He was prepared for the trip. He would leave the heavy canon on board. He had chosen a smaller laser canon, much handier in a densely grown area. Then his hands had felt a long-forgotten piece of wood at the bottom of the weapons container.

Carefully he pulled out the lengthy piece and placed the end with the attached string on the ground. His legs served as leverage as he bent the bow and strung it. He tested its flexibility and had it fully drawn when Tulata entered the room.

Though she was in a haste she stilled for a moment. The twinging sound when he released the string made her jump. He rumbled a laugh and quick to wrap his arms around her.

After a short time, she declared to be ready to be taken to the forest. He tried to soothe her worries, reasoning that her brother was in caring hands. Despite her strange behaviour he was sure that she – Vayra, her name still felt strange on his tongue – would tend to Tharam.

He hadn't asked if he could take the speeder, he just did. There was no faster way to reach the forest and he didn't regret his decision when Tulata slung her arms round his midriff.

On soft terrain he placed his arm on hers, steering with the other. Her body clung tightly to his back and even with the protective plates in the way he relished the sensation. He marvelled at how natural and anew it felt at the same time.

Her data pad gave off an alarm. They were nearing the forest and the place where they intended to leave the bike. It was not too far off where Tharam and Vayra had stopped the day before. He slowed the bike and stopped it just in front of the first row of trees and bushes.

Tulata immediately went over to an insignificant green bush with strangely thin and yellowish appendages. She scrolled through her pad shortly and then started gathering them.

She was totally concentrated on the different plants that he decided to ready his gun. The way she was focused she would bump into a Bantha and wonder where it had come from.

It took him only a few lengthened strides to place himself in front of her, thus being able to keep an eye on where they ventured. It was a zig-zag course leading her from one tree to the next flower. Constantly checking the flora and her data pad.

When he stopped, she walked right into him. She started to excuse but he held up his fist. She silenced instantly. A large tree shaded a wide patch of meadow. It was lush and in bloom. But that hadn't caught his eyes. It was the remains of three carcasses, notably the ribcages, along with some femurs and other larger bones.

They lay as if discarded, splayed across an area. They all had one thing in common. They had been gnawed upon, some splintered and broken, few still intact.

Even from afar he could make out the imprints of two pairs of boots, a smaller and a larger pair. And those of paws.

He changed the HUD vision, the imprints glowing in red back at him. His helmet moved as he looked around, deciding on where they had come from and where they led to. Then he saw it. Both pairs of tracks leading into and out of the meadow, the larger pair had used the path twice.

His eyes narrowed as they followed the track to where they met up with the paws. Carefully looking around he drew closer to the place. The tracks told him much, they had been ruined where too many told of the confrontation had taken place.

The – he tried to recall what Tharam had called it – the Boetay had advanced from the opposite side, hidden behind the carcasses, sprung, that was where most disturbance on the ground was, then lain flat. Then the imprints of the paws followed the footprints.

His head quickly turned towards the small path, the barrel of his gun was trimmed in front of him, he would be ready.

He had just taken a few steps when he saw it. It came out of the undergrowth. The head lowered sniffing along the tracks he was following. When it walked, he noticed that it limped. His eyes searched for the reason.

It must have smelled him as its head came up sharply and his trigger-finger twitched. He aimed carefully. Inhale – exhale – Tulata's hand was on the barrel, pushing it down. He tilted his head questioningly at her. But she just nodded towards the animal. A whine came from it.

It was dog-like, yet huge, its head easily reaching his chest. It was skinny beneath the brown black striped fur.

"It's hurt." Her voice was a whisper via their com-system. "That's why he fed it."

"He fed that thing?" He sighed tiredly, of course he would.

This just looked so much like Tharam. He had seen the man fight fearlessly, he had watched him kill, ruthlessly even. But he had also watched him buying food and distribute among street kids and stray animals.

"That's what he said." From the corner of his eyes he saw her scrolling through her pad. "Boetay, carnivore, hunted or tamed, used as mounts by the natives of Garos."

"Mounts? For what? Jawas?" He snorted.

"This one is not fully grown." She dug into the bag slung across her back and pulled out a scanner. "From its bone structure not even a cycle old."

