Three days. It had been 72 standard hours since he had actually said more to her than he absolutely needed to, and she was feeling a bit hurt. She had been honest with him but he was only more unsettled by her. Andora had honestly meant her apology. Yet here she was, being pushed away from someone else because she was a freak. Pirpak had helped ease the feeling, the child eager to be near her when he felt her meditate, it really all she could do right now between reading and her flute since Mando was treating her like a grenade with the pin pulled. Landing at the space port, and she was grateful for the chance to be out of the small space, and distance herself from him. She wanted to rush out of the ship, her flute strapped to her thigh, wearing simple black leggings, a red top and a grey vest over that, her blue hair braided. Andora left his knife on the ship, only taking a few credits so she would not be tempted to overspend. Finally having the chance to put distance between them was starting to weaken her control of her emotions, and she felt her anger bubbling up. Pirpak was babbling at her, but in her sour mood she couldn't muster much energy for him. She picked him up and gently put him back in the pram. He could feel her negative emotions, and she was worried she would set a bad example for him. He was too strong to have these kinds of emotions, if he used his powers while feeling like her, he could hurt someone.

"Sorry little one, but you need to stay with your Dad today. I'm sure he will be better company anyway." As soon as the ship was fully docked the loading bay opened, Mando was coming down the ladder to start their unloading. She swiftly made her exit before she had to look at him, him being so unforgiving of a true mistake on her part giving her more energy to flee. Andora left the comm link as well, ignoring his voice as she swiftly walked into the crowd of the space port. He couldn't very well grapple her here, too many bodies he would hit instead of her own. Standing a head shorter than him helped her get lost in a bundle of taller aliens. It was a full three floors of shops within the floating city space port, another floor or two probably for living quarters and the ship's own engines and other systems. The station wasn't really big enough to escape from him for long, but she needed to just be away from the tension and hurt. She could feel his energy marching behind her, the crowd parting as his imposing silhouette was trying to beeline for her. Andora had been meditating for days now, so she could push herself a little, urging the crowd to keep rank behind her. She ducked down to be below his line of sight moving off towards the elevators, getting in before he could push through the crowd.

She let the others pick the floor, feeling better that she bought herself some time away from him. In her mind she knew that when she had to return to the ship the tension would be worse, but her wounded feelings were running the choices for right now. He could do the unload and refuel himself. He was her escort, and she had been hoping to much for a chance to live at least a little of the life she had wanted. It was too late for her to don armor, she just had to refocus on her tasks. Hide the helm, and find the next suitable family or guardian to take little Pirpak. Maybe it wasn't even him she liked. Maybe it was the stress of escape and him being there in his shiny beskar. These were misplaced feelings, and she planned on getting rid of them with...something. She sighed as the elevator opened, walking out calmly as she was looking for stores to catch her interest. Andora found herself just walking, not finding anything that would spark a moment of forgetfulness. Taking a maintenance staircase to the next floor, Andora needing to burn off the energy she had from only having maybe 12 square meters to live in with a man determined to be as far away from her as possible. On the top level of the shopping district she found it was much quieter, fewer crowds, and as she looked she realized why. Higher end shops selling luxury items that most hardened space travelers wouldn't need, but the more financially secure would be interested in. Since this was a fairly busy trade route to get from the outer rim to the mid rim planets for both trade and vacationing there were still groups of people in the shops. She noticed a group of humanoids that looked sun tanned, wondering if they were stopping here after coming from the ocean planet that her and Mando had stopped at, buying little things while they waited on their ship to be ready to go home. Walking towards the observation deck Andora allowed her mind to wander as she looked out at the stars, seeing larger ships tethered to the spaceport sending out runner ships.

"Did you ever visit Jedha?" Andora barely contained her yelp at the soft voice startling her out of her unfocused star gazing, body turned towards the voice, hand on her flute, tensed and ready. "Be calm child, I did not mean to interrupt your mediation." The old man held his hands up in a show of peace, his strand of prayer beads dangling from one hand, a worn staff in the other. His wrinkled face was smiling, his back hunched a bit with his age, the monks robes a bit tattered and dirty. What little hair he still had was pale and wispy, and he had a bag slung over his shoulder with what she saw were pamphlets. "You must be the source I have been feeling on the ship for the last hour." He lowered his hands as Andora brought hers away from the innocent looking weapon.

