Chapter Text
It was dark. The only thing you could hear were the dull thuds from the forge. A young girl was lying on the ground in a small hut with other kids her age. They were sleeping together in a pile. She could hear the quiet breaths from the others and the thuds from the hammer. She looked around, but she was the only one awake.
Careful she removed herself from the pile to take a little breather outside. She stood right before the curtain of the doorway and savoured the cold breeze on her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opend her eyes again and she could see the small light shining from the forge. The alor must still be awake, she thought.
Since the moving of the convert from the sewers in Nevarro to the many tents here in the open, she visited the forge as much as she could. The forge was a lot smaller than before, but the girl was still thrilled to observe the alor working. The art of the blacksmithing makes her wondering and she couldn't get enough of the armors and munition the alor made. The girl couldn't wait till she would gain her own armor - at least she could count the days now.
But there was another tough decision inhead of her: which profession should she choose? She gained so much knowlegde in the past years, that she could choose from many professions. baar'ur, ba'jur'ad, alor or even beroya. Medical, teacher, blacksmith or hunter.
There were too many to choose from. The thuds stopped and the Alor came outside, too. The girl looked in her direction. The armor of the weaponmaster was admirable with her golden helmet and the fur on her shoulders - it makes a really an impressive picture. Of course she notices the girl staring at her.
"Alina, why are you still awake?", she wanted to know and carfully strided nearer. "I couldn't sleep. And I thought the cool night air would help", admitted the girl. She let her head hang in shame und waited to be scolded. "That's true", the Alor confirmed.
After a brief pause she asked: "Have you now choosen a profession?" Alina swallowed. "No, not till now, Alor. I'm still torn between some", she explained and looked back down to her feet. She felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder. "Alina, you know that this is an important decision. You're with us, for a few years now. Soon you will turn thirteen", the Alor informed her. The girl wanted to answer her, but she stopped, because she heared steps coming nearer.
Another Mandalorian arrived around the corner of a tent. He was part of the guard duty. He nodded to both and explained: "I heard voices, Alor." Alina studied his looks a bit further. She recognized him even in the dark. He was often a part of the supervising team for the younger kids in their training.
Alina thought back in time, when she was so young, she was new in the clan. The first years after her rescue, she was completely mute and full of fear. Often there were sounds of smells that reminded her of what had happened. But this time was long over. She was a different person now. When she was only five years old.
Buried under a protective pile of murdered adults. The smell of burned flesh hang in the air and she tried despartely to escape them. Blastershots and shrieks teared through the betraying silence. Suddenly armored persons flown by and surrounded them.
Alina believed she was the next person dieing and that she will soon be reunited with her family. One of these strangers came nearer and bowed down on one knee. He pulled her safely in his arms before he shot high in the sky like a missile. The others followed him and aimed at the droids to leave a big explosion behind.
Since that day, the man had cared for her. She could always come and talk to him. But even that hadn't helped her with the decision.
Her name was called and she came back from her thoughts. "Alina, are you all right?", asked the Alor.
"Nothing, Alor. I just remembered something", she answered truthfully. The other mandalorian was curious and wanted to know: "Ad'ika, why are you still awake?" - "As I told the Alor before, i just wanted to take a breather", she explained. The Alor squeezed her shoulder again and she knew, it was time to go back to sleep. "Vor'e Thank's, Alor. I'm going back to bed", she thanked her and went inside the shack again.
All the others slept safe and sound. The girl went back to her place in the pile, laid down and fall asleep again.
The next day dawned and in the shack turned noisy. Alina woke up and looked around. The other children changed out of their sleeping clothes and chatted exited about the new day. She stood up and began her routine, too.
"Hey, Alina! Tell me, what do you wanna be in the future?", a girl wanted to know. It was way too early for Alina to remember their name. Alina was definetly not a morning person. "I'm going to be ba'jur'ad!", the girl talked on and on. "I will teach all the children, that come to us, all the knowledge they teached us!" Alina looked over to the girl and noticed, that she didn't know her name. Although she lived over a year together. It didn't bother her much. It especially wondered her, that the girl asked her in the beginning. Alina mostly kept to herself or talked with the adults or the youngest.
"I'm not quite sure yet", she replied. A murmur went through the shack and she was the reason of it - again. Alina didn't bother about it. She was ready for the day and went without another word outside.
Of course the adults were long awake and followed their orders and worked at their post. Alina saw the youngest sitting in one corner listening attentive about a story about the Great Mand'alor. She smiled and remembered how she learned all the stories, customs and language.
"I wish you a wonderful day, ad'ika", called someone behind her back. She turned around. "Good morning, Seshirra", she greeted back and he nodded. Seshirras job was to put a sort of weapons inside the armor like the rope or flamethrower. For the children he built a not deadly version with paint catridges.
"I just wanted to talk about your results. They are great! Did you think about joining the light infantery?", he wanted to know. Desperatly she looked from her feet to him and back again. She sighed heavy. "Nayc, I'm not sure. I'm torn between the possibilities. They even told me, that I could become the next Alor", she answered. Alina took a deep breath.
Seshirra looked at her and she knew that he was smiling underneath his helmet. "I know exactly, why they told you that. You remain calm and composed. You recognize more than others your age. I remember your first months here with the clan. You were frightened at every little sound. But now, you have the same knowledge as everyone else about our culture. You always ask the right questions, but wriggles yourself out of any situation. No one is as good as you in this discipline, ad'ika", he praised her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I can't understand why nobody adopted you till now", he whispered in her ear that nobody else could hear it. He squeezed her shoulder and shouted then: "K'uur! Hurry up! You still have a lot to learn before you can take the Resol'nare!" The children of her age ran across the camp in his direction. Alina smiled and followed him leisurely.
She was happy, that he praised her and warned herself to work even harder in the training today. She looked around and nodded towards the Alor.
"As I can see, you must have slept well, ad'ika", she discovered. "Lek Yes, vor'e, Alor. Can I help you with something?", Alina wanted to know as she noticed that Paz was there, too.
He was as tall as a tree, build as a tank and with his armor he was an imposing figure. She had already seen him fight: with his enormous canon he couldn't be stopped. Almost all of them wouldn't even think about to start a fight with him. Secretly the foundlings were his biggest weakness. But he would never admit that.
"I talked with Paz and he informed me, that you would be suitable for the heavy infantery", announced the Alor. Alina was now in a difficult situation. Did anyone wanted to instruct her? She needed to answer something. Both of them waited expectant.
"Eh, lek, well , the heavy infantery is, eh, well, heavy", she stammerd and a loud sound - Vor'e Manda! - rescued her from her misery. All the conversations stopped and everyone looked towards the sky.
"We're getting company", murmured Paz with little enthusiasm and the Alor nodded.