Sweet Dreams Are Made of deWinters

[Erden Tarkhan deWinter]

The suns shone brightly in the deserts of Tatooine. One was enough to sizzle the earth, but two were oppressive. He was more than happy to catch sight of a small hut in the distance. With his water running low, it would be a good chance for him to ask for a resupply from the well. He would gladly offer credits in return for the refill, as long as the price was reasonable. There was always a chance that an steep price could be quoted for this simple act, since water was scarce around this part of the desert.

"Anybody home?"

He stopped in front of the door and knocked. There was no doorbell, just his fist tapping against the solid wooden door. A voice came from the insides of the hut and a woman cautiously opened the door ajar. Her eyes met his and she spoke in a soft nervous voice.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could help me fill up my water canteen."

"I'll help!" A voice came from below his feet and he looked down, noticing a young girl who looked no more than the age of ten. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of startling green that seemed to take his breath away. Before he could say a word, the girl had already scampered off with his water bottle. The woman sighed and motioned for him to wait outside the door. Soon, a pattering of feet indicated that the girl was coming back.

"Here, Mister."

The girl had changed into a boy. He stared at the boy in surprise before realising that the boy must be the little girl's sibling. He smiled and pulled out a handful of credits to hand it over to the woman.

"Thanks. Here's something for your trouble, lady. Your children?"

The woman stared at the credits for a moment and hastily pocketed them, still wary of the stranger in front of her house. Before she could reply, the boy beamed and nodded his head to respond to the question.

"I'm Jonathan. I have a pretty sister called Shery. You've met her already, isn't it? Someday, we will get married!""

The man bent down to stare at the boy, whose green eyes seemed to be more brilliant with each passing moment. Was it the sun playing tricks on him? For a moment, he wondered if he should tell the child that wedding games played out by children were meant to be left behind when they grew up. As he pondered for the right words, the boy started to grow in height and began shouting for Shery to come out. Within seconds, the boy became an adult and reached out his hand behind the door, pulling out a woman who possessed the same brilliant green eyes as the little girl.

Shery.

Shery muttered an incomprehensible phrase under her breath as she broke off from her brother's grip momentarily. Her brother glanced angrily at her, raising his hand to strike her down.

"Stop resisting! We will be married!"

The man outside the door decided to intervene. Erden took a step forward, but the door slammed tight in front of him, knocking him backwards. As he got up from the floor, all he could hear was screams of the little girl and the angry shouts of the boy.

******​

"Let her go!"

Erden yelled and got up from his bed, feeling disoriented for a moment before realising that it was a bad dream. Or was it a nightmare? He sighed, taking a glance at the clock and realising that it was five minutes before his alarm. The Dragonhead pulled himself out of bed and headed into the shower. It took him less than half an hour to get ready, clad in a business suit and heading out of his apartment. The tall skyscrapers in the distance indicated that he was in Coruscant.

"Good morning, boss."

Erden nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement to his subordinates and walked along the streets. A couple of minutes later, he found a seat in a local cafe that he frequented often. The waiter served him the usual coffee latte and he lit a cigar, taking a quick puff. While he waited for his breakfast order, his mind was occupied with the dream that kept recurring in recent months.


OOC Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

A shudder ran through Scherezade as she walked through the streets of upper Coruscant, skyscrapers decorating the air around her. It was odd, to be there at that time of the day – morning. Not, that she wasn't a morning person. Theoretically, Scherezade was an everything person, barely sleeping due to her own nightmares that continued to plague her even after so many things had been said and done. But still, in her mind, Corucant was forever linked to eternal nights, yellow skies, a broken heart beneath the moon, and broken ribs with blood.

But this… She remembered. The one time she thought this was safe. It had ended with her being murdered… Or almost murdered, the reports on that sort of conflicted, by a Jedi who'd found her eating lunch. She remembered bright skies and sunshine, and then fear and confusion. And then she was gone, only to come back to a reality she had never once dared imagine could ever happen. Her life had been a miserable hell after that, right up until the day she decided to end it all, and had then failed on that.

Yet here she was. Again. Not drunk. Not in a fighting pit. Just… Walking.

Oh, there had been a reason she was there. As a Crow of the Ministry of Secrets, her job took her to every possible corner of the Galaxy, whether she wanted to or not, and she had most definitely not wanted to go to Coruscant. But given no option, the Sithling was sent there with the mission to extract information, something that even the Ministry did not trust with broadcasting over its more private and secure networks. The little chip was safely inside Scherezade's pocket, where it would remain until she got back to Golbah City on Geonosis.

But no one said she had to go back immediately, did they? Well yeah, they sort of did. But Scherezade was really good at bending the rules where she could, and had thus decided it would be a good enough of a morning to go through Coruscant on foot, making her way from where the terminal had been, to where she had once been permitted to live, over where the rich and the powerful were, passing along the way various little shops, cafes, and restaurants, entirely not knowing that a certain family member of whom she knew nothing about was there.

[member="Erden Tarkhan deWinter"]