Tarisian Meet-up (Salvor Arnex)

[Slot 16]

Keturah's long pigtails bounced as she practically skipped down the street. Taris was bright and sunny today, and the air was clean and fresh. She'd been here for a few days already and she'd really liked it so far. There were thousands of different databases to check out! Some of them were even heavily encrypted, and took a whole twenty minutes to crack. Luckily for her, there wasn't anywhere else she had to be that day. As Keturah headed toward the little ice cream parlor she'd found, she noticed a peculiar man following a little too close behind her. She continued walking, her fingers grasping the ends of her black long-sleeved shirt. The man was getting closer. She walked faster. The parlor was in plain sight now. She just needed to reach it... Keturah gasped as her wrist was suddenly grabbed and she was pulled into a tiny space between two buildings. The man pinned her against the wall, holding her wrist above her in a very tight manner. Using his body weight to keep her from squirming, he held a knife to her throat. "You're going to stay quiet, or you're going to die," He hissed in her ear. Keturah gulped. She could feel the coolness of the blade as it sat just on top of her choker. She had to think fast. As the man began to lower his face to her chest, she braced her knee and sent it as hard as she could between his legs. The man grunted loudly. Wriggling from his grasp, Keturah made a run for it. She sprinted blindly back up the metal walkway, frightened that he would follow. As she turned her head backward to see, she smacked right into someone. She fell backward, hitting the ground with a thud.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

Salvor walked along the up level of Taris trying to enjoy the weather, he would be spending a few days on the planet before taking the shuttle to Corsucant. His attire was decidedly simple as per the norm. he was in his dark grey tunic and pants, which highlighted his almost gold colored skin. His cloak was left in the room he was renting along with his light sabers, he didn’t want any trouble while traveling the streets, the only weapon he carried on him was a vibrodagger stashed inside his tunic.

He found himself gazing absent mindedly at the sky as some birds flew over head when suddenly something came crashing into him, hard. He cursed in Huttese and looked to see what ran into him. It was a girl, he could sense her fear but could not see the source. He reached a hand down to the girl to pick her up off the ground.
[member="Keturah X"]

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah didn't take his hand. She threw herself back up, getting on her feet faster than she ever had before. She looked behnd her. At least 30 feet away and coming fast was the man from before. Just for a second, she turned to look at the Zabrak, her terror-filled amber-gold eyes locking with his. Then she passed him and continued running.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

His hand was rebuffed, the girl shot to her feet looked over her shoulder and was off running again, as she left their eyes met, she had beautiful eyes, unlike any he had seen before. Salvor looked back to where she looked and spotted a who appeared to be chasing after her and it became clear what the source of her fear was. What could that girl possibly have done to him? What ever it was, it wasn’t any of his concern Salvor turn and walked in the opposite direction that those two had ran off to, he was after all looking to avoid unwanted trouble. As he walked off Salvor couldn’t help but think of those eyes and the genuine terror in them. No it wasn’t his business. But he couldn’t let an innocent get hurt. Who said she was innocent? But still what kind of man would he be? These thoughts persisted for a time being when finally his better judgment lost out and he went chasing after the pair.

[member="Keturah X"]

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah's heart pounded in her ears as she ran for her life. She knew that if she just kept going straight he'd catch her for certain. If she could just find a place to hide... She noticed a building that had recently become vacant just a block to her right. Quickly, she ran to it, finding a broken window and squeezing inside. It was dark in there. Frantically Keturah searched for something, anything that she could use as a hiding place. But there was nothing there. The room was empty. She was trapped. Keturah sank to her knees, scared and defeated. She could hear the man coming up to the building. When he saw her through the window, she saw her life flash before her eyes. She scrambled backward until her back hit a wall. He broke the window a bit more and came inside. "PLEASE-" Her scream was cut off by the man's knife slashing her across the face. A shallow gash appeared on her cheek. "Didn't I tell you to keep quiet?" The man growled. As she tried to scream again, he punched her gut, making her double over.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

Salvor followed he could not see them but that was no matter, he would find them just the same. He spotted an abandoned building near by, but it wasn’t abandoned he could feel two presences in side their emotion called to him. Fear, anger, pain, lust. It was like a beacon and Salvor followed it. His movement was purposeful but silent a skill he developed years ago, it took him some time to be told he was using the force to muffle his steps.

