Desert Folk

[A'Runda]

Making his way through the bustling neighborhood, A'Runda was no stranger to the desert city of Mos Eisley. Once he was, being one of the first places he visited after being exiled from his clan. He was little more then a young adult then. Fortunately his previously gained knowledge on Galactic Basic made the transition a lot more easy. Instead of running around speaking his native language he could communicate and find work.

Even though the city didn't seem like much, it was always a hotbed for opportunity. Especially for one determined to make a quick buck. As of recent events however, the city was still in some ways recovering from a battle between two of the galaxy's super powers. He honestly didn't know which ones, but he was fortunately off world during the conflict. But he tried to gather as much information as he could after he found out. Worried that his clan as stuck in between the crossfire. From what he could tell it wasn't a battle spanning across the entire planet. Instead it was more localized. Meaning that his people were probably quite safe and out of harms way.

Nonetheless the adventures was once again on his home world. The planet he surely spent the most time on even now. Probably because it was just simply home for him. However, after the conflict a small time Hutt mobster started to seize power during the chaos. Effectively acting out a hostile take over of the city, and having a small, but comfortable criminal monopoly of Mos Eisley. A'Runda felt that with the gift he had he should do something about it. But he was just one person. How could he take on a criminal organization all on his own? The answer's simple, he cant, unless he had help.

While he was walking through the busy streets he saw a rather small business being harassed by some thugs. They seemed to be collecting their extortion money from the poor Toydarian who was just trying to get by. Perhaps he should step in and do something. If he wasn't gonna take on the Hutt on his own, he could at least stop a couple of thugs.

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Tatooine. Force, she hated that planet. Nothing but sand and more sand, for miles and miles around. The local population stank, deodorant seemed to not be fashionable, and even the food was lame.

Still, he had been following up a lead that had led her right here to Mos Eisley. The girl had managed to locate an object of importance to her - her mother's lightwhip. It had traveled accross the galaxy and somehow ended up in the hands of a local Hutt. And well. She wanted it back.

It was a stupid quest, she knew. Why did the lightwhip matter? It had been gifted to her by someone, and she rarely used it, seeing how she'd been a Sith Sorceress. Scherezade had no use for such things. A lightwhip never instilled a proper amount of damage, and learning how to control that thing was krakking dangerous, especially when each use of it put your entire body at risk of being cut into many pieces.

Still, she wanted it. So she'd have it. It was all a matter of taking down a big stupid Hutt and then running back to CIS space before the Empire ever realized she was there.

To reach the Hutt, Scherezade had contacted a local band of thugs who'd promised to get her an audience. She was sitting now in the shade, waiting as they finished harassing some local boy.

"Would you krakking get on with it already?" the girl half yelled at them and took a sip from her waterskin, "we got Hutts to meet and trades to blow. Either kill him, steal his money, or give him a kiss, I don't give a krak's butt, but bloody finish it before I finish you!"


[member='A'Runda']

 

[A'Runda]

A'Runda really felt like he ought to do something. But the longer he thought about it the more he thought it was a bad idea. If he intervened they'd probably just come back and make things even worse. But part of him still wanted to get his gaffi stick and go to town on them. Then his attention was taken away to a young women sitting away from the action and under the shade.

Looking back over at the harassment, then back at her he spoke. "Excuse me, but you don't happen to be with those ruffians, are you?" Perhaps she was their little group leader. "If you were I'd ask you do make them stop." The Tusken let out a sigh. Considering how she talked to them she must be quite feisty. But she didn't look like she was from around here. Not dusty enough.

Then he remembered that she said they had to meet a Hutt. Could it be the one in charge of the city? Letting out another sigh he moved over and sat down next to her, getting on her level. "Soooo, what business to you have with the Hutts? Just wondering..." That was a bit of a redundant question here. Who didn't have business with the Hutt was the real question.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade cocked her head as the stranger spoke to her. He was wearing this or other ugly mask that covered his face and kept her from being able to look him dead in the eyes. She tried to look him dead in the red glasses. He wanted to know if she was with those ruffians and said that he'd make them stop in her place. At that, she could no longer keep a straight face, and burst into a heart warmed laughter.

After he sat down next to her and asked about her business with the Hutts, she raised a single brow.

