Nar Shaddaa

[Blue but beautiful]

The journey had been an agonizing one, around ever corner of this gods forsaken world there was someone waiting to point a blaster at your hear, or stab a vibroblade in your back. Some might have said the Yuuzhan Vong were no different, but Kaalyanii knew better. There was no order here, it was everyone for themselves, and that usually descended into chaos.
It was as frightening as it was pitiful.

The Jeedai had lead her back to what appeared to be the infidel equivalent of a minshal. It's harsh sharp lines and edges made her tremble with disgust, but fear of what would inevitably happen if she was left to her own devices was what lured her inside.
She stared in wide eyed confusion at the minimalistic furnishings the apartment had to offer...dead...everything was dead.

Abominations littered the walls, be they in the form of what caused the door to open and close, or what kept the room cool. It all smacked of heretical ideals, and there were those- Kaalyanii knew- that thought they could bring the truth to the infidels.
The shamed one, an expression of confusion upon her disdainfully symmetrical features, waved a hand over a panel on the far-side wall. Afraid to touch the strange abomination completely, she almost fell backwards when the blasphemous machine responded by turning on the lights.
"Phahg!" she swore without any reproach as she had leapt back.

Turning round to see where the Jeedai had placed himself, she gave him a woeful look. He was going to ask her questions she couldn't answer again, wasn't he.
"Sha grunnik ith-har Yun-Shuno...." she began to utter to herself again, but she feared even Yun-Shuno would show her no mercy this time around.

[darklord]

"Phahg!"

Drevin would have laughed out loud if the situation hadnt been so serious. The Yuuzhan Vong's expression was priceless when the lights came on but Drevin managed to suppress a laugh, allowing a slight smile to cross his lips instead.

Her muttering brought him back into focus however. Drevin threw the blanket into the trash chute and took hers, both glad to be rid of the foul smelling rags. The Dark Jedi sat and motioned for her to take the seat opposite him. He imagined her feeling just as confused and curious as he had been while on board the yuuzhan vong vessel at Garqi.

It felt strange to play host to a yuuzhan Vong, it was almost surreal. If it had been Tin'aa Shoolb here with him instead, they would have already run through an entire list of insults. This one however, seemed to close in on herself, preferring to keep quiet.

First things first, he needed a name.

"Who are you?" Drevin waited for an answer but then saw the confused expression appear on her face. He pointed to himself hoping that she'd understand. "Im Drevin..."

Why couldnt you have given me one of those blasted tyzoworms intendant...

[Blue but beautiful]

The Jeedai had motioned for her to take up the spare seat standing next to her and Kaalyanii looked at the object as though she were staring right through it. Instead she took up a cross legged position on the floor, elbowing the offending article a short distance away. Suspicion it seemed, was directed toward everything on this world.

Staring back at the other occupant of the room, Kaalyanii waited, nervously, while he uttered words at her again - this time however, he was far more tolerant. She would not easily forget how quickly he had turned on her, and this display of what appeared to be helpfulness might not be all it seemed to be either. He still was, undoubtedly, the enemy.
The enemy, was now asking her something...motioning to himself. A name?
"Drehviin," she let the word roll around her mouth, he used only his first name, was he a shamed one of his own kind too? A shamed Jeedai? Kaalyaani had never heard of such a thing, but that did not mean it did not exist.

She motioned to herself with one hand, blood still oozing from her open wounds in painfully slow motion.
"nikk pryozz Kaalyanii - I am Kaalyanii" she responded in kind, keeping close watch on that weapon this time.
She would have given anything for a tizowyrm herself right now, perhaps then she wouldn't have needed his help at all.

[darklord]

Just when he thought she was about to take up the seat, the shamed one pushed it to one side and sat on the floor. Drevin was no stranger to sitting on the floor and meditating in such a position but he'd take the chair for comfort any day. Perhaps it was her way of showing defiance of some sort.

"Drehviin"

Drevin nodded slowly, her accent was heavy but it was close enough. At least she wasnt calling him 'infidel'.

"nikk pryozz Kaalyanii"

The Dark Jedi raised his eyebrows at the long name. These Vong were strange creatures, he decided it was probably best to just call her Kaalyanii for now.

