Private I'm Pretty Sure You're the Hunter

[Saff]

It was a rare comfort she found when she got a moment to sit in a comfortable diner at the ground level of Coruscant. The ecumenopolis might have spooked many an outsider away, but despite being from the outer reaches of space, Saffron had little but love for the bustling cityscape. However, even with her love for the bustling crowds above, she found it far, far more comfortable to be in a secluded corner of a sprawling set of alleyways in the lower sectors of the city, where the skyscrapers were little more than walls and the people just wanted to have a calm night. Maybe it was that sense of calm she sought, where the people weren't likely to be out to kill her, because she damn well knew someone would always want her head, but who would come out here for her?

Her old master was a hermit hiding in the deepest recesses of uncivilized space, and for all she knew, he didn't even know she was still breathing.

"Want another?" Darrick asked, the Zabrack's deep green skin painting a firm silhouette against the red and grey walls of the diner. He gave the bottle she'd finished a rattle, and when nothing in gave a responding splash, she shrugged.

"Can't hurt, it's my day off." Her wry smile sent the barkeep back to his counter where a sleeping Twi'lek sat in a puddle of spilled alcohol and saliva. He was out as soon as he'd arrived, providing ample reason for her to smile. He seemed to have a good time, so why shouldn't she? A moment after she'd pondered the unconscious drunk, Darrick wandered back, a new nondescript bottle in hand, which she traded for a handful of credits, more than the bottle was worth, but Darrick was usually good at asking no questions and telling no one about her. Usually.

The owner of the diner, she assumed Darrick of Darrick's Den, just didn't want trouble in his place, but Saffron wagered the spindly Zabrak just wanted to avoid people coming to claim revenge. A good way to keep the gangs of the lower levels out of your hair, or horns in his case. THough the redheaded force-wielder needed to worry little over the barkeep, he could see the sabers on her hips, and the blaster on the table, she imagined he would keep her comfortable night intact for his own safety's sake.

Ren Bishto

 

[Ren Bishto]

What was slowly becoming a common thread between every bounty she’d cashed in on as of recently was the simple convenience of it. This time around, she didn’t stray more than a couple levels to find exactly who she was looking for. Cozied up in the far corner of a bar, brandishing a bottle of liquid sympathy. It was almost too easy. A fact she acknowledged for the span of a fleeting moment before stepping into the bar herself, Saff well into her second bottle.

First, her eyes tracked the barkeep with a prodding glance. Getting him to chant his head to the side in confirmation, and with one discreet glance, led her attention to the red-head stationed at the bar. She was here alright, armed maybe, but likely too drunk to keep a steady hand. That’s what the kid was counting on at least.

Hand brushing against her holstered gun she summoned all the nonchalance she had in her. Finding a seat at the bar with a look of feigned disinterest she blinked up at the barkeep, hands causally locked beneath her chin to dissuade the notion she was armed. “Wanna get me something non-alcoholic?”

Saff
​

 

[Saff]

Saffron was partway relieved to see the kid wasn't after alcohol. Too many fell to vices too early these days, it tickled at the back of her chest to see someone happily after something free of it. Offering the barkeep the same smile she had been from the start, she brandished a credit chip to him.

"Whatever is best," She said, forcing a touch of a slur to her voice, but only enough to appear tipsy. Without anything to go on from the girl to her side, she hadn't much of a reason to suspect her of something nefarious, but it wouldn't have been the first time a plucky kid had pilfered her wallet when she wasn't looking, and she had found the easiest way to get them to think she wasn't paying attention, was to seem drunk, or partway there.

The barkeep had done as he was paid to, and a colourful bottle of some nondescript juice was plucked out and put on the counter, a glass coming out to go along with it.

"Kids in bars... Coruscant will never make much sense to me," She said with a soft chuckle.

 

[Ren Bishto]

Slightly taken aback by the display of generosity the girl couldn’t help but blink in surprise. Watching as the barkeep whipped up some juice, sliding it over to the girl with an experienced hand. Gradually giving into a look of casual satisfaction, she turned to the woman brandishing a fake look of gratitude. No way in hell was she going to drink this.

It almost had her wondering if the woman had read her on the spot, or if the barkeep had dropped a hint along the way. Either way she couldn’t help but be skeptical. Something she kept well-hidden from her body language.

She quirked an eyebrow for good measure. Although in truth, Saff’s comment got a genuine laugh out of her.

“You must not be a native then.” With something of a grin, she shrugged it off. “This- in comparison to literally anything else down here- is tame.” Gesturing to herself and the bar loosely as if to emphasize her point, she folded her arms over the countertop casually. “Where’d you stumble in from?”

Saff
​

 

[Saff]

Saffron gave a small grin back, her attention level with the bar and the girl, splitting between both as she pondered her new companion. Something was far from... normal about her. Or rather far from common about the situation. She was small compared to Saff... well everyone was compared to her, but the girl had a fragility about her.

"I'm not particularly from anywhere," she mused, "off-world mainly, outerrim was where i was born, if that helps your confusion." She was hardly concerned with the problems the girl's approach brought up, and it likely showed on her face as her smile remained placid and friendly, though uncommitted.

 

[Ren Bishto]

Saffron was just great at testing her patience, equally detached and present in whatever small talk they conjured up, “A vagrant huh?” The girl raised both eyebrows in unison, “What brings you to Coruscant then? Personally I think-”

Aiming to catch the woman in a moment of deliberation her hand dropped to the blaster snug at her hip, returning with a comfortable grip before the movement could be processed. In one fluid motion, the blaster was pinned on Saff and the girl was out of her seat, tone dry.

“-you look a little lost.”