"Dude, are you for real?" she asked, removing a single Czerka knife from her sleeve and began to clean her nails with it, "you're telling me to make them stop and then trying to pry into my business?"

The Sithling averted her gaze back to the ruffians she was with. They were still working on the shop owner. She rolled her eyes and sent the knife in her head flying. It twisted several times in the air and landed right between his eyes. This was why she loved her Czerka knives; you just couldn't get that sort of beautiful damage with a regular butter knife.

Another knife apeared in her hand before the first one found its target.

"We done here or is the next one landing in one of your skulls?" she asked, and the ruffians nodded. Scherezade got up to her feet and wiped her hands on her yoga pants before using the Force to call her first knife back into her hand.

"Wanna come with us?" she asked the stranger sweetly. If he wanted to know about her business with the Hutts, she'd just show him. And if she needed extra leverage against the Hutts, she'd offer him up a a slave.

Either way, it was a win-win situation.


[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

Even though the young women couldn't look directly into his eyes. He still felt a little spooked with how determined her gaze was. Then he watched as the knives was summed to her hand. Worried that she was trying to intimidate him with it. "Um, sorry I was I just trying to start conversation." He simple replied.

Then watched as she summed more knives and sent them flying. It only shocked him a little, sensing that she was force sensitive. But he wasn't expecting knives. He kinda just assumed all force users to use lightsabers. Clearly he need more exposure to people like her. But all he could really think was how lucky he felt knowing that those flying knives weren't meant for him.

Then he looked up at her as she got up, listening to what she had to say. Did he want to go? Not really, it's not like she told him what she was planning on doing there. He let out a sigh before getting up himself. Looking down at her slightly, only being a little taller then her. One thing it seemed like he could do that she couldn't was look her in the eyes from behind his mask. Even though he didn't really want to go, she did offer him an opportunity, and he wasn't someone that easily passed up on one.

The Tusken nodded, "Sure, and who knows, maybe this Hutt's not suck a bad guy after all." A'Runda wondered, but felt like he already knew that answer.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade looked at him weirdly. "It's a Hutt," she said, "he's a bad guy by default. But don't worry, I'm way worse." There were many good things one could say about Hutts; their business sense, their physical speed, their ability to manipulate those they wanted things from. All fine and dandy. But one could never, would never, say that a Hutt could be a good guy. That was not how Hutts were made.

The merry group began to walk. It was a bloody long uphill to get to the Hutt's palace thingie. Scherezade didn't have the Hutt's exact name, just a nickname, and-

"Squirt, what's your name?" she asked the new person. She needed a way to yell at him or refer to him later on. It was also better to know the name of the meat you were selling, if it came down to that. It might not come down to that, though.

The sun was harsh in her eyes and she removed a pair of sunglasses from her pocket. Still too sunny. She hated Tatooine. What a rotten place of sand and bright light and dirt. She was starting to lose herself in her thoughts when she felt it though; the end of a barrel stuck into her back.

"You sure?" she asked the ruffian who was holding it against her, and counted to three inside her head.


[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

A'Runda blinked a couple times, realizing what he literally just said. Not knowing in the moment that he sounded turbo-dumb. He was about to apologies for his poor speaking skills. But it seemed she understood what he said and continued the conversation with her own statement. "Everyone think that Tuskens are barbarians, and I can tell you with confidence that's not exactly true." He kinda considered himself living proof of that, but from what could see with her, she probably wouldn't buy it.

Then she asked for his name. "My name's A'Runda, of clan... you probably don't care." He said, knowing fully well that nobody knew of his clan. Most tribes probably didn't know of Clan Rok'urkus. "So young lady, may I have the honor of knowing you name?" The Tusken asked rather politely.

However, after asking that he saw from the corner of his eye the barrel of a gun poke her against the back. A little bit too casually he turned to look at the culprit. It was one of the thugs that she was with earlier. Perhaps they didn't take kindly to her calling their local crime lord a "bad guy". That's at least what he thought since he didn't have a gun pointed at his back. Sadly right after he thought that he felt the hard barrel of a blaster prod his very own back. Another thing that was a little sad was that unlike her, he raised his hands slightly. Clearly not confident in his own ability to deal with them. Surely he looked like quite the loser compared to the person next to him in the same situation.

