Nar Shaddaa

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***

Tracking the yuuzhan vong wasnt as difficult as he'd thought. There was so much life on Nar Shaddaa that when a void was present, it shone like a beacon. But that beacon was getting further away every second.

Drevin sprinted through the darkened streets, they were still fairly busy even at this late hour. He was losing her trail, he needed to think fast. If he was her, he'd be sticking as close to the shadows as possible, trying to stay out of the main walkways. The Dark Jedi stretched out in the force, trying to track the void...

Drevin ducked into a side street where the shadows were thick, barely missing a confused spice addict attempting to rise from the ground. He flipped over the being just in time, landing with a splash into a puddle on the other side. The man grunted something unintelligible, probably an insult but Drevin continued running, he was gaining on her.

[Blue but beautiful]

Only now had Kaalyanii become aware of the fact that she was being persued....and gained on. The spice addict at her back had cried out something unintelligible for a second time, indicating that something or someone had passed him at some speed. This sense of suspicion was added to, when someone had knocked several of the old, rusting stacked crates flying, dislodging some kind of feral-life that had added it's own cry to the mix.
One thought rattled through the shamed one's adrenaline soaked mind, she was being pursued by a Jeedai.

The twi'lek she could have outrun, she knew this because she had up until the point they had taken to their made-thing transports last time. The zabrak too. If it was one thing she was good at, it was running - you learned fast when those above you, and there were many, decided to turn their temper on you.
That, and the fear of the unknown spurred her onwards.

It was all brought to an abrupt halt for her when suddenly, out of the darkness, loomed a high rise dead end.
Shaking her head in disbelief as panic began to renew it's grip on her, Kaalyanii placed both hands on the grime-peppered wall and pushed against it as if it could be moved. That was the problem with built things, no weak-spots.

Turning her gaze upward, she could see the remains of what had once been an ladder of some sort, but it was too high to even jump for. Hurried footsteps told her that the Jeedai was close...too close for her to have time to stack anything in the alley to reach the ladder. With nothing to defend herself with but her bare hands - and those would be non effective against a Jeedai weapon - she lapsed back into what she considered to be a state of mind long behind her. She appeared to stand her ground regardless.

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***

Drevin allowed himself a brief sense of satisfaction. He new this area well, he'd often been sent to this part of the district on missions for Shug Ninx so when the Yuuzhan Vong turned into the side street he knew she would run into a dead end. Drevin slowed to a walk as he rounded the corner, conserving his energy for what would possibly turn into a fight for his life. He hoped not, he'd rather find out why she was here, but if she died in the process then it would be one less enemy to deal with in the future.

Drevins eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, the alley was lit only by a single flickering glow lamp above them. Drevin slowly moved up the narrow alley, his boots splashing in the puddles as he walked. If he expected her to come willingly he was about to be disappointed, she looked anything but cooperative. Prey were even deadlier when they were cornered and she still had that look of desperation about her.

She didnt strike him as a warrior or an intendant by the way she carried herself and he'd expect a priestess to dress more lavishly. A shamed one perhaps then, he'd heard of them on yavin. They were the lowest in yuuzhan vong society but probably more dangerous because of it.

Drevin paused a few meters away from where she stood. It was only then that he noticed the deep raw cuts on her wrists and ankles and the revelation hit him. She'd been a prisoner of the twilek! He'd assumed at first that she'd merely been unmasked as a yuuzahn vong in the cantina and that the twilek had seen it as an opportunity to make some credits. But now he could clearly see the fresh injuries, she must have had a tough time escaping.

Drevin slowly held out his hands to each side, which most species would recognize as a non threatening posture.

"Im not here to fight you." It was true, for now at least. "I want to know why the yuuzhan vong are here on nar shaddaa." This was the one place in the galaxy he hadnt expected to find them.

