Private A Hunt

[Evelyn Rekali]

There was something incredibly soothing about the scent of a freshly oiled gun. She supposed it was because it reminded her of the quiet times, the times when the kids slept, and it was just her and the weapons that had kept them safe. Or perhaps it reminded her of her own childhood, of the rare quiet evenings spent sat at her grandfathers feet, listening to his tales of the Civil War... of the Mandalorians before her time.

"Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la." she murmured softly, clicking the last piece into place and inspecting her handiwork. Wind whispered through the trees on the edge of the settlement and warning of something coming. She lifted her gaze blinking into force sight to see what was coming smiling to herself as she recognised the rancor from the meeting earlier today. At least its rider had opted for donning his armour, he was still a ways out.

Rising with a wince of pain, she picked up the sniper and slid it onto her back of her piecemeal armour, before tucking the rest of her things inside the door of her home. She disappeared in a wisp of green smoke, appearing in the bough of the tree to his right. "Su cuy'gar, Ordo be'Ordo." she said softly, blinking out of force sight. "I'm Evelyn Rekali." she gave a small bow of her head. "Can I interest you in a hunt?" she paused "Well, less of a hunt and more...target practice. The spiders that dwell in the caves to our north need culling. I could use a spotter."

Evelyn definitely didn't need a spotter, but how often did you get to invite a living legend on a hunt?

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

It had been so long since He had roamed this place, this world that was so steeped in His history. Long before His first trip into the netherworld, during the crisis, before even Gilamar Skirata had made Him a rally master. During the days of His youth, when He was simply a large body in a crowd of armored men and women. He had come to this world, one of the sky people with armored skin. He had fought one of their men slaves in combat and bested him. He had even been sober that day.

He swayed as the Young Bull walked them through the boughs and branches. The sounds of night birds and insects so used to a Rancor at ease that they even dared to make their music. It was beautiful and it was His, at least for the moment.

The force, such as was swirled and flowed in everything here. From the smallest spore of the many ferns to the massive trees and even the Rancor beneath Him. All of it was nudged and guided and infused with the ever present energy field that was the force. For now, as He often did at ease, He let it. Though it was part of His nature to dominate and control His surroundings, He knew there was a time to let things be as they were. And this time, He followed the flows here.

It had been a day, His over dramatic spectacle, homage to an old training prank Ember had played when His greatest skill with the force was mentally opening a can of rations. He knew they would take it as a sign of overzealous respect at the best and misguided ignorance at worst. Plus, the look on Mia's face had been worth the minor chaffing of a naked Rancor fight. His lips turned up in a small smile, His largest since His return from The Manda and He patted the side of His new friend's head.

"You fought well, Tchukta." He said calmly, earning a small 'You were lucky' growl in return.

They both snorted a partial laugh.

She disappeared in a wisp of green smoke, appearing in the bough of the tree to his right. "Su cuy'gar, Ordo be'Ordo." she said softly, blinking out of force sight. "I'm Evelyn Rekali." she gave a small bow of her head. "Can I interest you in a hunt?" she paused "Well, less of a hunt and more...target practice. The spiders that dwell in the caves to our north need culling. I could use a spotter."

He stiffened His back, His shotgun half way pointed at the sound before He noticed the force pushing wildly at His subconscious mind to calm. He pushed the force away stopping it at His skin in retaliation and looked to His right. In a tree. At about eye level with Him sat a witch. Her green hair blended into the shadowed boughs as She waited for His reply. Two orbs of liquid gold drifted over His armor as His green-gray eyes devoured Her from behind the T-shaped visor. A slight tinge of red in the formerly dull gun metal gray armor as He nodded once. The only words He could manage as His eyes traced the curve of Her neck and the angle of Her jaw. His gaze followed the lines of tattoos and ritual markings as He swallowed passed the tightening of His throat.

"It would be a pleasure, Evelyn Rekali." He said finally as He remembered He was War and Domination, not some school boy, "Lead the way."

