Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

[KitKat]

She watched as he backed away even looking at the blaster. That told her more than his answer could have. She nodded to him, and spun her finger in a circle, motioning for him to turn around. Once he had she pulled her clothes off and started putting on some of the ones she had brought in with her. When she walked around him, towards where the water bottles had been placed in the kitchen she was wearing tight black pants, a tight white tank top and black leather boots. She opened a bottle of water and handed it to him.

"I brought you a change of clothes since I'm not sure how long we are going to be hiding." She picked up the blaster and held it out to him, the handle towards him. "You are going to need this, just in case. It's going to be dangerous." She sat it on the counter, not wanting to force him to take the weapon before he was ready.

"Tracking the children might take some time. I think we should start at.." She paused, and a second latter a ringing caught their attention. It was the pager that Josef used for work, which usually only received emergency calls. It would have been deactivated by now surely?

Katarine motioned for him to answer it. The moment he did a rough voice spoke. "Put the girl on." Katarine smirked, her deep green eyes glancing at the pager.

"Aren't you supposed to wait three days to call a girl after you knock her off her feet?"

"I thought we could have a little chat."

"Really? Well I'm a little busy at the moment. Some bantha behind is trying to frame me for kidnapping. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

"I may have heard something about that. You and that medic are all over the news. But I didn't call to talk about your fifteen minutes of fame. I'm calling for a friend I would like you to meet."

Katarine snorted. "Not interested. But if you have any friends around that are under eighteen I'd be happy to take them off your hands."

The voice chuckled. "This friend is a lot older than eighteen but I have a feeling you will like him. Strong jaw, shaggy blond hair, beautiful baby blues. He's just as pretty as his picture."

Katarine felt the air stop in her windpipe. Her eyes narrowed at the pager but when she tried to speak her voice wouldn't come.

The voice chuckled again. "There is an old abandoned dock on the northern sea. A freight company warehouse sits just west of it. I am certain your medic friend will know the place. You have one hour."

The pager crackled and then went dead. Katarine blinked and finally felt air return to her lungs. Her eyes trailed to Josef, her mind wandering. This was even more dangerous because it was obviously a trap. She didn't want to risk his life and yet there was no way to do this alone. She took a deep breath.

"If the children are at the warehouse you will have to get them out. The man he's holding hostage will need to get out too. Search for the children while I distract the darksider. Under NO circumstances are you to engage him. Leave him to me. I will stall him as long as I can. If things should go south leave without me. Do you know the place he's talking about?"

[member="Josef Ibn Abad"]

((will edit if you want))

 

[Josef Ibn Abad]

Josef didn't watch Katarine get dressed. Like a total gentleman the man kept his gaze forward and those almond eyes of his never wavered from their spot. When the woman walked around to the front of Josef, he momentarily grew uneasy at the rather tight clothing she wore. Not to say she wasn't beautiful, Katarine was, but Josef was naturally uneasy around women. Given one this close to him and in such form fitting ware made that uneasiness skyrocket. The sky tanned man of Dantooine cleared his throat nervously, grabbed the clothing she offered him and averted his gaze.

When she handed him the blaster, Josef placed it in the small of his back and untucked his shirt to cover the weapon. The one thing he didn't need was for someone to see someone like him walking around with a firearm. No more than a few moments had passed before Josefs work communicator went off. Startled he glanced at Katarine whom motioned for him to answer it. The conversation was only two way, with Josef being there only to hold the comm on speaker for his female counterpart.

They spoke of the children, with some rather pointed back and forth, but when the conversation turned to an adult male apparently in the callers possession Josef could see Katarine grow visibly upset. He knew a knot in someones throat when he saw it. She knew whom this caller was talking about? Her husband? Significant other? Brother? Friend? Now they just weren't looking for children.

Katarine spoke before Josef could inquire, "If the children are at the warehouse you will have to get them out.The man he's holding hostage will need to get out too. Search for the children while I distract the darksider. Under NO circumstances are you to engage him.Leave him to me.I will stall him as long as I can. If things should go south leave without me.Do you know the place he's talking about?"


Josef nodded, "I do."

.::.Forty Minutes Later.::.​

​

Another stolen speeder and overly cautious driving brought Josef and Katarine to the docks. Josef had been here more times than he could count. Always due to an emergency response and almost always because someone got careless with a freight container and either broke a limb or got knocked in the head when a crane was moving one. Even as he pulled the speeder behind a collection multiple colored shipping containers, Ibn-Abad let out a sigh.

