Private Of Beginnings & Escapes

[Rorie]

//: Arra Thatch //:
//: Abregado - Rae //:
//: Attire //:

​

"Where is it…?"

Residue of snow and soot flew in the air behind the redhead. Her hands quickly cupped the snow and dirt, flinging it to the sides as she crouched down. Something was there; she could smell it, hear it, but not see it. It hummed with the Force, nearly shouting at her to rescue it from the cold.

Rorie already knew it was something valuable; the complex song it sang in the back of her head was enough to make her want it. Whatever type of device it was, or what power cell it harbored, she needed it to the point of obsession.

She continued to dig, shifting from where she was crouching now onto her hands and knees. It felt faster this way; she could hear the song louder now, the voice hitting a crescendo. She smiled wider and wider, her hands moving faster and faster…

Until.

"What the fuck?"

Rorie fell back on her butt as she saw the thing she was searching for was just a busted communication device. It seemed to belong to someone from the Covenant; she could recognize some of the insignia, and now that it was a bit closer, the frequency as well.

This was a terrible situation; she had hoped it was some really big tech, something that she could bring to the Boss, something that would get her some more credits and maybe some ground under her feet in the Syndicate. Rumors said the Boss was part of the Triumvirate, which meant they could change people's lives.

They had already done so for her, but still she wanted more. A hand pawed at the collar around her neck; it hummed with a gentle energy she had grown accustomed to. If only she had more.

Rorie lay back into the dirty snow and stared up at the sky as dark clouds continued to churn with the residual power of the Dark side. She could feel it, but never truly understood or touched it. Another groan of disappointment escaped her as she closed her eyes and just listened to the world around her.

Her pointed ears twitched, shifting to get a slightly better angle. Part of her wished they were located differently; she'd be able to pinpoint locations a lot better — but maybe her DNA was as faulty as the Doc had mentioned.

Her nose wrinkled as she whined. Today was not her day.

 

[Arra Thatch]

​

She hated it here.

Arra hugged her arms around her chest tighter as she walked from the spaceport to the diner. Her home had been turned to hell in a matter of hours, her sister was gone, and on top of that, it was cold now. The manager at the spaceport kept shorting her, the skies were constantly cloudy, and godsdammit, the snow kept getting into her boots. Arra stopped for a moment and let out a long sigh, rubbing her head. It ached all the time now.

Well, she was making progress towards getting enough creds for a ticket off this hellhole. So there was good news, at least.

Someone was laying in the snow ahead, very still. Arra stopped, still remembering the corpses that littered the streets on the run to the spaceport. Still, whatever the Sith had done around the spaceport kept the little monsters out along with the strange fleshy growths. She approached slowly, only relaxing a little when she saw steam rising from their face. The redhead was still alive at least.

Arra shivered, wondering how anyone could just lay in the snow.

"You okay?" she asked.

Tags:
Rorie​

 

[Rorie]

//: Arra Thatch //:
//: Attire //:

​

Rorie heard her footsteps; they were tired and dragged more than she meant to. Part of the pup wondered if it was one of those creatures the Covenant had scattered across the planet. Thankfully, she wasn't there for that and only had the horror stories from some of the poor souls that had to run supplies. Rorie didn't try to ask why she wasn't picked, just that maybe someone liked her enough not to make her do something so horrible.

The footsteps continued to come closer; she was prepared to play dead. It was easier than trying to fight it or, at this moment, move. She was overheating; digging as much as she did took a lot out of her, and the cool snow… despite probably being more mud now, just felt better.

Rorie raised an eyebrow as the footsteps stopped. Instead of the sudden attack that she imagined would happen, a voice asked her a very simple question.

"You're alive?" Rorie answered, more surprised than anything, as she lazily opened her eyes and let her gaze settle and focus. She sat up and shook off the snow; first her body, then her hands, as she dusted off what remained.

"Sorry."

She stared.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Her head tilted, confused about the matter, but she realized it probably wasn't the best thing to push. It wasn't often someone asked how she was feeling or her state of being — there were other ways to see that, to test it. Old habits were hard to break, and Rorie reminded herself that people couldn't just see that.

