Spoils of War

Episode VI: Spoils of War

"Dank farrik."

The swear hadn't even finished leaving his mouth before Din shoved a confused, frightened Tala toward the exit at full force. She clattered into the stone stairs, frozen in a crawl stance she could have easily sprung to her feet and then escaped to the upper world from. But convinced that some monster or gang was about to burst out of the darkness and clobber him, Tala didn't run.

Forbidding shouts in a language she didn't know accompanied the sight of two Mandalorians rushing out of the shadows. Din was being attacked—or that's what made sense at the time anyway—and adrenaline hit an all-time high. Tala shot to her feet, snatched out the blaster holstered to her thigh, and opened fire.

Pandemonium broke out, punctuated by the red-hot staccato of the laserblasts. Din intercepted the bigger Mandalorian (Brick; the one from the cantina) as the other one (smaller and distinctly feminine with dark magenta armor) whizzed across the distance with the assistance of a jetpack, knocking the wind out of Tala and the blaster out of her hand as she was tackled directly into the stairs then yanked back into the darkness and thrown in a disoriented whirl. She skidded into hard floor and blindly searching frantic fingers were lucky to discover a loose metal pole. Tala grabbed it and slammed it into her attacker as she attempted to get to her feet. In reply, she was head-butted so hard she was temporarily rendered dumb on the floor as everything rang, spun, and blurred. Her woozy mind registered quite the curiosity. Why are there three Mandalorians now?

Nearby, hazy impassioned shouts were exchanged in a tongue Tala didn't know as she was seized by the ankle and then dragged away from the stairway. Weakly, she tried to turn over and grab onto something, but it was useless, and the stone steps cast in daylight grew smaller and smaller as Tala was taken into the swallowing darkness.

"This is a simple misunderstanding!" Din's voice insisted somewhere nearby. There were more sounds of physical alteration and Din's voice became increasingly frantic. "Paz, let me past! Sy'roc, let go of her!"

"Quiet, hut'uun!" Paz growled, and another round of physical strikes could be heard.

Sy'roc muttered something foul under her breath, lugging Tala even faster across bumpy metal grating for what felt both like seconds and hours. Through swimming vision, she could tell that her eyesight was adjusting to the dimness. Above, she could make out a high ceiling with industrial piping running along the length. On either side of her, she recognized the walls of a very large passageway. Her groggy brain struggled. What's going on? Where are they taking me?

Without warning, she was thrown down like a sack. With her head splitting in two, she could only manage to weakly sit while holding her aching head with a grimace. At first, she thought she was seeing things. She expected to see the three Mandalorians when she looked up. But instead, she found herself looking at a small sea of them pressing inward from the obscurity of darkness beyond. Their utter silence was terrifying and their helmets ghoulish in the dim, flat lighting. Where had all of them come from?! Din was abruptly thrown down beside her, which startled Tala all over again. He was already pushing himself back up to stand.

Paz paced the inside of the forming circle aggressively, addressing the numerous Mandalorians. "I found him consorting with this outsider, in the sanctity of our halls!" he proclaimed while stabbing a wrathful finger at them. "He brought aruetii here! And tried to hide it, too!"

A hush of whispers rippled through the onlookers as comments came both in Basic and a fierce, strong-sounding language Tala had to assume was Mandalorian. "We've been discovered," one said. "It's all over!" exclaimed another. "She must die," said another. Die? Tala's eyes bulged as she began to understand how bad this was, and what exactly she'd stumbled into.

Paz snatched out a buzzing vibroblade, advancing so menacingly that Tala shuffled back into Din's shins, convinced she was about to be gutted. And then Din grabbed her shoulder, yanked her back hard and fast as he pivoted, putting himself between her and Paz before power kicking the other Mandalorian square in the stomach—all in two seconds. Din stood in a protective, hostile stance as Paz stumbled back. "No one—touches her!" he bellowed so aggressively that everyone present reacted the same way: confused silence.

Sy'roc spoke first. "… Why would you protect some aruetii over your own people?" Her silky voice was full of disgust.

"That armor is wasted on you, ingrate!" Paz yelled, looking very much like he also wanted to kill Din too.

Sy'roc crowded Din, her insistence getting more extreme. "Our survival above all! There should be no hesitation! Move aside and let us destroy the threat!" Paz seethed beside her, practically foaming at the mouth to kill. They pressed in as Tala was swallowed with increasing horror as her forthcoming death approached with lightning speed.

