Private Dear Stardust

[OOC of Kavessk]

Stardust. A vessel of luxury. Although seemingly in needs of repairs, Kavessk wasn't picky. He needed travel after the destruction of his own ship, and made things work with stolen vehicles. On a space station from his recent encounters, the Dark Jedi needed to get to Hoth.

The Kage could've chosen any cursier, steal another ship, but this vessel pulled him here. Someone currently in there, another of the Force. A troubled being, also very familiar like his own. These non extreme signatures of the Force Spectrum just attracted him.

Entering inside the yacht, it was only a matter of time before the two would meet.

Val Drutin

 

[Val Drutin]

Cantinas and Val decidedly did not mix. Between his horrified reaction to the dancing Twi'lek girls, his inability to hold down liquor, and his habit of annoying at least half of the people he came across, the odds were never in his favor the moment he passed through the doors of such an establishment. So it was that Val was forced to make a mad dash back to his ship, pursued by several angry patrons all the way to the landing pad. Times like these made him more than grateful for his ridiculously muscular legs, as he easily outran his pursuers. He still had to dart out of the way of their blaster fire once they started shooting, of course, but he was by then more concerned about the ship being damaged.

"Aw, c'mon! I just had her fixed!" he whined, stopping to turn and shake his fist at them. A flurry of blaster bolts sent him scurrying up the landing ramp... only to skid to a halt. Someone else was aboard.

He spun around, trying to find the source of the presence amid the junk-filled ship, to no avail. Whoever they were, they had stowed themselves away somewhere inconspicuous. Which admittedly wasn't very difficult, considering how messy and cluttered the interior of the ship was.

He heard shouting coming from the bottom of the ramp. Their threats included murdering him and stealing his yacht. Hastily he slammed his fist on the button to close the entrance off, but he was too late - three of them were already aboard, their blasters at the ready.

Val's lightsaber, which was lying on a nearby table covered with scrap parts, flew into his hand, where the purple blade ignited. The three drunks exchanged startled glances. They hadn't expected this.

"Get off my ship!" Val roared.

One of them scrambled to hit the button. The ramp began to descend once again, the three drunks screaming at their fellows waiting outside to run. Having diffused one threat, Val turned his attention to the unknown presence.

"You too," he muttered, his voice undercut by the hum of the blade. "Wherever you are..."

OOC of Kavessk

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

The ramp slowly ascended by it's own, as Kavessk still hid his presence from the fallen knight. He was clearly not tied to any order, but had some proficiency if he was able to sense the Kage. It made sense, it would seem that he was intruding. Deciding not to provoke the drunken man further, he sat in the middle of the vessel steady. Waiting for the owner to enter, Kavessk would simply request travel. After all it was technically true, but that wasn't his main motive. It wasn't nothing of malicious intent, just curiosity.

 

[Val Drutin]

Val jumped as the ramp began to ascend on its own. He felt the gesture which prompted it through the Force, a clear indication that the stowaway wanted to be found. Or they wanted to trap Val inside...

He closed his eyes and mentally mapped out the internal workings of the ship, familiarizing himself with its feel via the Force. Given that there were no other life forms on board, it wasn't hard to pinpoint the location of the stranger once he concentrated on it.

There was no point in trying to hide his presence from the other Force user. Creeping toward them, he reached out and threw open the door. "All right, you..."

He trailed off. Sitting in a meditative position was a middle-aged man with gray hair and yellow eyes. Val was struck at once by the bizarre metalwork wound around the man's head, ranging from aesthetic piercings to what looked like intricate cybernetics, all of it done artfully in gold. Judging by the deathly pallor of his skin and the sickly glow of corruption in his eyes, he was a Sith - but it was impossible to tell what order or creed he belonged to. The symbols embellishing his black robes were unfamiliar and didn't match any tradition Val knew of.

More than that, he was simply sitting there, doing nothing even while Val stood over him holding a lightsaber. Val stared at him, not sure how to react. As upsetting as it was to find a stranger hidden aboard, he didn't like fighting when he didn't have to.

