Private The Kindest Acts of the Wicked

[Judd]

"Let me get this straight. You decided to work for these snakes, but you don't get to keep anything... No, never mind. Getting distracted. It's simple. You tell the truth... somewhat."

Judd rolled his eyes. "Course I get a cut. But you can't just let a pirate into where you keep the loot. Pirates are literally known for one thing." Her glittering grin met his stone-faced dispassion. Though her plan sparked some kind of reaction, though it's origin was hard to say. "That... could work."

Apparently, there was no negotiation on the necklace. Judd sighed, beginning to walk down the corridor, his heavy blaster pistol held in one hand. "That's not gonna happen, kid. I'm not double-crossing my crew for no reason." Of course, there was a hint of hesitation in his voice. Something more going on. But Judd would die before letting it slip.

Walking down the hallway, with his blaster barrel pointed theatrically at Rayia's back, the pair of them passed a few pirates. Mostly Weequay, with a smattering of Humans, Rodians, and Nikto for flavor. Most just gave the wounded Rayia wary side-glances, while one particularly buff Human stepped up, and attempted to punch her across the face. Judd shoved the man back, giving him a haughty expression, and explaining that they were, in fact, going to see the boss, and the captain would be rather upset if she didn't make it in one piece.

Travelling down a final corridor, Judd stared daggers at a pair of guards, each shrugging blasters from their shoulders as he approached. "Whatcha doin' here, Doc? With the psycho, no less?"

Judd took a moment too long to respond, trying to remember exactly what the lie was. "This thing's got something valuable in it's pack, apparently. I'm here to find it, and bring it to the Captain." The sudden glint in their eye told Judd that he'd made a mistake. He'd forgotten just how greedy pirates were.

"Oh. Shame you didn't find anything." He pointed his blaster lazily at the heavyset Dowutin. It was obvious now- they were going to check the pack later. "Best go on and tell the Captain that."

"...Right." Judd sounded defeated enough, moving to turn, his blaster still squarely at the pilgrim's back. "Just one more thing."

The medic raised his blaster over Rayia's shoulder, and fired at the two guards. One fell back, the bolt cracking him against the wall, dead. The other managed to duck out of the way, and moved to return fire.

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

"Oh." Rayia said suppressing a small chuckle. "I suppose you have a point." She admitted, continuing to grin at him unabashedly when he said her idea might work. Normally, she might have been concerned that she was letting it get to her head. But this was the first time Judd seemed receptive to liberating her pack from the pirates. She nodded enthusiastically when she heard him say the plan might work. "Most people don't expect you to tell the truth. So it might throw them off?" She trailed off, tone rising to indicate it was a gamble. After all, most plans went sideways when they encountered opposition. She also hadn't eaten the same food as these people, breathed the same... air as them. 'Putrid is the word you're looking for.' Her brain supplied unhelpfully. "...I don't really know. I'm counting on their greed to overcome their lust to see me turned into a fur rug while I'm down." She supplied, shrugging.

Rayia's ears twitched as she caught the momentary lapse of hesitation in the normally solemn Dowutin's voice. 'There is definitely more than one reason he's happy to say goodbye to these snakes. I'm getting the feeling this isn't the first time something like this has happened.' Rayia thought to herself. If it was a more opportune time, she might have tried to wheedle the answers out of him. But something told her this wasn't the time. Beyond the likelihood that Judd would clam up like an oyster, every word they spoke had to be whispered carefully. Lest it carried to precisely the wrong ears.

Rayia stumbled along before Judd, feeling the poke of his blaster between her shoulder blades. A shudder seemed to course through her spine every time the cool metal thumped against her back. Rayia could feel the beast stirring within. The embodiment of what had harmed her casually caressing her skin was perhaps not the most calming sensation. Rayia was gripped with sudden fear. 'He wouldn't actually fire...would he? No, no. That's ridiculous.' Rayia thought, grappling with the instinctual pump of panic. The flaring pain crawling up her side as she hobbled along wasn't helping calm her. Each vibration from each step felt like a nail being driven under her skin. But Rayia pressed on, relying on her people's naturally miraculous endurance. Under her breath, she softly growled, "You're the Feral Queen's daughter. You can handle this."

Rayia and Judd passed many pirates, most of whom shrank back or gave her wary looks. It was small wonder why. Rayia looked like she was in fact what the pirates had taken to calling her. The stumbling steps while covered in wounds, the grimace of a smile, the frenzied look in her eyes and frame. Everything about her screamed psycho. As Judd had shoved the only malcontent pirate who had deigned to try and strike her, Rayia's smile grew even more unfriendly. There was just too much tooth in the grin as Judd's quick thinking had stopped her teeth from closing over the man's fingers.

