A grim return

[Skeang]

Skeang walked back to his ship very angry. For all the work that had been done to keep so many captives alive and the numerous priceless artifacts he had decided not to smash he was only given 1400 credits. He met Sarvina and Jade back at the ship, he sighed telling them. "Well Jade all that crap is off our hands for good but for all that work we each only get 700 credits each."
Sarvina was about to speak up when Skeang said, "Sarvina and I will split my take of the bounty, not like I have anything to buy." He handed Sarvina the credits and watched her sprint off for food. Skeang looked into the ship to see the child who was still staring at its mother's unconscious body. He saw the mother began to stir.
"The mother appears to be waking up, take the child away from it quick."

[Natalya Thurinos]

She sighed at the news, raking her fingers through her scraggly, blood soaked hair as she muttered under her breath. “Shunfa… Another carbon flush.” But Natalya pocketed the credits, regardless. Glancing at the boy and his mother, she saw that she was indeed waking and moved to do as Skeang said. The child fussed as he was taken from his mother, squirming in her arms as he screamed. “C’mon, Skeang, why can’t he just see her?” The woman was growing weary and dealing with a kicking child was nearing the final straw.

[Skeang]

Skeang was about to explain but the mother did a better job herself screaming and moaning like someone was stabbing her.
"NoOOOOoooOO, Noooooo! Where master? WHere. you took the master took him!"
The woman began to swing at and throw whatever was near her. Skeang restrained her telling Jade. "The guy said these people came on there own they probably have been under control so long that there brains are fried without it. All she knows is that we showed up and she suddenly lost what was keeping her sane."
The mother began chewing on Skeang's hand trying to get him away. screaming, "I hear nothing in me, nothing. Where did it go it was wonderful!?!?!"
Skeang sighed, "Shes dangerous right now and I am not sure if there is a way to help her... I don't want to bring up anything too morbid but for all we know we might of killed the father of her child while we were in the process, this cult seems to treat there members like dogs enough. No point in asking the kid it seems to be in no way wise to any of this."

[Natalya Thurinos]

Natalya stared at the woman calmly. It was as though an addict was being deprived of their drug. This woman was nothing without it but an empty shell. The brunette slowly walked toward her, handing the crying boy to Skeang. She swallowed, setting a hand on the woman’s shoulder as she kneeled next to her, leaning forward to whisper.

“It’s painful, isn’t it? Makes you wish you were rather dead.”

The woman looked up at her with dull, watery eyes and Natalya could tell that she was far gone. “Yes…” she said suddenly, rocking on the ground, “Dead, dead, dead…” Her voice lilted into a childlike cadence and the slicer looked up at Skeang, motioning for him to turn the boy away.

“I’m sorry,” Natalya said quietly, “I am so very sorry.”

Taking up her vibroblade, she leaned forward to hug the bereft woman with one arm, cradling the mother’s face into her shoulder as she jerked the blade forward, plunging it into her throat. There was a slight struggle, but Natalya held her firmly, twisting the blade before thrusting once more. With a strangled gurgle, the boy’s mother went limp in her arms. She slowly laid the woman down on the ground and wiped the bloody dagger on her clothing, sheathing it once more. Looking down into the open eyes of the corpse, the brunette hesitated and then reached forward to lower the lids, muttering a Coruscanti phrase to let the dead rest in peace among the stars. Then she rose to her feet, grabbed Red, and started walking off.

[Skeang]

Skeang followed close behind with child in arms. He was able to sense signs of stress in Jade's breathing and heart rate. She was very quiet as he spoke.
"Don't just run off, I know killing can be tough but it was for her own good. Also.. I got no idea how these things work. I can't even tell children apart until they can talk."
He continued to follow her. He was thinking of the right words to say but found himself at a loss for words, mostly.
"Look can't you see how the last kid I picked up is? Sarvina will probably make this one turn out even worse. You don't have to take the kid all by yourself but don't leave it with me. You don't have a ship and we both are a tad short on money hang around with us til we can find out what to with this kid."