Although Din's face was covered, his body language showed dismay and panic. "She's not an outsider!" he shouted. The room quieted and Tala looked up at him in terrified bewilderment. His voice lost its edge. "She's… riduurok ganarur."

Stunned, absolute silence commenced. Sy'roc drifted back a step, her voice gone pale. "Spoils of war."

Tala stared, baffled by whatever magical phrase had just been uttered. The mood had shifted. But why?

"… You partnered with a face-shower?" Paz asked in genuine surprise, then became condescending. "Is she an Imperial dog, too?"

"Explain this!" Sy'roc demanded, her fire returning. Behind her, many others agreed with nods and murmurs.

Din was still incredibly hostile. "Just back off and I will!"

Neither Din, Paz, nor Sy'roc budged.

"Peace!" a strong voice rang, catching the attention of all present. A Mandalorian in an owlish bronze helmet, fur cape, and copper chest plate appeared through the crowd of onlookers, which parted to let her through. The newcomer commanded respect and radiated calm. She approached with a simple look at Paz and Sy'roc, who fell back respectfully. "Din Djarin." She was shrewd yet curious. "Answers are in order. How is it you've acquired a riduurok ganarur? Does this have something to do with the recent job that ended badly?"

Din was quiet for a torturously long moment, encircled by his silent, waiting people. Finally, he admitted defeat with a single word: "Yes." Wearily, he turned and offered Tala a hand up. With hesitation she took it, pale and quiet and shaken, still unsteady from her head injury. When she reached her full height, she somehow felt more even afraid. At least forty Mandalorians were surrounding them and just a few seconds ago, they had all seemed to want to kill her.

Beside her, Din began to explain in a tone that felt decidedly resigned. "This is Tala Stryker. She was my bounty. I saw her true character, and that of her oppressors. Honor decreed that I couldn't return her to them. So to avoid consequences from the family I refused the bounty and…" His pause was so tense and the silence so loud that Tala was convinced everyone could hear her hammering heart and churning stomach. "According to local tradition, I made her my wife."

Tala looked down, embarrassed for reasons she couldn't name. "And here with you she stands," the woman in bronze commented, voice carrying a profound level of surprised respect. "Riduurok ganarur. A very rare arrangement." Among the watching Mandalorians, there were more whispers. Tala kept quiet and still, but her mind raced trying to understand what these intimidating people were discussing, and why they didn't seem to want to kill her anymore. "Why did you tell no one of this until now?"

Din's answer was uncomfortable. "I didn't realize what I did when I did it. I didn't realize I was enacting riduurok ganarur." Tala was stuck in silence, yet again at the mercy of Din getting them both out of an impossible situation. Was 'riduurok ganarur' something bad?

"Hm." The woman approached. "So now that you have realized what was done, you've brought your riduur before your Tribe to take the Creed."

"W—Uh." Din's helmet turned toward Tala like he was looking to her for backup, but Tala of course had no idea what was happening or what to say. Take what creed and why? Tala was getting a bad feeling about this. "She's… not ready for that."

The woman's helmet turned to Tala. "How is it someone agreed to marry a Mandalorian without vowing to take the Creed? To wed a Mandalorian is to become one."

Wed… a Mandalorian? Marry? Tala somehow managed to keep almost all reaction off her face. Slowly, she looked sidelong at Din, who turned his helmet fractionally her way too. He actually thought they were married? And so did his people?! Absurdity. Lunacy! Her temper was raging in absolute defiance. Her gaze came back into the blank, unchanging helmet of the nameless woman in charge. Tala knew what she had to do, as painful as it was considering the freedom she thought she'd earned. This was after all the pattern she was most familiar with: concealing her true feelings in favor of survival. She wanted to declare herself as belonging to no one and nothing, but that would blow up any chance of exiting these sewers and escaping these Mandalorians who clearly lived here in secret. Tala decided not to lie, but not to tell the exact truth either. A fact would suffice, but she couldn't manage to say it without a touch of the resentment boiling in her blood. "In my family and culture," she said stiffly, "women don't get say in who they marry."

"Hm!" There was a nod. "I see." The woman's helmet turned to Tala's companion, and her tone took on a decidedly probing nature. "Din Djarin. By Creed, you must vow. Have you ever removed your helmet in the presence of another?" Tala's eyes cut at him sidelong.

"Never."