He nodded in acknowledgment. "Ok, great..."

Now what? Was he going to have to dance around the room and flap his arms to get her to understand him?
Drevin took note of the weeping gashes on her wrists and ankles, under the bright lights they looked far worse than they had in the alley. The Dark Jedi stood slowly, being careful not to startle Kaalyanii and made his way over to a panel on the wall. With a swoosh the panel opened revealing an array of items, Drevin picked up a handful of bacta strips and returned to kneel in front of the yuuzhan vong.

Drevin took a risk and offered her his empty hand, holding the bacta strips in the other. "These will heal the wounds." He pointed at the blood oozing from the cuts.

So far it hadnt gone too badly, she hadnt tried to kill him for a start, even when his back had been exposed to her. It was a start.

[Blue but beautiful]

"Ok, great..."
The shamed one could not be sure what that meant, he looked just as confused as she did. Feigning it? Possibly.
The one that had called himself Drevin rose then, walking over toward one of the wall panels which slid away with a light swoosh of exchanged air. Curiosity's place was taken by fear when he reached inside the wall container to take something out. A weapon? No, didn't look like it from here...
still she tensed visibly, wary gaze never leaving him even as he approached.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as he knelt down to her level, holding out an empty hand in askance, in the other he held odd looking strips of cloth, slightly orange tinged in colour,
"These will heal the wounds." He had pointed at her wrists and lower arms then.

Kaalyanii's nose ridge wrinkled in what could only be described as a mixture of trepidation and disgust. A neathlat would have done the same - though done nothing for pain relief - if she'd had some. But to use something that was infidel in origin? She'd tainted herself enough today.
" Bos sos si? Yadag dakl, ignot Jeedai Drehviin? - What is that? Do you insult me Jedi Drevin?"

She shook her head adimently, interjecting "Puul, - no" every so often.
When he did not, she shied away until her back was pressed against the cold and unforgiving wall behind her.
"yam, yam... - go" her words, though guttural sounding, were nowhere near harsh enough to sound as though they had any weight behind them, why couldn't he just understand?

[darklord]

*** Posting as Drevin ***


"Bos sos si? Yadag dakl, ignot Jeedai Drehviin?"

Kaalyanii reclined, shaking her head and muttering in her own tongue. She was nearly as stubborn as he was... nearly.

Drevin couldnt tell whether she was declining because of her beliefs or whether she suspected treachery. Maybe she just didnt want to accept his help. The wounds wouldnt kill her but they would certainly cause her a lot of discomfort. Having crawled through discarded waste for the past two hours would insure that they'd been infected too. Drevin sighed and sat back on the seat nodding to the strips.

"If you dont trust me you can put them on yourself."

The Dark Jedi again tried to imagine himself in her place, what would he think if he'd been taken by the yuuzhan vong and they'd offered one of their creature things to stick on his wounds?
He knew the answer perfectly well, he would have thrown the thing back in their faces. Perhaps he needed to prove to her that the strips were harmless. It was worth a try.

Drevin tore off his shirt and pulled out the small knife that he always kept concealed in his boot, again making sure that he removed it slowly so as not to startle Kaalyanii. He put the tip of the blade to an area of his chest unmarked by any tattoos or scars and drew a line with the blade, drawing blood instantly. "Like this..." Drevin peeled away a strip of bacta and placed it onto the wound feeling the soothing sensation immediately take effect.

"If your worried about ruining the chance of some nice new scars i wouldnt worry too much." He paused and looked down at his toned but scarred stomach. "Even with bacta theres always scars..." Drevin drifted off into his own thoughts for a moment.

It was her choice now, at least now she knew that they would not cause her any harm. If she didnt use them it was her own problem, he only needed answers. But why? Why was he getting involved? He could turn her in himself, she was the enemy after all and he doubted that she would have shown him the same mercy if it was the other way around.

But thats where his reasoning failed, yes she was on the side of the enemy, but she was also a non combatant, and an injured one at that. Perhaps it was pity then that stayed his hand.

Or maybe you see a similarity between yourself and her.

Outcasts...

