A Forced Hand

[Talus Morid]

Shadowport - Unnamed Freighter

"Just keep the ship steady." His voice was a bare rasp, a tell of how infrequently he actually spoke. His fingers were wrapped tightly around the handle of the knife, his face impassive as he held onto the seat he was standing behind. The blade stuck close to the woman's skin, pressing into her neck but not with force to cut into her. "Anything else will see your throat cut."

This was the most that he had said to her so far, the most that he had to.

The last few weeks Talus had been doing nothing but running. He had stowed away on a dozen ships, moved through shipping containers and vessels carrying cargo. This time he'd needed to do something else. The Shadowport had presented him with a better opportunity, a way to get back home with no more delay. Instead of hopping from world to world he had decided to steal a ship and head right to Kiffu.

Of course the only problem had been he had no idea how to fly.

That was a problem he'd solved however, the solution being the young woman sitting in the pilots chair right in front of him.

He had taken her while she was working on a ship, a simple thing considering their relative size. Of course he was sure that someone had seen him, and he was just as sure that someone would miss this ship, but that didn't matter. By the time they caught up Talus would already be standing on Kiffu, chief of his tribe. It would be too late by then, too late for all of them.

And perhaps the girl.

 

[Lief]

She should have known better than to trust a shadowport.

The lowliest scum of the Galaxy seemed to call such places home, they were off the radar, lawless, the perfect place for an outlaw to lay low for a while until some of the heat was off them. Kalyn had almost been caught during a job in First Order space, in such sectors of space her face always seemed to be recognized whether it took them a week or a few minutes. While she'd outrun the authorities, it wasn't without damage to her beloved ship.

Perhaps she should have gone deeper into the Outer Rim, found one of those unnamed planets filled with lush tropics or barren landscapes, somewhere few had ever stepped foot upon.

Instead she'd ended up manhandled into a freighter large enough that it could have swallowed up Solitude, and was now held at knifepoint.

It was a queer thing, in a Galaxy such as theirs, to find a blade at ones throat instead of having a blaster waved around. Added to the fact that whoever it was obviously needed a pilot, and she couldn't help but wonder how well he knew the intricacies of technology.

Then again, she'd met plenty of folks who couldn't fly a ship. She'd been among them, once upon a time.

The freighter rocked as she adjusted to the vessel itself, it had a boatload more controls than she was used to, so many that it reminded her of Solar Monarch, and her mind was forced to relay all she could recall of her years apart of its crew. How many countless hours had she spent watching Captain Kilian at the helm?

She didn't speak, hadn't even bothered to ask the usual why, truth be told she was used to this kind of pressure. Deals usually went southward in this neck of the woods, especially for a girl who wasn't in the position to turn down a job. Still it sucked to realize she wasn't getting paid for this. Whatever this was.

Getting out with my life will likely be payment enough.

When the stranger spoke she shifted slightly in the seat, despite feeling the cool steel of his blade lay against her skin, and the whole ship seemed to hum in unison as the landing gears retracted and the ship prepped for take off. Just a few moments more and they'd be gone, leaving her poor ship in the dust.

Only when the ship was ready did she finally decide to speak, after all it did not pay to fly without a course in mind.

"Gonna need t'know where we're goin', Mister" she muttered, eyeing up the exit to the shadowport. Part of her wondered if by delaying a little the owner of this vessel - after all, it clearly wasn't his - would stop them in the act. But she wasn't an idiot, she knew how these things usually turned out.

Likely gonna need to sleep at some point, can't hold that knife to my neck the whole journey.

After all, space travel wasn't as simple as a quick jump and done. At least, she hoped his destination wasn't so close to make it that simple.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

He paused for a second, still holding the knife to her throat.

The way he held the blade spoke of practice and familiarity. There was no shake to his palm, no adjusting of his fingers. The weight of the knife was at home within his hand, and the stoniness of his face told that he was prepared to slit her throat as quickly as he might that of a Nexu. It would kill them both in the crash, but Talus didn't care about that. "Once we leave the station."

That was all she needed to know for now.

The Kiffar was naturally suspicious, especially in a situation like this. He had taken the girl against her will, and although she was smaller than him he was more than willing to bet she would still fight back. It was no different than that woman on Corellia, the one that had broken his nose and nearly killed him in the process of it all. Here he would be more careful however, watch her close and make sure that nothing would go wrong before they were long gone.

"I'll tell you." He continued in that same rasp of a voice. "When we get there I'll let you leave."

It was a lie, but she didn't know that.

