She had been a Mandalorian for eight years and yet the moment the ship dropped out of hyperspace and Sorgan came to view, Reiel felt as if she never really left the planet behind.
The coordinates to the farming village she grew up in was still in the ship's records, and Reiel was left wondering if Buir kept them on purpose. When she swore the Creed she had become cin vhetin – a blank slate. It meant that whatever she had done in the past would become irrelevant once she accepted the mantle of Mandalorian and yet there her father went, keeping one thing from her past so she could revisit it if she wanted.
And now she was here. Back to where it all began.
Of course she'd cried when she caught sight of the village itself – more so it's dwellers. Because of the heavy armor and helmet she wore, it was understandable that no one recognized her at first. But some of the elders – those who gave Wulfric Crowholde permission to adopt the child raised by a former village leader slash ex-pirate captain – seemed to have an inkling on the identity of the grey beskar-clad Mando who entered the village because instead of an alarm being raised and fighters going to their positions, a Wookie's delighted shout had drowned the curious whispers of the villagers.
"Been a while, huh, Testa?"
And for the first time in a long while, Reiel Mal beheld the first place she called home with her own eyes.
Her father's ship was docked in the same large clearing in the forest where Reiel first saw it. There was something nostalgic in the way she left the ramp open while she wandered around before stopping by the lake closest to the village, waiting for Carrick's arrival. It was reminiscent of the time she first met her buir, but now she waited for someone important to her to arrive. Someone she had come to hold dear. This time it was her turn to send him a message, and it had been brief: simply the planet's name and the coordinates of her current location, and for him to meet her there.
He wouldn't find her in the ship. But through the Force he would be able track her presence, and the path would lead him to the lake. There he would find the small Mandalorian sitting cross-legged on a wooden dock, a seven-string hallikset held in her ungloved hands. She was humming along to the tune she was playing, eyes closed and helmeted head tilted to the side.
An air of melancholy seemed to surround her as she played the song, lost in her childhood memories. There was a reason why she had wandered in this side of the village and the lake – this was the place where she laid the woman who raised her to rest, the ex-pirate captain's ashes now one with the lake.
The call to return to Mandalore she and her father received had been fruitful. Granted, the first part had been rocky, with her fellow vode arguing and debating amongst themselves on how to establish a new Mandalorian government when the sender's original intent was to rediscover their heritage by entering and exploring Sundari. And then, breaking away from the group to enter the Palace with her vod Gett'se, Reiel soon found that the sacred halls of her people have been desecrated and their artifacts looted by pirates. Fighting broke out, of course, and with it came the discovery that there were bigger fish to fry than the Nagai and their base on Concordia.
Her clan was more than ready to join the battle to reclaim their homeworld. Some of them may never see Mandalore truly reclaimed and restored, including herself. She didn't want to dwell on thoughts of death, but hey. Someone had to be a realist when war loomed overhead.
And if she didn't survive in the battle for their homeworld?
At least she saw the farming village and the people she first loved for the last time.
And Carrick?
With her choice made back in Sundari, he would finally be able to gaze upon her face. And maybe, should Reiel find the courage to do so...
I could tell him how I feel for him. It's only fair he knows before I go to war. I... I owe him that much.
Reiel's fingers continued to strum the strings, waiting for the sorcerer who called her his.
The coordinates to the farming village she grew up in was still in the ship's records, and Reiel was left wondering if Buir kept them on purpose. When she swore the Creed she had become cin vhetin – a blank slate. It meant that whatever she had done in the past would become irrelevant once she accepted the mantle of Mandalorian and yet there her father went, keeping one thing from her past so she could revisit it if she wanted.
And now she was here. Back to where it all began.
Of course she'd cried when she caught sight of the village itself – more so it's dwellers. Because of the heavy armor and helmet she wore, it was understandable that no one recognized her at first. But some of the elders – those who gave Wulfric Crowholde permission to adopt the child raised by a former village leader slash ex-pirate captain – seemed to have an inkling on the identity of the grey beskar-clad Mando who entered the village because instead of an alarm being raised and fighters going to their positions, a Wookie's delighted shout had drowned the curious whispers of the villagers.
"Been a while, huh, Testa?"
And for the first time in a long while, Reiel Mal beheld the first place she called home with her own eyes.
—·—
Her father's ship was docked in the same large clearing in the forest where Reiel first saw it. There was something nostalgic in the way she left the ramp open while she wandered around before stopping by the lake closest to the village, waiting for Carrick's arrival. It was reminiscent of the time she first met her buir, but now she waited for someone important to her to arrive. Someone she had come to hold dear. This time it was her turn to send him a message, and it had been brief: simply the planet's name and the coordinates of her current location, and for him to meet her there.
He wouldn't find her in the ship. But through the Force he would be able track her presence, and the path would lead him to the lake. There he would find the small Mandalorian sitting cross-legged on a wooden dock, a seven-string hallikset held in her ungloved hands. She was humming along to the tune she was playing, eyes closed and helmeted head tilted to the side.
An air of melancholy seemed to surround her as she played the song, lost in her childhood memories. There was a reason why she had wandered in this side of the village and the lake – this was the place where she laid the woman who raised her to rest, the ex-pirate captain's ashes now one with the lake.
The call to return to Mandalore she and her father received had been fruitful. Granted, the first part had been rocky, with her fellow vode arguing and debating amongst themselves on how to establish a new Mandalorian government when the sender's original intent was to rediscover their heritage by entering and exploring Sundari. And then, breaking away from the group to enter the Palace with her vod Gett'se, Reiel soon found that the sacred halls of her people have been desecrated and their artifacts looted by pirates. Fighting broke out, of course, and with it came the discovery that there were bigger fish to fry than the Nagai and their base on Concordia.
Her clan was more than ready to join the battle to reclaim their homeworld. Some of them may never see Mandalore truly reclaimed and restored, including herself. She didn't want to dwell on thoughts of death, but hey. Someone had to be a realist when war loomed overhead.
And if she didn't survive in the battle for their homeworld?
At least she saw the farming village and the people she first loved for the last time.
And Carrick?
With her choice made back in Sundari, he would finally be able to gaze upon her face. And maybe, should Reiel find the courage to do so...
I could tell him how I feel for him. It's only fair he knows before I go to war. I... I owe him that much.
Reiel's fingers continued to strum the strings, waiting for the sorcerer who called her his.
@Nefieslab