References: I simply couldn't help myself from making a few references to Watership Down and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Kudos to whoever catches the reference(s)! ^^ Hopefully, someone gets a chuckle or two...
A/N: Sheresh and Rowin were a lot more wordy than I was expecting at the end of last chapter...so no Numa or Fives this time around. :( This chapter was just getting too long, so I'm afraid their arrival to the kitchen/part in the conversation will have to wait until next time around. Apologies to reulte and Kiana Tavers-Mereel...your requests will show up soon, I promise!
"...Cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love."
"Wisdom, Justice, and Love"
Linkin Park
Cody was fairly certain that one could have heard a spanner drop. For several long seconds, neither he nor Sheresh said anything; the clone wasn't sure if his Mandalorian companion had heard the story before or not, but from his end, Rowin's revelation bordered on the unimaginable.
He had heard of Dark Jedi. He had heard of Sith. He had heard of renegade Jedi. He had heard of banished Jedi. He had heard of good Jedi going bad. He had heard of bad Jedi going good. But, he had never once heard of a Jedi who had lost her connection to the Force.
Suddenly, Kil's lack of reaction toward Korbin made a whole lot more sense. In fact, now that the truth had been shared, Cody almost had to wonder why he hadn't suspected such a thing himself. Except, of course, that he had never once imagined that such a thing could possibly happen to a Jedi.
It definitely put the Jedi – as a collective whole – into a new and unsettling light. It took away their invincibility; it made them strangely...mortal. Cody frowned slightly and wished he hadn't drunk his caf so quickly – he could have used a suitable distraction at that moment.
His chest twinged slightly and he gingerly rubbed a hand across the front of his half-opened flight-suit. For all of the talking that he had been doing, his breath wasn't coming in as short as it had been the night before. The bacta patches and Kix's homemade remedy were apparently working wonders, though Cody knew better than to try and move suddenly any time soon.
So, for the moment, he silently nursed his wounds and pondered Rowin's shocking revelation.
It was quite heart-rending to discover that Kil had witnessed the murder of her own twin. Cody looked down at his mug and squeezed his eyes shut for a just a few moments in silent sympathy. He couldn't even begin to imagine such a thing; in light of her trauma, the clone imagined that perhaps losing a grasp on the Force wasn't so shocking a consequence. The clones themselves were practically twins – the death of one another was not something that even the most jaded clone took for granted. Cody had lost a piece of his soul every time one of his men had been cut down in battle – how much more devastating could it be to lose a brother with whom one had actually shared a mother's womb?
Cody had no reference for Kil's loss – he couldn't fathom the depths of her pain. But, he could appreciate the horror that she must have felt; he had felt the same when Echo had died. When Waxer had been beheaded. When he had collected the effects of the fallen and wondered what to do with them.
He wished such death on no one. Especially not a Jedi. They were born to life – or, so he had always naively believed before learning of Umbara, before executing Order 66.
And then...another nuance of what Rowin had said dawned on Cody and he shook his head in sheer disbelief.
"Kil and Kian were on Medstar Five?" he could have kicked himself almost immediately after asking his question; he had no desire to trivialize Kil's trauma.
At the same time, he was frankly amazed by the threads of coincidence that were slowly weaving all of them together.
"Kian was injured on Felucia – I don't really know all of the details, but it was enough to send him up to orbit," Rowin didn't seem to take offense to Cody's social awkwardness and the bi-ped rabbit answered the clone's question, regardless of it's possible inappropriateness. "Kil an' I were passin' through the sector on the trail o' a bounty an' she stopped to check up on her brother. It wasn't often that the two o' them were on the same side o' the galaxy...much less in the same quadrant. She just meant to stop in for an hour or two," Rowin's furry face looked haunted in the bright kitchen light, as he stared hard at the table underneath his paws. "That choice changed everythin'."
"How did Kil manage to not get killed herself? You said she saw Kil's death...but...if you don't mind me asking," Sheresh paused, as if afraid of indelicacy herself – fear, however, never stopped a Mandalorian. "Where were you?"