 

[Lief]

Kal pondered his words for a moment, before frowning to herself.

By this point it was obvious that whoever owned the freighter wasn't about to magic their way into existence in time to stop this whole crazy fiasco, if she wanted out of this alive it would have to be on her own merits. A very loose shrug was her initial response to his words, yet while her exterior appeared far calmer than she had any cause to be, inside her mind was racing and one who was more perceptive than most might notice the quickening of her heartbeat.

The ship took off without any real hiccup, there was no fanfare, nothing especially great about it, the ship actually seemed to handle pretty damn well despite the fact it looked a little worse for wear. Whoever it belonged to clearly loved the thing, no doubt they'd be sad to see it go. Just as sad as she was for seeing the back end of Solitude.

"I reckon you don't need to point that knife at me, then, if I ain't about to be worrying about my life. Say where we're goin' and I'll get you there, no more questions asked."

Usually the pay for this sort of thing was pretty good, took the edge off needing to hunt for jobs for a while. It frustrated her more to know that she was losing out on valuable time and money than the fact that there was a risk to her well being.

Probably stupid of her, but Kal didn't care.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

For a few moments Talus didn't move the knife. It frustrated him that he couldn't fly this ship himself, but the traditions had to be followed. Piloting, technology, all of it was seen as little more than weakness within the Tribe. He understood that, but having to go through all of this trouble to make it back home was an issue he was not happy to deal with. His fingers flexed around the hilt of the blade one last time, and then slowly he withdrew the knife from the girls throat.

"Kiffu." She could still turn the ship around, try to get back to the port, but there was a reason he hadn't moved from behind her.

If she tried anything she would be dead in a heartbeat. Most would call him paranoid, but that other girl on Corellia had given him more than enough reason to be so. He needed to get back home, he needed to challenge for his proper place. This was the only way to do that. It didn't matter how many people had to suffer because of it.

He watched her, waiting for her to key in the coordinates.

Talus may not have known how to fly the ship, but if she tried to trick him he would know.

 

[Lief]

Letting out the smallest breath possible once the blade was removed, Kal gave herself just a moment to try and remember roughly where that would put her in the grand scheme of things before softly nodding. She'd been to the Inner Rim a few times, the Rimma Trade Route typically made quick work of the trip especially when coming from this neck of the woods.

It did make her curious though. Of all the places in the Galaxy, he chose Kiffu? Bit of a gross planet, in all honesty, dry as could be. There was a reason she rarely visited her homeworld. Well, one of them. Do they even count? She was born on a space station, after all, regardless of where her parents came from. Firrerre was a utopia by comparison, not that she went there much either.

Reaching out to the navigation console, she keyed in the correct coordinates after a few quick yet incorrect attempts at using the foreign software. By this point they were already pulling clear of the Shadowport, and once the quickest route had been calculated her job would become a lot simpler. Not that she was going to let him know as much. Her life depended on her remaining of importance, she knew that.

"Gonna take a few days," she warned, "Even with the Rimma to climb up. Treacherous path between here an' there, Mister."

Without the knife to immediately contend with, Kal found herself relaxing somewhat back into the pilots seat. This was the part she liked best about flying, when there was nothing but the rush of stars flying by to greet her beyond the viewing port, and the soft hum of the ships engines. Of course both were far more encompassing on a ship as small as hers. By comparison this freighter was full of other distractions. Far more screens and consoles to keep her eyes on.

She thought back, if only briefly, to the last time she'd been caught in such a trap. Back then it had been a job gone wrong, the promise of pay being taken away almost the second they'd hit hyperspace. Hadn't gone down well with Kal, of course, but by then blasters had been drawn and she'd hardly been a match for the three of them. This time there was no guises, she knew where she stood from the start.

Still... At least there's only one to contend with now.

Somehow this one still felt more dangerous than the trio.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

Talus didn't answer.

He was already well aware of that reality. No travel was instantaneous, save for that which went through the void. A frown touched his lips, the tattoos that marked his face scrunching slightly as he doubled checked the coordinates that she had entered. After confirming the numbers he returned the knife to it's small scabbard on his thigh, slipping the blade into place before he looked at her through the slight reflection within the viewport. She was a pretty little thing, he had to admit.

Still, the danger was still there.

The Kiffar wasn't foolish enough to think the girl would just sit there passively the entire time. He had no way to restrain her however, and none of the locks within the freighter were on the outside of the doors. He also couldn't just seal her in a room with his lightsaber, mostly because this freighter was rickety and it might fall apart half-way to home. There was a reason he had picked her, knowledge that she could fix a ship being enough to convince him.

