Private Enemy Within

[Kahlil Noble]

"Just be sure not to jostle her around too much."

Yeah, Kahlil was going to tease her about this later. A teenage criminal getting under the skin of the Sword of the Jedi, she'd be hearing no end of it. Not right now though. He glanced about before finding what seemed to be an empty speeder and just hopped into it and started it up. Did he know how to hotwire?

Yes, yes he did.

"Hop in. Where are we heading with her, though?"

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

"Yeah, you're not the only one who wishes that." Marigold spoke jokingly to Valery, although. Obviously not resisting, despite her somewhat rebelous attitude, the girl did feel comfort, or at least. What little could be offered by her captor that was about to turn her in. "The hospital, uh, maybe?" Despite the fact she wasn't the one who was asked, she still spoke up. "That blaster bolt got me good, and I bet you, old gal', need to get checked up after plummeting straight from the rooftops." Despite some crude words, one could feel a hint of genuine concern, to that end. She did get herself almost killed while trying to check up on Valery.

Her own body did start to ache with pain, the adrenaline died down and with it came the scorching pain from the burn mark in her center mass, although dampened by the armor. It was indeed painful, thankfully. It didn't seem like the first time she was shot, and handled it well, gritting her teeth. Letting a sharp exhale escape her.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"I'm not," Valery said, now with a hint of frustration in her tone aimed at none other than her beloved husband. But when she noticed he was merely teasing her, Valery just pouted a little. She knew she was going to have to deal with that a lot more once they were alone, so for once, she was almost grateful that Marigold was still here. Though... the second she said something about Valery being old, that thought also faded away.

"Call me old gal again and maybe you'll be the one plummeting down from an apartment building." Not actually, and her voice made it clear it was no serious threat. She just wasn't fond of people calling her old. "But I'm perfectly fine. We'll get you medical help."

Then... she watched her husband hot wire a speeder.

"To the hospital and... you better return this speeder once we're done." She shook her head and chuckled. "Was learning that part of being a smuggler, hm?" Now it was her turn to tease a little.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil bit back a laugh, glancing towards Marigold for a moment. She was up and alive, but taking a bolt to the chest really wasn't a good thing, was it? Neither was telling Valery she was old. "You learn a lot when you deal with criminals and crime lords, especially when you piss them off." Which he'd done. A lot. Being a Jedi and a smuggler was very much a game of who could he not piss off and get work from.

The speeder revved up as he took them to the sky, glanced about just to make sure he knew where they were, then started having them head to the Temple.

"Halls of Healing it is."

Marigold | Valery Noble

 

[Marigold]

"Oh I'm sooooo sorry that I didn't ask you for your names between you chasing me, and the whole of damned underworld chasing us." She spoke with playful sarcasm, beaming a wide grin from beneath her hood. "Don't sweat it." Marigold murmured, with a much softer tone. The girl glanced at Kahlil, chuckling and giving him a weak thumbs up. "Not bad, the basics of underworld life is knowing how to hotwire things, maybe you're not as half-bad as I thought."

As they sat in the speeder, she didn't have much to say. Or, well. She did have a lot of things to say, but Marigold wasn't exactly the most confident person when it came to social interactions, quite a strange contrast when comparing to the amount of bold, rash, and crude things she tends to say without thinking first, but when there is no stakes, and she is left to freely take her time, then it becomes awkward for her, much of her jargon is about putting people down and, or, harrassing them verbally. It's the bare minimum she needed to get her through most basic interactions, anything else is a struggle. "Marigold." She'd end up blurting it out of nowhere, with quiet, barely coherent tone. Her hand moving to pull tightly on the hood as to both keep it from flying off her due to flight, and to hide her embarrassed expression.

"Just, call me Marigold. I uh, guess." She sheepishly mumbled, it's been a good while since she introduced herself to anyone, with her real name no less. Negotiations were often short, and. Due to her line of work, very little people found interest in knowing her by name other than the one she earned.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

Valery knew he was holding back laughter, and she was going to remember that. Not... that she could really get him back for it, but perhaps she'd find her own way to tease him in return. There just had to be a way to make him sweat a little.

"Piss them off, huh?" She chuckled, shook her head and leaned back into her seat. Even if they were still not at the safety of the Temple, Valery no longer felt any danger or tension in the Force at all - they were going to make it out just fine.

Well, mostly fine. Marigold was shot and would need medical attention to be safe.

"Marigold."

Valery blinked and looked at the younger woman, who seemed a lot more timid all of a sudden. As frustrating as she could be, Valery still offered a gentle smile and nodded, "Valery," she said to introduce herself properly. "We'll get you to the Temple and the best healers will handle the rest." She turned her gaze to Kahlil then and offered him a soft smile.

"Seems we're dropping someone else on Amani again this time."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Kahlil."

He glanced briefly to the other two before focusing again on driving. Eyes on the road after all.