Salvor slipped in the broken window and confronted the man.

“You should leave her alone.” his tone was harsh and forceful he wanted the man to make no mistake this was not a negotiation.

[member="Keturah X"]

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah looked up in surprise to see the Zabrak from earlier. "Help!" She whimpered. The man smacked her, hard. "I said shut up!" He yelled down at her. He focused his attention on the Zabrak. "This is none of your business, horn-head. Just walk away," He said gruffly.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

This man must be thick in the skull, even in this light and visibly unarmed Salvor knew he cut an intimidating figure, he had spent years honing himself as a killer and it reflected in his body language, he stood looking like a predator ready to strike.

“If you want to hit some one, why don’t you hit me?”

 

[Slot 16]

The man looked down at Keturah, who flinched and covered her head with her hands. Then he looked back to the Zabrak. "Sure, what the Hell? You did ask for it, after all." He said. The man ran at the Zabrak, his weapon ready to strike.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

The man moved to strike and joy filled Salvor’s heart, this thick headed fool was about to make Salvor’s day. The man charged and slashed at Salvor’s face only to strike air. He slashed again and once more came up empty, three more times the man tried to cut Salvor before the young Zabrak had gotten bored with him.

Another slash and this time Salvor parried and struck back head butting the man, making him pay for that horn-head comment, breaking his nose and putting a gash in the man’s forehead. He cried out in pain. Salvor smiled relishing in his pain, frustration and fear. It was intoxicating. The man struck again out of desperation, lunging, trying to drive the blade into Salvor’s stomach. Salvor was so amped that the man may as well have been moving in slow motion, Sal deftly circled away from the knife and planted a kick behind the attacker’s knee dropping him to the floor.

Salvor hammered his knee hard into the downed man’s midsection feeling ribs crack. The man coughed and sputtered. He held his hands up for mercy but Salvor would offer him none, he simply shook his head no and beckoned the man to attack once more. With no other option the man went to stab him again only for Salvor to turn the attack around on him and drove the knife into his throat. Blood poured from the wound as if from a faucet, the man gasped as it appeared he tried to speak. His eyes told a story of regret and of fear, it was a look Salvor had become used to seeing. He watched the man die with satisfaction and then turned his attention to the young girl cowering in the corner.

Salvor wanted to say something to her but what? Communications weren’t his strong suit, he struggled to reconcile the bloodlust that still flowed through him and the odd concern he had for her well being. In the end he chose to say nothing and turned to go back out the way he came, stopping just before the window and looking back, looking her in the eyes one more time.

“I’m sorry this happened to you.” he wasn’t sure what made him say it, but he felt sure that she did not deserve the abuse she just took, not just the violence levied at her but the violence that happened around her. Seeing a man die whether you’re the cause or not can be unsettling for some people. He went out the window and headed back toward the main streets.

[member="Keturah X"]

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah flinched with every sound that came afterward. She curled into a ball, burying her face in her knees. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to hear. She just wanted to wake up from this horrible dream. Finally, the noises stopped. Slowly, she looked up a little bit from her knees. The room was dark enough to hide the details of the man on the floor. The Zabrak looked at her before he left and said he was sorry that this had happened to her. As he was leaving, she suddenly didn't want him to go. She didn't know why. He'd just killed a man right before her eyes. But for some reason, she felt even more afraid without him there. She stood up and went after him, doing her best to avoid looking at the corpse on the floor. She climbed out the window. "Wait!" She called to him. She stood there, trembling, and looking at the ground. "D-don't go..... Please......" Her voice grew softer, and shakier.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