"A foundling?" He sighed exaggeratedly and watched the animal hobbling back to the bones. "Don't tell me we have to take it in."

She giggled and he imagined that she pulled a mischievous face under her helmet.

But he was distracted again: "What's that on its neck?"

"Abrasions, they have a strange form though." She showed him the display on the scanner.

"Chain." The rounded and interlinked scars let no room for any other conclusion. When it turned its head, he could even make out where the fur was not re-growing in the exact pattern.

"What? You mean it was chained?"

He slowly nodded. "Whoever had it might have wanted to train it as a mount."

"But then why is it here and why is it hurt?" She lifted her scanner again.

He waited for her answer to her own question, but she gave up with a shrug. The data was too indifferent.

"The bones are the reason why it attacked Tharam." He pointed out their layout as he explained. "Has been on his tracks several times, back and forth. I bet they lead up to where they had the speeder parked."

"Like it is waiting for him to return and feed it again?" He heard the pondering in her voice. Then she looked up at him with an expectant nudge of her helmet.

He frowned for a second, then sighed. "Ok, I'll see what I can get. But you will keep the gun ready. Hurt or not, if it attacks you will shoot and kill it." She quickly nodded and he rolled his eyes.

He used all the available and useful systems of his HUD to find something he could hunt and bring back. He didn't like the idea of her staying alone with the hungry animal at all. When he scared off some fowl, he was quick to take them down with his blaster.

But they wouldn't be enough for an animal that large. He needed something bigger, he had to go deeper into the forest, where light was sparse, and a constant semi-darkness protected those who feared the larger predators.

Then he heard the grunts and high-pitched squeals – his prey. He had to be quick, by the sounds they were moving. Yet it didn't take him too long to catch up and get off a shot. He simply dragged it along as he hurried back.

He tried to occupy his mind with something else than worrying about Tulata and the Boetay. Musing over the perfectness of the hunting ground to use his bow again made perfect distraction.

When he was finally able to see her on the meadow he stopped in his tracks. What else could he do but sigh and roll his eyes – it was running in the family.

She was using a large rock to smash the bones which were still intact and threw them towards the waiting Boetay. But it also painted a smug grin on his face, at least he knew what he had to be prepared for.

He reached her just as she opened the last marrow filled bone. "This will feed it better." He used his vibroknife to separate a large chunk of meat which he threw towards the animal.

First it shrunk back with a growl, but the hunger was stronger, and it crouched forward, snapping at the offered meat and dragging it back. He heard it whine and saw it wag while he prepared more pieces of meat for it.

He grumbled good-naturedly: "Setting the table for the prime predator of this planet." But his laugh died off as he watched the slim figure crawl haltingly forward again.

He pulled Tulata behind him as he backed off. "Have you got all the herbs?"

At her affirmation he made her hurry ahead of him. He was still walking backwards, watching the animal tear junks out of their offering. Just as he was about to disappear behind the green of the forest it lifted its head to watch him. He heard the whine.

When he had brought trees and bushes between himself and the animal, he started to jog all the way through the forest. Tulata was already waiting at the speeder when he jumped on it and brought it to life. He didn't see what she saw when she turned to look back – a brown black striped creature reaching the forest's edge.

He stretched lazily and fully until his brain kicked in. There was no one else in the room, he was alone. It took him a moment to recall that she had slipped out in the late hours of the night.

He got up and donned his armour. As he saw no one in the common area yet, he guessed that he was one of the first who was up. Somehow it seemed to have become his task to prepare the meals for the whole group. At least most of the time.

But this time he wasn't alone for a long time. When he turned with his hands full of plates he came face to face, well more face to hip with the brave little boy with the large green eyes.

"Good morning, you are up early. Where is the rest?"

The little boy just shrugged: "Not tired anymore."

"I see and," he lowered himself to come to an eye to eye level, "let me guess, hungry."

The boy just nodded with a very serious expression.

"Now, boy, how about you help me a bit with setting the table, then I can busy myself with preparing your – our breakfast?"

"Yes, verd." He was eager and stretched his hands out to receive the plates.

"Call me Dargak. Can you tell me your name?" He knew that the adults were reserved and didn't know how it had imprinted on the young ones.