A little sheepish grin, and the Lupo shrugged.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" She noticed the body language, the scent of uncertainty, and Rorie instinctively felt her ears flatten slightly more in concern.

"Are you cold?"

 

[Arra Thatch]

​

The return question took her aback. Arra tilted her head, but considering recent events, she supposed that was a fair question. She stayed quiet as it didn't seem an answer was needed or expected, while the girl sat up and shook snow and slush off her jacket. The ears caught a fair amount of attention. Arra hadn't yet seen a species that had those kinds of features without a lot of fur but she also hadn't been off of Abregado-Rae yet either.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"I— Well— You were just..." Arra pointed at the ground where the girl had just been laying. "Sorry, you were just... lying very still. In the snow. I thought—"

She held her arms tighter around herself and not from the cold this time. Too many corpses. Too many screams. Arra blinked hard against them, as if she could will them away.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" She noticed the body language, the scent of uncertainty, and Rorie instinctively felt her ears flatten slightly more in concern.

"Are you cold?"

Well that was a bit reassuring, although the girl talking and moving had actually answered her question more than anything else. Arra brushed the concern off. Concern from strangers was usually a fifty-fifty chance: either they actually cared or they were looking to exploit the opening.

"I'm fine," she said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. "There's a diner not far from here. I'll be fine."

We're gonna be fine. It'll be fine. We'll be fine. Arra's jaw tightened as her own words played back in her ears. She could still remember the look Suri gave her when she handed over the only ticket chip.

"Sorry to bother you." That came out harsher than intended, but she needed to keep moving. She had to keep doing something or she was going to break down.

Tags:
Rorie​

 

[Rorie]

//: Arra Thatch //:
//: Attire //:

​

Rorie thought about what the girl had to say. She was lying pretty still now that she thought about it. But that's what she was taught to do… if she lay still, then attackers or people would overlook her. Rorie understood basic survival skills; they'd drilled them pretty heavily into her head, for the most part. If someone came up to try and steal from your corpse, you attacked.

Perfectly tactile.

Though, from what she could gather… this girl didn't seem like the type to find this a funny joke. The air that lingered around her felt gloomy… and heavy. Rorie had only smelled this a few times before. She briefly remembered a boy who had been her friend. He was her 'male counterpart' from what the doctors had said. They got along fine, but he didn't seem to grow or adapt as well as Rorie had.

She remembered the smell around him, then watched him get taken away to the room. The one that none of them were allowed into. Before everything, Rorie remembered feeling jealous… that was the emotion that the doctor had told her she was feeling. She wanted to go to the room too; she wanted to go with him.

He was supposed to be her other half.

She blinked quickly and shook her head. Memories like that only made her upset.

"You're not bothering me!" Rorie called out as the girl seemed to scuttle by rather quickly. She hadn't seen anyone move that fast, especially since she'd been creeping up to her moments ago. Lifting her arms up, she took a whiff of herself; maybe she smelled?

No, she smelled like she always did…

So Rorie moved to catch up to the girl. She did look cold, and Rorie was often more warm-blooded than most mammals. Humans were mammals, right… she thought quietly to herself, and after drawing upon the proper information, she was correct. A little smugness tinged her smirk as she caught up.

"Diner? I haven't seen one yet," she looked forward as she kept pace with the cold girl.

"I can go with you, so you're not alone." Her stomach growled.

"I'm also hungry… so it would be nice to find something warm to eat — it's cold out here."

She pretended to shiver so the girl wouldn't feel out of place.

"My name's Rorie — what's yours?"

 

[Arra Thatch]

​

Well, being told she wasn't bothering someone was new. Arra slowed for a step and glanced back, feeling her heart leap into her throat as the other girl ran towards her. But there wasn't anger or aggression in the redhead's face. In fact there was something a little smug about it.

"Diner? I haven't seen one yet," she looked forward as she kept pace with the cold girl.

Arra glanced sidelong at the redhead. "There used to be a few more. Before—" She waved a hand at some of the ruined buildings and shells of what used to be buildings, "—this."