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

It took him a beat to answer, the reaction of a warrior ruling for the briefest of moment before he realised she was not a threat. Evelyn allowed herself a small smile at his agreement. "You honour me, Ordo be'Ordo." A jerk of her head indicating the direction. "You can ride most of it in a straight line but when we get close to the ridge you will have to move on foot. Grand as your young mount is, he will draw their attention."

The was a soft sigh, as she stepped through the force, leaving green wisps of smoke in her wake, appearing behind him in a different tree. Standing on the bough, one hand resting of the trunk, she glanced over her shoulder back at him. "Keep up." she teased with a wry smile. Then she was away, the green wisps of her magick the only trace of her as she kept ahead of him, waiting for him to catch her in his line of sight before moving again.

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

He blinked behind the T-shaped visor of His buy'ce. He caught Himself hanging on her words, so straightforward. Polite but without projected expectation. The soft sigh as she transported herself away. He turned to look over a thick shoulder, turned slightly at the waist to lock her in His field of vision. She was tall, slender with a strength to the way she carried herself that spoke of hardships endured without breaking. She favored her left knee. An old wound probably. There was a familiarity to her stance. Then the sigh she had let out before she stepped through the force. It kept playing in those brief moments, the soft exhalation echoing in His mind and stirring something...instincual? Primal. A response beyond His conscious control.

He turned the Rancor in Her direction and moved to follow. He wanted to run. Give chase. Hunt her...the realization of His reaction struck Him and He took a deep breath as He nudged His mount forward at a brisk pace but refusing to rush. He silently brooded as He let Tchukta move after her.

Why did he react so strongly? The force wasn't meddling. He had made sure of that. Was it the way her hair cascaded over her shoulder like strands of dyed silk? The slight arch of her back as she turned to see if He was still behind her. The curve of her hips when she stood with the slight bend of one knee as she kept more weight to one side. The tilt of her chin, or perhaps the slight upturn of her full lips as if amused by something only she could see? He couldn't put a finger on it and it was driving Him ever forward. Like a detective worrying at the evidence to a cold case He continued to take in more and more of her movements, mannerisms and fearures until His mind felt saturated by her.

The Rancor stopped and Ordo took a moment to realize His mount had been paying better attention than He had to their surroundings. He got down quietly as she stood in another tree, and He took a step. He was gone and then at the base of the tree as if the world had moved toward Him.

"Ready or are you going to stand up there all day?" He asked before He began stalki g up to the ridge without looking to see if she followed.

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

The game was made all the sweeter for Evelyn, for she knew what was hiding beneath the beskar, she'd etched it in her memory. As had many of the other witches, there had been arguments in the settlement after over who would claim him, no doubt he would have had many of them if she had given him the chance to reach them. Evelyn was not so committed to her Dathomirian decent that she believed in such things as a claim, Ordo had every right to choice.

She just wanted to make sure that she was the only choice.

Evelyn blinked in surprise, his voice distorted by his helmet rising from beneath her, a smile spread across her face as she let out a low chuckle. She stepped off the branch dematerialising mid fall, and landing softly at the old warriors right. Her yellow eyes glinting with amusement in the fading light as the crested the ridge together, she took a knee, scanning the scene below. The wide valley below was clear of trees, smattered with low lying vegetation. On the opposite side, several small cave entrances and burrows dug half way up the cliff face.

For the moment it was quiet, save for the soft bubbling of what appeared to be a small brook through the centre. Her eyes took on a green hue as she looked past that which could be seen with the naked eye, but even then the black bane spiders had not yet come close to the surface. A herd of deer wandered through the valley, coming to settle for the night. An unfortunate choice for them, most would not survive the night.

"We have some time." she blinked away the green from her eyes. "Black bane prefer night time hunting. We don't like to kill all of them, just the bigger ones, else they can upset the balance." she told him, watching him out of the corner of her eye, wandering what was going on beneath his helmet.

"You made quite the entrance today."

