First Reply Of Markets & Crowns

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Nar Shadda //:
//: Attire //:

Nar Shaddaa was busier than Quinn expected. She'd heard the horror stories — beggars in the streets, pedestrians robbed in broad daylight, cartels on every corner.

While the Black Sun ruled here, she had avoided most of the trouble.

Her apartment wasn't as large or refined as her place on Jutrand or the residence on Dromund Kaas, but it was comfortable enough.

Today was simple: shop, spend credits, and explore the city on her own.

She wanted to see the styles worn by the locals, so different from anything in the Empire. Part of her wondered if the difference was because of the Blackwall. The Emperor's isolationist policy cut the Empire off from much of the galaxy. Quinn had escaped some of that, but only because of her name.

She brushed the thought aside and turned down a long street. According to her device — and her questionable sense of direction — she was headed toward the central shopping district. Instead, she found peddlers and a crowded street market.

Blankets and makeshift stalls were piled with goods. Some items she didn't recognize; others she had only ever seen on the holonet, banned or unavailable in the Empire.

The smell of food carried through the air, and her stomach growled. She tapped it once, as if to quiet it, and stopped at a jewelry table. The display included pieces made from Eshan silver — rare for anyone outside her homeworld to acquire.

She examined the selection, but her attention was split. She was searching for something specific.

Whether it was here or not didn't matter.

She needed to find it.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Nar Shaddaa

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27

Nar Shaddaa. Acier hated this place. The neon lights didn't hide the rot, they just painted it in brighter colors. Every step through the market felt like wading through noise, heat, and too many people crammed into too little space. He only came here when he had to, and today was one of those days.

Hidden Path business. Quick in, quick out. That was the plan at least. He cut through the crowd, head down, eyes doing all the work. The streets stank of spice smoke and fryer grease, the kind of smell that clung to your clothes long after you left. His route should've taken him straight to the contact, but a bottleneck at the next intersection slowed everything to a crawl.

He felt a ripple in the Force. Distinct. Poised. Not the kind of presence you stumbled over in a place like this. That's when he saw her, stood by a jewelry stall. Platinum-blonde, porcelain-skinned, green-hazel eyes, scanning as though the market was a chessboard. That kind of presence, they always stuck out. The refined demeanor, the calculated gaze.

Ace eased to a stop at the next table over, letting the crowd carry him just out of her periphery. From here, he could watch without looking like he was watching. He told himself it was just situational awareness - but on Nar Shaddaa, that usually meant trouble. And for some strange reason, there was something off about her in the Force.

Quinn Varanin​

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Acier Moonbound //:
//: Attire //:

Quinn didn't need to see him; she felt him.

The moment she felt him draw closer, her presence began to shrink smaller than it already was. Whoever this person was, they were good. They had tracked her through the waves of people, some who couldn't control their presence like the pair. A small smile curled her lips as she examined the different silver rings.

"Real Eshan Silver?" She asked gracefully, her voice was evident of her station. It was something she couldn't entirely hide despite trying.

"Yeah, legally obtained." The Rodian seemed very adamant about letting her know that it was not stolen or pirated. Being Echani herself and knowing how the metal was forged, the Princess could tell the metal was fake.

"It's beautiful," she said, though her smile masked the insult. She would have liked to drag the Rodian over the counter for calling such scrap Eshan silver, but she let it pass — for now. Her smile hid the fury as she thanked him for his time.

Looking over her shoulder, she looked to the one who had found her. She raised an eyebrow as if to tell him I see you. Like her, he stood out despite trying his hardest to blend in. They were both outsiders to this world.

Her head turned as her footsteps began to carry her through the crowd. Her presence continued to grow even smaller as she channeled the Force through her to hide.

She did leave enough of a trail for him to follow. Quinn wanted to understand what he wanted and why he had decided to look for her.

The bounty remained in the back of her mind, but she was on a mission.

Quinn walked carefully, weaving through the crowd with a grace only a master of the Force and an Echani could have. Every so often, she looked over her shoulder, making eye contact with the boy to make sure he was still following.

Suddenly, she stopped, taking a slight turn down another alleyway of shops.

If his mind allowed it, a gentle caress like a breeze of rose and honey brushed against his psyche.

'Who are you?'​

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Nar Shaddaa

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27

He felt something, a subtle shift in the Force, in her. It was like a candle's flame dimming in a closed room. One second her presence was there, distinct in the background noise of the city; the next, it was faint, almost gone.

Ace couldn't explain this phenomenon, not in a satisfying way at least. He'd had some training, enough to know when the Force was in motion around him, but this? This was precise and intentional. Something so advanced it was alien to him. There was, however, one thing he understood above all else. She was drawing him in.

Keeping up with her though? Despite everything? This was the kind of thing he was good at. Growing up on Bonadan taught you how to track someone through a crowd without being seen yourself, how to keep a set of eyes on a target while making it look like you were just another face in the street. It had kept him alive more than once, and old habits stuck. While she knew he was following, he wasn't going to lose her.

Even through the crush of bodies, she moved clean, unhurried. Every step and turn wove her through the crowd like she'd been mapping this path in her head for hours. She glanced back just once, catching his eyes long enough to make sure he saw the invitation... or the challenge. Maybe both.

Then there was a brush at the edge of his thoughts, soft and strange, carrying the faint scent of roses and honey. The words slipped into his mind as if they'd always been there:

'Who are you?'

This wasn't the first time he'd felt another's touch in his mind. Thankfully so. Although, he wasn't sure if she'd be able to hear his thoughts but he attempted to communicate mentally in return.

No one important, he answered. Then it clicked, how he recognized her.

But you are, aren't you? Quinn.

There was a warrant out for her, for crimes against the High Republic. Echani, Force-sensitive and highly trained. She was pretty attractive too, one of the few women he actually took notice of in that way. But she was... undoubtedly dangerous. And a little too regal for his blood.

Despite it all, Ace knew all about false accusations and such. He wasn't one to blindly take the word of a bounty as law, it'd be smart to gauge the kind of person she was. If the warrant had any merit.

It really true? You do all those things? he thought, hoping Quinn was still inside his head to pick up on them. Otherwise, embarrassingly, he was just talking to himself.

Quinn Varanin ​