"I am sorry Sir. I don't understand what you mean." It was a lie. But Andora wasn't exactly feeling in the mood to expose herself more to scrutiny. The aged face smiled, but not troubled by her dishonesty.

"Jedha, it is a moon in the system by the same name. A pilgrimage site for all who feel the pull of the Force as you do." The monk joined her in looking out at the stars behind the floating ships. "You need not worry, with the Empire and the Inquisitors no longer in power, we are free to speak without fear of being taken away." He handed her the pamphlet, and she took it, not looking at it, meeting his eyes in the reflection of the viewing window.

"But being connected to it can still make you a freak and alone." She was letting herself whine, despite knowing she was too old to do so.

"But it is in all living things. So are we not all freaks?" His tone was good humored, and she really was uncomfortable that she was a 32 year old woman still being lectured about her feelings. He took her silence as admission that she couldn't respond to the contradiction in her statement. "The Force is once more flowing in the Galaxy, awakening within hearts everywhere, freed from dogma. You are holding onto old fears and shames about what is a great gift. Why has this shame come to you?"

"I don't know you Sir." She said as politely as she could, not ready to examine the feelings he was probing her for.

"No, but you would have walked away if you truly did not want to find answers. Mediation helps, but we are still human, and talking with another is a great way to ease pains that mediation alone cannot. Is that not why you lashed out earlier? Wanting to be understood and feeling as alone as the stars in the darkness? Looking like they make patterns and shapes, but are light years away from each other." He motioned out at the stars with his prayer bead hand, that peaceful smile he had only came with the patience the religious attained after a lifetime of focus.

"That's not really a problem, with hyperspace travel we can reach them in days." Why she felt the need to defensively lash out at his words escaped her.

"And we have words to help our feelings travel the distance between hearts." Andora should have expected him to offer sagely wisdom to follow up her statement. Or maybe she just wanted to discount what he said because she couldn't take out her emotions on who caused them. "Perhaps you would better communicate through your music though? A safer translator?"

"I don't think I am ready to talk about it." He nodded, letting the conversation lull peacefully. He adjusted his stance, and she noticed that he seemed to be leaning on his staff. "Do you need to sit and rest Sir?"

"No, but perhaps a walk would be nice. Come join me, I haven't walked in company for a long time. Besides, it'll be hard for you to avoid your problem if you stand still." He chuckled and walked off towards nowhere in particular. Andora could just ignore the old man and continue to stand there, and he would probably be fine. With a sigh, she turned to follow after him as they walked around, the man saying nothing to her and handing out his pamphlets to people they walked by.

"Force be with you." They walked by and pretended to ignore him.

"Force be with you." Took it and tossed it in the nearest receptacle.

"Force be with you." The person sneered and walked briskly.

"Force be with you." Ignored again.

"Force be with you." This went on for a while as they walked, and she found herself getting more and more upset at the cruel responses he was getting. "Why does their indifference hurt you?"

"Because they shouldn't ignore you like that. Or at least be kinder about it if they don't have time." Her arms were crossed defensively across her chest, fingers tightening against her own arms.

"Their indifference does not harm me, why would you take on a burden you haven't been asked to?" He resumed passing out pamphlets with genuine openness and kindness, un-phased by what he was experiencing.

"I just...indifference is why nothing gets better. When everyone is indifferent it's like an infection, the wound gets worse." Her mind was on Mandalore, looking at the records of what the planet had once looked like, and what it was like now. No one had cared to stop it, and now they were huddled like mice in cages, waiting for it to get better instead of taking action.

"I am a simple monk, hoping that I can find sparks like yours in the Force, and direct them towards being one with it and themselves. What wound do I have that you worry for me?" Andora had no answer to volunteer for him.

"But them not listening to you...your calls being brushed off...doesn't it make you feel alone?" She waved her hands at the circle around them where people parted to avoid the old man.

"Are you alone when you offer up your thoughts to the Force?" The monk smiled knowingly. "Force be with you." An alien child taking the pamphlet despite his parents trying to pull them away, the child asking about it to his parents and the monk continuing on. "There was one light. They were curious about what the Force is, that pamphlet is less about them joining us and more about giving them something tangible to remember."

"What if nothing happens and they never come." Her voice was a bit distant, thinking on her family. She could hear so many ancestors, but the people she missed most...never called back from the force.