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

He allowed Himself a smirk as she appeared beside Him. Her smile and chuckle had reached Him and He had enjoyed the melody of it. It reminded Him of veshok wood wind chimes before a summer storm in Keldabe. The glint in her yellow eyes and the way her mouth quirked up in amusement as He followed at her side. He kept His eye on her as they slowed and crested toward the hill. She was barely a head shorter than him. And the more He looked the more He enjoyed the strength of her jaw and the way she held her shoulders back, almost in defiance of any that might challenge her, and, if He was honest with Himself, It made Him want to do that very thing.

His eyes followed her as she knelt down and lingered for a moment. She was not a delicate budding thing like they plastered across holos, no, she was a beauty in full bloom. And despite His scars and Duty and His history of violence among the stars, He couldn't help but admire just how stunning she was.

Finally He followed her line of sight toward the caves down below and the deer that had begun wandering into the valley. He has seen the spiders before. And remembered how quickly the large ones could kill. Her voice broke His musings for a moment, though they had mostly been of her anyway. He had half expected to be attacked outright as He wandered toward old training grounds. He had been slightly worried He would have to remind these people that despite His connections to these people, He was not a Rancor they would conquer. He smiled for a moment at her words, and shook His head before He pulled off His helmet and exaggeratedly sat on the mossy ground and looked at her from the corner of His eye before looking back toward the valley.

"Saw that did you?" He asked and didn't bother hiding the lack of embarrassment, "I wanted to remind the clans that Mandalorians are more than just their armor. It will be important someday."

His gaze turned far far away, reviewing memories of visions and futures He had to prepare His people for.

"Too much?" He asked not elaborating on what exactly He meant as He fought the smirk from his lips.

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

"Oh, I saw it alright." she did not fight the smirk.

In one smooth motion she lifted the sniper from her back, balancing it on her raised knee plucking a shell from her hip and slotting it into the barrel, and levering it into place, while here eyes stayed on the valley. The movement was all muscle memory, the rifle was an extension of her. She was capable with any weapon, but the disruptor? She'd been firing it since before her verd'goten.

She allowed herself a glance in his direction, catching sight of his grey eyes up close and the old scars on his face. They did nothing to diminish him, if anything the scars simply added to his allure.. "Not at all." She lifted the rifle to her shoulder, calibrating the sight.

"You've certainly made yourself the talk of the town. I've seen several fights break out since. I can't remember the last time the claim for a man caused so much dissent." She lowered the rifle and turned both eyes upon him, gauging his reaction.

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

"You've certainly made yourself the talk of the town. I've seen several fights break out since. I can't remember the last time the claim for a man caused so much dissent." She lowered the rifle and turned both eyes upon him, gauging his reaction.

He let out an amused grunt as He made an effort to appear like He hadn't been watching her check her weapon. The way her hand confidently gripped the stock as she slid a round from her waist and chambered it in one smooth motion. The way she pulled the weapon against her shoulder firmly as if reminding it of its place while she gently rested her pale cheek against it like the shoulder of a lover.



He was almost jealous. And that made Him pause. Could He possibly even do more than bring this woman or any other pain. He knew that was all He had managed to bring anyone else...He was War.



And yet...He hadn't always been so. Had he?



A conglomeration of emotions cascaded over Him as He looked off at the caves and rose up again to take a knee.



"And what is this, Evelyn?" He asked His deep bass growl reverberating from his chest like aftershocks of an earthquake, "Are you laying claim?"



He turned slightly toward her, face stoic, but with eyes that dared her to try.



Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

Evelyn saw the dare glinting in his eyes, she fought every instinct in her that said take it, take the dare, cast caution into the wind and be young again. Her wry smile reflected her thoughts.

"I am a believer of choice."

There was more him than met the eye, when she looked upon him with the force...he simply...wasn't. She'd worked with those who had been force dead, she had grown up with some...children who had been subjects of Ra Vizla's cleansing. But he was different...

She turned her gaze back to the valley the shadows stretching across it as the sun lowered closer to the horizon. "I'm simply limiting your choices."