He glanced out towards the bay. There was the old abandoned dock. About a hundred yards from them was a shipping warehouse. There were a couple of other odd buildings here and there; those being used mostly by foreman. Slowly Josef climbed out of the speeder and glanced at Katarine, "You don't think the kids are with him do you? What about this other hostage he apparently has?" Josef asked referring to the blond man, "You know him don't you?"

"It's going to take me some time to search through all of these containers and the other buildings. I know you said you stall him but do you think you can stall him that long?" Josef asked while glancing around and realizing just how large the area was.

[member="Katarine Ryiah"]​

 

[KitKat]

Katarine bit her lip and looked around at the size of the storage facility. Josef had a point, and the children had to come first. Also what if Josef ran into guards or something? Katarine didn't want anybody else to get hurt.

"Let's both search for the children. If we find them you can get them out of here and I'll deal with the darksider and try to free his hostage. Search with your senses. You will feel the children long before you see them." His mother had said he was Force sensitive, but Katarine wasn't sure how strong or developed those senses were.

"Come on."

The maneuvered through the giant units while Katarine attempted to feel any lifeforms in the area. When they came upon a guard she snuck up behind him and pressed a hand over his mouth until he passed out.

"We must be getting close. Guards have to guard something."

[member="Josef Ibn Abad"]

 

[Josef Ibn Abad]

“You cannot be foolish!” Mariyah yelled at Josef.

“They were hurt!” Josef protested.

“That does not matter. Your safety and the safety of this family must always comes before anyone else.”

“That’s preposterous!”

“Josef, your abilities grow stronger with each passing year. At the age of two you showed some telekinetic prowess. By age four you could get a general sense for what others were feeling. Now you are able to use those abilities to help people as a Paramedic but you must be careful.”

“I just had this strange hunch in the back of my mind, as though I could feel their fading heart beats. I couldn’t just ignore it.”
“But what you did was something Dantooine Emergency Rescue Dogs failed in. Now people wonder how a Paramedic found that family in the collapsed building. Please Josef, refrain from using your empathic abilities. Just do your job. We must remain hidden before those who found our family before return and claim you as they did our Ancestor.” Mariyah gently placed a hand against Josef’s cheek. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

What Katarine was asking Josef to do now was not something he had complete control over. Only in chaotic situations, where emotions were high did Josef ever feel another person. He didn’t necessarily feel their vitals. He felt their fear. The shifts in their heart beats or a sense of dread that raised alarm bells in his mind. Katarine was also asking Josef to break a promise he made to his own mother. That was a grave sin among his people and the memory he recalled just seconds ago helped to reinforce that.

But wouldn’t not helping these children be an even greater one?

"Come on."

Josef followed Katarines like a shadow followed a jogger on a sunny summers day. Where she turned, he turned. When she knelt, he knelt. She was swift and agile. Josef was bulky and slow. It was when she noticed a guard that Josef saw just what this little fox could do. She snuck up behind the larger man, placed a hand over his mouth and held him in place. It took seconds, not minutes, for the man to fall to the much larger woman. Gently Katarine laid hi on the ground.

"We must be getting close. Guards have to guard something."

As they began to scurry about like mice in a maze, Josef began feeling the small pricks in the back of his mind. Multiple small vibrations that seemed to pound in his head. The man placed a hand against the nearest object and slowly lowered himself to a knee, “Wait.”

The beatings had a rhythm to them, fast but patterned. Fear. Not just one. He deciphered six, perhaps seven, nearby. Glancing around, Ibn-Abad pointed towards the nearest building. “Ground level.” His mind wanded, “Not close to any walls.” The beating was distant. “I assume center of the room.”
He and Katarine slipped inside, quite and unheard. Kneeling behind several boxes, Josef’s almond occulars fell a group of children whom all sat on the floor. Hands bound in front of them. Several guards circling them. Each holding a weapon of their own.

If Katarine was the fighter and trained force user then she would have to be the primary person to deal with these attackers. Josef would help to get her an opening for a surprise assault. Quietly moving away from Katarine, Josef moved several meters along the wall. He shoved one box over, then another, which drew every armed mans gaze in his direction.