Saff
​

 

[Saff]

Saffron was about to give her long and beautifully poetic reason for coming to the core worlds to have a moment to relax and information hunt. At least she wanted to before the girl snatched a blaster out and levelled it.

"You been hired to bring me in alive, or dead?" Came her immediate response, her one good eye turning to the barkeep who immediately shrank away to the back room. Knew you were too polite to keep me covered forever. A hundred ways to counteract the girl were swimming through her mind now, however she held her composure, she wouldn't take an arm from someone just trying to get her first big bounty. It was a big step for every hunter.

 

[Ren Bishto]

"That depends-" The girl bit back, shrugging the question off entirely. She'd initially hoped for Saffron to panic, a response any decent bounty hunter was looking to elicit. But the woman kept frustratingly leveled, almost as if she was humoring her.

"-whether you plan to cooperate or not- I'll still get paid to drag in a corpse." Bluff, it was pure bluff off the pitch. Ren's moral compass, however misguided, was still relatively intact. She'd never killed, only having the backbone to make vague threats somewhere in the same vein. Regardless, she remained steadfast in her position. Expression hardening under Saff's superficial stare.

Saff
​

 

[Saff]

"A shame," Saffron mused, glass rising to her lips once again, but as soon as it lifted, she dropped it, hand splaying out as she threw a wall of force at the girl's blaster, sending it enough off course that she could weave back to avoid it, drop from her seat and snatch her own energy pistol from her hip, pointing it level at the girl's chest as she recovered. A lot of movements just to match the girl's weapon pointed back.

"Now I do not know who hired you, but I'll give you this once chance to go home," she said, her free hand already outstretched, ready to summon her lightsaber to it, "Or we can let it go in whatever way you hope it will"

 

[Ren Bishto]

The blaster tore from her hand with surprising ease as a new-found sense of dread settled in her stomach. She was dealing with a force-wielder now. Dammit.

Steeling herself, the girl didn’t shrink under Saff’s threat. Anger bubbling up to replace any leaks of immediate anxiety. “Yeah-” Hyper-aware of the cool metallic sting biting into her chest, she kept her eyes on the woman, trying her absolute best to appear unfazed.

“That works for me-” Without warning she dropped to the ground, sweeping a leg under the woman in an attempt to reel her back. In the next breath, she ducked under the gun’s line of fire, hands grappling with the stock with the intent of booting it out of Saff’s reach.

Saff
​

 

[Saff]

What was once a welcoming, if not tired look now turned to a vicious glee. Oh it was delightful when they decided to fight. This one was nothing more than a child and she still had that fire to her, perhaps a flame of ignorance, perhaps one of foolishness. it didn't matter much to her, because whatever it was - it was joyous to her. She didn't release her blaster, but instead, she let the girl swing in close, stepping back to avoid her leg sweep. She held the blaster high, waiting for what her first move would be. When she felt the girl's grip on the stock, she smiled wildly. She would find no give there. The six-five behemoth of a woman gave no ground, gripping tight around its handle.

Perking a brow, she eyed the assailant.

"You don't wish for me to use this?" she pondered aloud, "fine." She released the grip on her weapon, letting the girl stumble with it as she then held a hand to her side, and one of her twin sabers snapped into her grip, igniting in a brilliant lavender tone. Emanating a vicious presence.

"I much prefer this."

 

[Ren Bishto]

Her flame of ignorance only intensified.

While she did in fact manage to secure the blaster, with Saff’s lenient permission, the victory was remarkably short-lived. Taking a cautious step back, the saber ignited, sucking the air from the room in one fluid motion. Close enough to feel the low hum of heat on her skin, she grit her teeth, a witty comeback lost on her as she fought to settle on an exit-strategy.

“Of course you had a karking lightsaber.” With pure exasperation in her voice, well aware her mobility was limited, the girl staggered back before cussing internally about what she found herself preparing to do. Summoning crude tendrils of the force, she attempted to yank the hilt from the woman’s hand, without having to dance too closely herself. Knowing Saff would immediately sense the disturbance, she hoped the act itself had enough shock-value to let it slip regardless.

Saff
​

 

[Saff]

Sometimes it was a tug, sometimes it was a push, but for others, it was a cascade. The understanding she felt in that moment was poignant, it was brilliant and it was exceptionally clear. The girl didn't know what she had gotten herself into, and the smile on the much larger woman's face only grew thinner and more devious. When the nudge of the force wrapped around her saber, she smiled wide and let go, letting the blade's ignition run out and its glowing edge dissipate as it shot to the girl.

She would have herself some fun.

"Oh my, we have us a fledgling," she whispered with a wicked grin, her second saber nestled neatly behind her back as she faced her opponent front on. She however waited to see just what the girl would do with her freshly nabbed tool.

 

[Ren Bishto]

​

Coruscant,
Lower Levels

Catching the hilt, she briefly considered hurling it back at her full force. The woman’s intention was perfectly transparent, trying to goad Ren into a fight she was woefully ill-equipped for. Straightening, the girl stared down the Jedi, frustration eating away at her.

“Will you shut up for once?” Non-rehtroical, the mercenary ignited the saber but didn’t advance. Instead her eyes darted towards the stacked cabinet of alcohol stationed besides them. In one surprisingly coordinated slash, she cleaved the shelves in two, sending a cascade of steel mixed with broken glass, and booze pooling in Saff’s direction.

Saff

 

[Saff]

She thinks fast... if not all the way through, Saffron mused, her free hand rising to the spray and opening against it, pressing a barrier of kinetic energy against it, using the force to freeze the wall's contents against the wall. SHe turned her eye back to the girl, "weren't quite expecting this?" She mused before she turned her hand about, from the wall, to the girl and then with a forceful turn, she sent the contents she had held in suspension, on the girl.