Private A Crucible of a Cruise

[Vulpesen]

"Shhh.... Shh.." Vulpesen kept a hand extended to the Reek as he approached it, channelling the force through him and into the creature. It snorted and pawed at the ground, but so far it made no move to charge. He could feel its confusion, its worry at all the people running around. The noise was too much, and it was scared. "Its alright. No ones gonna hurt ya." He channeled even more power into the taming, suppressing those more volatile emotions before they could run rampant. "Just head back into your home where its nice, cozy, and safe."

The Reek grumbled but started to back up, slowly but surely making tis way back to the enclosure. "Atta boy. Keep goin'." Around him, VUlpesen could sense the eyes of a few individuals who's curiosity outweighed their terror. He paid them no mind, simply pleased that Aren's trick could put her around the agitated creature without gathering its attention. In truth however, he wasn't sure that every recapture would be as easy as this one. Reeks were dangerous, but their minds were dull. A more predatory creature may prove difficult if it was agitated enough.

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Their first beast was straightforward and done easily. A reek might be large, but they weren't very bright. That monkey-lizard was starting to grate on Aren's nerves, and she reached out her hand to swat it away. Closing the forcefield, the reek made itself comfortable. With a loud sigh, it lay down and went back to sleep. Its small excursion out of its cage had worn it out.

"One down. How many more? Can you do something about that?"

Pointing to the monkey-lizard she was about to strangle, her eyes widened slightly, and she dove to the side. Where she had just been standing was a small nexu creature. Luckily, it wasn't fully grown, but it was still dangerous.

Rolling to her feet, she was ready to close the next cage once the cat was inside it.

"Or that? That would be better. The other is just being an irritation.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen's ears flicked to the chattering of the monkey-lizard and he turned to offer it a glare. Even as a child, training under and living with a beast trader, Vulpesen had always despised the creatures. They were just intelligent to make his job difficult and served no purpose it seemed except to annoy and irritate those around it. How anyone could stand to spend the credits on none, he could never understand.

He was about to respond to her request with satisfaction when a blur of white leapt through the air, narrowly missing his more technologically inclined partner. He didn't have the time to warn her, but thankfully, she didn't seem to need it. Aren's roll put her out of immediate danger and Vulpesen was quick to jump between them. "Get the next cage ready!" The next strike of the young nexu was aimed at him and Vulpesen lifted his arms, channeling the force now towards the predator but through himself. He grunted in pain as red and white blossomed from his forearms, a shield of bone spreading out from his forearms to take the claws straight on. The Wilders' path of flesh was never a pleasant experience, not to watch and certainly not to experience. But it was effective in the heat of combat, requiring less practice than the path of the beast. "Bad kitty. Very bad kitty!"

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

In the blink of an eye, the next cage was ready for the small and dangerous nexu.

"Whoa."

As the forcefield was lowered, Aren watched as the strange man with the glowing eyes and tail took the full force of the attack from the cat.

"It's ready! Where is the parent?"

That was a question that probably shouldn't have been asked, but it made sense if there was a young one; an older one would be too. Feeling something was watching her, it seemed like there was a breath of heat across her neck, and then she was face-first on the floor of the ship.

"Uff."

No pain...this was either good or bad. Wiggling her toes, she still felt them. Trying to breathe a bit difficult, though, but the weight was off of her back, and she glanced up to see what looked like a dog heading to Vulpesen. He now faced the small nexu and a dog. The latter did not seem hostile, which Aren found slightly endearing.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen was in the process of pressing down on the will of the small predator when two things shattered his concentration like glass. The first was the sudden realization that this was a kitten which, as his companion so handily pointed out, would have a mother. The second was the sudden appearance of a canine bounding up towards him, eyes excited, tongue lolling out, and tail wagging. Animals had mothers, that was a rational truth. So in truth, it was the sudden arrival of a domesticated dog that caused the wilder such distraction that he suddenly found a pair of wide jaws with needle like teeth boring into his leg.

"Crux!" His saberstaff was snatched form his belt and Vulpesen, rather than ignite it, simply used the weapon as a club, pounding it on the cat's head. "Cats, dogs, and reeks. All free and lookin' for a snack." He whacked the nexu once more with his saberstaff, finally dislodging it from his limb. "And I am not a snack!" That was about the time he heard the dog growl, and with a slight turn of his head, discovered it wasn't growling at him, but the rather large white feline that was flicking its four eyes between him and the mewling cub. "Hi mama..."'