[Natalya Thurinos]

“Look,” she said, spinning around to face him, her expression a mixture of anger and anguish, “I am not a killer, Skeang. I know it’s easy for you, but for me to deprive this child of his mother…” She paused, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “I know you could have done it, but it didn’t seem right. I just… I don’t know..” Natalya hugged the DRK droid closely to herself, looking up at the Gen’dai sternly. With a sigh, her expression softened and she nodded.
“Alright. I’ll stick around a little while longer.” Pulling a wire from one of the pouches on her belt, she tied it around Red and then tied another loop, slinging it over one shoulder so that the droid was strapped precariously to her back.
“We can’t keep him,” she said while she put the sling together, “it will be difficult enough to feed Sarvina and me, let alone buy the supplies I need to fix Red and take care of a youngling. We’ll have to find a suitable home for him where they can take care of his… special needs. He won’t be a normal child.”
She reached out to take the boy from Skeang but the child clung to him tightly, refusing to go to Natalya. He was apprehensive of her and she sensed that somehow he knew what she had done. He had some sort of innate understanding that his mother was gone and it was her fault. The boy looked up at her and she turned away. She could not look into those eyes.
“Let’s find Sarvina and maybe get the boy something to eat. He’s probably hungry.”

[Skeang]

Skeang was not particularly good with emotions that didn't lead to violence but he knew sorrow when he saw it. He made an attempt at kindness patting Jade on the head telling her, "Well for the time being I will do the killing for you unless you can find some compelling reason to do it yourself. Sarvina is over this way lets go."

Skeang tracked down Sarvina in a flash, quickly relinquishing her from her much prized food. Giving what was left to the child, "Is there a name tag or something on this kid?" Skeang examined the kid for a minute when it dawned on him that he might have some force power within him. Skeang sensed and what he felt was weak but there was indeed something. "If this kid were a little older... we could have him live with my master but right now I would be too worried about its safety... My master is a tad eccentric.. I can't visit without being cut down the middle."
Sarvina who had bought even more food butted in, "How about we just hand him off to someone and run?"
Skeang sighed. "Do you have any idea? I have a friend who might actually know what to do with this kid but who knows where he is right now."

[Natalya Thurinos]

The pat on the head reminded Natalya of Vartu; Skeang was doing a lot of that lately. She looked up at him solemnly and nodded, walking next to him with her hands inside her pockets. That was when Natalya realized that she was actually on Coruscant, the planet that she was born and raised on. Memories flooded her mind of playing in the busy streets with her brothers and stealing to survive.

Her eyes narrowed and she calmly slipped her hands from her pockets, gaging the street’s inhabitants. Just then, she spotted a portly man who was richly dressed walking in their direction. She could see the weight in his blazer pocket. Moving a bit away from Skeang, she purposefully bumped into the man, her hand quickly darting into his pocket and grabbing the pouch full of credits, placing it into her own. The woman even daringly switched hands in the process, none of it seen by the average onlooker unless they were watching very closely. She uttered a plethora of apologies to the man, bowing away with a feigned look of surprise and embarrassment. As soon as he turned back around and continued on his way, she rejoined Skeang, falling into step with him as though nothing had happened. So she still had the magic touch. That was satisfying, at least.

When they met up with Sarvina, she shook her head in disagreement to the whole conversation. She suddenly interjected, quietly but firmly. “We’re going to call him Jaen. Unless there are any objections, he needs a name because we can’t just keep calling the poor pateesa ‘him.’” She shot Skeang a glance. “Or ‘it.’ Now, we are not going to give him to just anyone on the street. I know this place and they’d probably just exploit him for some kind of work. It’s karked up, but welcome to my home.” It tasted weird to call the planet home. Sour, almost. She continued.

“We need credits, yes? I mean, Sarvina and Jaen gotta eat somehow. Maybe I’ll try my hand at a sabacc game. Been a while, but I think I’d fare well. Think you two can handle the kid until I get back?”