"I was several levels down on the hangar deck, sittin' with the ship, when the Order came through. I didn't really know what happened at first...but I felt my connection with Kil...change. I still can't explain how. It grew...dark, is the only word I have for it," Rowin shook his lop-eared head and frowned thoughtfully into a troubling past. "A Lepi Bond exists independently of the Force – Kil bein' a Jedi an' me bein' Force Sensitive just enhanced it, really. Made it stronger, maybe a little sharper," the rabbit shrugged as he struggled to put his memories and feelings into words. "So, I didn't realize at first what, exactly, had happened to her, or what had changed. But, I knew that it was bad. I knew I needed to find her.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't get off of the hangar deck. Kriff...it took me about 'bout five minutes to figure out what was happenin' and by then, some o' the other pilots on the deck had died tryin' to change the tide of destruction," Rowin's bright blue eyes grew dark and Cody felt his skin crawl.
The Lepi wasn't sharing any graphic details, but the clone commander could well imagine the chaos and the darkness that had spiraled into being on the medstar. The death toll on a medical ship filled with Jedi had to have been both thorough and harrowing – Cody was frankly amazed that some, like Kil and Tay, had even managed to survive the atrocities meted out by their own patients.
"They locked the hangar deck from the outside – ordered those o' us who could, to leave immediately or they would open fire. Then, some o' the clones in the ranks seemed to realize what was goin' on an' what they were doin'. Some rebelled – I watched a whole platoon slaughter itself in minutes. Half o' the clones had been patched up by the very Jedi they were bein' asked to kill – the other half either didn't care or didn't have that experience to bond them to any sort of loyalty. More than just Jedi died on that Medstar," Rowin reached up suddenly and hid his face in his paws; even Cody was overwhelmed by the portrait of horror that the Lepi painted with his desolate words. "Chiyou told me later that all o' the clones in the intensive care units and in surgery died 'long with their Jedi doctors. The Force was all that was keeping many o' the more sensitive triage cases alive. When their able-bodied brothers raised fire..."
Rowin's voice faltered for a few moments, before he cleared his throat and pressed on. Cody almost wished that the space-rabbit would stop; the story of Medstar Five was almost more than he could bear. But...the clone commander also understood that it was a story he needed to hear. It was his lover's story, it was Saa's story. As such, it had become his story.
"Many o' the other patients – the ones in ICU or in surgery – died when they tried to defend the Jedi to whom they owed their lives. Some fought back, I've heard. Some escaped, I hope. Fives did, obviously. He was in the physical therapy ward, a level or two 'bove Kian's recovery unit. In fact, 'parently, Kian's room was along the way Fives took to the hangar deck. I'll never know what possessed that crazy ARC to run and not to fight – it's the only time I've honestly known him to show that amount of level-headed self-restraint – but I s'pect it had something to do with Chiyou an' with the Jedi to whom he claims he owes a life debt."
"Tay," Cody practically whispered her name in awe; it was humbling to realize how far-reaching his lover's influence really was.
It was humbling to realize how great an impact one small Jedi – one small female – could make. And it was even more humbling to see how the Force was slowly bringing all of those influences together in one place, at one time.
"Right," Rowin nodded at the mention of Tay's name. "Healer Tay – he's talked often o' her. Though," the rabbit paused and glanced at Cody for the first time in several long minutes. "That's probably his own story to tell. In any event, he felt a deep 'nough loyalty to her, that he risked pain, injury, an' death to try an' find her in the chaos. O' course...she obviously got out," Rowin waved a paw briefly at his clone companion. "But, it wasn't thanks to any o' Fives' efforts. I don't think he's honestly forgiven himself for that – 'til meeting you, he's always agonized over whether or not she made it off of the medstar alive."
"I'm sure he's been relieved since to find out that she did," Sheresh's voice was tinged with an emotion that Cody couldn't name; he glanced over at her, but she was staring down at the table and her expression was hard to read.
"I'm sure he'll have a lot of questions to ask you," Rowin raised an eyebrow as he looked Cody over.
"Unfortunately, he won't find much enlightenment from me about what happened on Medstar Five," Cody could but shrug. "She saved me. Saa, on the other hand, saved her."
"Ahh...your clan chieftain, right, Sheresh?" the piebald Lepi wiggled his nose curiously at the half-Zeltron.
