Three Measures Of Blood

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=14pt]En Route to Korriban[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Hyperspace[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Late Morning[/SIZE]


She ran her natural hand absently over the back of her Tuk’ata’s head, its blue-black skin cool and dry to the touch. The animal had been one of four she’d captured with the help of another hunter and its taming had been extraordinary. It was less a test than a bonding – it had been a ‘puppy’ then and much more apt to listen to her suggestion. It had grown in to something magnificent and bestial, her companion in battle on multiple occasions, and now once more.

Daydreaming, she drifts – it was a habit, a knee-jerk reaction to a view of the stars she rarely even realized she was succumbing to. (After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast, terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. Quiet, lurching from the waves without sound, an oil-slick predator with a hunger it had waited years to satiate.) A mentalist was prone to spending too much time in their own head, an obsession with the mind that could lead to detrimental distraction if left unchecked. Matsu had made it her life’s work to understand and protect her own, and manipulate others without breaking a sweat.

But she also liked taking a break to hunt down beasts, a spot of thrill-seeking to supplement her work for her faction and the traveling she did to slake her curiosity. Travel was her means to sate the adrenaline-junkie in her, the one piece of her old self she’d retained after losing her arm. (She’d been fire before, but now she was ice – a lake to drown yourself in.)

Pulling herself from inside her own reveries she moved towards the bridge of the ship. She’d agreed to go directly to Korriban with the stranger though perhaps it was not the most prudent move to board a completely foreign man’s ship. But she was familiar with Korriban – far too many memories in fact – and knew the ground, and should he choose to stab her in the back in space she’d find a way to her small stealth ship after making him a neat and tidy package for disposal. (Come now Matsu, so unfair! You don’t know him. Maybe he’s a stand-up gentleman.)

When she moved on to the bridge she made a short sweep of her surroundings, her pet prowling slowly next to her though she noticed it caught sight of the man she’d met only briefly when they met up in Guild space . They’d traded names and he’d given her the basic layout of his ship before they’d parted ways, a rest before their job.

Her tuk’ata, full-grown and imposing, padded along the bridge only to pause and give [member="Jorzen Quank"] a long look. Matsu was…intrigued. The creature wasn’t known for his consideration – you were either someone Matsu considered a friend, or meat for him. But he seemed to watch the man as if Quank was someone he recognized, perhaps even drawn to. She came to stand closer, a voice like sea-glass, as quiet and calm as she appeared. “It seems you’ve made friends with Qi-Lin.” The tuk’ata lowered on its haunches, lying beside the two of them as if to confirm.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.​

 

[Jorzen Quank]

[SIZE=14pt]En Route to Korriban[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Hyperspace[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Late Morning[/SIZE]


Jorzen reached back absently to scratch the tuk'ata behind the ears, as if it were some sort of lap animal rather than one of the more fearsome creatures in existence, at least for its size. He felt no anger, no pain in the beast; Jorzen knew it was content with this petite, almond-eyed beauty who exuded shadow.

"I have a way with animals," he replied with a small smile. It wasn't a boast; Jorzen saved that for telling stories of the hunt, a remnant from his time among the Tusken Raiders. Long nights were spent bragging about personel prowess and drinking heavily of urn-brewed spirits. A way to pass the time, to unwind after a long march, or to gear oneself up for the next day's hunt. Memories of Jawas laying lifeless below his bantha or being impaled upon his gaffi stick came back to him unbidden but without remorse. No time for that, he chided himself, making a slight correction to their course.

"Are your quarters okay? Need anything? We're only twenty six hours out from Korriban." The beast hunter toggled a switch on the cockpit panel and rose from the pilot's chair. "Auto pilot's engaged. We should be good for the next six hours, then I'll check the nav and make some corrections."

Moving past his new partner, Jorzen headed back towards the kitchen. "So thanks for coming along. Figured for my first contract I could use a partner, especially with someone who knows their way around a tuk'ata. Thought about going for the Krayt, you know? But if I mess that one up Mrrew's not going to be as likely to hand me anything else."

Now in the kitchen, Jorzen hit a button on a battered and dingy but still functional kaf brewer. "Want some?" he asked, pointing a thumb at the device. "Blue milk? Something stronger?"