"Whoever you are, you're a dead man!" One of the men yelled.

Josefs nerves shot up. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea. He couldn't fight though. He would have been a liability. Perhaps Katarine could use some of that kung-fu like stealth she displayed and take these guys down. Josef just needed to keep them occupied so she had a chance.
"How about you let those children go and we can all leave here without getting hurt?" Josef shouted back.

"Fat chance." The same man responded.

Josef let out a sigh, "I thought so." He came to a stand and revealed his body towards the gunmen. His only prayer was that this was the distraction Katarine needed to strike.

[member="Katarine Ryiah"]​

 

[KitKat]

There were four guards in the area, or at least four visible at the moment. The one raised his blaster and pointed it at Josef, and was taken by surprise when a black boot kicked it out of his hand. A second latter the guard was on the ground, as Katarine swept his legs out from under him.

"Start untying the children." She had already turned to pull the blaster out of the hand of the next guard and knock him in the face with her elbow. Unfortunately the other had gained his feet and grabbed her around the waist. Katarine spun, just as a blaster bolt came her way. It his the guard in the back and he collapsed on the floor as Katarine rolled behind the boxes. The two remaining guards were firing at her, sending pieces of the wooden crates flying as the blaster bolts dug through them.

She crawled around two of the crates, keeping the line of fire directed away from the children, who were watching with panic stricken looks. A second latter she howled in pain and slumped on her side. The blaster shots stopped as the one guard walked slowly around the crate to investigate. He nudged her with his foot, and let out a yell of surprise when she grabbed his foot and twisted. His ankle bones snapped and he fell over as she grabbed his blaster and shot his companion.

She turned towards the children and Josef and walked over to start untying the kids that were left. "Someone will have heard that. We need to move. Now."

It had already occurred to her that four obviously unskilled guards were not the likely choices to guard a collection of captive children. Something was up and she would rather not stick around to find out what.

[member="Josef Ibn Abad"]

 

[Josef Ibn Abad]

Katarine was absolutely amazing with how fast she was. Putting aside the martial skills she possessed, the woman moved like a leaf on the wind. She danced and bounced, weaving into, beside, and behind the guards with ease. Josef lowered his arms as his jaw dropped. "Start untying the children."

Josef did as commanded. He rushed towards the children, avoiding wild kicks and punches from the guards as they desperately tried to get some sort of handle on Katarine. He slid behind the first child. His hands undoing the knots with ease. The second was the same. Josef's attention turned towards the fourth and final guard as he fell from a blaster shot.

War was hell. That's what Josef thought. He buried what he just saw. Deep inside. Instead he went back to helping with the children. Katarine soon assisted and in seconds the small group was ready to run.

"Someone will have heard that. We need to move. Now."

Just as the group began to run towards the exit, Josef let out a gasp. Before his voice was silenced, Ibn-Abad let out a cry, "Kat!" His hands grabbed at his throat. The airway slowing collapsing inward. The gasps vanished. The panic set in. Josef couldn't breath, nor could he talk. Then the Paramedic was slowly lifted into the air. His body was stilled as he felt a crushing force wrap his body. His arms pinned to his sides, his legs pressed together. Slowly the Paramedic was spun around to face the opposite direction.

"Well... well... well..." A voice said, "Look what I just caught!"

Before Josefs eyes began rolling into the back of his head from the sudden loss of air as he slowly suffocated, he spotted the silhouette of a man approaching the group. With a wave of his hand Josef was flung into a nearby set of boxes, his near unconscious frame crushing through anything it encountered and sliding into a wall. He let out violent coughs, his throat screaming in agony with each violent inhalation of much needed air.

The attacker then calmly placed his hands in front of him. His gaze locked on Katarine. "Now the fun can begin. Always the hero, aren't you?"

[member="Katarine Ryiah"]​

 

[KitKat]

Katarine spun around to see the blonde detective from before. He tossed Josef to the side. Katarine flinched and reached with the Force, assuring herself that Josef was still alive.

She smiled at the darksider. "The fun can't really begin with so many curious eyes. Why don't you let my friend take the children in the other room so mommy and daddy can play together?"

Several of the kids had already ran over to where Josef was, to see if he was okay, and others were in the corner huddled down and crying.

[member="Josef Ibn Abad"]