"Then I have done my best to fulfill my duty. I will not reach everyone, maybe only a small few will ever answer my call. But for each one I reach, they will hopefully find more. The ripple of it spreading out from them to all the others they reach." He led her back down from the top floor to the landing bay floor, her following him calmly, not as ashamed and resentful as she was before. "So what has made you angry with your gift of the Force?"

"I can't control it sometimes, it just...it's getting harder. It...caused problems and has scared others away from me." He nodded as he considered her words, aware of the man that was listening to them as they walked, the man staying at a small distance away, watching them closely.

"What gift causes you so much fear of yourself?" The monk was still passing out pamphlets as he allowed her to think.

"I'm not afraid of myself, I'm scared of what- "

"Of what your gift will do. You are ashamed and therefore hide it. Hiding it makes it harder to control, but yet you also try to call on the gift when you seek to help others." With a comforting pat on her shoulder he continued to lead both her and the man following them. "The gift is part of you, and you are afraid of what you will do to others. You are so afraid of yourself, you read others actions through the lens of that fear." He smiled, feeling the man walking up a bit closer.

"I try really hard, but the visions are under less control now than when I was younger." She admitted, biting her lip.

"Ah...visions are a power that none are truly master of. Do not be ashamed of it. Perhaps you are not losing control of it, but feel less in-control of your own future and so that makes your visions more panicked. Your mind is so fixated on what it thinks will happen, it is constantly looking for a direction." He reached within his bag, pulling out a small clear crystal on a string.

"What do you mean? Didn't the Jedi master vision techniques." Andora was too focused on the extremes of time, it's why she did not feel the man behind her. Someone constantly looking behind and ahead missed what was now.

"Can you master the future?" He turned to her as they stopped outside a tea shop. "Do you control the past?" She shook her head, trying to understand the point he was making. The concept she did, but following it was going to be harder. "The Force is living, it does not live in the past, nor wait in the future, it is here, now." He put the simple stone necklace into her hand, smiling as he moved to sit down at the table outside the tea shop. "I have fulfilled my duty, now time for some tea."

"The ship is refueled." Andora jumped again, her cheeks pink as she turned around, embarrassed at being caught off guard twice in one day. Mando was standing there, his body language relaxed and he had her large bag slung to his side. The tip of a green ear poking out. Mando dipped his head towards the monk in a respectful greeting to the unknown man. "Are you ready?" Andora nodded, taking out her credits and leaving them on the table for the monk.

"I do not need the money." The old man moved to push it back towards her.

"It would make me feel better if you at least bought yourself a tea." The old man only took half of the credits, patting her hand as Mando turned to walk away, Andora falling in step behind him, her aura far calmer now, and more introspective than the writhing angry mass she had walking in. The walk to the ship was calm. As the loading bay closed Din put the vibroblade and its holster back in her hands. His gloved hand stayed on her hand a bit longer than he needed to. "Mando?"

"Half million credits out for you, this place has a guild branch, and you walked out without protection." He still didn't remove his gloved hand from her hand holding the returned weapon. "Do you see anything?" His voice was even through the modulator.

"What?" She was confused, he hadn't spoken to her in three days and suddenly he was acting like this was okay. He brought her hand to his shoulder armor. Letting her touch the beskar.

"Are you seeing anything?" He asked again. Not letting her pull her hands back. She blushed brightly, confused by his sudden change. She shook her head, looking away from his helm. "I have given my word to help you protect the helm, and you had given yours in helping the kid get home. You are part of my Clan's responsibility now. I haven't failed any mission yet. Asas gar ke'gyce alor, bu'cina ner ke'gyce." (As your commanding officer, trust my orders.) She looked up at his visor, and he swore she looked right into his eyes. "Narir gar motir teg?" (Do you understand?)

"Elek al'verde." (Yes commander.)

Zeffos was a fairly lovely planet to look at from orbit. The ship had lost the tense feeling between them after he had let her touch his armor. Andora had accepted his declared leadership of their tiny three person troop. Most of the time these last couple days were spent working with Pirpak to learn speech, but the child was also sleeping more, and what time was not spent asleep was filled with eating and just calm playtime.

"He seems lethargic. Is that normal for kids?" Din asked to her as she sat behind him with the kid just cuddled into her arms as he played with both the Mandalorian token and the pale stone she had been given by the monk.