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

A way with animals.

It was a brushing-off of something obviously much greater that was either a grab at keeping himself under the radar or he simply didn’t realize he had a talent. She wasn’t going to pry though she could, but she watched Qi-Lin anyway as he followed Jorzen with his eyes.

The whisper of Quank’s thoughts he’d rather not attend to fluttered in to the air, motes of emotion she imagined like dust. She was no mind-reader despite her proclivity for other people’s heads – hearing their thoughts required concentration and it was rarely an effort she expended without proper motive. It was, perhaps, her one rule not to enter other people’s minds unless they gave her a reason. (The reason was variable, and whether it was a good reason was certainly up for debate.) She listens quietly, perhaps a moment too long, contemplating what he might be shoving away before paying attention again.

She was handy in battle with small starfighters, but her piloting capabilities stopped there. She couldn’t chart long journeys through space for anything and was glad to see that he appeared to have things under control as he explained his plans for the next twenty-six hours or so.

A long stretch to get to know someone in tight quarters.

“My quarters are fine, thank you,” she said quietly, looking back out at the stars again. It was obvious upon first seeing Matsu that she was a woman used to fine things. She had been born to fairly wealthy parents and had only made herself richer along the way working for her Master in his myriad companies and pulling multimillion-credit jobs for the Beast Hunters’. But despite the clothes and the haute demeanor she was comfortable just about anywhere. Jorzen could have given her a shoebox and she would most likely have slept like a baby. “Have you been to Korriban before?”

Following slowly behind as he trailed to the kitchen, she offered a small smile when he mentioned Mrrew’s possible reluctance should he have failed, revealing a peek of her fangs. “He’s rather fair, Mrrew. A friend of mine went on a hunt with me for an Exogorth – it nearly destroyed one of his ships, tore apart the interior of the hangar almost irreparably. But I still got paid, and he doesn’t seem to be glaring at me when I meet with him. So maybe if this goes well you could go after that Krayt. Oh, and kaf is fine.”

It was only a moment before the cup was in her hands, warm against her fingertips as she gave him a nod of thanks. The first sip was strong, dark – just the way she liked it.

“What were you thinking about before?” she asked abruptly, her expression unchanging as she watched him through the steam rising off her drink, as if she hadn’t just asked something extremely personal. She considered intrusions a form of research, a test of her ability to read others based on the color of their emotion. And she liked a game of quid pro quo, question for question if he had something to ask.

[member="Jorzen Quank"]​

 

[Jorzen Quank]

"Before?" asked Jorzen, pulling the mug from his lips. "What, back in the cockpit? Oh, right." He pointed to his partner's lightsaber and smiled. "Good thing I was keeping my thoughts pure." He paused for a moment, taking another sip. "I was just remembering. Different hunts, different circumstances. I spent most of my youth as something of an unwilling guest of the Tusken Raiders on my home planet, Tatooine. They caught me out and decided I was perfect to join their ranks." The beast hunter knew that if Matsu could read his emotions she'd pick up the complexity of that statement. "Ever meet a jawa? Filthy creatures. Scavengers and thieves. And murderous. A lot of people don't know that. Those big sandcrawlers of theirs, a lot of them came from the Tuskens to begin with, and they're kitted out pretty well. Lots of space to hide things." He shrugged. "My tribe and I reduced their population by a few dozen. Sometimes I wonder why it doesn't bother me, but then I realize that the only difference between Jawas and danchafs is that Jawas are better with money. Anyway. The whole lightsaber thing. I don't imagine a Jedi Knight would be in the business of monster hunting. How do you find yourself in a ship that smells like disinfectant, kaf, and animal storage on your way to Korriban? And no, never been."


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

She offered a half-turn smirk when he pointed out her lightsaber. It wasn’t usually something she kept on display, preferring anonymity to mask what she was capable of, but he might be unusually perceptive or noticed it within the folds of her dress while she moved.

