Public Round on the Rogue

[Kael Varnok]

The cantina thrummed with life—blaster-shot laughter, clinking mugs, and the low hum of chatter weaving together like a living symphony. Kael Varnok leaned against the bar, his twin curved-hilt lightsabers catching the dim glow from overhead lamps. His blue eyes flicked across the crowd, scanning, calculating… and enjoying the chaos.

He slammed a hand on the bar, silencing nearby chatter just enough to draw eyes. A slow, devilish grin spread across his face. "Next round's on me," he announced, voice smooth, resonant—every ear turned toward him. "Let's see if anyone here can keep up."

A whisper slithered in his mind, sharp as a vibroblade. "Pathetic. You're just a clown wearing a hero's mask. They'll see right through you."

Kael's grin didn't falter. "Let them see what they want." He lifted a tankard, tilting it toward the nearest patrons. "To strangers, trouble… and the Force having a little fun at our expense," he said, his voice carrying an edge that was equal parts charm and danger.

The cantina roared in response, some drawn to the energy, others wary of it. And in the back of Kael's mind, the split personality snickered, satisfied—or perhaps impatient for the real chaos to begin.

 

[Akela Ru]

Kael Varnok

Zak Dymo had been here once upon a time, he had walked these streets and smelled these... smells..... oh god it was disgusting like rancid meat boiled in raw sewage. She didn't.... not make a face of disgust but she was moving around the region now trying to add to the journal and also right the wrongs of the adults in the galaxy.... also it was important to liberate the children from the oppression of naptime. She moved towards one of the doorways and opening it up. Slipping inside and around the large bouncer as she looked at the different people roaming around.

She walked through the crowd going towards the counter and she was still small compared to the rest her montrals giving her more height as she jumped onto the seat and looked at the red eyed chiss behind the bar. Her head tilted up a little for a moment. "Milk..... blue." There was a raised eyebrow and snickers from someone next.... "With chocolate in it." She said it and he was looking at her while the music was loud and drowned out much but the chiss continued to look at her. "A little young to be here kid why don't you go home." She looked at him and put her hand on the counter. "In a clean glass." She said it and narrowed her eyes watching him for a moment she had stared down a miraluka and won.

She had tamed a great beast in the form of the Kiriko... she was stronk. THe chiss would not win. "Kid I am not going to ask you again.. I am just going to have my friends drag you out." There was the sound of someone toasting as the energies were around. The padawan looked at it. "My padawan sense it tingles... or maybe I need to sneeze." Her eyes narrowed as she looked around taking in all sights of it. The bouncer still trying to drag her as one of the peole bumped into her and she felt a sharp pain where her incisor bit into her lip. Akela looked at it when they were closer to the door. "No one makes me bleed my own blood."

 

[Kael Varnok]

Kael tilted his head at the sight of the tiny figure squaring off against the bouncer. The cantina was loud, rowdy, full of half-drunken cheers after his little announcement, but this scene cut straight through the noise. A child demanding blue milk in a clean glass like it was life or death? The galaxy never failed to surprise him.


He raised his drink and called out, voice carrying over the din
"Careful, big guy," Kael said to the bouncer, his grin sharp and lazy. "That one's got more fire than half the mercs in this room. I'd wager she'll take your nose before you hit the door."

The split voice in his head sneered. "Pathetic. You're protecting children in bars now? What's next, storytime before bed?"

Kael ignored it, sliding off his stool and striding toward the scene with the predator's grace that came so naturally. He stopped just short of the bouncer, eyes flicking between the Chiss bartender and the pint-sized warrior glaring daggers at him.

"Pour the kid her drink," Kael said flatly. Then, with a smirk, "Blue milk, clean glass. And if you're feeling generous, add the chocolate. On my tab."

He crouched slightly, meeting the padawan's eyes with that dangerous blue spark of his own. "You drew blood," he said, voice low, meant for her ears alone. "Rule of Drosk-7: you don't walk away from that without making someone pay. Question is…" His grin widened. "…who's it going to be?"

 

[Akela Ru]

Kael Varnok

She watched more of the people.. a voice cut through and there was a pause to the bouncer. He seemed to be looking at her and he spoke about paying... but had opened a tab as the bartender was looking but started to make the drink. "Pay... you are, that is what a tab is for." SHe said it looking at him while she moved around and he was the one who had gotten the crowd excited.... there was also at times the feeling something was off but she chalked that up to him being an old man, likely needed his pudding or had gas. "I am the padawan terror, avenger of the naptime oppressed, liberator of snacktime."

She said it looking at him. "I am Akela Ru." SHe took a sip of the milk when it arrived, not even inspecting the glass but she took a sip. The moment passed and she pulled the glass away leaving a blu line on her upper lip before she continued. "But you are here not forr me... or maybe the force has brought us together... maybe I am supposed to save you.... or the people here.... or maybe this is all an event of random cosmic chance that I happened to walk into this cantina, on this planet, on this day, at this hour when you happened to be here... when you who has bought another." She stood there and tapped the counter for another milk. "Drink for everyone here."

She stayed looking. "Or wait where was I in my monologue?"

 

[Kael Varnok]

Kael's laugh rolled out, low and sharp, as the girl declared herself "avenger of the naptime oppressed." The crowd chuckled with her, some raising their mugs in mock salute, but not everyone was amused. A grizzled Rodian two tables over muttered something crude about "kids in bars," loud enough to draw snickers from his tablemates.

Kael's grin froze. He turned his head, slow as a predator catching a scent.

The split voice coiled in his skull. "There it is. Weakness. You're playing guardian now. Protecting milk-drinkers. How noble."

Kael ignored it, stepping toward the Rodian's table. His boots hit the floor with deliberate weight, and the din of the cantina seemed to hush around him. "Funny thing about this galaxy," he said, eyes cold but voice calm. "Sometimes the smallest warriors carry the sharpest teeth. Sometimes," he let his gaze flick back toward Akela, "they don't need to be reminded of their place."

He planted both hands on the Rodian's table, leaning down so their eyes locked. "Drink your ale. Laugh if you want. But if you so much as breathe in her direction again, I'll make sure you leave this cantina without enough teeth to chew it."

The Rodian blanched, muttered something incoherent, and stared into his cup. Kael straightened, his grin sliding back into place as he returned to the bar. He gestured at Akela's glass with his own, blue eyes glinting.

"Akela Ru, liberator of snacktime," he said, raising his drink. "Tonight, the galaxy's safe enough."

The voice in his head hissed. "Or maybe she'll need saving from you."

Kael drank deep, ignoring it.

 

[Akela Ru]

Kael Varnok

She gave him a look. "That is the goal. Just like the time of the great cookiee conspiracy where the jedi masters of the temple hoarded all of the chocolate chipped cookiees has the galaxy faced such a time of peace." She said it narrowing her eyes. "But we should not threaten people, never good to do... even if he is an adult. THey have a habit of telling other adults who tell the jedi masters and then you are stuck in a room that smells like hot leaf juice and old feet." SHe looked at the people in the bar while she was looking up with her drink.. taking another sip. So that she could enjoy it and debated the best way to battle should it breakout.. she didn't have the time for a pillow fort and couldn't infiltrate here like the sith temple. "This is like the time I passed the jedi trials... spicy noodles are not a friend."