"For humans we go through growth spurts, but I am not sure for his kind. He doesn't feel unhealthy or anything. So maybe he is just reaching that point. When the bone growths start he might get fussy because that part hurts, and tends to happen while they are asleep." Andora had her hair down, letting it dry after her shower. She wasn't wearing anything scented, which would be useful once they got to the planet surface, it would help hide her presence. "We might need to keep fresher food for him, ration bars for us is fine, but he will need more natural nutrition."

"You have to practice hunting don't you." Din was waiting for the planet to rotate so they could save on fuel and drop into the coordinates her contact was supposed to be on. He heard her little hum of agreement, the kid drifting off to sleep, clutching his favorite toy. He had considered getting a new knob so the kid could keep the one he played with. Her hand reached forward with the object and he simply twisted it back on, the kid being set down to sleep and the lid closed so the light wouldn't bother him. "How trustworthy is your colleague?"

"She's a well respected researcher. Lived on Coruscant since before the Clone Wars." She sat watching the planet ahead of them.

"What about her funding? Would your bounty be enough to turn her on you?" He was getting ready for their opening to land.

"I don't know, it's a very…" Din could hear her biting her lip as she thought it over. "Anyone in the field could turn on me for that amount of money, we are lucky to get tens of thousands of credits for big projects. But...most of us go into the field for the love of our work, so I have faith in her to at least give us a sporting chance."

"Have you seen this going well?" He looked back at her, his visor staring at her, and she felt herself smile at his attempt to value her skill.

"I haven't seen anything going wrong." She put as much confidence into her voice as possible. Din turned back to the controls, leading them through the atmosphere smoothly as he looked for a clearing he felt could make a good encampment. Andora was excited by the beautiful temperate planet, the trees rustling with wind and small creatures scattering everywhere into the tall grass. The impressive shadow of a towering ancient city was visible a few clicks away. Those must be the ruins that Brezen Syille was running her excavation. The Cerean woman was much older than Andora, but even while using a cane to walk she was still active in the field. "Do you want me to go over and talk with her while you set up a security perimeter?"

"No, you watch the kid while I do it." As the engines shut down he grabbed his rifle, and exited the ship, her watching him from the cockpit for a few moments before leading the pram down the ladder to begin looking out at the terrain. She was excited about being able to cook on a campfire, and was looking at the surrounding environment to see what she could use to craft some weapons. Mando was scanning the area as he set up proximity wires at 50 meters out around the ship, his beskar shining brightly under the sunlight. The grass swaying with the wind, and she swore she could hear voices. She wouldn't tell him, the voices were like echoes of the past, and brought her some comfort. Andora couldn't abide by just standing and watching, moving to a spot near the side landing door he had opened and clearing away some grass to start a fire pit. A shovel would be more helpful but she did not want to go digging through supplies he hadn't shown her yet. She ripped the grass up by the roots, putting it in a neat pile as she cleared the spot. With that task finished she walked within the established perimeter where she could still see her charge and picked up rocks to line the pit with. Pirpak was still sleeping in his pram, the egg like object floating inside the safety of the ship. She was wearing the black pants and the red top again, the grey vest left inside. Normally she would be worried about wearing the bright color, but with his beskar throwing light everywhere her red was less of an issue. This time she could hear his footsteps approaching her as he brought some firewood to stack at the base. They needed more rocks to finish the pit but as he entered the ship and opened up a cargo crate she took it as permission to go. He had dug out the pit and put the wood in a proper formation when she had finally found enough stones. "Your father taught you how to camp?"

"He took us on a couple trips to Concord Dawn so he could teach us how. I had to stay at camp while him and my brother would go off. When I was little I didn't understand...but I get that now he was trying to show my brother how to be Mandalorian. He used to promise me that one day it would be my turn...but when my brother marched...our trips stopped." Andora was taking the uprooted grass she had, considering how best she could use it. Using some very willowy twigs she had also collected she began to tie the twigs together, a simple task she knew well. It would not be very strong armor, but it would camouflage her better for hunting to smell like the underbrush.

"Why did he never teach you how to fly?" Her father seemed like a man who would not have left such a huge blind spot in even basic skill training. She might not have been a great pilot but it was a skill all should know.

