A Midsummer's Night Murder

[GhostOfProtocol]

Commenor - Chasin City​

851 ABY​

​

A gentle breeze began to blow through the streets of Commenor. The moon was poking from behind the clouds, casting a shadow over the many walkways making up Chasin City. A murder most foul was being investigated on Commenor by the police forces. The Cvetkovic family were all found dead in their homes, throats slit. One child was missing however, the youngest child within the Cvetkovic family was missing when the rest of his family were murdered. Jyn Cvetkovic was the ringleader of organised crime on Commenor and his family paid the price for his angering of the criminal underworld.

Jyn Cvetkovic ran. He was being followed. He could feel it, eyes peicing into him and tearing into him. People were following him, the people who he had stabbed in the back. Jyn Cvetkovic sprinted, wind in his hair. He didn't want to be caught, he wasn't looking to die. He wasn't interested in dying nor was he interested in being caught and made an example of. He wasn't interested in being caught by angry criminals and stabbed, tortured and eventually kllled.

An arm hit him.

He fell.

His head smashed against the walkway. A gun was pointed in his face. It was a deathstick user, someone who had been ripped off by Jyn. Blood began to pour from the nose of Cvetkovic, his eyes began to water. He felt a large male pull him to his feet, holding him above the ground. He felt a fist hit him in the stomach. His attackers were talking but he couldn't understand them. Another fist hit him, another and another. Every punch hurt worse than the last, they were asking him to do something but he didn't know what.

Everything hurt.

​

 

[Ao Xian]

There were some places, some times where stalking down a busy street in her preferred form was... at best.... a poor choice. In her younger days pride had often dictated that in those moments of course she would ribbon her way down an avenue, scaled and splendid.

But she was wiser now and understood that sometimes the needs of the moment weighed too heavily.

Even in a humanoid form, Ao'Xian flowed when she walked. Long hair, too red by far for a natural shade in a human, shifted back and forth above the curve of her waist. Sapphire eyes, luminous and reptilian scanned the dark streets, but more of a hunter's gaze than for true fear of anything- or anyone- lurking in the shadows. The barest trace of black patterning marked the skin of her arms and neck where it caught and reflected the errant street lamps, and if she smiled a predators grin of sharp teeth waited. Even shifted into a nearly human form, there was no one who, when looking at her closely, would truly mistake her for anything of the sort.

She heard them before she broached the mouth of the alley. The sound of meat against meat- fist impacting with the dull, wet sound and a groan that could only come from a shot to the gut. Ao had no interest in what was going on in those shadows. She did not care why some poor creature was having their fact turned into a paste. The Xykan would have happily passed by without even a look in the direction of the goings ons.

Of course, not everyone was particularly smart enough to take more than a moment to discern the difference between a slim-waisted woman walking alone in the night versus the deliberate gait of a predator.

He didn't touch her. Oh, he tried. Tried to reach out and grab her by the wrist as she stepped out into the mouth of the alley. But even if he hadn't been half high, Ao would have been able to avoid the snatch.

Now someone else might have continued on. He hadn't, after all, managed to touch her.

But Ao'Xian was offended that he had even tried.

It happened in a heart beat. Sapphire eyes reflected the light as she turned, fingers curling in the air and pulsing. The man had just enough time to give her a confused, quizzical expression before his ears met his nose in the middle of his face- the sound of blood and brains hitting the ground, forced through various orifices as she crushed his head was a particularly sickening wet and heavy rain.

She looked up at the others, now pausing in their beating of the young man to stare at her. Slowly, she smiled.

[member="Jyn Cvetkovic"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Jyn slid down the wall as his attackers backed off from him. He wasn't sure why, his ears were ringing and his eyes full of water. He doubled over, coughing hard as he tried to feel his ribcage and make sure nothing had been broken. His face was stained crimson from a wound that had been opened on his forehead. Other than that, he seemed to be good, nothing was obviously broken although most of him hurt. He'd made a number of enemies over his time, he was used to being beaten up bloody but he wasn't used to be beaten so bad that everything hurt. It was a new feeling, being that injured that literally every movement hurt, every movement sent pain through every joint.

He looked towards the mouth of the alley.

Blood? There was blood staining the floor, blood and what looked like brain. One of the thugs lay dead, very little of his head left. It was a mutilation that made Jyn gag. A young girl stood in front of the corpse, grinning. Had she been responsible for saving his life? Had seen been responsible for the murder that had saved him from pretty certain death? Had seen been responsible for saving him from death?

He gripped a metal pipe from the ground below him, swinging it against the wall. The dull thud rang down the alley, and Jyn grinned. His face was stained with blood which made him look a little worse for wear than he otherwise would of done. He smacked the pipe agains the wall again as a few of the thugs turned around to find out what was going on. Jyn looked past them to the female, then he nodded softly.