---

Finally they reached the cargo hold where Judd had said her pack would be. Rayia could see that there were two guards standing vigil over the entrance to the storage room exactly as Judd said there would be. Their bared weapons told Rayia that they were serious about the prospect of preventing anyone from skulking into the storage room. Judd delivered their lie after a moment's hesitation and Rayia could instantly see she'd made a mistake. She'd been hoping the pirates' greed would be strong enough to let her live long enough for her to gather up her things. But the glint in her eyes told her she'd miscalculated. These men clearly were just going to ransack her pack after turning them away. So...it was back to shooting them. Like Judd had said.

Rayia's ears flattened and she hissed as Judd raised his blaster over her shoulder and fired. One guard instantly slumped to the deck plates with a meaty thwump. The proximity of the blaster's whine had set her ears ringing, and it was through a muffled haze that she saw the other pirate successfully duck into cover and aim his weapon to fire back. Rayia knew they didn't have time for a prolonged skirmish. But it was the guard's next movement that caused her blood to turn to icewater in her veins. Rayia saw him raise one vambrace towards his head, fiddling with some knobs. 'If he calls for help, we're doomed.' Rayia thought, and grit her teeth as she realized what she had to do. Her eyes flicked sidelong towards Judd communicating she knew how stupid her next move was.

Her arm released Judd's shoulders as a ginger-white blur exploded towards the pirate. Rayia felt another slightly sharper lance of pain through her legs as she pounced... Well, no. She more flopped onto the pirate's legs at insane speed. Rayia quickly shifted to the side as she felt the pirate swing the blaster around and train it on her. Relying on her Felacatian hyper-reflexes, she felt a burning sting nip her ear as the blaster fired. In the same moment, Rayia brought her claws, still fearsome even in this form, across the pirate's throat. A crimson spray spilled from the three parallel gashes in the pirate's neck as he futilely pressed a hand to the wound to staunch it.

A few moments later, both he and Rayia slumped to the deckplates. Rayia pressed her cheek against the cool deckplates and groaned. She could feel a seeping moistness spreading through her Kolto bandages where she had aggravated the wounds on her legs. 'The Kolto should help prevent too much damage though,' she thought. "I just earned myself more time in these bandages didn't I?" She asked a little louder than necessary. She still couldn't hear a damn thing. "Did I at least stop him from calling for help?"

 

[Judd]

Of course, Judd had to miss his shot when it counted.

Not that he was ever a particularly good shot. After getting the first target, perhaps he allowed himself to forget that. But he remembered quickly when he missed the second. He quickly squeezed off a few more blasts, but they all went wide in his panic.

Suddenly, there was a blur of fur and claws, and both Rayia and the pirate were down. With a raised eyebrow, Judd approached, standing over both of them.

"I just earned myself more time in these bandages didn't I?"

"Yup," he said, examining the gashes on the man's neck, the comm device at his ear, and finally, the fading light in his eyes. "Looks like we're safe," he said, aiming his blaster one final time, and blasting the dying pirate in the head. He'd seen wounds like that before, and asphyxiation seemed like an awful way to go. Better to get it done quick. "But someone might come to investigate the sounds of blasters, or when these two don't check in. So... let's be quick."

He reached down a hand to help the princess up, then opened the doors into the loot room.

Hovercrates, haphazardly placed around the cargo space, littered the walking area. Some of them were open, revealing tibanna canisters, weapons of all shapes and sizes, camtonos of the nastiest spices known to man, and stacks of glinting credits.

Judd looked around a moment, before his frown... angered. Over in the corner, in a few opened boxes, were mismatched clothes. Jewelry. Golden teeth... Belongings.

"It's probably... over here," he finally said, toxically acerbic. He walked over to the crate, and gently lifted up one of the shirts, a blaster hole through it's heart.

It was small.

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Rayia blew out her cheeks in a sigh of resignation as Judd confirmed that she was going to need to spend more time in the bandages after all. She shrugged philosophically and took the proffered lift back up to her feet. At the very least she had succeeded in making sure that he hadn't cried for help. Judd's mercy towards the pirate caused her to quirk an eyebrow. "Huh," she said, and followed Judd into the room. He had made a good point about there being potential investigators to the scene. She had no way of knowing how far the sounds of the fight had carried, but she was sure that the captain would have some method of checking in on the people guarding the loot. He probably wouldn't want them getting any bright ideas after all. Judd had said it best. Pirates were literally known for one thing.

