her breath. Both girls stop and turn to face the officer. The officer is young, with slick black hair and has a mole on his left cheek bone. Another man, in mismatch armor appears behind the Imperial Officer.
"You stupid girls!" the man shouts, Atin looks at Vette who shakes her head. Neither girl recognizes the approaching man. "I told you not to run off, it frightens the Imperials." The man gives Atin a look that tells her to play along and apologizes to the officer; whose name is Quinn.
"Sorry, uncle," Atin says looking sheepishly at the ground, not letting go of Vette's hand, "We were playing." The man approaches Atin and tells her to go back to the camp. She nods and drags Vette behind her towards the direction the man came from.
"Are you loca?" Vette asks, trying to break free from Atin's vice grip. About twenty yards away from the men, Atin banks a hard left away from everyone. The girls get about forty meters before the man in armor shouts after them.
"I thought I told you to go back to camp," he says with a knowing smile. Atin heaves a heavy sigh turning around. She gets a better look at the mysterious man, he's older in his mid-forties, his brown hair is starting to grey and his face is weathered with years of war. Something about this man is familiar to Atin. "Ad'ika, I know you, Atin." Atin looks at the man hard, she lets go of Vette's hand and steps towards the man.
"Who are you?" she asks, defiance in her voice. Her fiery red braid falls over her left shoulder, her green eyes steeled with determination.
"Tomin Ordo," he answers, kneeling in front of her, "You look so much like your mother," he says gently touching her face. "I'm sorry it took me so long to find you child." Atin steps backwards confused.
"Red, you know this guy?" Vette pipes up from behind her. Atin shakes her head stunned, her mind searches for words to understand what's going on.
"Ad'ika, you'll remember," he says, "You were very young when you went missing. I failed you and your mother." His steel grey eyes are sad, heavy with guilt and shame. "Come with me, I'll protect you." Atin looks at Vette, who holds her hands up not getting involved. Looking back at the man, something tells Atin she can trust this man.
"I'll come with you," Atin says, her voice unsure. Tomin smiles and offers to take Vette under his wing as well.
"No thanks," the Twi'lek says, emphasizing her statement by sweeping her arm in front of her. "I'll risk it on my own." She gives Atin a quick hug, Atin goes stiff before returning the gesture. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Me too, be careful," Atin tells her new friend. Tomin hands Vette a credit chip, "That should be enough to buy your way off world." Vette takes it without question.
"I owe you one," she smiles, walking backwards. "I should get going before the slavers catch up to us." The young Twi'lek darts off into the dimming woods. Atin looks over her shoulder at Tomin, hoping she's made the right choice.
Tomin leads Atin back to his makeshift camp. Leading her inside the tent he goes to a bag and pulls something from it. He hands her a necklace with a skull symbol on it.
"Do you know what this is?" he asks, locking the clasp of the precious metal chain around her neck. Atin shakes her head side to side. "It's the symbol of my people, your people. The Mandalorians, you should be with them." His voice is heavy with sadness and guilt. He explains that nearly a decade ago, there was a civil war amongst the Mandalorians. The Crusaders Schism.
A man name, Jicoln Cadera, gathered clans against Mandalore in rebellion. Jicoln's army lost, but he refused to surrender. Instead he destroyed Mandalore's flagship with his own, sacrificing many of his own clansmen. In an act of cowardice, he ran, leaving his wife and young son to bear the shame of the name Cadera.
"What about my mother?" Atin asks, listening intently wanting to believe that she belongs somewhere. That she is more than just an unwanted orphan.
"She was Cadera's right-hand woman," Tomin explains, "She was killed by a member of Clan Bralor." Atin starts nodding off, exhaustion overtaking her body. Tomin lays her down on the bed and leaves the tent. Checking the traps nearby the camp, he finds them all empty to his relief. The Imperials are making enough noise they should attract any wildlife this planet has to offer. Posting himself outside the tent, he pulls a holo-communicator from a pocket of his belt.
"Tomin, good to hear from you vod," a blue figure says on the projection, "How are you doing?"
"Canderous, I found her," Tomin tells the man on the holo, "I found Kara's little girl. She's alive."
"Thank the manda," Canderous says, "She's what, nine now? Is she anything like Kara?" Canderous yells to someone out of view that Atin is alive. A woman exclaims with joy and appears next to her husband.
"Tomin, you must bring her back to the clans," the woman says happiness in her voice, "I've been praying for her return."
"Lara, I can't do that," Tomin answers, "She wouldn't be safe, not with Salus around. Or without proving herself first." The woman nods in agreement but doesn't say anything.
"He's right," Canderous agrees, "Tomin, does she know of her heritage?" Tomin's shakes his head in reply. "Train the girl, teach her the way of the Mando'ade. Get her ready to join the hunt. When she is ready, she'll be able to join the Great Hunt. "She's already clever," Tomin laughs, "She's quick too." Canderous and Tomin strategize how to train the young warrior.
Early the next morning, Atin wakes up to the smell of wild game cooking. She pulls the heavy blanket off of her, she rubs her eyes trying to wake up. Looking around the tent she finds a change of clothes laid out for her. Changing into the leather tunic and pants, she pulls on the boots next to the clothing and exits the tent.
Tomin is hunched over a fire; it looks like he's cooking something. He glances over his shoulder and motions her to sit next to him. She joins him next to the fire, sitting a few feet from where he's sitting.
"How'd you sleep?" he asks, putting the cooked game onto a metal plate and handing it to her. Atin hesitates to take it, "It's a local bird-like creature, tastes like gizka." Cautiously, she tries it and realizes how hungry she is. Within minutes, she's finished off her plate. After cleaning up, Tomin sits next to her in front of the crackling fire.
"Atin, I have an offer for you," he begins, Atin cocks her head to the side curious. No one's given her a choice before. "I can take you in, train you, teach you how to be Mando. But you have to promise me, that you will take your place amongst them." Atin is quiet for a few minutes as she considers what he's saying.
"You'll adopt me?" she asks; Tomin shakes his head.
"Not officially, I won't take your aliit's name from you," he says, "You belong with Clan Vizla and you should have the honor of carrying their name. But I'll take care of you, if you let me." Atin closely watches the man's face, her years on the streets taught her to trust no one. But Tomin's sincerity is evident, he wants to help her, protect her.
"If you'll train me, I'll do you and Clan Vizla proud," she says, "But you tell me everything, about who I am, where I'm from, my parents. Do that and I'll follow you to the void." Even though she is young, she has an innate intuition of who to trust.
"Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it," Tomin says, sealing the pact. Atin repeats the phrase after him.
Notes:
Kriffing – Expletive (expletive modifier) [Huttese]
Osik – Dung (impolite) [Mando'a]
Loca – Crazy [Huttese]
Ad'ika – little one, son, daughter, of any age - also used informally to adults much like *lads* or *guys* [Mando'a]
Vod – Brother, Sister, Comrade *mate* [Mando'a]
Manda – the collective soul or heaven - the state of being Mandalorian in mind, body and spirit also supreme, overarching, guardian-like. [Mando'a]
Mando'ade – Mandalorians (pl) [Mando'a]
Mando – Mandalorian, adj or noun [Mando'a]
Aliit – Clan name, Identity, Family [Mando'a]
Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it – Truth, Honor, Vision – Words to seal a pact [Mando'a]