He held the pipe ready for battle, ready to do damage.

"How about you leave her alone?"

[member="Kuraii"]

 

[Ao Xian]

The fact that she had saved the life of the young man on the other side of the small mob was entirely lost on Ao. Irrelevant, in fact. Sapphire eyes flickered for just a moment at him, a flinch at the loud, sudden sound from the pipe.

That was all they needed.

It seemed like blood in the water. As though a creature like her would fear vermin such as them. While a few turned back toward their original prey, several of them closed in on her.

It was the last mistake they would ever make.

While Tai Fa had been firm that when in public places she should remain in her human-ish form, this, surely, was an appropriate exception. As one of the them reached out to grab her, Ao shifted.

The transformation was not a delicate or beautiful one. Flesh rippled. Bones cracked, jutting out from beneath muscle and rearranging. Skin bubbled, melting back into scales as woman changed into Xykan. Lovely and perfect in every way. It all happened in a heartbeat of heat and sickening squelch and her head snaked out, snapping off the man's hand with a neat bite of razor teeth.

They didn't stand a chance.

As he screamed, falling back as blood gouted from now empty wrist, she surged forward, claws planting on the second man's chest and bearing him to the ground. Sapphire eyes snapped up at the third and she flicked her tail, using the Force to send him slamming into the wall- his head impacted with a sickening thwack.

Carefully, delicately, she lowered her muzzle to the pinned man's stomach and nuzzled.

His screams sent any that the boy at the end of the alley might have not yet dealt with on his own running.

Chewing contemplatively, she looked up, snout covered in blood, sapphire eyes nearly glowing as she took him in. She didn't say anything at first, just bent her head down again and took another bite.

[member="Jyn Cvetkovic"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Jyn looked away.

He gagged. He didn't really get much of a chance to get involved in the action. He would of loved to claim he was a responsible gentleman who saved a lady in distress. What actually happened was that the dragon "thing" did most of the work while Jyn just stood there in shock. He managed to disable a few of the thugs with his pipe, he didn't do much but he caused a few thugs to grumble in pain and roll around on the floor. He was pretty sure he'd broken a few ribs and a few shins. He hadn't really done much but swing and hope, swing and grin when bone cracked as the pipe collided with it.

It got worse when said dragon thing started eating one of the thugs, that's when the gagging started. He lent on the wall, unable to keep watching but unable to look away as the creature dug into it's meal. There was no other word for it, it was like a baby destroying a meal. It was utterly horrific to watch, blood staining the floor below them. Jyn watched as a segment of what he believed to be brain flew past him, squelching against the wall and popping on impact.

It was pretty grim.

It took Jyn a few moments to stop gagging and for his eyes to clear, his vision to clear. The remaining thugs had all but sprinted away, not ready to become food. The Commenori male watched the dragon thing for a few moments, scanning it. It was undeniably a beautiful creature even if it was absolutely terrifying and able to eat a person like a human would devour a bantha steak. Maybe he should offer her a McYoda's.

"Wh... What are you?"

[member="Kuraii"]

 

[Ao Xian]

The man was alive for far too long. Even with the sedating nature of her bite, there was no stopping the whimpers of pain and horror as she worked her way through his torso. It did stop eventually of course. How could it not? While she preferred her food alive there came a point where that was no longer a realistic expectation. After all, as some point she ate the heart. Things tended to quiet down from there if they hadn't already.

Ao didn't stop until she was sated, crunching the last of the bones she wanted happily, and then, licking her snout she turned her attention to the boy. He was clearly nauseated- even the Xykan could tell from the faint green tinged beneath the skin- terrified, she could hear the speed of his heart even from this distance- and yet, he'd stayed.

Her head tilted, mane rippling as she studied him.

"What are you. Such a rude question," she murmured, whiskers shuddering with a mark of disgust most creatures would be unable to read.

"I am a Xykan," she said with a sniff, as if he should know. Of course, her race was not particularly well known through out the galaxy, but that didn't stop her from holding the opinion that they were important enough to be known.

"I am Ao," her tail flicked, "Xian." Luminous sapphire eyes reflected him back at himself. How pitiful the weak, human creature was in her gaze. "A Knight of the Sith."

She tilted her head, nostrils flaring.

"You are bleeding."

The observation was stated neutrally enough. But coming from a creature that had just eaten someone, well.

It was hard to see as fully benign.