[Blue but beautiful]

Kaalyanii could see him clearly now, even in this dim light. Flickers caused shadows to be cast over the pair of them probably giving each a more sinister appearance. He'd appeared for all intent and purpose to be like any other infidel she'd encountered on this world, he'd come here expecting a fight. So had she.
But now he stood there, on guard - yes- but unmoving, unwilling it seemed to approach. Good, perhaps her stance was working after all?

"Im not here to fight you." He'd begun talking, wonderful...just as long as that was all he did, she might just be able to fend him off long enough to slip past him.
"I want to know why the yuuzhan vong are here on nar shaddaa."

A cold and eerie silence descended upon them then, the Jeedai seemed to be expecting some kind of response, one that she was unsure she could give correctly. She'd understood only the name of her own kind and that of the infidel name for this world. Other than that, she couldn't tell by tone alone if his askance was a question or not.

He had moved barely an inch, perhaps to steady himself incase she leapt for an attack...for all the good it would do her. Either way it had caused her to flinch irritably. So much for appearing imposing.
"Jeedai?" She asked after a moment or two more of pure confounded silence, motioning with one outstretched and raw-wristed hand to the weapon he held in one hand,
"Tiz dag lightsaber? Tur nom dag lightsabers - You have a lightsaber, the enemy has lightsabers. " She began in a tone bereft of any emotion,
she'd lost more than her spirit in the events of the past few cycles, it stood to reason she would lose her life here too.

"Tiz son tiu ro'ik heen-ta'a , - you are my enemy also then."

She stepped back, foot becoming soaked by the smog-tainted water of the puddle she'd managed to unceremoniously place her foot in. Kaalyanii more than expected this to turn into a fight, and she would if push came to shove. Though in the end there would only be one victor and the gods had not been with her since the days after her last escalation. The days of her descent into this pitiful place she was in now.
The acrid stench that filled the air, the sounds of infidels and abominations alike wasting away down here, what had she done to deserve this? Where had she gone wrong?

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***

Drevin noticed her flinch slightly, it unnerved him to see her act in such a way. It wasnt like the yuuzhan vong. Unless she was faking it... No, he'd seen the look in her eyes. She probably saw him as being no different to her captor.

"Jeedai?"

She indicated at the lightsaber in his hand.

"Tiz dag lightsaber? Tur nom dag lightsabers"

The Yuuzhan vong took a step back. Why wasnt she speaking basic? The only words he recognised were 'jedi' and 'lightsaber'. Surely she didnt expect him to be able to understand her language? She seemed genuinely confused and scared, it sent a shiver down his spine. He'd encountered people like this in prison, people who'd been beaten so much that they'd been driven over the edge.

"Tiz son tiu ro'ik heen-ta'a"

Drevin looked down at the lightsaber in his hand. "Kinda gives it away doesnt it?"

Maybe he was going about this the wrong way if he wanted to get anything out of her. He warily hooked the lightsaber back onto his belt, maybe that would calm her down. It was a risk but seeing her cowering like an animal brought out a pity in him that he never thought he'd feel for a yuuzhan vong.

"Now, why dont you tell me why your here. In basic."

[Blue but beautiful]

The Jeedai continued to respond, but nothing sounded vaguely familiar to Kaalyanii, not a single word of it. He was saying something about the weapon perhaps, and when he motioned to it rather casually, she was certain that this was the calm before the storm. Tensing, she waited for what she thought would be the beginning of the end. Better she die on her own two feet than running, she'd done quite enough of that.

The final blow never came. This realization struck her with an impact so hard that she struggled to so much as make any form of exclamation short of a confused sounding 'hnn'.
When he shut off the lightsaber completely, she appeared to freeze in a state of wide eyed confusion.
What kind of warriors were these Jeedai?

"Now, why dont you tell me why your here. In basic."

"Bos? - what?" she shot back without really considering the consequences too much.

He didn't seem all that formidable from here, perhaps she could still get around him. Her gaze flicked up for a brief moment, as if searching for a ledge or something she could use if she were to vault over him somehow.
Nothing, just endless expanse of built things. She shivered involuntarily as her gaze returned to him, it was that way or no way.

