The job itself didn't start until after the sun went down so Din had some time to kill before his first shift. With no gear, no extra credits, and no ship to tinker with he felt adrift.

"Why don't you rest before tonight?" Tarre asked in an understanding tone.

Din shifted on his feet, uncertain. Resting was a good idea, even if he'd been asleep not too long ago. But the watch hours weren't that long, he'd be switching off with a new security guard when the sun rose. He'd had to stay awake longer than an entire day and night cycle before and besides- he was too restless to head back to his room.

'No need, I'm fine.' He sent back.

"I see… then why don't we go gather information? You're interested in the orphanage, aren't you?"

'Sounds good.' He was curious why the caretaker would tell him to stay away, the reason they gave had sounded false. It felt like a half truth meant to discourage him without a full explanation. Raising children was a communal effort, especially when there weren't enough buire to adopt a child and give them the proper upbringing or attention they required. With skills passed on from many different verde the children would get a well rounded education. Not every buir was good at every skill, after all.

Din felt the back of his neck prickle slightly and turned in time to let a hand swing past him. Staring at the armored individual he frowned when he recognized the symbol painted on their pauldron and chest.

It was the same as the two who had attacked Jaster the day before.

"Whoa, didn't mean to startle you." The individual said as they took a step back, holding out their hands in a clear sign they were unarmed. "I was only meaning to get your attention." Din didn't move, staring them down silently.

They let out a sigh.

"My name is Kalash, he/him, I'm with the Journeyman Protectors. There was an incident reported yesterday by multiple witnesses about a Mando'ad in unpainted beskar attacking and injuring two officers of the law. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Din tensed, both in worry and from the rising anger inside his chest.

If they were supposed to be the law around Concord Dawn then why in the Ka'ra had they attacked a child?

'Ask him.' Came his buir's whisper again.

"What's the law say about hitting children who can't fight back?" His words were sharp and his anger must not have been hidden well enough as Kalash straightened.

"It depends on whether or not it was their buir. A buir can train their ad however they like unless it endangers the life of the ad or there are clear signs of abuse. If it wasn't their buir? It would be assault and child endangerment." He stated firmly, though he was clearly concerned.

Something nudged Din and he wanted to roll his eyes. "What does the law say about defending a child from an attacker?"

The man stood there baffled for a moment before cursing almost too low for the his helmet mic to pick up. "Those bastards!" He spat furiously. After taking a moment to calm himself down his helmet turned back to Din. "Can you tell me about the incident?"

"You believe me?" That was a little surprising, honestly.

"I know those two, they're a disgrace." The disgust was plain in his voice. "They got in because of their Clan connections." A faint feeling of anger shuddered through him and Din had the sudden realization that the emotion wasn't his.

"Steady, Mand'alor." Tarre whispered in the back of his mind.

Din shifted uncomfortably on his feet for a moment. Kalash seemed to notice and quickly reigned in his emotions.

It was so weird that Din could feel him doing it as it happened. Made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

"The child…" The officer started. "Are they okay? Are you their buir? Would you like to press charges?" Din blinked behind his visor, hesitating to answer.

The man seemed to notice his hesitation and stopped, waiting patiently for Din to decide what he wanted to do.

"The child- I… I'm not their buir." Something about saying those words made his chest feel tight. "They're doing okay now, split lip and a bit roughed up but okay." Din took a deep breath and let it out to keep himself calm. Just thinking about how the two adults had ganged up on the kid in an alley made him furious.

"So you returned them to their buir then? Do you know if the buir would want to press charges?" Din grit his teeth. He didn't know if telling someone who was in the same company as the two who had hurt Jaster was a good idea. But if those two could be stopped…

"The kid… they live at the orphanage." The man's shoulders tensed slightly before falling, almost in defeat.

"That would make things difficult." Din frowned.

"Why?" He asked, more than a little curious.

"The caretakers aren't allowed to issue challenges and none of them want to get involved in a dispute like this. They don't have the funds for legal proceedings against even a small sized clan." The man sighed and shook his head.

"Foundlings are the future." Din couldn't help but growl. "Anyone who takes care of a child should be fighting to protect them." Kalash straightened and a sense of intense interest came over him that almost had Din stepping back involuntarily.

"You follow The Way." He nearly whispered, as if it was some big revelation.

"I do." He stood firm in that conviction, even if he'd had to remove his helmet multiple times in the past year. It had been done in defense of his ad, his only aliit at the time, and he knew there was no shame in that. Even if he had felt discomfited about it at the time.