"I'm sure she's used to it. Is what I'd like to say, but I'm not sure if she'll be annoyed or not." He chuckled a little before shrugging passively. Whatever happened in that regard mattered little in the scheme of helping Marigold with a blaster burn.

"It's what comes after that has my attention."

Marigold | Valery Noble

 

[Marigold]

"Best healers? I hope the payment is on you. I'm not exactly the wealthiest as you might've, uh, imagined." Marigold chuckles, albeit with exhaustion present in her tone. "Well, I'm sure you'll have ample time to decide in which cage I'll rot, aye?" She shrugged at Kahlil's comment. Though, while they were flying through, well. Safer area of Coruscant, a though appeared.

"Wait, huh, temple? That's a fancy name for a hospital, unless you're going to do weird things with natural medicine instead of just pricking a few stimpacks into me and calling it a day." The girl hummed to herself, frankly. Isolationist style of life, although such wasn't by choice. Did affect her outlook and perception of... Many, many things in the Galaxy. Although her tone of voice was still cautious and timid, the lack of adrenaline lead to what little respite and relief in her tone.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"There are no costs for your treatment," Valery assured her but without much context. The healing at the Temple could be entirely free for everybody if Force Healing was used, but if equipment was utilized and medicine was given, the Alliance would fund it. And if not the Alliance, there were other budgets to draw from as well.

"It's what comes after that has my attention."

Valery perked a brow and looked over, "Still think we should hand her over to local authorities then?" She asked before Marigold's question caught her attention.

"The Jedi Temple. I'm sure you've heard of it before?" she snickered. "We're taking you there for treatment because you won't find anything better on Coruscant."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"No, not yet. I think we should keep her at the temple for a bit."

Kahlil paused, once again glancing to the injured girl with a frown.

"She's stubborn, and she's done wrong. But I can see that she truly doesn't think there's another path. That feeling of being trapped is what kept me as a Sith, and why I did the terrible things I did. It'd be wrong for me to damn someone if there's not a chance to help her see the truth of it all."

Marigold | Valery Noble

 

[Marigold]

"I'm kind of surprised you didn't just stab or shoot me the first time you met me, I'm sure the authorities would have done so already." Marigold explained while Kahlil voiced his thoughts about keeping her at the temple, a deep sigh escaping her. "I'm not stubborn! Stop speaking like you know me." Her voice was full of venom. Seemingly not understanding how Kahlil could speak with such confidence, as if he knew her personally, or understood her-... Maybe he did, but the girl didn't know that, as much as she didn't know his history, the words about 'feeling trapped' brought out insecurity in her tone.

"I'm not trapped! And not a slave!" She'd comment, her hand clutching into a fist. She was enslaved once, and that wouldn't happen again. She's free, a free person, or well. Was, it is hard to feel freedom when you are unable to do much other than watch as two people discussed your fate, the urge to rebel and struggle reignited with passion. Quite a pattern as it was easy to provoke her, whether intentionally or not.

Fortunately for the two masters, they couldn't feel her move, the girl truly ran out of any stamina to actually act on these urges, her whole body was limp, and tired, leaving no stamina to struggle. Clearly a revenge for pushing it to it's limits one too many times. Upon this realization, she just growled lowly, and went back to being quiet.

That feeling of being powerless found it's way into her life over and over, and always cut deeply and leaving wounds that time wasn't able to heal.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"You are stubborn," Valery corrected before she turned back to Kahlil and dipped her head. "We can keep her at the Temple for a little while, but it wouldn't be right to keep her away from answering to the authorities for too long either. We personally only know what she has done here today, but what if more innocents lost their lives in other attacks?" They'd be hiding away someone with a lot of collateral damage at that point.

"We should allow a proper investigation to start, though it's one we can also help with."

Valery then sighed and looked at Marigold, "Look, it is in your interest to cooperate. Like my husband said, we understand where you're coming from. But that doesn't make it right, and we want to help you figure out a better way to address the evil you see everywhere."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"No, you're not a slave. Or a prisoner."

Kahlil glanced to Valery for a brief moment, frowned. Looked back to the road. There was a lot more he wanted to say about it all, but he didn't. Not yet. Marigold was still able to listen in, after all.

<I did far worse as a boy. Where she's from, what she's been through, she needs to learn. Less she falls to an even darker path.>

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

"I can tell you what I did and to who I did, I bet some of the planets are still cleaning mountains of corpses of the low-life." She smirked, despite having clear apparent conflict brewing in her, perception of morality and galaxy at large, has been greatly distorted by the strife that Marigold went through, shaped not by the memories of good, but said strife and challenges. What little emotions and happiness that her mind could produce mostly stemmed from deaths of people she hated the most.

Her crooked smile betrayed the fact that she was closer to the dark than the two masters might have realized at first, a glance and a burning fire in the eyes that they might know painfully too well, but not enough to overtake her whole being, she didn't give into it fully.

Teetering at the edge, she did.