Sheresh remained unusually quiet, but she did lift her head and meet Rowin's gaze. She nodded once, twice, and then lowered her gaze back down at her hands. In her own way, she seemed as affected by Rowin's tale as Cody.
"So, I take it Fives ran into Kil when he passed by Kian's room?" Cody hesitantly steered the conversation back on course; Rowin took no offense, however, as he nodded thoughtfully.
"Yup. I'm still a little fuzzy on how that happened – she gave me a few details 'bout what happened in her brother's room, once we figured out how to communicate by sign language," Rowin sighed heavily and swiped a paw over his right ear, as if soothing an itch. "I s'pose I should have said earlier that we were practically telepathic. After Kian died..." the rabbit's ears moved slightly as he shook his head. "We've had to make due on pantomime an' hand gestures."
"How did Kil manage to escape her brother's fate?" Sheresh gently guided the rabbit back on track; Cody was starting to notice that conversations with the Lepi never followed a completely linear line of thought.
"They both felt death hit the Medstar at the same time. 'Cause Kian was in the recoup ward, he was slightly buffered from the immediate fallout of the Order. In the moments it took for his executioners to get organized an' come lookin' for him, he convinced Kil to hide in the space under the bed on the opposite side of his room. It was the only place she could hide – her brother's lasts words to her was that neither of them would survive if she tried to take him an' run. An'..." Rowin nearly moaned, his sigh was so heavy and burdened by sorrow. "He wanted at least one of the Tharen line to continue.
"They knew, ya' know. As soon as it happened. If a Jedi had enough time to register an' recognize the death spreadin' out across the galaxy like a wound, he or she knew what was happenin'. Kian was at least quick-thinkin' and convincin' 'nough to spare his sister's life."
"And yet...she watched him die," Cody spoke the unthinkable into the still kitchen air.
Rowin merely nodded, too overcome by his own emotions to speak. After a long, sorrowful moment, he quietly broke the silence – there was still more of the story left to tell and it seemed to compel the Lepi onward.
"Kil's never told me 'bout anythin' after that point. I've never asked. Fives an' Chiyou found her stumblin' through the hallway outside o' her brother's room, though – they've both told me that much.
"After the platoon of clones killed each other, us pilots managed to hot-wire the hangar doors from our side an' force 'em open. I'm proud to say I had a paw in that myself," the slightest ghost of a smile touched the corner of Rowin's mouth as he wiggled his furry fingers. We even managed to incapacitate the clones that had been ordered to keep guard on the door. For at least as long as I was involved – which was 'bout thirty standard minutes – we even managed to secure the majority o' the hangar deck. I don't know how long that lasted after Fives, Chiyou, an' I left, but we at least managed to keep the hangar deck secure long 'nough for a few pilots to get free.
"Once I saw Kil, I was too worried to really worry 'bout anyone else – I knew somethin' bad had happened to Kian, but my first concern was for her safety. I know some ships took flight at the same time I did; I hope that others managed to escape the Medstar after we left. I know that a lot o' pilots gave their lives in an attempt to save both clones an' Jedi. I'm goin' to assume, too, that Saa an' Tay managed to get out durin' the time that the hangar deck was protected."
Rowin paused and stared off distantly in the general direction of the caf carafe. But, Cody knew the look of a sentient that was staring into a past that couldn't be seen; Rowin was lost to his own thoughts. His voice was both soft and wistful as he seemed to speak only to himself.
"I've hoped upon hope every day since then, that there were more survivors o' Medstar Five than just us four – well, six, now," he glanced over at Cody and his intelligent blue eyes were haunted. "I've just never been able to believe that all o' the goodness in the galaxy was wiped out, y'know?"
"It wasn't," Cody wasn't even sure if he believed it fully himself, but something compelled him to reach out and take firm hold of the Lepi's wrist.
He found himself echoing Obi-Wan's words, echoing the very hope that he himself had clung to in the days since leaving behind Chan-Dar's gravestones.
"There's still hope in the galaxy. There's hope as long as we never forget."
"Kil hasn't spoken a word since that day," Rowin handed piping hot mugs around to their respective owners.