Rayia nodded and spoke up. "I had an idea about that. Probably won't pass any serious muster but might stall a casual hunt for the truth. Should give us maybe an extra few heartbeats. When we're done searching I'll implement it." Rayia turned towards the haphazard mess cluttering the cargo hold. "Forget snakes. Rats is a more apt description. Illuna's fangs, how does anyone find anything in this froth pit?" Rayia cursed, casually alluding to the goddess of the hunt that her people followed. Rayia's ears flattened and her tail swiped erratically as her gaze swept the room. Her lips pressed into a small thin line as she surveyed the room. One hand casually swiped a blaster rifle lying horizontally across the open top of one crate. It had been obscuring the rest of the contents of its crate. As her keen eyes swept over the rest of the contents, she saw yet more rifles neatly aligned in evenly spaced rows. She turned away in disgust, clearly lost.

As if to add to her growing misery, she could clearly feel a coursing pain steadily building up behind her eyes. 'Probably the onset of a headache. At least Judd seems to know what he's doing,' Rayia thought. She followed the bulky Dowutin to one of the crates nestled in the corner. She could clearly see the small shirt with the blaster hole over its heart as Judd picked through the pile. Rayia's face took on a dark demeanor at the sight lips curling back to reveal her fangs. But this was a decidedly unfriendly smile. Her golden eyes seemed to shine even more brilliantly in the dim light, slitted pupils growing sharper till they were just slivers. "Kid-killers." Rayia spat the words from her mouth vehemently as if they were plague-ridden. Hands balled into fists as Rayia fought off her ragged breathing. Her pulse had quickened and she could hear the blood roaring in her ears as the beast wanted to come awake. But she couldn't afforded to shift now. "Later! I'll deal with them later," she muttered to herself tearing into the pile of clothing and accessories to distract herself.

They'd find her bag nestled halfway down in the rightmost crate. "That's it!" Rayia hissed as she seized upon the relatively small drawstring leather pouch that served as her backpack. One hand immediately shot into the pack and fumbled around, wrapping around the curving bone of the heirloom fang. "It's still there. They must not have thought it valuable. Let's get out of here," she whispered to Judd, seizing some credits from one of the crates. She wasn't planning to keep them. As they passed the door, Rayia would roll one of the gunmen over so that they were facing each other. Then she would scatter some of the swiped credits between the two gunmen and hike up the other's collar to hide the claw wounds as best she could. "This way, people might think they shot each other for the money. And even if they do look closer, they'll probably be too busy filling their pockets. That might stop them reporting it if they think they'll be caught," she said. Seeing the guard's avarice had been really informative. "What do you think? And which way do we go?"

 

[Judd]

Judd stared at the little shirt in his hands a little too long, before digging through the rest of the crate. He'd helped these pirates for months, now. Tried not to feel, tried not to care, as he patched up their wounds. It wasn't like he was killing these people himself, right?

It was, he'd finally decided.

The Felacatian managed to find her pack, and Judd nodded slowly, walking out of the room with her. He also reached a hand into to crate of credits, though he had all intentions of keeping the healthy handful he pocketed. If Rayia saw, all the bulky Dowutin gave her as explanation was a shrug. Pirates are known for one thing.

Walking out of the room, Judd redrew his pistol, and watched on in curiosity as his 'prisoner' scattered around the credits. He puckered his lips in thought. "Kinda thin, but it might work." She was right, after all. Pirates were greedy. "Let's go. I don't wanna be here to find out."

Judd pointed his blaster at the small of her back again, and gestured forward.

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Rayia didn't have a way of knowing what sort of thoughts were running through Judd's head as he seemed to study the small shirt. 'No, call it what it was. A child's execution. Certainly a child's murder,' Rayia thought to herself. But she was starting to have an inkling about why Judd wanted to leave. Gruff the Dowutin might be, but he wasn't heartless. 'For all he pretends to be, he takes his job as a medic seriously,' Rayia thought. She'd seen the mask slip once. He'd been so choked up about letting the pirates continue to torture her after she had reverted to humanoid form and went unconscious from her injuries.

Rayia did catch Judd scooping from the crate of credits. She didn't say anything but rolled her eyes. A faint quiver of her lips hinted at the true amusement lurking behind the scorn however. Her hand swept out once again, credits clinking pleasantly as the thin, metallic plates brushed up against each other. 'From what I've heard of Narsh, it's the cesspit of all snake's dens. Bribery, assassination, slavery. There is definitely no way I'll be able to get off planet a free woman with no money,' Rayia thought. Forestalling any retorts by Judd, Rayia shrugged. "You might make a pirate of me yet," she joked.

