Chapter 3.

Latest edit: January 6th, 2015. Places where I draw my inspiration; Karen Traviss' Supercommando series, all of them are SOLID reads! Avatar the Last Airbender, also a SOLID series. And finally, a great cup of tea. For all your linguistic needs, check out Karen Traviss' Mando'a stuff before it's gone… As always, cheers and enjoy!

Torian hoped she hadn't seen him. That the darkness had kept her from recognizing him. And then it dawned on him. She likely wouldn't remember him or his name. Torian caught up to Jogo near the camp fire. He sighed. Jogo looked at him and rose a brow.

"What's eating at you?"

Torian shrugged. "Nothing."

Jogo snorted. "Yea, and I'm a Sith Lord. Spill it!"

Torian frowned. Jogo would do that sometimes, just press and press and try to force him to open up about things. He would swear Corridan put him up to it before leaving.

"Why do you care?"

Jogo shrugged. "Who cares why I care, I do."

Torian frowned but shrugged. "Just disappointed."

Jogo started to grin. "You like her."

Torian felt panic for a second. If Jogo could figure it out, everyone already knew about it! He feigned boredom. "Who?"

Jogo laughed. "That cute little cyborg, right?"

Torian felt he could breathe again. "Nope."

Jogo stopped laughing abruptly. "What? Really? Not even a little?"

Torian gained confidence, and shook his head as he crossed his arms. "Nope."

Jogo shrugged. "Good for me I guess."

Torian did a double take. "You like the cyborg?"

Jogo smiled wistfully. "What's there not to like."

Torian looked at Jogo in bewilderment. If he didn't know better he could have sworn this was Jogo's way of making sure he wasn't stepping on Torian's toes by pursuing Mako. Which was ridiculous. Why would Jogo care about stepping on Torian's toes? That's when Raidre and Mako walked back into camp.

Torian perked up. "She's back."

Jogo turned to see who Torian meant, he straightened at the sight of the Champion.

"How'd it go?"

Torian did his best to appear natural but a crinkle at the edges of her eyes told him she was not buying it.

Shab(1). She knew.

He was glad for the darkness, she might not notice his ears turning red from nerves.

"Find another hunting spot." She began, easing his fears. "This one's a boneyard."

Torian smiled. "Impressive."

Jogo frowned. "How did you kill it when so many of my clan failed?"

She regarded him with kindness but stern. "If they had your attitude, it's no wonder they failed. You're so hungry for a fight, you don't think about what you're getting into. Bounty Hunting is as much about fighting smart as it is about fighting hard."

Torian watched Jogo's face as Raidre spoke, he knew that she was correct, but he wondered if his Clan-mate would get it.

Jogo frowned. "There must be something to what you've said. You killed it, they died…"

Raidre nodded, and Jogo stood at attention.

"I salute your victory!"

Torian smiled. "Hail to the victor!" his clan joined in and cheered. "Oya(2)!"

Applause and cheers were heard throughout the clan and Raidre blushed. Torian smiled, he was about to turn away when she spoke to him.

"Hey, Torian."

He perked up, she did remember his name!

The others began to return to their duties, now that the order was fulfilled everyone could get back to hunting. Torian turned to face the Champion, his hands clammy from his proximity to her. He admired her, just like Corridan, she was fearless and intelligent. He now also understood why Mandalore had wasted no time in adopting her, she was everything a Mando'ad(3) could ever hope to be and then some.

"Champion."

She looked around quickly before leaning in to whisper. "Good show?"

Torian sighed and nodded. "Yea."

"Good," she said with a smile as Mako sighed. Raidre pulled up the little cyborg in front of her. "This is Mako."

Torian blinked, eyes wider than usual. "Hi."

Mako giggled. "Hi."

She crossed her arms. "Chin up. You're better than them, it's why they feel the need to put you down with the arue'tal(4) stuff."

His eyes widened. "You speak Mando'a(5)?"

She nodded. "Elek(6). Not a lot of it, but enough. Keep breathing."

Torian nodded. "K'oyacyi(7)."

"Thanks. " she smiled as she waved. "We'll do our best and so should you."

With that, the girls turned and left. He watched her until she was out of sight. And his heart was racing.

She was a natural hunter, a considerate leader, she had guts and had even started to learn their language. He felt winded by a longing he didn't recognize.

She was way out of his league.

He couldn't even compare to her skills. She had never lost her cool or even flinched while fighting the Brood Sire, and it had been several times larger than her. Even when her companion was injured, she remained calm and handled whatever was thrown at her. How could he even come close?

He looked at the toes of his boots. That notwithstanding he could not compare to her, not while he was arue'tal(8), and that would be true so long as the traitor lived. His brows knitted together as his mind worked out the details of everything he knew about his father. He had made up his mind up long ago about what needed to be done. He was a babe still in his mother's arms when his father had betrayed Mandalore. He remembered nothing of the man, but Torian was a master tracker and unrivalled fighter from his Clan. That may not be enough, but he would make due. Torian looked where Raidre had carved a path in his memory. He didn't know why he hadn't gotten it over with yet, but now he had a clear motivation.

He knew that there was a lot of uncertainty ahead, but he also acknowledged that he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't pursue the opportunity.

He went back to his shared tent with Jogo and pulled his stuff together, Jogo stared at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Need to take care of something."

"Running off again?

Torian packed his few belongings in his pack and pulled the lot on his back, he grabbed his helmet and looked at his bewildered Clan-mate.

"Something like that."

Torian pulled his helmet over his blond hair and vacated the tent, Jogo followed behind him.

"Where are you going?"

Torian marched off without responding, so Jogo stood in front of him and put both hands on his shoulders

"Talk."

Torian sighed, but stopped. "Unfinished business on Taris."

Jogo stared in silence for a long time, eyes wide, but he slowly pulled his hands off Torian's shoulders.

"Where's this coming from?"

"Been a long time coming."

Jogo frowned. "Yea. Okay, but why now?"

Torian didn't want to answer that question. Privacy was hard to come by when you came from a small, tight-knit community, and that was true of the Mando'ade(9). Torian didn't have much he wasn't willing to share, but his personal feelings were a big part of it.

"No time like the present."

Jogo's hands fell to his sides, lax. "It's her, isn't it?"

Torian shook his head. "No, it's honour."

Jogo smiled. "It had better be, arue'tal(10)."

Jogo nodded, seeming satisfied, stepped aside. Torian walked off into the night, trekking his way to Kaas City so that he could take the first shuttle to Taris. He did not know where to start looking for his traitor of a father, the only knowledge of him he had was that he had been exiled there, but that would be enough. He would start from scratch, he would use his head and he would find him, and when all was said and done, he would have his honour cleared. He wanted the right to choose his own future, but for that he'd have to kill Jicoln.

NOTES:

1 .Impolite word, can be used as most swear words since there is no real definition. Though judging by the way it's used in the Supercommando series, I would say that it's probably an equivalent for the English word; shit.

2 .Has many meanings from; "Let's hunt!" to "Stay alive." Can also be used as exclamations like; "Hoorah!" or "Go you!" or "Cheers!" It is always positive and triumphant.

3 .Child of Mandalore, what Mandalorians call themselves.

4 .Traitor's blood.

5 .Mandalorian, the name of the Language in the Mandalorian mother tongue.

6 .Yes, affirmative, right.

7.Stay alive.

8. IBIDEM to #5.

9. IBIDEM to #1.

10. IBIDEM to #5.