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

The Force wasn't as strong with Aren as it could have been, at least for the more common skills. She had focused on different ones; however, she did have a small grasp of telekinesis. Once Vulpesen had freed the nexu kitten from his leg, she grabbed it and pulled it into the cage she had made ready for it.

"Mom's behind you!"

In the heat of the struggle, a haunting tune started filtering through the air. The large cat that was about to pounce on him slowed and looked at the dog calmly, and then lay down next to the man. The music got louder, but it wasn't a bad sound.

As the flute got closer, all of the escaped animals calmed down. Aren stood up and brushed some of the debris off her clothes, watching as a figure clad in black walked past her and moved to capture the mother nexu. She spoke with a calm and soothing tone.

"All of these pets should be under control now and will allow Duram to herd them back into their homes."

For a person that was almost 8 feet tall, the woman was very soft spoken and didn't cause Aren any fear.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen whirled around and lifted his saber, ready to fend off another assault. Then, the tune lifted to his ears, causing them to flick around for the source. His eyes remained trained on the nexu, even as it padded over and dropped lazily to the ground. One by one the creatures of the Zoo calmed, and Vulpesen felt the change in the force. It was like crossing from white rapids into a tranquil stream. Fear, aggression, and confusion all vanished and left the Zorren to stare at the newcomer. "That was... helpful. Hopefully Duram and we can get them locked up before we need to call for an encore."

He could only assume she was a member of the crew, along with whoever this Duram fellow was. Such meant that he could likely back away, the appropriate authorities having now arrived. However, there were quite a few beasts around the area and the faster they were locked away, the faster he could return to his drink with the calm assurance that everything wouldn't fall apart. "Do you know the status on the power outage? Or what might have caused it?"

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

The stranger calmly nodded, and the dog started herding the animals away. Aren followed along with the canine and locked them each away when they arrived.

"I'm called Priscilla or Scilla."

Squatting down, she petted the mama nexu and allowed her to stand up. Pointing not to the cell where Aren had put the kitten but the larger one next to it, she shooed the creature in there and put the kitten with her. Turning around, she faced Vulpesen for the first time fully.

Her eyes glowed blue, marking them as cybernetic, and her black wings rested on her back. A coat covered her torso, and she had on a rather skimpy one-piece top that went down into her black pants. She towered over him, but there was not a hint of threat or danger coming from her.

"Darum is my friend, and he'll help your friend get the other pets away."

Shaking her head in answer to his question, if any of the other zoo animals started acting up, she would whistle slightly to get them to calm down again.

"I know nothing about it. Only that my cage also opened, and I needed to help in getting these pets away. Once you've finished, you'll need to put me away again, too. I'm one of them."

Walking back the way she had come from, she returned to her area. Outside of it was a poster that advertised her as the last of her kind and a sight to see.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"A pleasure to meet you Scilla," he offered cheerily. Scilla's quick aid was a welcome change to the mission. A boon rather than a complication. There was a slight spar'k of embarrassment when he learned that Darum was not a man, but the hound that had run up to him. "Sorry. A pleasure to meet you as well, Darum." He channeled the force as he addressed the canine, using it to convey his words, or rather the meaning behind them. He had only a moment to bask in the reply he felt back when Scilla's final plan registered in his mind.

Like being hit by a stun bolt, his body froze, rigid as a durasteel beam. His tail straightened and dropped and his eyes darkened. "No," he said simply. His voice was a growl like rumbling thunder, a storm about to break into a crash of thunder. When he finally turned to face the statuesque woman, his eyes were filled with a mix of sorrow and rage, burning like wildfires ready to consume all in his path. "Rather, Miss Priscilla, I suggest you gather your things. Everything you consider to be of value or worth to you, remove it from that cage."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a comlink, finally clicking into the channel to speak with his men. [Valde to Trident. Find the captain. Detain him. Subdue any who get in your way.]

A few moments later the com crackled to life. [Sure boss... what for?]

[Charges beyond slavery.] There was a hatred in his voice that spoke of something more. Slavers, at least, acknowledged sentience. Slavers simply didn't care. What this was, treating Scilla as nothing more than an animal, throwing aside her obvious ability to think, feel, and reason... Lightning crackled along his hands as Vulpesen tucked away the comlink.

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

The interaction with the man was nice, and it happened so rarely for Scilla that she wanted it more. She also knew what her place was, and it wasn't among the travellers. When he said no, she turned around and faced him again with a total look of confusion. Lifting an arm to motion to her home, she didn't make any move to pick up any of their stuff.