Relaxing his stance, he turned off his lightsaber. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

OOC of Kavessk

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

"A passager requesting travel. I have compensation if needed."

And now Kavessk was able to take a good look at the fellow user. A young man, no older than a new Knight. Dressed in such bizarre fashion, obviously not tied down to any civilized gathering of the Force. But he felt pain, darkness tinted within him. The kind of darkness stilled inside Kavessk, halted because of his technological advances.

This saddened him, to have pain come from this younger individual. Clearly it wasn't the Dark Side, but how it was presented. Pulling a bit away from the natural shielding, something else was felt too. However the Kage should get back to the situation at hand.

"My name is Kavessk Ziracch. I saw your struggles with the locals a bit earlier and prompted to stay away from such problematic escalation."

 

[Val Drutin]

Val brightened at the mention of compensation. "Ah, why didn't you just come out and say so? I ferry people around all the time. As long as you pay me, I'll get you wherever you need to be."

His mood soured as he sensed the dark one's probing. It wasn't deep enough to cause pain or even discomfort, but Val's inability to control his emotions left quite a bit exposed. Whatever the dark one saw, it saddened him, and Val could feel his sadness as it reflected back at him.

"Fine. I understand. But where do you need to go?"

OOC of Kavessk

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

"Hoth. I have enough credits for such a journey."

Abiet a large bag of the standard currency of the galaxy. Kavessk was nowhere near wealthy, but he established a bit of hidden deposits in his former life of a light side Jedi. It felt like such a lifetime ago, yet every detail still intact.

Val Drutin

 

[Val Drutin]

Val froze. He was supposed to be heading to Hoth himself eventually, although he had been lollygagging at various spaceports on account of bad nerves. He'd done some stupid things over the last few days, but he hadn't been dumb enough to tell anyone about his plans. The fact that this stowaway wanted to go there had to be a coincidence...

"Hoth, huh?" He tried not to give away his surprise, but it wasn't much use. OOC of Kavessk would have already seen him tense up, and was likely already drawing conclusions. "Hoth the system, or Hoth the planet?"

The foolish question was intended as a joke, but Kavessk didn't seem like the humorous type. Pursing his lips, he shifted his feet awkwardly. "I usually only charge a couple thousand credits anyway."

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

"I have more than enough."

Val Drutin's tension was indeed noticed, inciting the question of why? Was he also heading to Hoth? Did Hoth strike him wrongly? Kavessk would make sure to answer that later, not wanting to conclude after his previous accident from such haste. Raising his hand with the bag in notice, he offered it to Val. It would seem that his questions will be answered, hence his body in no form of stress contrast of Val.

 

[Val Drutin]

Not one to look under a gift speeder's hood, Val took the bag that OOC of Kavessk offered him. He glanced inside, his eyes widening at the fortune of credits within. "Uh... yeah, more than enough."

Gingerly he reached inside to pull out the appropriate amount as payment, keeping his eyes trained on the dark one. He didn't think Kavessk would try to attack him, but you never knew when it came to people who snuck onto ships uninvited. Especially freaky looking ones like this guy.

"You're in luck," he said, disturbed by the eerie, awkward silence that followed him returning the bag to Kavessk. "I'm headed to Hoth myself. For a... doctor's visit." He cleared his throat and quickly added, "Not that I'm sick or anything. Just... going in for a check-up."

Try as he might, he never could lie convincingly. But this explanation was at least partially true. He was going to Hoth to seek out a famous doctor, but not for an ailment of the body.

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

"Seems troublesome to go to such a planet of extreme cold for a simple check up. You must be distrustful like myself."

Kavessk would smile a only little for a flash of a second, before reverting to his normal demeanor. He didn't believe a word of Val at all, but the Kage was a uninvited quest. To avoid the errie science, he would make small talk after the ship get on the course. After all he wanted to know more of Val Drutin.

 

[Val Drutin]

OOC of Kavessk 's smile was brief, but it had quite an effect on Val. Pleased to have finally gotten a reaction out of his passenger (and a positive one at that), he headed for the cockpit with a spring in his step.