" Bos i'khai tiz migan tai? - what do you want?" Kaalyanii demanded looking more than a little defeated, palms open in a gesture of unknowing as she shook her head implying a negative.

If he wanted to kill her, why did he still stand there? Did he want her to challenge him? One thing was for certain, she wasn't going back to that place she'd just escaped from. He didn't look like or sound like the ones that had brought her there, but Yun-Harla wasn't on her side anymore than the rest of the gods. She wasn't taking chances.

"Qe'u?!" the shamed one didn't like this waiting for the others to catch up either, her exclaimation was a simple one, to prompt an answer from him.

Shaking her head again she chided herself inwardly, infidels wouldn't understand what she was saying, for just that reason, they were infidels.

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***

"Bos?"

Drevin eyed her cautiously as her eyes searched their surroundings for a way out. If she so much as flinched again he would kill her. He'd be doing her a favor, if she got away she would receive a much more brutal death at the hands of the undercity thugs than she would from his lightsaber.

"Bos i'khai tiz migan tai?"

She still put up the pretense that she couldnt understand him, how stupid did she think he was? As soon as he let his guard down she would strike. Drevins anger began to grow, he didnt need this, but something compelled him to discover why she had been brought here. Was there more to it than her simply being captured and being sold for credits? Perhaps the twilek had discovered her snooping around. An advance scout maybe? He needed answers and he wasnt getting very far this way.

Drevin moved with lightening speed, drawing his saber again and pointing it at her exposed neck. "Dont play games with me shamed one I know you can understand me!" He kept his voice low but threatening. "I know you have... tizo worms that translate our language!"

She seemed to pick up on something he'd said that time, or maybe it was just having the blade so close to her neck that caused her to flinch.

[Blue but beautiful]

More silence. There was one thing to be said about silence and that was that it had two sides, a good or a bad one, and she was definantly standing on the side of the latter. Of course so was the Jeedai so at least that made them even then....in a sense.

Kaalyanii had barely blinked before he'd rushed her in a flash, white hot blade just centimeters from her throat, any closer and she would feel it singe the flesh beneath - or worse. She had grossly underestimated him then, this had been his game all along, and she'd let herself fall for it.
You should have gone when you had the chance! She cursed herself inwardly for her stupidity. The same stupidity that had gotten her here to start with!
Frozen, she could only listen for now.

"Dont play games with me shamed one I know you can understand me!" He was saying, no - threatening her with his tone.

The hammering of her heart renewed the shamed one was almost afraid to breathe, but did so in involuntary fits and bursts for fear of the weapon slipping that bit too far.
"Hu-carjen tok! Krel os'a hmi va ta! " Kaalyanii had begun to utter barely intelligable words that might have perhaps stilled a warrior of her own species, but not this one...no, he stood steadfast and although she could not see his expression, she knew that there was only so far that pleading in desperation would get you before you lost your head.

"I know you have... tizo worms that translate our language!"

Through the quagmire of words and sounds that were all as angry as the last, she discerned one and one semi-word alone. It was accented heavily in the infidel's tongue, but she'd understood it none the less.
Tizowyrm, the small grub-like biot used to translate languages of many different kinds and allow those using one to be able to speak it in response.
Now they were getting somewhere.

"Puul! - no," she had managed through what was almost hyperventilation rather than breathing, shaking her head ever so slightly so as not to invite his blade further.
"Nikk tann dag sen tizowyrm! - I do not have a tizowyrm!"