"He did…" Her fingers were twisting knots in the grass as the twigs were starting to be arranged into a more recognizable row. "The Imperials took it." His visor snapped up to look at her, seeing her get up and go collect more of the twigs for what looked like the start of a basic ghillie suit. Din waited for her to return, as he looked back at the kid he wondered. How could imperials have taken something like that from her. With a large bundle in her arms she sat down once more to her work, her fingers working quickly and diligently. "Thank you." Her voice came across with the soft winds, and her hair was being picked up and played with by the breeze. Din nodded, letting the topic drop for now.

"What weapons do you need to go hunting?" That would be what the ghillie suit was for he assumed, and he would like to get an assessment of her abilities. Her eyes looked up at him in surprise.

"You're okay sharing them?" She had understood the knife, but she had not expected him to let her just borrow from his weapons cache.

"I want to eat sometime this solar cycle." She could feel the humor in his voice, and she smirked, ready to accept the challenge. Braiding her hair she tucked it into a bun, working faster to finish the cover she would need.

"I would feel most comfortable with a bow caster." She had to start pulling up more grass, starting from the rim of the fire pit to avoid pulling more from areas she didn't need to.

"Then tomorrow you have to pick something else." He said matter of factly.

"Elek Al'verde." (Yes Commander.) There was playfulness in her voice, not disrespect. "Do you have a face mask I can use? I won't have time to make a full suit and hunt before nightfall." He had to think about it, walking back into the ship and digging through an old clothing box he kept mostly for cleaning rags. He found something she could use. Taking out his bow caster he brought both items out for her, setting them down at her side. Holding it up she shrugged, it would have to work. "You must have been pretty young when you started."

"My sponsor found me at a young age." It was the first time he had shared something about himself. She smiled to herself, happy to see that her work would hold up fairly well. She went onto the ship and changed into a green top and started to strap the impromptu ghillie suit to her back, pulling on the face mask he gave her. It was fairly old and threadbare, but it hid her hair, and only showed him her eyes.

"Super Commando?"

"Yes." Seemed like that was the end of his sharing for the day. She picked up the bow caster, checking that it was functional and that she could use the sight. It was a bit heavier than she would use, but she would make due with it. He tossed her the comm link, and she realized she did not have a spot to put it, simply tucking it away in the bindings of her breasts through the neckline of her shirt. The pram followed him as he stood up and locked down the ship, his rifle slung casually over his shoulder. "Well, let's see what you can do."

Her ghillie suit was working fairly well for being made in so little time, and he was impressed with her patience while hunting. Her attitude towards the climb up here needed work, but once she had settled into her perch she had focused, the trio quiet as the two adults were laying on the ground flat on their bellies, his cloak providing the cover needed to keep his beskar from shining and distracting her prey, while her suit helped her blend in while flatted. He could see up into the wall of nests, watching her watching the birds on the cliff above them. He didn't say anything as he watched her, Andora had crawl on her belly from the tree line and having followed after her at a slower pace. He wasn't sure what was taking her so long. These were easy targets. Suddenly the calm silence was ended by the bolt from her weapon, a bird tumbling to the ground a few yards from them, the birds squawking angrily. Their massive wings were flapping as some of the pairs in the nests circled around the body, trying to understand what happened. The birds were fairly large, easily 3 kilos and the wing beats created a breeze that he could feel through his cloak. Eventually the birds stopped circling and returned to their nests, her quickly grabbing the bird and starting to crawl away with her prize. He followed, standing once they returned to the treeline. The bird has a single shot through its skull, and he noticed the bird looked a bit older than the prettier plumaged birds on the cliff.

"It's a poor hunt. The target is weak and old." He was not impressed.

"I was trying to pick the one without a mate. The others had chicks in the nests, this one didn't. Killing it will provide us with food and not leave another dying or heartbroken." She sounded a bit saddened by his response.

"It wasn't a challenge." He corrected her.

"But we will have something to eat." The positive tone of her voice did not lessen his disappointment.

"You are supposed to prove you are going to be able to hunt." He made her carry the bird back.

"Tomorrow I will hunt something bigger Mando. I was fairly proud of it since it's been over a decade." Andora was determined to prove to him she was capable. She hadn't gotten her sigil by accident.

"I pick your target tomorrow after we meet with your contact."

Chapter end