How embarrassing...

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Tuskan? Scherezade blinked. As far as she knew, Tuskans didn't have the vocal chords required to pronounce words in Basic. They understood it well enough, and could read ad write in it if they were properly educated, but speaking was a whole different thing. She was going to call bullpoodoo on his statement later. Right now, they had the ruffians to deal with.

There had been four of them when they'd left the city center to walk towards the castle. Now a few more appeared from behind the dunes, and there were seven. She didn't know if the kid knew how to fight, and she didn't know yet if they had slugs or blasters. Come to think of it, there was too much she didn't know, and she didn't like it one bit.

"You buttholes have ten seconds to consider whether or not this is a wise course of action," she warned them, her voice strong and demanding. Seven against one were good enough odds. The only thing she wished was that she knew if the guy who claimed to be a Tuskan was another enemy, an ally, or a liability. She could deal with all of it except the liability part. Sometimes needing to protect someone was much harder than killing five others, and she was now realizing that she really did need him.

Four seconds had passed. Scherezade was not going to wait.

She bent at the waist and kicked back, sending the gun fighting into the air. At the same time a dozen knives flew out from beneath her clothes, two ending up in her hands, and the other ten hovering in the air.

Spoiler

Example of how she controls them: http://pa1.narvii.com/6300/cd6ae68960b2200f4975ff124a4bd2db31de56f1_hq.gif

It was her specialty. Her control of the knives through the Force was what made her a formidable opponent when fighting against groups. As long as her concentration was up, she could handle the seven at once. She danced as the knives came down, the pointy ends looking for their targets, aiming mostly for eyes, jugular veins, hearts, and guts. Unless someone stopped her or bothered her, it would be ten to twenty seconds before she and the Tuskan were surrounded mostly by bleeding meatflabs.

She just hoped the Tuskan would remain more or less in place and not make himself a target.


[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

A'Runda took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Trying to use his ability in the Force to sense the targets. Seven, that's what he counted. However, during his little bit of concentration. It was interrupted with the sound of one of the thugs screaming out in pain. He opened his eyes to see the onslaught that the girl next to him began to carry out. 'How many knives did she have?' The Tusken thought to himself.

It was quite a massacre. All around the ruffians seemed be completely out matched by her and her knives. This was his chance to do something. While this was going on the thug that pointed the gun at him was distracted. Knowing that hey were A'Runda shifted to the right and called out his curved lightsaber. Before they saw what he was doing, the Tusken ignited his blade and swiped up in a nice swift motion. Cutting their blaster in half. Still in motion with his right hand he pushed it against their chest. Using the Force it knocked them back, their body tumbling very quickly on the sand until it suddenly stop after coming into contact with a sand dune.

After that he turned back to see what else was going on. While he did him and one of the other thugs made eye contact. Raising their blaster and aiming it they took the shot. However, A'Runda quickly deflected it away. Before anything else though, a knife quickly shot out from the side and seemed like it shot right through their body. Or it just got stuck deep inside them. Seeing that that was the last of them, he turned to look at the girl beside him and spoke. "Well, your technique is rather effective when dealing with opponents on mass." Then again he was sure it'd work wonders against a single target as well. "By the way I never got your name."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Their surroundings had turned into a massive open air burial ground for buttholes. Scherezade crouched by the one who was closest to her and called her knives back, cleaning the blood and insides on the corpse's clothes before sheathing it again under her shirt, pants, into the boots, and up the sleeves. She was armored to the teeth in all that dealt damage, and it always turned out to be the wise choice.

Standing up, she turned to look at the Tuskan. "Mass killing is one of my many specialties," she answered with an innocent shrug and smile, selling off the girl-like appearance again. Somehow, not matter the amounts of blood and gore that covered her, she could still sell the visual aspect of it quite well, though she didn't know much about Tuskan psychology to know if it'd work on him as well.

And he wanted her name.

Scherezade marched to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and spun him around in the direction they were meant to head to. "I am Scherezade deWinter," she answered and looked into the horizon. "How fast can you run, sand muncher?" Scherezade asked, "we can be there in about ten minutes if we run. Faster if you know how to use the Force to make yourself move quicker than a bantha in heat."