Kaalyanii would have liked nothing more than to prove that too, but one false move could be all it took to cause his temper to fray, and he'd already shown how quick his patience could last.
What she did do, was tilt her head to one side as far as she could without feeling the heat of the blade begin to burn her skin.
" tchurok, jeedai - look, jedi "

Long forgotten were the pains of her injuries, all had been replaced by an all encompassing fear. This one was going to kill her if he did not accept her explaination...and what use was one of those if you could not understand it? Did infidels not use some sort of abomination for the same purpose?
Her thoughts turned back to the hideous made-thing they had placed in her makeshift cell. That thing had understood her perfectly...no, she didn't much like the idea of finding another of those. But she preffered it to death.

[darklord]

*** Psoting as Drevin ***

The shamed one seemed to lapse into uncontrollable fright, muttering to herself. Even if he had been able to understand her he doubted what she was saying would make any sense. This was certainly not how a Yuuzhan vong would normally act. Whatever had happened to her it had scarred her very deeply.

"Nikk tann dag sen tizowyrm!"

Drevin frowned as she shook her head, trying to make out what she was saying. She allowed him to see the empty place where the tizowyrm would have normally sat. So she really couldnt understand him then. He felt a flicker of guilt, she was clearly afraid and with good reason. She was on an alien world with no understanding of her surroundings and no idea of what everyone was saying. That in itself would be enough to drive most people mad.

Drevin nodded his head in recognition to show that he understood and carefully stepped back, lowering his lightsaber before shutting it down. This was not going to be easy.

If he could have felt her in the force it would have made the situation much easier, he would have at least been able to portray his feelings and intentions.

But what were his intentions? What was he planning on doing with her? He'd come to Nar Shaddaa to get away from all of this and now he found himself in a darkened alley, face to face with a shamed one.

The rain continued to pour down around them in the dark alley but he doubted very much that that would put off her pursuers. They needed to get under cover where they couldnt be seen. He'd rented an apartment that wasnt too far from here. There was always a chance that the twilek would find out where he was staying, secrets never lasted long on nar shaddaa but it was a risk they'd have to take. But could he get her to come with him?

"I wont hurt you." he indicated to his deactivated lightsaber "But i need to know why your here."

Drevin pointed behind him " The twilek will be looking for you. will you come with me?" Surely she would at least understand the word 'twilek', he held out his hand motioning her to come with him.

[Blue but beautiful]

Her incessant pleading seemed to do the trick, and when Kaalyanii had tried to show him that she was not equipped with a tizowyrm, he certainly seemed to understand that. Not hesitating to shut off the abominable weapon he'd held close to her throat, the Jeedai stood down.
Sagging visibly, the shamed one gave into the weakness in her knees and dropped to the floor in what was a wave of sheer relief.

Daring to cast her gaze up at the stranger who had paced a little distance away, she began to wonder exactly what it was that he wanted from her. What did any of these infidels want, save for revenge....she could understand that notion completely. Vengence was part of the Yuuzhan Vong way, if one was wronged, an entire domain could expect to pay the price. What made these infidels so different?


"I wont hurt you. But i need to know why your here."
The Jeedai's words were calm again, as though the threat of violence he had displayed earlier was nothing more than a bad dream. Kaalyanii still could not understand them, but his tone was enough to be able to discern enough information from for now.

The stranger had far from won her trust though, the shamed one knew that he could merely be speaking this way to gain some sort of trust and lure her out into the open again, and to certain death.

Still quivering slightly, she attempted to pull herself to her feet, and did so albeit unsteadily. She knew she looked far more emaciated than usual, shamed ones were not particularly well nourished to start with, but she hadn't eaten much since arriving. Indeed her captors had left her food, infidel food. Some replicated mush that didn't look too dissimilar from food produced on the worldships, but in terms of taste there was a vast difference...not to mention it's unpleasant origin.

" The twilek will be looking for you. will you come with me?"

As the Jeedai extended his hand in motion for her to follow, that gesture was universal, Kaalyani took one step back as if to regard him in better focus. He wanted her to go with him? follow him where? So he could hand her over to more Jeedai?
He had also motioned back over his shoulder, that could mean a number of things, but the frequency with which the shamed one had been looking that way suggested he'd noticed her anxious glances. She was not going back with the ones who'd held her captive.