Tatooine – a dreadful planet to grow up on in any circumstances she’d imagine, but even worse captured and forced in to a less-than-human lifestyle. It would harden anyone she suspected, and wondered not for the first time who this man actually was. His answer to her question – easy, divulging his thoughts without hesitation to a near-stranger – had puzzled her. Most clung to their minds with a ferocity she found amusing, endearing. It was the one place most were safe from others, free to think what they wanted without fear of repercussion. They usually did not answer her so easily. She filed away his story for later, more than eager to see how his life so far would affect how he hunted their prey.

The smirk returned to a casual smile when he mentioned he couldn’t see a Jedi in the Guild. “On the contrary, my regular hunting partner is a Jedi Knight by the name of Matsu Ike. I’ve found the Guild attracts all types. As for myself, I crave adrenaline – anything to get my blood pumping. And the credits are a nice bonus.” She was not foolish enough to admit what she was, even if it seemed it wouldn’t really matter to him one way or the other. (She’d done terrible, terrible things – the Holonet could tell him that.)

“I think I’m going to go throw some dead womprats around in your hangar for Qi-Lin to catch. You can get me on my comms if you need me,” she said, turning and beckoning the Tuk’ata who gave Quank one last quizzical look before following in hopes of a meal.

___________________________________________​

[SIZE=14pt]26 hours later…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Korriban, Touching Down[/SIZE]


The planet looked just as red and dust-bowl as usual, a place that made absolutely clear from the get-go that it had given over to what it used to be – a haven for the Sith, and now a tomb for some of its most powerful. She’d been many times, the last on a trip in to one of the Temples for an artifact known as the Ravager. She’d let a man sacrifice himself to protect her then, watched his face crumple under the blow of a stone-statue brought to life by Sith Magic. He was out there somewhere in the Galaxy, broken and disfigured instead of her.

She hadn’t liked him in the end anyway.

Somewhere in the last day cycle she’d changed in to something more practical for hunting, tight clothes and a pair of boots on her feet, her alchemical sword at her side. The Force was her primary weapon and as a sith magic practitioner, Sithspawn would be an (almost) easy capture.

Turning to look at Quank as they touched the surface, she gave him another small smile. “Ready?”

[member="Jorzen Quank"]​

 

[Jorzen Quank]

Jorzen nodded, but could feel the planet pressing on him, like a sudden change in atmospheric pressure, if such a thing could effect one's emotions. As he headed for the exit, he shouldered one of the Chiru tranqulizer rifles he'd borrowed from the Guild's weapon store, as well as his own weapons: a Tusken gaffi stick, six flash grenades, and a heavy blaster holstered on his right side in a cross-draw holster.

The air outside was hot, oppressive, and everything seemed to be tinged in scarlet, as if the planet itself was huddled beneath a blanket of scabs. A distant howl echoed off of a nearby ravine, and Jorzen heard what sounded like a small avalanche somewhere in the middle distance.

As he raised the landing ramp and locked up the Ark, he looked over his shoulder at [member="Matsu Xiangu"]. "Is Qi-Lin going to help us track?"

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Korriban was a planet that, to any even marginally force-sensitive being, would drain you without a connection to the dark side. It was a place that had known Sith for too much of its history to be anything but a void. And yet even now it hadn’t seen half the things planets like Dromund Kaas or Malrev. Those places were a nexus, a path to something that you couldn’t turn back from.

Regardless, it seemed a funny thing to be musing about when she heard his question. Tapping her tongue against one of her fangs she considered her answer, knowing that honesty would lead him to the truth of the matter and finding she didn’t really care. “Yes. He can sense them, and so can I,” she said quietly. She could have glossed over the issue, left out the part where Sithspawn would have a more natural affinity to listen to her as not only a Sith, but a practitioner of the very magic that brought the first Tuk’ata to life. In truth, he had picked the right woman to bring along on the job with him if he was looking for a partner that would make his maiden hunt with the Guild a smooth experience.

The atmosphere of the planet seemed to swallow sound, the gritty feeling of the dirt beneath their feet almost inaudible as they moved along. The Tuk’ata tended to congregate around Sith temples and death houses, guarding the tombs of the masters that had created them with that very intention. It wasn’t long, comparatively speaking, before they came along a strand of temples arranged in an impressive, expansive circle. Qi-Lin seemed to slow, adopting an expression of curiosity. Matsu had captured him when he was still a ‘puppy’, keeping him along with one of his brothers to gift to her friend Kesare. He had not been without the company of his own species, a kindness Matsu had been sure to afford him, but sensing others like him in the wild must have been a foggy memory.