It was just like he said. How strange. Tala looked around at the surrounding Mandalorians. That meant that they'd all never seen each other's faces, and she didn't know what to think of such an odd devotion. The woman took a shrewd beat of silence to examine Din. "According to Creed you have married, even though you did not intend to do such a thing. Now that you understand the legitimacy of the situation, what is it that you will do?"

Din stood taller, his chin rising. Pride welled in his voice as he responded immediately. "Honor the Creed."

There was a soft nod. "This is the Way."

Din nodded too. "This is the Way." His husky voice was soft and unreadable. Tala tried not to look too disconcerted or angry. What was what way?

The woman in the copper helmet spoke again. "Ancient Mandalorians took riduur from many battlefields, Din Djarin. Yours is unlike any riduurok ganarur situation I've heard of before. The battlefield may look different in our broken era, but the practice is the same. It girds my spirit to hear that even in the darkness of night, our heritage still lives. This is a day to take courage." The woman studied Tala, and it almost sounded like she was smiling. "In time, I believe you will be one of us, and you will bless your Tribe with children." Again, Tala had to fight not to show any kind of reaction. "But until you take the Creed, you will not come here again. You must swear never to tell of what you've seen here. We are the last of our kind. Our survival depends on unbroken secrecy. Do you understand? Are you willing?"

Tala swallowed her nerves down and nodded with grave severity. "I do, and I am." All she could think about was getting the kriff out of here with her life and never coming back ever again. "I'll never speak of what I've seen here," she promised, meaning every word. Having this group of people after her was a terrifying prospect. "You have my word."

The woman approached more closely and Tala had to work hard not to shrink away. "Tala Stryker. You are bound." She turned and addressed the group. "Ibic te Manda."

"Ibic te Manda," the gathered responded.

And that seemed to be the end of it. The woman nodded gracefully and left. Din seized Tala by the elbow, thankfully as ready as she was to leave. "Let's go."

He steered her through a quiet, intimidating throng of silent Mandalorians. They all seemed so large, terrifying, and ruthless without a single word being spoken. Their fearsome helmets were like masks, leering at Tala.

Din guided her back toward the stairway, which became visible only a few paces past the huddled mass of Mandalorians. A small light in the thick shadows. Tala's mind felt shot, absolutely riddled with incredulity over the unbelievable few moments she'd just lived through. As the sense of danger began to give way to indignant disbelief and as the Mandalorians were left further and further behind, Tala fumed silently.

And then, just a few steps from the stairway out, Din made quite the comment. "Did you not see the sign?" he muttered, apparently dealing with some of his own latent anger. "What kind of idiot goes into the place with the sign that says toxic chemicals; do not enter?!"

Oh, and that just did it. Tala jerked to a stop and snatched her arm away from his grasp. "This kind of idiot, apparently!" she whisper-shouted back. "And just when the hell were you going to tell me you actually think we're married?!"

"'Think'?" He sounded defeated. "Weren't you listening in there? According to my religion… we are."

Scoffing, laughing, and raging all at once, Tala shook a livid, correcting finger at him. "No," she said, then more forcefully, "No." She tore up the stairs, leaving Din to exhale then plod after.

Back above ground, the underworld and everything that had just happened could have been imaginary. Almost.

The secluded alleyway was quiet and empty. Tala stalked out into daylight then off by a few steps, her anger growing more and more pronounced with every second. "I escaped Vorus to be free. To stop belonging to someone." She spun. Sy'roc had hit her hard, and a bruise was already forming on the side of her forehead. "And now you're telling me I belong to someone again?"

Din was exhausted in every way. He hadn't been ready for this situation to be revealed, and he wasn't prepared to have this conversation either. "Not as a possession to be traded around," he said, overwhelmed by it all. "As a family member."

Tala lost her cool, marched over, and practically screamed in his face. "I don't want a family! The only family I ever had was either taken away or evil!" She looked like she could have spit or cried or both. "Why is it that in both your culture and mine, the woman gets no say?! Did you do this on purpose?"

The last accusation truly burned him. How could she miss the point so profoundly?! "If I hadn't told them that, they would have killed you!" he shouted, then let the declaration ring. Hadn't she realized that the only thing that kept her alive down there was him coming clean? "My people are nearly extinct, and we don't take chances on our survival," he spat, then shook his head, staggered by this strange, inescapable twist in fate. Saving Tala. He was losing count of how many times he'd done so now. It always ended badly for him, too. "I just saved your life. Again." He gave her a scathing look he hoped she could feel despite the helmet. "I didn't have to. So a thank you would be nice."