The three had taken an appropriate moment of silence after Cody's declaration of hope. Rowin stood up during that time to fill his cup and offered to refill his companions' as well. Neither Sheresh nor Cody objected – on Cody's end, it was comforting, at least, to have something hot and real between his hands. Caf anchored him, strangely enough, and provided some solace to the surrealism of their discussion. He didn't really need the caf – since he was certainly alert at this point – but he wanted the caf, if only for it's silent comfort.
"Chiyou calls it 'selective mutism' – whatever that means," the big rabbit just rolled his shoulders and took a solemn sip of his drink. "I guess it's a psychological byproduct of Kil's loss, her trauma. Losin' Kian was to her what losin' her would be to me because of our Bond," Rowin paused and looked for his next words in the ethereal steam that drifted up into his nose. "But...she hasn't been the same since Order 66. I don't blame her for it...but I fear for her. I worry that if she should find her connection back to the Force, it'll lead her to the Darkside. I've felt such...emptiness in her. Such...void. I stayed with her for 'bout a year, but in the last six months, I took my leave. Just for a little bit, y'know?"
The lop-eared Lepi looked up from his caf and glanced from Sheresh to Cody, as if looking for affirmation. Cody got the sense that Rowin was speaking honestly of a decision that now haunted him and also of things that he hadn't been able to voice since Kil's loss. Slowly, the clone nodded – it was a strange thing, to be in the position to validate the feelings of another broken soul. But, he thought that maybe he could empathize with the rabbit's choices. Even if he himself lacked an identical experience, Cody could certainly understand what it felt like to question one's choices, one's sanity, one's sincerity.
And, when faced with a chance to bolster the failing spirits of another, Cody found that he was compelled to give back some of the grace that Tay had given to him. Words failed him in a way that they never seemed to fail her, but he nodded all the same.
Sheresh, for her part, reached out and put her hand comfortingly on Rowin's furry forearm. It seemed that she, too, understood at least some aspect of the struggle that had torn the rabbit silently from the inside.
"I've felt that if Kil reconnects to the Force an' falls to the Darkside, that she'll take me with her if I'm not careful," Rowin didn't seem able to look either of them in the eye as he brought life to his inner fears. "I've felt so helpless since Order 66...so insignificant. What can one rabbit do to change what's happened, y'know? We're the laughin' stock o' the galaxy, really, us Lepi. I wanna turn back the tide – I wanna fight. But, I don't know how," the rabbit pushed a heavy sigh through his prominent front teeth and frowned at his unassuming caf. "So...I went back to the one thing I've always done – that one thing I know I do well. Fastest paw in the Outer Rim and all that," he lifted his hand again and wiggled his ears; a flash of pride sparked deep in his azure eyes. "I learned that there were rogue clones who decided to turn bounty hunter – either for their own interests or by direct sanction of the Empire – an' hunt down the Jedi who escaped from Operation Nightfall."
A deadly look settled itself over the rabbit's features and in that instant, Cody realized that the Lepi was not all fluff and furriness. There was a ferocity to him that was as intimidating as it would be in the mightiest Togorian; Rowin was, if anything, protective and the seething anger in the Lepi's eyes left no doubt in Cody's mind that there was very little the space-rabbit wouldn't do to keep his Bond-mate safe.
"I knew I wouldn't get far without a fast ship an' a partner, though. That's when I remembered Sheresh here – we ran into each other once or twice durin' the Wars, since we were both smugglers on behalf o' the Republic. Kil's work took her all over the place, for one, an' for 'nother, I would sometimes do my own thing while Kil did hers. Sometimes, I would get a bounty run from the Republic that would conflict with her own leads – so it wasn't too uncommon for me to fly solo. I met Sheresh here a few times on Nar Shaddaa and Ord Mantell; struck up an unlikely friendship," a smile graced Rowin's thin lips for the first time since the story of Kil and Order 66 had come up. "When I decided to leave Kil in Fives' more-than-capable company, I looked Sheresh up immediately. It was a long shot at the time, but I hoped that, because o' her work in the War, she would still be loyal to the Republic.
"As it turned out, my hunch paid off," the Lepi paused and wiggled his nose at Sheresh; his eyes twinkled and it looked like maybe the conversation was going to meander down a more upbeat path than before.