At least that was his assumption.

He mused for a second, and then spoke in that same calm rasp. "Try nothing and you won't be harmed."

With that he turned and walked off the bridge, leaving the girl to herself. It was a test of course, a proving ground to see what she would do.

 

[Lief]

He was a quiet man, she'd swiftly discovered.

She'd worked with plenty like him, those who felt themselves above words, or those too serious and somber to use them. Typically they were the edgy kind of folks, who thought their silence brokered mystery, yet oddly enough she didn't really get that vibe from him. More, it felt as though that silence was merely apart of who he was. Strange, ominous perhaps, but nothing for her to worry over.

When his face was visible against the dark of the viewing port she finally took notice of his features. Hadn't exactly had a chance to inspect him up until that point, so imagine her surprise to find a crimson qukuuf marking a cross along his face. It could easily have just been a random tribal tattoo, or even warpaint of some kind, but Kal knew better. Especially given their location.

Suddenly his desire to visit Kiffu made much more sense.

Deciding not to comment on it at present, she heard what few words he had to say - once again confirming that obedience would lead to her safety - and remained silent as she heard him leave the cockpit. Her eyes immediately fell over the entirety of the room, checking back toward the doorway to ensure he wasn't watching her in those moments. So many options of things to do, ways to make this all go away, but she couldn't say for certain how long she'd have.

Most of her weapons had been left behind on Solitude, after all she didn't need much more than her tools to fix the old ship, though there was a knife tucked snug within her boot. Best she didn't make him aware of that just yet, she didn't know if or when she'd need it.

Had this been Solar Monarch Kal would have simply pressed one of the distress beacons under the consoles. Captain Kilian had made sure to have a few within reach, especially with how frequently the vessel had been attacked by pirates and other ruffians. Sadly she knew the same was not likely for this freighter.

She tried to remember a frequency, any frequency, but truth be told she didn't exactly have anyone she could rely on in situations such as these. Her crew mates were long since gone, likely dead if she had to guess, and attempting to contact someone for the sake of it was beyond stupid.

There were a few days between now and Kiffu, though, plenty of time to come up with some sort of solution... Right?

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

Talus didn't bother occupying himself with thoughts of the girl. She would try something eventually, he was more than sure of that, but for now he had better things to do.

Without any hesitation the Kiffar moved into the back of the ship, a large common room situated there. He guessed that usually the freighter had a crew of four or five, Captain included. There were three bedrooms total, one large one and two which held bunk beds. The common area had a large holo-display and an acceleration couch, though Talus of course ignored both and instead went towards an open area off to the side of the room. There he knelt on the floor.

He shifted only slightly before laying his hands in his lap, and then slowly closing eyes.

There he would sit in quiet meditation, waiting.

Eventually the girl would grow curious, or foolish. From the way she had looked at him he would guess the former. He did not know her origin of course, but there had been knowing in her eye. For Talus she was little more than a tool, but to her he was a captor, a villain. It would be interesting to see what she would do.

Perhaps even fun. He had to entertain himself somehow over the next few days.

She would do.

 

[Lief]

Fingers drummed against the tops of consoles, eyes fixed upon the mesmerizing view beyond the window.

She was more than used to simply sitting there as she journeyed on, and yet with the stranger in her midst she found that she couldn't really settle. There was no ease or comfort despite the fact that the leather seat she sat within was luxurious in comparison to her usual, instead she felt as though ants had invaded her personal space, had decided to crawl all over her body, and a sincere restlessness crept over her body.

Soon enough she found herself on her feet. With the ships navigational systems handling the main bulk of her job, and autopilot keeping them on the straight and narrow, she began to find the cockpit very confining. Trusting that they'd be alerted if anything went amiss, she finally slipped toward the entry to the cockpit and then out into the hallway beyond.

To one side a flimsi-map had been stuck to a wall, showing a very general floor plan for the ship. A couple of rooms, two refreshers - one attached to the Captain's quarters - a centralized mess hall and kitchen, it wasn't any of the living quarters that she sought out, but instead the maintenance hall.

It was across the ship, off the side of the central chamber. She didn't exactly know where the stranger was, nor if he'd really approve of her exploration, and as such she kept her steps as quiet as she could manage without coming across as too... Guilty? She could always claim a problem with the ship.