[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

In any other case he'd feel doubtful towards anyone that said killing in mass was what they were good at. But after what he just experienced, she clearly fit the bill. It had to be more of her tone that made her seem innocent to him. The visual aspects were harder for him to understand. So all in all he was a bit confused. "Well, it doesn't seem like a diplomatic approach is available to us anymore. But then again I don't know what business you had with the Hutt."

But after she grabbed him and spun him around he listened closely while eyeing her through his mask. "Scherezade..." He repeated to himself. "That's a nice name." A'Runda added quietly afterwards. It didn't make too much since to him why she wanted him to run to their destination. Was she planning on just going in as loudly as she could to fight? If so wouldn't running be kinda tiring? Then he heard the last part of her statement. What in the world did "a bantha in heat" mean? This made him give off a perplexed expression behind his mask. The Tusken also didn't know what she meant by sand muncher. Was she implying that all Tuskens ate sand, because that wasn't true.

"Uh, yeah I can do that. Sometimes to practice I'll jump across the small ridges in the Jundland Wastes." Which was kinda impressive. Running as such speeds and jumping with the Force to get over a ridge instead of going though it. Making getting around much, much more easier out there. "I guess the question you ought to be wondering is whether or not you can keep up." A'Runda said with a rather cocky tone in his voice.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Start running, sand muncher," Scherezade said as she rolled her eyes. In her short span of life, a grand total of five months, she had met many people who could out run her. But none that could do so when she used the Force to enhance her speed. Force running was another one of her forte's, and she fully intended on making use of it now. For one, time was of the essence. Two, she wanted to get out of the sun.

Thankfully, the sand muncher wasn't slow. She could still out run him if she really wanted, but their joined speed was fast enough. Scherezade didn't know if there were more buttholes hiding in the dunes, and she didn't want to find out. If you moved fast, you were less likely to get caught.

They reached the Hutt palace within the time she had estimated, and she stopped the both of them just at the entrance.

"We're here to see Boss Jarda," Scherezade said to the guards in Basic, "he's expecting me."

Now there was just the waiting game. Hutts loved to make people wait. It was part of their psychological warfare in the world of business. But she didn't mind. She'd give them half an hour before she started stirring up things.

Gabbing her waterskin, she took a few good gulps and then looked at the sand muncher. "If you need rest of drink, now's a good time. You won't be able to once we go in."


[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

He made a slight chuckle after she rolled her eyes. Then as they started he messed up on the footing and almost tripped. Perhaps he was wrong to think she'd have trouble keeping up with him. He took large, long strides in the sand. Almost like he was hopping with one foot after the other through the desert.

With the nice run in the suns they made it to the palace. Listening to her let the guards know why she was here. Then she reminded him to hydrate and rest. Taking his own water skin out he hooked up to the mouth piece of his mask. Taking a few nice sips. Tusken garbs were quite good at keeping the dust out and water in. Which was good if you were out in a planet like this and being almost always clothed. Detaching the water skin he leaned against the entrance while they waited.

"You know, you never really told me why you're wanting to meet up with the Hutt. I'm personally just with you cause you offered and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to meet a Hutt. Despite their nature and such, becoming acquainted with one might be quite beneficial. Well, so I've heard." A'Runda particularly didn't care much for Hutts. He heard of them fueling a circle of violence in the past between settlers and Tuskens. He was still keeping himself prepared to for combat now after that little scene earlier. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that but who can tell with a persona like Scherezade with him.

"Also can you just call me A'Runda. Unless we're giving each other nicknames. I just haven't heard the term sand muncher before." After saying that the Tusken thought of what his little nickname for her would be.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"He has something that should rightfully be mine," she answered with simplicity. There wasn't much Scherezade had of her family; an aunt's ship and permission to use the house on Coruscant. Everything else, she had achieved all on her own. Technically, everything but the house was all her own; she'd had to pretend to be her mother in order to get the ship from her aunt. But there were no holopictures, no blankets, no memories of any kind other than the ones plastered unwillingly into her mind by her grandmother, that tied her to her family. Her mother's lightwhip was the first time she had found even an inch of a clue to something she could use. And she wanted it.

"Yeah well, I'll bet there's a lot of you haven't heard," she commented on his last sentence. The Sand People never really got out much, and as far as she knew, only a few individuals ever left Tatooine. And Tatooine, for all the attention ti was receiving, was little more than a backwater planet. It was a place for crime and such, but that was more or less all one could get here. If you wanted fine art, dining, or even just intersting stuff to do, you had to leave.