[Skeang]

Skeang grabbed Jaen putting him on his shoulder and wrapping a muscle or two around him to keep him from falling off. He told Jade to go do whatever she wanted to do but he sent Sarvina with her telling Jade that "She has ways of exploiting money out of idiots."
He walked back to his ship thinking for a bit. The kid pulled on his muscle tissue giggling as it played with it. Skeang realized when he got to his ship that the mother was starting to stink up the place. He wrapped his muscles over the child's eyes while he cleaned up the mess, he was unsure how smart the creature on his shoulder was but it felt wrong to expose him to the corpse of someone he loved. "So Jaen how about we find you a safer home then my shoulder?"
He tried to get a hold of Lents sending a message to his ship.
[Hey Lents I got an interesting thing right here that I could really use your help with I can head out wherever you might be I just need a jedi for this.]

[Natalya Thurinos]

“Alright, c’mon Sarvina.” She nodded to Skeang, looking at Jaen for a moment before turning on her heel and heading off, curious to see how she would double the credits she stole. Her eyes scanned the lit signs, suddenly acutely aware of her appearance. I must look like death, she thought, looking down at her torn, muddied, and blood caked clothes. Her ankle no longer sent sharp pains throughout her leg with each step, but it was now throbbing dully and she could tell by the way it fit in her boot that it was swollen. Hobbling through the streets she received strange glances from the high and mighty who steered clear of the street vrelt. She could tell by the look in their eye that they must have thought poverty was catching; oh, how she knew that look all too well. Natalya stepped into a middle class cantina that had an advert for sabacc in glowing green letters and made a beeline for the restroom. Once inside, she stared into the mirror, hardly recognizing herself. Her hair hung in knotted strands, greasy and unkempt, clumps matted together with dried blood from her head wound which was a visible bump at the crown of her head, mottled purple and yellow peeking out from her hairline. Her eyes were dark and sunken, surrounded by bruises and cuts that were already dried. One cut in particular streaked across her right cheek in a straight line. Her head swam as she tried to remember how she received each and every one of these wounds, fingers deftly reaching to turn on the sink faucet. After washing her face, the brunette leaned forward and tossed her hair into the water, clenching at it to wash out the blood and sweat. A female Sullustan entered, took one look at Natalya, and left. It stung, rinsing out the cuts, but it had to be done. She had to be semi presentable so as to not raise any suspicion. When she was finished, she swung her head back, wet hair showering droplets all over the ceiling and floor, and looked at herself in the dripping mirror. Although her hair was wet, she looked cleaner than before and figured it was good enough. The woman raked her fingers through her tresses with a sigh, staring into her own tired eyes. Not wanting to waste any more time, she turned, picking up the droid she had left at the door, and walked back out into the cantina.

Natalya looked over and found that Sarvina had already begun occupying herself with two young men in uniforms and headed over to an unoccupied chair at one of the three sabacc tables, tossing forward a couple of credit chips to buy her way in. She received her first hand and looked over at her other four opponents, arching a brow. There were two uniformed men - one human and the other some sort of near-human species she couldn’t put her finger on - , a female Rodian, and a male Bothan. She placed one of her cards into the force field and smiled, tossing in another chip. “Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

[Natalya Thurinos]

The first couple hands had gone remarkably well and she eyed the growing sabacc pot greedily. By winning the past two hands, she had already increased her revenue, but she was looking to win big tonight. She glanced at the cards as their values suddenly shifted at the dealer’s roll, her heart leaping into her throat. She knew she had the winning hand at this point and raised the bet. The Rodian on her left folded, followed by one of the officers. The other raised, staring at Natalya intently as he threw in the chips. The Bothan called the raise grudgingly; he obviously had a hand that was borderline but decided to go in. The slicer called without hesitation and the cards were turned. By one point, her cards were superior to the officer. She smiled and took the hand pot with a shrug.

“You’re using a skifter, aren’t ya?” He chuckled. She glared at him.

“Of course not. I have too much respect for the game to cheat.”

“You’re obviously desperate though.” The man sat back in his chair, waiting for the cut before the dealer handed out the cards. He glanced at his cards and tossed in a couple of credits. Natalya didn’t like the tone he was taking with her. She looked at her cards. It was a bomb. Deciding to play her luck, however, she called.