"It's a little hard to be a Par'jain and not be loyal to the Republic," the Mandalorian bounty hunter made an attempt to be humble; she shrugged as if it was no big thing, but Cody knew that loyalty to the fallen Republic was a traitor's gamble in the Empire's dark rule.
"So, let me make sure I've got this straight," Cody thought of something and he waved a finger first at Sheresh and then at Rowin. "You guys were both smugglers during the Wars, but then you turned into bounty hunters afterwards?"
"For the most part, yeah," Sheresh nodded and shifted briefly in her seat. "I was actually minding my own business on Togoria – quite literally, might I add – when Big Ears here hunted me down. When Order 66 hit, Ru'buir and I figured it might be best if we kept our heads down for a while. It's not exactly a secret that Clan Par'jain supported the war effort on behalf of the Republic. We were both questioned rather...ah...forcefully," a dark memory skittered across Sheresh's face and Cody knew better than to ask for any details. "Immediately following Order 66, our ships were seized, our cargo confiscated – the Empire was quite thorough in making sure that we were grounded for at least the immediate weeks following the initial destruction. I agree with Ru'buir, in that I think the Powers That Be were making sure we didn't smuggle any Jedi."
"Ffff," Cody pushed a hard breath out through his teeth and shook his head.
"We were detained for about a week after Order 66 and then deported from Malastare – where we had been running supplies before everything went to haran – to Togoria. I kept an ear on what I could of the HoloNews, but it was all propaganda; the Wanted Lists gave me some hope, though, especially when I started hearing clone names," Sheresh reached up and tucked a stray lock of her flaming hair behind her pink-tinged ear. "I opened up a smithy and Ru'buir found work as she could in Caross, the capitol city. We were all quiet and domestic for about six months – before Rowin here caused a scene trying to dock in the Caross Space Port," the half-Zeltron's face lit up in a playful smile and her honey-colored eyes danced as she glanced over at her partner. "The Togorians didn't know what to make of him."
"You mean, they didn't know what to make outta' me," Rowin snorted and rolled his eyes; Sheresh just laughed and even Cody could appreciate the mental image of a rabbit facing down a whole planet of warrior cats.
"Thankfully, you had the foresight to drop Ru'buir's name. And mine," Sheresh shook her head and laughed. "Or else I think you would have ended up on a communal spit, my friend."
"I've never doubted it," Rowin mumbled as he flattened his ears against his skull in a clear gesture of disapproval.
He glanced slyly over at Cody and wiggled his whiskers impudently.
"Ru'buir's not a bad cat, mind you. But, barrin' her, I must admit I don't have much love for Togorians. Somethin' 'bout their big, pointy teeth... Ugh!" Rowin shuddered delicately and Cody just snorted into his caf.
"Rowin, your every ancestor was once the galactic meal ticket," Sheresh giggled and after the heaviness of Order 66, it was nice to feel some levity returning to their kitchen table conversation. "It's a wonder you Lepis ever took to the stars!"
"Some of us 'parently like to stare the Black Rabbit down an' laugh in his face," Rowin arched an eyebrow as he took a healthy swig of his cooling caf.
"'The Black Rabbit'?" it was Cody's turn to arch an eyebrow.
"A Lepi myth," Sheresh offered an explanation before Rowin could swallow.
The rabbit immediately began to shake his head; he swallowed a little too quickly in his haste and started coughing. Cody reached over and thumped his companion solidly across the shoulders; after a moment or two, the Lepi caught his breath and he wheezed as soon as he was able to form words -
"Not a myth," he coughed, cleared his throat, and tried again in a steadier voice. "S'just our name for Death," Rowin cleared his throat again and waved a paw in the air between him and Cody. "Every culture has a name for Death; on Coachelle Prime, Death is 'the Black Rabbit.' Coincidentally, ya'll never find a black Lepi – if ya' thought lopped ears were bad," he tugged his left ear for emphasis and frowned slightly. "Well...bein' born a black rabbit is even worse. It's extraordinarily rare – mostly 'cause any family line that might carry the gene has been wiped out under the claim o' bein' 'cursed'. Bein' funny colors an' havin' weird ears is annoyin'...but bein' black in our culture is a death sentence. For the kit an' its family."