Still, it had been a few minutes, and she was ready to start hopping from one foot to the other. This krakking waiting game was going to get the better of her, as she was very far from being a woman of patience. Her hands tingled to grab her pistol and just start shooting everyone to make her way in, but there had to be a better way to go about this.

Shed begun to grit her teeth when the guards motioned for them to go in. Scherezade blinked in surprise. That fast? Something had to be up?

"Unless you have anything important to say to the Hutt, very important, like your life depends on it kind of important, stay quiet or I will gut you," she whispered to the sad muncher as they made their way up.

Hutt palaces were stupid. The giant slugs didn't need stairs so they figured no one else did either. The result was that you either had elevators (for VIPs and Hutts) or an endless climb uphill towards the top part of the palace. She hated every moment of it. It was a shame she didn't have any explosives on her.

Once inside, the place was unusually empty. Scherezade glanced around, taking in the small number of guards, the few slaves, and the almost complete lack of guests attending.

Taking a deep breath, she walked forward, hands in her pockets.

"Great Boss Jarda," she spoke, her Huttesse perfect and on point, "I am here because it has come to my attention that you have an artifact that belongs to my blood. I am offering credits to secure its return to me." She removed a small credit chip from her pocket, "ten thousand credits, for the lightwhip that five hundred years ago belonged to a Queen of the Unknown Terriroties."


[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

A'Runda was about to protest against her statement. But just simply nodded, going along with what she said. Then they made it into their room. The Hutt seemed to be enjoying his new position of power as a female Rodian fanned him from the saide

The Hutt wasn't as fat as the Tusken imagined. Perhaps because he was still a hustler not too long ago. "H'chu apenkee youngee" (Greetings girl) He replied, his voice sounding a little more high pitched. Clearly his was a more younger member of his species. Which probably just meant his was 150 years old. "Hm? Ne nal hutta Laboda na rowka?" (Hm? My glorious jewel is that authentic?) The Hutt didn't seem to know it belonged to a queen, perhaps she shouldn't have told him that. Then after seeing the small amount of money she offered upfront he frowned. As if he was personally insulted by her offering for the lightwhip. To him it very much seemed like his prized possession. "Keel-ee calleya ku kah." (You disappoint me)

After a moment he sat up straight and even puffed up his chest some. Causing the Rodian to step back some. "Bargon wan chee kospah youngee. Ting cooing koo soo ah." (There will be no deal girl, I've got the credits.) Clearly he wasn't even going to charge her more, and let her know that he wasn't in need of any money. "Kavana Mi bosco de Chik youngee" (However, I'm looking for a new dancing girl.) He said with a chuckle, licking his lips some. "Ma pateessa nugo shag" (You friend will be a slave) The Hutt said pointing to A'Runda. The Tusken couldn't telepathically tell what they were saying. But he could tell it wasn't good. "Kapa tonka!" (Hands Up!) After that the guards that were in the room wielding vibro-axes approached them. As they did A'Runda summoned his lightsaber to his hand. But didn't ignite it yet.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Of course things hadn't gotten according to plan. Why would they ever go to plan? This was, after all, Scherezade. She frowned as the Hutt spoke, her mind reeling. He wanted her as a dancing girl and the sand muncher as a slave.

Well.

He could have the sand muncher. The Sithling did not care about that. But he could not have her as a dancing girl. Most and foremost, because she really couldn't dance.

She wasn't looking at what the sand muncher was doing as the knives slid into her hands. One in each, and the other ten dancing around her in the air. Apparently, some creatures only understood one form of negotiation. And that was just fine with her, because it was the form she was best at.

Scherezade used the Force to enhance her speed, and her blurry form moved quickly from where she was standing to where the Hutt was.

"I am the granddaughter of the Witch of Tatooine," she said, her Huttesse still perfect with every syllable, "and I will have what is rightfully mine."

She had no intention of giving the slug time to respond. Her knives sliced through him without any grace - Hutt skin was rough and coarse and she needed raw strength to do it. She did do it, whilst ignoring everything else that was going on in the room. If the sand muncher was even alive at all, she did not now, nor, for the moment, have the time to think it over.