[Blue but beautiful]

The shamed one watched intently as the Jeedai demonstrated to her the use of the bacta strips, perposefully harming himself as any warrior might just to prove a point. But not a shamed one, this was the most confusing of all facts. Perhaps she had been wrong then? He would keep her here to earn her trust and the moment she began to cooperate...no, he could have just given her over to the twi'lek back there - he hadn't.

Life in her current status had been an arduous and painful one, that was the Yuuzhan Vong way. She'd toiled under worse conditions than this, but the problem with pain to the shamed was this, it wore you thin, it ebbed you down until you were a wreck that was useless to anyone. The final insult as it were.

"If your worried about ruining the chance of some nice new scars i wouldnt worry too much." There was a jovial quality to the Jeedai's comment, one she wondered if it would sound as amusing in her own tongue.

Her wounds throbbed with a vibrancy born of irritable discomfort, and as Kaalyanii examined them, she could see clearly that the chance of infection was high. On the worldship, she would have been exposed to conditions native to Yuuzhan vong, ones easily fixed should someone have deemed her useful enough to be cured of an affliction. But here on this infidel world, where all seemed to be touched by the hand of blasphemy, she couldn't be certain that whatever this was would not end her days short.

She looked up again, her gaze following his as he seemed lost in thought, to the scars that marred the otherwise smooth flesh of his stomach. If he'd used what he had suggested and that was the result, she could disguard the strips before returning and none would be any the wiser. None except the gods....
The dull ache in her wrists had returned again as if to taunt her. Somewhat angrily, she extended a hand in a gesture for him to hand some of the bacta strips over.

"Dwi, nikk dag hu, Duwin doa hu nikk Jeedai, - Yes, I will have that then, hand it over to me Jedi." She responded exasperated but tense, all could go very wrong at the drop of a pin.
Indeed the sudden production of a weapon, some sort of infidel coufee, had caused her to become somewhat jittery...even if it was just to prove a point. It also sought to remind her that she was in a very precarious position here.

[darklord]

"Dwi, nikk dag hu, Duwin doa hu nikk Jeedai."

Drevin snapped out of his daydream as the shamed one spoke and held out her hand. She wanted the strips. So he hadnt gained a new scar for nothing after all.

The Dark jedi plucked the strips from the table and placed them in her hand, he thought she flinched slightly as their skin briefly touched. Drevin wiped the blood from the blade on his dark pants and sheathed the blade back into his boot.

"Are you here alone or are there more of you out there? Where did the twi'lek find you?"

He shook his head in frustration at the hopelessness of the situation. They wouldnt get anywhere like this, the language barrier was preventing them from engaging in any form of communication. The only word that she'd understand out of everything he'd just said would be 'twi'lek'. For all he knew, her tizoworm could still be in the hands of the those who'd enslaved her...

It was a thought worth pursuing, if her captors had it in their possession then he could get it back!

"Where is your tizowyrm?" He pointed at his own ear. "Does the twi'ek have it?"

It was a small hope but it was worth a try. If it turned out that she'd never had a tyzoworm then he'd have to think of something else.

[Blue but beautiful]

"Where is your tizowyrm? Does the twi'ek have it?"

Two words out of an entire sentence she understood. Now that was progress, slow progress but progress none the less. The Jeedai's over elaborate hand gestures helped also, she could get the general gist of what he meant at least.
Shaking her head, Kaalyanii pointed to her ear and then made a negative gesture as if to indicate that there was still no tizowyrm in there, nor had there ever been. Why would a shamed one need one after all?
"Puul Jeedai - No Jedi" she began " Nikk nai dag sen tizowyrm - I never had a tizowyrm"

Did he understand? She couldn't be sure. Taking the bacta strips now, she began to wrap the odd feeling material around one of her injured arms. Not unlike a neathlat it exuded a stinging pain as it was applied, but very unlike it's living equivalent, the pain subsided within a matter of seconds. Securing the first dressing, Kaalyanii motioned with her free hand to the unseen sky above,
"Sen tizowryms pr'zzyo tah sen Koros-Strohna, t'neh vinim'hok, Eia Qenn prat- The tizowryms will be found on worldships, or warriors, not the likes of us."