As she stepped into the common area the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle, though the sensation was something all together strange and alien to her. Her eyes fell upon him without much effort, almost as though she had somehow known he was there despite the fact that he hadn't really given anything away save for soft breathing. He was simply knelt there, eyes closed.

Was he praying?

Definitely didn't seem the type to hold mumbo jumbo faith.

Hopefully she'd be able to sneak past him. Should be something down in the maintenance hall to help her, if the crew of this freighter was anything like the one she had once been apart of.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

Every little step, every little echo, every little touch of her toe against the ground was something that seemed to reverberate through him. The ship was something he felt in it's entirety, every movement, every creak. The tiny vessel seemed like a lake, and everything that occurred within sent a ripple against his skin. It was calming in a way.

He did not connect with the vessel itself, he could not.

There was no technopathy within his Tribe. Instead what he felt was something of his own design, a small rupture of the power that constantly flowed through him. He allowed it to slowly seep from him, embody every corner of the vessel. It was a way to watch her, to read her intent. It wasn't perfect of course. If she wanted to the girl could run over and brain him with the side of a wrench before he could read what she was about to do, but the impression he got was more than enough.

Talus remained still.

He knew where she was going, what she wanted, but there was no surprise in it.

The Kiffar was her jailer, her keeper. He was the one that had taken her against her will and was now holding her as a hostage until they made it to his home. Animosity was not uncommon, but it was not the emotion that he wanted to cultivate. Instead he reached out to her, the most subtlest of touch. It was an ability he had learned within his Tribe, something dark and powerful. Compulsion the elders called it, though Talus knew not the real name.

It was a subtle touch, not an invasive trap. He did not try to bend her will or break her mind, he simply stoked a flame deep within her. Talus added to the spark of Curiosity she felt, giving kindling to the idea of investigating him and not the ship.

 

[Lief]

Fingers rummaged deep within the pockets of her trousers, pulling free a small tangle of cords and a device the size of her thumbnail. Earbuds dangled down from the object, which she swiftly took up with her spare hand and carefully placed into her ears. There were too many distractions in a vessel this large. Every creek of the old durasteel hull had her wrought with worry, in truth she was surprised the damn thing flew at all, the last thing she wanted was to die on some strangers ship, side by side with her captor.

The gentle thud of music emanated through her core, forcing a quiet hum from her lips as some Glimmik band played their hearts out. Some somber tune or another, one whose lyrics she felt sure she knew but in that moment seemed fleeting all the same.

Without the ship's noises to contend with she merely felt it instead. Each slight bump as it rocked along the unforgiving space route, the vibrations sent forth from the engine room, and then... Something else. Something which seemed to come not from the ship itself, but from deep within Kal herself.

She halted, one foot across the threshold of the corridor which would lead her to her destination. Breathing turned slightly heavier, air heavy as though she'd ran a marathon through a swamp, before finally she turned. Though he had not moved so much as an inch, something about the stranger left her curious. Almost like a homing beacon had been cast in his general direction, and the only one able to tune into it was her.

One foot in front of the other, she found herself walking to the beat of the music only she could hear.

Don't turn your back... the Eddel vocalist warned, tone oddly foreboding, Don't walk away...

Together with the curious pull, the two made for quite the tempting pairing, and as she neared him she finally began to slow to a halt. She studied him for a time, while he remained silent and motionless, the curves and intricacies of his face, the subtleties of his qukuuf - the likes of which she hadn't seen before - and wondered if he was a model example of his species. Was this how her Father had appeared? Sullen, serious, with sharp features and somber expressions? Had his qukuuf been crimson, or gold, or green?

One hand lifted, touching the bridge of her nose as though expecting some sort of answer to lie there. But all that she had marring her face was the odd freckle, and there was little in the way of significance to those.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

He continued to keep his eyes closed. The power came to him naturally, but in order to do anything with it he required concentration. That was doubly so for anything more subtle. By definition he did not have a light touch.

His tribe had never attempted to play the game of politics. Their way of life was a harsh one, and that usually required strength above all. The technique of compulsion, the gentle touch of the mind, was something that was rarely used by the men of Clan Morid. More often than not it was something the women practiced, though only those who were lucky enough to be gifted with the power. Talus himself had learned from his sister, a beloved sibling that was now dead.

The touch on the girls mind would remain, a gentle nudge.

He could feel her now, standing there, watching him. Her curiosity was more than obvious, though in truth he still had no idea what it was born of. Talus couldn't read minds, he couldn't pull the information he wanted from her thoughts. It was an unfortunate fact, one that he lamented every day. If he could rip knowledge from people it would make things so much easier.