"Liom." The boy had become a little shy and he tried to make him feel easier with a bright smile and a joyful flash of his eyes.

After that Dargak had just to point him to the things needed next. Only when the shelf was unreachable for the boy's height, he gave him a hand. He was so quick that Dargak taught him the essentials of how to make porridge.

Soon they were able to sit at the table and they had only taken a few spoons of their breakfast when the other children accompanied by the Rulls, strolled in. Within moments the common area was thriving with life and laughter.

He sighed contently. The scenery around him so domestic that no one would have been able to tell that it had ever been differently. There were adults and younglings ranging from one to twelve cycles, that was his rough guess – a large family.

He kept the smile plastered on his face as he tried to image their losses. Even if they were able to settle on Garos constantly and safely they would have to increase their numbers. Maybe some of their covert had made it out alive and were searching for them.

He needed to talk to their al'verde about trying to contact others. With the ship and some trips, they could set Dadita beacons, hidden in they hyper-com as bursts of static. He would have to get some material for the beacons and for that they would need credits. He knew who to contact for the jobs that would earn them the credits.

The boy, Liom he reminded himself, was watching him intently and a tiny frown scrunched up his forehead. He made his jaw unclench, deliberately relaxing his facial muscles so that the mask of a smile became a real one again.

They were making plans of what to do today. It was difficult as no one wanted to overstep their rank and the heavy infantry was nowhere in sight. Of course, they could train the older ones again, but he wanted to include everyone who was able to run around, so he suggested a few rounds of Meshgeroya.

Everybody was filing out of the common area, excitedly discussing about the teams they wanted to play in. He turned towards the closed quarter's door. She was either in there with Tharam or she was already outside. The locked status of the door told him to not go and investigate.

When he followed the others outside and saw the speeder missing, he seemed to have his answer. The more astonished he was when he saw it coming back with the bulky dull blue armour steering it. His head swivelled back to the ship.

He waited until the speeder stopped in front of him. The healer was immediately off and rushed into the ship. Now would be the perfect time to talk to the man and to present his proposal.

"More hunting?" He nodded at the blaster and the bow strung onto the heavy man's back.

"Mostly herbs. She needs them for him." The large man was not really conversational yet informative enough.

"Herbs are good. Might be a good idea to get a large variety, they serve many purposes."

"Hmm yeah. Saw what hurt our hunter. Boetay. He was lucky, it's not grown. Got an old wound handicapping it."

He whistled appreciatingly, the hunter had really been lucky, he could have lost his arm. "So how is he doing?"

"Dunno, been out since morning. Then he had been awake for a while. She made Va … your daughter stay with him. We got herbs for the fever."

"We are used to hear our names said among us," he was carefully watching the al'verde," among aliit."

There was a certain stiffness in the way the blue pauldrons rolled back. There was a grave silence that hung between them.

He tried to sound calming as he specified: "We might be not of a family, clan or even a tribe. We are, though, all Mandalorians. With so few left of us and spread so thin we should be ready to overcome what is separating us and embrace what is uniting us."

He gave the man time to object. When he didn't, he continued: "There is a way to help you finding others within the calling reach of hyper-com. Maybe there are others of your covert, maybe there are others with the same fate. My offer is to set up Dadita beacons on a wider range of planets."

"Too dangerous. The Imps." The decline was brisk.

"Wait. Hear me out. I can jam the signal. Only us would recognize it as a signal. Everybody else would think it static." He hadn't wanted to go there, to recall the time that had taken away so much from him just to give something else for it. "When … when we were separated … the rest of us found … the survivors were able … to reassemble with its help … we were able to reorganize and relocate."

The blue helmet tilted at him, he seemed to have picked up what he had indicated.

"Talk about it, you and your tribe members. My offer stands." He nodded towards the man's shoulder: "Any good with that bow?"

He smirked at the grunt. "Could use some practice myself, maybe your older ade too."

She hurried into the med bay and started the preparations for the salve, then she hurried to the kitchen area to heat water for the tea. Her next halt was his room, she knocked but there was no response. She knocked again louder. Then grunted in indignation, she had forgotten that she had the code to open it.