Rayia shrugged at Judd's analysis of her plan. It was fairly accurate. The actual likelihood of it working was thin. But even if it only crosses an onlooker's mind for a minute, that's one minute the flimsy pretense/bribe bought them. It wasn't like they had a lot of options. 'Or maybe we do, and I just don't know them yet. Who knows?' Rayia allowed, turning to march forwards into the corridor. Judd took position behind her once again and a familiar prickle settled in Rayia's neck.

Knowing time was at a bit of a premium, Rayia tried to increased her pace as much as she could. Any moment now, they'd reach the shuttle bay. As they rounded a corner, Rayia saw a trio of forms clustered near one hatchway. Two humans were dressed in rather slapdash armor, with rifles held across their torsos in a loose grip and slung from one shoulder by straps attached to their stocks. They were rocking back on their heels, looking as if they wanted to be anywhere but here. The third humanoid, an Ugnaut, was squealing at them in Basic in a high-pitched tone, “I already told you. Boss told me to check the cooling module on that new installation.” Then he snorted, reverting to Ugnaut as he insulted them, <"Stupid morons. You wouldn't know a stabilizing array from an exhaust port."> He carried a toolbelt round his waist, and was leveling one miniature spanner at the pair. Judging by his posture and puffed out chest, he was clearly ranting at them for quite some time. All three went silent as they spotted Rayia rounding the bend. Then spotting Judd, they focused their attention on him. "What's she doing here?"

Rayia for her part had stiffened up as she saw them, letting Judd push her forward and playing the part of the reluctant prisoner she was supposed to be. She hissed as one of the humans pointed in her direction, curling her lips back to expose her fangs.

 

[Judd]

"You might make a pirate of me yet."

That made him laugh.

It was a single, unassuming grunt of a chuckle. But it wasn't at her expense. It wasn't derogatory. She said something funny, so he laughed.

The moment was fleeting, ignored by the larger being, as they escaped the cargo hold, and went back on their merry way. There were considerably less people on the way to the shuttles- there were no plans to send out raiding parties over Nar Shaddaa, it seemed. Too much concern about Hutt backlash.

But Judd and Rayia did face one obstacle. Three people, an Ugnaught and a couple of numbskulls. Judd put on a face of menace, not just towards his prisoner, but the group as well. Naturally, one of the pirates asked what they were doing. The Dowutin planted the butt of his pistol into Rayia's shoulder roughly, as if to reprimand her for hissing, before growling his reply. "Captain wants to talk with her in his ship. Before... ah... letting her go." He tried to inject as much menace as he could into his words, making the ulterior meaning of them entirely clear.

And hopefully, masking the ulterior-ulterior meaning.

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Rayia couldn't resist a private smile as she saw the Dowutin chuckle. She'd take it. It felt like a personal victory that she'd managed to chip away some of the dourness the Dowutin seemed to skulk behind like armor. His response had also set her at ease. Ever since they had managed to recover her pack, Rayia could feel her nerves fraying like a taut wire. 'Injured as I was, the possibility of escape seemed so unlikely. But we're actually managing to pull it off..." she thought. And that was the crux of it, her recovered pack meant that they were coming up to the crucial moment where they would set their plan into action. It meant that these next few steps absolutely had to succeed. If they wanted any chance of making it to Narsh, they needed transportation. And that means they needed the captain's shuttle.

'Actually, speaking of, I've noticed there aren't that many people over here. All the motions my tail can pick up places the majority towards the central decks of the ship. Most scents are old too. Very few people been near here for at least a few hours. The only motion displacements I'm picking up are the three idiots in front of us. I'm assuming that's when we arrived in orbit," Rayia thought. She could only guess, having spent a fair amount of that time unconscious and and being treated. 'I have to wonder, why the captain wanted to bring his windship here of all places? He can't be thinking of selling me? Or... could he?' Rayia mulled it over. She had heard of Narsh's gladiatorial pits. Vile places where bets were exchanged on fights to the death. 'Perhaps the captain was thinking I could fetch him a pretty pile of credits after he saw what I could do,' she thought, then shook her head and stayed quiet as Judd explained the situation to the three guards.