Was he looking at her like that because he was confused, the shamed one wondered, or was that a normal expression infidels held upon their faces most of the time. Either way this was becoming difficult.
"Koros-Strohna? - worldship" she asked trying to replicate the shape and immense size of one in the air, wondering if he'd ever encountered one, did they not have similar things? Of course not, they had actual worlds...for now.

He kept mentioning the twi'lek infidel, and she began to wonder if he was actually in on some elaborate plan to return her. If that was so, why hadn't he done it yet? She wrapped the other injured wrist now, carefully binding it so the two sides of the raw open wound would close...clip beetles, those would have been useful right about now.
It had not escaped her attention how she could, if she wished, have turned this situation around. Here he was trying to gain her trust...but to what end? Could she do the same and when the time came hand him in to those above her? Had Yun-Shuno finally given her a chance to redeem herself? He hadn't argued that he was indeed a Jeedai, and those were most sought after by her own kind. She might bide her time for now, see if she was certain.

[darklord]

"Puul Jeedai, Nikk nai dag sen tizowyrm."

The Yuuzhan Vong shook her head in a negative gesture, filling him with disappointment. That left only one other option, he would have to interrogate the twi'lek.

But what was he going to do then? If it turned out that she was a spy or a scout then he would alert the authorities of course. But if this Twil'ek had captured her and brought her to Nar Shaddaa then it was really none of his business. Would he simply let her go if that was the case? He wouldnt hand her back to the twi'lek whatever the outcome.

"Sen tizowryms pr'zzyo tah sen Koros-Strohna, t'neh vinim'hok, Eia Qenn prat... Koros-Strohna?"

Drevin tried to follow her words and actions but he was only taking wild guesses at what she was trying to convey, until she replicated the shape of what seemed to be a ship.

"Your Tizoworm is on a ship?" Well, that ruled out any attempt at getting hold of one, if that was indeed what she'd said. Of course she might as well have been talking about the local weather for all he knew.

"Where were you captured?" Again he felt a pang of frustration as the words left his mouth. Argh this is so infuriating! Drevin couldnt keep the frustration hidden any longer, he was getting nowhere. He rose from his seat and began pacing the room, searching for ideas. If he went after the twi'lek then what was he going to do with kaalyanii? He couldnt exactly leave her here unguarded and she certainly wouldnt be able to go back to the cantina, that part would have to be done in stealth. He could tie her up of course but it wouldnt be very productive as far as their trust issue was concerned.

Of all the places in all the galaxy, why did I have to bring the ship here for repairs...

[Blue but beautiful]

"Your Tizoworm is on a ship?"

Kaalyanii recognized that word, ship, she had heard warriors mention it often when referring to the infidel built-things that they used as transport. So he'd understood some of what she had said then? She nodded emphatically when she was certain he was correct. However, his next statement went straight over her head.

"Where were you captured?"

Her brow furrowed in misunderstanding, she narrowed her eyes slightly as though straining to understand what he had said was putting pressure on her mind.
"Bos? - what?"

The Jeedai's expression seemed to cloud over darkly as it had that moment in the alley. Kaalyanii wasn't going to fall for that a second time around. Shamed or not, she wasn't going to die at the hands of an infidel, even she had some limits.
Devin had gotten to his feet suddenly, and as he did so, so did she with an adjility even she was surprised by.

"Yuth Ugg! - Get back!" Some threat that was, she wasn't even armed and there was no way in the gods' names that she was going to live long when faced by an attacking Jeedai. Was this to be her lot then? If this was indeed a test, then it was one of the worst she had faced yet.

The shamed one glanced at the abominable door that had opened at the Jeedai's command to let them in. Would it do the same for her? Should she run? Her peers would have expected no less from her....that stuck in her gut like a poisoned coufee. Her desire to survive skurmishes such as this had prompted her shame.
She eyed the Jeedai now, cautiously as she edged her way around the sharp boundaries of the room.

[darklord]

"Yuth Ugg!"

Drevin was taken by surprise as she quickly stood, looking as though she was about to pounce on him. Drevin scowled but remained where he was and tried to speak calmly even though he felt as though he could explode at any moment with rage. He watched as she slowly edged closer to the door.

"I told you I wouldnt hurt you." He said shaking his head.