"No wonder you attacked those two then." Kalash muttered, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "No one who follows The Way would allow a child to be harmed, not when they could do something about it." He let out a small huff that sounded like a laugh and turned his attention back to Din. "I'll report this directly to the Alor at the base, the hunt for you will be dropped and those two will be punished."

Din couldn't believe his luck. How was it that this man could believe him so easily?

"It is the will of the Force, ad'ika." Din rolled his eyes within the safety of his helmet. He still wasn't sure whether he could believe in something like that.

'You will understand in time.' Came her amused whisper.

Din cleared his throat. "Thank you." He said sincerely, hoping his gratitude was clear in his voice.

Kalash perked up and uncrossed his arms. Din could almost swear he could see the man's smile. "It's no trouble. I'm glad it was me that found you and not one of their friends. They would have given you trouble regardless."

Din didn't like the sound of that.

"In any case, can I get your name? It needs to go on the report so the case can be dropped." Din bit his tongue before letting out a long sigh.

'Names are big here, aren't they?' He asked his buir.

"Names are everything. One's connection to aliit is part of the Resol'nare, you should know this." He did. He had sworn the Resol'nare when he was old enough to receive his first helmet. Old enough to understand what the words meant. But thanks to the Empire they had needed to mask their numbers. Throwing around multiple clan names was a good way to get caught. By the time the Empire fell it was an ingrained habit.

"Din of Clan Djarin, he/him." There was a bright spark of surprise from the man before it blossomed into understanding.

"Wow, no wonder they got their shebse handed to them." The man laughed. "I guess they didn't recognize you without a clan crest. Although with that spear they should have at least suspected." He shook his head. "In any case, thank you for your time." He turned to go and stopped, a feeling of sheepishness practically rolling off his frame as he turned back. "Oh, uh, I'm from the Vhehn Clan, by the way. If you're ever in our territory feel free to stop by. We'd be happy to host you."

And with that he was off, weaving through the crowd and vanishing in a sea of other armored individuals.

Din stood there for a moment, stunned and a little confused, as Tarre's ghostly voice wheezed in the background.

'Are you done?' He prodded at her, crossing his arms.

"Quite." She said after a moment, voice smoothing out into her usual calm alto.

'Good.' He was already close enough to breaking down and a ghostly voice in the back of his head laughing at him wasn't helping.

"Come, ner ad, why don't we find a public holoterminal and you can do your research. It will pass the time until your shift starts." Din let out a small huff as he started walking again.

At least his interaction with the officer hadn't been terrible, unlike the first instance he'd met the Journeymen. It really hit home just how diverse the Mandalorians around him seemed to be.

After some searching, he'd had to ask for directions in the end, he was directed toward a local tapcaf that had public terminals for use.

Din spent the time before his shift looking over the last years worth of news articles and notices for Concord Dawn. He saved a bunch of hololinks to his vambrace and decided that one of his first investments should be a proper datapad with holonet access, so he could study in secret.

"Look up the Jedi Temple on Coruscant." Tarre had urged. With nothing else to do he decided to indulge his buir.

The images took his breath away.

The Temple was absolutely massive, a city all its own. There were few images of the inside but from what he could see the place was sturdy, ancient.

"It was built around the peak of a mountain." Tarre said beside him, becoming visible once again. "One of the most famous areas is the indoor gardens." Din blinked and glanced up at her, though he didn't move his head to do so. "We call it the Room of a Thousand Fountains. No one actually knows if there are one thousand of them or not but each of the gardens are beautiful in their own right." There was a feeling in his chest he couldn't quite explain, heavy and sad yet also light and pleasant.

It may have been nostalgia.

"One day you will go there." She stated firmly, her voice filled with conviction.

Din wasn't so sure.

"You will." Her helmet tilted down toward him. "After all you will need to collect your ad eventually."

Din's breath hitched in his lungs at the thought of seeing his son again.

"Come, it is growing late and you don't want to be late to your first shift."

Grumbling he logged off of the holoterminal and made his way back to the warehouse district.

It was going to be a long night.

Mando'a;

Buir/e- Parent/Parents
Verd/e- Warrior/Warriors
Ad/Ade- Child/Children
Aliit- Family, Clan
Shebse- Backsides/Asses
Vhehn- Pronounced Feign, meaning Earthy/Earthen.