She stopped hissing at the guards as she felt Judd give her a shove with the butt of his pistol. It didn't hurt, but Rayia took the hint. All the better if the guards believed Judd had the injured 'maniac' well in hand. Especially as they seemed particularly confused at his initial explanation. The two humans shot each other a questioning look. The Ugnaut seemed to be the first to get it, an evil leer slowly creeping into his expression. "Let her go? Why would he want to let her go?" One human asked, only to hiss in pain as the Ugnaut kicked him in the shin. "You really are a pair of idiots. Come here," the short one said beckoning the two to bend down. He began to whisper into their ears and understanding dawned over their faces. "Oh. I see." They said, and stepped to the side, "Better get on with it then. Captain doesn't like waiting." One said, waving Judd forwards. "Now that you two idiots understand, I'm going to go check on that cooling module. And you better not try to stop me or the Captain will let you go," The Ugnaut finished, storming past the two guards and into the hangar bay. He started away from where the captain's shuttle was parked towards the far side of the bay where a blaster turret was pushed over onto its side. Wires like entrails spewed from its guts and trawled the length of the room.

 

[Judd]

There was a moment Judd was worried the pirates' own stupidity would blow their cover.

Judd's eyes narrowed as the two idiots tried to piece together his obvious entendre, silently thanking the Ugnaught as he spelled it out for them, then pushed past them into the hangar. Judd followed, shoulder-checking one of the guards on his way out. Certainly not out of character for the abrasive medic.

Having the mechanic in the same room would make it incredibly more difficult to escape unnoticed. Judd spared a glance down at the Felacatian, his unease evident. But he pressed onward, thankful that the captain had left the ramp to his ship down. Marching his prisoner aboard, Judd finally lowered his weapon, keeping his voice at a whisper.

"Cockpit's that way." Judd angled his head forward. "Think there's people inside?"

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Moments passed in silence as Rayia waited for the human guards to comprehend their ploy. As the tension continued mounting, Rayia glanced towards Judd. With her eyes, she tried to communicate a plan. Flicking her eyes over towards the one on the left and then back towards Judd, she attempted to imply that Judd could handle the one on the left. Rayia would risk another lunge towards the one on the right. 'The little one might be a problem but assuming we can storm the hangar, we shouldn't have any trouble rushing one of the windships..." Rayia thought, only to wince as the pain in her legs throbbed once more. '...Okay, maybe some trouble," Rayia reevaluated, and shifted her weight to ease some of the weight on her injured legs.

But while she was deliberating, it seemed the smaller mechanic had spelled out the situation for the two guards and stomped through while the guards were letting them pass. Rayia blinked and met Judd's eyes as he craned down to glance at her. Having the mechanic in the room certainly made their job harder. But not impossible. After all, they would probably have to burst out of here anyway. 'It's not as if these snakes will hold the gate for you. I hope the windship will be strong enough to do that,' Rayia thought, studying the hanger's automated blast doors.

Rayia kept her voice to a similar whisper as she said, "Only one way to find out. Not like I can climb up there without the little one spotting me." Rayia then lifted one of her shoulders in a shrug. "But well, if there are, we'll just have to deal with it. I mean, what are the chances they can hear that tussle through the windship's hull."

 

[Judd]

"But well, if there are, we'll just have to deal with it. I mean, what are the chances they can hear that tussle through the windship's hull."

"I ain't got statistics for you," the Dowutin growled, his burning eyes boring into the ship ahead. "But we should probably go guns blazing. Better to do this quick."

With that, and one final glance at the Ugnaught across the hangar, Judd stomped up the ramp, ready to confront whoever was there. Revealing...

Nobody. The ship was empty. Judd halted his noisy assault, his eyes narrowing. "Lucky break," he grunted, after a moment. "Let's start this thing, and get going..."

The lights in the hangar around them started flashing red, an unbearable shrieking signalling the alarms going off on the pirate vessel. The captain's ship was protected. Obviously.

"...Fast. Get going fast."

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Rayia rolled her eyes at the Dowutin's gruff growl. The question had been rhetorical. Just something to fill the time so that Rayia could get her mind off the stinging pain from where she had strained her wounded legs. After all, they had no way to really check. But this wasn't the time for that. Rayia let herself be pushed forwards as Judd stormed up the ramp. She readied herself for what would obviously be a rather unpleasant discussion with the captain. After all, if the crew were this bad, that was only as a result of the captain. Like gathered like after all.

Rayia stopped in surprise as she found the ship to be empty. "You said it," She agreed as Judd pointed out this was a lucky break. It at least meant they didn't have to jump anyone in a mad scramble for control of the ship. Spotting a bench in the cargo bay, Rayia sank into it gratefully. "Merciful Illuna." She murmured, feeling much better now that she wasn't hobbling along on her re-opened leg wounds. At least until the alarm started going off.