How did this Jeedai expect her to walk out of here? She had heard tales of Jeedai sorcery and now wondered if that would play a part. Yun-Shuno would never forgive her if she cooperated with this infidel!
Torn between what she should do and what she had to do, Kaalyanii lingered, shifting her weight from foot to foot as her thoughts arranged themselves. Eventually, after another emphatic gesture from the Jeedai, she'd made her choice.

" nikk Tchilat sinh Sen Jeedai, - I will go with you Jedi" She nodded once confirming her choice, he may have misunderstood - she couldn't afford that to happen again.

Reluctantly she took a few paces forward, waiting only for him to lead the way, she wasn't having him at her back...least she wanted to find a lightsaber embedded in it. Waving him on nervously with a gesture of a hand, she continued to wait until he started moving again.

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***

Drevin nearly stepped in to grab her when she fell to the floor but decided against it, it might have been a trick. Scared or not, he wasnt going to fall for it.

She seemed to debate the matter for some time before answering in her own tongue.

"nikk Tchilat sinh Sen Jeedai"

Eventually to his surprise the shamed one nodded and motioned him onwards. He stopped short however when he heard footsteps echoing down the alley. He waited for them to pass before bending down and picking up a small pile of sheets from the floor. They would be much less conspicuous under the cover of these. He wrapped the foul smelling sheet around him and tossed another one to the yuuzhan vong.

He was about to explain before deciding against it, she would get the idea.

Drevin carried on down the alley, his hand resting on his lightsaber all too aware that he was exposing himself to an attack from behind

[Blue but beautiful]

The pile of torn sheeting hit her square in the chest as she caught it. Looking down at the bundle questioningly, she muttered
"Yaga?" if more to herself than to him.
Upon seeing him don the rags like a cloak however, she had the idea. It wasn't far off from what she was used to, save for the fact the worn rags she was clad in were undeniably alive.
The coarse, damp fabric felt strange against her bare arms and legs, it wreaked of deadlife, as did this entire planet, but the shamed one had to force herself not to gag at the stench, to curb her repulsion. If she could not, it would be one in a long list of things that could have given her away.

Happy that she was sufficiently shrouded, Kaalyanii continued to follow the Jeedai through the torrential rain that streaked the alley, soaking all in it's wake.
Rain, she had never experienced actual weather before, a worldship was almost like a world in every context, but such things as rainfall were used as and where they were needed - usually to fill succession pools of shaper damuteks, or for the worldship gardens, where they grew their biots. But not the unpredictable weather of an infidel world...a world that very soon might belong to the Yuuzhan Vong.
Did the infidel suspect that? Perhaps...but it was not her place to tell him, not if she wished to return to the worldship she'd called home for her entire time as a shamed one. And she greatly desired that, this place was like something out of a horrific creche tale, with it's sharp lines and solid artificial structures that towered off up into unseen spaces. It was all so linear, an abomination.

The Jeedai had stopped now, they were nearing the mouth of the alley, where the crowd noise was loudest. Peering from their hiding place she could see the figures of some of those patrons that had been involved in the cantina brawl. Among them, the Twi'lek male, T'aak.
Apprehension coiled it's way up Kaalyanii's spine like the fluid form of an amphistaff, she both wanted to attack and simply flee from the ones looking for her. But where would she go? This Jeedai was her only chance for now. Later, maybe, she would make her own luck.

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***

"Yaga?"

Drevin heard the yuuzhan vong muttering to herself as he carried on down the alley. This was going to be very difficult, the vong were hard enough to talk to when they could speak basic.

As they reached the end of the alley they both stopped short, just ahead on one of the walkways was the twi'lek and a few of the other thugs from the cantina. Drevin watched silently as the twi'lek appeared to issue instructions. One of the rodians began walking toward the alley, blaster held out in front of him. Drevin stretched out with his feelings as the rodian came nearer, with a wave of his hand he sent a suggestion to him through the force. The rodian stopped merely a few meters away before shaking his head and setting off in the other direction.

