The girl remained unconscious for the rest of the day but Canderous didn't leave her side, save to grab latemeal for the two of them in case she woke up. He'd already gone through his stash of weapons and given them all a good cleaning. Now he was leaning back on a chair with his feet on the table, engrossed in a holobook. A quiet groan grabbed his attention and he looked over at the girl as she began to stir.
Setting the holobook down he pulled his feet off the table and stood. "Finally awake?"
"…I feel like I was run over by a bantha." Came the tired reply. Canderous chuckled.
"Well I don't know why you passed out, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with you." Grabbing the glass of water he'd set down near the covered meal he stepped up to the bed and waited as she slowly sat up.
"Thank you." Carefully handing off the glass he watched her suck down the water as if she'd been stranded on a desert planet for days, rather than just passing out for ten hours.
"I have questions for you." The girl grimaced, violet eyes narrowing at him slightly.
"I'll answer what I can. But I think I can already guess what you want to know. I can feel them on your belt." He wasn't surprised, jetii had a peculiar way of just knowing shit.
"So what is a jet'ika doing wearing beskar'gam?" She'd already ruled out the other possibility, that she was a mando'ad who had somehow stolen a pair of lightsabers.
"I'm no longer a jetii. I haven't been for over a year now. I denounced the Order and swore to the Resol'nare when Clan Cin'sara took me in after the death of my Jeti'buir." She lowered her gaze, staring down at the cup in her hands. "I am mando'ad… but I was raised as a Jetii and I cannot separate myself from the Force. The Alor of Clan Cin'sara understood that and they allowed me to keep my weapons." She shook her head slightly before looking back up at him. "Does that answer your questions?"
Reaching back he unclipped the weapons from his belt and held them out to her. "Most of them." Gingerly she took the lightsabers from him, her eyes never leaving his. "How did you end up on Taris in the middle of a Dar'jetiise blockade?" The girl froze, eyes wide.
"Dar'jetiise blockade?" She squeaked. He let out a small snort of amusement.
"Yes, the Dar'jetiise Empire. They parked their asses over Taris a couple of days ago and aren't letting anyone enter or leave." Her confusion was both obvious and concerning. "They've been around for a while."
"But the Dar'jetiise were wiped out!" She declared.
"Yeah, well, everyone believed that until Revan returned at the head of a new fleet." The girl's face went through a complicated mess of expressions before she looked away from him, down at the weapons in her hands. Closing her eyes she did… something. Or at least he assumed so as her shoulders relaxed and she went unnaturally still. The kind of stillness he'd seen in jetii before.
"It's true! Oh Force, what the fuck?" Canderous let out a bark of laughter.
"Where have you been? Living under a rock?" She shook her head, nibbling on her bottom lip. There was a sense of grief and fear about her now, her hands were trembling and he frowned. "Hey, you're alright adiik, the Sith don't often patrol down here. You'll be safe with me until we can find your clan." The girl frowned at him.
"I'm no adiik, I've already passed my verd'goten." He blinked, one brow raising in surprise.
"Oh? How old are you then?" He didn't want to call her a liar but she did not look much older than a child.
"Seventeen." If it wasn't for the even gaze she leveled at him he would have thought she was joking. "My birth people are all very small. I'm almost at my full growth." She grumbled, looking very put out.
"And yet the Cin'sara Alor took you into his clan?" He knew the jetiise were worthy opponents, their strange powers bringing an unpredictability to battle that had always excited him, but she honestly didn't look all that strong. Although she did have two lightsabers, which was pretty unusual from what he knew of the jetiise.
"I'm a battlefield medic. I don't need to be strong to take down an opponent. I just need to know where to hit them." A confident grin crossed her face and Canderous nodded in approval.
"Well said, verd'ika." She smiled at him, cheeks coloring slightly. "But you didn't answer my question. How'd you end up here?" Her expression grew grim and she shook her head, reaching up to press a hand against her temple.
"I don't… know? No, I don't remember." She sounded very annoyed with that admission. "I was with my squad when… something happened. I think there was a flash of light and then… I was standing there with those two Niktiise aiming blasters at me and barking orders. I didn't think, I just moved." Canderous frowned.
"So you lost track of time? Could someone have drugged you and you escaped somehow?" She shook her head.
"I don't know. And I don't want to try and force myself to remember. The best thing for amnesia is to let it right itself on its own. Either the memories are there and my mind is trying to keep them from me for my own sake as I slowly work through it or those memories are completely lost and there's no way to get them back. But that does leave me in a bit of a predicament. I have no memory of anything more recent. Like the Sith." He couldn't help feeling that she was keeping something from him but at the same time she looked so forlorn and lost it was hard not to believe her.
"What are you going to do now? You're stuck on Taris for the time being, there's no way past that blockade." The girl looked up at him and sighed.
"I can try to find a job as an assistant medic somewhere and lay low, as much as I can with my appearance at least." He grimaced.
"The Tariise up above are all xenophobic, while everyone down here is either part of the Exchange or a Swoop Gang. Below us there's Rakghouls." It wasn't a pretty picture, that's for sure. "Finding a job won't be easy."
"Well… fuck." He couldn't help letting out a small laugh.
"I'm guessing you don't particularly want to stay on this planet either." She gave him a look he remembered from his own youth and he chuckled. "I have a plan to leave this rock but I'm too conspicuous." Her eyes brightened.
"If it'll get me back to where my squad was last I'll help in any way I can." She turned toward him, looking serious. "Canderous of Clan Ordo, my doors are open to you." He blinked at the oddly formal offering of an alliance but reached for her as she held out her arm.
"My doors are open to you as well, Stella of Clan Cin'sara." They clasped forearms to seal the new alliance and he swore he could almost feel something… spiritual. Like the air was vibrating in pleased acceptance. The girl looked a lot more settled as she released his arm.
"Well, now that we've settled that, what's our first move?" Shaking his head he grabbed the tray with the covered meal and handed it to her.
"First you gain back some of the strength you lost, then we start planning." Taking the tray she gave him a grateful smile.
"Thank you." He grunted and returned to his seat, picking up his holobook.
"Don't worry about it." He replied easily, his mind distracted by new plans. Even if she was a mando'ad the verd'ika had access to the Force, that opened up a lot of avenues. He'd have to grill her on her skills when she was finished eating.
Leaving Taris couldn't come fast enough in his opinion.
Mando'a;
Jetii- Jedi.
Jet'ika- Padawan.
Beskar'gam- Iron Skin, a Mandalorian's armor.
Mando'ad- Mandalorian.
Resol'nare- The Six Actions, the tenets that all Mandalorians swear to uphold when they become Mandalorian.
Jeti'buir- Literally Jedi Parent, but meaning Mentor/Master.
Alor- Leader, Chief.
Dar'jetiise- Sith, plural.
Adiik- Child between the ages of 3-13.
Verd'goten- The traditional rite of passage in Mandalorian culture in which a Mandalorian youth was accepted as an adult.
Verd'ika- Little Warrior/Young Warrior, also the rank of Private.
Niktiise- Nikto, plural.
Tariise- Tarisians.