Kamda

It felt good to have the armor on again, though hidden under the drab-looking cloak. It was no beskar'gam, but it was better than walking around naked. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

She had passed through so many streets in just one day, and finally she felt like she saw a place that seemed decent, but wasn't some expensive getup. Raven couldn't afford those anyway.

As she took a place by the bar, she flagged down the serving droid for a drink, and took her time in assessing the establishment's patrons.

A hardened warrior knows how to handle her liquor. That's why Varina had to start somewhere. Sentients might question her but would this astromech...?

Varina took her place at the bar by Raven, flashed her a casual smile, and then looked to the bartender. "One ale, please."

"Uh..."

She looked the shorter woman over once, then once more. "... You old enough to drink yet, kid?"

"I ain't no kid, I'm sixteen years old!" Varina barked, covering her mouth afterwards. She eyed the astromech, hoping it didn't catch on to what she had just said.

Raven actually managed a snicker at Varina's reaction. "In that case, get what you want then."

Sixteen was probably not a legal age on a planet like this, but hey, the kid seemed to have spunk. She liked that. Galaxy needed more people with spunk.

At least Raven's beer arrived in a clean glass. "You might like beer more than ale though."

"Ale is what my people drink though," she murmured, "Any ale should do. I doubt they have the right stuff." The smaller girl put her knees on the stool, peering over to look at the selection.

"You see any ne'tra gal? It looks like..." she trailed off. How was she going to describe the Mandalorian alphabet to a supposed off-worlder?

That was something she hadn't heard in a good time.

"You won't find much like it out here, so far away from home," she commented, easily shifting to her native tongue. It was a chance she was taking, but it had been a long time since she met a fellow Mando'ade who wasn't also an Imperial lackey.

Varina nearly fell out of her seat when she heard her people's language. She caught herself by the counter, though, and slid back into a seated position. "Aw shucks, my dad didn't send you, did he?"

The taller Mandalorian made a snrk-sound into her beer at Varina's reaction.

Raven shook her head, somewhat amused by the idea. "None sent me, vod. I'm here for myself. You ran away or something?"

"That's a relief." Varina turned a bit red and looked away. "I'm making it by my own out here, like a true warrior should."

She curled her lips. "I'm guessing you can understand that.."

She wobbled her gloved hand a little. "Kinda." It didn't feel right to get into details right now, with someone she just met, even if they were Mando'ade.

"Clan Cadera. Name's Raven."

"Cadera, eh? That's a good one. I'm Ordo myself," the younger gal announced, pointing to her chest with a thumb and big grin. "Name's Varina. Pleasure to meet ya."

Varina then bit down on her lip. "You been here long? Or am I gonna have to show you the ropes around here?"

"Ordo. I've heard good things." But those things were probably outdated... she had no idea what the clan was up to at large. Not even her own, really.

"Nah," Raven shook her head. "Newly arrived. I'm... looking around. Heard word on Ord Mantell that there's someone rising up here, to claim leadership. For us."

"Oh yeah? News to me. Last I heard, Gar Saxon was supposed to be in charge." Varina raised her hand to her lips, as if to take a sip to bide her time, but she really didn't have her ale yet. Dang, she had to put her hand down not to look super silly.

"I've been here for a bit though. You'll do fine. No mugger here can take ya."

"That man is no leader to me," she muttered grimly before taking a big swig of her beer. It certainly put a damper on her mood to hear that name. The man who had allied with the Empire.

"Kriff those shabuir."

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're not in favor of him either. Why else would we be here?"

"Right."

That. And there were fewer and fewer places left in the galaxy to survive with Imps.

"So you've run away from home, is that it? To find someone else than that bastard?"

"Not exactly," Varina admitted, "I'm here on my own journey, to live up to my mother's legacy!" She raised her fist into the sky, quite mighty indeed.

Over in the next booth, Manny heard two Mandalorians talking. He could tell they were Mandalorians; that was pretty much what they sounded like on that one show he'd heard about. He'd only seen it once though; maybe he should have Munchfronta hack the cable box again. Still, meeting real life Mandalorian warriors sounded exciting, so he stood, moving to the counter with a smile...

Only to stare blankly at them for a moment. They're just girls. Like... teenage girls.

Manny cleared his throat. "Uh, hello. Manny, here." He gave a vague wave of his hand. "Uh... how are you two ladies doing tonight?" He smiled. Teen girls liked when you called them ladies.

"Oh? Big dreams, kid," Raven teased before taking another swig. Varina still seemed pretty young to her... but then she figured that if the girl had her family, she'd probably gone through her verd'goten.

The arrival of a strange caught her perceptive eye and she turned her head to look in his direction, subconsciously straightening her back to seem even taller. L... Lady?

She looked to Varina. "This your boyfriend?"