A large illuminated advertising sign shone brightly above them to their left. They needed to sneak back without a confrontation if possible but with so much artificial lighting on the main walkways it would be difficult to stick to the shadows. Drevin raised his arm again and gestured to the neon advert, he probed through the force until he found the circuitry he needed to shut it down. Drevin pulled at the power supply wires with the force, disconnecting them. The advert flickered a few times before shutting down, pitching the surrounding area into complete darkness.

The Dark Jedi glanced behind briefly to make sure the shamed one was still following before moving out into the open. It would take a lot of patience and skill to get to the apartment undetected.

[Blue but beautiful]

Kaalyanii's breath hitched in her throat as she saw the rodian make a beeline for the alley, but instead of entering, puzzling, he merely shook his head and walked in another direction. Jeedai sorcery! the shamed one surmised, she could not be certain, but the notion that the rumours were actually true was a little dumbfounding to her.

If she wanted proof, she was about to get it, without any effort and without warning also, the neon sign that had been glowing brightly, threatening to give away their position, sparked and flickered like a strobe malfunctioning. It was akin to someone squashing a blaze bug, she thought...minus the agony, foot-rendering useless pain.
With a snap, the light fizzled out altogether, plunging them into a near encompassing darkness.

The Jeedai was the first to emerge from the mouth of the alley, beckoning her to follow. Kaalyanii did so with great hesitation, only when she heard the exclamation made by one of her would be captors, did she pick up her pace. No, she was not going back there!

Skittering across the way, ducking and diving behind all manner of debris and litter - It didn't matter, it was all dead life to her - they edged their way to the next place of relatively safe cover.

"She can't have gone far!" The twi'lek's voice called out somewhere behind them, serving to make Kaalyanii's heart thud so loud she could feel the pressure pop in her ears.
Somewhere in the darkness, a rodian responded, tootling some sort of comment - most likely offensive - from his funneled mouth.
"I don't care what you're s'pposed to be doing, that vong would have paid for a lifetimes worth of spice, now find it before I put a hole in ya belly to match the one in me pocket!"


Kaalyanii edged forward in the direction away from the horrible group, almost bumping into the Jeedai as she did so. Holding her hands up slightly in a silent gesture of panicked apology, she edged back again, now looking completely at a loss.
"Iifiinia? - which way?"

The shamed one desperately wished she'd have acquired something to protect herself with, even a makeshift coufee would have done right now...but this trip hadn't exactly been planned for.

[darklord]

Drevin heard the twi'leks exchange with the rodian, it came as little surprise to him that he was attempting to sell her. But where had she been captured? That was something that he was very interested in finding out.

Drevin tensed as the shamed one walked into him, he turned sharply expecting an attack but she held up her hands in apology. He could only guess at the abuse she'd endured to make her so fragile, it sickened him to the core thinking about it.

"Iifiinia?"

The Dark Jedi could only guess at what she was saying but from her questioning tone he assumed that she was asking where they would go next. It was a good question...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------


It had taken them nearly two hours to finally reach the apartment, with Drevin using the force to trip the neon lights whenever it was necessary. There were times when it wasnt possible to hide in the dark so they'd had to hide under the cover of the makeshift cloaks and hope that they werent spotted. Those times had been difficult, Drevin had had to constantly wipe peoples thoughts with the force while keeping an eye on the shamed one.

The apartment was in the 'safer' part of the city, Drevin had used it when he'd worked for Shug Ninx. It was a modest sized suite with all the usual facilities, though he doubted very much that it would be to the yuuzhan vongs taste.

Drevin punched in a security code and the door hissed open. He turned to face the yuuzhan vong and gestured for her to enter.

"Come on before your seen. Every bounty hunter on Nar Shaddaa will be looking for you by now."