He wouldn't need a pilot for one.


For a moment more the Kiffar simply sat there in silence, waiting, and then finally he opened his eyes.

 

[Lief]

As she stood there, for all intents and purposes staring, her gaze drifted further over his form.

She took note of the earrings which seemed to sparkle even in the dim light of the mess hall, the material something she couldn't quite place her finger on, and then further down over the clothes he fashioned himself with. The style was different, to say the least, but she couldn't be certain that she hadn't seen similar before.

The song skipped a beat, jolting her back from her thoughts and forcing her to refocus on his face as her fingers fumbled with the device. One minute his eyes were closed, yet in the time it took her to look down and switch off the music they had apparently opened as looking back up left her more than startled.

Her jaw dropped slightly as her eyes met the pale sulfur of his own, for once finding herself more than speechless even with the circumstances in mind.

Swallowing back her surprise, she slowly pulled the earbuds away - looking as though she feared any sudden movement might cause him to snap - before taking one well-placed step back. Finally she stammered.

"Never seen qukuuf quite like yours before..." Her voice trailed off for a moment, before she rather abruptly added, "That is what they are, right?"

Snapping shut her still somewhat gaping mouth, Kal took one more step back and raised a hand to the back of her neck where she proceeded to rub away some of the discomfort she was feeling.

Truth be told she wanted to turn and run, it was painted all over her body, the way each muscle was tight and aching for a release, the almost skittish nature of her flickering gaze, yet now her feet remained rooted in place. It seemed as though the very ship itself was trying to swallow her hole, metal quicksand enveloping her boots.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

There was nowhere to run. Even if he hadn't touched her mind, convinced her to do at he pleased, she would have nowhere to go. The inside of a ship was a small place, almost tiny really. This freighter was larger than some he had been on, but really the only place for her to go was the void.

"Yes." He answered.

It was curious that she would know. Many outsiders were aware that Kiffar received Tattoos in order to mark their clans, but he had never met an outsider that knew their name. He frowned slightly, looking at her almost as if in search of something. He settled on her freckles for a moment, but then simply frowned.

There were many clan Tattoos, but those were not tattoos.

Oddly he enough he was almost disappointed.

 

[Lief]

Despite all that had happened, in that moment his confirmation of his race all but set her at ease. She didn't know why that was, could not explain it, but all of the tension she'd built up within herself was released like air from a balloon. Slow, and then all at once with a heavy sigh.

She hadn't been to Kiffu since she was a child. It had been one of her first runs with Kilian and the crew, and honestly she hadn't even realized where they were at first. Sure, Kal had known she was a half-breed, Luh had made sure to keep his possessions healthy with regular trips to the doc', she'd seen her files when the old man wasn't looking, but knowing something and understanding it were two entirely different things.

They hadn't even been planet side for that long before zipping off back into the cold expanse of space, but it had been enough to ignite a fierce - if small - drive within her, yet it had never amounted to much. The Core was a dangerous place for a girl with a bounty on her head, no amount of romanticizing her heritage made her want to risk it.

"I..." Kal shook her head, biting back whatever nonsense she was about to say, and let out another sigh. This one was far quieter than the previous. What would hers have looked like, had her Pa been around? She didn't really know the circumstances for his absence, though she had her guesses. Wasn't as though her mother had really been a free woman, now, was it?

"How long have you been away from home?"

She didn't know what made her ask it, nor did she really expect an answer, this wasn't some social club, she was merely a pawn in his current game, expendable, he didn't owe her a damn word... But curiosity got the better of her.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

He considered whether or not to answer the question.

Doubtless she would want to strike at him eventually, either kill him or send the authorities after him when all of this was said and done. For the latter she would need as much information as she could. His name, where exactly on the world he was from, what his tribe was. Everything she would need to send the Alliance scurrying after her kidnapper. It was exactly what he would do if their roles were reversed, though of course the idea of that was laughable to him.

Still, that could only happen if she lived at the end of this. "Nine months."

Talus answered curtly.

He was curious about her, what she would do, how far she would dig. Most importantly though he wondered why she cared. What did it matter where he was from? How long he had been away or even why he had left. For her that shouldn't matter, not really anyway. She should have been looking for ways to escape, fight. Had the compulsion worked better than he thought?

The curiosity of that made him want to dig deeper, and with another gentle nudge of his mind he prodded her further.

 

[Lief]

"I meant to visit again," she muttered underbreath, more so to herself than to present company, as she pondered his answer. "Just wasn't worth the risk."