Patch! Patch! She ground her teeth and blinked away the memory.

"I can go with you, so you're not alone." Her stomach growled.

"I'm also hungry… so it would be nice to find something warm to eat — it's cold out here."

She stopped at that and stared at the other girl. It was rare that a stranger offered to go with her anywhere just so she wasn't alone, and most of those times they had, there had been ulterior motives. But she saw none of the tells of someone being underhanded. Just... pure enthusiasm. Arra frowned and started walking again, heavily favoring her left ankle. The snow had made it stiff and it was still sore from the full-tilt running she had done.

"My name's Rorie — what's yours?"

"Arra," she said simply. She looked over at the redhead again, the ears, the jacket. She had shivered so maybe some snow had slipped down the back of her shirt? The cold hadn't seemed to bother her before.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

Tags:
Rorie​

 

[Rorie]

//: Arra Thatch //:
//: Attire //:

​

Rorie's eyes wandered for a moment as the girl mentioned what had happened to the planet. Again, Rorie was thankful she didn't have to experience it. Still, seeing that this person had to made her feel bad. But Rorie thought to herself it was lucky she survived—for the most part unscathed. Rorie had been slapped around enough to know that mentioning this out loud would earn her possibly a smack.

Frowning, she remembered the few weeks out of the lab; people weren't kind, but she was the only one really celebrating. To be free was something she had never thought would ever happen. Her happiness came from utter destruction.

Shaking the thought off, Rorie nodded towards the girl's ankle.

"Did you hurt yourself?" She tilted her head as they continued.

Rorie really didn't know the pathway to the diner, but it seemed far, and with an ankle like that. That meant they'd be slow. Thinking, she lifted her eyes from the girl and focused on the area ahead. Maybe because they were so close to whatever the dead were occupied with elsewhere.

With a few bits and bobs in her bag, Rorie figured she could help with the recovery, especially if it got her to dinner sooner.

"I can help with that? I'm not a healer… but I know enough fieldwork that I can at least stabilize it till we can see a doctor?" Her voice was quiet; to let others know you're hurt meant that you were a target. More information that she had been instilled with; all of it meant for survival in the field or on a mission.

She didn't fully understand either concept, but it was there.

"Or if you want to just move quicker, I can carry you?"

Another thought.

Really, she just wanted to get to this diner to eat.

Food motivation at its finest.

 

[Arra Thatch]

​

The question caught her off-guard. Arra glanced over at Rorie and then down at her bad ankle. She shrugged.

"Hurt it a while ago," she said. "I couldn't afford a doctor so it just healed... wrong, I guess."

"I can help with that? I'm not a healer… but I know enough fieldwork that I can at least stabilize it till we can see a doctor?"

Arra looked at her sharply, surprised. She could count on her hands how many times in her life someone had offered to do something and not expected anything in return. But she couldn't figure out what Rorie wanted. Arra clenched her jaw. She hoped it wasn't a free meal. She couldn't afford another mouth to feed. Especially now.

"No, no, that's fine, I'm fine," she said hurriedly. "Like I said, it happened a bit ago so it's probably stuck like this."

If she were being truthful, it had only been a few weeks, maybe a little more. Sometime after the Mandalorians arrived. The fighting pits started offering matches with blunt 'non-lethal' weapons. Fighters got more money in those matches. Some nerfherder dislocated her ankle then hit it with a blunted bisket or whatever those swords were called. Needless to say, she lost that fight.

"Or if you want to just move quicker, I can carry you?"

That earned a strangled squeak of surprise. Arra took a step away from the redhead, as if a single foot of added distance would stop Rorie from manhandling her. She didn't get the impression that Rorie would do anything bad if she picked her up, but Arra still wasn't a fan of the idea. If anyone saw, it'd immediately tell them that her size in height didn't equal strength or weight. She'd lose whatever intimidation factor the height gave her.

"Th-that's okay, I'm fine, I can walk," she said. "If you want to go on ahead, it's hard to miss. Up the street, second left. You'll smell it before you see it."

Hopefully, that'd deter anymore talk about carrying her.

Tags:
Rorie​