"This is my home, and where I have lived for longer than you've been alive. You all die so quickly. Even Darum will go in a flash."

She then started to walk back into her familiar cage.

"You wouldn't take me from what I know, would you? Isn't that kidnapping?"

At that point, Darum returned with Aren and Scilla pointed to the last animal that needed to be caged.

"Good luck getting him locked away."

Taking a seat on the chair that was large enough for her frame, she waited for the answer from the strange man.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen tilted his head and stared at the draconic woman, his tail flicking behind him. "I'm eighty-three." He couldn't blame her for the misconception. True, Aren and other such humans would be gone in the blink of an eye for his kind. Indeed, most of his friends he had as a child were long dead, either from the tolls of war, or the inexorable toll of time. And in all that time, the only time he could recall a sentient being treated as a beast was when his own people were being slaughtered like animals.

"Kidnapping assumes your owners," he spat the word, "see you as sentient. You're nothing more than a beast to them. Living property, nothing more. You deserve more." He turned to follow her finger, already striding to the beast. he had said his peace for the moment, but there would be more words later. For now, there was business to be handled. "I've been a bit rusty. Practiced my shifting more than my speaking, but I should be able to handle it." A kowakian monkey lizard wasn't a difficult beast to handle. But they could be annoying. Vulpesen could remember hating every time one ended up in Zarro's shop.

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Scilla-

Giving the man a slightly assessing look, her intelligence might be showing through in her features.

"You don't look like you're eighty-three. How long will you live? What are you even? I've never seen somebody with your features?"

Darum ran up and jumped into her lap for pets while Vulpesen and Aren went to deal with the monkey lizard. His statement bothered her, and she tried to figure out what he meant.

"But I am just an animal. Meant to be on show. It's all I've known."

Stroking her pet, she looked down at him in her lap and gave him some comfort, even if she was the one who needed it.

"What should we do, Darum?"

Her companion didn't answer her, and she didn't expect one. However, he watched the two people capture the annoying animal. Scilla pulled out her flute and started to play the haunting melody she had used to tame the pets.

Aren-

"You're not planning on bringing her, are you?"

Looking between them, she couldn't believe the suggestion. The other woman was free, and Aren was happy with that outcome. Letting out a sigh, she attempted to take hold of the monkey with the Force. Not bothering to try to make him comfortable.

"Can you toss it in that little cage behind you?"

The forcefield was down, and she was there waiting with one of the cards for him to deposit the creature.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"Sure am," Vulpesen responded to Aren. "I've got room on my ship, though one or two of my men may need to sleep in the hold. Not too big a deal. I've done it a few times, myself." He turned his gaze to the monkey lizard with a growl. "Walk to the cage, or fly to it." The response from the living headache was something that Vulpesen could only assume it overheard in a rather heated argument by its enclosure, a rough talking staff member, or a previous owner. In any case, it was a clear denial of the easy road. "I tried." Rather than attempt to smother its mind with his own, Vulpesen simply raised his hands and aided Aren in her telekinetic grip. Unlatching the cage on one side and lifting the monkey lizard on the other, he simply tossed the creature through the air with an exclamatory yelp. His tail flicked and the cage latched. "Now... lets go have a word with the captain of this vessel."

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren-

Her statement had assumed she would be going with him, and it stopped her in her tracks. He hadn't pointed it out, and she wondered what he thought of it. In the short term, it didn't matter. Right now, they needed to get that crazy monkey-lizard away. It didn't take them as long as she expected, and Aren was thankful for the help he gave her.

Lifting a finger to explain this, she just watched Vulpesen walk away and muttered under her breath at how rash he was being.

"How do you know she isn't going to turn into some fire-breathing monster? The poster said she can!"

Motioning to it, she looked at Scilla calmly playing her flute and followed her companion.

Scilla-

Her cybernetic eyes watched the two strangers, but she didn't stop playing her flute or follow them. Only when he mentioned finding the captain did she stand up.

"Our keepers are hiding behind that door."

Pointing to one of the many doors, it wasn't labeled with much information and could lead anywhere.

"The captain doesn't know me, and I have never met them."

She and Darum stood in the cage and didn't leave even when the field was down.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"How do I know you won't teleport me out an airlock then hack my navicomputer? Guess I'll just need to trust in the force and basic decency." He nodded his thanks as Scilla pointed out his target and headed towards the door in question. "Regardless, the captain runs this ship, and its entertainment, something he has made you a part of. At least, we'll be having a discussion with him.

