A Lonely Road

[The End Narrator]

Malum had suffered enough in the past months – and once again, like before, she escaped the clutches of [member="Darth Vornskr"] and ran off to a distant world to explore and cause chaos and mayhem because she could do so. She knew the consequences and what would happen when that terrible Guard of his caught her, but it would be worth it in the end. She was rarely touched as it were, the punishments were getting weaker it seemed or she was growing stronger. Yeah, that had to be it, there was little chance that Vornskr was getting weak – or maybe he was.

She was well concealed beneath the cloak as she roamed the streets of Hok – very close to the port of Jari. She enjoyed causing a stir in the middle of the hornets’ nest that was the Galactic Republic from time to time – it allowed her time to think without the ever mounting pressure from the memories in her mind. Ever since the events on Csilla, she had gone a deeper in darkness but was losing the element of madness. She still had her bouts, her temperamental bursts and fits of rage – but quietly she was starting to understand. She would become self-abusive and no longer blame Liam and Ibaris, now she would fault herself for her own failures.

She tried to comprehend more and more, the further she pressed questions – the more confused she became. Maybe, she would be able to add it all together one day – maybe one day she, no that path didn’t seem likely.

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

Hok was a strange world.

Magda could recall interacting with a Gran on only one occaision, and it was not a particularly good memory. It had no grasp of Basic nor did it seem to care - which might have not been so terribly bad had it, in fact, happened on Hok. No, it happened on Spira during what turned out to be one of the worst vacations of her rather short life.

[member="Liam Quez"] had set her up at Port Jari simply due to the fact that it was the closest available and tugging her ship halfway across the galaxy to one of familiarity just wasn't in the realm of possibility. Magda, however, wasn't very keen on this place. Hok was an isolationist planet - they didn't like outsiders - making help a bit of a rare commodity for her. Finally after finding a well-traveled Gran who could translate for her, Magda discovered that they also were a rather greedy sort. Her purse wasn't quite deep enough for the repair bill she'd tallied up.

"Mine crystals," the Gran told her, "speak to Taal-ru, tell him I sent you. He has a station on the west end of the port. You can pay off this bill with a hard day's work in the mines."

"But..." Magda frowned, thinking of how dirty she was going to have to get in order to have her ship space-worthy again, "...how do I find him?"

"Big hand," the Gran replied.

"Big hand?" a blink, "What do you mean big hand?" But he was off talking to someone else and Magda didn't wish to press her luck. With a sigh and a forlorn glance back at her ship, Magda headed off to find this Taal-ru and whatever Big Hand meant.

[member="Darth Malum"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“He probably means he has huge… hands?” Gabriel wagered a guess at the cryptic mention. Sometimes he really didn’t [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]get[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] adults, most of it came down to how they seemed to enjoy talking complete and utter nonsense that only they understood - halfway in an attempt to seem smarter and more intelligent than they were, probably.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Which wasn’t a sin in itself, but it definitely made it a whole lot harder for them to realize just what the hell they were trying to say most of the time.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But it was what it was, and it ain’t like they could just skip out on this date of theirs. They would have to w- well, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]he[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] would have to work pretty hard to work off this particular debt. Gabe wasn’t going to let her work her ass off until she dropped down - he was the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]man[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]here and he would show that by doing both their loads![/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Yeah, that would show this… Big Hand![/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Or maybe it’s his nickname?”[/SIZE]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

"Big hands?"

Blinking, Magda pulled out her datapad to pull up the holonet.

"Ugh, my connection here is terrible..."