“This talk helping your hands at all, mister?” She added bitterly, “Sure didn’t in the last round.”

He went quiet and they continued the game in silence until the near-human soldier muttered something to his partner about missing some sort of trial. The smug one shrugged a shoulder and grinned, responding that pretty girls and gambling were much more important.

The Bothan went all in, but lost the hand. He left the table with a scowl.

The quieter soldier ended up losing terribly in the next round and he was the next to leave the table, telling the other uniformed human that he was going to get an ale and talk to ‘that Zeltron babe over there.’ Natalya swallowed, but did not say anything.

At last, the Rodian bombed out and it was down to Natalya and the male soldier. After the cut, Natalya picked up her cards and looked at them, raising the pot. The soldier also raised and the dealer rolled the die. It came up a 4 and a shift occurred. The woman nearly cried out in surprise. She had a three of staves and the Idiot. Her fingers twitched as she tapped the table for the drawing of another card, holding her breath. If she could pull this off, this meant she would not only win the hand, but the entire sabacc pot. She picked up the card dealt to her and went numb.

“All in,” she breathed quietly. The soldier watched her closely. Her heart pounded against her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently. If this was not done quickly, the cards would change and she would lose her hand. The dealer rolled the die. It was a 2 - the cards remained the same. The soldier called all in, smiling grimly.

“Looks like you’re gonna lose all those creds,” he said with an air of conceit, “Listen, if you want we can find a place quieter than this and I’ll buy you dinner. Maybe after we can go to this hotel I know of not too far from here.”

She looked at him cooly, remaining silent. She wanted to kill him, but now was not the time. The dealer called for the two players to show their cards and they laid them down on the table. There was a hush among the spectators as they saw the value of the cards. The dealer looked at the uniformed man’s cards.

“Ace of sabres, 10 of sabres, and Queen of Air and Darkness. 23, pure sabacc.”

The dealer then glanced over at Natalya’s cards, arching a brow before calling out her total.

“3 of staves, 2 of staves, and The Idiot. Idiot’s Array beats pure sabacc. Winner of both the hand pot and the sabacc pot.” He gestured toward Natalya and there was a faint sound of applause. It had been a gutsy move, but she had won 10,000 credits in the outcome. She released an explosive breath that she had been holding and collected her winnings. Turning toward the soldier, she shrugged a shoulder and arched a brow.

“Looks like you’ve lost all those creds,” she said darkly. His jaw dropped and she walked off to find Sarvina.

[Eth Erzin]

Lents' message flew through the reaches of space back to Skeang.

I'm happy to help, but I'm tied up right now. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Should be no more than a day, two tops.

[Skeang]

Skeang sent a message back to Lents as soon as he could. [Alright then I have come into the possession of a child and I think the safest place for him is at an enclave. He is force sensitive, and I sort of killed both his parents. His dad was part of the same group that was impersonating the empire, and his mother was brain dead and beyond help. Ill talk to you more when you free up I'm on Coruscant.]
Skeang sighed Jaen on his shoulder had fallen asleep he looked around to see what had changed. He knew he was wanted on this planet but with such a large city he was easily able to hide his ship near where he would stay when work was scarce. He looked up his bounty he was so shocked by the number on his head that he nearly let his posture falter long enough for Jaen to fall off. Skeang started eyeing the crowd worried that someone would notice him, he made his cloak cover as much of himself as he could rushing back to the ship as fast as he could.

[Natalya Thurinos]

Realizing that she had not eaten in days, Natalya slipped up to the bar to order a Corellian spiced ale and a plate of nerf sausage with flatbread on the side. As soon as the plate was set in front of her, she ate ravenously, pausing only to gulp down the ale, foam running down her chin. A few of the patrons sitting at the bar watched her, staring unabashedly. They had no idea what she had been through in the past couple of… Her eyes glanced toward a holoscreen above the bar, searching for a date among the swoop racing scores that were currently posted. Adding up the days in her head, she shoved the rest of the flatbread into her mouth, chewing. Eleven days, a week and a half.