Perhaps now would be her chance to explore it a little, without Kilian rushing the crew back to the ship. Maybe she could find out more about her Father, or something, she had his name, right?

Nine months, though... She tried to think back to her first nine months off The Wheel but all that did was make her frown. There hadn't really been a chance for her to sit back and think about the repercussions of her choices back then, life had been running in the fast lane. The only downtime she had was to sleep, and by the time her head hit the pillow each night she was out like a light. It wasn't until her birthday had come around that she gave it some thought. What she'd done, who she'd left behind, but by then it was too late.

"I always wanted a qukuuf" she confessed with an almost childish demeanor, simultaneously alarmed at how effortlessly such information tumbled from her lips, curious eyes once again glancing over his own, "Didn't know what his looked like, though. Besides, I was raised away. Probably disrespectful, or some chit."

The frown which marred her expression deepened then, and she pursed her lips to refrain from saying anything extra about the situation. Instead she turned her thoughts back to him. Had to pass the time somehow, right? And besides, it felt as though she was compelled to ask or mention every dumb thing which came to mind in that moment. A far cry from her initial plans of sneaking off into the maintenance hall.

"Why'd you leave? Most people don't leave the place they're from..."

It was easy to forget that fact when you lived on the open spacelane, constantly saw travelers venturing here and there, but when you thought of the sheer quantity of men and women who existed in the Galaxy the likelihood was a very large majority were born, lived, and died close to the same places as their parents. And this man, whoever he was, definitely didn't look like the traveling type, merely a man on a mission.

Just a shame she somehow got wrapped up in it.

[member="Talus Morid"]

 

[Talus Morid]

[member="Kalyn Shif"]

Ah she was Kiffar, now that was interesting. Most would think that it complicated the matter, but for Talus their shared lineage didn't mean much. Clan Morid were outcasts, throwaways that most tribes would be more than happy to forget. He cared not for his kin unless they were of his own tribe. That was how it was for most he imagined, Vox, Bakara, they only cared for their own. There was no true unity, not when everyone wanted to be on top.

Amusement flared across his features for the first time and he let silence reign within the air. He wondered if she thought revealing herself to be Kiffar would gain her some sort of patronage from him. It was silly of course, but then again they often were. "It was part of a ritual."

How much did he tell her?

That was the real question. There were some secrets that each tribe kept to themselves, but Talus already knew that this woman would not be leaving Kiffu. Telling her the secrets, showing her what she would see as mercy might be advantageous. It would certainly be more enjoyable than just locking her away.

He did so enjoy playing games.

"So I could challenge the chief." Talus remained plain and curt, his words in that same bare rasp.

 

[Lief]

There was, of course, so much about her people and their culture that she was unaware of. Same went for the Firrerreon half of her lineage. Her mother had never been particularly vocal on either, in fact Kal thoroughly believed that if the woman had it her way she'd never have found out about her heritage at all. The concept of challenging for the top position in any culture wasn't exactly a new one. While some openly fought, others did so with words and campaigns and oftentimes hypocrisy.

Still, there was at least a moderate amount of surprise plastered on her expression when he admitted as much.

Kal tipped her head to one side, regarding him for a few more moments before her feet finally dug themselves free of the metaphorical quicksand. Just two steps back, nothing too daring, put a little distance between them. She shook her head, hair tussling with the motion, as she seemingly began to snap out of whatever influence had unknowingly washed over her.

He only seemed young, she thought, how likely was it that he'd be victorious?

Something in his eye spoke of a sincere drive, however, almost primal in nature. She'd noticed it prior to that moment, back in the cockpit when she'd caught sight of his reflection in the viewing port. He'd stop at nothing to get what he wanted, she figured, and in that moment a deeper realization ran through her.

Were it up to him, she likely wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Most would call the authorities the moment they had the chance, and she doubted he needed that kind of trouble. Little did he know that Kal was the last person who would be calling on such folks, by doing so she was more likely to put herself in the line of fire than him. No, if the both of them could simply go their separate ways it would be best.

But she didn't tell him as much. Doubted such would matter.

Instead she took another step back, and began to turn away. Her eyes sought out the same hallway she had been curious about earlier, though this time they narrowed in what appeared to be genuine concern. The general rumble of the ship had continued throughout their interaction, and yet a distinct undertone had her worried.

No words were said as she began to make her way out of the messhall, pace picking up with each step she took away from him. It might have been nothing, just the sounds which accompanied an old ship, but she wasn't about to risk it.

[member="Talus Morid"]