G R A N

Gran, a peaceable race identifiable by their three eyes and protruding snout. While Gran are particularly well-versed in empathetic relationships with their own kind, they display isolationist tendencies towards other races. Gran are noted for their dual-stomachs and penchant for long meals that can take between 6 and 17 hours to complete. A recessive genetic mutation that causes misshapen and deformed extremities-

"Huh, guess you're right," she looked up at her brother with a half smirk, "maybe on both accounts."

~~~~~

"No hoomans allowed."

Magda jumped as the door slammed shut in their faces, wetting her lips over a sigh, "Did you see how big his hand was?"

It had been a rather big hand.

Magda knocked again, "Please Mr. Taal-ru, Arragil sent us. He said you could pay us to work in the mines. I have a significant repair bill to pay and until I can make money to pay it I'll be staying right here. On this planet. At this door. I'm not going away until you give us a job. I'm very persistant, Mr. Taal-ru, and annoying. I've perfected these skills over many years of tormenting my older brother and twin sister, isn't that right Gabe?"

"You scare away traders, go away!" the Gran yelled from inside.

"I just finished writing a dissertation on the effects of hyperspace on arachnoid races over a period of one thousand years. Would you like me to enlighten you to the nature of atmospheric contamination brought on by proximity to-"

The door opened again with Taal-ru standing there looking terribly harassed, "I give job, you go away."

"Yes!" Magda clapped with a hop, "Yay! Ok, where do we go?"

With a sigh Taal-ru lead them inside and showed them back to the locker room where they were given standard issue miner-suits to put on over their clothes.

"This is so exciting," Maggie whispered to her brother as she pulled the jumpsuit on, "it's like that time dad took us to Quarzite to get our Lightsaber crystals! Do you remember that Gabe? Do you remember when I found that cryst-" she stopped suddenly, arm halfway into the sleeve of her suit as a revelation deflated her expression and filled it with intense concern, "...what if we never see them again?"

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]At this point in time I honestly doubted that Maggy realized what we were going to get into, this ain’t no playtime - it would be hard work to work off the debt that we had managed to collect with the ship problems and the towing around half the Galaxy. All of that critique disappeared as I noticed the sadness flitting on her face.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]I ain’t the best brother in town, never gonna claim I am, but if there is one thing that makes me all twitchy and big brother beary… it was seeing her afraid, hurt or any other combination of things.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Hey.” I’d say, squeezing her shoulder just a little bit. “We will be fine, we [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]are[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] fine and we will figure a way outta this mess.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Mouth twitched just a little bit up, beginning of a grin as memories filled in me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“We always do, don’t we?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Ain’t an overstatement to say that they had been through a lot, had gotten in a lot of… trouble over the years and most of it came down to both of ‘em being far too curious for their own goods. Hadn’t ever gone as far as they went this time… but pa had always pushed the limits himself, we were simply following suit![/SIZE]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

Magda didn't feel very reassured, but not at any fault of Gabe's. She tried at a smile, looking up at her brother with a wilted sense of hope. What if they didn't, though? They still had no idea how they ended up here, how were they ever supposed to find their way back again? She felt her chest grow tight and that same sense of frantic urgency from before in her dead ship began to boil within.

No.

That won't fix anything.

She forced herself to nod and in doing so forced herself to believe he was right.

"Yeah," she replied, unable to keep the slight quiver from her voice, "we do."

With a light sniff Magda pulled her suit on the rest of the way and zipped it up. At least there was this: the protection of quality fashion.

"Okay, I think I'm ready." Ready to mine? Ready to work? Ready to face this apparent insurmountable challenge? Ready to do what it takes to get home. Whatever it takes.

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Gabriel could see that she wasn’t exactly all that into his words, she was still fairly… skeptical about the entire ordeal - and hell, he wasn’t exactly better off. But he was the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]big[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] brother, he was the guy that needed to take care of his sister, the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]man[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] that his father had always wanted him to be and that’s what he would do.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Put up that brave face and trundle on as if you have all the faith in the world, Gabby. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That’s the only way they would be able to pull through this one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Almost done here, Megs.” he zipped up the zip, and took hold of the tools that would help them do the job they had been hired to do.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It would be back-breaking, probably.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But they would do it anyway, because they always paid their debts.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Ready.”[/SIZE]