“Go Qi,” she said softly, a brush of intention in his mind sending him off to catch the attention of whatever awaited them.

Quank had the instruments to capture one of the spawn, and she considered their options, turning her head to him for his input. “If he brings back more than one, I can control the others long enough for you to capture the one you deem best. Does this sound good to you?”

[member="Jorzen Quank"]​

 

[Jorzen Quank]

Jorzen had to fight to stay focused; Korriban's dark energy was penetrating him like a chill fog, clouding his senses and pressing against reason. He thought he could hear voices whispering to him from the crimson shadows, saw flashes of movement in the periphery of his vision that had his head snapping this way and that.

"What?" he asked, trying to focus. He noticed his breath was coming quickly, as if he'd been running. "Uh, yes. Fine. Which way is he going?" The beast hunter hadn't been watching as Matsu sent her pet off on its hunt. "Give me a second," he requested, holding up a hand before she could reply.

He looked at the ground and found a stone. Nothing special, just a rock that happened to be laying in front of him. He took a deep breath and cast his mind out, focusing on that one small thing, that thing that had no energy of its own, a dead spot in the chaos. It was something Jorzen had taught himself to do when feeling overwhelmed. He would tether himself to one spot and reach out from this anchor.

It's all too much, he realized. The dark Force energy would consume him and burn him as it did, like a lit match dropped in a fuel tank. He swallowed hard, fighting a momentary panic, not daring to meet Matsu's gaze. He knew if he let go of the anchor he'd be lost. Just this, he told himself. Unwilling to lose himself to fear and the unwavering hatred around him, he tentatively reached out with his Force Sense to touch his partner. She too was part of this darkness, he felt, but not lost in it. He shifted his focus from the dead rock to the living woman. She could ground him here, at least for now.

"I'm...I think I'm okay," he said, wiping sweat from his eyes and biting back his soul's nausea. He forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I think I hate this place."

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Her expression was languid as she watched him waver, considering it something of a science experiment as he worked to find his place within the tides of the planet’s struggle. Matsu was meant to be here, would be buried in the darkness when she finally blessed the world with her disappearance, and felt nothing of the sickness that affected him. She could experience its effects through her ability to read him however, and found his tactic of focus interesting. She did much the same. She knew many that flared outwards with their power, exhausting themselves or obfuscating their ability to use the Force in huge displays of unnecessary power. His method was far more effective – sip, do not guzzle. Control.

She felt him reaching out clearly and stiffened, expecting him to try and break in to her mind for answers about one thing or another. But instead she was surprised to find it felt more like…a settling point, like an ethereal gesture of using her shoulder for support. It was the first time in a long time she'd been counted as a light in a dark tunnel.

“What is here cannot hurt you unless you let it,” she said, offering him a piece of advice an old Master had spoken to her on her first time near a dark side nexus. This place could destroy Jedi, sap them of their strength and all the hope and clarity that gave them what they called power. Most said being Sith was doing everything the Jedi stood against, but Matsu had learned from Masters of the craft that it was no different. Sith fed on hatred and anger and fear, but they still did it with a sense of clarity, a sense of ‘following the current’. (Let it take you. It’s easier if you don’t fight. And the oasis at the end is perfect.)

She felt Qi-Lin returning only moments later, surprised at how quickly he’d managed to find and return with other tuk’ata. However, the reasoning quickly became apparent when he sprinted around a corner, the angry snarls of enraged sithspawn following him.

They knew he was different.

She eyed the largest one in the pack, barreling in front of the rest with the dark side roiling behind his eyes. “We can leave this place soon, as long as we get out of this in one piece,” she quipped, though she didn’t sound particularly concerned. “I can hold them off.” Taking a step forward she judged the timing between Qi-Lin and the first pursuer before reaching out and pinching the air, hardening it in a telekinetic push that lasted a mere few seconds – just long enough to stop the tuk’ata they weren’t interested in to a dead-halt as they all crashed against it, snarling and snapping once they refocused their attention on the Sith.