There it was; the thing he was after: building guilt on her face. But oddly enough, it didn't satisfy him. Instead, it made him feel bad. Ugh. Fed up, Din sighed and took a moment to compose himself. She was surprised and mad. It was understandable. He needed to explain things a little more. "Look. It's like I said in there. I didn't realize what I was setting in motion when I used the rescue rights. I was just getting us out of there, I wasn't thinking. Then on the way back here from Toth it just… came over me like a light being switched on. According to Mandalorian tradition… our lives are joined." For a moment, he remembered the moment of realization, then quickly after it how he was in no way interested in telling her about any of it. It had been something he was just going to keep to himself for the rest of his life. He gave a disgusted exhale as irritation returned. "I wasn't going to bring it up to you or them, ever, but your apparently irresistible need to snoop changed things, didn't it?"

Tala's mouth dropped open. "So now this is my fault?"

"Yeah." He crossed his arms, feeling petty. "It mostly is."

Prim, Tala crossed her arms too. "Well." But then she thought about it and surprised him when she sighed too then mumbled a resentful, "… I guess that's fair, actually." She heaved a disgusted sigh of her own then scrubbed a slow, dejected hand across her face and swore under her breath tiredly.

This situation was insanity, and Din didn't understand how it could so perfectly blow up in his face. He stared at her in rising misery of his own. "Why did you stay on Nevarro, Tala? Why did you use my name as your last name? Why did you follow me down into the kriffing sewers?" None of it made sense, all of it felt purposeful like some kind of divine punishment or torture.

He watched as his dismay made pain grow on her face. "I… followed you to apologize," she revealed with broken honesty, and Din felt himself soften despite his best intentions to stay cold and removed. "And now I've just made things worse." She genuinely looked sorry. "I… I didn't know you lived here when I decided to stay. And I heard about how your hunter's guild looked down on what you did for me, too." As angry as she'd been a moment ago, she was now stricken as the totality of it registered. "I've ruined your life, haven't I? I'm so sorry." Her soft voice and forlorn face made him think she was going to cry, and she rasped out a final hurt comment. "I'm a curse. Just like he said." Her father. Din remembered. Tala hardened her face and set her shoulders. "I'll leave you alone." She turned to flee.

She got four or five steps. "You're not a curse, Tala." She stopped but didn't turn around. Din followed by a footstep or two. "And my life isn't ruined." She turned slowly and uncomfortably, and Din wondered how he could go from being so angry at her to feeling genuinely sorry for her. He sighed softly and eyed the bruise on her head. As much as he'd love to just part ways and leave all this alone, he didn't think that was a good idea considering how sideways things kept going. Things needed clarifying. "We really do need to talk about this, even if we both don't want to."

Tala thought for a moment, pressing her lips together in brief, harrowed thought before drifting back while shaking her head vacantly. "I don't want you to be in trouble with your people. But I never agreed to this."

"I know you didn't. And neither did I. Not exactly." He didn't want or need a riduur, the idea had never interested him—and yet now he'd found himself with one by accident—one who did not want part in the arrangement. But as he'd told the Armorer: he would honor what had been set in motion. "Regardless. I stand by my decision and the consequences. I accept the outcome." Tala had a strange look on her face that perfectly depicted someone who very much didn't understand his logic. "I'm a Mandalorian," he reminded. "I take honor very seriously."

Tala's head tilted and her expression twitched into a doubtful, almost playful smile. "… Among other questionable things, I seem to recall helping you steal a ship. How honorable is that?"

Surprised at the call-out, he let out the softest rueful breath that could have almost been an agreeing chuckle. He never knew what she would say next. "Sometimes things get complicated."

Tala sobered, nodding as her thoughts visibly turned. "Yes they do." She contemplated something tensely for a moment before asking. "Don't your people believe in divorce?"

He deflated. He should have known she'd ask that. What benefit, after all, was there for her to accept this situation long-term? "Of course we do." He sat down on a stone ledge near the sewer entrance. He felt defeated. He'd seen his Tribe's reaction to the news he hadn't wanted to share: there had been optimism about a riduurok ganarur situation. It represented hope for a return to the old ways. He could only imagine the reactions he'd get when he went down there and told them all Tala had rejected him. "So sure," he continued glumly, contemplating his own bad luck with amazement and despair all at once. It was almost funny, the words coming out of his mouth: "Divorce me. More disgrace on my head sounds like fun." It was a punk thing to say. But Din's gripes currently knew no end, and he just felt sorry for himself.