Rayia's ears immediately flatted behind her as she grapped her hands over them. To her hyper-sensitive ears, the alarm was like a fog-horn directly in her ear. Her vision swam as she swayed, bumping her head into the side of the ship's hull. "Shut that off. Shut that off!" She cried, feeling her bones flexing as the beast within roared. The stabbing pain coursed through her head like a spike being rammed into her skull, and her beast was trying to protect her. But shifting now would be disastrous and Rayia grit her teeth and lifted her knees up to her chest to push her head into. She dug her nails into her seat as she felt her bones creaking and her teeth grinding against each other as they tried to grow and shift.

Meanwhile outside the ship, the Ugnaught had been lying under the turret when the alarm had gone off. In his surprise, he had jumped up and smacked his head against the heavy metal underside. A string of curses poured in through the open hatch of the captain's ship as the Ugnaut now muttering and grunting pulled himself out from the turret to peer around at what was going on. Seeing the flaring red lights, and hearing the alarm, his mouth dropped open for a few moments in shock as he comprehended what was happening. Then he went for his communicator, "This is Muk to the bridge. Muk to the bridge. The medic has taken the prisoner and is stealing the captain's shuttle. Seal off hanger A2. Quickly!"

 

[Judd]

"Shut that off. Shut that off!"

Judd was already storming towards the controls, his mad charge only hastened by the subtle dangerous undertones in Rayia's cries for silence. He'd seen what her other side could do to a pirate, and he'd rather not become lunch meat today.

Sitting down heavily in the captain's chair, a few button presses disabled the alarm, and began the engines, which smoked dangerously. They didn't exactly have the time to be gentle with the ship. Judd was able to maneuver towards the hangars, which had already begun to close. Judd pressed the comms, barking out a harsh warning. "Hold onto somethin'. And hold it together, please."

The ship rocketed out of the hangar, scraping the blast door on it's way out, causing the entire console to spark in protest. Judd swore in Dowut, fighting against the controls, as the captain's vessel took a nosedive towards Nar Shaddaa's surface.

"I know a good spot to land," he offered through the speakers, strain in his words as he focused on driving. He was a poor pilot, at best. "But it's gonna be a rough one. I think something bumped our stabilizers."

"Hopefully we get lost before they start chasing!"

Rayia Si ​

​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Rayia swayed as she continued to cradle her head. Now ringing from both the impact and the blaring siren, she groaned and collapsed heavily onto her side on the bench, maintaining her curled up position. She could hear Judd's thumping footsteps hurrying away and saw the burly Dowutin speeding deeper into the innards of the windship. She could only pray that the unyielding screech was soon silenced. Presumably, the controls would be at the helm. Claws raked her skin as she clutched tight to her own arms. She could feel the muscles and bones churning as they sought to reshape themselves as her beast half wrestled control from her conscious self. Fingertips alighted upon the scars upon her shoulders. The stinging pain of feeling her body try to reweave itself while in her condition bringing her back to the night she had earned those scars. The voice of her mother, summoned up from some spark of memory deep inside, growled in a commanding tone. "Discipline is the...virtue of the hunter." Rayia whispered to herself, echoing her mother's furious words the night she had cost her tribe a bountiful hunt in her rashness.

When finally the alarm was shut off, Rayia seemed to deflate. "T-thank you." She muttered, releasing her stranglehold upon her arms. Cautiously, she let her ears perk back up and immediately felt queasy as the windship jolted forwards. A shuddering impact as the nimble, luxury shuttle scraped against the blast doors threw her from the bench. Her tail retracted for safety as Rayia hit the deck with a whump, bracing herself with her forearms, so her head didn't collide with the metal plating. "Ow." She muttered then flexed her fingers. Rayia had some idea of where this was going. Using a portion of her beast half's strength, she dug her claws into the plating.

"You mean crash, don't you?" She coughed, failing to put any acerbic venom into her tone. He was right. When they landed... If they landed, they'd need to scatter from the landing sight rather quickly. She didn't doubt the captain's ability to trace the vessel. And even if he couldn't, the pirates could deploy the smaller windships to sweep the area. There would be quite a lot of smoke to this literal fire, after all.

 

[Judd]

"You mean crash, don't you?"

"...Yeah," the Dowutin relented, his brow lowering. "Yeah, I mean crash."

It would quickly become obvious to Rayia that Judd was an abysmal pilot. His hamfisted attempts at pressing the controls of a comparatively dainty ship only ended in pressing more buttons than he meant to, causing the engines to steam, and their trajectory to take a winding, erratic path as he overcorrected and undercorrected.