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

She turned her gaze back to the valley the shadows stretching across it as the sun lowered closer to the horizon. "I'm simply limiting your choices."

His hand that had been opened at His side relaxed. He found Himself forgetting why they were there to begin with. His didn't look away. He traced the lines of her tattoos with His eyes. The way they stood out on her pale skin as if they sat like decorations on the marble walls of a temple. Murals telling the tale of a Goddess, each an object for veneration. He fought the urge to trace them with His finger tips. And feared the blood on His hands would stain her. He let the thoughts of His hard hands brushing back her hair and resting on the side of her neck linger and let the force back in.

"You're beautiful." He said boldly, and then pointed down to the valley without looking, fourth cave mouth down, far right. Wind 2 kilometers per hour north to south, 450 meters."

He kept His hand pointed as a guideand thought, maybe just maybe He could be more than just War. After all the Manda didn't make him numb. Didn't that mean it wanted Him to feel? And He was certainly starting to feel something.

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

Evelyn felt his eyes, drinking the detail of her in making heat rise in her chest, she fought the urge to meet his gaze, determined to behave like the woman she was, and not the young girl with a crush he was making her feel like. She was acutely aware of her own heartbeat...

And of him.

It was like someone had flicked a switch and turned the force back on. She could feel him. Curiosity made her look at him, his compliment bringing a smile to her lips.

She didn't get much chance to respond beyond a smile, she rifle snapping into place at her shoulder, her focus instant, the weapon hummed as she found the mark, she took a breath, exhaling slowly as she squeezed the trigger.

The spider disintergrated with deep muffled boom, a flash of fire highlighting the cave entrance and the many eyes within. She cracked the barrel, sliding another shot into place. Her eyes fixed on the valley shifting between the other cave entrances as the spiders began to appear, tracking them with the sniper, waiting his next spot.

A trill of excitement ran up her spine.

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

"Clean kill." He said calmly, His voice low. "You handle your weapon well. But what about under pressure?"

The force nudged him, lightside, darkside, it was all the same to Him. His heartbeat quickened as she made the effort to ignore His gaze.

A small smile.

A quick breath.

Suddenly He was gone and on her other side. He didn't want to impede her aim.

"Up fifteen degrees, left eight degrees." He said as His gauntlet on his left hand retracted to His wrist. He lifted His hand to her green braid and closed his fist around it briefly before He let it fall back to her shoulder. "Five hundred meters."

He leaned His face close as if He hadn't already drank her in enough and followed His own hand with His eye as it came up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He turned His head to follow her line of sight and leaned close, almost cheek to cheek. A small smirk on His face ever so briefly.

"Clean kill." He said as He rested a hand on the small of her back, "Right twelve degrees."

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

When he shifted to her right, she had to strain to hear him with the opposite over the hum of the disruptor, but she'd fired this weapon under worse conditions.

Up. Left.

She kept her breathing even, as she felt the gentle handling of her braid, unable to keep the smile from her face.

500 meters.

Her breathing stopped for the barest of seconds as he drew close, but training overruled her baser instincts as she eased back into the breathing flow and pulled the trigger.

His hand was warm and welcome in the small of her back. She slotted another shell into place not missing a beat, the rifle firing before he'd finished his call, incinerating another.

Another shell, another breath, another shot. Another spider dead. Every movement was precise, like second nature. Another shell racked into place.

"I can fire this weapon drunk and still hit the mark, Jasper." She turned to look at his face so close that their breath melded in the evening air. "I do not miss."

She pulled the trigger without looking, simply knowing where her mark was before it had fully emerged from the cave. The flash of the disruptors killing blow sending her message home.

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

"I can fire this weapon drunk and still hit the mark, Jasper." She turned to look at his face so close that their breath melded in the evening air. "I do not miss."

"That good are you?" He said, His voice a low growl by her ear, His lips almost brushed against her pierced lobe as He replied. "Shall we test that?"

His hand drifted from the small of her back, calluses rasping against armor and under her long hair to the nape of her neck where it stopped. Pressure applied gently but with a firmness that whispered at withheld strength.