He opened his arms out wide in resignation before pointing to the door she was edging ever closer to. "But you know what? Run for the door, flee! You wont last a few minutes out there."

There would be bounty hunters everywhere, the news of a yuuhxan vong being sighted on Nar Shaddaa would spread like wild fire. Every trigger happy citizen on the moon would be searching for her by now. Drevin would get a lot of flack for 'helping' the Yuuzhan Vong escape too.

He spoke more calmly now, turning his back on her to look out of the large viewport in the apartment. "It'll save me a lot of trouble if you just ran Kaalyanii."

If there was a Yuuzhan Vong fleet headed this way then he wasnt going to stick around and wait.

[Blue but beautiful]

"But you know what? Run for the door, flee! You wont last a few minutes out there."

What was that gesture for? He seemed to be giving her some sort of full on opportunity to let herself out if she wished. Reverse psychology? Such tactics were used among her own kind, warriors were taught at a young age to use it on their peers, and as for their enemy, deception was the key. That or sheer numbers as force.

One thing the shamed one could completely comprehend, was the utter confusion and frustration of this whole ordeal, it was getting to her too. She did not know weather to fight or run, to stay and see where this got her. Out there she would be on her own, but at least she knew she was trustworthy...but then no one else was, not for certain. Kaalyanii realized she could just as soon end up back at the beginning again.

Raising both hands to her head she grasped at her hair at the roots as if to motion pulling it out, but in the end just lowered her head and sagged against the wall exclaiming,
"Hu-carjen tok! " The exclamation being a more common saying for what one in intense pain might have said, but she felt it applied here and now, the confusion was getting to her immensely.
The shamed one did not look up, even as she heard Drevin shift on his feet, she was feeling a little more than defeated right now...worse, defeated by words of an infidel.

"Do - woe" she managed after a few inward thoughts of self pity...why didn't the gods just strike her down where she sat? Because if they didn't, someone else would...and what a choice she had.

[darklord]

"Hu-carjen tok!"

Drevin turned and watched her struggling with herself over what to do, eventually she gave in to frustration and slumped against the wall. He really did feel for her situation despite what she was. She was alone on an enemy world surrounded by people who would kill her just for the sport and she couldnt trust a soul, especially not him. Jedi were supposedly sworn enemies in their culture, which seemed ironic in Drevins case since he was the complete opposite of what the jedi represented. Not that she'd understand that though.

Drevin slowly walked over to where she sat, muttering to herself in a language that he wished he could understand.

"I dont know what brought you here Kaalyanii. For all I know you could be a spy."

The Dark Jedi stood over her and held out his hand.

"Or you could be just like me... caught up in a war that you dont belong in."

An idea struck Drevin as he held out his hand. The holonet was constantly being updated with new languages as more and more systems joined the new republic. It was possible, however unlikely, that the scraps of recordings retrieved from various battles with the yuuzhan vong could have been compiled into some form of translation and uploaded onto the holonet. If he could download the information into V3's memory banks it would be invaluable, not just now but in the future too. It was worth shot.

[Blue but beautiful]

Kaalyanii glanced upward when she spied his feet within close proximity of herself. He stood close enough to have killed her if he wanted, but he was instead holding out a hand towards her. She rose without his help, joints aching from the past few days exertions, a small grimace on her face as she stretched.

"Bos taan Jeedai? -what now jedi?" She wasn't even sure why she had asked, he couldn't understand that either. But when a look of what she supposed might be interest crossed his face, it piqued her own.

It was an unexpected reaction to one of her sentences, but she suspected it had little to do with that and more to do with their situation. The Jeedai had an idea. That was good, because she was fresh out of them herself.
Smoothing down the rumpled appearance her living rags had taken on, she wiped any remaining blood across the living cloth...which it soaked up hungrily.
Now she looked once more to the Jeedai known as Drevin, and asked once again in hope.
"Yaga?" Implying that he might have had a suggestion.

Her gaze followed him as he wandered around the room searching for something at first. Wondering if she could actually be of use this time round, she went on a little search of her own, though what - exactly - she was meant to be looking for...she had no idea. After the incident with the light-things she didn't really have much desire to meddle with any wall based abominations again.