A long vertical slice was made on the Hutt, going from neck to bottom of the belly. Scherezade used the Force to open his belly like a door, inner organs carelessly tossed behind her shoulders. She needed place and space to do what she wanted. What she wanted was to be inside the body and control it like a puppet.

The guards try to shoot at her, but she used the Hutt's corpse as a meat shield, remaining perfectly safe as her fingers worked with speed. A moment later, she was inside the Hutt.

"Oooh goo cha cha!" she screamed, turning around. It felt... Strange. And smelly. And she was loving every moment of it. "Choo choo kabung boom!"

[member="A'Runda"]

 

[A'Runda]

A'Runda wasn't looking at the action that was unfolding in the room. When things went south fast he turned around, essentially covering her back. As one of the guards approached with a vibro-axe he ignited his lightsaber. Seeing that they weren't gonna just submit without a fight the guard went to swing their weapon.

The Tusken felt like he had the advantage given that he was a force user and had a lighter weapon. As the axe came down, slicing through the air, A'Runda went to parry it. Knocking the axe blade away, and while still in motion he went in for the kill. Making an upward slice, the lightsaber cut through the axes handle and sped towards the guard's body. The next thing either of them knew was that the blade cut through the left side of their chest, and straight through the heart.

As the body fell A'Runda looked over to who else would go against him. There was another guard with a vibro-axe but they seemed quite worried, and started backing away. However, another individual with a range weapon of some sort was aiming at the Tusken. Soon he realized that it was a slug thrower. So instead of blocking the shot, he would simply dodge it. Knowing that if he tried to block it all he'd get is molten slug splashing against him at high speed. After the dodge A'Runda countered but chucking his lightsaber back at them. Spinning in the air across the room before it made contact. Instead of it cutting through them it simply pierced them right in the chest. As they went down he summoned the blade back to him.

Sensing the other individual behind him taking aim after seeing that they couldn't hit the girl currently crawling into the corpse. Seeing thought that it was a blaster he could block it. Not facing them they took the shot, thinking that since A'Runda wasn't facing them it's be an easy kill. However, the Tusken simple flicked his lightsaber back and deflected back at the persona who took the shot knocking them back.

Seeing that all the guards were pretty much done he looked over at Hutt, however, they seemed horribly mutilated. Their inner became outers, and there was a massive gash on him. He didn't see Scherezade but it wasn't long before he got the idea. Seeing the Hutt limply flopping around with odd muffled chanting coming from it, he felt like it was one of those horror movies he heard about on the holonet. The scene was quite unnerving as Hutt's head and arm kinda just flapped about. "Um... Scherezade, what's going on?"

Who was this person he was helping?

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

It was really hot inside the Hutt. And stinky. Still she danced on, trying to get the massive lump of oversized slug to do the funky chicken dance. It was much harder than it seemed, though she had a lot of fun while doing it. Only when the and muncher asked a question did she realize that the world outside of the Hutt-skin still existed, and she poked her head out. Her face and hair were swimming in blood and gore, but she gave A'Runda the most innocent smile nonetheless before stepping entirely out of the Hutt, letting its carcass drop to the floor.

"I killed the Hutt," she answered with a shrug, trying to make droplets of blood and gore leave her fingers. They wouldn't. She was going to need a very nice and very hot shower to feel less contaminated.

Only now did she notice the scene - the corpses stewn around. She looked at the butt muncher and nodded approvingly. "Looks like you kicked their butt," she added in comment, and then turned around, looking through the chests and boxes that were behind it. She wanted her mother's lightaber, and she was not leaving with out.

"By the way," she yelled behind her shoulder as she rummaged, "I kinda sold you to him. But I suppose that since he's dead and I'm taking some of his possessions, you sorta belong with me now. Reclaiming and all of that."

There it was! The beautiful hilt, crafted for her mother on Dathomir all these centuries ago. It was hers now.

Scherezade turned around to look at A'Runda. "So the way I see it, you got two choices," she grinned, "I either sell you to someone else because I like the credits, or you can come join the Confederacy of Independant Systems. They're a cool bunch and they'll treat you better than I will, which is why I'm not taking you on for myself. What say you?"

[member="A'Runda"]