"Keep firing." He said, a more deliberate growl, as His thumb gently made sorties up and down the side of her neck. "I want to know my...options."

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

Evelyn let out a low hum as his hand found the nape of her neck, firing off reactions through her that made her adjust her grip on the disruptor. She took a beat to recover from the growl that sent hot shivers down her spine. Fingers found the next shell, slowly slotting it into place as she steadied her breathing.

She set her focus on the caves, tracking the spiders climbing from them, paying particular attention to the way they moved, their size. Every detail she could draw out to keep her from focusing the thumb stroking her neck. Another spider vanished in a burst, her hand moved automatically as she found her rhythm again.

Load, sight, fire.

"What is it, I wonder," Load, sight, fire, "that you are wanting to know?"

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

She really was just that good with a rifle. He hadn't truly done anything to interrupt her aim but she was very determined to not let His antics impede her perfection. He was surprised at her determination. Her grit and dedication to her craft. He was drawn to that powerful Will that was on display. The fact that she was stunningly beautiful in His opinion only added fuel to the rising heat in His chest.

He titled His head slightly. Lips beside her ear. Fingers squeezed on her neck briefly before easing and slowly masaging before halting to a rest. He didn't have an answer. Not truly. He could voice some singular thing her wanted to discover. He wanted to know everything. Her passions, so He could enflame them. Her fears so He could destroy them. He wanted to know Her joys so He could bring them and Her dreams so He could help Her reach them. And He couldn't put into words the primal pull He was feeling for her.

"Everything." He rumbled softly into her ear, "And nothing less will satisfy."

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

She was slowly running out of shells, and they were rapidly running out of light, the sun was dipping behind the horizon, painting the sky in an array of reds and golds. Another spider vanished and she finally caved into the need to look at him, to pay attention to the way he was watching her, to the way his hand felt hot on the nape of her neck.

"That's a tall order for one hunt," she murmured in response, there were millimetres between them. Her eyes roamed his face, pausing on his lips before settling on the grey eyes that were watching her every move, "are you really that good?" she smirked.

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

He leaned those last millimeters. His lips pressed to hers as His hand moved to the side of her neck and held her close for a heartbeat, then two, three. He pulled away convinced that the whirlwind of His emotions would sweep him away. He leaned back and tried to think. Tried to recalibrate His emotions. He should warn her. He should send her as far away as He could before she learned what it meant to court War. Though He knew He would be kinder than His predecessor.

"Who said anything about good?" He said as He returned her smile in earnest.

Evelyn Rekali

 

[Evelyn Rekali]

The kiss was as gentle as it was powerful, sweeping her into a tumult of feelings. Her heartbeat quickened, her grip on the rifle slackening. Yellow eyes watched him as he drew back. He was fighting something, restraining himself perhaps? Or maybe it was something more...

Time and patience would give her answers.

"I think," she said, disarming the disruptor and setting it gently on the ground, "that that is a risk I am willing to take." She twisted to face him fully, her risen knee coming to settle in the ground.

"Kiss me again."

Ordo

 

[Ordo]

His hands drifted down to her shoulders. Heavy hard hands rasped softly like old leather against well oiled steel, soft and familiar. The spiders retreated into their caves, night animals stilled as His full focus rested on her and the world seemed to hold its breath. Those grey-green eyes like the sea after a storm met her golden orbs. Like sunrise over an ocean the two made contact and He knew. He dropped His knee and faced her fully ocean and sun, mountain and forest, He leaned down.

"Kiss me again."

"Ask me, Evelyn." He said softly, no warrior bravdo. No testing her resolve, a man as raw as a dry throat on a hot summer day seeking the refreshment of cool spring water. "Say my name and ask for what you want."

And He would grant her request. Though He knew the difficulties to come. The ugly things He was bound to do. The nature of what He was. He would grant Her request here knelt upon moss and stone, surrounded by cycles of life and death He would grant it and more.

Evelyn Rekali