"Cooperate? Really? As if I'd believe that my captors have best of the intents." Coming from the outer rim, that kind of mindset was a must. Marigold glanced at Kahlil as he spoke of her not being a slave and prisoner. She'd lower her head, sighing. "Whatever you say, Kahlil." The last word came from her mouth as a barely coherent mumble. She rarely refered to people by name. Despite the last few words stenching of venom, she still did switch up from her self-righteous, rebelling attitude to the timid, awkward one. Almost like cracks in the mask.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

<I agree. We just need to approach it carefully,> Valery suggested and Marigold's subsequent comment about being able to find pile of corpses only confirmed that to her. Some fallen Jedi or just people in general had done terrible things in their lives, but those who had found a better way forward had done so because they were ultimately willing to change. They had seen the error in their ways.

Valery wasn't so sure if that was the case for Marigold.

"If we didn't have the best of intents, do you think we'd have risked our lives dragging you all across the underworld? Without us, you'd have been dead five times over today," Valery said calmly. "We've dedicated our lives to stopping people like the ones you were trying to kill, and we've both managed to apprehend or take down a lot of them. But it's the methods that matter, both to prevent us from turning into the monsters we're trying to fight, and to be efficient."

Glancing over at Kahlil as they approached the Temple, she offered a weak smile.

<She's stubborn but I think she's mostly just scared. Or... I don't know. I think we can mean something for her.>

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Mm."

She wasn't ready to hear it. Kahlil hadn't been either when he was told he could be something more. Almost killed the woman who eventually got him off world and out from under his father's thumb.

<I tried to kill the one who helped me see what I did wrong and how I could be better. So, we're doing better so far.>

Marigold | Valery Noble

 

[Marigold]

"One of those five times was me checking upon your clumsy ass barrelling straight down the windows and getting shot for it." She scoffed, retaliating with harsh words. "I should have just ran." Marigold mumbled, crossing her hands. To be quite frank, it's what Valery told her to do, to run. But the girl herself couldn't believe that a person could survive that fall unprepared, ultimately she still had a very grounded perception.

And besides, why would she try to help her captors anyway? She had to hesitate for a second, but, why would she be hesitating? Not exactly wanting to loom on these thoughts, the girl continued. "Besides, it's not about you helping me live through this, you have plans for me. Slavers too, want healthier slaves to get the best use out of them." A rather stern comparison, perhaps Marigold didn't view them as slavers, not traditional ones at the very least, but the situation she ended up in did bring up a sense of deja vu, although this time would be a cage of her own doing, rather than simple chance. "Would you call that having best of intents? Sure, I guess the right word is.. uhh.." Again, she wasn't the best at arguing, most of her defense mechanism was saying stern things to others. "Ulterior motives?" She spoke out, slowly. As if herself pondering on the meaning of the word.

"...Feels like we've been flying an eternity, when are we getting to the temple?" She'd speak after a moment of silence, much like an impatient child, well, one with a scorching burn that pained her quite a lot, though, it appeared that talking or being distracted by talking did ease the pain, must be a reason why she never seems to just... Stop talking.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

<I hope none of our kids end up this annoying,> Valery grumbled telepathically to her husband. She decided to not really get into it with Marigold anymore - it just led to frustration and she needed the woman to not do or say anything stupid. She was going to be dealt with at the Temple, then by the right authorities.

For now, Valery just pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Hopefully, there would be a way to help Marigold change her approach, either now or in the future. Though...she did wonder how the Alliance was going to respond to all of this. News about what happened in the underworld today would surely spread, so keeping Marigold away from local authorities forever wouldn't work.

They had limited time before people would start asking questions.

"There it is," Valery said when the large Temple finally appeared in front of them. "Can you bring us in, love?"

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Just looking for a chance for you to be free, rather than rot in a cell because of what you've done. You seem to be misunderstanding something about that."

Kahlil glanced to marigold as the speeder came to a stop, his expression hardened this time.

"You're no better than the slavers ripping people from their homes. There will be penance for what you've done. I just want to offer you the chance I was given to be something more than what they've made you."

He got up then, hopping from the speeder to wave over one of the coming medics.

"First, though, you need to be healed up."

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold simply sat there as Valery respodned with silence, oddly enough. It is that specific response, or lack of thereof. Which would upset girl the most, lack of answer. Just simple, judging stare, and a sigh of frustration, disappointment.

It hurt deeper than words woven together, or at least so she thought until Kahlil spoke up to her.

Her expression gloomed as Kahlil continued to talk, hand clutching into a fist, her face increasingly agitated. "You..." She was ready to go on another rant, or at least that's what anyone would think of, her pattern of actions and words was highly predictable for better or worse, and yet.

Nothing, silence.. All that rage building up switched up to quiet mulling over his words, and slowly, anger was replaced by shame, emptiness. Her fist opened back up into a palm, her hands stopped shaking, perhaps for the first time in a long while, she simply... Would let go, with a dry tone she conceded. "Yeah." She'd look at the medics being called up. "Sure."

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble