Private Stalking a Bloodhound

[Jared Starchaser]

There were always rumors to chase down. Jared Starchaser knew that the galaxy was vast, but he also knew he had a job in regulating it. Were there things he shouldn’t get himself involved in? But that was fine. Jared was a hunter, and he was always after the targets that were causing a problem.

He was out here on Corellia. It’d been a while since he’d been home, and here he was on the Golden Beaches. Here in the GA space, there were so many rules and regulations, but as long as he acted like he knew this world, and he did, quite intimately. It was his home, and his haulcraft was docked in his family’s estate.

Stepping into one of the bars, near where some of the water skimmers were docked, he looked around. This was a place for people to hide out and he was hoping he’d at least hear any rumors that he needed to. He had his spacer’s jacket on, and under it, in a chest holster was his lightsaber. He sat down and ordered himself a Whyren’s and looked around. It was early evening, and the place was filling in.

A few were chatting in the corner, and he looked over, not hearing anything he needed, just others coming and going, shocked by travelers. And hoping the Empire kept themselves off this world before they had to go against the Corellians.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Jared Starchaser

---

The Golden Beaches of Corellia. Scherezade blinked and looked at the sky. It was her first time on this planet. She knew that before the Gulag, her only uncle (as far she was aware) had his life and business on this planet, but she'd never been intrigued enough to come here before. Wars had ravaged the planet apart while she was gone beyond the edge of the galaxy, but that wasn't really interesting either.

Still, she had been given a lead. Her schematics, the project that had vexed her ever since her return to the galaxy proper. She had found a few pieces of it, strewn across the 'verse, and a small uncovered hint had suggested that someone here would know where the next little part was.

So far though, she had come up empty handed. Local crime circles had nothing to give her, though a few lucrative contracts have been offered once they learned she was soon to officially involve herself with the business of the Black Sun. That was always nice, but not quite was she'd been after.

And here was this bar.

Scherezade wasn't really a drinker. In almost fifteen years, she'd only had sips of alcohol when she was with her paramour. But here? This bar had a reputation.

"Bantha wings, extra large portion," the Sithling said as she leaned against the bar top, signaling to the bartender, "extra hot too! Don't be shy!"

 

[Jared Starchaser]

It wasn’t like him to take all these kinds of jobs, but for now? They’d work. He had people to get protecting out along the Rim, but there were other things that were a bit more pressing, like finding a dark sider who was out causing a ruckus? He would need to identify why and then see what he could do to slow them down or stop them in their tracks.

Some might call him brooding, most would call him patient, but what he liked to be known as was observant. He and his sister were Wardens, far more than the Jedi that his father was. They helped people, but sometimes it also meant going after a problem head on. He had his lightsaber, but he wasn’t going to use it until he was absolutely necessary.

There were people going missing and while he wasn’t the best at playing nice, he was a consultant of sorts for the High Republic and one of the Council of Kattada. He had the skills.

Glancing as a woman stepped up and ordered some wings. That was… a good call. Finishing his drink and grabbing another, he never presumed for others, and made his way over. “Not from here?” Accent and all. He mucked up his pretty polished non-planetary accent to mimic the one his father had. A true Corellian.

"Where you drift in from?"

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Jared Starchaser

---

Bars were the kind of places where, once you'd ordered food, you got your order either super fast, or not at all. This, thank the Force, was a type of bar where you got it almost as soon as you ordered. It probably helped that she could see the deep frying vats from her position against the bar's rail, one of the biggest and childishest smiles on her faces.

When the bartender half shoved and half placed her basket of wings in front of her, the Sithling wasted no time in collecting one of them, completely ignoring its scorching heat, and stuffing it into her mouth. Yes, she was hungry.

"Not from here?"

Scherezade turned to the man who had come closer, the accent hitting her ear but not really sounding foreign. A curious thing indeed, considering she had quite literally never been on this planet before. Her eyes went wide and she almost answered before remembering there was food in her mouth.

Grinning around the wing, her fingers came up to pluck the edge of it out of her mouth, the bones coming out clean and shiny. When it came to food, Scherezade was legit a pro, and she knew how to rip the meet off without needing to move her mouth too much, so she someone managed to make it look both rough and incredibly elegant at the same time. She was just that talented.

She swallowed, glowing green eyes filled with amusement, and smiled at the stranger as if he'd just made her day.

"Depends who's asking," she answered. Her accent matched the posh people or Coruscant more, but there was sufficient evidence in there to hear that this was a girl that had traveled the galaxy far and wide, "If you're a tax collector, I'm from nowhere. If you're buying the next round, I might be Corellian too!"

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Most of the places along the Golden Beach survived because they catered to the tourists. It wasn’t a bad thing, no matter how younger Jared or some of the teens felt about the tourists. It was good for business and having a place with a bit of a reputation? Was good for his business. He knew the types to travel to the small hole in the walls, the high end places, and the ones that felt high end by tried to be a hole in the wall. The one they were in was the latter of the three.

Jared tried to be suave, as much as he could, but he knew it wasn’t always what was needed. The trick was to be charismatic without seeming like he was looking for something. Just here to chat, and disarm someone. But there was something about her, he’d put his finger on it soon.

“Just a traveler, back home for a spell. Not a tax collector, Force knows I can’t stand those. I can buy a round though, for some information.”

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Jared Starchaser

---

A heart beat passed between Scherezade's answer and the man's next words. A heart beat that had been sufficient for the former to put another bantha wing in her mouth and release the bones just as the guy started speaking.

A part of her always wondered what it was about her that got people like him, and nastier sorts, to somehow understand that she was a woman (or a girl, depending on her mood) with information that could be sold. Of course, most of her then remembered she was a tall Amazonian woman with eyes that glowed, so it was silly. Still, no matter how many years had passed, the realization always took her by surprise again and again.

She glanced at his green skin and swallowed her food, taking a long inhale without actually moving from her place. The Blood Hound didn't care about what body wash he used or what his perfume was. No, she was interested in that split of a second in something else. His blood. She grinned again, noting that she was dealing with someone who had a mixture of human and Mirialan. Sure, she could work with that.

"I peddle with information that costs a little bit more than that," she admitted, "but another round of bantha wings will buy my time while you figure out that it's worth the price."

Though reading the words dryly might suggest some form of innuendo, her speech and mannerism suggested anything but. She was playing, enjoying herself and that little game in between the wings she was still eating, seemingly never needing to pause for a beat.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

He didn’t need to be doing anything to disrupt her dinner, or to really get himself in trouble with others who were out here. Force knew that a woman like this either worked alone or had several snipers just lying in wait. Or who knew, maybe half this bar was on her payroll. He doubted the latter, this was Corellia after all, and there were a few things that were constant.

Corellia leaned to freedom.

But yeah, the glowing eyed tall woman just seemed out of place for Jared, and that meant she knew someone. Or it could be the exclamation mark above her head. Quest? Don’t mind at all.

“More than a drink? Alright, say I’m looking for someone, or something. Need some leads, any cost on that?” He looked at the servers and nodded, making a motion for another round. “Sure, not a huge price.”

"People have gone missing."

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Jared Starchaser

---

By the time the man finished wording his question, Scherezade's basket of wings had run dry, nothing remaining there except for glistening bones. Then came the order for more, and she gave one super serious nod. One did not mess around when it came to food.

So far, she approved of this guy. No silly attempts at word games, no attempt to make her look like a foolish person. Actual and genuine interest. It was nice to stumble into that. Though it had been years since people tried to make fun of her, some childhood trauma never fully released its grip from a person.

"Okay," she said after he explained the situation, "You want leads on something or someone, and people have gone missing."

Scherezade paused, tapping her foot on the floor.

"Okay so you know there's an astronomically high number of people that go missing every single day around the galaxy, right?" came the flutter of words, "not to mention how Corellians have a tendency to extra disappear after every war, and you guys have been warring pretty much constantly for at least a few decades now with little to no pause."

Still… She was hardly one to give up so easily. Mostly because she had other methods, but also because it was hard to go by the book if no one ever showed you the book.

"So what exactly do you want?" she asked, "Someone who disappeared? Someone who's doing the disappearing? A package for a few missing peoples that might be together? Leftover wills by those who are gone?"

It was a big galaxy. She didn't know him. But something inside her told her that he wouldn't want the remaining pinkies of those were missing and dead.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

What he was trying to not do was get in her way. And Jared spoke plainly and directly. He didn’t have time on the Outer Rim to be beating around a bush and not getting his answers that he needed. No, he left that to the politicians. Lucky for him, not being around the Core worlds much meant he avoided them.

“Yeah, people have been going missing, and you seem like you’re not from here, which means you may know something.” He sat down in order to punctuate he wasn’t suspecting her. “Yeah, the homeworld has been warring, and I know people keep disappearing, trust me, I know.” He was responsible for finding people on the Outer Rim and helping where he could. “But I’m only being paid for the group I’m looking for right now.”

Looking around, he reached over to a table nearby and used the Force to pull the bowl of nuts over to him. Tossing a few into his mouth. “I tend to think once I’m finding leftover wills we’re already too late. Any word on who is going or any rumors on who is doing the taking? Any help chasing them down and I’ll cut you in on the credits I earn.”

Call it a finder's fee.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Of course she knew things! What an odd thing to say. Scherezade grinned as she cleaned another pair of wings off, listening to the words the guy had to offer. Unfortunately for him, she didn't know the specific things he wanted. But that didn't mean nothing was going to happen. After all, she was Scherezade deWinter, the Sith Warrior, the Blood Hound. She could learn things in ways that no one else she'd ever met could.

As he floated the nut bowl over to him, she waved the fingers of her right hands, making a few of the nuts fly in the air and right into her mouth, chomping down with nearly unparalleled joy.

"I can do you better," she grinned from ear to ear, finally leaving the food alone for a moment.

She turned to him, facing Jared Starchaser fully.

"Get me a drop of their blood," she said, her voice still casual and light, "or close family's blood. Has to be blood family, adoptions don't help us in this case. And a big printed map of the planet. Then I could pinpoint where they are."

Now she took another swig from her drink, "In return, I want a vial of your blood. No credits. To be used as a boon at some point in the future, and returned to you once that has been settled. Untouched, unharmed."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

It was sometimes easy to spot being that were similar to himself, ones who didn’t belong anywhere but did belong everywhere. The one he found here though, he sensed was strong with the Force. He was a hunter himself, one who used the Force to track and stalk, to blend into the background and follow others.

The Corellian-Mirialan smirked as she took some of the nuts. She was voracious, huh? Didn’t matter. Everyone had their vices.

“Better, huh?” A smirk as he surveyed her again. What was she hiding in her skillset? Enough tricks that he may not even have something to match. “Blood? I’ve got a few items of theirs, scarf, cloak, datapad. Unsure if that’ll give you what you need. Or if you can… push your skill?” As for a map, he ahd those in spades, this was his planet, after all.

Took him a second to consider that last bit, he looked her over. “Going to need to call on me, you suspect?” Or stop him from fighting someone, he surmised. But for the credits he’d get? It would work.

“You know what, sure. Why not.” He may have a past of a Jedi, but he wasn’t one, not completely. And he’d seen the blood magic Witches could do.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Jared Starchaser

---

There was no reason to stand there doing nothing once her offer had been made. Before the man answered, Scherezade was back at cleaning the wings with her mouth, morsel after morsel of meat disappearing as though it had never existed. She was still hungry though, and this wasn't a place where she could eat her fill unless she literally emptied their storerooms and freezers.

Scarves, cloaks, datapads… She shook her head at the mention of those. None of those were blood, so her skills wouldn't be any helpful in that. Some creatures or people could follow actual scents from other objects, but she herself… Not a dog. Just a blood hound who happened to loath the taste of blood, so she avoided it whenever she could. But scenting blood was an entirely different thing.

And when he asked about needing to call on him… Well, she didn't know if she'd have to. But credits weren't something she was lusting for these days, and having the option to call someone through their blood, or undoing them if they refused, was a lovely seed she wanted to plant. He made the right choice and agreed to it. That was greart.

"Here," she said, slipping him a little datachip, "This is where you'll find me once you have their blood. Don't bother taking out yours, I'll do it myself after confirming you've brought me the right stuff."

She took a big and noisy inhale, and looked around. Yeah… She wasn't going to meet her appetite requirements here.

"You've got fifty local hours," she grinned. The planet had twenty-five hours a day, so she'd give him two days. That seemed like enough, "If you don't come back with the stuff before that, I'm heading off planet."

There was no point in waiting for him to respond. Scherezade tossed a few credit chips onto the table to cover for her own meal, and just… Left.

---

Almost 50 hours later…

Scherezade was parked at one of the smaller docks in the area. The datachip she had given the man whose name she hadn't even asked would lead him right to this location. She had spent the previous two days going from restaurant to restaurant, dictating notes over the comms to her droid, making sure she had it written down where she liked the food and where she didn't. It was a completely touristy thing to do and if she were frank with herself, it probably wasn't the best way to spend her time here, but she had given her word. Two days. And they were almost up.

She herself was now sitting in one of the small rooms aboard her ancient Sith Scimitar, called the Giggledust, nose deep into a stack of scrolls she had written some years before. She loved the way the paper crackled and made noise, but she didn't love how she couldn't remember what the point of the scroll she was looking at was. She counted six different languages there, all calculating, a salad of words, and… What was it for? Why hadn't she written that down?!

The ship loomed heavily around her. She had gone to extremes to subdue the blood ritual she had cast there so many years ago. At this point, no one outside the ship would ever be able to feel or sense it, but inside was an entirely different story. Her sister had warned her many times that she ought to remove it completely, but she didn't listen to her about that. For Scherezade, the heaviness that loomed the tragedy that had been a big part of her young life, was not something she was willing to part with so easily. She had already released so much from that time, including feelings and memories. This last bit, a testament of the time she had attempted to remove herself from existence… She wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Giving up with a sigh, she tossed the scroll onto a pile of other scrolls, and jumped. Her entire ceiling within the ship was covered in monkey bars, and she used them often to stretch out in the tiny space. She monkey-barred herself to the kitchen, kicking the fridge open with a leg, and only then landed onto the floor, finding a few packed meals there that she could eat.

Force. She wasn't sure why she was extra hungry now. Was it because she knew the man would be coming? Or because she knew he would not? Only time would tell.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The hunt was on. Jared had what he needed to do. And with the being he found really giving him a golden ticket, he figured his own blood was more than an equal payment to save people, and prevent it from going on. He had to find blood for the victims. He had known one of the properties was probably not scoured by the CorSec investigation teams yet. As she slipped the datachip, he nodded.

“Fifty hours, got it.”

That meant it was time to move. As she left, he finished his drink and got himself up. Stepping to his swoop, he made the move to his ship, to get Hopper, and then to the most recent attack. He pulled his swoop along side and looked to his droid.

“Need you to do sentry duty, bud.” He nodded up and down the street. The droid hopped off as Jared found a spot to stash the bike. Pulling his cloak up, the setting sun was giving him the cover he needed, but he still pulled on the Force. Essentially disappearing from view, he moved quietly all the same, hopping the fire escape to get into the window.

Pulling a glowrod out, one that detected blood, he found a few good samples. Doing his best with the Force to get them into vials. Either the victim or the killer. It wasn’t taking him long, and he was gone before anyone was the wiser.

As from, perhaps a CorSec sentry droid. But that was future Jared’s problem.

**

He moved to get himself into a safe space, his family’s estate, and lay low. A sleep, and some more prep, he made his way towards her location. That was when he saw the Scimitar. He had one for a short moment, when he was ship shopping. Now he settled on the YT-2400 his family had and his personal hot-rodded haulcraft. Though, typically in a fighter.

The Force loomed around this ship as he approached. He wasn’t hiding as he knocked on the hull of the ship.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

There was food in her mouth when she heard the knocking. Scherezade swallowed quickly, remembering that the new guy was a Force User as well, which meant he was not welcome on his ship. There were things that were too intimate to reveal to someone you were just about to make a deal with that did not include anything she cherished closed to heart save for the form of payment.

A moment later, the door opened with some creaks and groans, and the Sithling stepped out, her face as cheerful as it had been when they met two days prior at the cantina. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, letting the close door behind her, hoping it was clear enough that Jared Starchaser wasn't invited in without giving insult.

"You're on time," she noted, "I like that."

Hopping off the ramp, she motioned for him to follow her, only now realizing she didn't even have his name, and hadn't bother to look it up. Had she searched some datafiles, she was certain she could find it, but oh well. Too late.

"You got all the groceries I've asked for?" she grinned, leading them to just beneath the belly of the ship. She had asked for the disappeared people's blood, or the blood of a close blood relative, and a map.

"By the way," she added, "name's Scherezade deWinter."

There was no good enough reason to come up with a different name, she figured, though she had a dozen fake ones she could use at any time. Whether the man knew the name was associated with more than a little bit of terrorist activities a long time ago, it wouldn't matter. She'd positioned herself in a spot where she could be useful to him… And he to her.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared liked to be on time. He knew that in their walk of life, going anywhere early would cause issues. He was carrying a Lightsaber, and while he did have the backing of the Kattada Enclave, he didn’t always have the full backing of the High Republic Jedi Order. Didn’t matter to him, to be honest, but he didn’t want to be hanging out somewhere, especially with the collapse in power around his homeworld, any longer than he needed to be.

He’d disappear, but then lose this connection. And chance to maybe cut through some of his hunt.

“Yeah, no use waiting around before you leave.” And he didn’t want to get here when she was about to leave for food or something. No way he was going to interrupt that.

Looking around at the ship, he gave it a whistle. “Yeah, confirmed its gotta be to the victim. And local map, hard copy. If what you’re about to do is anything like the Dathomir witchcraft.” He handed the bag over, the map rolled up in a tube, and the blood in a small vial.