"That's...sort of grim," Cody frowned as well and chewed on his lip for a moment.
"That's life as a Lepi," Rowin shrugged and cautiously tried sipping on his caf again. "No more grim than life as a clone, I would imagine."
"True," Cody raised his eyebrows and nodded with a sigh.
"Soooo...happy thoughts!" Sheresh slapped the table as she slid off of her stool.
Both males looked up at her and shared a rueful smile. The conversation had been a bizarre see-saw of pleasantry and darkness. Silence fell among them and Cody watched with interest as Sheresh limped over to the counter to set her empty caf mug down next to a collection of what looked to be dirty dishes.
"Well...dunno if this falls into the category of 'happy', necessarily, but..." Cody paused and then decided to go ahead and embrace his nosier tendencies. "Where'd you get your limp?"
He was expecting a war story, but what he got was a flash of something like sadness. Sheresh glanced over her shoulder at him, with an expression he couldn't quite read. Then, she turned back around toward the counter and started fussing with the dishes in the manner of a sentient who was looking for any excuse to delay her answer.
"I have acute gout," she finally replied after a moment or two of idle fiddling; she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Cody frown slightly, as the term was unfamiliar to him.
She sighed, turned back around to face the dishes, and rested her hands on top of the counter.
"Gout is a kind of arthritis that occurs when acid builds up in the blood around a joint. Acute gout usually affects just one specific joint - in this case, my right ankle. I limp almost all the time now; even when my ankle isn't inflamed, it can be hard to walk normally on it. Ru'buir thinks that the disease is focused mostly around my ankle for now...but in a few years, it might go chronic and affect my entire leg from ankle to knee."
The Mandalorian didn't turn around to meet Cody's face and he could have kicked himself for having turned the conversation back toward the personal and the painful.
"I had just been adopted by Ru'buir when I had my first outbreak; I was about 21 at the time. On one hand, I'm thankful that the disease decided to set in while I was at Kamino – I'm sure I don't need to tell you that their medical facilities are the finest in the galaxy. On the other hand, though," Sheresh finally turned around; she bit her lip as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the counter. "It caused some problems for Ru'buir at first. Fett was not pleased to have such...weakness...in someone he hadn't even picked for the job," something like anger and hurt mixed within her expressive eyes.
"Perfection," Cody wrinkled up his nose as if he had just taken a bite of something distasteful. "The curse of Kamino."
"Indeed," Sheresh nodded grimly. "Though, I should specify that I was always a bone of contention for Fett - I was too shiny, too new, too..." she paused, as if searching for the right words. "Too much of everything he wasn't looking to have in the Cuy'val Dar. I was on Kamino because he wanted Ru'buir as an instructor and she wouldn't accept his offer unless I went with her. Imperfections that he was willing to accept in others, he was less willing to accept in me," the half-Zeltron rolled her shoulders with a wry and sudden smile. "Fett and I were always at odds. That got me into trouble on more than one occasion."
After a moment, a subtle smile curved around her lips and other memories seemed to overshadow some of Sheresh's bitterness.
"Fett not withstanding, though, I found during those seven years that weakness is in the eye of the beholder. My gout and 'shininess' caught the eye of one of the Cuy'val Dar," the female Mandalorian paused and glanced down at her crossed arms, as if suddenly pondering the wisdom of saying anything further.
After a moment, she continued, her voice strangely wistful.
"Walon Vau taught me that imperfection only existed if you acknowledged it; that weakness was only present if you allowed it to define you. Sergeant Vau," Sheresh lifted her head and avoided both Cody and Rowin as she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at the ceiling above them. "Was a hard man with hard ways. But, he taught me well. I left Kamino with many friends among the Cuy'val Dar – while I'm not sure that I would necessarily classify Vau as a 'friend', I know I at least have his respect. I learned to live around my gout," the red-headed Mandalorian finally dared to look Cody in the eye. "There are days when I'm physically incapable of moving, but those are usually the days when I'll sit at the helm and let Rowin run the show."