So did Tala, apparently. "I've gotten you into such a mess."

Din shook his head absently. "I made my choices. You're not responsible for those. But you really have got to stop poking around where you don't belong."

Tala laughed weakly. "Understatement of the century." She studied him for a moment then sat near him. When he looked into her face, he saw concern and building hesitancy. "… In a perfect world, what would your people hope for from me?"

What? Perking up incredulously, Din looked at her in tense silence. She was considering this in some capacity? For his sake? That was the only explanation. He swallowed thickly, too caught off guard to respond for another second or two. He tried not to raise his hopes. "That you take the Creed. Become Mandalorian." He paused, feeling much more awkward about this part. "We'd be expected to… have children."

Tala eyed him in a way she never had before, and he didn't exactly know how to characterize it. "Well. I couldn't do that last part even if I wanted to." Din kept quiet. He remembered her brother's words about infertility. He didn't think educating her on the Mandalorian tradition of adopting foundlings was needed right now. Because sure enough, Tala shook her head and dropped her considerations. "You're sure we can't undo this? In a way that doesn't look bad on you?"

His answer was simple. "Mandalorians are a people of their word, vow, and Creed."

She nodded softly, troubled. "I'm starting to get that." With a long sigh, Tala looked off in thought, her stern youthful profile appearing older than her age of eighteen years. "In a couple of years, I'll leave Nevarro," she decided momentarily. "Then you can do whatever with your life."

It was a nice thought, but… "It doesn't work that way. You're my riduurok ganarur until the day one of us dies." Even with divorce. But he didn't mention that. It was his burden to bear, not hers. Again, she looked so absurdly confused. Din could have chuckled at her expression. It was almost cute. "It's a very uncommon tradition. I don't expect an outsider to understand."

Somber, Tala stood up after a long moment of deliberation, walked off a couple of steps, then turned to fix him with a poignant look. "I owe you my life. So… tell your people whatever you need to." Din's arms began to come uncrossed as his face slackened. "Just… please don't ever think of me as your actual wife," she said, cringing and flustered. Din stood, noticing how she shrunk back from him almost imperceptibly. "Let's just live our lives. I'll leave you alone, you leave me alone."

Stunned and thankful and yes, confused too, Din was given pause. But when he thought about it, he had to remember: Tala had honor. He'd seen it in action, and he had assessed her to be kind. Noble. Caring. It made him feel oddly vulnerable to have these things directed at him. "Okay," he agreed quietly, realizing this was where they parted ways. It felt sudden to him. Tala turned to go, and Din almost let her. Then he asked before he could stop himself: "Is—is your head all right?"

She halted in place, turned halfway, and a soft, inscrutable look came his way. Questions were in her eyes. "I'm fine."

Din nodded, approaching. There was a last item to discuss he'd almost forgotten about. "One more thing. My name. You can keep using it. Just don't tell anyone whose it is. I don't like people knowing my name."

Curiosity lit up in those earthen brown eyes. "Then why'd you give it to me?"

Din faltered. The answer to her question was simple. But he couldn't answer truthfully without violating her wishes. She'd just asked him not to think of her as his wife. But it was too late: she was technically, in Mandalorian viewpoint, his spouse. And he'd realized this shortly after they jumped to hyperspace from Toth. When she'd asked him for his name that second time and then joked about being his wife… he'd given it, because that's exactly who she was.

She wouldn't like to hear that. But what else could he say? The silence got too long and Din's nerves got the better of him. He brushed past her, exiting the alley to head for the shelter of his ship, leaving Tala to stare after in semi-hurt confusion at the sudden cold shoulder.

That night in bed, Tala was restless and harrowed by deepening thoughts and questions. Everything resounded over and over again, driving her mad as she thought more about it, especially Din's sudden exit. She didn't know how to feel about what had happened, or about the truth she'd uncovered: the Mandalorians had not been wiped out. Not completely. And now, they knew about her… and saw her as one of their warriors' wives. When sunrise came, she hadn't slept at all. She couldn't stop thinking about Din.

Author's notes: Woohoo, we have now established the story setup, and now we can get into the fun part of watching these two awkward knuckleheads fall in love… I hope?! ;)!