Wiping her chin with the back of her hand, she finished off the ale and sat back in her seat, staring at the screen as though it would solve all her problems. Suddenly, a newsvid flashed onto the screen, giving information for two wanted criminals. The word “Gen’dai” rang in her head and she was suddenly sitting at the edge of her stool, staring intently at the message with her face in her hands, fingers pressing against her lips tightly. No… No, no, no, no… Natalya looked over her shoulder, scanning the cantina for Sarvina, but could not find her. Her gaze shot back to the holoscreen, watching intently as a serial was rattled off followed by a description. There was no mistake, this was Skeang, the very Gen’dai she was traveling with. Quietly slipping from her seat, Natalya placed the correct amount of credits onto the counter and headed towards the door. She needed fresh air.

Once outside, she leaned against the side of the cantina, bent over with her hands on her knees. Sarvina was suddenly at her side. “Why didn’t anyone bother telling me?”

Her hands moved up to her face, massaging her temples as she started pacing. “We need to head back to the ship and let Skeang know that it isn’t safe to stay here.”

[Skeang]

Skeang had taken refuge in his ship with Jaen waiting for his companions to return with money. Jaen however was being a bit uncooperative to this idea, he had nearly fallen out of the open door of the ship 4 times and Skeang was starting to get curious. He picked up Jaen examining him. Skeang had never been good with kids, telling them apart was problematic until they started talking and he was beginning to understand that Jaen was incapable of high level thought. He held Jaen up in the air speaking to him "I like the way you do things, willingness to risk falling from this ship just to see what is outside. Not to mention openly defying someone clearly larger and stronger then you. Its takes guts."
He then extended his arm outside the ship so that Jaen could look around, Skeang reeled him back in setting him down on Sarvina's chair where Jaen then fell asleep. Skeang sat in the ship continuing to wait for Sarvina and Jade.

(GAAAAAH i typed one twice this long last night but the forum didnt post it)

[Natalya Thurinos]

[[ Aww, bummer. :< ]]

She walked briskly back the way they had came, looking around every now and then to see if they were being followed. At the sight of the ship, she was overcome with relief and leapt into the open door, holding onto the frame so she wouldn’t fall back out again. “Skeang, there are vids on the holonet for your arrest.” Natalya glanced into the chair Jaen was in and saw that he was asleep. She lowered her voice, “You didn’t tell me you had… a past here on Coruscant. How much longer are we going to be staying here? I don’t feel like it’s really that safe.” The woman looked over her shoulder outside. The coast was still clear, but for how much longer? “They’ll recognize your ship.”

[Skeang]

Skeang stood up stretching himself for a few seconds before saying. "I saw it just a little while ago its not a huge fear for me. Its way too easy to hide something on this planet but if you are worried we can head out. I think I know what to do with Jaen over there but we got a bit of time to kill. Any ideas on what we should do?"

[after all that getting deleted i dont feel like typing too much >_>]

[Natalya Thurinos]

Exhaling, Natalya simply nodded her head. "Well, it's good that you knew. Didn't want you disappearing on me." She laughed nervously and reached over to brush her fingers through Jaen's hair. "Poor kid. At least you found a good place for him."

She didn't ask where or with whom he was ending up - she didn't want to know. The child stirred in his sleep, reaching up to grab Natalya's hand. Biting her lower lip, she perched herself on the chair's armrest and ran her fingers up and down the boy's cheek. The poor thing was an orphan, like them all.

She sighed. "We can stay here for a little while longer. I still have to buy some parts to fix my droid. Here," Letting go of Jaen's hand, she reached into an inner pocket of her jacket, producing her sabacc winnings. "Won a game. You are all entitled to this as much as I am."

[Skeang]

Skeang sat down, "Alright get your stuff I will keep an eye out for anyone who might want to cause us trouble."

[im out of ideas]

[Skeang]

Skeang shook the cobwebs off for a moment to say. "We are so relaxed and unprovoked right now would be the perfect time for something random to catch us off guard. Sooooo... Know any jokes?"