Curious. She asked him to stay, he couldn’t understand why. True he had just saved her life, but he was stranger and proven to be a dangerous one, yet still she did not want him to leave and part of him wanted to stay as well. He struggled to reconcile these confusing emotions. He fear was palpable and normally he relished in the fear of others, bathed in it like sunshine but with her something was different and it put Salvor off, he didn’t know how to handle it, it was like his first day in the arena all over again. He walked back to her stopping much closer than most civilized beings would looking down at her studying her face as one would study art, marveling at something he didn’t quite understand.

“What is your name?” he asked uncertainly, not quite sure why he was even speaking to her.

[member="Keturah X"]

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Keturah," She said quietly. It wasn't her real name, but it was the name she accepted of the other, so it was real to her. Her body was still trembling from everything that had happened, but she had an unnerving sense of safety around this stranger. She shifted on her feet. "You.... you saved me. Even though you didn't know me......" She murmured.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

“That pervert got what he deserved.” he responded coldly. What now? Does he leave? He did not know what else to say, the girl was safe now there was no more for him to do. He stood there still much closer than he needed to be, the pause between them growing awkward yet he still did not move.

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah nodded. "I think..... I think he was a wanted criminal. I read on the Holonet that there was a man running around and hurting young girls. He was being hunted on three different planets because he got away with it so much. From his last known position, he was supposed to be somewhere here on Taris. But, I never thought he'd be so close....." She said. She met his eyes again. "You saved my life. You can't just walk away. At least, not until I get to know you better." Her voice was clearer now, her eyes sharper.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

[member="Keturah X"]

Get to know him better? What a strange girl he was dealing with, what was there for her to know? He saved her, that should be enough.
“What do you want to know?” What was he doing? He should be leaving, not staying and having a chat with a stranger, a stranger he had been concerned enough with to take a life. Maybe they was more going on here than he was willing to admit or could even understand.

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah continued to stare into his eyes. "What's your name?" She said quietly. She knew that he had every right to avoid answering and just walk away from her. But somehow, she knew he wouldn't. That made her feel a bit better. But why, she had absolutely no idea.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

“Salvor.” he did not know if that was his birth name or just one the Hutt had gave him. Valturla had been a cruel, domineering and stupid beast but he had always treated Salvor better then his other slaves but he never did let the boy forget he was nothing more than a tool, a valuable tool but a tool none the less. “Why do you not fear me?” the question burned at him, he had driven grown sentients to tears from fear but this girl, or more accurately young woman, she wasn’t much young than he was after all, this young woman was not only unafraid but almost perfectly comfortable in his presence and that for him was unsettling.

[member="Keturah X"]

 

[Slot 16]

Keturah smiled a little bit. "Why? It's simple really. If you were nothing more than a stone-cold killer who only cared for power and such, not only would you have killed that scumbag, but you would've killed me, too. However, you spared me. That and the fact that you even took the time to apologize for what happened would suggest that you are not the evil person others, maybe including yourself, see you to be. In other words, you're not as bad as you seem." She said.
[member="Salvor Arnex"]

 

[Salvor Arnex]

He never thought himself to be evil, just blessed with a certain set of skills, those skills being to hunt, track and kill. The power he held was not inherently evil, though it could be used for that purpose, he wanted only to the most powerful he could be. The apprentice had taught him what he could but it was up to Salvor to find a master that could unlock his potential. He looked at her puzzled, he wasn’t as bad as he seemed. Did he seem bad? Not according to her he didn’t, he still didn’t know what to make of her but there was something intriguing. “Your death would not have served anything.” that was the truth of it, he did not spare her because he was good, it was because she did not deserve to die. But if she did would he have killed her? For the first time in his life he did not know the answer to that question and that was troubling.

[member="Keturah X"]