It wasn't long before they broke the atmosphere of Nar Shaddaa, and the literal fires began. Judd was practically yelling as they plummeted, winding the sailor through tall buildings, aiming for a secluded, crate-covered landing pad. Where they promptly crashed.

At least the interior of their ship hadn't been breached. But the outside wouldn't be winning any 'best in show' contests for a while. Judd cradled his forehead with a hand, groaning in pain. Then, he shot up, thundering towards the exit ramp. One good shove, and the door came off it's bent-in hinges. But instead of storming into the smog-covered evening, he hesitated. Waited for the Felacatian.

To make sure she was okay.

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

"Good." Rayia retorted weakly, attempting to deflate some tension with a joke "...You had me worried there." It helped distract her from feeling like she was being torn apart by the turbulence and the desire to shift. In all honesty, she was glad that Judd had told her the truth. Beyond the fact that she appreciated humility, it also let her prepare for the event. Fear was always more terrifying when it lurked in the shadows. Shining a light on it revealed things for what they truly were. And one could only fight the things one could see.

The Dowutin proved to be not the only one screaming as the shuttle began an aggravated tumult towards the planet's surface. Rayia roared, though the sound was lost within the thunderous thumping of her heart in her ears. Within the cargo hold of the shuttle, she was entirely removed from any visual indication of their direction. Her nails cut swathes in the deck plating as Rayia clung fiercely to the floor. Her shoulders shivered as the Felacatian huddled there, bringing her knees back up to her chest and securing footholds with her clawed toes as well. 'Please, just let it stop,' she groaned mentally, side hurting from where she found herself weightless before gravity violently reasserted itself. Crack. Rayia hit her head against the floor and her vision was enveloped in a pure, blinding light that was quickly snuffed out by an encroaching darkness.

---

Cracks and pops slithered from the smoke filled doorway as the Dowutin burst the door down. A silhouette seemed to linger there in the darkness, shivering as it swelled into view then vanished in the grey mist. Shoulders and spine snapped flattening and elongating as they assumed a new shape. Hands and feet turned into large paws, hiding massive, retractable claws capable of shredding durasteel. Bony armor plates covered the form, before soft glints of metallic spines like fur bristled into a new tawny orange and white pelt. Rayia's bestial form sulked out of the gloom quietly, ever muscle seeming to quiver with strain. Bloody bandages still covered most of her form, grown taut or shredding from the shift in mass. Shaky steps brought Rayia closer to the pile of crates cushioning their ship's impact outside. Occasionally, the battered Felacatian would miss a step and need to take a few reassuring breaths before continuing. Sharp feline pupils regarded Judd, but Rayia's bestial half showed no signs of hostility. In fact, she made as if to pass Judd by, collapsing on the crates stacked up outside whilst she continued to stare at him.

 

[Judd]

Oh.

Judd watched dumbly as... Rayia?... stepped out from the wreckage, slipping past him to escape the confines of the ship. There was a moment of thoughtless shock, before the Dowutin's face finally rested on some mix of fear and curiosity. This was what had carved up so many pirates. The bloodthirsty monster finally showed it's stripes.

Funnily enough, it seemed those stripes weren't so gut-slashingly horrible as Judd had feared. He was still alive, which was a good development.

With slow, cautious movements, the medic plodded out of the ship as well, making for a raised walkway leading away from the crash. He paused at the entrance again, turning back to the feline, seeing if it was still regarding him. Having regrown a rough expression, he jerked his head towards the walkway. He wasn't sure how much Rayia could understand, in this form. Whether or not the sound of his voice would set her off.

So he opted for body language. Something most creatures in this galaxy seemed fluent in. Once he knew she was following, or knew she was not, Judd would turn to the walkway, and make an escape further into the city.

It was time to find an alley.

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

The beast laid down on the hard steel crates that littered the landing pad. Staring up at Judd, she seemed to not care a whit about either the unabashed fear and curiosity in the Dowutin's face. A pooling warmth started to form on the top of the boxes as she continued to lay there. Warm breath mixed with the chilly air of the space port, creating a soft mist as Rayia closed her eyes for the briefest moment. Rayia was mentally aware of the strain that this transformation was putting on her injured body, but the thought lay buried in a mire of mental fog.