[member="Jorzen Quank"]​

 

[Jorzen Quank]

What is here cannot hurt you unless you let it, thought Jorzen, or an angry pack of tuk'ata. Still, the sudden danger pushed the feelings of dread and darkness away, flushed out of his systems with a rush of adreneline.

He watched as [member="Matsu Xiangu"] reached out, allowing only Qi-Lin and the largest pursuing beast through, and running straight towards him. Without thinking, the beast hunter unshouldered the tranquilize rifle, clicking off the safety with his thumb, but rather than trying to raise it and fire in a panicked rush, Jorzen simply took a large step to his right and turned himself ninety degrees to present the smallest possible target.

What happened next was astounding. Had anyone been watching, it would have seemed that the man simply vanished as he turned. For the tuk'ata, Qi-Lin never broke stride, just continued to run. The pursuer, who had been tensing its hindquarters to leap at the bearded morsal, checked up, it's clawed paws skidding on the hardscrabble earth, it's head snapping this way and that.

Jorzen knew that he had only moments before the beast ignored its eyes and trusted its sense of smell. Taking a deep breath, he raised the rifle, eyeing down the site and reappearing behind and to the side of the tuk'ata. As the Sith hound turned, he exhaled and pulled the trigger, sending a drug-filled dart into the creature's neck. He pulled the trigger two more times, hitting the hound just above and then just below the initial dart. The tuk'ata threw its head to the side, trying to locate the source of the sudden pain, and managed to bite one of the darts, which had the added effect of putting the toxin directly into its mouth. Jorzen backed up quickly, reaching into a belt pouch for one of his flash-bang grenades in case the creature needed a bit more convincing.

"The prey is tagged!" called the hunter, not taking his eyes off of the staggering beast. "How's it going with you?"

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

She caught his movements out of the corner of her eye, a mix of general fighting practice to make oneself a smaller target (nice) and force-manipulated patterning (very nice) that had the Tuk’ata stuttering its movement just long enough to make itself an easier target. It was an efficient and neat little trick that she liked quite a bit. She often did something much the same when fighting others in combat.

For her part, she had six tuk’ata to hold back. Her pressing of the atoms in the air to form a wall only held for a moment against the Force of six huge creatures and after that she had her work cut out for her with six angry sithspawn. These were animals that had been created and raised specifically to guard the tombs of some of the most feared force-users that ever roamed the Galaxy, laid to rest with their most precious and dangerous artifacts. They were not like to be scared or chased off by a few tricks of the Force.

Animals were inherently more difficult to tap in to as their minds did not work the same way as a human’s. The in’s-and-out’s of their synapses and connections were unfamiliar. But at least in this she had the advantage of understanding their creation, and she was one of those they set out to guard…even if her heart was still beating.

Regardless, she swept the touch of her mind out across the group and released, a black oil-slick of nothing seeping out of her mouth to fill the air. It sucked the sound from around them, deafening them. It took their sight as it blotted out the sun. And then she shifted the entire scene, crafting an image of herself and Quank directly behind the Tuk’ata. For a moment they appeared confused but quickly turned to give chase and Matsu made the illusions of herself and her partner disappear behind one of the tombs. When the rest of the unwanted creatures disappeared she let out a sigh and released the vision. It had taken some energy to affect the minds of six animals simultaneously, but after a moment she righted herself and heard Quank’s question.

“Well done,” she said, nodding in answer to his question and watching the beast as it turned to wobble towards the man who’d shot it. It made it about ten paces before it slumped over in a puff of wind-blown dust.

It didn’t take them long between Matsu lifting the beast and carrying it through the air and the fact that they hadn’t landed far from where they’d caught their quarry, to get back to the ship and load the beast in its cage before it started to come to. She turned to look at Quank, smiling slightly and revealing her fangs. “Nice and easy, just as it should be. You’ll be just fine in the Guild.” She felt the ship humming as it lifted for take-off, back towards Headquarters to drop off the animal and get their money in exchange.

[member="Jorzen Quank"]​