She flashed the Lepi a bright smile and the rabbit wiggled his ears at her in wordless response. Cody mulled over Sheresh's revelations – 'Vau' was a dimly familiar name, but only dimly. He'd heard stories of the various Cuy'val Dar, to be sure. He even knew some of the names. But, 'Vau' didn't ring an immediate bell; he shrugged slightly to himself and glanced at Sheresh, who had been watching him with a look of strange intensity. It was almost as if she half-expected him to judge her, but Cody had no reference with which to pass an opinion. He just raised a thick eyebrow at her and Sheresh sighed through her teeth, as if she had been expecting a different reaction.
"As it turned out, I wasn't the only Cuy'val Dar to have a handicap," she continued abruptly as she uncrossed her arms and sauntered back over to her stool. "Kal Skirata had a limp, for example – and we had another instructor who stuttered. And, there were others; a life of fighting leaves its mark after a while. Fett got over himself eventually – at the end of the day, all that truly matters to a Mandalorian is how capable you are of doing your job. Well," she paused for a moment as she settled herself back in her seat and leaned her elbows on the table. "And how courageous you are. I settled that question fairly early on in my Kamino career, in the center of a Mandalorian Battle Circle. As for my job," the young armorer waved her hand with a proud smile. "That didn't stay long in dispute, either. I think by the time we all parted ways, most of the Cuy'val Dar had forgotten that I even had a disability."
"Is that why no one seems bothered by Sol's power chair?" Cody didn't necessarily mean to change the topic, but his mind immediately jumped to the Kelborn leader.
He blushed slightly at his boldness and wondered if maybe Saa's bluntness was starting to rub off on him. The clone glanced sideways at Rowin, as if silently beseeching him for help, but the giant rabbit only chuckled into the remaining dredges of his caf.
"No one in his right mind would ever doubt Sol'yc Kelborn's prowess as a warrior," Sheresh's tone was stern, but her eyes still smiled warmly across the table at Cody. "Sol will gladly tell you his story, though – like most Mandalorians – he won't tell you much about his life before becoming Mando'ad. As far as I know, though, he's always been in a power chair. I don't know all the details, but I think he was injured as a young man fighting in Korun's Summertime War."
"He's Korun?" Cody immediately recalled the fiercest Jedi he had ever met in his short life – Mace Windu, a famous Korun himself.
Cody had never met another Korunnai outside of Master Windu, but his interactions with the bold Jedi had left the former commander duly impressed by the Korun warrior spirit. He had often wondered, in the quiet places of his mind, what had really happened that night on Coruscant, when reports claimed that Mace Windu had tried to kill the Chancellor, only then to fall ignominiously to his death. Cody had long suspected foul play, since he had seen the sure-footed Windu leap impossible distances and fight against odds astronomically greater than himself. To so neatly "slip and fall to his death"...
The rumors had never sat well with Cody.
The former commander's thoughts skittered dutifully back to the present – and to Sol – when Sheresh turned her head suddenly and sneezed into her forearm. The abrupt combination of sound and movement pulled him out of his memories and the female Mandalorian picked up the conversation again, completely unaware of his mental musings, after she had collected herself.
"Yes, Sol was Korun – adopted by a Wroonian when he was about thirteen standard years old, married to a Lorrdian, and has had only two children biologically," Sheresh tucked back a lock of hair that had fallen out from behind her ear when she had sneezed; she smiled brightly, but Cody thought he saw something subtle flash through her amber eyes. "In many ways, Sol's family is the typical Mandalorian family. A mix-match of different species and societies, united by a culture that they've chosen."
"Still..." Cody paused and chewed on his bottom lip.
He didn't have any difficulty accepting the idea that Sol had gathered around him so many different species, to call "family" and to raise as his own. It also didn't surprise Cody to learn that Sol's wife was of another race, or that his buir was also of totally different species all together. Watching Saa with Hella and hearing Saa's stories of Mrov, Marta, and Mal had accustomed the clone to the idea that uniformity was not a Mandalorian norm. If anything, the Mando'ad seemed to delight in kicking down the walls of xenophobia and challenging galactic concepts of family, tradition, and lineage.
What suddenly fascinated Cody was the revelation that Sol had been adopted in spite of his apparent disability. The clone arched a curious eyebrow at Sheresh and hoped like haran that he wasn't being indelicate.