[member="Jyn Cvetkovic"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

"You are bleeding"

He raised his fingers gingerly to his face. He felt the cold, sticky liquid on his face. He hadn't realised that he was bleeding until the creature, the "Xykan" had mentioned it, the adrenaline had completely taken over. He guessed that one of the thugs must have cut him while they were beating him. He lowered his fingers, allowing the blood to drip slowly down his face. It wasn't the worst injruy he had suffered, the blood would clot before it killed him. The wound was deep but thin, it would likely scar. He could claim it was due to some feriocious battle where he killed every attacker instead of telling people the true story.

It was unlikely they'd believe him anyway.

He glared at the dragon creature slowly. She showed no real interest in hurting him but he wasn't willing to take a chance. He kept a tight grip on the pipe. He was well aware that it was unlikely to save his life but it was a comfort knowing that he could at least pretend to defend himself, something he otherwise wouldn't of been able to do. He kept his gaze on the creature for a few moments before he looked to the very dead male who's head had popped only minutes before.

"What did you.."

He gulped, tighening his grip on the pipe. He flicked his eyes back to the dragon claiming to be known as Ao'Xian slowly. He was unsure if the tail flick was apart of the name or not and he honestly wasn't about to question if the tail flick was an optional part of the name or not. He was quite satisfied with breathing, he wasn't about to throw that away out of curisotiy.

"Do to him?"

@Ao'Xian

 

[Ao Xian]

“What did I do to him?” She asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. Absently, she started cleaning her claws with her tongue.

“I ate him. A little scrawny, and you could taste the after effects of long term spice abuse- not my favorite flavor, mind you. Leaves the whole thing tasting a little hollow if I am being honest-”

She paused, tilting her head slightly, cant quizzical at the expression on his face.

“Oh.” She shook her head out, mane rippling. “I crushed his head with the Force,” she said, equally as matter-of-fact. “It’s not hard, especially for someone like me-”

Her nostrils flared, scenting the air as her head tilted up.

“Or….. someone like you.”

[member="Jyn Cvetkovic"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Was she truly that picky?

She just ate a human, admittidly a really rubbish human but that's a technicality. She just ate a human and she was compalining about the taste? Jyn was really struggling to figure her out, he was struggling to find her motive for anything. She seemed stuck up, egotistical which was just a little terrifying considering she was a massive dragon. Jyn looked towards her again before casting his eyes to the corpse in front of her. It was mangled, that was the only way to discribe it. He was pretty sure he saw some intestine hanging out although he was also aware that it could of been another body part. He didn't know nor did he need to know anatomy.

Then she said something that interested him.

"What do you mean? I can do that?"

He glared at the dragon. She was lying, she had to be. She had to be lying to him. Right?

@Ao'Xian

 

[Ao Xian]

"Well, not yet," she murmured, sapphire gaze focusing on him.

Ao wasn't necessarily the best of the Empire for recruitment. Active recruitment required a certain quality that Ao often lacked. Caring. Not about the person themselves necessarily, but about the act itself. As far as Ao was concerned, those destined to become Sith would find the Sith.

Of course, she reasoned as she took a step toward him, drawing up in height as she did, perhaps.... this was the will of the Force.

She was here in this moment. If not intentionally, she had probably saved the life of this human. What were the chances that she would just happen to be here, now, right where she needed to be?

"Not yet," she repeated, tilting her head to study him. "But you could be."

Her mane rippled and her eyes flashed, catching the barest remains of the light filtered in from the streets.

"Do you seek power, human?" She purred, watching him like a snake might watch a mouse. "Do wish to never again be on the receiving end of the treatment you were offered in this alley?"

Closer and closer, until he could feel hot breath stirring his hair.

"Are you prey?" She whispered. "Or do you want to be the hunter? Right now, you smell like the former. But you could be more...."

[member="Jyn Cvetkovic"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He was interested.

He was extremely interested. He was interested even before she made the reference about prey and hunter. He was sick of being prey, he hated being prey. He had been prey ever since the collapse of the drug empire and he hated it. He wanted to be the hunter, he wanted to execute those who opposed him. He wanted to be able to use this power to further his own interest, further his own empire. He wanted to slowly grip control, slowly take control. He wanted the power, he wanted the power so bad. He was partly craving the power, desperate for the power. He wanted to be able to make people's head go bang and pop just like the creature in front of him had.

"Show me. Please, show me your teachings"

He glared at the dragon, face twisting into excitement much like a child on Life Day. His face contorted, he wanted to learn. He was surprisingly desperate to grasp whatever power he was being offered. He wanted to be powerful, he had always wanted to be powerful. He knew that for a while he was powerful, he knew that he was powerful. He knew that he controlled the drug empire but he didn't care for the drug empire anymore. He was being offered the power to kill a person by just looking at them and that was all he cared about. That's all he wanted, the power to execute people who deserved it.

"I am willing"

[member="Ao Xian"]