A thousand different sensations pulled at her all at once. Both familiar and foreign. Landing on the harsh, sprawling urban landscape that covered the entirety of Nar Shadda, or Narsh as the locals had taken to calling it, meant plunging into a sea of scents, like the throng of inhabitants whose unwashed scents pushed into each other and lingered upon the air. The sharp acrid kick of spice and the mustier scent of duracrete intermingled to form a earthy itch that tickled the back of Rayia's muzzle. That was to say nothing of the hushed voices and soft scraping sound of hurried feet. The presence of curious gazes and the feeling of the motions of people scuttling about on their illicit business. Rayia's tail prickled as she felt two clustered forms a few alleyways away grapple one another. The speed their motions displaced the air, and their direction indicated this as some sort of brawl. They rolled about the alleyway, until one finally lay twitching and stilled. The other one swept something up from the form on the ground and left quickly.

Beset by so many sensations, it was a good thing that Judd had opted for the simplicity of body motion. Rayia's tail prickled again, and the big feline beast focused on the familiar face as he moved, indicating that they should get out of here. The translation carried easily enough, and the beast slowly got to her feet. She was helped along by the fact that her perch wasn't all too comfortable. The boxes kept digging into her ribs. Rayia blurred as she raced after Judd. She braced herself as she neared the raised walkway. Her haunches tensed and suddenly she had pounced onto the wall near the walkway. Duracrete cracked beneath her as she made a secondary pounce that followed after Judd. Within two heartbeats, she had assumed a position behind the burly medic. Warm breath steamed around Judd before she gently bumped against him with her head. She continued now in a plodding pace behind her guide. She dared not use her speed for the fear of being lost within the unforgiving cityscape.

Sniffing towards the maze-like passageways that sprouted like the tangled roots of a tree around them, Rayia's eyes lit up as she saw a cluster of seemingly abandoned buildings leading down one alleyway. A corrugated metal fence seemed to separate them from the surrounding district and patches of the night sky could be faintly seen through their run down walls through the haze of illumination panels. Gently butting Judd with her head, she tilted her head towards the buildings as if to ask a question.

 

[Judd]

It was a little strange, walking alongside a predator.

Judd had never owned a pet. He didn't exactly have a history of caring for anything, anyone, other than Number One. But he had to admit, he liked the looks of fear people gave them as they walked through the streets of Narsh, giving the Dowutin and the Felacatian a wide berth. As if the colossus were walking an unleashed nexu through the streets.

Rayia seemed to play the part well, butting into his side to get his attention. Judd frowned at the fence, nodding. "Yeah," he grunted. "That'll do." With monstrous strength, the Dowutin jammed his claws into the corrugated fence, tearing a section down like so much tissue paper. Stepping over his handiwork, Judd approached the nearest building, taking a moment to force open the automatic door.

Inside was barren. Rusted metal, the smell of mildew, and only a few benches for decoration. Palming his heavy blaster, Judd posted up against a wall, facing the open doorway. They could rest here. At least, until the pirates assumedly stopped searching for them.

"Right." He glanced Rayia's way, ever cautious. "Not gonna kill me now, yeah?"

Rayia Si ​

 

[Rayia Si]

Judd

---

Rayia seemed to not care a whit that she was startling the passerby as she stalked down the street after the Dowutin. At least her bestial side didn't, considering the way she would occasionally wander over to a open window and peek her head inside. Soon enough, people were startled out of their fear and a wave of slamming windows preceded the pair down the more populated streets. As they turned into the abandoned alleyways and factory zone, Rayia was happy that Judd seemed to agree with her idea. A faint chuffing sound echoed from her broad chest as the 10ft tall, feline beast covered in a thick coat of bronzish and whitish metallic fur and bony armor-plates watched the Dowutin tear down the corrugated fence before stepping through.

Rayia looked at the frail pieces of metal that the Dowutin had so easily folded. One paw hovered in the air as a claw, capable of rending through durasteel hulls, seemed to almost lazily expand the hole with a series of sharp "Sniks!" Squeezing through, the Felacatian followed the Dowutin into the building. Rayia shook her head at the putrid scent of mildew wafting from the inside of the building but seemed to endure it. She tried to sit upon one of the benches only for it to crack and collapse under her weight. Unbothered, the large feline lay stretched out on the floor and gazed up at Judd as he leaned against one of the walls and kept a wary gaze on the alleyways and her.

Rayia answered his question with a tilt of her head as she lay on the floor. She seemed to be entirely unmoving except for her ears and tail which swayed back and forth as if scanning the surroundings. The old building creaked as the rumble of ships coming in to land passed overhead but Rayia had no way of knowing how to verify which were the pirates who were certainly going to be hunting them and which were other snakes simply here to indulge in the lawlessness of Narsh.

Eventually, if enough time passed without any incident, Rayia would close her eyes and the transformation would take place in the opposite direction. But that was assuming the pair weren't disturbed in the meantime...