Quickly she slid in and stopped with a smile spreading widely. Just the bunched up silken curtain separated her brother's tilted head from the shock of dark copper hair that nestled against his shoulder. He was lying on his back, she lay snuggled against his side, her hand firmly pressed on his chest.

If matters hadn't been so pressing, she would have retreated, leaving them to their privacy and peace. Only neither was really that peaceful she noted as she drew closer.

Her face was crunched up in a frown and her fingers were twitching, clawing weakly, not leaving marks, she noted with relief.

His chest was covered in sweat, his breathing was slow and heavy. She moved to the head of the bed and slipped beneath the veil. He was smiling softly in his sleep, but pearls of sweat covered his face.

She got the cloth wet with cold water and carefully touched his cheek. He stirred before his eyes slowly opened, they fell on the head on his shoulder and his smile widened. His head leant in more to …– his eyes wandered towards her, he had realized that he wasn't alone, and a deep blush replaced the smile.

She pursed her lips before a wide toothy grin tore at the corners of her face, she had recognized what he was about to do. With a loving gesture she wiped the sweat of his brows. She knew that her eyes had started to glisten, so she quickly bent to his ear to whisper: "I've got the herbs. For tea and salve. Be right back."

She was already straightening when her gaze fell onto the woman next to him. She nodded at her, then she shrugged her shoulders. He had to decide his further steps. With a quick ruffle through his hair she left to continue her preparations.

Her hands worked feverishly to finish the treatments. The tea was finished first, she had tried it and decided that he would hate it. But it couldn't be helped.

The next thing after drifting into sleep again was a cool sensation on his face. The dark cooper hair was still in his line of sight, just like when he had woken the other time. She hadn't left his side.

He bent closer to smell her hair, to place a kiss onto – wait, cool sensation, what, who – he felt the heat leap up his neck and into his face. His sister, almost witness to a tenderness not even she had yet seen, was grinning from one ear to the other.

He felt his increased heartrate and was very thankful that she did not comment at all. When she mentioned at the woman in his arm, he was not sure what she actually meant nor what to do. At first, he didn't want to disturb her, but then he felt her fingers move restlessly on his chest.

He gathered her hand in his and although the veil cut him off, he left a kiss on the back of her hand. She stirred softly.

"Ner meshurok, they've come back."

She blinked several times, had to place herself first, just as him, then she lifted her head. He cupped her face. The hair along her temple was not soft as he remembered, it was coarse and covered in dark flakes. With a slight tremble in his fingers he reached for the patch on her forehead.

"What … happened?" He was confused the last time, he remembered, she hadn't been hurt.

She snorted humorously: "Walked into walls."

"Wall-S?!" He was dubious but had no energy to investigate further and she didn't say anymore.

"Tulata will be back soon. She's got herbs. Do you … do you want to …?"

Despite his nervousness he noted that she looked at him without really looking at him. Her eyes were focusing somewhere on his trachea.

"If you want to … I would like you … to stay."

The slight nod and her whispered agreement made him smile. It widened in blissful enjoyment when she reached for the cloth and continued where his sister had left tending to him.

She had his torso dampened and was just rubbing down his left arm when the door opened again, and his sister came back in.

"Both awake now, good. Vayra, you have to get that tea into him." Tulata was giving him an apologizing look and he made a face in anticipation of what to expect her herbal tea to taste like.

"I'll be back with the salve." She was quick to retreat after she had handed Vayra the mug.

She helped him to a sitting position, and he sniffed at the steaming content before he tried it. "Yuck!" He tried to shove her hand with the mug away.

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." She sniffed and he challenged her to try for herself. She did and almost managed to keep a straight face. "Can't be helped. You have to drink it – all."

He tried to haggle: "Half."

She was relentless: "All." Only for a second her eyes lifted to where his were obscured by the silken curtain. "Thought you want to heal as fast as possible to hear what I have to say."

He watched a sly grin creep into her face, a mischievous sparkle of her eyes as he was only able to gawk with his mouth half open. Lost for a reply he just nodded and pulled the mug closer again.

He would have gulped it down in one gulp if it hadn't been that hot. Thus, he was forced to sip and no, the taste did not improve at all. He was almost done, when Tulata came back.