"Make yourself at home, I guess," he called over his shoulder. "...Should probably strap in. Everyone tells me I give bumpy rides..."

Having said that, he keyed the engines, beginning the liftoff sequence. Once the automated program concluded and the reins were handed to Val, any semblance of order disappeared. The ship pitched from side to side, jerked around by Val's haphazard piloting, before blasting out of the atmosphere with all the speed and abandon of an amusement park ride - one without restraints.

Eventually Val put the Hoth coordinates into the navicomputer, and the ship's autopilot took over, sending them into hyperspace. Turning in his chair, Val glanced back at Kavessk with a guileless smile. "Good to go!"

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

And they were off. Not heeding the previous advice at the start of hyperspace, Kavessk used the Force to keep himself steady. Conversation was to be easy, Kavessk had his fair share of weak minds manipulated. But something about Val Drutin made him want to go a different route.

Hence the most famous icebreaker in all of the galaxy.

Small talk.

"For such a yacht, it seems void of life. No crew, nothing."

 

[Val Drutin]

"Oh - it's not as complicated as it looks," Val replied. Having unclasped his harness, he was now sitting with his tights-clad legs propped up on the dashboard. "I inherited this ship from my mas--from a relative. She lived on this thing for years, all by herself."

He sank down in his seat, his voice softening as a flood of unpleasant memories came to the forefront of his tattered mind. "I don't think she liked people very much. Can't say I blame her."

OOC of Kavessk

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

"They usually don't."

A message that could've meant anything, although Kavessk slowly began piece by piece. His hands were together as he pondered what to say, every word as a way to gather. That and he enjoyed talking to a similar soul.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

 

[Val Drutin]

Val glanced up sharply at Kavessk's response, his brows sinking together. Now what was that supposed to mean? 'They usually don't?' Did he know more than Val thought he did?

His condolences took Val off guard, and once again his mood shifted violently from hostile suspicion to a heavy, sinking melancholy. "She hasn't been gone for long," he murmured. "Sometimes I'll hear a noise on the ship, like there's someone there, and I forget she's dead." Dread curdled in his gut at the thought. "It's okay, though. She wanted me to--she had wanted to die for some time. Small mercies, y'know?"

OOC of Kavessk

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

The body language of Val Drutin spoke volumes to ones close to detail. The shoulders, the brows, even the mood. Even though it wasn't what Kavessk was used to, the picture became clearer. It was only a matter of sealing it, because a part of Kavessk wanted to help him.

"Trickle thing. It's good to see that loss hasn't derailed you from your own destiny. With the ship, the lightsaber, the attire and your job."

 

[Val Drutin]

"Huh?" Disturbed from his bleak reverie, Val's eyes darted back to the dark one. "My destiny?..."

He trailed off, his eyes widening. Was this his fate? Was he going to be a lonely dancer/pilot forever? Would things never change?

It seemed foolish to think it wouldn't. The future was always in motion. Even Jedi knew that.

Val looked at OOC of Kavessk once more. The corners of his mouth turned up in a mischievous smile. "You don't seem to be doing too bad yourself, what with that bag of cash you've got. Where'd you get all that money, anyway?" He held up his empty hands in surrender. "If you don't mind me asking..."

 

[OOC of Kavessk]

"I have done a bit of campaigns in my glory days. A lot of planets outside of the factions filled with such troubles, I did what I could do."

He certainly felt nostalgic looking back at simpler times, before the Jedi wronged him. Before his rebirth.. Before he went insane and fell to the Dark Side.. The Dark thoughts would soon vanish, as Kavessk pulled out his dormant lightsaber. Holding the handle with the coupling of his hands, the Dark Jedi felt well.

"This weapon has certainly saved my life a number of times. Hence you utilizing one as well is a smart choice."

Val Drutin

 

[Val Drutin]

Campaigns? Was this guy a war hero or something? He did fit the bill for a grizzled old veteran, and it definitely explained the scars.

Val's eyebrows rose as he watched OOC of Kavessk take hold of his lightsaber. "Yeah," he murmured, thinking of his own weapon. "Just having one makes most people think twice about attacking you."