As he approached the door, Vulpesen called on the force, using it to wrench the door open to reveal the man inside. "Hello there! We need to talk." Despite his smile, any trace of friendliness was gone from his visage, his eyes holding a snarl that didn't match his fanged grin. "Good news is, your beasties are locked back up. Bad news, your probably gonna find some bars of your own."

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren-

"Why would I do that? Besides, I can't teleport to places I can't see or haven't been to before. One of my weaknesses, I guess."

Shrugging her shoulders, she was happy to have had the help from Darum and Scilla.

Scilla-

Shaking her head as Vulps commented about the captain having made her entertainment.

"No, I was here long before our keeper or the captain. I've been here for as long as I can remember, and that must be my whole life. Maybe I was born here.

"What are you going to do to him?"

Pointing at the shaking keeper, he looked at her.

"Why isn't she locked up, too?"

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Perhaps it was his time as a revolutionary, bringing change to his planet and the galaxy at large, but for Vulpesen, the answer was obvious. What always was need not always be. Someone should have noticed. Someone should have freed her. But no one did, a fact that brought him no small amount of fury which was only compounded at the keeper's question. Clawed hands darted out, stopping sort of tearing at flesh to grip his shirt and pull him close. "Because she's not an animal. She's a person," he growled.

He haul the keeper out from his room, dragging him towards the cage where Scilla was. "Miss Scilla, I understand your confusion if this is all you've ever known. But our situation is not normal. What I fail to understand, sir, is how a man who's duty is to keep beasts contained and cared for, somehow missed the fact that your draconic attraction here, is perfectly capable, of communicating, reasoning, and performing complex tasks like doing your job for you while you hide in a closet." His eyes flashed and lightning travelled down his arm, crackling ever so close to the man. "Tell me what reasoning you could possibly have for thinking that this was acceptable? For thinking that she was no better than the reek that roared and acted without thought, lashing out in fear because it was simply an animal."

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Scilla-

The man let out a small eep as he pulled close to Vulpesen's face. He was lucky to keep to his feet as he was dragged in front of Scilla. The blue-eyed woman looked between him and her keeper and lowered her eyebrows at what she was hearing.

"We gave her everything she asked for and wanted. She gave the patrons entertainment. What would you have done in my place? I'm here to make a living as much as the next person. She can't survive on her own. We are her family. Aren't we Scilla?"

There might have been a look of pleading in his eyes, and Scilla took a step closer and out of her cage. She stood two feet taller than her keeper, and she was giving him a dangerous look.

"Let him go."

Her tone was nothing but resolve. She might not be able to survive on her own, but she felt it would be better to die free than locked up. When he was standing on his own, she did a similar type of grab her rescuer had, and she carried him into her cage. Placing him in a corner, she stepped back and kicked him as hard as she could in his stomach. Then she coughed slightly and proceeded to burn him to ashes. Unless she were stopped, she would continue until she ran out of breath. Only then would she be done, and she would return to her chair and hug her pet dog.

"What have I done?"

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen released the man to his long time captive. Whatever his anger, he was not the victim. Judgement was not his right. For a moment, he thought the man would win, using the weapon that was Scilla's naiveté against her. He prepared to issue a speech, to tell her that freedom was not worth the comfort of a cage, not when you were nothing but a sideshow... but there was no need. The blade the man had was nothing against the bulwark that was a promise of freedom. And his body stood no chance against the withering flames that consumed him, turning him to ash.

The acrid smell of burning flesh, hair, and clothes assailed Vulpesen's nose and with a flick of his tail, he brought a perpetual gust before his nose to send it away. "I think... you just liberated yourself." A part of him screamed that he needed to arrest her. Punishment required mercy, and she had just turned a man to cinders. But then there were the memories. Tails hung on the walls so numerous they appeared to be tapestries. The haggard look on Lucas' face when he spoke of his lost family. A family whose mother had joined the force before Vulpesen could pull them from the veil. All in the belief that people were nothing more than beasts.

His ears buzzed as a voice spoke into his comms. [Boss, we got the captain. Orders?]

[Question him. See if he has any idea what's kept in his zoo. If he does, he gets to enjoy the prisoner hold. I think the cell by the fridge is nice and clean.] It was also cold as a wampa's tit, but Vulpesen found he wasn't quite so concerned about that little fact. He'd give a blanket if the man started turning unusual colors.

Aren D'Shade