Together the women took care of his arm. They had removed the bandages and he was able to take a first look at the damage, the wounds and the inflammation. He decided that he had been lucky, half of the damage had been absorbed by his gauntlet.

The salve was applied carefully, still his muscles flinched. If the ship didn't, he had at least to try to keep still. He felt nauseous and sank back into the pillow. He closed his eyes to not see the alarmed looks the women cast at him.

He was dimly aware that they shared the work of bandaging his arm and cooling his skin. When a hand was pressed against the end of his heaving chest bone, he knew whose it was. Just before he drifted off into sleep again, he placed his hand above hers. He was sure she would stay with him.

She woke up as she had fallen asleep, yet she needed a moment to recollect herself. The soft baritone, clear without any modulation of the helmet's scrambler, and it didn't matter whether it was Basic or Mando'a, it ran with a velvety quality under her skin.

That his touch was feathery soft added to the sensation, only his inquiry about her patched-up head robbed something from the whole situation. But he was so quick to make up for it and it was hard for her to keep her from roaming the partition and trying to pierce it by simply staring.

She saw the skin on his chest glistening and intuitively started dipping the cloth into the bowl with water. She hadn't completely finished when the healer came back with a mug.

She could image what an herbal tea intended to lower a fever must taste like. She would have never imagined that a grown man could make such a face of disgust. But having been forced to try herself she understood him completely. Somehow, she had to make him drink it and there was only one way.

She wondered if she was going too far, pressuring herself to a commitment she might not be ready with yet. But somehow it felt right, somehow everything seemed to fall in place.

At least it had the wished effect and even though he made faces beyond any description he complied. What she didn't tell him was that to her knowledge he wouldn't be done with a single mug of the tea.

With his sister guiding her they tended to his arm. Silently she still wondered how he could have been surprised by the animal attacking him. She could understand that he didn't want to hurt anyone or anything innocent, a bystander. But hadn't the Boetay crossed that line already.

Then it struck her as she re-ran the events of the day. Maybe if she hadn't been that unapproachable things would have turned out differently. She bit the inside of her lip until a metallic taste mingled with her salvia.

The heavy thumping of her heart jolted when she felt him go laxer by the second, when he sank back onto the mattress. Her eyes were quick to roam the form of the healer for any sign of assurance. Time trickled past until the red helmet nodded gravely.

The only thing she knew that would keep her heart from racing was to feel his slow and deep breathing. Feeling his chest rise under her hand was the pole she could clutch onto in the storm that was raging within her.

Whenever she felt the motion falter or change in its rhythm, she would wipe the damp cloth over his chest, it pulled her out of her lethargy, of the growing drowsiness.

When he woke once later, he was so thirsty that he downed the rest of the tea without complaint, even asked for more. The carafe Tulata had brought had long gone cold, but it didn't matter. It was a struggle to help him up, to keep him upright, to keep him from simply falling back.

When she sat again, her hand once again rested on his chest. It was heaving so laboriously, she started to fear that each one could be his last. She didn't know if her fear was rational or not. It was just overwhelming her. She felt her throat tightening, saw her vision swimming.

She didn't know what made him move his hand until she looked down and saw the wet spots sprinkling the back of his hand and fingers. His thumb rubbed over his index finger, smearing one.

His whisper tore her eyes to his face. Secure behind the silk she knew he was awake again when she heard his voice: "Don't … I'll stay."

There was a long silence before he breathed his next words: "Please … lie … with me."

And again, some piece fell into place when she stretched out along his side, mindful of his arm and rested her head against his shoulder. His breathing became more even and when he turned his head to her she could feel his exhale fanning across her scalp.

_

Mando'a:

verd: warrior, soldier

al'verde: commander

meshgeroya: limmie or bolo-ball - literally the beautiful game, a Mandalorian obsession

aliit: family, clan

ade: children

Ner meshurok: my precious (one) lit. my gemstone

Last but not least: A thank you to those who stayed and bared with me and my story. I wish you all a (belated) Merry Christmas and an (early) Happy New Year.
Just give me a call if anything doesn't work properly, if you have suggestions or recommendations, I'd really like to read some reviews / comments .. don't be shy .. it will make squirm with happiness (hopefully)