“Nice to meet you. Name’s Jared.” He never assumed people didn’t know him.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade took the bag he offered, bouncing with excitement as she did so. It was a chance to show off, to make herself seem important. Not that Jared didn't think that already, since he wouldn't have approached her two days before if he hadn't, but still, it was nice to remember it herself.

She spilled the contents of the bag onto the floor and sank to her knees. Her ship loomed above them, ensuring they were protected from the harshest rays of the sun. A bit of fiddling and a few moments later, she'd opened the map and laid it flat on the floor, and held the vial of blood in her hands.

The change on her facial expression was sharp and stark. From bubbly and laughing, she seemed like a kid who was being forced to eat a vegetable they didn't like. And that was… More or less what it was. Sure, she had abilities with blood, but she wasn't any type of vampire or block sucker, and the taste of blood was vile to her.

Still, she forced herself to take a drop on the edge of her tongue. Her body convulsed a little as she tried not to throw it up almost instantly. The blood mixed with her spit, and she spooled it in her mouth a few times.

Around them, the feeling of the Force rising became a near tangible thing. Scherezade barely felt it, though she'd heard from bystanders in the past that it always felt like the use of the Force was heavy when she did certain things with the blood. However, she was too busy concentrating before deciding there'd been enough spooling, and she spit the contents of her mouth onto the map.

Mid-air, it began to change. The spit thickened, the blood darkened, the edges of the little droplet pulling out into fine, razor-sharp strands that gleamed in the shade. By the time it reached the map, it was no longer liquid at all, but struck with a metallic ping, embedding itself in the parchment with a hiss of heat and the faint smell of iron.

A single spot on Corellia glowed where it landed, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

Scherezade leaned forward, glowing green eyes beaming with excitement. "Know this place?" She asked, not looking at Jared Starchaser just yet, "That's where the person whose blood you gave me is."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The fact that she was so excited for the offered bag made him a bit wary. Again, Jared Starchaser may pay lipservice to the Jedi Order and carry a lightsaber, but it was his lifeline and what brought him back to his true family. The Starchaser clan. But to say he worried about the dark side? That was not exactly true. Jared worried about those who were out hunting others. He was a Warden, after all. This one was a tracker though, and should she become something he’d have to fight later on?

So be it.

But for now she was serving a purpose and helping him. Blood magick was not something that was seen much on Kattada, but those witches weren’t exactly… well, this. Watching her, he kept his eyes on the map and the surroundings and kept his focus on the threads of the Force. As things started to move, his eyes were ready, and waiting, hand on his saber hilt.

As the motions stopped and she indicated the map, he looked, the Plains outside Coronet. That was a good thing, less people to run into.

“That area? Yeah, I know it. Homeworld and all. You want to come and help finish this?” He definitely expected her to say no to this.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Jared Starchaser

---

You want to come and help finish this?"

Scherezade's face shot up, glowing green eyes locking on Jared's face. Something stirred inside her. Ever since her first stab towards freedom all those years ago, it seemed more and more people were totally into working together with her and more importantly, just hanging with her. His offer was neither of those things but somewhere in the middle, as far as she understood. And still, the excitement was all too easy to read in her face.

"I'd love to," she answered with a childish grin.

From her belt she pulled a small pouch filled with cheese cubes, and she tossed it towards him.

"You can snack on this while I get ready," she half yelled and then ran to the ramp and then up into her ship. Jared wasn't allowed inside, so she slammed the door behind her.

A few minutes later she existed, clad in her armour and usual array of weapons. The joy that emanated from her was nearly tangible.

"I'm ready!" she announced with a little bounce in her step, "but you still owe me that vial of blood. We need to get that taken care of first."

To that, she held her hand out, expecting him to put his hand in hers. It wasn't going to be something complicated or painful. All she'd do was touch the cushion of any of his finger and then with the Force draw the blood out and into a small glass vial that was now appeared to be holding in her other hand.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Working with someone wasn't typically his vibe. Jared was a solo hunter. Seen as a ronin from days of old, a traveling hero, or a storm of destruction to those that saw him as an enemy. He did try to work with others every so often but it didn't ever end well. And he wasn't about to add another to his list of those he needed to protect.

But bringing the Bloodhound with him felt different. She had the vibe of someone who could defend herself and didn't have any qualms with doing such.

And if his quarry fled? She could track.

As he caught the bag of… oh cheese, not some Force imbued items; he watched her run off the ramp and nodded. She at least gave him a snack.

"A deal is a deal." He nodded and held his hand out, observing her armor. More than he tended to wear. Letting go of his old Jensaarai armor for Force strengthened leathers and cortosis bracers.

Scherezade deWinter