"Sol's buir adopted him even though he...ah..." Cody made a vague gesture with his hand and faltered for a moment; the question sounded silly, now that he was actually putting words to it.
Sheresh just flashed a knowing smile and chuckled.
"Yes, actually. Sol was adopted into the clans with full knowledge of his limitations. I will admit that adoption of Sol in his condition is a rare thing to find – even among an inclusive society like our own," the half-Zeltron rolled her shoulders and frowned slightly as she considered her next words. "After all, we are primarily a fighting culture and you can't put a soldier in a power chair out on the battlefield. But, for every ten Mandalorians who looks for a son who can fight to win, there's always one Mando'ad who looks for a son who can fight to survive.
"I don't know much about the Summertime Wars and that's not a topic that Sol really leaves open for discussion. But, I know this much," Sheresh leaned across the table, as if sharing a great secret, and Cody felt compelled to lean toward her as well. "Sol should have died from his injuries, but he didn't. He's a tough man, Sol'yc Kelborn, and don't ever under-estimate his aim. He might not be able to march with the Mando'ad...but he can certainly cover our shebs."
"I found it a fairly healthy practice in the Wars to never under-estimate my snipers," Cody pressed his lips together and nodded wisely. "They could have taken me out just as easily as they could have taken out the enemy. And," the former commander grimaced slightly and gave Sheresh a wry look. "Since they were almost always some variety of Special Forces, they never let me forget that, either."
"Well, your snipers taught you well," Sheresh chuckled softly and she leaned slowly back in her seat. "Sol's encountered his fair share of discrimination from fellow Mando'ad in his youth, but his buir – the alor of Clan Kelborn – always stuck by his decision to adopt, as his eldest son, a man who can't stand on his own two feet. Sol is well-known in regions far beyond these Anobis Borderlands as a high-quality rifle-smith, he is well-respected for raising strong sons and stronger daughters, and no one has questioned his place in the Mando'ad since word reached the Clans of his contribution to the War effort."
Something mischievous sparkled in Sheresh's eyes, as if she knew a secret that she was simply itching to share. Cody arched an eyebrow at her and after pondering the wisdom of his choices for a moment, asked the obvious -
"So...what'd he do in the Wars?"
Sheresh's grin was positively wicked.
"He was one of the Cuy'val Dar."
A/N: Ahh...another quiet chapter, full of character development and the like. Hope I'm not boring you folks to tears! Things should pick up -fairly- soon... And, I can assure you...by the time this story ends, I think we'll all look back with Cody on these "quiet" hours spent in Sol's kitchen and wish we could go back to them!
(Yeah...I've got some evil-ness planned. You guys are NOT going to like me... *coughs* So, enjoy the respite while you can! ^^)
Lots of thanks to laloga, who read this chapter over and gave me some suggestions. I hope they worked! :)
As a random note...I realized while I was writing this chapter, that I tend to write a lot of "broken" Mandalorians. I used to do a lot of Star Wars RPing about on various role-play-by-post sites and I was almost Mand'alor or the prominent Mando on the boards...and nothing annoyed me more than reading over profiles of "perfect" Mandalorians. Having been military for as long as I've been (born, raised, married to, and served!) I know of a lot of soldiers who have too many aches, pains, and problems to count. It just isn't realistic to me for there to be perfectly healthy, whole, and hale Mandalorians - especially those who are Sol or Saa's age, with full-grown children. So, I guess I like my Mandos "broken"; it just makes them more realistic that way. A soldier's life is a hard life - psychologically, if not physically.
Just a head's up to you, my faithful reader...this will probably be my last update for ATS: Rebellion for the year. I'd like to finish the Chivalry arc in Virtues and I have two more Virtues in the works (Obi-Wan and Rowin). I'm also working on a...ah..."interlude" with Kian and Korbin. If you're interested in that, just send me a PM. ;-)
Lots of warm thanks and love to Moondoe, reulte, Admiral Daala, Kiana Tavers-Mereel, and laloga. You guys have the power to make a crappy week better with your awesome reviews. THANK YOU!
Love it? Like it? Hate it? Lemme know...!